Tag: newyearfitness

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

What you need to do after the Xmas excess?

Dr Nancy P

What you need to do after the 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!

Happy New Year!

Xx

Tuesday Tip

Tuesday Tip: Say No to ‘Detoxes’

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday Tip: Say No to ‘Detoxes’ 🥗

It’s January and predictably across social media people are peddling “detoxes” and “cleanses”. We’re told our bodies are full of toxins from overeating at Xmas, and if you follow plan X / buy the pill/tea/shake you’ll get rid of them and lose weight/ feel/look amazing. You don’t need it, your liver and kidneys do a great job of “detoxing” you, and these products can make your health worse. But we still fall for it.. why?

# Post holiday detox

Over holidays we eat and drink more, so we crave simple, nutrient dense food like salads. Physically it feels good, and psychologically it feels good too; drawing a line under all the junk. This sort of “detox” isn’t silly, it’s just a word we use to say “lets get back to eating well”

# Bloat

Over-indulging, or eating certain foods makes you bloated e.g. rich foods, alcohol, beans, or foods high in salt, certain starches and sugars. If it’s a chronic issue see a Dr. If you’ve been eating lots of salt you will retain water, making you look and feel bloated, reduce the salt for a few days and you’ll be fine. Overdo the food and drink? You don’t need to do anything just eat normally for a few days.

# Constipation

If you’ve been eating badly you may be constipated. Most detoxes /cleanses are laxatives, which can permanently damage your intestines. So first of all, increase water and fibre intake, then increase fruits, veg, and whole grains, but do it gradually; a sudden fibre increase can make you feel worse. If that doesn’t help, see a Dr, not a Facebook ‘expert’.

# Fat loss

No, just no. A juice/pill/shake won’t do that! Sometimes just buying something is a powerful psychological message that you’re making a change and acts as a kickstart; which is why we fall for it. Sadly it won’t last, and you’re left out of pocket and likely to rebound. The more radical approach to losing weight, the more likely it is to fail. Slow and steady wins the race; make small, sustainable habit changes and you’ll reap the rewards.

It’s normal to want to reset, feel better and make changes, but you don’t need a “detox”. Just try to get some sleep, drink more water, eat veg and get moving. You’ll look and feel far better for it!

Happy Tuesday 🤗xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Consistency over Perfection….

Dr Nancy P

Consistency over Perfection…. 🙌🏼

This time of year in particular there’s often a really gung ho attitude to weight loss. It’s understandable – new year, new you and it’s natural to want to have a clean start. However it’s worth just taking a step back and considering your approach. On the left is the person who is all about perfection. January 1st hits and they are 100% on it – they start a new fitness plan/ diet and go all out. They drastically cut calories, cut out all what they consider ‘bad’ foods, don’t go out, exercise 7 days a week. They make quick progress to start with but they eventually either hit a wall and their energy and enthusiasm drops, or ‘life’ happens – a social event they can’t get out of, they get sick, a stressful event etc etc. They ‘fall off the wagon’ and overeat or miss a workout etc and that’s it – they can’t be perfect so what’s the point? Progress stalls and they give up.

On the right is the person who starts slow. They make some small sustainable changes – a reasonable calorie deficit they can stick to, they include all the foods they enjoy within that, they exercise 3 times a week because that’s what they can fit into their life, they socialise but limit damage when they do. They also have ‘bad’ days, and ‘life’ happens too but when they ‘fall off the wagon’ they get back on track the next day.

They don’t make progress as fast, but they’ve made sensible, sustainable choices they can stick to so over the longer term they actually make more progress – that lasts.

Being consistent trumps being perfect over time – because no one can maintain perfection every day, every week and every month. Being ‘good enough’ consistently is how true, long lasting sustainable progress happens. So resist the temptation and go for the slow burn!

Xx

Nutrition and Calorie Tips

Practical New Year’s Resolutions…

Dr Nancy P

Practical New Year’s Resolutions… ⭐️

It’s January which means many of us are full of New Year’s resolutions and wanting to make a fresh start at health and fitness. Often these resolutions will be things like to “lose weight” or to “get fit” or perhaps “eat healthier’. Now whilst these are all great goals they’re quite hard to achieve without some practical steps. They’re outcomes of changes you need to make rather than actual resolutions per se.

So if you are making New Year’s resolutions about your health and fitness, then instead of making generalised statements try to focus instead on small actions you can take every day that will lead to those end goals.

So instead of resolving to lose weight, perhaps instead resolve to identify where the excess calories are in your diet. Are they coming from alcohol? Extra snacks? Take aways? Portion sizes? And then you can take steps to reduce them and therefore reduce your calorie intake (leading to fat and weight loss).

Instead of resolving to “get fit”, instead focus on upping your daily steps. Rather than choosing an arbitrary goal of 10,000 steps, instead commit to increasing your steps. If you’re already hitting 12,000 steps a day then aim for 14,000, if you’re getting 4,000 aim for 6,000 etc. Also consider adding some exercise 1-3 times a week. It doesn’t matter what that exercise is really just pick something you actually enjoy; dancing, running, weight lifting, swimming cycling etc.

Rather than resolving to “Eat healthier” commit to adding a portion of fruit or veg to every meal. Aside from the fact that it will increase your overall nutrition, it will increase fibre levels, and will probably help reduce overall calories as by filling some of your plate with fruit and veg you’re going to eat less of other, more calorie dense foods.

This approach is far better than making massive changes, subscribing to fad diets/detoxes/challenges etc which may well cause you to lose weight quickly but will also see you putting that weight back on once you’re back to eating normally again. Take small sustainable steps and you’ll find you’ll hit your goals and be able to maintain it within your lifestyle too! 🙂

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 2023. 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