Q: What’s the hardest thing about making a change?

A: Sticking to it!

Faddy diets may well work short term (mainly because you’re losing fluid rather than body fat), but they aren’t sustainable long term, and once you go back to how you used to eat, you may find that the weight goes back on, and then some.

Or even if you lose weight in a sensible way and with support, how many times have you found that you go back to your old ways once you go it alone?

Support, motivation, understanding, education, encouragement, fresh ideas, clear and simple advice….. these are things that you need to keep going and stay on track.

For just £5 per calendar month, you can get all of this from me via my Be Healthy Challenge closed Facebook group. Use it like a food diary and a support group, in order to stay on track and make the most of your life.

With the opportunity to buy recipes, or weekly menu plans as and when you need them from £2.50, it couldn’t be simpler.

And *New* for April 2019….. exclusive T&B exercise videos and challenges included in your £5 per month!

Get in touch to sign up for April now! Free weekly menu plan included with your first month when you sign up for three months from April 2019 ?

I talk to a lot of people about what they eat, and one of the most common themes that comes up is portion control. How much of each thing should we eat? Should we be avoiding carbs? How do we know how much is too much? And what can happen if you don’t eat enough?

Although my response is simple, it can take time to work out what’s right for you, depending on a lot of different variables such as your body, your lifestyle, your home situation, and your emotions.

As a rule, my view is that we shouldn’t deny ourselves any food groups as our body needs them to function properly. So we should be eating carbohydrates, protein and fats. These things aren’t the real issue, with regard to the growing levels of obesity in our society. The high sugar, high fat, processed meals, snacks and takeaways are the real issue, as these are the things that have become the norm in people’s diets due to their low cost and high availability.

Anyone wanting to know where to start with regard to being healthier, can do one simple thing. Go back to basics.

But what does this mean? Cut out anything processed, sugary and ready made, along with anything with a huge list of unrecognisable ingredients. Make things from scratch using lean proteins, wholegrain carbohydrates, and lots of fresh vegetables. Eat some fruit, but not too much due to its sugar content. Our bodies deal with natural sugar in the same way that it deals with granulated sugar. Or can’t deal with it, as is often the case when our diets are overloaded with it.

With regard to portion sizes, American cup measures are a really useful guide. For your main meal, aim for one cup measure of cooked carbohydrates, a half cup measure of lean protein, and then bulk your meal out with lots of fresh vegetables. For your other meals, two slices of wholemeal toast or a cup measure of cooked porridge oats is acceptable for breakfast for example, soup with a roll would be a good lunch, and some fruit, raw veg, nuts and seeds in between as snacks. And you’ve got yourself a healthy day. If you aim for this, added to choosing healthier options as detailed above, it’s an easy visual way of eating, which makes it flexible for when you’re outside of your comfort zone of home.

Often it’s not what we eat for our actual meals that is the problem. It’s what we snack on in-between times that add empty calories (calories with no beneficial nutrients). So it might be worth trying to identify the reason for the snacking; boredom, stress, tiredness, feelings of depression. Maybe try to keep a food diary where you write down what you eat as well as making a note of how you were feeling, as there is more likely a different reason for the eating other than hunger.

Which leads me on to water. Drink lots of it! Aim for a glass with each meal, and a glass in-between mealtimes, then it’s not too daunting. We tend to think we are hungry, when our body is just telling us that we need water. Our bodies are made up of lots of water, which gets used up by daily life, so it makes sense that it needs to be replaced, so that our bodies can function properly. If you exercise, you will need to drink more too!

And exercise….! Move your body in a way that makes you happy, and then you’re more likely to do it regularly. If you don’t like running, don’t run! If you like dancing, do that instead! Try to work up a sweat for about half an hour three times a week doing something that you love, and you’ve got yourself an exercise regime!

And don’t forget to sleep. Not just because you’re tired, but because your body needs time to properly rest and restore. It’s hard work being a human body!

If you need help working out what’s right for you, my Be Healthy Challenge is weekly menu planning with recipes and shopping lists, plus a closed Facebook group for daily support from me. And it’s only £10 per calendar month. Contact me on trainersandbananas@outlook.com for more details.

I’m an ambassador on the Run Mummy Run nutrition page, The Healthier Balance. Here I give people advice on eating healthy food, and fuelling their bodies for running, as well as posting articles about nutrition. Today I wrote this, which I thought many of us could do with remembering.

Food should be a source of pleasure, not one of misery. Yes we need it to fuel our bodies but it’s so much more exciting than just fuel.

Eating well really isn’t very complicated, and with a change of mindset and the will to try new things, we could all be eating so well, and making changes to our bodies and minds for the better.

I see things regularly on social media, which to be honest come across as slightly patronising, which are usually shouted out to the camera, along the lines of ‘Losing weight is all about calorie deficit, why don’t people get it???!!’.

While this is technically correct (who am I to argue with science?!) it doesn’t mean that our approach to food should be technical or scientific. It’s not sustainable long term, to be counting the calories/grams/points in everything we eat, and then panicking when we are presented with options different to the norm (eating out, at someone’s house, or travelling) because we don’t know how many calories it has or because we don’t know the breakdown of nutritional information.

Surely it would be much better to educate ourselves and learn about food; what’s good for us, what isn’t; and then have the confidence to just know that the choices we are making are good for us. And have the conviction to be able to say no to things that we don’t want to eat or drink.

But added to the mix we have the absolutely enormous range of pre-packed sugary snacks, drinks, processed foods, takeaways and other things with no nutritional content whatsoever, but filled with calories, fat or sugar. It’s hard to ignore them or get away from them if you shop in any of the major supermarkets in this country.

There is an answer though. Go back to basics. Try to fill your trolley with fresh veg and fruit, lean meats and proteins, healthy fats, beans, pulses and wholemeal carbs. You shouldn’t have to cut out any food groups, eat strange combinations of food (unless you want to…!), or starve yourself, in order to lose weight, slim down, or be healthier. Any diets that encourage you to do so for quick weight loss, are not realistic. Quick weight loss isn’t weight loss, it’s fluid loss, which you will then put back on once you start eating properly again.

If you want to lose weight, it’s best done steadily while educating yourself and changing your habits, so that you eat healthily in a way that can last you a lifetime. 

It’s September, which means ‘back to school’, which means a fresh start. It’s autumn, the air is fresher, the sun is lower, and there’s lots to look forward to. Do your body and mind a favour and start today!

• Ditch the fast food, packaged snacks, sugary treats and processed stuff
• Fill your fridge and cupboards with fresh veg and ingredients to make delicious meals from scratch
• Eat more veg and less meat
• Drink 6-8 glasses of water a day
• Get out in the fresh air
• Exercise for 30 minutes three times a week
• Think positive and enjoy the process. You will feel so pleased with yourself when you complete a day of eating food and exercising
• Plan your food and exercise and try to stick to it. Tick it off when you’ve done it!
• Try to go to bed earlier and get more sleepIf you need help, please get in touch. I have loads of ideas for exercise, food and I’m pretty good at motivating and encouraging. Seize the day and make it yours.

   

  #healthyliving #starttoday #healthylifestyle #eatrealfood #nofussfood #nutrition #noexcuses #positivethinking #exercise #moveyourbody #loverunning #justrun

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I’ve been running for three years, ten months and nine days (yes I’ve been counting) and I have run just over 1600 miles on almost 330 runs. My run data is one of the most precious things on my phone, (only photos of my children rank higher..), which some may think strange, but to me, it’s my running diary, a record of achievement, and definitely something to be proud of.

More than an accessory
I started running around the same time that I started karate and kickboxing lessons and I soon realised that I was going to have to improve my general fitness levels if I wanted to try and keep up with my predominantly male classmates. And it certainly did help, but it soon became more than just a karate accessory.

10km plateau
As I gradually became able to run for longer, I started to wonder how fast I could do those distances. While I was achieving belts in karate, my running speed and distances crept up but eventually I plateaued comfortably at around 10km (6 miles).

London Marathon opportunity
This was until I was presented with a reason to significantly up my distance quicker than I had planned. In 2015 my husband had a motorbike accident, so I signed up for a half marathon to raise money for a special charity which had come to his aid. I was then offered a London Marathon place by the same charity, with only a couple of months to up my training even more. Even though I didn’t feel ready, I grabbed the opportunity with both hands and haven’t looked back since. I’ve now run three consecutive London Marathons, many half marathons and I lead two regular free running groups locally, to help anyone who want to get fitter.

Invincible runs
It’s not been easy, there have been lots of frustrating running niggles that I have wished I could wave a magic wand at to cure, but it’s been a process that I’ve had to go through to get to where I am now. I’ve had runs that I’ve hated, but many, many runs that I have loved. There have been times when I’ve really struggled, cried and wished that I could lay down on the road and sleep, but I have also had runs where I’ve felt like I could run forever. I’ve had runs where there has been so much pain that I’ve not known how I’m going to take another step, but also runs where I have felt invincible. I run in the rain, wind, snow, ice, and heat, and I’ve only had to be collected once mid-run, when I felt so sick I couldn’t run anymore.

Can I call myself a runner?
I’m not an amazing runner, and I’m not super-quick, but I LOVE running now more than ever. Running has been therapy for my mind as well as for my body; I’m more positive, fitter and stronger than I have ever been, and I have found exactly what works for me, from fuelling and hydration, to stretching and running gear. I have two belts to go until black in karate, but with running, who knows? I can’t wait to push myself to the next level of fresh challenges. I think I can finally, legitimately and wholeheartedly call myself a runner, can’t I?

If you pick up a magazine or a newspaper these days, the chances are you will read something about the evils of sugar. It’s everywhere, even in places where we least expect it, such as bread, sauces, crisps, granola, muesli, crackers and soy sauce.

It’s hard to escape it, and even if you think you have by not eating things that are obviously loaded with it, if you buy ready-made and processed food items, chances are it will contain sugar in it somewhere.

It’s cheap. It’s addictive. And some of the world’s largest companies make lots of money because of these two facts.

The frequency of the news reports, combined with the fact that we are all addicted, means that the issue doesn’t really have the weight of importance that it ought to. We all know that it’s bad for us, but we convince ourselves by saying things like ‘Oh it’s a treat’, ‘The diet starts Monday’, and ‘Surely it’s ok to just have one more…’. But with all the will in the world, your appearance or weight won’t change without you making changes to your lifestyle.

Also things that we think are super-healthy are actually not good for us in large doses, such as fresh fruit, dried fruit, smoothies and juices. Yes, fruit contains vital vitamins and minerals, but it also contains large doses of sugar, in varying amounts depending on the type of fruit. People think that because it’s natural sugar it’s ok. But our bodies deal with all sugars in the same way. Or don’t deal with them, as is the case of sugar overload. It ends up making us fat. As well as making us put on weight, sugar can also have lots of other detrimental affects to our bodies and brains.

I’m not saying don’t eat fruit at all, but most of the nutrients we get from fruit can also be gained from vegetables and other foods. SO fruit should be enjoyed in small doses.

When we eat sugar, it causes a reaction in our brain that releases feel-good hormones. This is fine every once in a while, but if this happens too often we can end up with loss of control, cravings and increased tolerance to sugar. In obese children, research has shown that their brains work differently, which indicates an elevated food reward response, which means that they may be predisposed to a lifetime of intense sugar cravings.

Research has also shown that too much sugar (particularly fructose) can also impair memory and learning skills, by slowing down the brain due to insulin resistance.

And drastic peaks and troughs in sugar levels can, cause sugar crashes which can induce irritability, mood swings and tiredness, which can in turn lead to depression and anxiety.

If you feel tired all the time, have brain-fog, have low tolerance levels when it comes to feeling irritated, or feel anxious or depressed for no apparent reason, it would be worth trying a sugar detox. Cut out all sugar for a couple of weeks and then slowly start to reintroduce fruit in small doses. You might get withdrawal symptoms such as headaches and cravings, and you may feel more naturally tired in the evenings, but in the long run you could be pleasantly surprised.

If you try it, please let me know how you get on.

The cost of obesity to the NHS in England is £6.1 BILLION per year.

£6.1 BILLION. That is more than is spent on the fire or police service.

It’s such a big issue that I don’t think all parliamentary reports in the world, junk food advertising bans and ten Jamie Olivers will make the blindest bit of difference.

As I said in a previous post, the change has to come from within each and every one of us, and until individuals are ready to make a change, it’s not going to happen. Either that or cut the problem off at the root cause and ban junk food (which would never happen).

And even if junk and processed food prices were raised phenomenally, I still don’t think that would stop people from buying it. Look at the cost of cigarettes. Almost £10 for a pack of 20, yet people still buy them.

We are addicted and we have done this to ourselves. Wouldn’t it be great to go back 100 years and start again. With hindsight do you think we, as a developing world, would make the same mistakes with regard to food production? And plastics too?

The UK Government could do a lot with £6.1 billion, and I’m sure obesity is not the best way to spend it. Just think of what it could do for cancer research and treatments.

What will make you sit up and make a change?

We are in a very fortunate position in this country, in that the majority of us don’t have to worry about where our next meal is coming from. Most of us will never know what it’s like to be truly hungry.

So why is it that a common relationship to have with food is one built around guilt? Guilt that we are eating too much, guilt that we are eating the wrong thing, feeling guilty for putting on weight, feeling guilty for eating too much fat/sugar/carbs. If you sit down at the end of the day and think about what you’ve eaten today, I bet most people will feel guilty about something.

What it really comes down to is one factor:

CHOICE

Too much choice, making bad choices, choosing to eat too much, choosing to eat something even if we’re not hungry. The guilt comes from the fact that we know when we get it wrong. And then a bad choice can turn into a bad morning, which can turn into a bad day/week/holiday etc.

The amount of choice that we have in this country makes it really easy for us to get things wrong on so many levels when it comes to food. Good-tasting, cheap, sugar-filled processed food is highly addictive, but we know that it’s not the best choice we can be making for our bodies and minds. Hence the guilt. But it’s everywhere and it’s quick and convenient, and it suits our busy lifestyles.

So what’s the solution? The solution lies within each and every one of us. A CHOICE to make a CHANGE. To cut out the junk food and to go back to basics. It’s not difficult, it’s just different.

If you need help putting your CHOICE to make a CHANGE into action, please contact me.

As I’m sure people will be bored of hearing, I ran the London Marathon last weekend. It was the third time for me, and I’m now the proud owner of three London Marathon finisher medals and T-shirts!

And naturally I have been interested in watching all the footage and reading all the press coverage this week, as people talk and write about ‘the hottest London Marathon on record’, ‘water running out’ and ‘people collapsing in the heat’.

One comment I saw on social media was something along the lines of, if 40,000 people can complete the London Marathon, surely it’s not such an amazing accomplishment? Well actually it is, and here’s why:

1. A marathon is 26.2 miles long. That is a LONG way.
2. The majority of people that you know will not have run a marathon.
3. Anyone who hasn’t run a marathon will say things like ‘I can’t even run for the bus!’, and ‘I don’t know how you do it’, and you will probably think like this before you decide to do one.
4. To RUN a marathon you have to train. And even then, the majority of people won’t run for the entire time. There will be a bit of walking.
5. To train well for a marathon takes about six months of dedicated, painful, exhausting training runs, about three times a week.
6. You will lose toe nails and you will get blisters and chafing while training and probably on race day too.
7. You will want to give up while training, and you will want someone to come and take you home mid-race on the big day.
8. Carb loading isn’t as much fun as it sounds. Carbs need to be good carbs and not the yummy chippy fatty carbs!
9. While you’re running you will do lots of maths in your head to work out speeds and mileage.
10. When you cross the marathon finish line for the first time, it will be one of the most amazing feelings ever!
11. You have never have stairs trouble, the way you do the day after a marathon.
12. You will have actual pre-marathon nightmares, in which you will turn up late, forget your running shoes, or be in the wrong place.
13. You will never in your life see such long queues for porta-loos!
14. You will always defend your marathon time by adding things like ‘It’s not as fast as I wanted it to be’, ‘I had to walk a bit as my knee/foot/leg felt like it was broken’ and ‘Next time I will try to do it faster’.
15. People will ask you politely how the marathon training is going, and you will reply in great length, even though you know they’re probably not really that interested!
16. You will know how many miles it is to many places within a radius of your front door.
17. Six miles/10km will become a short run for you.
18. When you’re running a marathon you may understand why Paula Radcliffe did what she did on the side of the road instead of stopping. When you’ve got to go you’ve got to go #runnerstrots!
19. You will never experience anything quite like the crowds, camaraderie, noise and emotions of running a marathon.
20. Running a marathon will either make you or break you as a marathon runner. You will either want to sign up for another one pretty much straight away or you will say NEVER AGAIN!

Running a marathon is running a marathon, the full 26.2 miles, whether you’re running with 39,999 other people or on your own, no matter how long it takes you. The achievement is real. And so is the pain!