How Much Do You Drink?

A while ago I wrote about how easy it is to 'accidentally' consume an entire extra day's worth of calories over the course of a week by drinking alcohol.  You can read the post on Boozy Nights here.


What's shocking is that you can find yourself in this situation even with moderate drinking.  In fact, chances are you'll be consuming these extra calories even if you stay within the UK Government guidelines of 14-21 units of alcohol per week.


What's also shocking is how quickly you can rack up the units of alcohol that make up our recommended 'allowance'.  A common mistake people make is to think that one drink equates to one unit of alcohol.

In fact, the guidelines for units were created when alcohol was weaker and typical measures of drink smaller.  Here's how many units there are in current popular drinks:

·      A 500ml can or bottle of 5% beer or lager contains 2.5 units

·      A 175ml glass of wine, many of which are now around 12% alcohol by volume, contains 2 units.  A 250ml glass which is often served in bars is nearer 3 units

·      Bar measures of spirits are often 35ml which is closer to 1.5 units than to 1 unit

I'm not highlighting these issues to make you feel bad about drinking - everything in moderation after all - I simply flag them up so that you can make more informed choices as part of your overall plan of what you eat and drink in relation to how you want to look and feel.


If you want the best results with your energy, fitness and body shape, keep in mind how much you drink and how often and experiment with different patterns of drinking until you find a routine that suits you.

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How to burn calories without really trying

Getting to the gym 3 times a week requires you to give up a minimum of 3 hours of your time. In a whole week, that is only tiny amount but the reality is that even this can seem impossible to achieve.  Everyday life is very demanding and can get in the way. 

So if you are having one of those weeks or months where you don't seem to have enough hours in your day to spare for the gym, this is for you.  A handy list of ways to burn the calories whilst just living your life (gym free).


Active persons Guide
Brush teeth - 2 mins 16 cals
Sweep floors - 20 mins 63 cals
Moderate walk - 30 mins 150 cals
Wash the car - 30 mins 171 cals
Play with kids - 30 mins 100 cals
Clearing garden - 15 mins 126 cals
Mowing lawn - 15 mins 60 cals
Raking 20 mins - 98 cals

TOTAL 784 calories = one hard gym session

Lazy persons Guide
Washing Dishes - 2 mins 6 cals
Watching TV - 4 hrs 300 cals
Kissing - 20 mins 26 cals
Playing cards 1 hr-  131 cals

So now you know - you need to watch at least 5 episodes of Lost on TV just to burn off one egg McMuffin.
Hmmm, maybe a quick trip to the gym is worth it after all.

See article here.

Photograph by lyrrad nahc (flickr)

How to Eat in Restaurants When You're On A Diet

Eating in restaurants or hotels, or buying takeaway food needn’t mean the end of your diet. You can eat healthily in restaurants and when you're ordering take outs - you just need to know what to eat and what to miss.

So, What Are The Rules When I'm.......

Dining Out

1. Read the menu well - don't just scan it for the most delicious thing you can see.
Act like a celebrity and don't be afraid to ask how meals are cooked.
2. In general, choose lean meats, fish and poultry and ask for them to be grilled, roasted or baked rather than fried or sautéed. 

3. Opt for steamed, boiled or roasted vegetables and salads. Avoid frying - if your vegetables have been fried, they are no longer much use to you (fries, tempura etc)
4. Always ask for sauces to be served on the side and to ask for a little olive oil or lemon on salads rather than dressings, which can be very fatty.
5. Look for tomato and vegetable based sauces rather than those made with cream or cheese.
6. If rice or noodles are on the menu, pick boiled or steamed rather than fried or pilau varieties. A serving of boiled rice has 0.47g fat. A portion of pilau rice has 7g fat!
7. It’s often very healthy to opt for fish or chicken and salad or vegetables. If you are vegetarian look for bean, nut, chickpea, egg or lentil options (and try not to just have cheese based meals).
8. Hotel breakfasts can be a challenge – but having a poached or boiled egg on whole grain bread is a good option – perhaps with some fruit juice or a piece of fruit. Otherwise, a low sugar cereal or muesli with a natural yogurt is a healthy option.

...Having A Take Out

1.Chinese, choose starters such as the grilled dumplings and opt for vegetable based sauces and vegetarian or low fat main courses e.g. chicken/bean curd in black bean sauce or noodles, bean sprouts and courgettes in a spicy sauce. For desserts try fresh fruit such as lychees. Try to avoid deep fried options such as fried pancake or spring rolls, banana fritters as well as egg-fried rice.
2. Indian it's best to pick tomato and onion sauces or dry cooked dishes e.g. tandoori or opt for vegetarian options with lentils and boiled rice. Try to avoid fried options such as bhajis, samosas and fried rice and rich creamy sauces e.g. kormas.
3.Thai avoid deep fried starters and always choose a vegetable side dish. A fish option is a healthy choice or a chicken and vegetable dish. Coconut milk is a saturated fat – so avoid having multiple dishes with a rich coconut sauce.
4.Italian, choose pasta dishes with vegetable and tomato based sauces or fish with vegetables or salads. If you are having pizza opt for vegetarian pizzas and salads. Generally try to avoid pasta with creamy or cheese sauces or pizzas with lots of cheese or cooked fatty meats. If ordering pizza, it's best to opt for vegetarian pizzas and order a salad.

Photograph by paper or plastic (Flickr)

Boozy Nights

The UK loves a drink. Alcohol is in our culture and it’s in our blood. Literally.

It has benefits and it has drawbacks. Most people know that alcohol has a big impact on their waistline but would rather give up the cream cakes rather than cut down on the booze because they dont quite appreciate just how calorific drinking alcohol can be. Take a look at these sobering figures.

The number of calories in different drinks varies but let’s say for the sake of argument that 1 glass of wine = 100 calories. If you follow the government’s recommended guidelines on alcohol consumption, you could rack up between 1400 and 2100 calories over the week in wine alone. And let’s face it, there are lots of people who regularly exceed the government guidelines. I’ve known people who could drink that amount in one sitting.

So for many people, that's the equivalent of a whole day's worth of calories which means that you are consuming 8 days worth of calories in 7 days. And you wonder why the weight doesn't shift?

This sounds all very anti-alcohol and doom and gloom but that's not the intention. If you are seriously trying to lose some weight and do drink everyday, you're making it all the harder to succeed in your goal. If you think that alcohol is adding weight to your weekly calorie intake, here are the simplest, tried and tested ways to cut back on your intake.

1. Don’t drink every day. Drinking alcohol is an easy habit to fall into. It becomes associated with relaxing and before long the two are inseparable.

2. Make sure you have methods of relaxation that don’t involve alcohol. Exercise, team sports and hobbies like music and dance are obvious choices.

3. Have a favourite non-alcoholic drink and prepare it with as much ceremony as you would your favourite glass of wine. You should choose a favourite non-alcoholic drink for the home environment and one for social occasions so you never hesitate to request these on those occasions when people ask what you’d like and you’ve decided that you’re not drinking alcohol that day.

4. Select the days on which you won’t drink in advance. Enjoy them and enjoy the alcohol you have on the other days. Know the cut off point between alcohol that you enjoy and alcohol that you’re just knocking back out of habit. Just because some is good, doesn’t mean that more is better. Set the limits that work for you.

Start saving calories immediately by deciding now when your next alcohol free / reduced calorie day will be.

Some more tips on sensible drinking and alternative choices can be found here.

Royalty free stock photography

Better the Calorie You Know

Counting calories is a bore.

I'm sure we can all agree on that. Watching what you eat makes you crabby and resentful and somehow, it makes you eat even more. I've worked with plenty of people battling with their weight and their energy levels and there are two techniques that really make them sit up and take notice of what they put in their bodies. Two simple tricks that get them changing the way they think immediately.

First - cut back on portion sizes.
As plates get bigger and restaurants go OTT with the amounts they serve us up, it can be hard to keep track of how much we should be eating at mealtimes. Websites like Diet-Blog are a great help here - they have a section of photos showing you what a 300 calorie meal (this is how much you should aim for per meal) will look like.
Another website I like is MyPhotoDiet that's great for showing sample daily meal plans, again with pictures, so you can see exactly what's required to keep you on track and get you great results. Having looked at these photos, you realise just how easy it is to over-eat and it may explain why those pounds have been creeping on..

The second trick is examining the quality of what you eat. Are you eating balanced meals? Calories, sugar, salt and fat content can really stack up throughout the day, even though you may not think you're consuming very much. I send people to the website Calorie King where you can examine thousands of different food and drink items and look in detail at what exactly what's in them. The great thing about this site is that it also tells you how much walking, jogging, swimming or cycling you'd need to do to burn off the calories in each item of food which really helps put things in context. Are you willing to do 22 mins cycling to burn off 1 low fat Latte from Starbucks? Makes you think, doesn't it?

To sum up:
Don't obsess about counting calories - just stay vigilant to the AMOUNT you eat and get into the habit of reading food labels. Visit the sites I mentioned because seeing in black and white just how fattening some foods are may help you make better choices, especially if you are trying to shift some weight.

Give it a go now.


Photograph by Marshall Astor. Flickr