Everyone needs a friend!

Every person’s body is different; you may start quickly and settle down or start slowly and speed up! I know every individual is unique and that is why, as a Personal Wellness Coach, I work on giving my clients personal and private advice.

Group support can also be important as you can give and receive encouragement from others, as in our weekly Weight Loss Challenge groups or other slimming classes you may attend. Another option is to have a “Diet Buddy” who you share your goals, tips and experiences with.

As they say on the TV quiz show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” – phone a friend when you’re stuck and don’t know the answer!

As with any change of diet, the first few days will be the hardest, so a friendly, encouraging support will help you through it! After this time your appetite will decrease and it will get much easier plus you will start to feel all the benefits of good nutrition. If you chose your programme well and you stick to it, you should expect to lose weight safely and gain health, vitality and energy.

Beware the green-eyed monster!

I’ve had a few clients now who’ve experienced a problem with their friends as they’ve lost weight and started to feel good about themselves.

This ‘friendly’ sabotage can take many different forms from a genuine kind of concern “you’re starting to look a bit gaunt, don’t you think you should stop now?”(although you are still 2 stones/28lbs overweight!) to thin friends becoming jealous because you now wear the same or smaller clothes size as them and are no longer their “fat friend”!

As hurtful as this can be, just stick to your guns and keep going as only you know how much better you feel!

"Phone a friend" when you need support!

To summarise:

• Use a support system. Make sure you attend your weekly meeting, call your Personal Wellness Coach for advice or a friend, partner or relative who will listen positively to you and remind you of your reason why you want to lose weight.
• Become someone else’s support system.  Find a weight loss “buddy” – a friend or relative you can talk to who is also trying to lose weight. Providing support for them will also help keep you on track as you’ll want to set a good example!

Weight loss or changing shape? You decide!

Just a quick poll to see what you all think which is the most important to you!

Hooray! Back on track

Very pleased to report that my weight is going down again! I lost 0.9kg/2lbs last week so definitely back in the game again.

Not succumbing to the temptation of sweet desserts and chocolate has help me refocus and so has making sure I’m eating enough and am recording what I eat – so easy to forget those extra calories!!  More about this in a blog later this week.

The other factor that has made a real difference is making sure that I’m drinking enough water – always more of a challenge in the very cold weather and snow we’ve had this week.

I’m off the gym as I was very lucky to win a year’s gym membership in a competition right at the end of last year.  Have just got going as I am a very definite gym novice but starting to enjoy it now I’ve got the hang of how the machines work. I will need to be aware that as I build muscle it will weigh more than the fat it is replacing but I know the change in shape will help me look much better in my clothes.

What do you think?  Is it about weight loss for you or changing shape?  Think I’ll run a poll to find out!

I did watch UK “The Biggest Loser” last night when they were in Florida and am constantly amazed at how little some of the contestants are losing when they work out 4 times a day and, according to the introduction, are “on a strict calorie controlled diet”.  I do think they need more help and support with their eating habits.

To Lose Weight Effectively – Mind Your Ps and Qs!

So what are you Ps and Qs, I hope you’re all asking!

Portions; Proportions; Quantity; Quality

Sounds easy but not quite as easy as you’d think!

Portions

First a short history lesson: since the 1980’s typical serving sizes have increased dramatically.  A few examples: crisps (aka chips to American friends) were 25g bags and are now 40g or sometimes even 55g; the most popular bottle size of drinks is now 500ml, when it used to be 330ml; plates used in restaurants are bigger – usually 12” now.

Why does size matter?  Well, in portions it directly relates to calories. A couple of simple equations illustrate this:

Bigger portions = more calories!

More calories in than out = weight GAIN!!

But research has shown confusion between portion and serving. The result? People underestimate calories consumed by up to 25% each day.

A portion is the amount of food we actually consume which may be more or less than a serving. The easiest way to make sure our serving size is correct is to read the food label.

I was originally quite shocked at how little a serving of pasta or rice is supposed to be compared with what I had been eating but now I’ve got used to it I find it more than enough!  So the lesson is to weigh it out or measure it.

Proportions

I’d like you to all hold your hands out and then cup your hands together….. .that’s the size of your stomach!  Now hold your cupped hands over a plate and you’ll see how much of the plate you should be filling and not piling up.  I finally understood the old saying “your eyes are bigger than your stomach”.

I aim to mentally divide my plate into four and to have ¼ of a plate protein, e.g., lean meat, chicken or fish, ¼ of a plate healthy carbohydrate, e.g., wholemeal pasta, couscous or rice, wholemeal bread (wholemeal pitta bread is a good choice) or sweet potato, and ½ a plate of vegetables and/or salad. I find it a good idea to have a small (even basic lettuce and tomato) salad with each meal as this really helps the cleansing and digestion process.  I use dark salad leaves, such as mustard leaves and watercress, wherever possible.

How much are you trying to squeeze in?

Quantity

One of the most important skills you can master is being able to read a food label in order to figure out exactly what you are getting from your foods.

Pay close attention to where the label says “per 100g and per portion”. It’s easy to assume that small packages of biscuits or cheese or medium-sized drink containers are single servings. But this may not be the case. An “official” serving of a beverage is 250ml, but many drinks are packaged in 500ml containers or larger. All the nutrition facts on the label are for one serving. If you drink a 500ml beverage, you will be drinking twice the number of calories on the nutrition facts panel as you’ll be taking in two servings. You will need to double all the information on the label to determine exactly what you are taking in.

I find the following useful to visualise when I’m looking at a food label:

• Every 4 grams of sugar is a teaspoon
• Every 5 grams of fat is a teaspoon (or a pat of butter)

Quality

The closer you are to nature, the closer you are to health! Upgrade to colourful foods and enjoy delicious, fresh food!

Look at the positives:

• Colourful foods have no preservatives, no added colour!
• Provide an abundance of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibre
• Have a high water content – an excellent source of hydration
• Are visually appetising
• Their firm textures demand a good chew, so we eat them more slowly
• Quickly and easily processed by the body – less work for the digestion
• Are as nature intended (unlike processed, pre-packaged modern fast foods!)

Power of Protein!

It seems everywhere we look someone is promoting a new diet that praises the power of protein. But whether you want to lose, gain or maintain your current weight, the importance of protein goes far beyond physical appearance and muscle building.

According to Dr David Heber in the LA Shape Diet, “your Protein Factor is the amount of protein that you need to consume during the day to maintain a healthy lean body mass.” Normally you would need 1g of protein per 1-1.5kg of lean body mass.

• For women it’s usually between 80-100g
• For men 100-150g.

If you are not exercising you need the lower end of your specific protein factor and if you are, then it’s advisable to eat the middle of the range of your particular protein factor.  If you eat more protein than you use, you will store the excess as FAT!

Protein is an important component of every cell in the body. It is stored in muscles and organs and the body utilises it to build and repair tissues, as well as for the production of enzymes and hormones. Proteins also make it possible for blood to carry oxygen throughout the body.

A lack of protein can cause loss of muscle mass and decreased immunity, as well as weakening of the heart and respiratory system.

Benefits Of Increasing Your Protein Intake

• Protein is a hunger buster – helping you feel fuller for longer
• Protein has a gentle, steady effect on blood sugar
• You no longer ‘crave’ carbohydrates as sugar drop is not as significant
• Protein helps build muscle that keeps you younger longer
• It takes more energy to digest protein so you use more calories!

What Is Protein? 
Protein is the basic ‘building block’ of all living things. Our bodies are about 25% protein.  Protein is made up of 22 amino acids, 9 of which are essential. Your body needs them and cannot make them for itself – they have to be ingested. They are not stored and so a daily supply of all 9 is necessary.

There Are Two Types Of Protein: 

• Animal Proteins
• Plant Proteins

Animal proteins can come with a high percentage of saturated fat, e.g., a 6oz/150g steak contains 16g of saturated fat.  Fish and poultry are best sources of ‘lean’ (less saturated fat) protein.

You can obtain healthy sources of protein without high levels of saturated fat. For example, soybeans, nuts and whole grains provide protein without much saturated fat and offer plenty of healthful fibre and micronutrients as well.  The soybean is a complete protein, containing ALL 9 essential amino acids without ANY saturated fat!

If you’re looking for yet another great way to obtain healthy protein, vegetable sources of protein found in Herbalife’s Formula 1 is high quality and has lower calorie levels with virtually no added fat. Herbalife^® products personalise your daily protein intake to match your body’s needs.

Examples of healthy protein!

Three Weeks over – mustn’t yield to temptation!

Managed to maintain my weight loss this week, keep to my target and even lose just a bit which after something of a blowout weekend (well, Sunday really) was a great result! My 2kgs/5lbs a month target is now looking eminently sensible as it does allow me to occasionally indulge.

It was of course entirely my own fault as I had my brother and sister round for lunch and made a fairly evil dessert rather than a health fruit salad!  But that’s life and my weight loss regime does have to fit around all the normal things that I do.  There’s always going to be birthdays, anniversaries or special occasions and the key is to learn to cope with them.

If you do fall off the wagon or, as in my case this weekend, fall off your horse (yes, I actually managed to do that too – probably why the dessert was so tempting as comfort food!), in the words of the song “just pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again”!

I’ve learnt not to let one bad meal become a bad day, then a bad couple of days, then a bad week and finally a bad month and give up.  I accept it as just that meal (or day if it’s that kind of occasion), don’t beat myself up over it and get right back into my routine the next day.

Now it’s the start of a new month and I have my target all set again and feel really positive about achieving it because I’ve learned the benefit of just sticking to that level.

After plateau period weight now on the way down again!