Tag: healthyhabits

Nutrition and Calorie Tips, Tuesday Tip

Tuesday tip: Strategic Snacking

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday tip: Strategic Snacking 🍪

Often clients tell me they ‘just need to stop snacking’ and they’ll lose weight, but that’s rarely the solution. Snacking has a bad rep, but there’s nothing wrong with a snack in itself. Many of us need smaller intakes of food spread across the day rather than 2 or 3 large ‘meals’, it’s mindless snacking that’s the real issue.

Remember whether you call something a meal or a snack is basically meaningless; some snacks are more cals than meals anyway! It’s just a window of time when you eat. So try to view them all as part of your overall daily food intake, they’re just names! The key is planning them in. If you don’t then you will end up feeling guilty every time you have a snack and that can lead to the f*ck it mentality and then overeating.

Identify first of all when you tend to or want to ‘snack’ and then allocate some calories for it; the same way you might for breakfast or lunch etc and adjust your meals to accommodate. By factoring it in not only are you ensuring you’ll be within your calories, you’re also managing your expectations and giving yourself permission to have that snack. It doesn’t matter what it is, choose snacks that work for you; if it’s biscuits fine, if it’s fruit that’s also fine, within the context of a balanced diet you can have anything you want!

If you find the problem is that once you start you can’t stop then try getting your snack item out at the start of the day and having it on show and somwhere easy to grab. That way hopefully you’ll be more likely to stick to it rather than rummaging through the cupboards or heading to a shop to get it at the time you’re most ‘snacky’ and will power is lower.

Everyone is unique and the desire and need to snack are influenced by age, emotions, activity, main ‘meals’ etc so you have to work out what’s best for you. One good approach is strategic snacking at around 3/4pm to help stave off evening hunger, and there is some scientific evidence to suggest a plan of three balanced meals and one snack (4 windows of time where you eat) works well for weight loss.

Happy snacking! 🤗xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Enjoying a few drinks…

Dr Nancy P

Enjoying a few drinks …. 🍷

Whilst I never tell clients cut out any foods/drinks totally from their diet If you are trying to lose weight/fat then alcohol is often one of the ‘easier’ things to cut down on to save calories. When I say easier I mean it’s an easily identifiable part of your diet which you can choose to either consume or avoid, not that it’s necessarily an easy habit to change!

There’s no reason you have to give up alcohol to lose weight as it ultimately comes down to whether you’re in a calorie deficit. However it’s very easy to rack up several hundred calories in alcoholic drinks with little or no nutritional benefit. Meaning you will usually have the booze on top of whatever food you’re eating. In addition alcohol consumption can lead to poorer choices when it comes to food and you’re far more likely to end up eating more calories if you’re drinking or hung over.

So if you do want to still enjoy a drink but stay within your calories then there are 3 main things you can do. You can adjust the type and quantity of booze, and the frequency with which you drink it. So in this example swapping the thursday night work drinks 2 low cal beers and a gin and tonic saves over 300 cals. Cutting those Friday ‘end of the week’ glasses of wine from large to small glasses saves a further 264 cals. Saturday – just relax and enjoy them, then cut Sunday night out and swap the dregs of the bottles for a lime and soda. These simple swaps shouldn’t impact too greatly on your enjoyment but could make a big difference on your calorie intake.

So you can still go out and enjoy yourself and have that drink without worrying it’s going to derail your progress!

Cheers! 🥂

Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: It has to be a priority

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: It has to be a priority 🙌🏼

You want to lose bodyfat and get fit but you just can’t seem to find the time? I understand that completely – it can be really tough, especially if you’re working, or have a family to look after etc. You don’t have to devote your life to diet and exercise, but unless it’s one of your priorities then you will the sad truth is you will struggle to see any changes.

It doesn’t mean you need to spend your free time meal prepping and eating boiled chicken/tofu and green veg and sipping protein shakes. It doesn’t mean you need to workout every day for hours in the gym or become a running addict. You don’t need to fall in love with fitness, it helps if you enjoy what you do of course which is why it’s important to try to find exercise you love, but it doesn’t have to be your passion.

It does have to be a priority though. If it isn’t you won’t make time to go and work out, you won’t choose to walk up the stairs instead of taking the lift, you won’t be thinking about what’s on your plate before you eat it, you won’t make changes to what you eat and drink to reduce calories. In short – it won’t work. You have to make a change.

If you’re telling yourself you’re too busy or don’t have time to put any attention on your diet and fitness, then you’re right – you don’t – but that’s not because you don’t want to, it’s because it’s not enough of a priority right now (for what may be very valid reasons). Once it becomes a big enough priority or you choose to make it one then you’ll find you do in fact have time.

The reason you DO in fact have time is because it’s not about all or nothing. If all you can manage to do right now is go for a few walks more than you do, and cut your alcohol intake down to 2 instead of 4 days a week – then start there. Something is always better than nothing.

So figure out if you really do want to make the change and if you do start to prioritise it – in any small way you can!

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Just a Chinese Takeaway…

Dr Nancy P

Just a Chinese Takeaway… 🥡🥢

Although traditionally an end of week “treat” recent research shows that over 1 in 10 people will order takeaway on a Monday or Tuesday night and 1 in 5 have at least 1 takeaway a week. Chinese is one of the most popular. If you’re trying to lose weight/fat then these takeaways can prove tricky to navigate. You may even feel like it’s not even worth trying to “be good”; what’s a few more prawn crackers when you’re already “ruining” your diet? You don’t need to avoid them and you don’t need to write off the day either.

As you can see the difference between the two Chinese options are massive. For most people that 970 dinner will take up a large chunk of their daily calories BUT it’s a lot more manageable within the context of the week overall. You can easily offset some of those cals with a lighter breakfast and lunch that day, and reducing calories by 100-150 a day for a few days either side.

So what should you choose? Most starters are heavy on the cals; bbq spare ribs are 870 cals, 3 spring rolls are 690 and sesame toast is 610 cals. Prawn crackers are also quite a lot at 570 cals. Instead go for a soup; hot and sour soup is only 100 cals, and crab or chicken and sweetcorn is a reasonable 170 cals. It’s also filling. Steamed dumplings are a good choice too at 70 – 90 cals per dumpling.

Anything “crispy”, “battered”, or “stir-fried”, “sticky” or “sweet” will be higher calorie. Anything named “special” usually has extra ingredients making it higher cal too. Sweet and sour battered pork is 960 cals and egg-fried rice is around 560 cals. Choose main dishes with prawn, beef, or chicken that aren’t battered. Beef with green peppers is around 500 cals. Chicken chow mien is a great option as there’s no need for additional rice etc and only 590 cals. If you do need rice try to go for plain (390 cals). Also use chopsticks as they slow you down meaning you’ll be less likely to overeat.

Sustainable, long term weight management is about working out ways to compromise and manage things like takeaways without them being all or nothing! So you can still have fun, still have delicious food, but still stay on track!

Enjoy 😊



Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Back to the Gym

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Back to the Gym 🏋🏼‍♂️

I shared this back in July and never thought I’d have to share it again! But after months of lockdown walks, home workouts, online classes etc the gyms are finally open again and many people are keen to return. Here are some tips for returning

# Familiarise yourself

Measures such as one way systems, time limits, reduced capacity, lack of changing rooms etc will be in place. Read the gym’s info and check their rules – that will help reduce anxiety about returning. Remember this is challenging for staff too so be understanding of that too.

# Plan your workout

With limited time in the gym it’s important to plan your workout. Your body’s ability to handle a high volume of training will have decreased, so aim for whole body workouts rather than targeting specific muscles etc. Let your body acclimatise with lower weights and reps etc. Be sure to warm up and include recovery time. Having just got back to the gym you don’t want to get injured and be out of action again!

# Book

You will need to book for many activities so plan in advance. With capacities reduced that also means you need to cancel if you can’t make it and if you’re on a waitlist then it’s your responsibility to check that waitlist and either be prepared to come and hope you get in, or cancel off the list so others have the chance.

# Do what you enjoy

After months away, you may find that your motivation is flagging so pick something you enjoy!

# Expect some soreness

You may be sore after your return. That’s normal; delayed onset muscle soreness is a natural response to using your muscles in diff ways. It usually occurs 1-3 days after the workout. The best advice is to keep active; walk, swim, do a diff style class, but keep the muscles moving.

# Hydrate

When you go back to the gym your body will need more hydration than usual. Most gyms will require you to bring your own water bottle as fountains will be out of use.

# Look after yourself

How you take care of yourself during downtime can have a significant impact on your exercise regime. Stay hydrated, eat well, don’t rely on coffee and sugar to get you though, and try to prioritise sleep.

Have fun!

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx