You may be shocked to realise that many so called ‘healthy’ foods, ‘low-fat’ foods and ‘diet’ foods are often not any better then the original foods that you are trying to avoid in the first place. You are often making all that sacrifice of taste and flavour and spending that extra money for what ultimately can be worse for your health and weight loss.

You need to explore behind the big headlines posted on the label and look carefully to see exactly what ingredients and calories are present as manufacturers have now perfected the art of distracting us from what is actually present and convincing us that what we are getting is the real deal. Here let us have a look at some everyday foods and explore exactly what you are getting……..

Light Mayonnaise

At 45 calories per tablespoon and 90% fat, there is nothing light about light mayonnaise. Worse still most of us will use a lot more than 1 dessertspoon because we think of it as being healthy and low calorie. It will take you about 10 minutes of brisk walking to burn off each dessertspoon you take, so be careful!! Switch to extra light mayonnaise, balsamic vinaigrette or relish, all just 12 calories per tablespoon and make sure to control your portion size too!

Fruit Yogurt

Fat free or low-fat doesn’t necessarily mean healthy! Fruit yogurts have many good qualities especially in providing calcium, magnesium, zinc and potassium but unfortunately they contain very high amounts of sugar with a 112g (4oz) pot having the equivalent of 3 teaspoons (15g) of added sugar. This certainly outweighs most of the benefits. To make matters worse some have controversial artificial sweeteners added too. The best solution is to get the natural yogurt and add your own pieces of fresh fruit!

Chicken Caesar Salad

Many people order chicken Caesar salad when out in restaurants thinking it to be a really healthy option. Don’t be fooled, very often the high fat content and the high sodium content make this a very unhealthy choice! You might be better off with a double hamburger! It depends on the general ingredients and the lettuce-to-chicken ratio and lettuce-to-dressing ratio. 2 cupfuls can range from 250 to a huge 650 calories, 15-35g of fat and a whopping 500-800mg of sodium. To make this healthy pack, on the lettuce and cut down on the parmesan cheese, the croutons and any anchovies in the dressing!

Smoothies

Are essentially a large serving of sugar, albeit fruit and yogurt, but sugar is sugar to the body and the excessive quantity that comes in smoothies (often 400 to 500 calories) ends up in only one place, as fat under the skin! Remember the fruit fibre and the other great nutrients found in the fruit skin are left in the machine! To make it worse smoothies often have sugar, full fat milk or ice cream added. If you must indulge then make your own smoothies in small portion size (150-200 ml), use natural yogurt and half and half fruit and vegetables to lower sugar content.

Toning the tummy is one of the biggest concerns most people have. Most people do it wrong. Here is a plan that will get really good results. Despite all the gimmicks and machines out there - 4 of the best tummy exercises of all time are 1) Ab bicycle (lie on floor and curl up bringing opposite elbow to opposite knee) 2) Vertical curl (lie on floor legs straight up in air and curl up to touch your toes) 3) Vacuums (lie on floor and suck in your belly button and hold for 3 seconds)  4) The Ab Wheel (a wheel with handles that you roll out in front of your body for an amazing tummy workout). Google each of these for more info! The routine should be…….

Mon, Thur, Sat………….Vacuums 3 sets of 15 reps, Ab Bicycle 3 sets of 40 reps……..

Tue, Fri, Sun…………….Vertical Curl 3 sets of 40 reps, Ab Wheel 3 sets of 20 reps……

In the case of the ab bicycle, vertical curl and ab wheel you may have to do blocks of 5 to 10 reps initially but keep going until you have all reps required done. Do exercises slow and controlled for best results. Soon you will be able to complete the reps in one go. Take a short rest between sets of each exercise. When you feel the ‘burn’ from a particular exercise….that is the best part…don’t stop too early….keep going in the ‘burn’ ……learn to love the ‘burn’ because that’s what really gets results. Finally for the ab bicycle once you get to 40 reps add wrist weights and ankle weights to make it harder…don’t go beyond 40 reps and for the vertical curl add wrist weights only to make it harder….again don’t go beyond 40 reps…we want to keep getting the ‘burn’ but not have to go beyond 40 reps to get it. Tummy toning is all about QUALITY not QUANTITY.

For more tips and hints please join us on our Facebook page.

David

It’s a war and nothing less and it begins especially from the age of 30 on! The wrinkling skin, the sagging, the stretch marks, the stiff joints, the aches and pains – the aging!! The causes are many including declining hormone levels, stress, processed foods, alcohol and wear and tear. However, the good news is that the rate of decline is very much in your control. You can significantly slow down the aging process, much more than you could ever have imagined.

The real miracle against anti-aging is in the foods that you eat. This is because you eat at least 3 times a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year – that’s over 7665 times a year! This frequency means food is more powerful against aging than anything else – more powerful than any surgery, pill, lotion or supplement, even more powerful than that other great anti-aging miracle – exercise!

Sometimes we over-look the miracle while looking for the miracle – and good food especially ‘super-foods’ are certainly that miracle. Super-foods are ordinary everyday unprocessed foods available at your super market that are densely packed with vitamins, nutrients, phyto-nutrients (powerful plant nutrients) and anti-oxidants.

Phyto-nutrients and anti-oxidants in particular are the kings in the fight against wrinkling, sagging, bone loss, memory loss, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer and all other consequences of aging. This is because they help combat oxidation which is recognised as being the biggest single cause of aging. Oxidation is a process where free radicals (body waste products) attach to and seriously damage living tissue. Practical examples of oxidation we see everyday are when an apple starts to turn brown, or the rusting of a bike or the green colour you can see on old coins.

A few substitutions in your daily diet with super foods can make all the difference to you. The big secret is consistency, it takes 30 days or more to build new cells and ideally 90 days (3 months!) to see serious results – so don’t lose focus. Often we give up on something when we are just about to see results. Here is a list in alphabetical order of my 10 most important super-foods. It is critical to get these foods in as pure unaltered form as possible. The minute they are processed in any way or extracted into supplement form they begin to seriously lose their power.

Acai Berries – come from palm trees in the Amazon. They are dark red in colour not unlike the red grape and are about the same size. Their power comes from the pulp which is packed with fibre, healthy fats, minerals, amino acids, anti-oxidants and phyto-nutrients. Their amazing anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial activity make them great for the skin and preventing many forms of aging. Recommendation – 10 to 15 berries a day will keep the years far away! Be very careful of supplements as many have so little of the berry they are a complete waste of money.

Blueberries – these are definitely another top anti-aging fruit. They are packed with anti-oxidants and other phyto-nutrients making them amazing for your skin. They also have good levels of potassium and vitamin C which are two much needed nutrients. Blueberries are extremely low calorie. They are anti-inflammatory, help fight heart disease and cancer. Recommendation – 1 mug of blueberries at least 3 times a week.

Brocolli – is considered the king of vegetables. It is packed with bioflavanoids (phyto-nutrients). It has lots of Iron, vitamin A, C and Calcium. It is most famous for being anti-cancer especially breast cancer and prostate cancer! Steam or use in a stir-fry for best results. Avoid raw broccoli if you have thyroid problems. Recommendation – include some whenever you eat vegetables.

Garlic – is famed throughout the centuries for its health and anti-aging benefits. It is notable for its potassium, zinc and selenium, three much needed minerals. It also has great healing, anti-oxidant, anti-fungal and anti-viral benefits making it a real powerhouse for anti-aging. It is also beneficial in helping to remove heavy metals from the body. Recommendation – add garlic to meals at least 3 times weekly.

Green Tea – gets its amazing power from its poly-phenol content (another key phyto-nutrient). It has great anti-inflammatory properties, making it great for the skin. It also increases fat burning and thermo-genesis (heat production) making it helpful towards weight loss. It has been shown to be very promising in the fight against cancer, heart disease, strokes and high cholesterol. Recommendation – 2 cups a day will really help you. You can get great capsules now too if you prefer with one capsule being equal to 2 cups of the tea!

Tomatoes – officially a fruit, tomatoes get their power from their lycopene content. Lycopene is yet another phyto-nutrient that literally mops up free radicals. Remember free radicals? These are the molecules most responsible for aging, disease and the destruction in the body. This makes tomatoes one of your key defences against aging of the skin and body. They have also been shown to be very helpful in reducing the risk of cancer. Recommendation – 2 tomatoes at least 3 times per week.

Water – no super-food list would be right without talking about water. Maybe because it is plentiful and colourless that we don’t give it enough credit and respect. Water is the king of all super-foods. It is the foundation of everything. Repeat – it is the foundation of everything. Cell function in the body just does not work without sufficient water. Drink 1L daily for every 100lbs you weigh. Add 15-20 drops of freshly squeezed lemon per 500ml to help detox and alkalise your body – two great tools for slowing aging. It is best taken first thing in the morning and between meals throughout the day.

Walnuts & Brazil Nuts – in their pure unprocessed state nuts are a real help against aging. This is because of their essential fat content. Essential fats affect virtually every function in the body and especially influence hormone production and balance which is critical to your skin and slowing aging. Shockingly 80% of us do not get enough essential fats every week. A body without essential fats is like a car without oil – and you know what happens without that! Be especially aware of Walnuts which also have monounsaturated fats – great for the heart and Brazil nuts which are high in selenium an amazing anti-oxidant. Recommendation – eat 5 of each nut, organic, raw and unsalted daily.

Wild Salmon – this is the king of meats and a super-food for its beneficial essential fats especially Omega 3 the ones we most need. Omega 3’s help prevent blood clots, lower cholesterol and prevent heart attacks among many other things. Salmon has calcium, magnesium, B vitamins, vitamin D and E too, so it is a real nutrition powerhouse. Recommendation – eat 3 to 4 oz of salmon twice a week.

Natural Yogurt – is classified as a super-food for its calcium and probiotics (friendly gut bacteria). It gives more calcium than milk and what more can I say about probiotics than they are in my top 5 supplements of all time. Yogurts help prevent osteoporosis, help boost immunity and reduce the risk of digestive cancers. Recommendation – 1 natural unsweetened low-fat or non-fat yogurt a day.

Self esteem and confidence can very quickly improve with just small improvements in weight and shape. Once you know that you are moving in the right direction (even slowly) it greatly helps how you feel about yourself. Here are the critical steps to get enough motivation to start to do something:

1) Plan – a WRITTEN plan is the foundation of all motivation – get out 1 page today and plan what you are going to do!

2) Goals – on this page write out EXACTLY what you would like to achieve. Don’t use vague statements like ‘I want to lose weight’, you need to be very specific e.g. I want to get to 10 stone, be a size 12 and have a 28 inch waist!

3) 30 days goal – write out exactly how much of your overall goal you would like to achieve within the next 30 days – be realistic – see from yesterday my post on exactly how much effort it takes to lose weight.

4) Write out exactly the days and times you will train each week. This really really helps motivation. Plan your exercise like it is an important business meeting. Do not let anyone interfere with these times.

5) Benefits – besides the weight loss itself, think for a minute about 2 or 3 other huge benefits losing weight will bring you – more energy? self esteem? health benefits? better relationship? better mood? being a good role model for your family? – explore carefully – the more powerful reasons you can identify the more you will stick with it.

6) Music – think and find the music that in the past has motivated you to exercise. There must be some music that when you hear it, it energises you! Music is a very powerful motivator and can change your mood in seconds. Get this music and when you need to switch your mood, put it on.

7) Last but not least – if the above steps still haven’t motivated you to lose weight, then start small – set yourself the small target of going for a 1 mile brisk walk (even better if it is with a buggy!), 3 times a week. Once you get that feel good factor it normally leads you to do more!

Q. Should I take some supplements? Some people tell me I don’t need them.

A. My answer to this is a definite YES, but select ones that you truly need and avoid taking excesses of any supplements. True in an ideal World be would not need any supplements because we would get all we need from our food intake. But how many of us consistently eat this well?

There are currently too many factors affecting the possibility of us getting all the nutrition we need from food, direct factors like processing, cooking, storage and pesticide, then add lifestyle factors like stress, smoking, alcohol, over medication and environmental toxins and finally individual likes and dislikes of certain food types. It is just not worth the risk assuming that you are going to get all the essential nutrition you need without a little help.

Studies back this up too by showing that people who are considered to eat quite well are still deficient in essential nutrients. Studies show for example that over 70% of the population are low in essential minerals like magnesium, chromium and zinc. About 80% of people are low in essential fats! A huge portion of people have been shown to have imbalances in the bacteria in their digestive system. People who have excessive lifestyle habits like drinking, smoking and continuous medication use have clear deficiencies in key nutrients.

In my experience some of the most important supplements that really help people and make a difference are – milk thistle for liver function, multi-MINERALS because we are chronically short of minerals even more so than vitamins, essential fats because of their absolutely critical role in the body and digestive supplements such as enzymes (which help break down food) and probiotics (which help improve digestive bacteria balance).

In summary then, although ideal, it is almost impossible to get all the nutrients you need from food and taking the risk isn’t worth it. Certainly if you have health problems and excessive lifestyle habits you need to consider supplementation but sit down and consider it carefully and consult with someone knowledgeable in the area to decide what is best for you.