You have to eat enough food if you want to lose weight. Sounds exactly the opposite of what it should be, but believe me – that’s how it is. If you cut calories drastically and skip meals, your body will hang onto all your fat stores and burn muscle tissue instead. You really, really don’t want this to happen! Muscle is your body’s fat-burning furnace; the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn – even when you’re sitting watching TV.

Besides, if you don’t eat enough, you’ll feel weak, listless and miserable (and hungry!) and not have the energy to exercise, which is the other essential half of the weight-loss equation.

So what we need to look at is cutting down on some of the unnecessary calories – the junk-and-cookies part of your daily intake – and adding in more calories that are nutritious, filling and healthy.
If you can’t resist chocolate and potato chips, don’t have them in the house. Buy 1 treat a week, look forward to it and enjoy every bite.

You should be eating 3 meals a day, with 2 small snacks in between. This will keep your blood sugar levels steady and your body will release fat to make up any calorie deficit – exactly what we want.
Each meal should ideally contain protein, carbohydrates and some “good” fats i.e unsaturated. I’ve drawn you up a quick list of ideas:

Protein: Chicken/turkey (no skin)/lean red meat (once or twice a week)/fish/eggs/cheese/lentils and pulses. A portion is the size of your palm, (without fingers), 2 eggs or a matchbox size piece of cheese.

Carbs: Granary/wholemeal bread (Please not white!), brown or basmati rice, potatoes with skin on, brown pasta, beans, oats. A portion is 1 slice of bread or a fist-sized amount of rice, pasta or 1 medium spud.

Veg: All kinds, including salad stuff. Try to eat 3 – 5 portions a day. A portion is 2 – 3 tablespoons cooked veg, or a bowl of salad, or a handful of cherry tomatoes – you get the idea. Eat as much veg as you want. Darker coloured veg contain more vitamins and antioxidants (protect against free radicals implicated in some cancers).

Fruit: All kinds. 2 – 4 portions a day. A portion is 1 medium sized piece of fruit (apple), 2 small pieces (satsumas, plums), half a grapefruit and so on. Vary it; try to eat a rainbow of colours every day! Dried fruit is a good snack, but keep portions small.

Fat: Small amounts of fat are essential for the absorption of vitamins A,D,E,K. Avoid any fats that are solid at room temperature; they are saturated fats. Go for small amounts of olive oil, sunflower, rapeseed. Eat oily fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines, fresh tuna) 2/3 times a week and have a handful of unsalted nuts twice a week.

Read labels on pre-prepared meals and avoid anything with “E” numbers, hydrogenated or trans-fatty acids like the plague. Including margarine; I’d rather you had a bit of butter!

If you must eat ready meals, go for good ones like M&S or Waitrose (in the UK) and aim to avoid food in creamy sauces; go for tomato-based ones instead.

So, here’s a rough idea for a day’s eating. Feel free to substitute; you don’t have to eat anything you detest!

Breakfast: 2 slices granary toast or 2 shredded wheat, semiskim milk. Or porridge. Wonderful stuff!
Midmorning: Apple or banana

Lunch: Mixed salad with ham or chicken, or similar in a sandwich, or baked beans on granary toast. Low fat yoghurt.

Mid-afternoon: Portion of fruit. If you are peckish, have some wholegrain crispbread or oatcakes.

Dinner: Grilled salmon, veg, rice. Fresh fruit salad.

If you are craving sweet stuff, try having a few dates or dried figs. Or a couple of squares of dark chocolate. NOT the whole bar.

This gives you a rough outline of what you should be eating. You should never feel madly hungry – eat whenever you feel genuine hunger and drink lots of water as sometimes thirst is interpreted by the brain as hunger. The most important thing is to be honest with yourself. If you want to eat something “naughty”, then do so – just don’t fool yourself that it doesn’t count!


Alcohol

You know what I’m going to say! There is no food value at all in alcohol, so it goes straight into fat stores (via the brain!). A small glass of wine contains around 125 calories. I’m not saying cut it out altogether – hey, life has to be worth living - but make informed choices about drinking and remember that alcohol enhances appetite and ruins willpower.

A man requires roughly 2500 calories a day to function (more if a lot of exertion is involved). A woman requires 2000. To lose fat steadily, safely and long-term, you should be consuming around 300 calories a day less than that, and doing around 30 minutes of exercise, which will burn 200 cals. This creates a calorie deficit of 500 cals a day, 3500 in a week. That’s 1lb of fat burnt off, with not a great deal of disruption to your daily life. And you will have started to tone your muscles by exercising, as well as strengthening your heart and lungs and reducing your risk of ill-health.

Carol J Bartram
(Personal Trainer, Pilates Instructor & Massage Therapist)

Weight Loss and Nutrition