Tuesday 31 December 2013

Exercise and Weight Loss



Exercise and Weight Loss
Exercise is great for your body. Weight training is great for your metabolism. Some ladies worry that they will get big bulky muscles if they weight train but you won’t we don’t have enough male hormone to do that. But we can achieve a toned slimmer looking body. Slim and toned equals a happy mind and a happy body.
If you think that you can eat as much you like and then exercise hard to burn off the calories, I am sorry to say it won’t work. A reducing diet combined with exercise will work. To lose one pound of fat you have to cut out 3500 calories nearly two days food! To exercise away a pound of fat you work have to walk for 6 hours!
Regular activity can help you lose weight. Everything you eat contains calories, and even if you eat a low fat diet, your body will store unused calories as fat. Exercise can help control your weight by allowing your body to burn the calories that it might otherwise store as fat.
Aerobic activities like swimming, walking, jogging, dancing and cycling can help if you're looking to control your weight. These simple exercises increase your rate of breathing, and allow your body to begin burning stored fat as fuel. Remember, for the first twenty minutes of any aerobic exercise, your body will be using energy made from food you ate that day. You won't start burning stored fat until you've exercised for over twenty minutes continuously.
Aerobic exercises can contribute to body fat loss, but you might still find that stubborn body fat won't disappear from problem areas such as the thighs, abdomen and buttocks. The bad news is, you can't lose body fat from just one area of the body at a time; fat loss has to occur from your entire body all at once. When fat deposits accumulate in one area, such as the belly, those fat deposits will be the last to go.
However, you can still tone the muscles of your body through strength training or anaerobic exercise. Also, since fat is burned within the muscles, building and maintaining muscle mass will allow you to burn calories more effectively, even while at rest. Muscle bulk increases your metabolic rate (the speed you burn energy).
You have nothing to lose but your fat!




Friday 13 December 2013

Calorie Controlled Diet/ Low Calorie Diet



The idea behind following a low calorie diet is to burn more calories than you consume, a moderately active adult burns about 2,200 calories a day. To lose weight you need to eat less than this, between 1200 -1500 calories a day  Don’t be tempted to starve yourself. Going below 1200 calories a day will only lead to a slower metabolism rate, which makes it much harder to lose weight. You should lose between 1-2Ibs a week on a calorie controlled diet. Eat sensible portions of healthy low-calorie foods. Choose foods that will fill you up without filling you with excess salt, sugar or fat. Beware; lots of low calorie, low fat foods you can buy, are full of sugar. Make sure you weigh everything you plan to eat and work out the calories religiously.

There are lots of online calorie counters.
Examples include:
Drink plenty of water, you can have 3 diet drinks a day, coke etc. Fruit/herbal tea is also a good choice; allow yourself ½ pint skimmed milk, 100 calories, to use in tea, coffee or your porridge.

In theory you can eat any food you like on a low calorie diet but you will quickly use up your daily allowance unless you choose wisely!:(

Here is healthy low-calorie diet menu suggestion: Approx 1400 calories.
Breakfast
Calories (approx)
1/2 cup oatmeal porridge whole oats, not instant oats, make with water or daily milk allowance.
150
2 slices wholemeal toast spread very thinly with jam
170
or

Boiled /poached egg
120
2 thin slices of wholemeal bread spread thinly with butter
170
Mid Morning Snack

Non-fat yogurt
  90
or

fresh fruit or vegetable
 100
Lunch

4 oz grilled chicken breast
120
Mixed salad with low- cal dressing
100
or

2 thin slices of whole-grain bread spread thinly with butter
170
2 slices low fat ham
100
Leaf of lettuce and 2 slices of tomato
  15
Afternoon Snack

½ cup low-fat cottage cheese
100
or

fresh fruit or vegetable
100
or

Non-fat yogurt
90
Dinner

6-8 oz grilled steak
450
1 cup steamed vegetables or small salad with low-cal dressing
100
or

6oz salmon steak
350
1 baked potato with smear of butter
150
1 cup steamed vegetables or small salad with low-cal dressing
100
Dessert (if you have enough calories left!)

Fruit
100
or

Non-fat yogurt
 90
Daily Milk allowance ½ pint skimmed
100
 















Friday 25 October 2013

Atkins Low Carb Diet




The Atkins Diet is a low carbohydrate diet. You can eat as much protein and foods which do not contain carbohydrate as you like but all other foods groups are restricted or not allowed. Even potato, carrot and peas are too high in carbohydrate to include in this diet. You can’t eat cereal, bread, biscuits, cake, milk.
There are 4 stages to the Atkins diet:
·         Induction
·         Ongoing Weight Loss
·         Pre-Maintenance
·         Maintenance
 
Induction lasts for 2 weeks. You can skip this if you have only a small amount of weight to lose. Carbohydrates are very restricted during this phase. Only eat 15-20 grams of carbohydrate per day.

Ongoing Weight Loss: much the same as the induction stage but you very very gradually add more carbohydrates. You will be at this stage for the longest time.
Pre- Maintenance: You gradually add more carbohydrate until you stop losing weight.
Maintenance: Once you have reached your goal weight.
Sample Menu for Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL)
Breakfast:
Allow yourself no more than 3 tab spoons of cream a day. The cream can be diluted with water to use in recipes.

2 Eggs fried poached or scrambled. Fry in butter or oil don’t add milk to the scrambled eggs.
2 rashers Bacon
Coffee or tea with cream, sweeten with sugar (i.e.Splenda) substitute if needed

Lunch:
Meat or Fish Salad
6 oz. Chicken Grilled fried or roasted you can use any fat to do this
or tin of Tuna in oil 
or roasted beef or pork
Grated Cheese
salad, (lettuce, cucumber, tomato).
Mayonnaise full fat  or other full fat dressing of choice (if you are using a jar check ingredients for sugar,and carbohydrate)

Dinner:
Pork Chops  
or Cheeseburger Pie recipe below
Mashed cauliflower: recipe below
Greens (cabbage, sprouts, broccoli)
Egg custard made with cream. Recipe Below
or
zero sugar jelly and cream.

Recipes

Cheeseburger Pie
Total carbs 9. Serves 4
Ingredients:
500g minced beef
50g finely chopped onion
150g chopped mushrooms
100mls double cream
2 heaped tablespoons of mayo
150g strong cheddar grated
3 eggs
salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
Fry mince, onion and mushrooms together until cooked season to taste, drain off fat, add Lee & Perrins sauce.
Place in a greased foil covered deep pie dish, flatten with spoon.
Beat eggs add mayo, cream and cheese.
Pour over the top of mince, drop olives around the dish and bake in oven Gas mark 5 for 20 to 25 mins until set and golden brown.
Leave to cool before taking out of pie dish, remove foil.
Cut in to portions and wrap in cling film
This freezes very well.
Lovely with salad, cauli mash, or stir fry (Great in lunchboxes)

Cauliflower Mash
Total carbs 8. Servings: 4
Ingredients:
1 cauliflower
4 tablespoons butter
4 ounces parmesan cheese
2-4 of tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon horseradish
Plenty of seasoning to taste
Directions:
Cook cauliflower, until very soft. Drain well and add butter and grated Cheese. Add all of the other ingredients. Mash up well and serve. Gently reheat if needed, best served hot.

Egg Custard
Total carbs14, Servings 4
Ingredients:
5 eggs
1/2pint cream
1/2pint water
4 teaspoons sweetener
Directions:
Place ingredients in mixer or blender and whip well. Pour into a baking dish or individual oven proof bowls cook at 350c for 40-45 minutes or until set. Chill 1 hour and serve.