Tag: healthy snacks

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Low calorie, sweet fix!

Dr Nancy P

Low calorie, sweet fix! 🍪

We all need a sweet fix from time to time. There’s nothing wrong with any sweet snack you choose to have, but if you’re trying to fit it into your daily calorie goal it can be handy to have some go to lower calorie options.

This is obviously a tiny drop in the ocean of sweet snack options but hopefully it provides a range of ideas, some of which you may not have thought of. These are particularly useful if you struggle to ‘just have one’ as they’re portioned already or in snack packs (and they’re low enough that you could have a couple!). If you’re gluten or dairy free the Rocky rice bars are well worth checking out – really tasty!

And before anyone starts talking about them being full of ‘sugar’ – yes many are but remember sugar isn’t the devil (and there is no evidence it causes health issues in moderation and in isolation). Sweet snacks and treats are absolutely fine as part of a balanced diet. If that chocolate bar or biscuit a day helps you stay on track and makes you happy keep doing it!

Asda low cal jelly pot – 1 cal

Mini Jammie dodger snack pack – 89 cals

Rocky Rice bar – 93 cals

Fibre one bad – 87 cals

Mallow and marsh bar – 79 cals

Curly wurly – 118 cals

Milkybar mousse – 85 cals

2 pack lotus biscuits – 74 cals per pack

Flower & white Meringue bar – 96 cals

Strawberries 400g – 132 cals

So there you go! A few options to try when you fancy something sweet but don’t want to spend too many calories! I’m sure you all have a few favourites too – let me know what your go to low cal snack options are below.

Enjoy 🤗

Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Eating out, on track

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Eating out, on track 🍽

With restaurants reopening I know a lot of people are heading back our for meals etc. So I thought it would be useful to go over a few tips to help you stay on track, when when eating out.

Look up the menu in advance and decide what you will have, or a few options that you fancy. Then reverse engineer your day around it – log the meal, and fit your other meals around it.

You may want to prioritise lean protein for your main course e.g. steak and salad. But be mindful that restaurant portions are 2-3 times bigger than those you’d have at home, so consider a doggy bag.

Try to choose 1 or 2 courses rather than 3 if you can. Remember you’re the customer – if you want starter and dessert, or 2 starters, or even 2 desserts you can do that! You don’t have to go for starter, main and dessert.

Avoid extras – bread, olives, nibbles, oil, dressings etc. Ask for sauces on the side and you can decide how much you want to use. Ask for your veggies without butter etc too and be mindful of liquid calories (both alcoholic and non alcoholic).

Choose your indulgence – perhaps it’s booze, or the dessert, or the bread basket – whatever it is (for me it’s always dessert!), rather than having them all! It’s ok to enjoy a meal out but if you want to stick to your calorie targets then you can’t have it all.

Focus on the company and conversation – that’s what you’ll remember from the meal. It won’t be the food or that glass of wine, it will be the laughs and stories with your friends or family that you remember in months and years to come, not whether you had dessert or not!

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Recipes

Hoisin Pulled Veggie ‘Pork’

Dr Nancy P

If you’re a Chinese takeaway fan this is a great lower calorie, home-made option for you! You can use any veggie alternative – there are pulled pork, pulled chicken and pulled jackfruit options available now. I happened to have the Linda McCartney pulled fake chicken in my freezer so that’s what I’ve used.

This serves 3-4 people and comes in at around 230 cals per portion (before rice etc).

You will need:

1 pack of veggie pulled ‘meat’

1 small onion

1 clove garlic

1 stick of celery

1 small red pepper

1 small red chili (optional)

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)

2 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tbsp black bean sauce

1 tbsp water

Small handful of cashew nuts (optional)

A couple of spring onions (for garnish)

Place the pulled fake meat in a bowl and add the soy sauce and sweet soy sauce – leave to marinate.

Chop the vegetables up into small pieces and add the onion, garlic and celery to a hot wok or pan with a little oil (or oil spray to save calories)

Add the peppers and chili if using.

While the vegetables sauté add the hoisin and black bean sauce and water into a small bowl and mix together. Set aside.

Add the marinated pulled fake meat to the wok and fry it for 5-7 mins.

Meanwhile, if you’re using the cashew nuts roast them in a dry pan.

Add the sauce mix to the pulled meat and cook through for another 2-3 mins.

Serve with the cashew nuts and spring onions sprinkled over the top, with rice or noodles.

Enjoy 🤗

xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

What you track vs what you actually eat…

Dr Nancy P

What you track vs what you actually eat… 🥜 🥄

If you’re hoping to lose fat in a sustainable way you need to be aiming for a deficit of around 200-300 cals a day. So you have your calorie goal, and you’re tracking your calories and weighing your portions. You diligently weigh your peanut butter for your slice of toast … 30g – that’s 169 cals – all tracked, all good. But what about the little bit you just scrape off the side of the jar as you’re getting that spoonful… or that bit that dropped on the plate that you wiped off with your finger.. or the bit you lick from the lid….

All that can add up to another 15g – that’s an extra 84 cals.

84 cals in itself isn’t going to ruin your progress, but if you’re having a couple of slices of toast a day that’s 168 extra calories a day or 1,176 cals a week! And that’s assuming that’s the only “extras” you have. That can easily stop you progressing or slow it down. And to be honest you probably don’t even realise you’re doing it.

So if you’re tracking cals and hoping to lose fat then perhaps double check you’re actually tracking what you’re eating, especially with calorie dense foods like nut butters etc.

🤗 xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Bread is bad! 🍞

Dr Nancy P

Bread is bad! 🍞

I’ve lost count of the number of times people tell me they need to stop eating bread, or that they’ve had a bad week with too much bread, or their main weight loss issue is their love of bread…..

There seems to be a common misconception that bread is inherently bad and that having it means you can’t lose weight. Bread in itself (white or brown) is not that high in calories – a typical slice of hovis is 88 cals, and even a small sourdough is only 120 cals or so. Bread in itself is not a problem, what you put on it is the problem. The scraping of butter that you barely notice almost doubles the calories that slice of bread/toast will give you. Butter and 30g jam nearly triples the calories, as does a serving of Nutella (without butter underneath)! If you’re a peanut butter fan then that 40g serving (without any butter underneath) brings that piece of toast up to 349 cals. A snack of a little cheese on toast (no butter) is around 255 cals whilst a brunch of toast, 75g avocado, egg and a little ketchup comes in at 324 cals ….

Technically it is of course possible for bread to derail you if you’re eating a huge amount, like any food, but it’s far more likely to be what you’re putting on the bread that’s doing the damage. Bread isn’t the devil; in fact it’s a great source of carbs, which we all need. It tastes good and it’s also a really convenient food for a snack or lunch (as a sandwich) etc and there’s no need to cut it out of your diet to lose weight, but it may pay to be aware of what you’re putting on it and consider some lower cal toppings if you are trying to watch the calories.

Enjoy bread responsibly 🤣

🤗 xx