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!)

Two Weeks complete!!

Just a quick update…

As I said last week, the real challenge for me last week was to keep my focus on my original plan, sticking to my SMART goal of 5lbs/2kgs a month and not be distracted because I achieved that in my first week.

After years of dieting I do finally know myself and, with a couple of breakfast meetings and a really packed schedule for this week, making sure I didn’t fall off the wagon in week 2 was going to be tough.

I did keep feeling tempted to set myself a new goal but resisted and so have maintained my loss and have still lost 5lbs/2kgs this month.  In reality this means I didn’t lose any more weight this week but I’m not at all disappointed by this as I am still on track to achieve my goal for the month!

I can feel my body changing shape and know that muscle weighs more than fat so that this is very likely to be the reason why coupled with the fact that I’m drinking more water as I was quite dehydrated.

I will explain more about both muscle and water in my next couple of blogs and then let you know how week 3 went!

Survive the Christmas party season without gaining weight!

With tiny black dresses and huge temptations all around, the party season is traditionally a mid-winter extravaganza that leaves a dieter feeling left out in the cold. The choices available at Christmas parties are often far from fat-free, the atmosphere is usually carefree, the alcohol is flowing and it’s a time to really let loose after months of hard work.

The temptation is just to jack in the diet for the duration of the party season, and sort out the damage in the New Year. BIG mistake, you will feel so disappointed with yourself and the truth is you can have fun and control your weight. I never believed that before but for the last 4 years I have enjoyed Christmas with all the indulgence and celebrations but not gained weight!

Regardless of how much mistletoe there is around, you don’t have to kiss your diet goodbye this Christmas! If you were planning to opt for the corset to hold in the curves this party season, why not just make a few careful choices instead?

I’m not suggesting that you abstain completely from the fun but these tips will help you party on without piling on the pounds!

Plan ahead!
Due to large numbers attending Christmas dinners and parties, hotels and restaurants often ask that you make menu choices before the event. If you make the choice beforehand, you avoid the risk of being tempted with a higher calorie meal.

If you are going to a drinks reception, try to have a healthy meal beforehand. If you don’t have time for a full meal, fit in a protein rich snack, such as a Herbalife Formula 1 bar, protein bar or crackers with low fat cheese. Being hungry means you will be more tempted to nibble your way through those calorie and fat laden finger foods!

H²0, H²0, H²0!
Keep a glass of water in front of you at all times. This will help to fill you up and also help to reduce the amount of alcohol you are drinking.

The facts on finger-food
Stay away from conversations around the buffet table, it’s all too easy to just keep picking.

Avoid deep fried finger foods like chicken nuggets, cocktail sausages or samosas – one tiny cocktail sausage can have over 60 calories and 5g of fat! Vol-au-vents, quiches and other pastry-based foods are also high in fat – remember that pastry is usually 50% fat!

Vegetable sticks and dips are a good option but watch out for those fatty dips – one tablespoon of mayonnaise or sour cream dip has around 170 calories and 17g of fat. Go for yoghurt or vegetable dips and vegetable or bean pâté instead – you could save yourself over 100 calories per tablespoon!  Chicken tikka or satay skewers are a great choice but again beware the dips.

Mini sandwiches are a healthy choice but avoid fillings based on mayonnaise. Steer well clear of crisps and dips, as well as salted nuts or else you’ll be prone to water retention, which certainly won’t match your new dress!

So, go ahead – enjoy those Christmas parties AND feel good!!

Why Wait Till Monday To Start Your Diet?

I started my diet on a Friday and was really glad I did as it was so new that it helped me resist all the temptations that are around at the weekend and stick to a sensible eating plan.

It is a great opportunity to plan what you are going to eat healthily over both the weekend and the next week while your willpower is still strong.  You can also make sure that you have healthy snacks and food in stock.

The shops are filled with seemingly irresistible “bargains” and we often start building up the Christmas stash of food from October.  The first half price (or better!) tin of chocolates appears, the one that no Christmas would be complete without, or that box of shortbread that you’d never think of buying the rest of the year, and then each week we buy the next offer.

There’s also present shopping to be fitted in on top of the regular washing, ironing and cleaning chores!  Christmas shopping can be a great cardio exercise. Pounding the stairs of multiple department stores laden with bags is not entirely dissimilar to weighted lunges!

One of the best things I found about starting on Friday was that by Monday I felt lighter already!  This boosted my resolve even further and was a really great encouragement to keep going.  It certainly stopped me from wavering about whether to start or not which would have been my usual downfall on Monday!

So, next time you think about “the diet will start tomorrow” or “I’ll start on Monday” go ahead and try Friday instead.  Why not make this Friday the day the “diet starts tomorrow”?  You’ve still plenty of time to lose a few pounds before Christmas!

On Surviving the Weekend!

In common with a lot of my clients, I usually find the weekend the most challenging time on any weight loss programme.

A different routine, out and about so seeing more temptations, the weekly supermarket shop, visiting friends and relations and anything else that didn’t get done during the week.

Instead of being a recovery break in your working week, the weekend becomes a pressured and stressful rush to fit everything so that you can finally sit down and relax and watch Strictly or X Factor.  If you plan to go out with friends this presents a whole new food challenge to deal with which I’ll cover in another blog.

Apart from the usual things to do, my weekend takes on the additional chore of looking after my horse – known as DIY.  I do try to hack out or school my horse each weekend morning, which gives me a great chance to catch up with my friends at the livery yard while burning calories.  Then it’s mucking out the stable, cleaning tack, filling hay nets and preparing feeds.  At this time of year, with the light fading fast, the horses are ready to come back in from the fields again by 2:30pm so it tends to be a mad rush to fit everything in.

The two main challenges that I face are making sure I drink enough and the additional exercise making me think I’m hungry so wanting to eat more!

The reality is that they are probably one in the same as the brain can’t tell the difference between genuine hunger and thirst.  I always recommend my clients drink a glass of water first if they think they’re hungry as, unless their stomach is actually growling, it’s probably thirst.

In my case, I have to make sure I drink enough water otherwise I get really painful night cramps in my legs!

I was also really pleased when I found some calorie information on the Horse & Hound forum:

Hacking out at walk burns approximately 40 calories per 10 minutes or 240 calories per hour, trotting 75 calories per 10 minutes and cantering 85 calories per 10 minutes. Schooling a horse burns up 70 calories per 10 minutes or 360 calories per hour. Mucking out burns up 80 calories per 10 minutes or 480 calories per hour and even vigorously grooming your horse burns 45 calories in 10 minutes!

The Calorie Control Council – Fit Facts state that the total calories used per hour by a 150 pound person during horse riding were similar to those used during jogging (6mph) and cycling (9mph) (315-480 calories per hour).

So much for all those who think the horse is doing all the work!