So it’s Bank Holiday Monday, Easter has happened, we have all probably eaten too much chocolate, and scoffed far too many cakes… but there’s no need to panic. And also there is no need to ‘start the diet’ once all the Easter chocolate has gone.

What you put on your plate is up to you. It’s your choice and your responsibility. If you’re going to carry on eating the Easter chocolate until it’s gone (it would be a crime not to!), surely it’s better to make sure that you’re making healthy food choices for the rest of food that you eat in a day? Here are a few tips to help you along the way:

PLAN: Plan what you’re going to eat and stick to it. It needn’t be a complicated spreadsheet of food, ingredients, calories etc, it could just be a quick note on a bit of paper in your kitchen, or even just a mental note of what you’re going to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And some ideas for what you can eat in-between meals if you’re really hungry.

MAKE HEALTHY CHOICES: Wherever you can, try to make healthy food choices. So if you’re out, go for meat and veg, try to stay away from sauces as they often contain lots of sugar and fat, have cheese and biscuits instead of pudding. If you’re at home, simple things like halving the amount of butter you use, having less carbs on days you’re not exercising, having half the amount of meat and twice the amount of veg… will all help to make you healthier.

DRINK WATER: Make a pledge to yourself to drink lots of water. Work out how many of your favourite glasses/mugs/water bottles you need to get through to drink about two litres per day, and just get on with it. It’s not really that much, and you can do it. It will make you feel so much better, it will help to improve your skin, and it will also help you to lose weight, think clearly and gives you more energy.

GET MOVING: Try to move as much as you can each day. Even if you don’t exercise, you can still move your body and cover quite a distance. 10,000 steps per day is a good goal, which you can measure by a simple pedometer clipped to your belt, a Fitbit watch (or similar), or the Health app on your iPhone (or similar on other phones). If you know you’re not going to be walking much on one particular day, have a walk around the block for ten minutes, take the dog for a walk, take the children to the park, walk to the shop for some milk, anything just to get moving. When you go upstairs, try to bounce up them as quickly as you can. Do squats while you’re brushing your teeth or waiting for the kettle to boil. Do ten press-ups every time you go to the loo. Whatever and whenever, it all helps to make you fitter and stronger.

FRESH AIR: Half an hour of fresh air can do you the world of good. Go for a walk in the woods, stand in the garden with a cup of tea, drive to your favourite viewpoint and just stand in silence looking at the view. Or just open the windows in your house if you can’t go out.

FRUIT & VEG: Bulk out your meals with as much fresh veg as you can, you will really benefit from the nutrients that you’re getting and also it will help to fill you up. Limit your fruit due to the sugar content, just three small pieces per day is sufficient.

DO HAVE TREATS: Ration your Easter treats. It’s going to be sitting there waiting to be eaten, and it may even feel like it’s calling ‘eat me’ to you at times! So don’t deny yourself, try to ration it and decide when you’re going to eat some each day. So after dinner, when the children are in bed, or first thing in the morning if you like! And try to put it away in a cupboard so that you’re not tempted to keep breaking off little bits every time you walk past it! The 80:20 rule is a good goal to aim for. Eating healthy food 80% of the time, and a little bit of what you fancy 20% of the time. This could be each day or saving treats for the weekend. Whatever works for you.

NO FADDY DIETS: Anything that sounds too good to be true, most probably is. Anything that promises massive weight loss in a short amount of time, with strange combinations of food, is not going to be good for you in the long term. Yes you might initially lose weight, but a lot of that will be through dehydration, and once you stop the diet and start eating normally again, the weight will go back on. Sensible and consistent eating is what it’s all about.

BE KIND TO YOURSELF: Don’t beat yourself up for eating cake or chocolate, or having a glass of wine. Life is to be enjoyed, so we shouldn’t deny ourselves the things that we love. We have just got so used to processed and packaged food, the food and sugar industries have got us addicted. We need to break habits and form new ones, and go back to simpler times of eating basic good food, not regularly overindulging, and start listening to our bodies.

I hope that helps you to find a way to move forward, if you’re panicking about what you’ve eaten this weekend, and if you’re generally wanting to be healthier but don’t know where to start. Just take things slowly, and by consistently making healthier food choices, you should soon notice a difference. And let me know how you get on!

So in the news again today, another story about obesity and the risks it causes.

A new study by Cancer Research UK has shown that UK Millennials (anyone born between the early 1980s and mid 1990s) are set to be the most over weight generation since records began, with over seven in ten being overweight by the time they reach middle age.

The charity is concerned that people just aren’t aware of the cancer risks, and that only 15% of people in the UK realise that being fat as an adult is linked to 13 different types of cancer, including breast, bowel and kidney cancer.

Cancer Research UK spokeswoman Professor Linda Bauld said: “Extra body fat doesn’t just sit there; it sends messages around the body that can cause damage to cells. This damage can build up over time and increase the risk of cancer in the same way that damage from smoking causes cancer.”

Once again, the advice to help prevent the risk of cancer isn’t rocket science. More fruit and veg, wholegrains and fibre, and less junk food. It’s so simple, yet seemingly so difficult.

What is our obsession with eating things that are bad for us. Habit? Availability? Lack of education? And what on earth is the answer? An industry-wide junk food tax, making it more expensive so that people don’t buy as much?

The Sugar Tax (Soft Drinks Industry Levy) which will be implemented in the UK in April 2018, will see price increases in soft drinks that have over a certain amount of sugar in them. For example a can of Coca Cola is set to increase by about 8p. Is this enough to make consumers not buy it? It’s likely however that some producers will just reduce the sugar quantity and introduce artificial sweeteners, in order to swerve the tax. But artificial sweeteners have their own risks.

Other initiatives have been implemented such as traffic light labelling on foods, restrictions on the advertising of high-fat, high-sugar foods during children’s TV programmes or where 75% of the audience will be children, and some supermarkets have made the decision themselves to remove sweets and chocolate bars from checkout areas.

There is no easy solution to the problem, and while the temptations are so affordably there, we will keep consuming them. What would it take for you to sit up and listen?

I try really hard not to buy too much unnecessary stuff, to recycle and reuse, to use chemical free cleaning products and toiletries, to buy organic food, and to cut down on plastic consumption… even before David Attenborough made the country sit up and take note of the amount of plastics in the seas. And good for him I say.

So at the supermarket today (Morrison’s, I like it there as it doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not!), I really paid attention in the fresh fruit and vegetables section, and although you can get some things un-plastified, it’s not everything, and you don’t have as much choice. There was nothing organic and unwrapped, you can’t get unwrapped lettuces at all, there was a very small selection of un-bagged apples, and grapes are either in sealed plastic tubs or plastic bags with little plastic zips along the top.

I selected my own mushrooms though, and put them in the little brown mushroom bag provided. Why are paper bags only provided for mushrooms? I know that mushrooms like being kept in paper bags (it’s to do with the moisture), but surely other veggies deserve paper bags too?! I was quite content just piling the loose fruit and veg in my trolley though, all happy and free (even though not organic!).

Then the rest of the shop went downhill, with most things coming in plastic bags or packets.

Theresa May has vowed to eliminate the UK’s plastic waste by 2042, but I think this will be too late. Why can’t something be done sooner?

I think, ‘Eat how your granny used to’, and it’s never been more needed than now. Why can’t we go back to meat wrapped in paper, all veg in paper bags or nothing at all, glass jars and boxes for everything else?

Why? Because it costs more, it takes longer, there would be shorter shelf lives, it would need a bit of extra thinking, and the food companies wouldn’t be making as much money.

I personally wouldn’t mind paying a bit more for things (I already do for cleaning products and toiletries, but I probably spend less in the long run as I don’t buy such a big range of products… for cleaning it’s pretty much just washing up liquid, spray for kitchen and bathroom, dishwasher tablets, toilet cleaner), and it wouldn’t hurt if some of the cheap processed food products disappeared from the shelves.

If we all had to pay a bit more, perhaps people would take a bit more care over what and how they buy, and would perhaps think twice about some of the less healthy choices that they make. What do you think?

It’s Monday. You start off well, have a good breakfast, healthy lunch, really good snacks, lots of water, a wholesome dinner…. and then you eat everything you see between 6-9pm. Even though you’re not hungry. Nothing is safe. Then you wish you hadn’t done it, and you feel like you’ve immediately put on a stone, and you can feel it around your waist and thighs, you even weigh yourself to check.

Or, you’ve been doing really well all day, and then something happens to make you angry/upset/cry, so you eat six Kitkats in a row straight from the fridge. It doesn’t make you feel better but they taste good. And then you think ‘Well I’ve ruined it for today now so I might as well have some crisps/cake/chocolate and start again tomorrow’.

It’s making you unhappy as you want to stop worrying about food all day, and you want to lose weight NOW, but you know that’s never going to happen. You know you would never be able to stick to a ‘cashew nuts and ham diet’, or a ‘six eggs a day non-diet diet’ for a quick fix to lose ten pounds in a week. And you can’t afford to employ someone to walk around with you all day to smack bad food out of your hands. Is there light at the end of the tunnel?

Here is the reality…

• Your body needs food and calories to function
• Food should be a source of joy, not misery or guilt
• Crash diets don’t work long term. Yes you will lose weight, but it’s not sustainable, as a lot of the initial weight loss will be fluid loss
• If you lose weight too quickly you will lose lean mass (muscle), which you don’t want
• A very small percentage of the world’s population looks ‘Baywatch standard’ in swimwear!

What can you do?

• Eat wholefoods. Make things from scratch, it’s cheaper and easier than it sounds. You can control what you’re putting into your meals, and you will automatically be consuming less fat and sugar.
• Remove temptation from your house. Don’t buy cakes, biscuits, sweets, processed foods, if you can’t stop eating them. Or if do you have them in the house, put them somewhere that is a faff to get to
• Meal plan and food prep. It sounds boring and like something only highly organised fitness people or show-off Pinterest mummies do. But knowing what you’re going to have to eat each day (and more importantly what you can snack on when you’re hungry between meals, or in the evening when you’re not hungry but want something to eat anyway, will really help to stop the binge eating. If you don’t have time to tub thing up or bulk chop fruit and veg on a Sunday (who does?!), at least make sure that you have the right food in the house. Who says you can’t bung a whole carrot and half a cucumber in your bag to take to work? It doesn’t have to be neatly chopped and arranged in a mason jar for it to be good for you. And meal planning doesn’t need to be complicated, and it can even be the same each week if you find things that work for you and your family’s routine… eg pasta on Monday, chicken on Tuesday, chilli on Wednesday, jacket potatoes on Thursday, pizza on Friday
• Make a general shopping list. Have a notebook in your bag or do it in the notes section on your phone, and when you have a little minute (while waiting at school pick up, waiting for the kettle to boil, or even while you’re on the loo!!), just think about the things that you need to have in your fridge, freezer and cupboards in order to eat well, and write them down. Then each time you go food shopping, just run through the list and see what you need to top up on. If you do your food shopping online, this will be easy and you could do your food shop in ten minutes, as your order history will be there for you to choose from
• Have a list of snack ideas that you know are healthy and low fat/sugar, and make sure that you always have something to hand. When someone has made you so angry you could explode, it might not be as appealing as a big bowl of Coco Pops, but if you don’t have any Coco Pops, or if they are hidden right at the back of the cupboard, but a pitta with marmite or a small cup of porridge with banana might hit the spot
• Alternate your tea and coffee (or whatever you usually drink) intake with water. Hot or cold, with lemon, mint leaves, or herbal tea bag. It doesn’t matter how you drink it. Find a way that you like, and do that. Two litres a day is needed, so just get used to drinking it. Yes you will wee a lot but your body will get used to drinking more so it will calm down!
• Move your body! If you don’t like ‘exercise’, find something that you do like. Dancing, walking, housework, dog walking, gardening. Anything that gets your heart rate up and makes you sweat a bit, three to four times a week, will make a big difference to the way you feel. And get out in the fresh air for about half an hour at least once a day.
• Do what you love. It’s not easy, and we have all done jobs that we’ve not liked, but if you’re unhappy at work, try to find a solution to make it better. Speak to your boss, talk to HR, change jobs, retrain to do something else if you can. Or if none of that is possible, try to make work bearable and make sure that you do something you love and that you’re good at in your spare time
• Don’t cut out any food groups or ban things completely. If you tell yourself you’re not going to eat any cake, all you will want to eat is cake. The 80/20 rule is a good guide. Eat good healthy stuff 80% of the time, and allow 20% wriggle room for cake. Or whatever makes you drool!
• Be grateful. Life is not a series of Instagram quotes, but it is precious, so do your best to look after yourself and the people you love, and be grateful for the things that you have. Not everybody is fortunate enough to grow old, which is something that we learn the hard way as we go through life. And also appreciate the small things, as these are what can make your day

Try and do this for a week, and repeat, repeat, repeat. And contact me if you need help.

A new global report shows that ultra processed food products now make up over HALF of all UK family food purchases.

Research by global nutrition experts has revealed that UK families buy more ultra processed food than any others in Europe, amounting to 50.7% of the diet, causing a deep concern over links with obesity and poor health.

Cheap ingredients are used on a big scale to make these low cost products, often with very sweet or salty flavours, and with high fat and sugar content, designed to make us want more but with a very low nutritional value.

Professor Carlos Monteiro from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, who led the research team, says that the two main problems are that people are missing out on vital vitamins and minerals, and also bioactive compounds found in natural foods.

The lead researchers in the government-funded obesity research policy unit agree that we should try to reduce our reliance on ultra-processed foods. To read more, see the full article here.

Sign up for T&B Weekly to win FREE T&B TOGETHER 8-WEEK GROUP MEMBERSHIP!

The next round of T&B Together starts on March 6th, 2018, and will run for eight weeks. The usual cost for this is £32 (£4 per week), but the lucky winner will be able to join for free!

The group is run through a secret Facebook group (which only group members can see), and each week you will receive a personalised and updated report containing your recommended daily kilocalorie intake and short term goals, weekly exercise advice from the T&B fitness partner, calorie-counted menu and snack ideas, topic video, nutrition information, advice, support and motivation, all with the added bonus of being able to contact me for help and advice at any time!

All you have to do is sign up for T&B Weekly, a newsletter that will be sent to your inbox, and your name will be added into the prize draw. Pop your email address in the box at the bottom right hand side of the homepage.

The winner will be announced after 9pm on Tuesday February 28th, 2018.

Good luck!!

Note: Winner will be drawn at random. However, if you decide to sign up for the programme anyway, and you are lucky enough to be the winner, I will refund your fees.

So far the members of my T&B Together online weight management group have lost just over a stone in combined weight! With five weeks to go, I’m really excited to see what they will achieve by the end of the programme.

Because I’m so excited and thrilled for them, I am offering you the chance to WIN FREE T&B TOGETHER 8-WEEK GROUP MEMBERSHIP to my next round, which starts on March 6th, 2018, and will run for eight weeks. The usual cost for this is £32 (£4 per week), but the lucky winner will be able to join for free!

The group is run through a secret Facebook group (which only group members can see), and each week you will receive a personalised and updated report containing your recommended daily kilocalorie intake and short term goals, weekly exercise advice from the T&B fitness partner, calorie-counted menu and snack ideas, topic video, nutrition information, advice, support and motivation, all with the added bonus of being able to contact me for help and advice at any time!

All you have to do is sign up for T&B Weekly, a newsletter that will be sent to your inbox, and your name will be added into the prize draw. Just fill in the form on the T&B homepage at www.trainersandbananas.co.uk.

The winner will be announced after 9pm on Tuesday February 28th, 2018.

Good luck!!

Note: Winner will be drawn at random. However, if you decide to sign up for the programme anyway, and you are lucky enough to be the winner, I will refund your fees.

So it’s the end of January already, Christmas memories are fading, and New Year is a distant memory. So how are you doing with those New Year’s Resolutions?? Did you make any? Are you sticking to them and if so were any of them fitness or diet related?

I didn’t really make any New Year’s Resolutions, but was just excited to get back into running and karate training, to aim for my next karate belt and get fitter for the London Marathon in April.

And so far so good, other than the usual niggles that I have, such as an injured foot and sore shins. Resting them didn’t work, so I am now just ignoring the pain and hoping it just goes away.

Let me know what your fitness and nutrition goals are, and what you’re doing to try and stick to them.

So as we go into February, the mornings and evenings are slowly getting lighter, which always makes everything feel a bit better, and Spring (and the London Marathon…!) is just around the corner.