Tag: new year new you

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

What you need to do after the New Year and Xmas excess?

Dr Nancy P

What you need to do after the New Year and Xmas excess? 🤔

At this time of year, after the Christmas and New Year inevitable excesses it’s natural to want to ‘get back on it’ and you may well think the way to do this is to go into overdrive – exercise excessively, slash your calories down to under 1000 a day, maybe do a ‘detox’/ ‘cleanse’ or throw money at a diet fad, cut carbs or other food groups… You may be beating yourself up and calling yourself a failure for eating so much over the holidays … Or you may just think ‘f*ck it’ and give up completely and continue over eating…

None of this will actually make you feel better or get you where you want to be.
Exercising excessively will only make you tired, prone to injury and likely to eat more. Slashing calories down to unsustainably low levels may work initially but won’t last and you’ll end up rebounding and overeating more – and you’ll be miserable! ‘Detoxes’ or ‘cleanses’ are just an expensive way to cut calories/replace meals – they result in rapid initial weight loss from water loss but aren’t sustainable and definitely don’t ‘remove toxins’ – your liver and kidneys do that for you just fine! Cutting food groups out has a similar effect – yes you’ll reduce your calories but unless you plan on never eating those foods again it’s not sustainable and it’s pretty sad to cut foods you love totally out of your diet for life.

Saying ‘f*ck it’ will be very liberating but if it results in you continuing to overeat then long term it probably won’t feel that good! Whilst you definitely don’t need to lose weight if you aren’t happy with your weight then you’ll certainly want to regain some control right?
Beating yourself up is definitely no good. It’s so hard not to but let’s be honest, you enjoyed a few weeks of good food and drink with family and friends, is that really a bad thing? Does it make you a ‘failure’ or a bad person? No! It makes you human and it’s not something to feel bad or guilty about!

So what should you do?
Go back to your normal exercise routine, eat balanced meals avoid all detoxes/ diet fads and save your money! Oh and remind yourself you’re a brilliant human being!
Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Alternative Resolutions

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Alternative Resolutions 🎉

New Year, New start! it’s a cliche isn’t it?Having said that it IS a good opportunity to refocus and think about what you want to achieve over the next few months. I’ve posted this before but I think it’s worth a repost for 2025-26. Instead of the usual eat healthy/exercise more, here are my favourite resolutions that are doable and a bit more interesting:

#1 Switch your phone off

Put your phone away a bit more – whether for meals, after dinner, when out – whatever – you and your friends and family will enjoy more real face time than FaceTime.

#2 Read

Ditch the telly and read a book – an actual book – be it on paper or kindle. It could be a classic or something newer.

#3 Grow something to eat

Seeds cost pennies and you don’t need to be green fingered – get some vegetable or fruit seeds, pop them in a pot on your windowsill and grow something yummy.

#4 Cook a new recipe every week

Just one recipe, one meal a week – it doesn’t need to be complicated or lengthy – dust down your cook books, or get online for inspiration.

#5 Walk

Walk somewhere you would usually drive or take public transport to. Get off a stop early or park further away if you can’t replace the whole journey.

#6 Plant bulbs

Buy some bulbs (they’re cheap, and some newspapers give them away free at this time of year too!), dig them in (pot or garden), wait – and enjoy some spring/early summer colour!

#7 Say hello

A simple hello, a please, thank you, or even a smile at someone, in a shop, cafe, passing on the street – wherever – will brighten your day and theirs.

#8 Try something new every week

Anything new, doesn’t need to be big – a new food, a new activity, a new route to work, anything!

#9 Focus on others

Do something nice for someone every day/week – a simple compliment, helping a friend, or something bigger and potentially life changing like donating blood, sponsoring a child in need or volunteering.

#10 Celebrate you

Who says you need to change, anyway?! Perhaps you’re perfect the way you are: even with flaws. Maybe these are to be celebrated as unique aspects of you, so focus more on the things you like about yourself!

Happy New Year! Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Lose weight and keep it off

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Lose weight and keep it off 🙌🏼

This year, if your goal is to lose weight or reduce body fat for good, prioritize sustainability over speed. Quick-fix diets or extreme workout routines might promise rapid results, but they often lead to burnout and frustration. Instead of going all-out and risking mental and physical exhaustion, focus on making small, manageable changes that promote steady, consistent progress.

Think back to any restrictive approaches you’ve tried before – cutting out entire food groups (usually carbs), drastically slashing calories, or ridiculous workout routines. If those methods worked long-term, you wouldn’t still be searching for answers. Sustainable success isn’t about how quickly you can lose weight; it’s about creating habits that you can maintain for life. This journey isn’t just about reaching your goal; it’s about staying there without constant struggle or setbacks.

Life will inevitably throw challenges your way, whether it’s work stress, family commitments, or unexpected events. When you’re already stretched too thin mentally and emotionally, it becomes harder to stay consistent. That’s why overcommitting or aiming for perfection is counterproductive. Stop punishing yourself for slip-ups. Stop making decisions from a place of self-disgust or frustration, and start approaching your goals with self-compassion.

The answer isn’t to push harder or do more, it’s to stay patient and stick to what works. Focus on the ‘minimum effective dose’ – the smallest, most sustainable changes that still move you closer to your goals. Whether it’s walking for 20 minutes a day, swapping higher calorie drinks for water, or incorporating more vegetables into your meals, these small habits build momentum.

Ultimately, consistency beats intensity every time when it comes to long-term success. Practice patience, celebrate progress, and remember that steady, sustainable changes will always win over short-lived extremes..

Happy Tuesday 🤗xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

What you need to do after the New Year and Xmas excess?

Dr Nancy P

What you need to do after the New Year and Xmas excess? 🤔

At this time of year, after the Christmas and New Year inevitable excesses it’s natural to want to ‘get back on it’ and you may well think the way to do this is to go into overdrive – exercise excessively, slash your calories down to under 1000 a day, maybe do a ‘detox’/ ‘cleanse’ or throw money at a diet fad, cut carbs or other food groups… You may be beating yourself up and calling yourself a failure for eating so much over the holidays … Or you may just think ‘f*ck it’ and give up completely and continue over eating…

None of this will actually make you feel better or get you where you want to be.

Exercising excessively will only make you tired, prone to injury and probably likely to eat more in the long run. Slashing calories down to unsustainably low levels may work initially but it won’t last and you’ll end up rebounding and probably overeating even more – and you’ll be miserable! ‘Detoxes’ or ‘cleanses’ are just an expensive way to cut calories/replace meals – they result in rapid initial weight loss from water loss but aren’t sustainable… and they definitely do not ‘remove toxins’ – your liver and kidneys do that for you just fine! Cutting food groups out has a similar effect – yes you’ll reduce your calories but unless you plan on never eating those food groups again it’s not sustainable and it’s frankly pretty sad to cut foods you love totally out of your diet for life.

Saying ‘f*ck it’ will definitely be very liberating but if it results in you continuing to over eat then long term it probably won’t feel that good! Whilst you definitely do not need to lose weight (no one does unless medically advised) if you aren’t happy with your weight then longer term then you’ll certainly want to regain some control right?

Beating yourself up is definitely no good. It’s so hard not to – we are often our harshest critics – but let’s be honest here – you enjoyed a few weeks of good food and drink with family and friends, is that really a bad thing? Does it make you a ‘failure’ or a bad person? No! It makes you a human being – and it’s not something to feel bad or guilty about!

So what should you do?

Go back to your normal exercise /walking routine, eat balanced meals at a sensible number of calories, Avoid all detoxes/cleanses/ diet fads and save your money! Enjoy all the things you enjoy eating, but in moderation – skip the expensive fads and focus on these fundamentals! Oh and remind yourself you’re a brilliant human being!

🤗 Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Setting goals a different way

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Setting goals a different way🥅

With the new year comes the inevitable barrage of health and fitness programs and ‘resets’. Most of these will involve some goal setting and encourage you to visualise those goals. While this can get you excited and focused on what you want to achieve, there’s one massive issue with this approach. You can get so focused on the end goal, you forget about all the things that could go wrong. A more effective approach is anti-visualisation. Instead of visualising achieving your goal, do the opposite: visualise not achieving your goal.

I know that sounds very negative but trust me on this. Imagine failing and then write down all the all the potential reasons this could have happened. Essentially you now have a list of all the obstacles and setbacks you might face as you work toward your goal. Starting with the possibility of failure in mind makes you aware of the things that could potentially go wrong. Thinking about these things ahead of time allows you to come up with solutions to better handle them, instead of them cropping up unexpectedly and throwing you off. l’ve found anti-visualisation to have another benefit. It can spur action. If you don’t feel like doing something, reminding yourself of what could happen if you keep putting off the task is often a good way to encourage action.

The other thing to consider is making your goals flexible. The problem with a rigid goal is that you either hit the goal or you don’t. And if you didn’t, you ‘failed’. If you hit 7,000 steps instead of 10,000 or went to the gym 3 times a week instead of 4 is that a failure? No! So you want to set goals in a way that emphasizes action, not perfection. Instead of setting rigid goals, use flexible goal setting. Instead of a goal to go to the gym 4 times a week make it a goal 2-4 times. You’re less likely to ‘fail’ and it’s a good reminder that doing something is better than doing nothing; that consistency is more important than perfection.

Happy Tuesday 🤗xx