Cut it Out! | From White Dress Workout

CUT IT OUT!

Oh the wonderful world of food….or not so much if you feel like you’re constantly battling the scale or measuring tape on your mission to lose a few of those pesky extra pounds for your wedding day.

Now, when we talk about losing weight, we should focus not on the actual weight itself but instead focus on losing ‘fat’ as our weight (as in the number we see on the scales) includes everything from the food we eat, the liquids we drink, our precious muscle tissue, bones, organs and yes the fat.

In an endevour to lose ‘weight’ fast, some brides turn to detox juices and skinny teas and some drastically reduce their calories leaving them super hungry, moody and their body craving adequate fuel and nutrients. Yes, you may see the scale drop using these methods but this isn’t necessarily a good thing and yes you may lose a little fat but there’s a high chance you’ll also be losing water and maybe even your precious muscle tissue too leading to a lower metabolism and muscle wastage.

As muscle is a metabolically active tissue, the more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn while at rest (BMR) which is just one of the reasons I like to keep up my muscle mass along with the feeling of being like a strong superwoman!

The ‘quick fix’ methods mentioned above are not sustainable and are definitely not the healthiest way to go about losing a few pounds. After you finish whichever ‘quick fix’ diet you chose, you’ll almost definitely gain back the weight again when you return to eating normal food, and probably even more.

Instead of looking for a quick fix, think about small changes you can make to your intake over the long term. Think of it as more of a lifestyle change you can make to help you live a long and healthy life.

Before I go through my top 5 food and drinks to cut out, it’s important to note that even if you eat a super healthy diet, calories matter and if you’re eating equal to or more calories per day than you’re burning off then you’re not going to be able to shed the pounds – you need to be in a calorie deficit for this to happen. As you will see below, most of the foods listed tend to be high in calories but low in quantity so it’s easy to overeat.

Look at it this way, for 1300-1500kcal you could either eat a burger with fries and a soda in one meal or a full days’ worth of meals and snacks including a nutrient-rich berry protein shake for breakfast, a delicious grilled salmon salad for lunch with a home-made dressing, a nutritious veggie based stir fry with chicken for dinner and a couple of healthy protein rich snacks in between – and maybe still even have a few calories left over!

Here are my top 5 food & drinks to cut out and drop a few inches…

FRIED FOODS

Fried chicken, fish, fries, crisps etc usually contain a high number of calories for a relatively small amount of food and also unhealthy, highly processed vegetable oils such as sunflower, canola, soybean, safflower and etc are usually the bath in which these foods are bathed in. When heated to high temperatures, these oils become oxidized which can cause free radicals, cell damage and lead to a number of nasty diseases.

EMPTY CARBS – BREADS, PASTA, ETC.

For every 1g of carbohydrates, the body stores around 3-4g of water so if you reduce your carbs, you will more than likely see the scale reduce too. I’m not saying you need to cut out carbohydrates entirely but be mindful of the portion sizes you are eating and try to reduce carbs that aren’t giving your body any real nutritional value such as breads and pasta. Root vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes and cassava contain lots of vitamins that your body can absorb and use in a productive way. If you currently eat a lot of carbohydrates, aim for 100-150g a day and you should notice a substantial difference in your body after a week or two and you should also feel less bloated.

SODAS AND FRUIT JUICES

As we all know, sodas contain a high amount of sugar and these drinks are basically just providing your body with empty calories – i.e they provide no nutritional benefit, they just add to your waistline. Fruit juices, although they contain some vitamins, are basically just another sugar boat ready to transport glucose into your system to sit there and wait to be used as fuel. In both cases, insulin levels rise and your body has to work hard to bring your blood sugar levels back down to a normal range. Just because it’s a natural sugar doesn’t mean it’s fine to eat lots of it. Instead of these drinks, try a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime in your water to add some refreshing zing to your h20!

HIGH SUGAR FRUITS

Again, fruits are the bad guy if you’re trying to lose weight (fat) but eating a lot because it’s ‘healthy’ and you think you have to get your ‘5 a day’ isn’t going to help you reach your goal efficiently. If you think about fruit, it’s is basically sugar (fructose). From the three macronutrients protein, fat and carbohydrates, fruits fall into the carbohydrate category as they contain little to no protein, little to no fat and mostly carbs and what are carbohydrates? You guessed it – sugar!

Don’t get me wrong, fruits do contains lots of vitamins, minerals and other good stuff but so do veggies which are far lower in sugar and will keep you fuller for longer too. If you do like to eat fruits, stick to lower sugar options like berries – blueberries, raspberries, blackberries etc. They’re super high in antioxidants but don’t contain as much sugar per serving as say an orange, apple or banana. Did you know an average medium sized banana contains around 30g of carbs? When you think about your 100-150g target for the day, this one small piece of fruit may be a quarter of your intake for the day!

SWEETS N TREATS

If you want to cut the fat, cut the cr*p – as in, all the tasty stuff – chocolates, sweets/candy, pastries, cake, ice cream etc. The foods listed above, again, are just full of empty calories that add to your wastline but don’t actually provide your beautiful body with much else. Our bodies need protein and healthy fats to be able to keep us healthy, our blood pumping, our cells renewing, our hair and nails strong so try to feed it with what it needs and it will pay you back in return with great skin, strong hair and nails, less sickness and a smaller waistline! Once you cut out all the bad stuff and replace it with the good stuff, you will notice positive changes in so many ways. Remember though that life is all about balance so unless you have a specific deadline – i.e your wedding to reach your body goal by, I always say that you should allow yourself one day at the weekend to enjoy a couple of naughty treats. As they say – everything in moderation and I don’t believe we should completely restrict ourselves – life’s too short not to eat a donut every so often!

QUICK TIPS!

Multiply your current bodyweight by 12 (calories) and this will give you an estimate of daily calories for gradual fat loss.
Focus on protein intake (approx. 0.8-1g per lb of bodyweight for the day (I try to split this over the number of meals and snacks I eat in a day – to give you an idea – 1 average sized chicken breast is around 30g protein)
Watch out for hidden carbs (sugars) in foods like honey and fruit.
Cook with heat stable oils such as coconut oil, butter, avocado oil.
Double check the label – lots of foods you may think are healthy turn out to contain hidden sugars.
Low fat doesn’t mean healthy – when a product is marketed as ‘Low fat’, the fat has to be replaced with something to make the product still taste good and this is usually in the form of sugar.
Add healthy fats such as avocado, nuts and seeds to salads along with an ample source of protein to give you a satisfying and satiating meal.

If you have any questions or would like to know more about personal training or nutrition sessions, please feel free to email me at Jennie.law1989@gmail.com or head over to my Instagram white_dress_workout and let’s work together towards a healthier, happier, more confident you! See you next month.