Three good reasons why throwing away your scales could be the best thing you can do for long term weight loss....

You might think I've gone crazy telling you to get rid of your scales when you are trying to get back into your skinny jeans again. "How will I know whether I am successful or not" I hear you cry! Well, easily actually, by the way you look, feel and how your clothes fit.

Your weight isn't always the best indication of whether you are losing inches and fat which at the end of the day is exactly what you want to be losing. 

Here are three very good reasons why you should throw away the scales, or at the very least banish them to the loft, if you want to bring about long term changes to your health and weight loss goals:

Number 1 - the number on the scale is not always a true reflection of how your body is changing when you are eating cleanly and doing more weight bearing exercise (which is exactly what you should be doing if you want to be successful with weight loss). I have seen clients who look and feel leaner and are wearing a smaller dress size but they have lost very little weight on the scales. There is a great example in the testimonial below that was posted on my EatRealFoodUK Facebook page by one of my clients.

"I'm very pleased to post that I have now been able to send all my 14s to the loft in disgrace as I am comfortably back in my 12s now !!!!!!! I even brought a bag down which has 10s in and dared to to try them on and could get into a few items, though not to wear comfortably yet............maybe another month ???? Soo pleased with the results...........very strange because I haven't actually lost lots of weight according to the scales but my clothes and mirror certainly tell me I'm doing well. Thank u Julie". Debra

Number 2 - weighing yourself can become how you define yourself and whether you are a success or failure. If you weigh yourself every day and are affected by what you see on the scale - stop immediately!! You are so much more than how much you weigh and this kind of thinking can lead you into a spiral of self loathing that is very unhealthy for your mental health. 

Number 3 - weighing yourself with a target weight in mind denotes a start and end to your efforts - ie "when I am xx weight then I have achieved my goal". This can lead to see saw dieting; once you get to the target weight you return to your old eating habits which led you carry more fat in the first place and so the cycle goes on. 

So, what to do instead of obsessing over the scales and target weight? Cultivate good habits, practice them EVERY day, take small steps and make good choices. Eat mindfully, enjoy your food and treat it like a friend not an enemy! There should be no start and end in mind, just constancy which will lead to long term success! I dare you to liberate yourself from your scales! I'd love to hear how you get on.

Want to jump off the diet treadmill? Read on....

OK, so here's a scenario;

You are out all morning and very busy, its lunch time and your stomach is growling at you and you are feeling a bit wired and shaky and VERY grumpy. You need some food but don't have any with you. You are trying to eat much more healthily and have been doing pretty well, you had some belvita biscuits for breakfast, all the adverts say they are very healthy and keep you going all morning but you have reached the end of your patience with being hungry. You stop at a garage and look for something healthy but there are just rows of sandwiches, crisps, chocolate bars and some amazing looking cookies and doughnuts. You buy a sandwich, it looks healthy as its made with brown bread and has some salad in it and you get some of the special low calorie crisps, only 99 calories per pack. You avoid the cakes and feel virtuous because you bought a cereal bar instead. You get back in the car and eat it all very quickly as you are so hungry. By 4pm you are hungry and again and your hands are shaking and you've got a headache. Unfortunately you are in the car and have nothing to eat. By the time you get home you head straight for the fridge, you were going to make something healthy but you can't be bothered and need to eat right now so you open a big bag of 'lower fat' crisps and a dip and munch your way through those while you are buzzing about doing chores. As you've eaten those you don't want any dinner but just before bed are feeling peckish again so you have another 'healthy' diet cereal bar and crash out in bed exhausted.

So what is wrong with this scenario? Why are your weight loss efforts not working? You think you are making much more healthy choices and eating special low fat diet foods but you are still struggling with your weight and quite frankly are feeling quite tired and drained - not what you were expecting.

This is how many people approach weight loss. The food industry has created all sorts of special 'diet' foods that purport to fill you up and keep you full, release energy slowly and give you all the nourishment you need with synthetic added vitamins and minerals. You are actually eating the worst possible diet for health and weight loss; what your body needs is real food that we were designed to eat and that will nourish us and help us maintain a healthy weight for us.

Here is another scenario;

You make yourself a 2 or 3 egg omelette in the morning cooked in healthy fat like coconut oil and with mushrooms, tomatoes and in fact anything you have hanging round in the fridge. Sounds time consuming but actually takes minutes. You are busy all morning but you don't get the growling hunger like you do when you eat cereal or toast. You feel hungry by lunchtime but you have brought a large salad with you with a tin of tuna, an avocado and some olive oil dressing. You eat this and feel satisfied. Mid afternoon you are feeling a little peckish so you have a handful of mixed raw nuts that you keep in a pot and take everywhere with you. Good job you do as the trains are delayed and you are hungry at the station, you nibble on a few more nuts to keep you going until you get home. When you get home you griddle a steak, wilt some spinach and cook some mushrooms in butter and have with some sweet potato wedges you have in the fridge from yesterday (you always cook more than you need and put some in the fridge for the next day). It only takes ten minutes and you feel satisfied and all the food you have eaten today will support your health and weight loss goals.

Moral of the story - ditch the diet foods and processed foods marketed as health foods and eat real food! Your body will be nourished, satisfied and happy so cutting cravings and binges that sabotage your long term goals.

Go on, give it a try! What do you have to lose. If you want help transitioning to a new way of eating that will improve your health and wellbeing contact me on eatrealfooduk@gmail.com.

PS See my next post for an explanation of why the second scenario will help you achieve your long term health and weight loss goals and why the first will keep you stuck on the diet treadmill forever.

Get back into your jeans with a paleo style diet

In the past I have been a traditional dieter, counting calories, eating low fat foods and diet meals and ending up in the diet/binge cycle. Luckily I have never had what I considered an 'eating disorder' but my eating could be considered disordered as it wasn't consistent and I was ignoring basic signals such as hunger and satiety.

For the last two years I have been eating a mainly paleo 'caveman' style diet which is naturally high in good fat and low in carbohydrate and amongst many other health benefits I have found it easy to maintain a weight I feel happy with without constant hunger and cravings. So how does this happen?

Five reasons a paleo style diet can work better than a traditional low fat high carb diet:

1. Fat and protein fill you up for longer than carbohydrates so you don't feel as hungry in between meals.

2. Carbohydrates (especially processed carbohydrates such as cakes, biscuits) cause insulin to be released from the pancreas to 'mop up' the glucose in the food and send it into the cells of the body for energy to brings your blood sugar levels down. If you are on a see saw of eating a lot of processed carbs regularly your blood sugar levels will be unstable causing hunger and cravings for more carbohydrates making it much more difficult to stick with a diet.

3. The hunger and deprivation caused by dieting causes psychological problems such as binging which has an impact on self esteem - who hasn't thought "I'm useless because I can't stick with this diet".

4. When you restrict calories you will lose weight at first but your body will compensate by slowing your metabolic rate (the rate at which you burn food) making it more and more difficult to lose weight on less and less calories.

5. Low calorie dieting can cause nutritional deficiencies, especially when a lot of low fat processed diet meals are being consumed.The body then craves more food in the hope of making up the nutritional deficiency. 

Be aware that you may not notice any changes on the scales when you eat a higher fat and protein, lower carbohydrate diet but you should notice it in your clothes especially around the middle where you would normally store excess weight. Find a pair of jeans you want to get back into and keep trying them on! You will notice a difference. 

What kind of diet saboteur are you?

In a previous post I talked about those people who are doing really well with eating healthy foods in sensible quantities, finding themselves losing fat and fitting better into their clothes and then BAM! something happens and they find themselves tucking into a burger, fries and milkshake or a huge piece of cake and then deciding that they might as well eat whatever they like because they have ruined their 'diet' anyway. This is self sabotage. 

I've just read a very inspirational book called 'Finding the Future that Fits' by one of the UK's leading life coaches, Louise Presley-Turner. In the book she talks about how we sabotage our best efforts to move our lives forwards and how she tends to come across certain sabotaging styles when working with clients. I could really identify with these sabotaging behaviours in our efforts to eat well and live a healthy lifestyle. So which kind of diet saboteur are you?

Procrastinator - these people are always going to start eating well tomorrow, or after their exams, or after their house move or after their birthday or holiday. There is always a reason to start another day. The best way to deal with this is to just start NOW! Start now and then make some adjustments around the event you were waiting for and then get back to the plan as soon as it's over. You can enjoy a holiday or a birthday just as much if you are eating well and allowing yourself a few treats, in fact you may enjoy it more as you should be feeling much more healthy.

Perfectionist - this is when you expect 100% adherence with a diet plan and won't settle for anything less. It generally means an all or nothing approach to weight loss, if you are not on a strict calorie controlled diet you might as well eat whatever you like whenever you like. Instead focus on an 80/20 approach, if you eat a paleo style diet of fresh unprocessed foods 80% of the time you can have some flexibility to eat out with friends or have a glass or two of wine at the weekends. You are far more likely to stick with it.

Dreamer - this person spends so much time thinking how great life will be when they lose the extra weight they are carrying. Instead enjoy life NOW and live in the moment as much as possible. Be aware of the benefits of being a healthy weight and eating good food but don't put your life on hold until you reach these goals, it may be that taking the pressure off will enable you to change your behaviour to support your goals.

Lazybones/Blaming others - it's our partner's fault because we have to cook for them, our parents fault for passing on a genetic predisposition to carrying excess weight, our boss's/children's fault for making us stressed so we comfort eat etc etc etc. Its very easy to blame others but we have to take responsibility for our bodies and our lives. We are the ones who put the food into our mouths, we are the ones responsible for making sure that food supports our health.

Airhead - you are disorganised and never get around to buying the right supportive foods or organising yourself so you have good healthy food with you and don't have to resort to eating junk foods. Eating well does require some planning, use the weekend to spend some time looking at your week and planning packed lunches, snacks and main meals that will support your health and weight loss goals. Cook some batches of healthy muffins, soups and casseroles that you can freeze. Put some raw nuts such as walnuts, almonds and madadamia nuts in a pot and  take them everywhere with you in case you find yourself hungry and with no other options.

Identifying if you are one of the above (or a mixture of some or all of the above!) may help you recognise the signs and stop the endless cycle of diet and diet sabotage that some people are on. The very best way to avoid this cycle is to a eat diet of fresh unprocessed foods with plenty of protein, good fats and vegetables and to avoid grains and sugar as much as possible. If you eat like this at least 80% of the time you will find you body gets used to being nourished and doesn't fight against you like it does when you count calories and eat 'diet' foods.

6 STRATEGIES FOR OVERCOMING WEIGHT LOSS SABOTAGE

The tag line on my promotional postcards reads 'make this the last diet you ever have to do'. Nourishing your body with the right foods is the physiological part of the plan - but what about the psychological part, the voice inside your head that makes you reach for the biscuits and cakes when you might not even like them, makes you sabotage your efforts when you have been doing so well? Here are some strategies to use to help you overcome this inner sabotage.

1. Successful weight loss and good health are made up of small steps and decisions you take each day. Every time you make a good decision that will support your health and weight loss goals use your inner voice to praise yourself. Tell yourself how that decision was the first of many that will help you to reach your goals.Really give yourself a very strong pat on the back, most of us are very bad at being nice to ourselves.

2. Find a goal that is about weight loss and good health as a means to an end rather than the end itself. Although a large majority of people say they would love to lose some weight the fact that most don't do it or that they do and put it back on again points to the fact that the goal is not compelling and important enough in itself. Three very good motivators for me personally are remaining in good health into old age, being able to fit into my clothes comfortably and, probably the most compelling one, keeping my IBS at bay. Find your motivators yourself, or work with a friend or a coach to find them. These will keep you on track much more than just 'I want to lose half a stone'.

3. Ditch the guilt when you do eat something that is not on plan. Make a conscious decision to eat it and then savour every mouthful. See this as a choice not a mindless action. One meal or one day off the plan won't sabotage your goals too much but one week or one month sure will. Remember - progress not perfection!

4. There is evidence to suggest that good healthy habits need to be formed over a period of time. In the same way that you may be in the habit of having a biscuit every time you have a cup of tea or a glass of wine (or two) every night at dinner you can make new more supportive habits. Replace the biscuit with a small portion of nuts. Replace the wine with a glass of cold sparkling water with fresh lime. Do these things every day for a couple of weeks and they will become new habits.

5.You may having limiting beliefs at the core or your identity about your ability to be slimmer and more healthy. For example you may just know 'I'm not someone who exercises' or 'I'm not meant to be slim' or 'I don't deserve to be slim'. Replace this with some positive self talk such as 'I am someone who consistently chooses healthy foods to support my health and weight', I am someone who exercises every day to support my health and weight' and choose actions that match. For me personally when I see bread or pasta now I just know that 'I am someone who doesn't eat grains'. After a year this is a core belief. 

6 DO NOT put your life on hold until you lose weight!!! This is so important. Yes losing weight may make you feel better about yourself and hopefully you may feel many other benefits to your health that will improve your quality of life. However life is going on around you NOW and your future is made up of what is happening in the NOW. Try and be in the present as much as you can, make consistently healthy choices NOW and you will reach your goals. 

What to do when your motivation deserts you........

You know how it is, you are going full steam ahead with your diet and exercise programme, eating well and going to the gym/exercising a few times each week. Then wham, something (or sometimes several things) happen which de-rail your efforts and you stop or reduce the exercise and start eating foods you know will not support your weight loss efforts. This happened to me recently (coaches are not exempt from these blips!) so I thought it was worth sharing. Setbacks are all part of life but you can recover before all your efforts are totally wasted.

A few weeks ago I had a bad bout of flu, the first illness for years that forced me to stay in bed, probably brought about by some intense stress I had been under. I actually find being ill a personal affront to my healthy lifestyle which is quite irrational but probably brought about by me telling people 'I never get ill'!! 

Once I was feeling a bit better I was really hungry all the time, normally my protein and fat based breakfast of eggs, veggies and coconut oil will see me through until lunchtime but I was finding myself hungry by 10.30am and wanting to pick at food. Same mid afternoon, by 4pm I was craving something to eat. I also found myself wanting to drink a lot of tea. 

I was snacking too much and picking at food far too much and had started gaining some weight. So what to do about it? These tips will help you to manage your lack of motivation and hopefully help you to find it again:

Take small steps to gain your momentum back. If you try and do it all in one go you might find it too overwhelming. Make one change a week. For example I know that if I drink hot water with lemon first thing in the morning it supports my digestion and helps with elimination. For some reason I had got out of this habit and started drinking tea first thing in the morning. So, this week I have started drinking the lemon water again, starting the day as I mean to go on. Every one of these small steps will support your health and weight loss goals and will become habits if you repeat them every day.

Be kind to yourself - if a friend was telling you a story about being under a lot of stress and then being ill for a couple of weeks you would sympathise with them and say things like 'your body needs time to recover' and 'take it easy for a while until you are much better'. Why then don't we give ourselves this kindness? From now imagine you are your own best friend and not your own worst enemy. Make that voice in your head kind and loving not harsh and critical.

Try not to have an all or nothing mentality about healthy eating - for example 'if I can't eat well/stick to my diet all the time I might as well not bother at all'. This will sabotage all your efforts. Eat well as often as you can. 

If you are hungry between meals make your snacks nutritionally worthwhile if you can, nuts, seeds, dark chocolate, raw veggies and dips, natural yogurt. Snacking on sugary grain based foods, even those advertised as healthy options such as cereal bars, granola, flapjacks etc will cause you to crave food even more.

If you're not hungry but just want to eat try and do something else instead. Have a drink of sparkling water or herbal tea and move away from the kitchen. 

Think of eating a healthy diet and avoiding grains, sugar and processed foods as supporting good health first and foremost rather than focusing on weight loss. Eating well will do so much more than help you stay a good weight. Improving energy levels, alleviating joint problems, longevity, disease prevention - a good clean diet will support your long term health and well being. Good health is the most important factor in your quality of life; every aspect of your life is adversely affected if you don't have good health. Many people find when they remove the emphasis from weight loss and focus on improving their health their motivation becomes much stronger.

Listen to your body when it comes to exercise. If you normally run three times a week but don't feel up to it walk instead. Swim and have a sauna if you can. Weight train with slightly lighter weights until you get your energy levels back. Remember to be kind to yourself when your voice in your head tries to tell you that it's not good enough. 

Do things you like to do whenever possible. The pace of life today means we don't get much time to ourselves to pursue what we like to do most.  

Open your mind to stress relief techniques like meditation. Read a self-help book (The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle will help you live more in the present and banish the worries and anxieties about the future). You may think these things have nothing to do with healthy eating and weight loss but stress and the quality of sleep have a huge impact on hormones which need to be in balance if we want to be lean and well.

Whatever you do don't try to go for a quick fix by starting a low-fat calorie controlled diet or a meal replacement diet. These kinds of diets are unsustainable and will end up giving you uncontrollable cravings for unhealthy foods. Eat real food at every meal, listen to your body, be forgiving of yourself, manage your stress and get 7-8 hours sleep each night and slowly your body will respond.

So do I have my mojo back? Well partially, but not quite. I am taking small steps every day to get back to full health, eating cleanly, listening to my body, exercising lightly. My appetite is slowly getting back to normal so the weight I gained is slowly disappearing.  In the past a 'blip' like this would have spelled the end of sensible eating for several months which would have taken me back to square one with my health and weight loss goals. Now I have a good foundation with the paleo style of eating I can get back on track reasonably quickly. Motivation is easier because I eat well and exercise consistently so that is the norm for me, healthy habits are formed and my body will unconsciously seek to retain this healthy equilibrium. 

Use this effective technique to stop those cravings...

You know how it is, you've been cutting back on unhealthy foods and alcohol for a couple of weeks or even months; clothes are feeling looser and the scale is going down. Then suddenly you get a strong craving to eat or drink something that is off plan even though you are not hungry. The following technique is from a book called 'Pause Button Therapy' by Dr Martin Shirran and I have tried it out a couple of times and it really works!

So before you go to the fridge/cupboard to reach for chocolate/crisps/wine or whatever is your particular foodie weakness STOP and imagine you are watching yourself on a film and press the PAUSE button. Then press FAST FORWARD and imagine how you will feel both physically and mentally after you have eaten/drunk whatever it is you are craving; frustrated, disappointed, further away from your weight loss goals, nauseous, headachey. Then press REWIND and imagine yourself walking away from the temptation and how you will feel then, calm, pleased with yourself, a little bit nearer to your goals, a boost for your self esteem, healthy. Now press PLAY again and get on with it, I think 9 times out of 10 you will choose the second scenario and can walk away.

Of course there are times when eating non supportive foods has its place, for example Xmas, birthdays, meals out and special occasions, this is part of the 80/20 rule that I advocate to ensure this lifestyle is sustainable long term. These are planned indulgences based around special events or weekends. However if you struggle on a day by day basis to stick to your weight loss plan then this technique is well worth trying.

The EatRealFood diet plan based on primal style eating will help cut the physiological cravings that happen when you eat a diet high in grains, sugars, starches and processed foods. If you can then tackle the psychological aspects of food cravings by having some effective techniques up your sleeve then you can't fail!

If you'd like more information about the EatRealFood diet plan just drop me a line on eatrealfooduk@gmail.com

Let me know by leaving me a comment if you find the technique above works for you (or  if it doesn't).

I'll eat healthily and lose weight when........

So you are eating well, avoiding alcohol and sugar and losing weight and feeling less bloated and pretty pleased with yourself. Then something stressful happens in your life and wham you are back to drinking every evening and eating all the wrong foods. The weight starts to creep back on but you think and say to people 'I can't diet at the moment, my life is too stressful'. What you are fact saying is that your health and weight loss goals are not that important because you are allowing other things to get in the way. You are also saying that you are using food as an emotional crutch to help you through the bad times.

So what about saying to yourself 'My health and weight loss goals are important enough to me not to allow myself to be sidetracked by life. If I continue with my supportive habits and continue to feel better and lose weight at least one bit of my life will be going well. I have control about how much I let the outside influences affect my eating habits, it's not something that just happens by itself'. Of course life can be difficult and stressful at times but the idea that chocolate and crisps will make one iota of difference to those stresses is wrong. In fact it will just add to them because you will be angry and frustrated that you have allowed your weight loss goals to slip and the sugar and alcohol will cause mood swings which will put you on even more of an emotional rollercoaster.

So, next time this happens to you take a deep breath and say to yourself 'this is a bad time for me at the moment but my health and self esteem are very important to me. Rewarding myself with food may help for about 2 seconds while it is in my mouth but after that it will only add to my problems. I am going to reward myself with other things I enjoy, a nice walk, hot bath, massage, favourite TV programme. I am going to continue to eat supportively and reach my goals DESPITE everything else that is going on in my life'.

Confessions of an eternal dieter....and why eating paleo/primal has finally stopped the yoyo dieting

My history with dieting started many years ago when I was 16 and at college. I was a normal healthy weight, maybe with a little 'puppy fat'. Other girls around me were starting to talk about weight loss and dieting and I jumped on the bandwagon, not realising what far reaching consequences this would have on my life.

I was a classic yoyo dieter, and would obsessively count calories for weeks, losing about half a stone and then suddenly my self control would snap and I would binge eat and put it all back on again. Luckily my binging and dieting never developed into a serious eating disorder and my weight would only change by 7 - 10lbs either side, but even so it was enough that I had clothes that I considered 'fat' clothes and those I could only wear when I was dieting.

This pattern continued into my twenties and early thirties. By this time I had become very interested in health and nutrition and decided to become a vegetarian. I embarked on what I thought was a very healthy diet of huge amounts of vegetables and fruits and lots of beans, legumes and of course typical carb rich veggie foods like pasta bakes.  I didn't eat meat for about 6 years until I became pregnant with twins at 40 and five months into the pregnancy craved meat so badly that my husband had to take me out for dinner for a hearty lamb stew! I began eating meat again as I recognised that my body was telling me what it needed and that was probably the first time I properly listened and gave it what it really needed.

After a successful but fairly gruelling pregnancy and with two babies to look after I tended to eat more or less what I wanted but still with an eye on what was considered heathy eating, ie whole grain carbs making up a good part of my diet with plenty of fruit and veg. I avoided fats like butter, full fat milk and yogurt substituting them for low fat versions. I did lose my baby fat by running round after my two small children but was still was a bit of a yoyo dieter, where I would have 'good' weeks and 'bad' weeks.

My twins are 10 now which of course makes me over 50! Having children late made me even more interested in health and nutrition as I want to be around as long as possible. At 50 I am in slimmer and in better shape than I have ever been and I have banished the yoyo dieting for good I think. So, how have I done this? About two years ago I stumbled on some information on the paleo/primal diet whilst searching for some information about IBS which I was suffering from (I now realise that it was the whole grains that were causing me the problems). This diet, which is basically eating how were evolved to eat, meat, fish, eggs, veggies, nuts and berries and healthy fats has made a huge difference to how I look and feel. I'm convinced that the traditional weight loss diets eating high carb, low fat and counting calories (or even worse the no-food diets) cause food cravings and huger that our bodies just can't ignore for too long. Eating paleo/primal gives you a way to lose weight without the hunger and cravings that cause us to fall off the diet wagon and put all the weight back on.

My next post will talk about how I make the paleo/primal diet work for me and how you can still eat out and enjoy life which of course will help to sustain your motivation. Watch this space!

Fruit is good for you - isn't it?

If you are on a weight loss programme, especially one that encourages calorie counting or low fat and high carbohydrates, it is likely that you are eating fruit as part of this programme, believing it to be helpful in a weight loss plan. Although fruit is a low fat food it is high in fructose, a sugar substance which can have a detremental effect on your weight loss efforts. Far better to concentrate on vegetables and salads and limit fruit to one or two portions a day of lower sugar fruits like berries. It may be worth completely cutting out fruit for a few weeks if you are trying to lose a few pounds and see if it makes a difference. As long as you are eating plenty of vegetables you will still be getting all the vitamins and minerals you need. Nutrititionist Zoe Harcombe explains more about the effects of fruit in this link http://www.zoeharcombe.com/the-knowledge/fruit-is-fuelling-the-obesity-epidemic/

If you do what you've always done.....................

There's a saying that goes 'if you do what you've always done you'll get what you always get'. Never is this truer than in the world of weight loss. When deciding that it's time to lose some weight most people dash out to the supermarket and stock up on low fat 'lite' diet foods such as fruit yogurts, skimmed milk cottage cheese, cereal bars and liquid meal replacements. They then spend a couple of weeks feeling very hungry but virtuous before it all gets too much and they cave in and eat a packet of chocolate digestives!! Believe me I've been there, (but not for quite a while). So why does this cycle happen?

It happens because the low fat diet food companies have replaced the fat with sugar and additives which are highly addictive to our human bodies. In addition many of these foods are not nutritially dense, meaning that they are not feeding our bodies with the vitamins and minerals they need to thrive and stay healthy. They also cause an inbalance in our hormonal system which is responsible for telling us when we are full. So, many good reasons to stay away from them!  What should you eat when trying to lose some weight? Good wholesome fresh unprocessed foods such as meat, fish, vegetables, eggs, nuts and seeds. What about fruit I hear you ask? There's a post on fruit coming tomorrow!

So, change what you have always done, break the cycle and you will see results!

If you are trying to lose weight - ditch the diet foods

If you are trying to lose weight or maintain a weight loss you might be tempted into thinking that the 'low fat' diet foods on the market are the way to go. However these foods tend to be packed full of sugar and additives to give them an acceptable taste and will in the long run sabotage your efforts. If instead you eat real food comprising mostly of meat, fish, vegetables, eggs, berries, nuts and seeds your body will be better nourished and you will be less hungry and so able to sustain your weight loss efforts and meet your goals.

The article below is from the BBC website and is linked with a TV programme aired on BBC 2 a couple of weeks ago entitled 'The men who made us fat'. When fat was (wrongly many now believe) linked to heart disease a hugely lucrative industry of low fat "diet" foods were created. The article comments:

The creation of "low fat" promised an immense business opportunity forged from the potential disaster of heart disease.

Overnight, low-fat products arrived on the shelves. Low-fat yoghurts, spreads, desserts and biscuits. All with the fat taken out, and largely replaced with sugar.

The public embraced the new products, believing them to be healthier. But the more sugar we ate, the more we wanted.
By the time anyone began to ask if it was a good thing to replace fat with sugar, it was too late - but it was a decision with huge implications for the obesity crisis.


Read the whole article at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18393391

The programme will be aired again on Wednesday 11th July at 02.30am and is well worth recording. I think many people will be very surprised about how the public have been manipulated by the sugar industry and how powerful this industry has been in surpressing any unwanted publicity about how damaging too much sugar can be to health and wellbeing.