Weight Loss: Why Servings and Portions are Important.

The most the popular subject for questions this week has been portion and serving size...

Firstly to differentiate, a serving is the recommended amount of a food per meal, a portion is the amount we actually dish out...

I'm not sure about you, but for me there has sometimes been a few times where, let's say my portion may have been slightly bigger than the recommended serving size :)...

Sometimes I think when it's written on a product it's been put on there to make us feel bad...

I remember one Sunday, just digging in with my spoon into the ice cream tub (fatal)...

Because it was starting to melt, I kept going, it gets passed the point where it's worth leaving any...

Then I read on the side of the empty tub "contains ten servings" I did feel bad that 9 people were potentially going to miss out on their share of ice cream...

But portion size is an important one...

Obviously the rest of the time I'm far more careful...

However there is certainly more to life than measuring and weighing every thing you eat...

I love being healthy, but I also like my food too, so I know there has to be a compromise relative to what realistically can be achieved...

Key to weight loss being the recommended amount per meal of Carbohydrate is about 30 grams, but what does that look like?

For most breads two slices is more than 30grams, for this reason I only have 1 with breakfast for example...

When it comes to pasta, rice and potato rather than measure, or look on the packet and do some sums, I try to, and my advice would be to have the smallest possible portion size and load up on the veggies, because at the other end of the spectrum 30grams of leafy veg is a big heap...

Fruits differ, a large Banana is approaching 30 grams, an apple is half that, most the berries tend to be quite low...

I'm quite a fan of Peanut Butter, it's pretty healthy, but a small amount is moderate in carbs but high in good fat, but even 2 table spoons contains over 100 calories...

In my 12 week programmes servings and portions is the subject with tasks set for Week 5 and for the membership site I will construct a video... 
Keeping the web designers busy...

To receive similar content and more to your inbox, go to www.costacoffeeonaweightlossplan.co.uk and get a free report with info you can start applying today!

If you have any questions that need answering use the comments section, I can answer it in a future blog.

Thanks,

Ed.

Weight Loss advice from the Olympics...

Yesterday was the closing ceremony of the Olympics, here in England many were very inspired with the British Olympians, not just the fact they kept winning but also the shape they were in...

An inspiration for the Mums for example was Jessica Ennis Hill who since the Olympics four years ago went away to start a family and has gone back to training and was at the current Olympics back in pretty much the same shape as last time...

In fact people are questioning how the GB team keep winning everything...

One of the cyclists answered the question, that they have a big team of people including Nutritionalists focusing on every detail...

Now some of my PT clients and members of the health club I speak to worry about me, that my life may not be as enjoyable as theirs because of my "Personal Trainer's Lifestyle" :) but if you asked the Olympians when was the last time they ate something that wasn't part of their routine, whilst training and competing at the Olympics they probably couldn't remember...

In a way though there are similarities to how they get ready that can be applied to your health and or weight loss goals on a smaller scale...

There is or should be a time frame involved for you, it could be a holiday or for Mums when they get chance when the children go back to school, and probably the rest of us from next month getting ready for the Christmas holiday season...

Then it's knowing what you have to do to make it all happen...

You see an Olympian winning a medal in front of masses, but what about all the boring stuff repeated over and over, time after time no one sees...

Luckily our lifestyle doesn't have to be as rigid, winning a gold medal requires following a set rigid lifestyle, but even wanting to lose a few kilograms or to have more energy, to be mobile, to fit into the clothes of your choice...

still means following a certain lifestyle and getting the balance of good and bad habits right.

PS if you have an unanswered burning lifestyle question, then mail it to me and I will make it a future blog.

For a free weight loss report and to receive regular content and weekly healthy recipes to help you get results, go to: www.costacoffeeonaweightlossplan.co.uk

Thanks,

Ed.

How many calories do most people consume per day?

You know as a Weight Loss and exercise expert I like to be on the button with relevant breaking news stories...

Sometimes they may have broke sometime before I come to realise, however...

On the news this very morning was a story that talked about how we underestimate how many calories we consume...

By about two thirds...

Most people said they consumed about 2,000 calories per day when in actual fact it turned out to be 3,000 calories.

Usually when we exercise we tend to either overestimate how many we are expending or underestimate how this effects the balance of calories in and calories out...

So if we are actually consuming 3,000 calories a day for most of us that is probably more than we are burning...

Which means slowly but surely body fat is creeping on...

The summer is a hard time to conserve calories especially if you are on holiday surrounded by nice food...

Summer is a hard time to burn calories especially if you have children to entertain 24/7 (mind you that does burn a few calories)...

So if results are important (you may have heard this message before :))  keep monitoring your nutrition habits, natural foods, moderate portions, eating little and often, staying hydrated...

If you need more help, after 20 years of doing this I've got content coming out of my ears!

12 week weight loss programmes for specific people and an ongoing information base coming soon...

For a free weight loss results report and free regular content go to : www.costacoffeeonaweightlossplan.co.uk

Weight Loss: focus on what has a big effect first.

In the past when I delivered weight loss courses or when someone wants to ask advice...

They would jump straight in with certain questions...

The problem is I really enjoy answering questions...

However sometimes I have hold back for a second...

Usually at the start of a course, people will be bursting with questions for me to answer...

Such as...

"I have heard that peanuts are the least healthiest nut, is that true?"...

"Which cardio machine burns the most calories"...

"Which is better semi skimmed or whole fat milk for health and weight loss?"...

"Which cooking oil?"...

"Which burns more calories, drinking cold water or hot water" (Calories the body has to expend to heat/cool the water to body temperature and yes someone really asked this!)

These questions are fine at the end of a course, or if you are fine tuning lifestyle habits, but not the beginning...

A colleague of mine (who isn't a hippy) labelled these small rocks or small details that will have a small effect when implemented...

At the beginning healthy changes in eating habits will have a big effect, increasing the amount of exercise (if you are not a regular exerciser) having smaller portions, eating moderate and often, seeking to eat foods not related to health or weight loss as moderately as you can...

These are "big rocks" if these become lifestyle habits they have a big effect on health and losing weight...

To get a free weight loss report, eating out on a weight loss plan and receive relevant applyable content, go to: www.edshealthyweightlossfreereport.co.uk

Thanks Ed.

Realistic Food Preparation for Weight Loss.

One of the biggest healthy eating lifestyle challenges is food preparation...

It can be an incredibly arduous task...

It can be time consuming...

The truth is most people have very little time to prepare...

Or they spend a lot of time making or preparing food for others (Mums)...

I remember one of the first times I made breakfast for my other half and the step children...

I was making Omelettes, when it came to Omelette number 4 (mine), despite knowing all the science and having an unwavering discipline with my own nutrition 80% of the time...

I couldn't help thinking at this point in the breakfast proceedings how easy it would be to tip cornflakes in a bowl and add milk...

I stayed strong (just)...

But I know of people and weight loss plans which means prepping all their meals for the whole week in little Tupperware...

Or batch cooking on a Sunday...

To be honest, I couldn't do that...

But I do know the power of preparing, any kind of preparing will really help...

For example...

To purposely make too much food for dinner, so there will be enough for lunch the next day...

To always have snacks in your bag, like Fruit and Nuts for example, or a bar that has Protein as well as Carbohydrate to keep boosting metabolism between meals...

To make a shopping list with healthy ideas, so you can plan ahead for the week and if your weekly routine is similar, one that will require less thought as you get into the habit...

At the very least water to take with you...

On whatever level you can prepare, it will really help, wether to feel/ look better or improve health and so many other benefits...
 

If you are unsure of the best eating habits to get results or advice about best things to order at a Coffee house; go to www.edshealthyweightlossfreereport.co.uk