Love food and lose weight
A diet without chocolate and wine is tough at the best of times. Bring on the temptations that come with birthdays, stressful days or Valentine’s Day, and spending a month locked in a room with no food begins to sound like the easiest option. After all who wants to sit around the dinner table nibbling on a plate of salad while the rest of the family are tucking into a mouth-watering Sunday roast?
You might manage to lay off the spuds or dessert for a couple of days, but the hunger gremlins will eventually claw their way in. After denying yourself for a couple of days that beef burger starts to become an obsession. Why does this sound all too familiar? Simple, because you are human! The small child in all of us hates being told not to do something. Similarly that same inner child will rebel the second it is told not to eat the foods he or she loves.
How can you get healthy and lose weight if you aren’t dieting? Enjoy your food of course! If you like the foods you are eating, then you won’t feel like you’re on a diet. As long as you watch your portion sizes, you will lose weight!
Loving your food and dieting don’t go together you might think, but I want to dispel a few dieting myths to show you just how compatible they are.
Fact 1: Dairy keeps you slim
People who eat 3 portions of low fat dairy per day are slimmer than those who eat less. Now for the scientific back up, the calcium found in dairy helps to bind fat and boost your metabolism. Replace sugary snacks with a yoghurt or a small slice of cheese.
Fact 2: Not eating enough can stop you losing weight.
Consume too few calories and your body goes into starvation mode, slowing down the rate at which you burn food and lose weight. Next time you choose a tiny salad over a hearty dinner you might be doing your weight loss more harm than good. Strike the balance!
Fact 3: Carbs don’t cause weight gain.
Wholegrains like brown rice and wholemeal pasta are full of fibre which fills you up. It’s true that eating too many refined carbohydrates like white rice and white bread leads to weight gain. However, it’s also a fact that the fibre in wholegrains keeps the digestive system healthy and cuts down on bloating.
Fact 4: You don’t need to eat everything in moderation.
Eat as many veggies as you like and the chances are you won’t gain a pound. I mentioned in another angle recently a research paper that shows how chilli peppers and cayenne pepper may even help to speed up the metabolism. Try a spicy stir-fry for dinner.
Fact 5: A protein breakfast keeps you full.
If you fancy eggs on toast as a treat at the weekend have them. Protein food like eggs, beans, chicken and lean red meat have a very high satiety level, meaning they keep you feeling fuller for longer when you eat them.
Fact 6: Treats won’t ruin your diet.
I’m not about to advise you to tuck into a box of chocolates or polish off the 10 pack of walkers crisps yourself, but treats are allowed. In fact a few minutes of reprieve from your diet is actually good for you. If you do have a bar of chocolate go out for a walk. If you don’t feel like a walk just choose a healthier choccie treat. Highlights hot chocolate or strawberries dipped in melted dark chocolate are personal favourites. Crisps are not just fattening, but they are bad for your health, so skip them, but alternatives you can have are popcorn and snack-a-jacks.
While I am on a roll other dessert ideas include choccie cake with fresh fruit. Double cream is a calorie trap that can be replaced with reduced fat crème fraiche or natural yoghurt. Go for stewed apples with a little low fat crème fraiche instead of apple tart and ice cream and save yourself around 200 calories. Phew I could go on and on!
Fact 7: What about alcohol?
Well for those of you who do like a tipple the good news is that you can still enjoy a glass of wine or beer. Stretch your drinks further by having wine spritzers and shandies made with diet fizzies.
People who successfully lose weight and keep it off don’t make weight loss hard on themselves. They eat the types of foods they enjoy, ok so maybe crisps are swapped for lower fat types and portion sizes are adjusted, but small changes and loving your food will make all the difference.
Catherine Matthews
Nutritionist
For daily nutrition tips join my facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/healthyeatingforlife
What a relief to read this! Jill
Comment by JILLHUGHES8 -
Awesome info! I must try and send it to others...
Comment by ROYALPRIESTESS -
brilliant advice about Calcium etc and not going under calorie-intake, Claire, and great to read everyone's experiences. Keep it up Ivor - what an inspiration!
Comment by BYEBYETUM -
Hi MINAS100, do try to stick to your calorie allowance this week and if you are still struggling get in touch with the nutrition team, so that we can review your calories and reset them if necessary. Thanks, Catherine
Comment by CATHERINEMATTHEWS -
Hi Ivor, That is absolutely fantastic! It can be scary increasing your calorie allowance, but it is about finding what works for you. If 1200 calories isn't causing you to lose weight, that is an indication that your metabolism has slowed down, so you need to increase the calories.
Thanks, Catherine
Comment by CATHERINEMATTHEWS -
After losing 20lbs in the first 4 weeks I've plateaued for the past 2 weeks. I read an interesting article online that suggested my body's doing its level best to maintain homeostatic equilibrium less weight means less energy is needed to keep everything ticking over. So I'm going to ensure I eat the recomended daily calories (sometimes eat less when swapping meals) and increase my execises, then hopefully I'll start losing weight again. Fingers crossed! Ivor I'm impressed, that's amazing!!
Comment by CATHERINEMEESON -
The recipes are great, this time all my family are eating the same meals as me and enjoying them too. We have all enjoyed lots of new meals that we wouldn't have tried otherwise. This has made it easier for me as I don't feel like I am dieting. :-)
Comment by TWINNKLE -
I agree about not eating enough I have fallen into that trap in the past. My meals look nothing like the lettuce leaf and a glass of water that people see as dieting, but my plate is full of healthy veg and the recipes on your site are great. I have eaten combinations of foods I have never tried before and really enjoyed them. This isn't so much a diet (although the weight is decreasing) as a healthy and enjoyable way to eat forever.
Comment by VIVIAN42 -
Thanks for this, having a bad few days with all of the above! I did poached pears with 0% Total yoghurt last week it was fantastic, so I'd better get some more. Also if I am craving chocolate I take a penguin on a hike up the mountain :) and I absolutely can't do without Sunday lunch so I haven't. Actually on balance I am eating under my calorie allowance so that's probably why I'm struggling.
Comment by MINAS100 -
Interesting about the too few calories diet hindering weight loss. I am diabetic and work out at a gymn every day doing a mix of weights and cardio. I restrictted myself to 1200 calories whilst on this high activity and my weight plateaued! Your dieticians advised me to virtually double my calorie intake and - abracadabra my weigh immediately started to drop again. Very surprised but thanks Tesco! Incidentally, I am 70 and benchpressing 100 kilos + - good eh?
Ivor
Comment by IVORHOBBINS -
I find the dairy info really fascinating, as lots of people cut it out when they diet, because they are worried about the fat. But of course dairy - and soya, oat & rice alternatives - will also contain protein, calcium and vitamins. And the evidence is growing that calcium will help you keep the weight off.
Cheese and apple - yum, low fat natural yoghurt & fruit, even yummier yet
Claire
Comment by CLAIRE@EDIETS -