Last week I talked about a woman who was on a point based diet, but had not lost weight on it.
Most days she kept below her point ration, but still did not lose weight.
The problem was what she ate.
Food is fuel, you need to feed your body food that will give it all the nutrients it needs, like putting the right fuel into your car.
If we are eating the wrong foods, like chocolate, or ultra processed foods, processed sugars, those types of foods, you could be eating less then you think you should but if they are not the right foods.
You also might get a buzz or feel energised for a short time after eating but longer term they do not help your body to be healthy.
With the lady from the TV show, she was eating chocolate, and ultra processed foods (they were in ready meals she was buying), then on a friday would drink a lot but not eat much, because she needed to keep within her points.
It is so easy to look at someone else and point out what you think they are doing wrong, but when it is your diet, it can be difficult, because you are trying to be good.
I remember once eating a chocolate bar every morning for breakfast and losing some weight, it did not last long and I was so tired at the end of each day.
I got outside help in the form of a specialist dietician, to help me see what small changes I could make, the first and most important is to start your day with good fuel.
If you skip breakfast, don’t.
You need to give your body something to help fuel it.
It does not have to be much, in fact I hate eating first thing on a morning, so what I did was to have a small orange juice with some iron supplement in it (I need to boost my iron with supplements). Then I would go to work and pick something to eat on the way or go to the canteen for breakfast when I got there, several hours after I had woken up.
The orange juice was fresh rather than squash or powdered. Even though it has sugar it is natural sugars so much better than processed and ultra processed sugars.
Then my later breakfast always had a good amount of protein, eggs and bacon on seeded bread or fruit, yoghurt and nuts & seeds. My absolute favourite is prawns. Not your traditional breakfast food but there is one shop I used to walk past that do a lunchtime prawn snack pack with dipping sauce (which I didn’t always have). That would be my breakfast.
Don’t limit yourself by food that is labelled or traditionally called breakfast foods.
Take a few minutes today and write down healthy options that you could have for breakfast.
Sort them into groups of:
Really quick and easy,
Takes a little time
Slow to make
Need to go to a restaurant
Then when you are planning your week, think about what you can eat for breakfast and if you get stuck or feel uninspired, look at your list.
Hit reply and let me know some of your strange favourites for breakfast.
Take care