Bringing some Christmas cheers!

Christmas is traditionally a time when we indulge in a drink or two. Whether it is during office parties or at home when celebrating with friends, what is not often realised is the damaging calorie value of alcohol. With seven calories per gram, alcohol has nearly as many calories (nine per gram) as fat and nearly twice as many as protein and carbohydrate (four per gram).

Of course many of you want to join in with the partying and everyone has got to have some fun at this time of year so here are some ideas about what to have, what to avoid and what to enjoy:

Drinks you can have with to limit the guilt:

• Try to drink no more than one alcoholic drink an hour and ideally no more than three drinks in an evening.
• Intersperse alcohol with mineral water or diet soft drinks.
• Single shots or a spirit mixed with a slimline tonic are the best – for example, one 25ml shot of gin with diet tonic or 25ml of Bacardi with diet cola has only 53 calories.
• Other good choices include one small glass of champagne (89
  calories),
• one small glass of red or dry white wine (85 calories) or
• one bottle of half sugar Bacardi Breezer (96 calories).

Drinks to avoid include:

• full sugar alcopops (200 calories),
• premium lagers (335 calories per pint),
• vintage cider (573 calories per pint) and
• creamy drinks such as Irish cream  (175 calories per 50ml).
• It’s best to give cocktails a wide berth because it is impossible to tot up the calories they contain. 

Here's to enjoying your Christmas parties and celebrations the healthier way- Cheers!

Christmas is no excuse to eat badly

I am having a terrible time avoiding that packet of mince pies sitting on the side in the kitchen.They were bought for some visitors who, as it turned out did not like mince pies and so they remain with us.

Did you know just how many calories those Christmas treats have. I got a low down on some of the festive food highlights:

Food/ Weight/ Calories

Mince Pies 2 (110g) = 370
Crisps 1 packet (30g) = 164
Christmas Cake 1 slice (70g) = 249
Mixed Nuts 1 handful (40g) = 256
Christmas Pudding w/ double cream1 portion (100g) = 329
Mulled Wine 1 glass (125ml) = 245
White Wine 2 glasses (250ml) = 185
Bread sticks 4 (28g) = 110
Taramasalata 1 serving (45g) = 227
Assorted Chocs 6 chocolates (60g) = 268
Twiglets 1 serving (100g) = 394
Sausage rolls 2 small (64g) = 254
Pate on French Toast 2 slices (80g) = 216

Grand Total...
3788 Calories !!!!!!

This is a whole couple of days extra food. If you look at this list quite a lot could feasibly be covered in not so long a period if you do not watch out. Christmas is a calorific extravaganza so how do you manage it?

Here are a few ideas:

• Eat your own healthy food before you go to a party - so you can sample some treats but keep it under control.

• Think about portions - no harm in sampling a little of what you like but keep it under control.

• Drink water - keep yourself hydrated so it means you eat because you are hungry not thirsty.

• Bring your own - if you are invited over to dinner or a party ask if you can bring your own healthy snack or treat so you can join in but in a manageable way. I have done this and the host did not mind - in fact they made some more different healthy options for me to try. So everyone benefited.

Above all do not deny yourself joining in with the fun as this is also very self defeating. Deprivation leads to diet failure - for sure.

And about those mince pies... I might have one and then the birds might benefit from a festive treat!

Common eating mistakes!

As I was preparing my ultra healthy meal last night- one benefit of working with a nutritionist- I thought about what  mistakes people commonly make that sabotage their diets. Here are a few we came up with:

• Starving yourself and then overeating later due to the deprivation and extreme hunger. This is a totally self defeating policy and is the cause of the Yo Yo dieting complex so often discussed. I have done it and know it doesn't work so best avoid it.
• Eating a really low fat diet but to compensate for this reduction in fat replacing it with higher sugar foods. Generally people do not do this deliberately or consciously. Sometimes this replacement is not done by you, but by food manufacturers. If you want to know what I mean take a look at food labels for low fat foods; you will see that top of the additives list is a high sugar, glucose or fructose component. This is to give us a taste we like as we can become addicted to the taste of highly sugared and fatty foods that are so readily available nowadays. The best thing is to eat fresh, natural foods rather than manufactured foods and the sweet cravings will diminish in time.
• Any extreme "meal replacement diet" which means you can not live a real life - I have never been a fan of the "eat our food shake or packet soup" diets. It just means that after you finish that diet and go back to your normal life, any underlying issues remain and you go straight back to bad food plans. The better diet plan is one that helps you to change behaviour and improve your lifestyle as you lose weight. It then becomes part of your real life and is sustainable.
• A diet that cuts out any major food groups or focuses only on one major food group to the exclusion of others - i.e. no fat or no carbohydrates.  It is simply not sustainable due to the lack of variety and can make eating out or grabbing food on the go very difficult indeed. There is also a reason why your body needs a balanced diet composed of all the main food groups- its processes need a variety of nutrients in order for it to work to its full effect. It is not surprising that Dr Robert Atkins founder of the low carb diet fad suffered from a heart attack, congestive heart failure and hypertension!

There is a lot to be said for simply eating a healthy balanced diet, with a little bit of everything. Avoid adding sugar and salt to your food, keep yourself hydrated and keep the quantity of food you eat proportionate to your needs.

To detox or not?

Along with many other I will be joining in with a pre-Christmas diet or detox this year. But what does detox exactly mean? Well the dictionary definition says:

de·tox·i·fy (d-tks-f)

v.

1. To counteract or destroy the toxic properties of a substance.

2. To remove the effects of poison from something, such as the blood.

3. To treat a person for alcohol or drug dependence, usually under a medically supervised program designed to rid the body of intoxicating or addictive substances.

Although detoxification is an ongoing process within the body, various substances found in abundance in the modern diet can hinder the process and eventually affect other systems in the body.

We can all think of many substances that we eat or drink that may fit into this criteria i.e. caffeine and alcohol. A little time out from these seems a good idea and could help you feel better and to lose weight.

There are also some less obvious substances that we could perhaps benefit from avoiding for a short while. These are things that we get easily addicted to and which are not beneficial in excess, such as sugar, saturated fats, refined carbohydrates and salt. It is quite easy to get addicted to having excessive quantities of these in your diet and it is equally harmful to follow this diet long term.

So in summary a detox is where you give your body time out and stick to fresh fruit, vegetables, lean protein, wholegrain carbohydrates plus plenty of water and herbal teas. This may be a good short terms plan to enable your body to break habits and to develop a more balanced diet long term.

NB: Remember before you embark on any diet plan do not do so if you have any long term condition or illness. Check with your GP first to ensure it is safe for you.