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 that’s because it’s as far away from the weekend as possibly and you’re more likely to be in the middle of a more structured eating routine. If this isn’t the case for you, just be sure to pick a consistent time and day to make the measurement more consistent. First thing in the morning before food and after going to the loo is always good, and keep clothing consistent (or don’t wear any…unless the scale is on the gym floor)!

Do not weigh yourself daily or weekly if:

• You’ve suffered from an eating disorder or body dysmorphia, suspect that you might do, or feel that doing so could become obsessive and negatively impact your mood.

• You’re motivated by seeing bigger changes; some people like the fact that they’ve shifted 7-8 pounds as opposed to just one or two, bigger numbers might be better and if they are, weigh-in less frequently for a higher likelihood of success.

• Weight is the only measure of progress you are tracking; it’s too easy to get disheartened with the frequent fluctuations caused by other factors.

If this is you, consider weighing less often and pay particular attention to the following essential points…

1) Choose a frequency of weighing that achieves the right balance for you; enough to keep you motivated but no so much that you get disappointed by slow progress or fluctuations from day-to-day

2) Use scales as just one tool in your armoury to track progress. On their own, they only tell a tiny part of the story. Use tape measures, clothing size and body fat percentage alongside these. That way, if your weight increases but you’ve lost fat and you’re smaller, you’ll know you’ve built lean muscle and you can stay happy and motivated

3) Remember to track the process too. Often we focus on the outcome, the weight or shape we want, and forget that it’s the things we do each day that will get us there. One of the three key tenets of the balance approach is ‘You are the sum of your most frequent recent behaviours.’ In other words, if you’re doing the right things, it will happen.

4) If you’ve had or have body issues or an eating disorder, always discuss options for tracking your progress and behaviours with your GP, counsellor or dietician in the first instance. They can help you to find a balanced approach that’s right for you.

Please do pop me a message or post on the balance Facebook page if you have questions about what you can do to track your progress, I’m always happy to help anyone find a little better balance.

Having your cake and eating it...the psychology of portion control

If you know that yousometimes eat more than you need, here are some simple tips to help you control the size of your portions...

Portion it out first

A famous scientific study gave movie-goers a small or large portion of popcorn to enjoy whilst watching their film. Half of them received fresh popcorn whilst the other half received a bucket full of old, stale and bad tasting popcorn. What the researchers found was that both groups ate more when given the larger portion, even though those who ate the stale stuff found they didn't like it!

The message...as humans we're wired to eat what is there. Maybe it's something to do with our genetics when food was scare, maybe it's just that if we're distracted doing something else we continue to eat unconsciously. Whatever the reason, the message is clear; prepare your portions carefully. Rather than take the whole packet of nuts to work, pop some into Tupperware and leave the rest at home, rather than have the entire jumbo bag of crisps next to you on Friday evening, pour a few into a bowl. You'll often find your can't be bothered to get up to go and get some more.

Out of sight, out of mind

The food science expert, Brian Wansink, has carried out numerous studies on human behaviour and eating. He's noted that people tend to eat less chicken wings in a restaurant if the waiter leaves the plate of bones on the table rather than continuously taking them away, that if a bowl of soup keep refilling, people will continue to eat from it and that leaner individuals tend to sit facing away from an all-you-can-eat buffet. 

Here are a few things you can try to put this research to good use:

• Put the treats away and make the fruit bowl clearly visible. Wansink notes that people will eat what they see, so having the biscuit tin on show continuously puts the idea of eating biscuits into your brain.

• If you've cooked too much, rather than put it on the table and tempt yourself into finishing it off, put it in some Tupperware and have it for lunch tomorrow or freeze it for a rainy night if you can

• Make it as difficult as possible to access those treats. Wrap them up, put them inside a box in another box, lock them away, whatever makes it a pain to actually go and get them

• Better still, choose your shopping carefully. It's been shown that on average, almost 75% of the food we eat comes from that which we have at home. That means if you don't have the worse choices there, you're much less likely to consume them.

Recognise the danger times and places

Lots of behavioural research in many different contexts shows that people who plan ahead tend to be more successful in what they're doing. The same is true in this instance; spend some time identifying when and where you're likely to go off the rails and build a plan to either avoid or cope with these situations. Planning prevents poor portion performance! ;-) 

Use smaller plates

I've mentioned this one numerous times before but it's worth revisiting. The same amount of food on a smaller plate appears more filling to the eye, or brain I should say. It's known as the Delboeuf illusion and it really works.

This picture, from my book, The Complete Guide to Weight Loss, shows how a larger plate (the black bit), can make a portion of food (the blue bit), appear smaller and therefore less filling.

Remind yourself of your goals

People will work harder to achieve things that are more important to them. Firstly, make sure you've set yourself a goal that you REALLY want to achieve, one that has a powerful WHY behind it. Sometimes though, that's still not enough; life is busy and stressful and so it can be easy to be distracted from your targets and end up doing things you know won't help.

For this reason, it's important to do what you can to keep your goals and the powerful reasons for them at the forefront of your mind. Write or print them out and stick them on the fridge, on your desk, the dashboard of your car, or use a photo of them as your phone screensaver. It might make the difference in those moments of weakness.

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 fat cells themselves and its job is to tell someone when they’re full. The opposing hormone, ghrelin, is made in the stomach when it is empty and tells someone when he or she is hungry. Together these hormones talk to the hypothalamus in the brain to regulate when and how much to eat. But if something goes wrong or they become unbalanced then gains in fat stores may be just around the corner as the fat storing tendencies of the body and a person’s appetite are increased.

It used to be assumed that as people ate more their leptin levels increased and appetite was suppressed. This is certainly what should happen, but research has shown that if someone consumes too many calories and gains weight, they can become leptin resistant in much the same way they can become resistant to insulin. What this means is that ‘fullness’ signals don’t get through and someone is far more likely to keep eating.

Myers, Cowley and Munzberg (2008) showed that leptin resistance is caused by a number of complex factors, including changes in chemical process and changes in signaling between cells, with the end result being increased hunger and weight gain. In contrast, when losing weight, the body reacts by decreasing leptin and raising levels of ghrelin, increasing hunger. This may be a very influential factor in the reason why so many that lose weight gain much or all of it back, and sometimes more on top. It has been suggested that rapid dieting may make this worse and increase the likelihood that all of the hard work will be undone. Some argue that a more gradual weight loss may help to prevent this and allow the body to gradually adapt to its new weight without reacting and bouncing back to its original start point as is seen in diets where rapid weight loss occurs (Amigo and Fernandez, 2007).

Linked to this is the notion of the Set Point Theory. While the precise origin of this theory is difficult to pin down, various researchers have studied or made reference to it (Weinsier et al, 2000, Pereira et al, 2004). The theory suggests that a person’s weight is genetically predetermined, and that should they diet their body will increase various signals, including ghrelin levels, to ramp up hunger. This makes weight regain likely and research certainly shows that this is common.

Wing and Phelan (2005) suggest that only around 20 per cent of people maintain weight loss after one year if losing 10 per cent or more of their original body weight.

Set Point Theory has always been controversial, and arguments have swung back and forth between those who believe genetics leads to weight gain and those who believe it is due to poor diet or a lack of exercise. In reality, it is likely that both are true – with people having a weight and body fat that they would likely be naturally, but that today’s environment including poor food and sedentary lifestyles can drive people away from their natural set point to a higher level, resetting the set point and making it difficult to return to ‘normal’ (Müller, Bosy-Westphal and Hemsfeld, 2010).

It’s known that people are genetically different in terms of body type, where they are classified as either ectomorphs (lean), endomorphs (higher in body fat), mesomorphs (high in muscle), or a mix of the three.

Stress hormones

The body has a number of hormones that are activated in times of stress, including adrenaline and cortisol. These are known as ‘fight or flight’ hormones, and are raised by:

• Physical stress – this includes positive stress such as exercise, but also negative stresses such as fighting off an attacker or running away from a dangerous dog.

• Mental stress – people don’t have to run away from something for their stress hormones to be activated. Tight work deadlines and stressful jobs are commonplace these days, arguments with friends and family, financial worries and a host of other reasons will send stress hormones soaring.

• Hunger – this may surprise you, but hunger is a physical stress on the body. That’s why it releases ghrelin to drive people to eat; otherwise it can’t function properly. It’s even worse if people ignore these signals and don’t eat. High levels of ghrelin are also linked to increased adrenaline in the blood with the body getting stressed as it knows that the low blood sugar levels and empty stomach it has identified mean that soon the brain won’t have the supply of energy it needs to work effectively. The rise in adrenaline causes the liver to release stores of glucagon (stored carbohydrate) and blood sugars return to normal without having to eat. Of course, this means that the back-up stores are now running low so eating is essential to keep them maintained.

• In fact, a stress is really anything that requires the body to move away from homeostasis, its normal state. This can include changes in temperature, chemical levels in the blood, fluid levels, pain, noise and a whole host of other factors.

So how can all this affect your fat levels?

There are a number of theories about this, with both physiological and psychological changes thought to play a part. Mood certainly effects eating behaviours, with research showing that stress increases the tendency to eat high sugar, high fat foods (Torres, 2007). This desire may stem from the fact that eating these ‘comfort’ foods is associated with pleasure and in the short term decreases the stress levels within the body.

The stress response is however varied, with some people opting for comfort foods and gaining weight while others decrease food intake and lose weight in times of stress (Torres, 2007, Kivimaki et al, 2006). Physiologically, stress may increase the risk of weight gain through a number of different mechanisms including:

• Changes in thyroid function

• Changes in liver function

• Worsened digestion

• Impact on numerous hormones

• Elevated blood sugars

• Adrenal fatigue and exhaustion

Many of the above can be linked back to changes caused by stress to:

• The HPA Axis

• The Autonomic Nervous System

 

What are they? 

The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal or HPA Axisis a feedback system linking the hypothalamus and pituitary gland in the brain, and the adrenal glands in the kidneys. Between them these three control the body’s response to stress and influence energy expenditure, digestion, mood and the immune response.

The Autonomic Nervous System controls all of the ‘automatic’ processes that occur in the body without conscious thought, such as breathing, heartbeat, blood pressure, digestion and the dilation and constriction of blood vessels.

Drapeau et al (2003) noted that stress increases activation of the HPA Axis, which in turn elevates levels of cortisol. The higher levels of cortisol seem to increase hunger and promote fat storage around the visceral organs. Interestingly they also suggest that central obesity itself can be perceived as a stress by the body, causing further activation of the HPA axis and a vicious cycle in which stress causes obesity which in turn causes stress and so on. Coupled with a person’s desire for high fat and high sugar foods in times of stress, it is easy to see how this could lead to considerably higher levels of central body fat over time. As well as obesity, an overactive HPA axis and autonomic nervous system is linked to high blood pressure, insulin resistance and diabetes type 2, high cholesterol, and the other factors that together commonly referred to as metabolic syndrome.

Happy hormones

Many hormones serve more than one purpose in the body and a number can affect both our physiology and our psychology. This includes the hormone melatonin. It is believed to play a role in weight regulation; possibly through its importance in bringing about quality sleep. As you’ve seen, poor sleep affects appetite and melatonin is crucial for a good nights’ kip. It is thought that it may assist in regulating blood glucose and, as such, weight gain. It also plays a part in elevating mood along with a number of other hormones and neurotransmitters.

Thyroxine

As its name suggests, thyroxine, is a hormone produced by the thyroid gland, located in the neck. Together with triiodothyronine, they are known as the thyroid hormones and are responsible for increasing BMR and metabolising carbohydrates, fats and proteins.

Thyroid UK (2010) say that two per cent of the UK population, most commonly women in their 40s and 50s, suffer from hypothyroidism or underactive thyroid. This decreases the body’s ability to raise BMR and increases the likelihood of weight gain. The major cause of this is iodine deficiency, sometimes from poor diet and lifestyle factors but also from genetic defects or medical conditions such as Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune illness that attacks the thyroid gland, decreasing its ability to produce thyroid hormones. Increased intakes of fish or shellfish can help but some cases may require supplementation or even medication.

There is a plethora of symptoms if somebody suffers from hypothyroidism, with weight gain, excessive tiredness, breathlessness, hair loss and poor skin amongst them. Instructors should signpost any client presenting with any of these symptoms to their GP.

Other stuff

As you have seen there is a big interplay of hormones working inside the body to store fat, burn fat, increase calorie burn or store energy away for a later date. But it isn’t just hormones that do this, other substances in the brain and the stomach play their part too. In the brain and central nervous system, neurotransmitters send signals from nerves to cells in the body.

One important neurotransmitter, serotonin, has a well-known mood boosting effect but it has also been shown to regulate appetite. Serotonin regulates appetite through signals created from eating meals. It can suppress some substances that drive hunger such as neuropeptide Y, which controls appetite by monitoring the fullness of fat cells and suppressing ghrelin.

Serotonin levels rise after eating carbohydrates, at which time they increase feelings of satisfaction and suppress appetite. Because of this, contrary to what many have said in recent years, it has been proposed that eating carbohydrates could be used as way of assisting weight loss. 

The idea is simple; eat carbohydrates, increase serotonin and decrease appetite (Wurtman and Frusztajer, 2009). Some of their main suggestions include:

• Take care not to consume too many carbohydrates. Eating poor quality and large amounts of carbohydrates could lead to weight gain.

• Try eating a carbohydrate meal later in the day. This can help to suppress appetite in the evening when many tend to reach for sugary snacks. It may also help to improve sleep quality.

• Limit proteins and fats with the evening meal, opting instead for breakfasts and lunches that are higher in concentrations of these. 

They do however caution that consuming the wrong type of carbohydrates, namely highly processed, refined sugars, can be linked with stress and depression. Low mood means low serotonin – so the body reaches for foods that it knows will help put a smile on someone’s face. The problem here is that if sugary foods are regularly consumed to get the daily ‘happiness fix’, weight gain occurs, and insulin sensitivity decreases. In essence the high sugar lifestyle may become addictive – searching for a proper ‘hit’ – through the same mechanisms that lead to any substance abuse. So, while carbohydrates can be helpful, the quality of the food consumed has a major impact.

Another neurotransmitter, dopamine, may also have a role to play. It also has links to mood and is involved in creating the smooth movement of muscles; Parkinson’s disease is an autoimmune disease where dopamine-making cells in the brain are destroyed impacting many of the body’s functions, especially movement. It is also believed that dopamine plays a role in telling the brain that it is time to stop eating. Epstein et al (2007) studied 29 obese and 45 non-obese adults to discover if their dopamine levels had any impact on their appetite. Their results show that people with lower dopamine levels found food more rewarding and subsequently consumed more calories, possibly explaining a mechanism for their weight gain.

What about your genes? Is the reason for bigger jeans of the blue denim variety all down to genes of the deoxyribonucleic acid kind? Well, as we saw in the section on risk factors, hundreds of genes have been discovered that suggest an increased risk for some weight gain depending on their genetic code. Ravussin and Bogardus (2000) suggest that genetics may affect the respiratory quotient, a measure of the percentage of fat and carbohydrate a person burns when breathing. It may also impact food intake and metabolic rate, as well as influencing behaviours such as the desire to eat or the tendency to be sedentary.

What is clear though is that genes alone cannot cause obesity. They merely make someone more susceptible, and major lifestyle factors like exercise and diet then influence weight gain more significantly. This is evidenced by the speed at which obesity levels have risen across the world. It takes thousands of years for changes in genes to occur, yet in 30 years levels of obesity have grown out of all proportion. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2013) in a review of genetics and obesity refer to the ‘thrifty genotype hypothesis’; this argument notes that the human body is in many ways designed to survive in times of famine by storing fat efficiently, but that in modern society where food is readily available this may be working against us, leading to expanding waistlines.

Summary of key points

• Numerous hormones have a role to play in weight management and levels of these are influenced by lifestyle behaviours.

• Neurotransmitters may also play their part in affecting hunger and satiety, and indirectly affect food intake through changes in mood.

Developing better relationships with food

If I could achieve just one thing for my clients, it would be to help them to enjoy a better relationship with food. It can be such a wonderful thing, so good for us and with so many tastes and textures to enjoy. It’s difficult though as there’s so much media coverage around food these days, what’s ‘good’ and ‘bad’ for us, what we ‘should’ and ‘must not’ eat. Then there’s the pressures of society to look a certain way, the quest for the body beautiful and the insecurities brought about by seeing other’s ‘wonderfully perfect’ lives through the filter of social media.

What follows are some things to consider when looking to improve your relationship with food. This is not designed to help if you feel or know that you have an eating disorder. In this instance, you should seek medical help as your health is at risk in the long term. Instead, it’s targeted at the largely unrecognised group in the community who have ‘disordered eating’; you have a poor, negative relationship with food which can strongly impact your mood, making you stressed about food choices and often guilty afterwards and lead to an unbalanced approach to what you eat and drink.

1)        Recognise that you must eat and drink

We must have food and water. Without them, we cannot survive. This means that far from being bad for us, they’re the stuff of life. This makes them very different from things like alcohol or cigarettes, where we may look to quit completely. Accept food and drink as an essential and inevitable part of your life and work to better your relationship with it from there.

2)        Understand that no single food is ‘good’ or ‘bad’

So often you’ll hear that this is bad for you and this is good for you, but the reality is that no food or drink is either when consumed as a one-off, then it’s just food. Things become good or bad over time when we have too much of certain things or too little of others. With that in mind, you can worry much less about what you have today.

3)        Opt for a balanced approach instead of abstinence

Did you ever see the episode of Derren Brown’s show where he placed the animal-loving lady in a room with a kitten inside a glass box? As he closed the door, he gave her specific instructions not to touch the button in the room or the cat would come to harm. There was even a big sign…’Whatever you do, don’t push the button.’ What do you think she did? Of course, the cat wasn’t harmed, but it went to show that human beings in their nature are rebellious. If we say ‘I won’t’ or are told, ‘you can’t’, then it’s probably more likely that we will. And after a period of resistance, we often end up overdoing it in response.

If you know this to be true for you, tell yourself that you absolutely can have the less healthy foods, just recognise the consequences of having too much too often.

There are a small number of people for who going cold turkey and removing a certain food from their diet works. This is usually because they have a very powerful motivation for it, so if you know that’s you then that is of course absolutely fine, you’re always free to do what’s best for you.

4)        Eat consciously, because you’re hungry and stop when you’re full

This is a big part of this step and the portion control step. Tuning in to your body helps you to understand if you’re eating because of hunger or emotion. Slow yourself down around food, become conscious of what you’re doing and you may find you eat less or even change your mind before you reach for the less healthy options.

5)        Accept that you will slip up, and at this point you only have two choices

As we said in point 1, you are going to eat on all, or at least most of the rest of the days of your life. That means it’s almost impossible to eat and drink well every day, nor do you need to. There are lots of studies to show that taking healthy eating to the extreme is unhealthy, it’s known as orthorexia and it can be harmful to your physical and mental health. Raw food diets and restrictive eating affect the digestive system and are linked with anxiety and depression.

The key with food is that once you’ve eaten something less healthy, you only have two choices:

1)   Get back to eating healthily most of the time and then it won’t have made any difference

2)   Continue to eat poorer choices and then you know you’ll feel bad about it, your health will worse and you’ll likely gain weight

Which choice would you prefer?

6)        Work to remove the connection in your brain between food as a treat or reward

This is ingrained in our culture and society so it won’t happen overnight. It is worth working on though. We often call less healthy foods ‘treats’ or label them as ‘naughty’ which in itself makes eating them an act of rebellion like we discussed in point 3. There are some simple things you can do though:

   Regard all foods and drinks as simply food and drinks. They’re not good, bad, treats or anything else. Each is simply a mix of the different nutrients – carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals and water

   When you set yourself tasks and goals and achieve them, reward yourself with things other than food and drink. Clothes can be a good choice as they reinforce the benefits of the new healthier you, as can experiences like days out, things that make you feel good without guilt.

7)        Enjoy the less healthy options when you have them

The worst thing of all is to eat something and feel bad about it. Make a conscious decision to have something, and if you’re going to have a less healthy option, choose one that you particularly enjoy, that you love the taste of and when you have it, savour it. Take your time with it, savour every last mouthful and then move forwards without regrets.

Above all else, work on finding a balance that works for you.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

We're approaching the end of another year and many of you will now be with loved ones as the festive celebrations get into full swing.

It's a time for family and friends, traditional food and drink, and films and TV shows you've probably seen many times before. For many, it's a difficult time because of these things. There's a mixture of thoughts and feelings - you want to relax, unwind, celebrate and enjoy it, but at the same time, there's a worry about weight gain, health, energy, guilt and generally feeling bad. This conflict is always present but this time of year exaggerates these thoughts and feelings even more.

The thing is, however you choose to spend your Christmas and New Year, remember that it's just a week. Health and fitness don't happen overnight and neither does being unhealthy or unfit. They are an accumulation of behaviours over time.

     "You are the sum of your behaviours."

Eating chocolate or drinking alcohol isn't bad for you. It's bad if you do it too much, too often. So if you decide this week to go wild, the most important thing to do is to enjoy it and remember that you can't do great harm if you get back to balance afterwards. It's only an issue if the less healthy behaviours continue for longer.

You may decide to enjoy a few less healthy things or you may feel that you'd rather have a healthier week so you come out the other side feeling positive and energised. The choice really is yours. Whatever you decide, here are a four ideas you might consider that can help add a little balance to your Christmas and New Year:

• Go for a walk - even a small amount of exercise helps. Five minutes of walking outdoors improves mood as much as an hour-long workout, just 30 minutes of moderate intensity can decrease blood pressure for a few hours and control blood sugar levels for 12 hours. If you're feeling lethargic or sleepy it's a great way of getting a bit more energy.

• Drink water - dehydration is one of the major reasons why you end up with a hangover, so just try mixing in some water or squash in between the drinks.

• Eat something healthy - fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, there are lots of healthier foods popular at Christmas too, so just try to include some each day in between the festive treats.

• Enjoy it - the worst thing you can do is go for the less healthy options and then feel bad about it. If you're going to go for booze, chocolate, mince pies, christmas cake or christmas put, at least savour the moment. If you have in mind you're getting back on it after Christmas or once the New Year begins, you'll have 51 weeks to balance it out and all will be well.

Whatever you do, I hope that you have yourself a merry little Christmas.

Yours in balance (or out of it for a few days),

Paul

The Ten Steps to a Balanced Diet

Diet, healthy eating, nutrition, food and drink...call it what you will, it can seem very complicated. There are countless books on the subject, and the worst thing is that some say the complete opposite to others, they're literally chalk and cheese! Although you won't find any cheese in those lactose-free ones of course! 

What makes them all the more confusing of course is that there are lots of stories about how they worked miracles for people. Then there are lots of other stories about how they were terrible for others, and in some cases, dangerous to the extreme. I've spent years fielding questions from clients and PT's in training about whether this diet is any good or if this one is a load of rubbish. And in my world of Personal Training, there's often a blanket response of 'diets don't work' or 'they're a load of rubbish.' 

That's not strictly true though, most diets contain an element of fact or useful advice. Some may take it to the extreme, but the principle on which it is founded is has a grain of truth (unless of course it's wheat free, no grains in there)! OK I'll stop with the bad jokes now.

Years ago, I decided that if I was going to try to decode the fact from the fiction, there were two key things I needed to do:

1) Know the science - study the research, stay on top of the latest journal articles and news and come out armed with the best ideas at the time. It'll never be right or wrong as nutrition is so individual, and it'll change over time, but at least I'd know what the consensus thoughts were at any one moment in time.

2) Read all the diet books and information out there! Dr Atkins, Dukan, The Zone, Blood Type, Cambridge, Paleo, 5:2, Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Cabbage Soup, high fat, low-fat, no fat, high carb, no carb, GI, GL, high protein, calorie counting, counting your macros, liquid only, shake plans, you name it, I've read and researched it.

This has done two main things for me; firstly it's allowed me to compare the science to the diets. There's always crossover, something taken from a snippet of science and moulded into a formula for people to follow. `Secondly, it's allowed me to see the commonalities; what are the things that are generally accepted across the board? There's a reason they appear so many times; it's because they're the things that actually work.

Here's an example, albeit not from a diet. I once went into my gym for a workout and they'd installed this miracle device, a treadmill where your lower half is vacuum-packed into a special surround during your workout. Apparently it changed pressure constantly by pumping air in and out of the vacuum and this helped to decrease body fat...amazing! Upon looking at the information on the huge display surrounding the treadmill, it appeared that it was guaranteed to work for me if I paid to use it three times each week for 30-60 minutes (I could walk or run, my choice) and then also ate plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and drank 2 litres of water each day.  Now I am not a Professor of Science but something told me that the guaranteed results might have more to do with the consistency of exercise and the healthy dietary changes encouraged alongside it.

The same is true of diets, we just need to be able to cherry-pick the good bits. That's where the Ten Steps to a Balanced Diet were born. They're the things that science currently says there is good evidence for. 

So what are they?

Put simply, they can be divided into four sections; what, how much, why and when. 

The first steps are all about what you're actually eating, outlining the different types, the affects of these according to the research and which we should focus on or limit.

1) Carbohydrates

2) Fats

3) Proteins

4) Vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other healthy stuff

5) Water

What you'll discover is that, unlike many diets, we don't emphasise the importance of one nutrient over another; rather we focus on getting the right balance for you to meet your goals and needs and recognise that all of them have a vital role to play in a balanced diet that keeps you fit, healthy and happy. There's one other 'what' step in the process:

6) Quality control - here we look at all the things that you might like to limit or reduce in your diet. We don't say cut out because that's often an extreme choice and you must decide what's right for you.

Linking this together, we can then focus on how much you're having of these foods.

7) Quantity control - We look at ways to control portion size, working through a range of approaches to find out what suits you best - calorie-counting, weighing and measuring food or simpler tools for gauging how much you're consuming.

The final three steps take different angles on why you eat the foods you do:

8) Planning and preparation - this step focuses on shopping, ordering food, making lists, preparing food to take to work and making meals in healthier ways.

9) Food and mood - here we delve into the impact of psychology on food; just why do you eat certain things and what can you do to change this.

10) Meal timing - the science on this step is weaker than the others, but that's not to say it can't be helpful. Getting yourself into eating routines can be an effective tool to help you ensure you're eating the right things and in the correct amounts.

The underpinning elements

Generally, I'll show a client the Ten Steps and then we'll work through them in one of two ways:

1) They'll have a clear idea of a step or steps they want and need to work on, so we'll start with just one of these, the one they deem most important.

2) If someone isn't sure, they can work through a short questionnaire for each step to help them determine where they think they want and need to focus. They simply then pick a step and we start from there.

We'll review progress regularly and then continue to work on that step, or move onto another if the time is right, all the time setting measurable targets to ensure they're on course.

Whatever changes we agree the client will make, there's always a checklist to go through before committing to it. These are essentially the foundations of the Ten Steps, the things that underpin them and allow the client to embed them into their lifestyle. You should always consider these things when making dietary alterations if you want to ensure they last. They are:

• Cost - are the changes you're looking to make within the budget you wish?

• Time - can you purchase, prepare and consume these foods within your current average day?

• Taste - are you going to enjoy the foods and want to eat them for a sustained period of time?

• Significant others - will the changes work taking into account the important people in your life?

• Ease - can you source the ingredients you'er considering easily? Is it something that can be adapted when work gets busy or you have holidays?

I hope that just by reading through our Ten Steps to a Balanced Diet, it's helped you to think about where you are and the changes you might wish to make.

Thanks,

Paul

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 how to know how many calories you're burning? Post it on here and I'll be happy to help.

Stay balanced,

Paul

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 fibre, strongly linked to increased feelings of fullness. Of course adding toppings is fine like oatcakes with a little peanut butter on top, but find a balance that works for you. If you’re not losing body fat and you know it’s definitely not because you’re under-eating, where can you make small and gradual reductions to your food intake?

·      Unprocessed meats – another food source rich in protein to help leave you feeling full and less likely to reach for the biscuit barrel. Only small quantities of meats are needed as they’re often high in fat and calories too and it’s easy to over-consume protein.

·      Protein shakes – whilst many don’t need to turn to supplements, for some life is busy and using a protein shake mixed with water or milk is an easier solution than preparing other foods. If it’s used instead of a Chunky KitKat there’s no arguing that it’s a better choice and those of you who exercise regularly may find it a great snack choice post-training to help your recovery in a quick, simple, easily digested way. You can of course, get a good quantity of protein from just drinking milk; so if sports shakes aren’t your thing and you’re not lactose intolerant, give it a try.

A bite-size summary

I hope you’ve found this little blog useful and if nothing else, it’s given you some ideas. I’ve been regularly snacking for years on some of the above foods and I find it works for me because I lead an active lifestyle and I know that if I let myself get hungry, that’s when I reach for worse choices. If you know this is the same for you or you’re just stuck in a rut of unhealthy snacks, try making one or two simple changes to help you find your way to balance.

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 out.

“Your body is designed to remove toxins efficiently, with organs such as the kidneys, liver and colon. You don’t need detox diets, pills, or potions to help your body do its job.”

What are the alternatives?

You can take some of the principles of the detox diets and apply them to a more balanced approach. In fact, you’ll find them all in the balance weight loss 'ten steps to a balanced diet’.

1) Drink plenty of fluids; water, milk, a little diluted fruit juice and even sensible amounts of tea and coffee (the caffeine content in a few cups will not kill you, in fact there’s quite a few antioxidants in there).

2) Get your 5-a-day, 7 if you can. Emphasise vegetables and berries with some other fruits, making sure to vary them regularly and get a wide range of colours.

3) Use whole grains; apart from the small amount of people who are truly wheat allergic, using whole grains alongside fruit and vegetables will give you adequate fibre to help you remove waste products (your body detoxing itself again). Vary the grains used to get the most nutrients; wild rice, spelt, rye, oats, barley, couscous and quinoa can all add taste to your diet as well as giving you the energy you need to function.

4) Limit processed foods, fizzy drinks and alcohol. We all know it; we know what’s really healthy and what we shouldn’t eat as much. All you need to do is work out how; it might mean choosing certain days for treats, limiting the number per week, not putting them in your shopping basket, avoiding times and places where you consume them, coming up with alternative foods and drinks to eat instead. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as it’s sustainable and it works for you.

There’s one other advantage to all of this of course; your blender should last longer! ;-)

Start finding your balance today.

Paul :-)

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 every time the instructor told them to kick or punch he automatically hid in his shell! Instead he tried Yoga which he found more to his pace.

Each weighed themselves again as scheduled and tortoise had lost another pound; he was now 7 pounds lighter than when he’d started 5 weeks ago and very pleased. Hare had gained another two pounds, how could this be? He had noticed he’d been starving after all that exercise and feeling weak so he’d been eating sugary foods to stop himself feeling dizzy. Tortoise had now lost more weight than him which was ridiculous as far as he was concerned.

Tortoise continued with the small changes he’d made to his life and went on to return to his race weight. He now competes in marathons, OK it takes him a while but he gets there. Hare joined a slimming club and drinks shakes for breakfast and takes tablets to help him burn fat. His weight has fluctuated up and down over the last few months and he is currently one pound heavier than when he started his programme. Mr Fox has changed his title back to Dr Fox and has a regular slot on morning TV advising animals about weight loss, exercise and health.

The moral of the story? Slow and steady doesn’t just win the race, it wins hands down for weight loss too. Weight gain will happen slowly over a number of months or even years, expecting to lose it all in a matter of weeks is unlikely to be realistic and can have many effects on the body that make it harder to maintain weight throughout life. Aim to lose one to two pounds a week through sensible changes to diet and an exercise programme combining cardiovascular and resistance training.

The balance advent calendar day 2: Surviving the Christmas Party!

At this time of year, party season kicks into full swing. Friends, work, family, another work do, sports clubs and a whole host of other groups get together to celebrate.

And celebrating can mean food and more often than not it means copious amounts of alcohol!

So here’s 10 ideas that are absolute crackers for surviving the festive season and not eliminating all of your good work to achieve your goals.


1) The Water Chaser Method - a tried and tested method for limiting the effects of alcohol. For every drink consumed order a glass of water with it. Ok so you’ll spend more time in the loo, but hey that’s less time at the bar!

2) The Small Plates Method - this is backed by scientific research. Smaller plates means two things, firstly smaller portions and secondly, it means that even a small portion looks bigger and more filling.

3) The Scrooge Method - take only the amount of money you intend to spend. Alright, you can sponge a few drinks off others, but every little helps.

4) The Grinch Method - don’t feel obliged to say yes to absolutely every invite. Choose your celebrations wisely, arrange to meet at times and locations that are unlikely to turn into epic eating and drinking sessions.

5) The Eat Before You Go Method - control your food intake by eating before you go. This method can be used with buffet affairs where the temptation to consume at least one of absolutely everything is hard to resist. By eating at home and choosing something healthy and filling, appetite is reduced later on. It also means that the alcohol you consume won’t have as large an effect on you.

6) The Pre-Booked Taxi Method - arranging for someone to pick you up at a specific time can prevent nights from rolling on, and on, and on, until they become day!

7) The Support Crew Method - everyone knows that there’s power in numbers, so team up with someone equally determined not to let Christmas send them off the rails and offer each other support across the evening (or evenings) in question.

8) The Big Night Out Method - ok so you won’t find us recommending bingeing sessions very often, but for some people recognising that they are going to go out, relax and enjoy themselves can be a good way of preventing post-party guilt. All you’ve got to to do is get yourself back to your normal routine afterwards and the damage can be minimised. And remember, life is about balance after all.

9) The Day After The Night Before Method - one of the biggest dangers of a big night out is often the food consumed during the hangover period. Plan ahead like you’re planning a military operation. Get food in that you know is healthy and make sure you don’t have the junk food you know you’ll crave. Drink plenty of water when you get home and have healthy fluids available for the next day. Get lots of rest and try a gentle bit of exercise, a walk for a little fresh air is a good idea, a big circuits session is not!

10) The Public Confession Method - many of us don’t like to tell people just how bad we’ve been. So resolve to confess your sins publicly and post all of the food you ate and alcohol you drank on your social media feed.


Above all, as we’ve said, life is about balance. So it’s up to you if you want to use December as your month to enjoy yourself or you want to find a method that allows you to be that little bit healthier. Whichever you choose, make sure you enjoy yourself, it is Christmas after all!

A balanced view on running for weight loss

Come January, as the New Year’s Resolutions start to kick in, you will see many people hitting the roads for a run, some to get fitter or dreaming of being the next Mo Farah, others because they want to lose weight. You’ll see the same increase in jogger numbers in the weeks after the London Marathon has inspired the British public in the middle of April.

So is running a good option for weight loss? We’ll present both sides of the argument for you here and let you decide for yourself, after all, we’re not called balance for nothing!

The pros

1) Running burns calories

This is an undeniable fact! You’ll hear some say that cardio is no good for weight loss and they’ll upsell the virtues of resistance training (and they’ll be absolutely right to do so on the latter). But let’s be honest, you don’t see very many overweight professional long-distance runners do you??? OK so cardiovascular training doesn’t build muscle and increase calorie burn after workouts in the way that weights training does, but it burns plenty of calories in the process.

If you want to know how many calories you burn during a run, Runners World provide a nice simple calculator here:

http://www.runnersworld.com/tools/calories-burned-calculator

Of course, this is an estimate but it gives you some idea and shows how much of a dent you are making towards your goals.

2) You might like running

Doing something you enjoy is fundamental to success in any weight loss or health programme. For those that enjoy running, it may well be a good idea. If you don’t, we guarantee there will be an alternative that is just as effective for you, be it cycling, swimming, walking, weights training or whatever works for you.

3) Running improves health

From improvements in blood glucose and blood cholesterol to better control of mood and mental health, running provides a range of health benefits. We’ve also shown many times that getting outside amongst nature has important effects on health and running is a great way of doing this.

4) Running can improve bone density

Various studies have shown that bone mass is increased, maintained, or the rate of loss with ageing slowed through running, in both the lower limbs and lumbar spine. Running is of benefit because the strain frequency is high. This means that during a running session the number of times the foot comes into contact with the floor are high, putting repeated stresses on the bones and causing adaptations to occur in order to cope with these stresses and strains.

The cons

1) It places stress on joints

Yes we know, we just told you that placing stress on bones and joints was a good thing, and it is, for the right people at the right time. If you are overweight and deconditioned however, it may not be the best place to start. When running, up to five times your bodyweight can pass through your joints. For those who are normal weight or slightly overweight, this may not pose too much of a problem, but if you carry more weight then running may place too much stress on your joints, increasing the risk of injuries.

2) It is repetitive

The nature of running means that you have to perform the same movement time and time again. This increases the likelihood of overload on specific muscles and joints, again increasing the likelihood of injury, especially if the body is not conditioned enough to undergo these pressures. Running with poor posture or technique, or doing too much, are the things likely to cause issues here. If you have tight muscles, have had injuries, have a predominantly seated job or have not been active for some time, it is well worth conditioning your body first before ploughing straight into the running regime. You can do this through resistance training, stretching, yoga or Pilates.

3) Walking can burn more calories

You may be surprised to hear that walking quickly actually burns more calories than running. This means brisk walking (that special type of walk, the type you see in the Olympic Games), at a speed of 8 kilometres per hour or faster. At this speed it is less economical for the body to walk than it is to run, and as such it makes it harder to do, burning more calories in the process.

4) You might not like running

See point two in pros. If you prefer another form of exercise, don’t run! There are plenty of other choices available to you.

Key messages:

1) If you haven’t exercised for a while, have poor posture or tight muscles, or are very overweight, consider doing something else in the earlier stages of your exercise routine. As you increase your fitness and lose weight, you can gradually add running into your routine.

2) Mix it up. Don’t just run; mix it up with stretching and resistance training to ensure your muscles, bones and joints can take the stresses and strains placed on them.

3) Learn to run - this might sound daft but ensuring you run with good posture and technique, and have the appropriate footwear to suit your style, is key to you getting the most out of it.

4) Run if it’s fun! Don’t slog through exercise if it is a chore, you won’t stick to it in the long-term. Find what you enjoy and mix it up regularly to keep it fun and varied.

5) Little by little – if you are going to take up running, build up gradually and be sure to get yourself a proper programme that includes periods of rest to prevent you overdoing it and to decrease your risk of injury or boredom.

If you have a question about your own running programme, get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to offer some friendly advice.

balance your exercise routine, balance your scales

balance on.......booze

It’s the weekend again and no doubt alcohol consumption may increase for some of you, so here’s a few pieces of information on how alcohol affects your body short-term and long-term:

Beer bellies - alcohol consumption is strongly linked to the size of your waist. This is because it’s high in calories, packed full of sugar and enters your blood stream very quickly. Research in men shows that increased alcohol intake equals increased trouser size. In women, one study did show that moderate drinking (one to two small glasses of wine) did not affect the size of your outfit, but anything above that did.

Beer goggles - a study recently scooped an award for showing that alcohol consumption makes people see themselves as more attractive, but at the same time had no effect on how attractive they appeared to others. If this is the case, it means we should be chatting ourselves up on a night out!

Image courtesy of cbenjasuwan at 

FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Wine head - it’s not just your belly and your eyes that alcohol has a bad relationship with. Alcohol decreases the quality of sleep, decreasing the amount of REM sleep, making you wake up more often and making you sleepier and low in energy during the day.

Wine head doesn’t just affect your sleep, as you’ll know it carries on the next day. Your hangover may lead to stomach problems, headaches, low energy levels and blood sugar imbalances. These imbalances may cause you to crave sugar foods and undo all of the great work you’ve put in to get yourself healthy.

Just the one? One to two small glasses of wine or a half/pint per day may offer some protection against type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It is likely that women should drink less than men, probably one drink compared to two for the guys. Small amounts of alcohol appear to increase HDL cholesterol and also to decrease the likelihood of clotting.

Ask yourself when you go out if you drink lots because you enjoy it and you crave that Sunday morning wine head, or do you think that it’s the done thing? Are you easily led or do you just have a few and lose track? If any of these apply to you, have a plan for a more balanced evening:

• Drink water in between alcoholic drinks

• Take a set amount of cash and no card

• Team up - there’s power in numbers and if a few of you are keen to decrease your alcohol intake, decrease your weight and increase your health, then your gang will become the social norm and others will follow you.

• Move abroad - ok so this is a bit extreme, but many cultures see drinking as a sociable event without having to consume copious amounts. We could learn a thing or two from our worldly-wise neighbours.

These are just a glassful of ideas, you can plan your own that works best for you.

balance your beer, balance your scales :-)

balance on………….The Men Who Made us Thin

Having finally had a chance to sit down and watch all four episodes from this BBC 2 series back to back (the joys of Sky+), it’s worth reviewing what Mr. Jacques Peretti had to say after delving deep into the belly of the weight loss world. Whilst we don’t normally recommend sitting on your backside for hours on end, we nobly did it for you and reviewed the key messages here so that you could use that time on moving and being generally healthier and happier! What did we learn?

Diets don’t do it

Jacques was quite scathing of some of the larger weight loss companies in his earlier episodes, sometimes fairly although sometimes the reporting was a little on the sensationalist side and arguably not always a balanced view.

At balance we’d certainly agree that heavily processed shakes, bars and meal replacements is not the key to long-term success. Interestingly though, having spoken to some people who use them recently, they said that it helped them to ‘kick-start’ their weight loss, increase their motivation and then adopt healthy lifestyles to maintain it. One of the balance values is in empowering people to find out what works for themselves, and whilst you won’t find us selling you a powdered mix to add to milk or water instead of having breakfast any time soon, we do recognise the value for some of getting things moving to help motivate them. Remember though the story of the hare and the tortoise!! And remember that if you do go down this route it’s not a long-lasting solution, so you’re only going to have to make yet another change at some point to maintain it.

Fit doesn’t necessarily mean thin

The piece on exercise in episode 2 is worthy of some attention. It is certainly true that exercise on its own may not be THE solution to weight loss, but then again, as the world’s population grows larger day by day, it is fairly clear that no one single solution has been found, or ever will be!

Jacques’ negativity towards exercise for weight loss was clear, although he did rightly point out that there are numerous other reasons for moving from a health and wellbeing perspective. He also neglected one fundamental point when looking at exercise; type! The focus of the show was very much on cardiovascular workouts, which certainly can make the heart healthier and increase fitness. They also burn calories so can have a part to play in a balanced exercise routine. However, resistance or weights training received little or no attention, yet there is evidence to show that it reduces fat levels and also improves insulin sensitivity, decreases risk of falls and improves cardiovascular health in everyone from athletes to elderly adults an type 2 diabetics! There was a very nice piece about the ‘fat but fit’, showing a couple of ladies who were super-fit but overweight; it emphasised that fitness was key, even if you were overweight. OK, so the exercises they were given weren’t always the safest or most appropriate in terms of injury risk, but they were moving!

The science says is also clear in showing that exercise helps to keep weight off, so when it’s combined with a healthy diet you can get some pretty good results. Exercise should form part of a holistic approach and the focus should not purely be on weight loss but on changes in shape, energy, self-confidence and health as well. Do this and weight loss will come anyway!

What tastes sweet may not be so neat

There was a short but interesting piece in one episode around sweeteners. Jacques pointed out that rats eating them surprisingly gained weight, when it would be assumed that consuming less sugar would lead to weight loss. In an interview with a scientist, she noted that in human beings there was a change in a part of the brain called the amygdala when consuming sweeteners like aspartame. It seemed change occurred in the brain with regular consumption of sweeteners and that this could actually lead people to eat even more calories as it created a weaker response to sugar.

Weight gain and weight loss has numerous reasons

Peretti brilliantly portrayed the complex interplay between society, the food industry, the medical world, drugs companies, the media and fitness industries. We could take a cynical view of many of these, but that’s not what we’re here to do. All we ask is that you go on your own journey through weight loss, ask yourself the questions:

• Will what I am about to do make me fitter and healthier?

• Will it help me to lose weight and keep it off?

• Is it helping me to gain a realistic view of what I can achieve?

We don’t think that the diet toothpaste or magic weight loss soap fits into this category!!

Think, eat, live, move, and balance your life, balance your scales. :-)

balance on.....blogging beginnings and counting calories

Welcome to the the first ever balance weight loss blog! It’s taken a fair bit of reading web pages that we didn’t really understand to get to this point, so it’s nice to be able to start writing!

We’ll be posting regularly on weight loss, health and well being, including:

• News - the latest research and press coverage for all things weight loss, health and well being.

• Recipes - we’ll be giving you a range of healthy alternatives to your all-time favourites, ideas for healthy snacks and recipes using a range of healthy foods. All will be based on our ‘ten pillars of nutrition’.

• Exercise advice - at home, outside, or in the gym, we’ll show you how to fit activity into your everyday lives with practical examples of awesome exercises and simple, effective training programmes.

• Success stories - we love to praise those who’ve achieved their goals, so we’ll be sharing their achievements and how they did it with you, to motivate you and give you ideas for your own journey.

• Our own research and reading - we like to keep on top of the science and we’re keen to share what we find with you. We’ll put together articles on a range of topics, everything from sleep to stress management, from food to fitness, from what works for your mind to what works for your body. If you want us to write about anything in particular, just ask and we’ll create a post just for you!

We thought we’d start with a look at something that appeared in the news recently. These days, you can’t go more than 24 hours without seeing a TV programme or a news story about weight loss, food, exercise, health and well being!! In many ways this is fantastic as it raises people’s awareness of the subjects and gets them thinking about their own health. We do however work with people who tell us they’re confused by all the conflicting information that they read and see from day to day. “Fish is really good for you as it’s packed full of Omega 3” or “the seas are polluted so be careful with fish as it may be full of chemicals”, “make sure to get your five portions of fruit and vegetables each day”, or “fruit is high in sugar and may increase your risk of diabetes.” Which one is true? Who should I trust? Sometimes it’s not easy to know, so we’ll be helping to make it simple to understand by offering you a balanced view (pun very much intended)!

Last week the Daily Mail had a story about a research study that they say tells us that counting calories is meaningless. Is this the case? 

Have a look for yourself

. 

The findings suggest that the calories on food labels might not be correct, especially in processed foods where they may often underestimate the calories. It also showed that different people processed foods differently and as such may absorb different amounts of calories from the same foods. There’s a lot of good messages in this article to take away, including:

• Just counting calories may not be an effective way of losing weight, and certainly won’t guarantee good health.

• People are different! Foods that work for one may not work for another. You’ll need to learn over time how you respond to different foods and use a little trial and error to discover what works for you.

• Real foods are best! If it grew in the ground or on a tree, or it lived and died and not much happened to it afterwards, it’s probably good for you. If it was processed, and it’s advertised on TV, it’s probably not!

• Healthy cooking can be a recipe for success - steaming is particularly good for you and the odd bit of raw food can be great. Don’t go mad on this, there have been a number of cases of people experiencing severe health issues with extreme raw food diets, and there is research to suggest it lowers HDL cholesterol and raises levels of markers of inflammation in the body. In fact, most fad diets like this purely work because they restrict you from consuming as many calories as you normally would, there’s no magic going on.

To count or not to count?

When we work with clients we don’t ask our clients to count calories and arguably you don’t need to. If you eat real foods you’ll get full fairly quickly and absorb the nutrients you need. If you eat processed foods it’s easy to over-consume as they don’t contain what your body needs, leaving it hungry for more. They do however have refined sugars, trans-fats and other unhealthy substances that play around with your blood sugars and insulin levels, making you hungry again soon after.

This is not to say that calories are irrelevant, far from it. If someone eats too much they can gain weight, if they don’t eat enough they can lose weight. This is undeniable. If somebody finds it helps to count calories by measuring portion sizes and it works for them, well that’s great and it should not be discouraged. People need to find their own ways to achieve balance in life and balance on the scales!

If you’re considering making lifestyle changes to lose weight, remember that for thousands of years before food labelling and 'low-fat’ or 'lite’ foods existed, people successfully managed their weight by being in tune with their body’s, eating when they were hungry and stopping when they were full. Oh, and you won’t see a fat lion very often!!

We hope you enjoyed our first instalment, we’ll be back soon with lots more to help you balance your life and balance your scales. :-)