COUNTING CALORIES? YAWN. STICKING TO A DIET SHEET? TOO BORING. IT’S TIME TO SHAKE UP HOW WE SHAPE UP…NUTRITIONIST ANGELA DOWDEN EXPLAINS HOW
We’ve all been there. We start the week feeling determined to stick to a gruelling diet sheet, but minuscule results or raw hunger get the best of us. The good news is it’s really possible to eat plenty of great-tasting food and still lose weight. Learn the tricks and it’s plain sailing…
CRASH TEST DUMMY
Thinking of a quick crash diet to please the bathroom scales? Stop! It’s proven that crash diets throw your body into starvation mode, forcing your body to break down muscle for energy and temporarily slow your metabolism, particularly if you don’t exercise at the same time as dieting. This means it’s even harder than it should be to lose weight. Try intermittent fasting - a diet that helps you lose fat but not so much muscle, keeping your metabolism revved up and ready for action.
MILK IT!
According to a scientific study, a group of dieters who ate three servings of dairy a day (milk, yogurt and cheese) were able to take in more calories without regaining the weight they had lost. The calcium is thought to assist fat-burning and milk is also a great source of iodine needed for the manufacture of the hormones that control metabolic rate.
GUT FEELING
Eating chewy, high-fibre foods boosts metabolism because of the extra energy needed for them to be broken down. As well as wholegrains such as wholemeal bread and wholewheat pasta, eat asparagus, leeks, onions and garlic as these contain prebiotics to help keep gut bacteria healthy. Having a good balance of healthy bacteria will improve weight-loss success.
TIP
EATING PLENTY OF PROTEIN, CAN MEAN YOU BURN UP TO 200 MORE CALORIES A DAY
BOOST YOUR PROTEIN
Eating plenty of protein, such as chicken, lean meat or eggs can mean you burn up to 150-200 more calories a day (as long as the protein replaces something else, like white bread or rice). “Protein is harder to break down than carbs, so you burn more calories in actually digesting it,” says dietitian Dr Sarah Schenker. No need to go mad though - at an average meal your protein and carb portions should be about equal and together fill up half your plate, the other half should be full of vegetables or salad.
MUSCLE POWER
We all know getting out of breath burns calories, but adding strength-boosting exercises with weight training or resistance bands to your routine will mean you continue to keep your metabolism a little higher all day. That’s because lean muscle uses more calories than fat just to sustain itself - a difference that can really add up over time.
TURN DOWN THE HEAT
Feeling cold helps stimulate the ‘brown fat’ that’s found in the upper back an
