January is typically a time when we all resolve to have a healthier lifestyle so these simple ways to feel good about weight loss are here to help!  Jenny Phillips of Inspired Nutrition  shares her tips on how to lose a few pounds to trim up a little to help us feel fab naturally:

“It’s a completely natural and very human process to enjoy periods of feasting, usually around celebrations or holidays, but clearly an unchecked upwards trajectory in our waist line isn’t a good idea. Hence the idea of alternating feast with famine, aka the New Year diet.

Your first line of thinking may be to embrace a low calorie diet, but here I would urge caution. Ultimately of course you are looking to reduce your food intake, but low calorie foods are in themselves not your best friend.

The trouble with seeking out low calorie foods is that very often you don’t feel satisfied and end up eating more overall than if you made different choices. So here, my health conscious, food loving friends, is a different way to think about dieting.

Top tips for trimming up

    1.  Focus on good quality protein with each meal

Protein helps to improve satiety, so you feel less hungry. It’s way easier to control your appetite when you’re not starving! So choose from:

      •    Animal protein – meat or fish
      •    Eggs
      •    Cheese
      •    Pulses and beans, like lentils or chick peas
      •    Nuts & seeds

    2.  Reduce your reliance on starchy carbohydrates

We call starchy carbs like bread, pasta, oats and rice ‘soon to be sugars’ because these foods break down really quickly and send your blood sugar levels soaring. This prompts an immediate insulin response, the hormone responsible for managing your blood glucose level. This then drops down to safe levels (unless you are diabetic) courtesy of putting you into FAT STORAGE mode.

Yep, insulin is also the fat storage hormone and excess carbs are converted into fat, and stored around your middle.

To add insult to injury, starchy ‘soon to be sugar’ foods don’t sustain you and you’ll be constantly using will power to fight your hunger. Not a comfortable position to be in.

     3.  Hide (or give away!) any lurking chocolates, biscuits or other sweet stuff

You know sugar is really bad for you, causing rapid insulin rises and fat storage too. So take temptation out of the way.

     4. Add good fat, like butter, cream or olive oil to your vegetables, along with a good grind of natural salt

Eating lots of veg alongside protein is the perfect way to structure a meal. There are so many different vegetables to choose from! They add colour, variety, taste and a whole heap of essential vitamins and minerals to help your body work more efficiently.

One of my favourites in the winter is a vegetable mash, always with brussel sprouts (!) and then two other low carb veg – like cauliflower and celeriac – mashed with butter, cream and seasoning. Totally delish and filling.

Adding good fats enhances the flavour, and also helps your body to become a FAT BURNER, exactly what you want when weight loss is the goal. You do though have to combine this with eating less overall, hence the 5th tip:

      5.  No snacking between meals

Nada, none, nothing, zero – yes it’s back to the 1970s when you weren’t allowed a snack because it would ‘ruin your dinner’. Just remember that snacking is an indulgence and not the way that us humans evolved. This may sound harsh in our current world of ubiquitous tempting stuff on offer 24/7, but this is of course how we put on weight in the first place!

If you need more convincing, just google Boy George and weight loss – he lost a huge amount of weight a few years ago, completely reinventing himself in the process. One of his top tips – drinking only water between meals.

OK so hopefully this gives you food for thought. As a nutritionist I offer bespoke weight loss services including Metabolic Balance, a unique personal plan based on a full blood test (so you get an MoT too!). Feel free to get in touch, or sign up to my newsletter at www.InspiredNutrition.com for news on yoga events, retreats, health workshops (next one is January 29th on the Secrets of Ageing Well) and cookery classes.

 

 

And to finish, a recipe for you. With love x”

Courgette & parmesan muffins

Ingredients

100g ground almonds

100g grated Parmesan

1 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

1 grated courgette

2 spring onions, chopped

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Mix all of the ingredients together into a batter. Pour into a 12 hole silicon muffin tray.

Bake for c.15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool. Keep refrigerated for up to 5 days.

 

Thank you Jenny, great to have some some tips on how to feel good about weight loss and your scrummy courgette & parmesan muffin recipe.

For  more simple ways to feel fab naturally, please check out more experts’ tips in my blog and have a look at how to support your cellular health naturally for better sleep, more energy and reduced inflammation by lowering your oxidative stress level.

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