Hello there

I’m back from holiday and after nearly three weeks of excess crisps and wine my clothes are feeling considerably tighter than at the start of the month.  Yes, that’s right even us health & fitness gurus lapse into less than healthy habits occasionally.  So, from tomorrow I’m taking the steps necessary to get back in shape, - why don’t you join me?

If you want to lose weight and get your body in shape for Christmas you need to correct any hormone imbalance and create a fat burning environment.

How do you do that?

• Avoid all ‘white’ starchy carbohydrates.  White bread, white rice and white pasta are all linked with weight gain and higher levels of body fat.
• Eat protein with every meal and snack.  Your body needs protein to grow and repair; it also keeps you feeling fuller for longer.  Proteins include fish, chicken, beans and nuts.
• Don’t cut out fat.  Your body needs good fat to function well and support weight loss.  Good fats are found in nuts, fish, olives and avocado.  Trans fats are the fats to be avoided as much as possible and they can be found in processed foods, biscuits and cakes.
• Reduce stimulants.  Avoid all fizzy drinks and cut back tea and coffee to no more than two cups a day.  If you normally take sugar in your tea and coffee try a teaspoon of honey instead.
• Stay hydrated.  Aim to drink 2 litres (approx. 8 glasses) of water each day.  Studies have shown that the thirst and hunger sensations are triggered together so if you’re slightly dehydrated you might mistake thirst for hunger and end up eating when actually you just need a glass of water.
• Try not to use readymade sauces or dressings.  They contain high amounts of sugar and salt so as a guideline, if you do use any jar or packet sauces, the sugar figures should be 4g of total sugars or less and the salt figures should be 0.3g of salt (0.1g sodium) or less per 100g.
• Read food labels.  If there’s an ingredient you don’t recognize or can’t pronounce you probably shouldn’t be eating it!

Change can be hard, no actually change is hard so don’t feel you need to change everything at once.  Adopt a couple of the above tips each week and let me know how you get on.