Louisa's Weight Loss Blog

I am a firm believer that when you are dieting to lose weight, you need to have a little of what you fancy – studies have shown that people who can’t sustain weight loss are those that are constantly denying themselves the smallest of tasty pleasures. Bear in mind they all add up but part of dieting is learning what works for you, whether it is cutting out carbs, going vegetarian or taking certain vitamin supplements.

One of my little pleasures is marmalade on my toast. I saw this news article this morning  and thought I’d write a little blog post about my love for marmalade. It is yummy and my favourite treat to spread on toast. Yes, I know it is high in sugar but a teaspoon of marmalade is all you need for a slice of bread and you certainly don’t need to butter your toast before spreading a small teaspoon of marmalade!

When it comes to calories, choosing the right marmalade is a bit of a minefield! I’ve seen some that are 20 cals per teaspoon and some that are 80 calories so always check the label if you are trying to save calories but bear in mind that the sugar-free stuff invariably tastes rubbish and fake.

At the moment, I am LOVING grapefruit marmalade. I have searched for ages for the Tipton grapefruit marmalade (pictured) but with no luck.

I bought the Marks and Spencer’s Ruby Red Grapefruit marmalade (£1.55) today but it’s a bit sugary and doesn’t taste very sharp or fruity which is a complete let down to me but I’m sure others may feel differently. I’ll leave it in the fridge at work and invite colleagues to help me get through the jar as I’m hardly about to waste it!

So come on then readers, what do YOU like to spread on your toast as a treat?

It’s been a while since I weighed myself. As I’ve started a new job, I’ve found routines a bit rough as for the first few weeks we were next door to a supermarket and would squeeze though the fence to get food at lunch time. After 3 weeks, we moved to another office with no shops for miles around. This is good as you can’t pick up snacks in weak moments. It is bad because you don’t bother to go for a walk at lunch time.

Now I’m starting to get settled into the job I decided to weigh myself. I had worried that I would gain weight but I had stayed constant at 11 stone (154lbs). I had dared to think that I had lost weight as both Jonny and his mum complimented me last week but alas the scales don’t lie. Unfortunately, I’ve not been taking Proactol either which means my stomach hasn’t been great. This morning I was seriously considering picking up some laxatives on the way home but it wasn’t necessary. Phew!

I feel much more settled now though and ready to commit to dieting properly. Even though I am a healthy weight, I would like to be fitter and slimmer rather than a healthy weight and a little wobbly around the edges. My BMI is in the healthy range at under 25.

Tuesday’s food diary

breakfast: strawberry museli

snack: kit kat senses (165 cals)

lunch: cheese sandwhich

snack: cinnamon bagel with a tiny bit of butter

dinner: half a pizza

Overall, that’s roughly 1800 calories.

I could have eaten the whole pizza but I didn’t want to. It’s not a signal of self-control or strength as some would have you believe, it is a sign that you are more in tune with your body and you should be pleased with yourself that you can stop when you want to, rather than you think you should. I know I am proud of myself!

You’re reading my blog for diet tips. For this I must applaud you as you must be fairly intelligent. Having established this fact, you must be pretty confused as to why the UK government has gone back on it’s advice regarding calorie intake.  According to the latest information released, women and men can eat an extra 16% of the original government recommended daily intake of calories without gaining weight.

Women can apparently safely consume an extra 320 calories whereas men can have an extra 400 calories. To make it easy, that is a small cheese burger a day you can eat on top of your diet. Apparently.

As I said, you’re probably fairly intelligent so you will understand that this advice could blow back in the face of the DoH when the UK is set to rival America in 2012 with a third of adults being overweight if current trends continue. So why am I outraged?

Everybody processes calories and converts food into energy at different rates. What’s good for the goose is not always good for the gander. This is because our current weight and the speed at which we metabolise mean that a blanket one-size-fits-all approach is not suitable when advising adults how many calories they should eat. There are methods by which you can calculate how many calories you can eat to maintain your weight but this is complicated and should be done with an expert who you are fully honest with.

Michael Phelps can eat far more than the average person as he burns calories off swimming to an Olympic standard.

At the Beijing Olympics last year, it was revealed that Olympic swimmer, American Michael Phelps ate 10,000 calories a day. His breakfast was:

• three fried egg sandwiches, with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, fried onions and mayonnaise,
• three chocolate-chip pancakes
• a five-egg omelette
• three sugar-coated slices of French toast
• a bowl of grits (a maize-based porridge)
• two cups of coffee

However a woman weighing 10 stone may only be able to eat 1800 calories a day to maintain her weight but a smaller woman with greater muscle mass may be able to have 2200 calories a day. A guideline such as this is dangerous  for those who stick to these guidelines but does not have a particularly active metabolism.

Also, studies have indicated that people misjudge the amount of calories they actually eat. This is why you should keep a rigorous and detailed diary of everything that you put in your mouth, including drinks.

If you are currently trying to lose weight, keep a strict food diary and log everything you eat. Yes, unfortunately, you must be clear about your portion sizes too. Weigh your food if it helps. From there you will be able to calculate what you honestly consume in a day and from there you can make your own boundaries.

As even a spokesperson for the National Obesity Forum said, this is not a green light for people to eat themselves silly. In this situation, I wholeheartedly suggest dieters ignore government advise on this issue as I feel they are not only giving out mixed messages, they could further contribute to the growing obesity crisis.

This isn’t exactly breaking news, this story came out last year. I was watching a gig earlier on this week and the drummer was really going for it and working up a right sweat! That reminded me of a study done by the university I did my undergrad degree with about the amount of calories burned off by drummers. Wait for it…. In an energetic 60 minute drumming session, you could burn off between 400-600 calories!

Drummers can burn off an extraordinary amount of calories in one gig

I did music at school up to AS Level (year 12). I played in a steel band, I could play piano, guitar, trombone and I could get a tune out of most instruments I picked up. You could say I was a ‘jack of all trades, master of none’! The one thing I could not do for the life of me was play drums. I could do a ‘boom boom CHHH!’ very slowly and with little consistency. Would I like to play the drums now? Of course I would! It was never practical as we didn’t have enough room at home for a set of drums and my parents were already shelling out for piano lessons. I taught myself to play guitar and the steel drums and trombone lessons were thanks to the school.

According to this study, drummers are top athletes. When football (soccer) players are tired for days after a 90 minute match, drummers are expected to perform every night for weeks on end. Twice if they are putting on a matinee performance. Their heart rates can reach a peak of 190 beats per minute and the average is about 140-150 beats per minute. This is really impressive!

So why are some drummers really fat? When you are on tour, it is hard to eat properly, there is a big drinking culture too. So when you’re drinking say, ten pints of beer at 200 calories each most nights… you can see how the weight can pile on.

If you are looking to lose weight, consider learning to drum, it’s a bit slow to begin with but once you get going you can not only lose weight but you could join a band and start performing. The confidence boost of performing on stage is amazing, take it from a seasoned teenage performer!

Forgive me this evening, I have a nasty headache tonight but I wanted to get this post out so apologies if it isn’t to my usual high standard.

I don’t mind you guys knowing that I like to be diligent and know how you have come to Total Chunk. I use Google analytics to see how you got here and I’ve apparently been popping up in search results when people ask the oracle, Google, to tell them what is in a belgian bun so I thought it useful to expand on.

Was this what you're looking for?

Obviously, every cake varies somewhat, but ONE belgian bun will vary between 350 and 400 calories. It contains about 30% of your recommended daily intake of sugar and about 20% of your fat.

Is it worth it?

If you’re going to eat more than one then the answer is no. I’d be very surprised if anyone could eat more than one without feeling very, very sick anyway! Cake is a privilege, not a right. I have introduced ‘Cake Friday’at work so we have cake at 11am on a Friday and only on Friday. It is a treat and is a good way of reminding myself that cake is just that. I now only eat cake on Fridays and sometimes on a Sunday.

Yes, it is worth it if you can be sensible for the rest of the day. Diets often tell you that you can’t have this and you can’t have that. This is why diets don’t work, because you feel restricted and hard done by and can only see the long term picture of never eating what you want ever again. To lose weight successfully, you need to change your lifestyle in a maintainable fashion.Strict denial is only successful in severe cases.

This does mean you can have treats but you need to adjust the rest of the meals you have planned that day. It means saying no to sauce or dressing on your salad that you have instead of a curry with rice, poppadoms AND naan bread! Alternatively, you could take part in an impromptu spin class, do an exercise DVD or take a walk to visit friends. You should allow yourself something you want, you just need to stay within calorie limits for the rest of the day or do some extra exercise. There is no limit to your creativity in how you go about it.

Who here likes crisps? I do too! They are a nice snack but they are not by any means a healthy option. Crisps are full of oils and fats and although the crisp makers have made an effort to reduce oil and fat content they are still not your best option.

Crisps are a nice snack but should be limited

When dieting, you should not feel as though you are denying yourself everything you like. Multipacks of crisps are smaller than the individual packs you might buy and can save you up to a whopping 100 calories compared to the big ‘grab bags’ you buy at the front of the supermarket or at the garage.

32g multipack of McCoys flame grilled steak crisps is 165 calories. a 50g packet is 258 calories. See the difference? The great thing is that very rarely do I feel cheated eating 18g less of my favourite crisps. I am genuinely satisfied after a smaller packet, we only eat the whole packet of crisps in front of us because it’s there and we trust the manufacturers to give us a satisfactory portion. Multipacks are the way forward people!

Total Chunk Top Tip: We all know that to lose weight successfully and KEEP IT OFF, we can’t deny ourselves a little of what we fancy. Think ahead and keep multi packs of your favourite crisps in the car or at the office. Try not to get sucked into buying individual packs and you can save up to 100 calories and still be satisfied.

Cor! Get a load of that!

Roast Dinner

This is a typical Sunday roast. Very rarely are they not yummy if your mummy has made it! It is eaten in homes across the country and is seen as quintessentially British. Traditionally, the roast dinner was the Sunday treat and the rest of the joint of meat (or a chicken) would be used over the forthcoming week. Bones could be used for stock, giblets can be used for… well, use your imagination and do your own research, I’m starting to feel queasy!

The calories in a roast dinner will obviously vary depending on the trimmings you have with them. Green veggies are good for you and don’t have many calories in so we can discount them comfortably. The problem comes in with your potatoes, parsnips, yorkshire pudding, gravy, sauces (e.g. bread, horseradish, cranberry), stuffing, crackling etc. Then of course, there is dessert which might typically be bread and butter pudding, lemon meringue or a warm apple crumble with ice cream. In food heaven just thinking about it aren’t you? We need to snap out of it! I make my bread and butter pudding with Bailey’s Irish Cream and it is incredible! It’s moist, alcoholic and I could happily munch on it now at 9.38am!

How many calories do you think there are in a roast dinner? Sit down because I would hate you to faint with shock… roast dinners can vary from around 750 calories to 1500 calories! Have you got the shakes? I have! You could be consuming over half of your daily allotted calories before dessert! Then factor in a glass of wine if you’re being social with the family around the dinner table… It is a dieter’s nightmare!

How can you get around the calories in a roast dinner?

First of all, if you’re only eating a roast dinner once a week and being ‘good’ for the rest of the week then don’t get too upset about it, you are allowed some normality! You should not forgo eating with your family because of your diet. How many times do I have to tell you? Dieting is meant to enhance your life, not limit it. There are steps you can take to make your Sunday roast more diet friendly.

• Avoid sauces or don’t pile sauce on your plate. Do you really need a tablespoon of Bernaise or Hollandaise when a teaspoon will suffice?
• Depending on how you make it, gravy isn’t too awful for dieters but do try and cut down as home made gravy can contain up to 162 calories per serving. Onion gravy is better for dieter than say, a meaty gravy but it is all down to preference. I don’t even eat gravy with a roast and most people find that rather strange.
• A Sunday roast dinner could be made up of almost 3/4 carbohydrates! Try and limit your potatoes, parsnips and yorkshire pudding and fill up on your steamed green veggies.
• Be social as you eat. Talk to your fellow diners and savour your food. If you put your knife and fork down between mouthfuls and chew your food properly you will probably feel full before you actually finish what is on your plate. Too often I feel uncomfortably full after eating a roast dinner and that is usually because I have eaten too quickly and didn’t recognise that I was becoming full.

Nobody cooks a big roast dinner just for themselves. A Sunday dinner is usually a social family event and should remain as one. If you are conscious about being on a diet and feel guilty for eating a roast, encourage your family to do something active after dinner. If you need a half hour nap after eating, have your nap and then as a family do something active like go for a long walk, go for a bike ride or play a ball game down at your local park. Family time doesn’t just have to revolve around food, you can all spend time together being active, bowling, go-karting, skiing or just paddling in the sea is great!

Now for Sunday’s food diary:

Breakfast: None – woke up too late

Lunch: Bread, pate and hummus. Roast lamb chop, carrot (raw) and mashed potato. Apple pie, warm strawberries and single cream followed by black coffee. (I had a glass of red wine with my meal)

Dinner: A slice of toast and I picked at Sunday roast leftovers so a little bit of chicken, a parsnip, cooked carrot, broccoli and a roast potato. Then a medium sized slice of coconut cake.

Proactol: Only 2, I forgot to bring the packet with me to dinner.

Exercise: None, I was resting after a very busy Saturday!

It contains 5000 calories, that’s enough to feed an average male over two days. It’s so enormous that you have to sign a disclaimer when ordering it, and if you finish it then you get it for free. No this isn’t a riddle, I’ll tell you now, it is the largest English breakfast in the world! It contains a heart stopping:

• 10 sausages
• 10 eggs
• 10 rashers of bacon
• 5 slices of black pudding
• baked beans
• mushrooms
• tomatoes AND
• 10 slices of toast

If you finish all that in 20 mins flat and don’t have a drink as you’re munching away, you get it for free. Not that you’d mind too much paying for it, it costs £10.95 ($17.75) and is enough for four people to eat although I don’t know if they would let you share with your girlfriends on a Saturday morning whilst nursing the mother of all hangovers. Better get a pot of coffee on girls!

Think you have a strong enough stomach to eat all this in 20 minutes?

The breakfast is so big that it has to be served on a tray rather than a plate. That is enough to turn the stomach of even the hardiest UK lorry drivers! Where can you find this cholesterol-fest? Mario’s Cafe in Westhoughton, Bolton.

If you don’t finish the gigantic breakfast, your disclaimer is pinned to the wall with over 50 others. Dieters, there is nothing wrong with a blow out treat once a week, but this is ridiculous! As funny as this story is, leave this kind of thing to the guys and have a bowl of Special K instead!

Had some semi good news today. Might be starting a job on Monday!! Have to sort out the details tomorrow but the prospect of having a reason to leave the house every day is very appealing! It’s not exactly a career job, just part-time reception work but it’s ideal for me because I’d be working afternoons. This means I can be more careful about what I have for lunch. Often if you’re busy working you can be caught unawares and  risk eating something calorific without even realising.

Did you know that a Mc Donald’s cheese burger and medium fries has 600 odd calories? This is less than there is in a ploughman’s cheese baguette that averages 700 odd calories? I’m not sure about the fat and salt content but that just goes to show YOU NEED TO READ THE LABEL WHEN EATING OUTSIDE OF YOUR HOME!

Jonny and I went out bowling this evening and then off for a couple of drinks in the city centre, it was really good to get out of the house for a bit as I’d got myself in a bit of a depressed state of intense boredom earlier on. I think seeing so few people every day is starting to have a bit of a negative effect. Jonny has been nagging me to get my arse into gear and join a netball team which I had planned to do when I moved up but a lack of a job equals a lack of funds that I can’t justify spending on socialising once I actually do meet people! I have looked at a lacrosse team and I’m hoping to contact them next week and see what the deal is with their team.

On to la food diary:

Breakfast: Museli with skimmed milk

Lunch: Tuna sandwich and a muller light yoghurt (toffee)

Snack: Two crumpets with vegan butter

Dinner: Low fat chicken kiev, rice and green beans

Snack: 4 table spoons of butterscotch angel delight and a slice of toast with vegan butter

Proactol: Five, 1 after each meal.

Exercise: 50 mins walking