I’m desperate to lose weight for the summer but can’t seem to stick to any diet for long. Since January I’ve tried herbal life, lighter life and diet chef, but can’t seem to stick to them for longer than a few weeks at the most, what is the best diet advice?
We seem to be bombarded with the latest diet, the fastest way to lose weight or how some celebrity lost a stone or two. In reality we seem to have lost touch with the joy of eating, we have forgotten what normal healthy food is and have bought into the concept that we need man made food products or supplements. There is no quick fix, no magic pill for getting the body of your dreams, but that doesn’t mean that you have to starve to get there nor should it be a hard drawn out process either. Your body was made to be healthy.
As a society we seem to have been brainwashed by the media and clever marketing from food companies and we no longer seem to know what is good for us anymore. Margarine sales are a prime example of this as is the rise of fat free yet high sugar products, all made to make money and clever marketing makes us believe we are doing the best for our health, however the truth is we are now fatter and unhealthier than ever before.
The biggest myth is that you need to eat less to lose fat. Many of the clients I see are surprised how much they can eat and still lose excess fat.
Eat fewer calories and you will lose weight, this is a distorted. A calorie is a calorie right?! The theory goes like this; in order to lose weight we must eat less, this creates a calorie defect which creates weight loss. Well the truth isn’t quite as simple as this not all food is digested in the same way, so whilst a calorie is a calorie how that calorie is absorbed once in the body is different dependent on what type of food the calorie came from. The quality of where the calories come from is really important too.
One study conducted by Pawlak D et al 2004, fed two groups of rats diets with identical nutrients, except for the type of carbohydrates, one group had high-GL the other had Low-GI. The animals were fed in a controlled way to maintain the same mean bodyweight for 18 weeks. At the end of the 18 weeks the rats on the lower GL diets had lower rates of body fat and higher amounts of lean muscle mass compared with the rats on the high GL diet. Further research has also shown similar results in mice. Mice on the high-GI diet had almost twice the body fat of those on the low-GI diet after 9 weeks.
This shows that the type of food you eat is very important. You don’t need to remove carbohydrates completely nor do you need to eat a low calorie, fat free diet. What you need to learn is how to eat in a way that helps provide your body with enough energy and nutrients but also helps you lose excess fat. It may sound very complicated but it’s easier that it sounds.
The most beneficial thing anyone can do to gain health and lose excess weight, is too shift the focus from weight loss altogether and focus on eating real food, then the weight will take care of itself. By real food I mean food that hasn't been tampered with, vegetables, fruit, fish, meat, nuts, rice, butter ETC. Yes even butter has benefits when eaten as part of a healthy balanced diet.
A days eating could look something like this:-
Breakfast - Poached eggs on whole grain toast spread with a little butter
Snack - Apple and 10 almonds
Lunch -Chicken pesto and salad wrap
Live natural yogurt with fresh or frozen berries
Dinner - Salmon with new baby potatoes served with green vegetables
If you would like more advice or a tailor made diet, please contact me on Kirsten@thefoodremedy.co.uk or on 07780007361
Also vist www.thefoodremedy.co.uk for recipes and healthy food ideas
