Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder. Or does it?
Is it a good idea to give things up when you’re trying to be healthier? There’s often a view that abstaining from things is bad – and can end up making you crave them more. People are told that if they give up chocolate, or caffeine, or sugar, that they may end up desiring it so much that the urge becomes uncontrollable and they end up gorging on it in huge excess. But, is that true? I guess my answer is the same one that I would frequently give to new Personal Trainers when I was taking them through their courses and they’d have a question they wanted answering about some aspect of health and fitness… ‘It depends.’ Giving things up – foods, drinks, or other unhealthy habits can be both extremely helpful, and also a very bad idea. Let’s have a look at when it might be good to abstain completely, and when it might not. Addiction For people struggling with addictions – to alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, or gambling, giving up can be the only way to break the cycle. They have to adopt a zero tolerance policy, because for any of a number of reasons – some related to their personal circumstances, and others to the way their brain is wired, they are not able to exert any control over that particular habit. They cannot judge sensible levels, and so abstaining completely is the only safe way for them. Whilst many of us will talk of being addicted to things – coffee, or sugar for example – unless it has exerted a terribly negative influence on our life, then we may not feel that total abstinence is the right choice for us. Values The most common example I can give of how values impact health behaviours is that of having children. Instantly, many mothers will go without all sorts of foods and drinks in an effort to ensure that their unborn baby is healthy. And you’ll frequently see both mums and dads packing up smoking completely once they learn they have a child on the way. They may have tried to quit a number of times before but, for some reason, they’ve never managed to make it stick. Until now. Why? Because they suddenly have something that is vastly more important to them. Now it matters. The same sometimes happens when people are diagnosed with an illness, or a close friend or family member is. It doesn’t always work like this, but it’s still a powerful influencer. That doesn’t mean that when people try to abstain from things they deem unhealthy, but fail, that they don’t think it’s important. The very fact that they’ve tried to give up means they must see the benefits of doing it to some degree. The challenge often lies in the fact that things aren’t black and white – we can see both benefits and drawbacks in a habit at the same time, and we can get stuck in the middle – giving up, starting again, giving up, relapsing, and so on. Here’s an example: John wants to give up chocolate. He feels it would help him to have more energy in the long run, and there is a family history of type 2 diabetes, so he’s concerned for his long-term health. But, he works hard and a chocolate bar sometimes gives him a quick boost of energy when he needs it. He also loves the taste, and he sometimes has some chocolate in the evening as a reward after a hard day at work in a demanding job. It’s easy to see here how John might decide to give up, but then slip back into old habits because he feels that chocolate gives him some important things. Swaps For people like John, a swap is often the best option, to ensure that he gets the benefits of giving up, whilst finding a healthier way to retain the benefits of the chocolate bar. Here’s how he might do it: Discover other ways to increase his energy levels during the day – maybe swapping chocolate for a quick 5-minute walk outside. Or he might choose to drink some water, or have a piece of fruit, or do some meditation, or have a cup of tea. T He might also make a list of things he really loves the taste of that he feels are healthier – natural yoghurt with raspberries, maybe even a simple swap to darker chocolate, or a homemade healthy energy bar. It doesn’t have to be like for like i.e. food for food – just something that gives you the same feelings/benefits/rewards. The choices are endless, and it’s up to John to choose what’s best for him to feel like he’s moving in the right direction towards better health. The swap is such a powerful choice because you’re still getting the thing you ultimately desired – energy. comfort, social interaction. I’ve frequently heard the latter as the reason people go out with colleagues for a fag break, or to the pub. If you can find a way to still get what you want, without resorting to the healthy habit, your brain will likely be very satisfied and refrain from trying to tempt you into old ways. Your mindset Finally, choosing to abstain or not will depend very much on how you view things. For example, I’ve worked with a number of clients who said they wouldn’t be able to reduce the amount of a certain food. If they were going to have a biscuit, they knew they’d end up eating the entire pack. Some people might choose to take a packet and split it into smaller portions, or share them with a friend. But this person knew they wouldn’t do that – so zero tolerance was the only way for them. And it can work. In the same way that it works for the smokers and drinkers that we talked about earlier on. With foods, some clients find that they
Portion control…seven simple tricks to get into the habit
How can I eat less? I’ve probably been asked this question more than any other in my twenty years in the fitness industry. In times gone by I’d have probably talked about the importance of counting calories, weighing food, measuring out portions etc, and whilst they’ll certainly work, there are other, quicker, niftier little tricks you can use to ensure you don’t over-indulge. Here are a few of my favourites, taken from a mixture of scientific studies, my own thoughts and tricks my clients have taught me over the years. Share and share alike When it comes to takeaways and eating out, you’ll often find yourself with a massive portion that you just can’t eat. Fish and chips is a prime example, you’re sure that they’ve illegally battered a whale and wrapped it in paper for you. Why not just order one portion between two? You can also use this technique in pubs and restaurants; have a main meal each but share starters or desserts. It sounds simple but it literally halves the calories you could have consumed if you’d gone it alone. The only issue you may have is if you’re like this guy! The Rule of 3 Here’s one for buffets and takeaways – real danger spots when it comes to portion control; choice means calories. There’s a large element of FOMO at work here, you really must try a bit of everything just in case it’s amazing. Chinese and Indian takeaways are also notorious – you always order too much and even if you can’t eat it all, you don’t want it to go to waste so you stuff in as much as possible before you’re literally ready to burst. With the Rule of 3 this won’t happen – you simply limit yourself to just three choices. Your absolute favourite things maybe, or possibly three different options every time if you’re an adventurous soul. Halve it Do you always have two slices of toast? Do you butter both of sides of the bread when making a sandwich? For that matter, do you use two slices of bread to make the sandwich? If so, try going halves. One slice of toast, butter only one side of your sarnie, or even take on slice of bread, cut it in half and cut your portions and calories in the process. Equally, if you know you normally spoon yourself two portions of roasties with Sunday lunch or two scoops of ice cream with dessert, you can cut one of these in half instead. This doesn’t need to be an extreme measure; it’s certainly not something to do at every meal but done at times when you know you normally over-indulge or for just one meal each day, it can gradually add up to an effective change. Get stuffed In a nice way I mean; healthier food choices are generally higher in fibre and therefore more filling. Snacking on carrot sticks before a carb-heavy dinner can help you feel fuller quicker and control your eating. Celery or pre-dinner salads have the same effect. All of the suggestions so far work, but they require willpower. If you want to make it easier to eat less, you can physically alter your eating environment using the following tips. Is it small, or just far, far away? Those of you’ve followed balance for a while know I’m a big fan of this one – it’s known as the Delboeuf Illusion. It’s all about perception; in much the same way that Dougall is confused about the proximity of the livestock in Father Ted. Take a look at the image below from my book The Complete Guide to Weight Loss – which of the inner circles is the biggest? If you’ve seen it before, you’ll know they’re the same size; if not that may come as something of a surprise. Even when you do know, it takes effort for your brain to overrule your eyes – the one on the left clearly looks bigger. The (apparent) size of the inner circle is directly related to the size of the larger outer one; the smaller the outer circle the bigger the one in the centre appears. When it comes to plate and bowl size, this works wonders for making you feel full. Food tends to pile up when you use smaller china, also giving the appearance that there is more. And when you think there’s more, you feel full more quickly – downsize your plates and downsize your appetite. Split it up How often do you open a large bag of crisps, have a few, feel satisfied and put the rest away for another day? What about sweets? Biscuits? Or anything that comes in large portions for that matter. The human brain is incredibly poor at judging how many calories you have actually eaten – we all like to believe that we can total up how much we’ve had as we go along, stopping when we’re full. The reality is that we eat what’s there; maybe it’s still harking back to a time when if we had an opportunity to gorge, we took it, unsure when we might have that possibility again. So what’s the solution? We have to prepare our food in such a way that it is much harder to eat more – portion things out into tupperware tubs or bags, buy smaller packets or multi-packs where at least the items are separately wrapped. You’re less likely to eat six small packets of crisps in one sitting than you are to much down a giant sharer bag. Having to stop and open a new packet acts as a natural pause; time to consider your choices. We also tend to naturally assume that if something is wrapped in its own packet then by default that is a sensible portion to consume. Make it inconvenient Want to eat less of something? Place it on a higher shelf, put it at the back of the cupboard or fridge, pop
A balanced take on the scales: weighing up the pros and cons
Weighing scales have been around for millennia (if you’re a geek like me you can read more about their history here). They’re probably the most used health measuring tool on planet Earth (and maybe other world’s too, who knows), and they’re responsible for their fair share of strong opinions, heated debates and full-blown arguments. Many swear by them, sometimes to the point of unhealthy obsession, whilst opponents, particularly from the modern-day fitness world, espouse throwing them out of the nearest window or banishing them to far-away lands. I thought then that it was high time for a balanced view on the matter, so I’ve weighed in with this blog (couldn’t resist, sorry), dedicated to guiding you through whether you should use them at all, and if so, how often. Weighing in weekly…or even daily I’ll be the first to admit, for many years I would discourage my clients from this approach, rolling out the justifications we’ll review in a minute. I’ve mellowed in my old-age and those of you who’ve worked with me or been taught by me on a course will know that one of my favourite sayings is ‘it depends’. That said, I’ve never gone as far as thinking that weighing yourself daily was a good idea, especially as I once worked in a gym with a PT who weighed herself in ounces (something I thought was only reserved for the ingredients of Bake-Off contestants) and would be devastated at the tiniest changes. Imagine my surprise then this week when, whilst researching for the next balance book/online offering (titled Think: Developing a mindset for lasting success, part 1 of The Art of Balance: How to be fit, healthy and happy), I came across a decent amount of research suggesting that weighing yourself daily might be highly effective. My flat world had just become round!!! One study of 294 college students found that people weighing themselves daily lost significantly more weight over a 2-year period than those who weighed in daily. Another began with a single weight-loss seminar, after which, half of the 162 attendees were asked to weigh themselves daily, whilst the other half were offered no advice on weighing regularity. Over one year, the men asked to weigh daily lost significantly more than those who were not given advice on weighing frequency. There was no difference for the women though. In the second year of the study, the half originally not advised on weighing frequency were also asked to weigh-in daily and again the men in this group went on to lose significant amounts of weight whilst the women’s weight remained constant. A review of a wide range of studies on the topic found that both daily and weekly weigh-ins were equally successful, regardless of the other features of the weight loss programme, and one study of over 11,000 participants in Israel discovered that when people visited their GP’s or dietician frequently for weigh-ins on a weight management programme, they were up to 13% more likely to lose a significant amount of weight, in this case at least 5% of their starting weight. This figure is commonly used in the medical world and is considered a decent marker of success. Consider my eyes opened to new possibilities. I’m sure it’s no coincidence that Weight Watchers (now WW of course) and Slimming World had so much success built around their weekly weigh-in models. Regular weighing may of course not be right for everyone, so here’s some guidelines that might help you to decide if it’s right for you. Weigh yourself daily or weekly if: You know you’re impatient for results and become demotivated without them. Regular weigh-ins can help provide focus by providing evidence of quick wins. See my recent blog on why so many people love quick wins here. You need a disciplined structure to keep you on track. One of the other big reasons for the success of Slimming Clubs is the public weigh-in; it’s nice to get praise for success and equally it’s nice not to feel like you’ve failed in front of others. If you know this works for you, join a club or replicate it by weighing in with colleagues at work, family or friends. I was amazed by the successes on a weight-loss challenge I helped run for the Bank of Ireland a few years ago which contained a weekly weigh-in and a competition element, people like to win and hate losing (except weight of course). You’re ok seeing progress in smaller chunks. You may have a goal of losing a few stone and daily or weekly weigh-ins will see you chipping away at this pretty slowly, sometimes not at all if weighing daily. In fact, only weigh daily if you can always keep the big picture in mind, the long-term goal. Weight is affected by so many things; hydration levels, food in your stomach, whether you’e been to the loo or not, the menstrual cycle and more besides, that it’s highly unlikely you’ll see a consistent drop in weight. If you’re happy to look for trends over time but need that regular check to keep you on track, it can work for you. You use other monitoring methods alongside it. For example, you might weigh-in daily but do a waist measurement every 1-2 weeks as well. You can also use other tape measure readings, clothing fit and body fat tests if you have access to them. Often if people perform exercise whilst attempting to lose weight, muscle mass increases and so can weight. That doesn’t mean you’ll end up big and bulky though; muscle is very dense and so you actually get firmer and smaller the majority of the time, which is what most people are after. Changes to size and muscle mass will definitely be gradual so performing them fortnightly or even monthly is better. One of my favourite food psychology researchers, Brian Wansink, suggests that if you do weigh weekly, Wednesday is a good day to choose. Presumably
A balanced guide to hormones and how they regulate your weight
Hormones are chemicals that the body creates to send messages around the body. They are capable of switching things on and off or speeding up and slowing down bodily functions. Adrenaline, for example, will speed up heart rate and breathing rate among other things when you need to run away from something. Glands are the things in the body, often organs, which produce hormones. Why do we have them? Your body works best when it is in homeostasis, or normal, balanced functioning. There are times though when it needs to work faster and others when it needs to slow down. Hormones are triggers that switch things on or off, speed up or slow down things like heart rate, and increase or decrease levels of things like blood sugar, dependent on what the body needs. Ideally the body will work in a balanced way, so it will be down as much as it is up and off as much as it is on. The right balance of hormones helps this to happen. How do they affect weight loss and weight gain? Hormones have many roles in the body and a number are involved in the production and storage of energy, the regulation of appetite and in helping the body release energy when needed to for movement and exercise. These all have a bearing on how much fat a person stores at any one time and how much weight they lose or gain. The main hormones you should be aware of are identified below. Insulin and glucagon These two hormones, insulin in particular, play a major part in the storage of fat within the body. They are effectively complete opposites and should work together to regulate blood sugars up and down when required to keep your body functioning normally. Glucagon is released when blood sugars drop. This may occur if someone has not eaten for a while or has exercised and their blood sugar levels have decreased as a result. Glucagon is released by the pancreas and through a chain of events causes the liver to release the body’s store of glucose (known as glycogen) into the bloodstream. This elevates blood sugar levels and enables the person to function properly. In evolutionary terms, glucagon was a very useful hormone as it was needed in times of ‘fight or flight’ to elevate blood sugar levels. It also came into play if a person went a while without food. The brain needs a steady supply of energy, so if it couldn’t be supplied by food the body was able to dip into its back-up stores to increase blood sugars and give the brain the fuel it required. We have maintained all of these evolutionary functions and they are still useful in today’s world, although in Western society it is very rare for people to go any length of time without access to any food at all. It has not been shown that any discrepancies in glucagon levels bring about obesity, but it does appear that in overweight individuals, glucagon may not be as effective at raising energy usage as in normal weight people (Starke et al, 1984). Insulin is one of the most important hormones when it comes to weight gain and associated medical conditions, especially diabetes. It has a number of jobs but its major role is to decrease blood sugars if they get too high. These days this can happen a lot with our highly processed and refined, high sugar diets. Each time a person consumes a chocolate bar, some white bread or a can of fizzy drink, insulin is called into action as the level of glucose in the blood soars above what is required. The body responds by pulling this glucose out of the bloodstream and into storage just in case it needs it later. If stores of sugars are full then instead of wasting it, the body converts it to, and stores it as fat. If this happens regularly over time, the body becomes less sensitive to the insulin and blood sugars will stay high. In response to this the body releases more insulin to get the desired response. This keeps happening until the body becomes extremely insensitive to insulin and blood sugars remain high most of the time. This is diabetes type 2. It can get even worse; if the poor lifestyle persists the pancreas gets exhausted from having to produce so much insulin and effectively gives in. These later-stage diabetics aren’t just insensitive to insulin, they often don’t produce any and rely on injections to get what they need and help their body regulate its blood sugar levels. Coupled with this the high levels of glucose can cause damage throughout the body and weight control becomes extremely challenging. It has been argued by some that the insulin response and the body’s subsequent insensitivity are the major factors in the obesity epidemic (Taubes, 2013). This argument is commonly used in many of the high fat, high protein, low-carb diets that have been popular over the last 20 years that are reviewed in more detail in the nutrition chapter. There is a growing support for higher fat diets in science, especially for those people with diabetes where low-carb diets may improve insulin sensitivity and reduce the subsequent risks. Guldbrand et al (2012) showed that over two years a low-carbohydrate diet containing 50 per cent fat and 20 per cent carbohydrate led to a significant drop in blood sugars in diabetic patients, allowing them to reduce their insulin medication. This was not seen in a group consuming 60 per cent carbohydrates and 30 per cent fat as per current government recommendations. Marshall and Bessesen (2002) however argue the opposite, noting that many studies suggest that high fat diets are shown to impair insulin function – and so the debate rages on. Leptin and ghrelin Along with insulin, another hormone that has received huge attention in recent years in relation to fat storage is leptin. It is produced mostly by the
To count calories or not? Here’s a balanced view on the subject.
Before we start looking at the pros and cons of calorie counting, we should first take time to understand what a calorie is. It’s not just something that makes a food tastier! It is in fact a measure of the energy (more specifically heat energy) available in any food, or in fact, anything that contains energy. Coal has an abundance of calories, but I wouldn’t suggest using it to fuel your workout. These days we know roughly how many calories you need based on how active you are, your age, gender, bodily build and whether you want to maintain, lose or gain weight. Technically, the calories we all know and (maybe count) are actually kilocalories. That is, they are the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius. An actual calorie is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius, 1,000 times smaller than a kilocalorie. So when you hear that you need 2,500 calories a day for example, it’s actually 2,500 kilocalories, or 2,500,000 (2.5 million) calories daily. No that doesn’t mean you’re greedy! It’s just that food manufacturers simplify to make numbers easier for us to understand, and probably because all those zeros wouldn’t fit on the label. Now we know what they are, let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of counting them. FOR If you spend a little time on the mathematics of it, you can get a pretty good idea of how many calories you need consume each day to reach your goal, whether that’s to lose, maintain or gain weight, or to improve exercise performance. Numbers don’t fail either. If we use reasonably accurate formulas and can stick to what they say, then over time, the results we want will come. It helps us to better control portion sizes. Counting, even for a short time can help us to get a handle on exactly how much we should eat to meet our needs. I know a few people who have incredible calorie knowledge and it helps them to weigh up (almost literally) the portion sizes they require so that they ensure they get what they need without going over the top. It helps us make better choices about what to eat. I’ll be honest, I’ve often had little idea of how many calories are in the foods I eat, but in recent times it’s been good to become more aware. It’s certainly stopped me having quite as many custard creams with my evening cup of decaf tea. Certain foods (often the less healthy choices) are more calorie dense, that is they contain lots of calories in a small amount of food. They’re also often lower in fibre, meaning you need to eat more of them before you feel full. Put these together and it’s easy to eat way over your calorie needs. Getting to know your numbers can help you to know when to stop. AGAINST It’s hard work. It takes a lot of time and effort to remember to log everything and weigh and measure foods so that you’re getting accurate readings. This can also be mentally challenging, making food seem less enjoyable and somewhat of a chore. It comes with a degree of inaccuracy. Even the most detailed calculations available are based on estimates. The only ways to know exactly how many calories you need are complex and expensive. One is to be tested in a special room that examines the content of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air as you go about your daily life. These rooms are generally only found in science labs and universities, so it’s unlikely many of us will be able to have these tests. Another is to drink a specially altered (and very expensive) water that can be tracked as it passes through your body. Equally, it’s almost impossible to assess exactly how many calories we eat on a daily basis – we’re bound to forget things and can’t weigh and measure all the foods we eat when we’re out and about. One of the strongest arguments against calorie counting must be that humankind has successfully managed its weight over millennia without food labels and MyFitnessPal to help. The question is of course, how have we done this? There are a few simple things we can focus on which can help us to maintain or lose weight… 1) Learn to listen to your body – the Jedi power of tuning in to what your body is telling you is accessible to all, but its one that appears to be getting forgotten. Spending some time assessing how you feel before you eat may make a bigger difference than you’d think – are you hungry, or are you thirsty, tired, stressed, angry, upset, happy or bored? All of these and more can lead to us reach for food when that’s not actually what we need. 2) Make better choices – whilst it’s not impossible, it’s much harder to gain weight on a diet low in processed foods. Natural foods are higher in fibre and water and so fill us up more quickly. 3) Be active – moving on a daily basis through exercise but also just daily life activities like walking and housework all helps to use calories and balance the scales. You don’t have to go back to washing clothes by hand in the local river and then running them through a mangle, but using stairs, making your work commute active, getting out on lunch breaks, making family time active and even standing instead of sitting will over time have a big impact. SUMMARY That’s it for our balanced view on whether to count calories. The choice of course is, as always, yours to make and should be based on what works best for you. Have a question? Want to know how to estimate your daily calorie needs or
A balanced guide to snacking
A major cause of weight gain or the solution to creating and maintaining the lean physique and healthy body you desire? This is a question I often get asked by my clients when I’m working with them to help shift some excess body fat and look a little more toned. Is snacking good for me? Or is the reason I’m gaining weight? Well the answer is, as many of those who’ve been on one of the course I’ve taught will tell you……….it depends. It depends on a whole host of factors. What was it that you snacked on? How many snacks did you have? Were you eating because you were hungry? Or were you tired, angry, upset, bored or just doing it because it’s part of a routine? How much did you eat across the rest of the day? How much exercise are you doing at the moment and how active are you in your everyday life? This is why the science on the subject shows such varied results. Some studies suggest that snacking regularly helps people to lose weight. Other studies show that those who eat more often gain more weight. Some research has shown no difference between three square meals a day or grazing regularly on smaller meals, as long as the calorie intake is equal. Some studies suggest that eating small and often can have a beneficial effect on health measures like choleste4rol and blood sugar levels. But guess what? Others have not. Finding your balance When I work with my clients we look at three key areas: 1) What are you eating? In the balance approach, there’s no such thing as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ foods, just better or worse ones depending on the personal, the situation and the goals. Ask yourself ‘is there something better I could choose most of the time that would help me achieve what I want?’ There often is. 2) How much are you eating? Alongside food quality, we also consider food quantity. It may simply be that we don’t need that much energy given how active we are across the week. In which case we can look at lower calorie foods that are still filling (we’ll come to that later). 3) Why are you eating? Was it because of hunger, is there an emotional trigger or is it a habit/routine that has been developed over time and is just ‘the way it is’ at the moment. This helps us to develop solutions; these may be other things that can be done to cope with emotions, changes to the daily routine, or better snack options to choose, so let’s have a look at that now. Better balance This next section is based on options that are often better for most people with goals of improving their weight, reducing their body fat and generally improving their physical and mental health. That doesn’t mean that they’re right for everyone. You may have an allergy, the food may not easily be accessible to you or you may simply not like it. That’s ok; the key thing is just to get you thinking ‘what could I change?’ If you’re stuck answering this question, get in touch and I’ll happily offer some support and advice. Here’s some snack ideas my clients have found useful over the years: · Portion things out – let’s start realistically. If you are going to have some chocolate, crisps or cake, can you take the one portion you have and break it into smaller bits so that you have it over time rather than in one go? Tupperware can be a great solution to this, or feel free to share it with others, as less is in this case, less. If you can’t bear to give it away, go back to the portioning idea. · Fruit and vegetables – most of us need more and this is a great time to get them. They’re packed full of good stuff to keep us healthy but also have a high fibre and water content that can help increase feelings of fullness too. · Carrot or celery sticks and houmous – staying with the veg theme, why chop them into little sticks and dip them in some houmous. This adds some healthy fats and more importantly, some protein, which is known to keep hunger locked up for longer. · Natural yoghurt – less calories than the flavoured sugary counterparts, a good source of calcium and vitamin D and some research to show it may help aid effective fat burning. Yoghurt is again a decent source of protein and you can keep it varied by adding different things to it; nuts and seeds, dried or fresh fruit, a little honey, grated dark chocolate or oats. · Boiled eggs – easy to prepare to take with you, boil them up the night before and then pop them in some Tupperware. They’re a complete protein, which means they contain all the amino acids your body needs and again they’re great at keeping hunger controlled for longer. · Dark chocolate (70% +) – Still high in calories so don’t go mad here, although you’ll find it hard to eat too much as it’s quite rich. This is a good choice for those who have a sweet tooth as it can curb the craving and it’s pretty rich in antioxidants that act to keep you healthy. · Unprocessed nuts or seeds – often avoided because of their high fat content, these should form part of a truly balanced diet. The fats are the healthier type and there’s protein too, as well as numerous vitamins and minerals. Portion control is important again though, as too many calories are too many calories. Portion big bags out into small Tupperware containers for each day. · Oatcakes, rye crackers or rice cakes – there’s a few reasons why these are helpful additions to your day. They’re fairly low calorie compared to less healthy choices and they’re a good source of
Why should your diet be like a Christmas candle?
It seems an odd combination doesn’t it; what could a candle and eating to lose weight possibly have in common. Well the answer is that to work effectively they both need the same three things. For a candle to burn it needs: 1) Wax 2) A wick 3) A flame The wax is the source of energy for the candle. It is the wax that when heated up begins to melt, but it can’t work on its own. The wick is essential too; as the wax of the candle melts, the liquid wax is drawn up the wick. As it does so it becomes increasingly hotter until it turns into a gas. It is this gas that is ignited by the flame and keeps it burning brightly, in turn generating more heat and melting more wax from the candle beneath. The wick plays a vital role in keeping the melted wax in the flame long enough to turn into a gas and allow it to burn. Without the wick, heated wax would simply melt but no flame would be created and as such the wax would not vaporise (become gas). As such at the end you’d juts be left with the same amount of wax but it wouldn’t look as pretty any more. The final piece of the jigsaw of course was the initial spark, the flame that set the wick alight and began the process. Without this the candle obviously can’t burn. All well and good you say, but what’s this got to do with my diet? Well, in recent years there’s been a trend towards low carbohydrate diets. Why is this? Well, according to some, carbs cause diabetes, they make you fat and you don’t need them to burn fat. However, if you take the analogy of our little Christmas Candle, you’ll see that this isn’t right at all. To burn body fat you need three things: 1) Some body fat to burn (the wax) 2) Some carbohydrates (the wick) 3) Movement (the flame) Much like the candle, your body’s biggest energy source is its fat. In fact, even the leanest individuals store plenty of energy as fat. If we take an average, fairly ‘elfy’ individual as an example: Buddy weighs 80 kilo’s and his body fat percentage is 20 per cent. This means that 16 kilo’s of buddy are fat, or 35 pounds. Knowing that a pound of fat is equivalent to around 3,500 calories, that means Buddy has around 123,200 calories of energy to draw on when needed from fat. That’s enough in theory to run around 50 marathons! So we’ve established that we’ve got energy to burn. Now let’s see how carbohydrate is involved, time for a little trip to the chemistry lab. When glucose is broken down, a substance known as pyruvate is produced. This in turn creates oxaloacetate, which is a vital substance in the process of fat breakdown. If carbohydrate levels are low, less pyruvate is produced, so less oxaloacetate is produced, and therefore less fat is broken down, or rather fat is broken down inefficiently. In simple terms, remove the carbohydrates and you remove the wick that allows the fat to burn. Finally of course, you need a spark to create the flame, ignite the wick and begin the process. This is exercise or movement. The more you move the higher your metabolism, meaning your flame burns brighter. So if you want to burn your wax, sorry body fat, effectively, be sure to keep some healthy carbohydrates in your diet. Examples might be whole grain rice, pasta or bread, quinoa, couscous, bulgar wheat and fruit and vegetables. And of course remember to move, aim for 30 minutes exercise every day and your flame will burn brightly. Merry Christmas everyone, Paul
From white stuff to right stuff: Five alternatives to sugar
Weaved throughout many of the ‘Ten Steps to a Balanced Diet’ is the importance of decreasing sugar intake. Sugar is a highly refined substance and as you already know, foods high in sugar will contain a lot of calories and soon leave us feeling hungry again and ready for more. In its highly processed state it offers few if any health benefits, and over time excess sugar intake can lead to weight gain, diabetes and tooth decay so we’re all told we should reduce how much we consume. Trouble is, that’s not always as easy as it sounds. Here I honestly review a few sugar alternatives that you could consider using to wean yourself off the white stuff, looking at the benefits and drawbacks of each. Honey Made by bees using nectar from flowers, honey has been used by various empires through the ages, including the Greeks and Romans. The good: Rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, there’s certainly more goodness in honey than in refined sugar. It’s been shown to contain iron, calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium which all keep your body functioning optimally. Over the years it’s been proposed that it might treat wounds and infections, control allergies and manage gastrointestinal problems, although these claims need a lot more research to prove one way or the other. It has been shown in one study to ease night-time coughing in those with colds. Drawbacks: Manuka honey is often purchased by people in an attempt to alleviate their latest bout of cold/flu. Whilst it may work as an antibacterial treatment for wounds, it’s cold-fighting properties are not yet proven, nor are the other claims made about it lowering cholesterol, treating diabetes and even cancer. In fact, honey is around 80% sugar, half of it fructose, meaning whilst it’s probably slightly better than sugar, go easy on how much you use or you’ll be adding calories and increasing your insulin levels just as you would with refined sugar. Panela Pa what I hear you say? Panela….what’s that? Well it’s unrefined cane sugar, or certainly less refined than sugar. When sugarcane is cut down, it is boiled and the sap oozes out. This sap is then further refined to produce sugar, but Panela is just hardened blocks of this sap. The good: As it is produced from the juice of the cane plant, it’s been shown to contain all of the vitamins and minerals found in the plant; everything form vitamin A to zinc, with plenty in between including calcium, copper, vitamins C and D, iron, potassium and polyphenols. It scores very highly on its levels of antioxidants too. I use it myself, grating it into porridge to add some sweetness. It tastes good and a block lasts me a long time. Drawbacks: It’s still over 70% sucrose, so the usual advice to consume it in moderation applies. Carob Carob is produced form the pods of the carob tree, found in the Middle East. They are ground and roasted to produce a chocolate-like substance. The good: It is lower fat than cocoa powder, half as much in fact. It is also caffeine free, in fact it has no stimulants at all yet it still tastes like chocolate. You can find it in 9bars or use it to make these very tasty cookies suitable for vegans. Drawbacks: Yep, you guessed it. It’s still high in sugars and therefore calories too. Maple syrup A completely natural substance made from the sap of that maple tree, synonymous with Canada of course where the majority is produced. The good: Another rich source of nutrients – magnesium, zinc, manganese and zinc to name a few. It’s also rich in phenols, powerful antioxidants more usually associated with grapes and berries, and wine by those who need to justify their slightly elevated intake! 🙂 Drawbacks: Groundhog Day!! High in sugar and calories, say no more. Dried fruit Ok so you know what this is. There are lots of different types of course; apricots, figs, dates, prunes, raisins and sultanas, pineapple and many more. The good: Dried fruits are actually higher in fibre than fresh alternatives and fibre is essential in the diet to keep your digestive system healthy, fill you up and keep cholesterol levels low. Some dried fruits seem to be higher in nutrients than their freshly picked counterparts too, check out this interesting article on the Livestrong website to find out more. The drawbacks: Dried fruit has lost all of its water and so may have a higher sugar content and higher glycaemic index. They’ve also been shown to have a laxative effect in some people so eating them before a run is not advised! In summary, all of these may offer a little more nutritional benefit than plain old refined sugar, but as the first and arguably most important step of the balance ‘ten steps to a healthy diet’ says, go easy on the quantity. As the old saying goes: ‘Everything in moderation’ Or to put it another way, you need to find your balance. 🙂
Detox…….debunked
I’ve been asked to put this blog piece together by a good friend of mine Emma. She’s a very good runner who works in an office and regularly sees colleagues go on juice detox diets, losing a substantial amount of weight in a short space of time, only to put it all back on again and more in the following weeks. She’s not alone in being frustrated by the ‘detox’ industry. There are numerous detox diets out there that claim to guarantee weight loss, rid your body of harmful toxins, revitalise you and improve your health. They vary in their structure but generally advocate the complete removal of unhealthy foods from the diet alongside a large increase in water, fruit and vegetables whilst at the same time cutting calories quite dramatically. So what is the truth behind all of this? The evidence Well, in reality, there’s a very limited amount of data on the benefits of a detox diet. Searching through the journals I came across one study from 2012 that asked 31 volunteers to go on a 4-week detox plan. At the end of the period the participants had lost an average of 9 pounds each, which in fairness is not far above the recommended guidelines of 2 pounds per week. So what’s the issue here you might ask? It works doesn’t it? Well yes, but it most likely worked because participants consumed between 850 and 1000 calories per day. There was likely no miracle detoxification process going on inside the body; it was simply a reduction in calories. And as you’ll know if you’ve read my previous pieces, decreasing calories below what your body needs to function normally will: 1) Lead to rapid decreases in weight loss as your energy stores and the water that binds to them are used up. 2) Leave your body with too little energy for what it needs, forcing it to go into a kind of ‘starvation mode’. 3) Make you very hungry and likely to crave foods in the long term that are less healthy and will lead to weight gain above the point where you started. 4) Possibly cause your body to turn to itself to provide energy. This can lead to a decrease in muscle mass, lowering your overall metabolic rate and making it even harder to lose weight and keep it off in future. Let’s take a balanced look at detox diets in general then and see what we can learn and use from them. What’s good and bad about detox? 1) It encourages an increase in water intake. This is not a bad thing for most of us. Water is essential to make our bodies work properly and many don’t get enough. It’s all about balance though; too much water can also be harmful so stick to the sensible guidelines of 1.5-2 litres per day alongside a healthy diet, increasing of course if you exercise a lot or live in a warm environment (not the UK)! 2) It emphasises the need for fruit and vegetables. We all know they’re packed full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants so getting our 5-a-day or possibly even slightly more is going to help keep us healthy. Again though, too much can be a bad thing; raw food diets and too much sugar from large amounts of fruit can cause health problems. Emphasise vegetables over fruit and be sensible on the quantities. 3) It helps us to minimise processed foods. Of course, detox diets will demonise things that come in packages, telling you they’re the reason the world is in the state it’s in. They’ll also tell you that we are all allergic to these foods, but whilst some can be, this ‘fact’ is certainly yet to be ascertained by science. So whilst there’s some truth to this, there’s room for a more balanced approach. If cutting processed foods completely is what you feel you need to do to lose weight and get healthy, then there is nothing wrong with that. As long as you get enough calories and of course can sustain your new eating routine in the long run, go for it. For many though this is seen as too extreme, and so after a short spell avoiding certain aisles in the supermarket and hiding behind a pillow when that chocolate advert comes on, they give in to temptation and binge, hiding the evidence by putting the wrappers in next door’s wheelie bin. If this is you, then find a middle ground, choosing the more processed foods as occasional treats to be enjoyed instead of making yourself feel like you’ve committed some sort of crime just by peeling open the packaging. 4) It prays on our weaknesses. Yes it took us five years to gain that weight steadily, but we can get rid of it all in just four weeks, can’t we? Well, sadly no we can’t. The old saying ‘slow and steady wins the race’ applies to weight loss more than almost anything else. To avoid impacting the functioning of your body, you need to fuel it right. Over time it can then start to bring itself back into balance, decreasing weight and improving health. I’ve borrowed a few quotes here from a very good article I found online by Kathleen Zelman, director of nutrition for WebMD. She spoke to some nutrition experts and here’s what Connie Diekman, a registered dietician said. “Detox diets prey on the vulnerability of dieters with fear tactics while gaining financially by selling products that are not necessary and potentially dangerous.” 5) There’s an over-reliance on juicing. If using lots of fruits, the sugar content here can actually be very high. Recent studies have suggested that consuming too much fruit juice regularly may be as harmful as using fizzy drinks. Some do emphasise vegetables instead which do have a lower sugar content. 6) It implies that we need to drastically change the way we eat and drink regularly to ‘detoxify’ our systems. This is a myth. Our bodies are designed to detoxify themselves on a daily basis, as Frank Sacks from Harvard Medical School points
The hare and the tortoise….on a weight loss programme
Once upon a time there was a hare and a tortoise, and they were good friends. They had once had a race and surprisingly the tortoise had won! The hare was much faster but when he was far ahead he’d become cocky and decided to have a rest. He dozed off to sleep and the tortoise had sneaked by and ended up winning. Image courtesy of digitalart at freedigitalphotos.net After the race, both lost their motivation to exercise. They had trained hard for their event, the tortoise, victorious and pleased with himself became complacent and lazed around all day eating chocolate and chips instead of lettuce. The hare felt down after his loss and consoled himself with beer and takeaways in front of the TV. A few months went by and one day and Mr Fox came to visit. He couldn’t help but notice how much weight both had gained and felt he should say something. He was in fact a doctor, he didn’t use the title as there had been an unfortunate incident when he had been confused with a radio DJ and followed by the paparazzi on holiday in Turkey. He offered to help the hare and the tortoise to lose weight, and although surprised at first, they agreed. The tortoise did say that his shell had been feeling a little tight recently and the hare had noticed he could no longer see his big paws. Mr Fox started the pair off on a healthy eating routine, carrots and lettuce leaves, as well as a sensible amount of daily activity. They both had to go for a walk in the park for half an hour every day which they could do together so they had some moral support and to make it a sociable task. Both felt motivated by having a new challenge and encouraged each other by preparing healthy evening meals, taking it in turns to cook. A week passed by and Mr Fox came to carry out his weekly weigh in with the pair as he had promised. Both had lost 2 pounds and were on the right track. Tortoise felt pleased with himself and could feel that his shell was already a little looser and easier for him to curl up into at night. Hare was less happy; he wanted to lose one and a half stone, and he thought that at this rate it was going to take him forever. He decided that he would cut back on his food and do more exercise, but he didn’t tell tortoise as he wanted to lose more weight than him to impress Mr Fox. Next week the pair continued to do their walks together, but tortoise became frustrated as hare would speed off and he would struggle to keep up. Hare started to run off into the distance and then run back to tortoise, jogging on the spot next to him. This annoyed tortoise, but he didn’t say anything as he was focused on his own goals and he knew what he could and couldn’t do. Hare found that if he skipped breakfast in the morning and got out for a quick run he could be back before tortoise woke up and then still be able to do their exercise session together. At the next weigh in tortoise had lost another 2 pounds. Fox congratulated him for continuing to work hard. Hare though had lost 4 pounds and Fox praised his hard work but warned him that losing too much weight too quickly could be unhealthy. Anything more than 2 pounds a week was likely to mean that hare was not just losing fat but probably not eating enough. This meant his glycogen stores (carbohydrate supply) were being depleted and with it he would be losing water. His body may also start to break down his muscles to supply him with energy if he continued for a long period of time at this rate. Hare though was pleased that he had lost more weight, and determined to reach his goal as quickly as he could he decided to ignore Mr Fox’s advice. He continued on his strict diet and did as much running as he could. He stopped exercising with tortoise as he felt he was not fit enough to keep up with him. Tortoise decided to add a little weights routine into his program as he did not want to get bored of doing the same thing and had heard that weights training could build lean muscles, which in turn would increase his rate of calorie burn and help him reach his goals. At the next weigh-in hare had lost another 4 pounds and tortoise another pound. Fox was now concerned that hare wasn’t eating enough to fuel his body properly and had a chat with him after the session. Hare reacted angrily and was confused; why was Fox not pleased that he had done so well? He told Fox that he no longer needed his help and that he would carry on alone. Fox, not wanting to argue, asked hare to reconsider his weight loss methods but wished him good luck. Another week went by and tortoise lost another pound. Hare was now weighing himself and was surprised and upset when he fund he had gained two pounds when he was so close to his goal. How could this have happened? He had barely eaten all week and he had exercised very hard! But he had been starving and gorged most of that cake the one day. And he had treated himself on Friday night with pizza and ice cream as he had been good and only eaten one lettuce leaf all day. Hare decided to up his training so he joined the gym and spent hours on the cardio kit and went in the sauna as he though he might be able to sweat out more of the weight. Tortoise joined too and took up Body Combat, although it didn’t work as
