Tuesday Tip: Tips for Festive Socialising 🥂

This festive season there’s bound to be lots of socialising and If you’re trying to lose fat/weight it can be a challenge to keep things under control. Here are some tips to help reduce those extra cals.

#1 Be realistic

Saying “I’m not going to have any alcohol / desserts at all” isn’t realistic, but perhaps “I’m not going to drink at every Christmas party” might be more doable?

Decide which events are worth relaxing a bit for. One event a week is a good target, so choose the special events and then don’t worry about them, just relax and enjoy having whatever you want to have that day/night.

# Make a plan

If you’ve decided which events to relax at that means there are some events where you will want to be more careful. So you need a plan. First thing to remember is the reason you’re there is to share time with people in your life. Focus on the people and the activities rather than the food and drinks. Ensuring you’ve had something to eat before going to drinks events, or have dinner plans in place for afterwards. If it’s a dinner then just try to make the best possible choices, fill up with veggies and get some protein in, and drink lots of water. Stick to lighter beers, prosecco, white wines, clear spirits with low cal mixers etc and avoid sugar-laden cocktails.

# Plan for problems

Try to think about the possible obstacles in advance. Are buffets your weakness? Are canapes / nibbles your weak point? Have some alternative plans in place; for buffets commit yourself to one plate of satisfying food only. Make a decision before you go not to dip in to the nibbles and ensure you’re not too hungry when you arrive so you’re not starving when they come round. Making an active decision before you even get there will help you to resist them more easily.

You have to be realistic about the situations you’re facing. There’s no point planning on just eating carrot sticks all evening, you will fail, no question. So be smart about your strategy and honest about what you can manage. If you have a friend going with you share your plan with them, they might be keen to help you and give you some moral support – it’s a lot easier to say no to those canapes when you’re both refusing them.

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

You don’t have to do it all .. all the time 🙏🏻

As we approach what is traditionally a busy and hectic time of year I think this is an important reminder. The all or nothing mindset is one of the biggest issues which keeps people from making meaningful progress towards their weight loss and fitness goals. Your health and your approach to nutrition and fitness don’t need to be all or nothing. It’s about learning when to do what, how to do things, when to accelerate, and when to put on the brakes and not beating yourself up about it.

When life is going to plan maybe you will workout 5 times a week, track all your meals, eat ‘healthy’ and stick to your calories, hit your steps, prioritise 8hrs of sleep etc. But then life happens, you get busy, or ill or work takes over and you miss a few workouts, or overeat or eat something you don’t deem as ‘healthy’ and suddenly everything seems to go to pot. Your motivation disappears and you feel defeated, frustrated and discouraged. Somehow one meal or day overrides weeks of progress. You’re hard on yourself and start to fall back to old habits and progress stalls. You think ‘f*ck it’ and don’t even bother trying to be ‘good’. Then after a while, you are unhappy with your weight and the whole process starts again.

It doesn’t need to be like this – it’s not black and white. It’s not a very healthy mindset to have for long-term, sustainable progress. Think about why you want to improve your fitness or lose weight. Ultimately it’s to live a healthier and happier future, so you can enjoy life. That means you’ll have to learn to manage life and all it entails, and incorporate some of that enjoyment into your new habits and weight loss journey. This means you’ll need to accept that sometimes you’ll do things that don’t fit perfectly into your fitness/weight loss goals, and that’s ok! It’s not about perfection, it’s about consistency.

Recognise that sometimes it’s ok to indulge or to not exercise, and dial down your expectations during busy/stressful times. Practice a little self compassion and understand that progress isn’t linear and that being able to incorporate these times is actually progress itself. If you are making things too restrictive then it won’t be a long-term sustainable plan for you. Focus on consistency not perfection and with a little patience you will reach those goals.

🤗
Xx

Tuesday Tip: Magnesium and sleep 💤

There’s been lots of talk about the benefits of magnesium for improving sleep quality so what’s the evidence actually like?

Magnesium increases our gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels by binding to GABA receptors in the brain. GABA is the neurotransmitter responsible for quieting down nerve activity. When GABA levels are low, the brain feels like it is constantly switched on, which makes it very difficult to relax and can lead to increased stress and anxiety which can lead to poor sleep. Magnesium, in theory, helps you “wind down” and prepare for sleep.

Studies have shown a possible association between low magnesium and poor sleep but there are few studies actually testing the impact of increasing magnesium. Studies on insomnia found that on average people got to sleep 17.36 minutes quicker and had an increase in total sleep time of 16.06 minutes with increased magnesium intake. In terms of general sleep the results are less clear but they did find an association between higher magnesium intake and better sleep for those with very poor sleep but there wasn’t anything suggest that magnesium supplements help sleep in the average person. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence from people measuring their sleep who have found some level of improvement with magnetism supplements but these aren’t proper studies so need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

The standard recommendation is 300-400mg ~1hr before bed. You can get magnesium from dark leafy greens, nut, seeds, fish, bananas, oats and tofu etc. I’m a fan of a food-first approach but there may be a case for taking a supplement too. Most people don’t get enough magnesium from their diet and it may not be realistic to get it from food, in addition there is evidence that the acute dose of magnesium matters i.e. getting 300-400mg in one hit – hard to do from food alone. There are plenty of options of supplements but magnesium glycinate is recommended.

So in summary, whilst the evidence isn’t conclusive it could be worth increasing magnesium intake if you struggle with sleep as it’s relatively cheap and safe when used in appropriate amounts.

Happy Tuesday 🤗xx