Don't become a Christmas pudding!!

It probably hasn't escaped your attention... but it's almost Christmas!!!! 

I'm annoyingly excited about Christmas this year. Even though 2013 has been pretty rocky, I've achieved a lot in the past year and I'm really excited about what 2014 has in store for me. For me, Christmas is about taking time out to spend with friends and family, and getting ready to face the new year refreshed and prepared to achieve some more goals... 

Will you be feeling refreshed and rested on 1 January?? It's probably a fair assumption to say you won't be... 

Why not?? Cos you've spent the whole of December eating and drinking yourself to death... Yeah Christmas is about getting out, socialising and enjoying yourself, but since when can that only be done whilst getting drunk and eating badly??? 

Little story for you... 

I was out recently, stone cold sober amongst a city full of people who seem to have no idea of their limits when it comes to alcohol. That's not a nice place to be if I'm honest. Drunk people are obnoxious, rude, aggressive and can be intimidating...I'm pretty glad that I'm sober when I'm out, since it means that I'm 100% aware of my surroundings and can look after myself. Anyway I digress (as usual!).. 

So I'm at the bar (ordering a water.. which cost me €3.80...I'm sure it'd be cheaper to actually drink sometimes!).. Get chatting to this guy, he asks me why I'm only drinking water, we chat some more, exchange numbers and all that.. Conversation afterwards, and he confesses that once he heard I didn't drink, he thought for a second that I was probably a "dry shite" (forgive me, I'm merely quoting!!) and that it'd be pointless continuing our conversation...safe to say he changed his mind since I can actually hold a conversation and didn't need him to hold my hair back while I vomited up the curry chips I just had to have cos I was sooooo hungry after those 10 vodkas... 

My point is (I do have one).. you don't need to drink or eat crap just because everyone else does. You don't have to drink & eat crap because it's Christmas. If you do go crazy over the festive season, it's because you're making a choice.... nobody is going to force you! 

Any idea how many calories the average person consumes on Christmas Day? 3000? 4000? 5000? 6000? .... 

7000 calories in one day! People hugely underestimate the amount of food they eat... it comes down to portion sizes, grazing constantly on cheese & crackers/chocolates etc, and alcohol. Why do we feel the need to celebrate with food, to overeat just because it's Christmas, to eat so much food that we feel uncomfortably full.. I'm not sure... I guess because it's tradition... I need to look into why it's become tradition! 

1st world problems.... food coma!

A lot of people simply don't realise the enormous volume of calories that are in the food they're eating... Few Christmassy examples that might make you think twice... 

• 1 chocolate from a tin of Roses - 48 calories (I bet you don't just eat one!)
• Christmas dinner - 1500 calories
• 1 mince pie - 250 calories
• Christmas pudding & brandy butter 600+ calories
• Christmas cake 245 calories in 75g slice (that's a pretty tiny slice!)
• Shortbread biscuit - 170 calories
• Ferrero Rocher - 72 calories per chocolate

Once Christmas Day is over, there are so many leftovers... you don't have to eat them all!!! Ever hear of a freezer? If you receive countless gifts of chocolates and biscuits, I've no doubt there are plenty of homeless shelters etc that would be only too delighted to share them with others... 

You probably fall into one of two categories..

1. You train really hard all year.... 

So ruin all your hard work & effort by going crazy? Sure you can have treats, but there's really no need to eat everything in sight. Your body doesn't need or want all that food and drink, and you'll feel 1000 times better if you keep it relatively clean...

    2. Your New Years Resolution is to lose weight... 

This is probably the 10th year in a row you've made the same resolution... and you're undoubtedly still struggling. 

Why allow yourself to go mad just cos it's Christmas? You'll be starting a New Year feeling sluggish, heavier and tired and you'll regret eating all that cake that you're now trying to burn off on a treadmill fuelled by a WW ready meal or similar... 

The lesson.... 

Eat clean... if you're going to treat yourself, that's cool... but don't let your nutrition become a train wreck just cos it's Christmas.

• Eat your main meals as normal. Don't skip meals to compensate for treats during the day. If you eat real food for your main meals, chances are you won't actually want to snack (too much anyway). 
• If you're snacking, why not snack on nuts? 
• Who says dessert has to be Christmas pudding... why do we eat the heaviest dessert ever created after eating the biggest meal of the year??? Why not make a light trifle with yogurt/cream cheese, sponge and fresh fruit?? 
• Don't let one bad day turn into a bad month.... Don't let the whole of December turn into a food fest. 
• Stock up on healthy snacks so you don't feel left out when others are munching on Pringles... I'd far prefer to eat a few too many nuts than to eat Pringles.. 
• Drink lots of water... it will make you feel full.. 
• Move the tin of Roses to the other side of the coffee table... if you have to actually stand up and go get a sweet, you'll eat less than if the tin is right beside you. 
• Don't punish yourself or feel guilty for eating badly.. move on and eat clean for the rest of the day. 
• Go for a walk... you'll get fresh air, and it'll help prevent arguments because of cabin fever! 

Don't wait for 1 January to be healthy... In a years time you'll be thrilled you started today :) 

My (formerly) Secret Addiction....

One thing that has kept me on track when it comes to my nutrition has 

been my food diary. Each week I go through the same routine... 

1. I take 5 minutes to write a meal plan for the coming week. 
2. I write a shopping list
3. Go shopping

Sounds basic and you're probably wondering why I bother. 

Planning meals in advance makes shopping easier... I only buy what's on the list, I minimize food waste and I spend less on food in the long run.

Most importantly.. I only buy what's on the list! This is key if you've an issue with portion control. 

Of course there are times I don't make it home for dinner & plans change.... I keep a container with a handful of nuts in the boot of the car for
emergencies! Just a handful mind you... anything more, and if you get
caught out & feel hungry, you're likely to eat 200g of nuts before your body has got the memo that it's been fuelled for another while! Nuts are great... but they're pretty high in calories so keep an eye on your intake. 

Back to the food diary....

I thought about whether or not to post this, but I think it's important that I keep my posts honest so that
people understand the underlying issues behind obesity. 

2011: 

I was at the stage where food had taken over pretty much everything... I was overweight, which made me feel like crap (physically and mentally), I
comfort ate which made me gain more weight, I found the stairs tough going so I became lazier since it was just easier to stay still. When I got to my heaviest, I had stopped going out. I stopped socialising with friends, and just cut them out. Isolating myself was the worst thing I could have done.... I was alone, and I turned to food as a comfort. 

You'll know if you've read the blog, that I'm a real foodie.. .I love cooking
and good food, but it wasn't my love of cooking that caused the weight gain. I never cooked back then. Everything I ate was processed, pre-packed and full of unpronounceable ingredients. 

Let's face it, I didn't gain all that weight from just having an extra biscuit
here and there. I ate an unbelievable amount of food...all I thought about was food, and I would eat and eat until I felt nauseous, and then I'd eat again. 

This is a sample of what a pretty average day looked like for me back then... And no, I'm not exaggerating! 

BREAKFAST: 

Bucket sized bowl of Cheerios & slice of toast before leaving for work.

Toasted sandwich with sausages, bacon, egg & mayo at my desk once I
arrived in work.

Bottle of processed orange juice

10.30

Muffin/Scone 

Bottle of Lucozade

LUNCH

O'Brien's Triple Decker Sandwich with chicken, bacon, mayo & cheese

Bag of crisps 

Bar of chocolate

Bottle of Lucozade

15:00

Chocolate or muffin/pastry

Bottle of Lucozade

17:00 (On way home from work)

Jellies/Chocolate 

Bottle of Lucozade

DINNER

Pasta with processed sauce & cheese

Lucozade

EVENING SNACKS!

Biscuits or cake... not just one either, we're talking about a whole pack of
biscuits or whole pre-packed cake

Toast.... I can't even guess at how many slices of toast I'd eat... 'a lot' would be a fair guess! 

Sometimes I'd pop out to McDonalds Drive Through and honestly order 2
large meals, an extra burger, chicken nuggets, and ice cream or apple pie (Ok ok who am I kidding, I got the ice cream AND apple pie). If it wasn't
McDonalds, it was ordering Indian, or Dominos... wow those meal deals... A large
pizza, wedges, garlic bread, ice cream and 2 litres of coke for 15euro...and yeah, I'd eat it all over the course of the night. 

Obviously I'd have more Lucozade to wash it down!

So emmmm that was embarrassing and a little uncomfortable to see written down! 

Moving on... It wasn't as simple as overeating here and there for me... I had a serious problem with food. I ate at every opportunity, and was slowly
killing myself in the process. 

How I felt then:

· no energy

· low confidence

· zero self respect

· breathless with slight exertion

· sweaty all the time

· moody 

· dodgy digestion

· Joint pain at ankles, knees and hips

· depressed 

I felt like shit. 

2012

Roll on to 2012, and I'd started working towards a healthier lifestyle. My
main focus was on weight loss, since I blamed everything from my illness to my depression on my weight.

I had lost a significant amount of weight at this stage, but my progress had stalled... my next step was to further restrict calories and spend more time
in the gym.... 

9am - 12

No food

Spinning 

Body toning class/circuits

15km on bike

Free weights

I'd go back home...to bed since I was wrecked from not eating anything and going to the gym...Most afternoons I'd hospital appointments to drag myself
to.

5-7pm

No food.

Spinning

Free weights

Home again, to a massive bowl of fruit to deal with the double vision I'd
usually have during round 2 in the gym. 

Back to bed. 

How I felt then:

· tired 

· moody 

· obsessive

· hungry

· weak

· dry skin

· depressed

· drained

I felt like shit. 

Late 2012/2013

I realised I had to stop acting like an idiot (and to be fair, I was kinda hungry). Aside from anything, I'd stopped losing weight... so clearly hunger strike wasn't the correct approach. Now I just eat lots of real food... Lots of people are going to think my eating habits are still strange cos I don't eat cereals
for breakfast or pasta for dinner. 

BREAKFAST:

3 egg omelette with bacon, mushroom & raw goats cheese

Spinach, tomato & pepper salad
Nuts

SNACK:

Chicken salad with diced kale, brocolli, carrot, sun dried tomato & cottage cheese

LUNCH

Meat/fish with kale/spinach salad 

Handful of berries

SNACK:

Chicken or fish 

Nuts

DINNER

Steak,onions, mushrooms, brocolli & asparagus

POST TRAINING

Protein shake/chicken breast 

Between 5-8 litres of water/day.

How I feel now:

· buckets of energy that is constant rather than slumping in the
afternoon

· great mood (still can be a cranky cow though!)

· sleep patterns improved

· digestive issues cleared up

· skin problems were resolved

· my eyes are clear and don't look bloodshot any more

· black rings are gone

· depression is 1000% times better 

· health is pretty good...considering! 

· lots of confidence

· happy & chilled 

· teeth are really white (I can't explain that one... but has to be
something to do with a lack of artificial colourings)

· AND... my hair is starting to regrow!! SURPRISE for anyone who I hadn't told! 

This is just a sample of what I eat... some days snacks will be salads, Greek yogurt, raw cheese, nut butters etc. The point I'm trying to convey is that I
eat a lot! It's all real, unprocessed food which will serve to maintain my health and provide me with energy to train, as well as the ability to recovery between sessions. 

I eat to fuel my body, and give myself the best chance I can of maintaining my health... for me, grains and processed foods just aren't worth giving up my health for... 

I still go to the gym an awful lot... it's hard to make yourself believe that training less provides more benefits to your body... but I'm getting there. I do lots of other things with my spare time, and try not to
micromanage my training and nutrition too much. I love training, and I still love
food but I've become a lot better at silencing that slightly OCD voice that sometimes pushes me a little too far... 

Guys my reason for this post is to help you realise, whether you're a trainer or professional working with overweight clients, or you just know someone struggling, that sometimes it's not as simple as just stopping eating... I was properly addicted to food, and like any addiction you need support, empathy and understanding to kick it. 

Don't suggest a cheat meal of a chocolate bar for someone working on
getting over a food addiction... would you give a recovering cocaine addict just one line at the weekend?... My poor diet screwed everything up, but now... eating real food has improved everything!

Real food vs processed food

The arguments I hear all the time when it comes to eating real food are;

1. It's too expensive to buy lots of meat & vegetables
2. I don't have time
3. I'm not sure what to cook

If you were to ask most people why they buy processed, pre-packaged foods, they would cite convenience and price as the two main reasons. The food industry has responded to our demands for cheap and convenient foods....Anything you can think of can be bought frozen, in a can or jar these days.... 

And yeah... I did look closer after posting this picture, and realise it's actually Christmas dinner for dogs! I'm leaving it though since processed, canned foods are barely fit for dogs.... 

When your grandparents were young do you think they bought stew or soup in a can, powdered potato or carrots in a jar? I'm pretty confident the answer is 'Hell no!'. I'm lucky enough to have my grandmother's handwritten cook book.... she started writing it in the 60s.... she made everything herself. She used the best cuts of meat they could afford, fresh vegetables. Most of her recipes included butter or cream... never margarine or low fat alternatives...  My point is, we're part of a generation who see processed foods as the norm... they're part of our daily diet, and we're slowly killing ourselves with cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases and depressive illnesses. 

We think cream and butter are the devil, but never stop to consider the effect of the chemicals we're eating when we stop in for McDonalds or have a 'treat' of a frozen pizza.... Sure... E-Numbers, chemicals and ingredients you can't pronounce are a real 'treat'!! 

We're all busy, and we're always looking for ways to reduce our expenses... but more time and more money will be a fat lot of good to you when you're dead at 40. 

As for your arguments... 

It's too expensive to buy lots of meat & vegetables  

Ideally we'd all buy buying organic meat and vegetables directly from a happy, smiling farmer... You can't put a price on your health right?? I accept that we're all working with a limited budget, so....

•  buy your meat in a supermarket if you have to... they all run special offers on meat making it far more affordable. 
• buy in bulk... buy the larger packets of minced beef, they're always cheaper than the smaller packs. Make double the quantity of food and you've planned ahead for the next day, or just freeze the surplus meat for another time. 
• buy cheaper cuts of meat... cheaper cuts of beef and pork taste just as good, and are just as nutritious... cook them slowly in a casserole with lots of fresh vegetables and it will be delicious.
• vegetables are not expensive! You can buy huge bags of carrots for €1, turnips for 49c and massive bags of spinach for €1. 
• Eggs are your friend... they're a brilliant source of cheap protein.

Don't use lack of funds as an excuse. If you're smart about how you shop, plan your meals in advance to avoid food waste, then it will cost you a lot less to eat meat and vegetables in favour of that frozen ready meal .

Another bonus.... eating a hearty stew, piece of steak and vegetables or similar will keep you satisfied for far longer than if you had a pizza or bowl of pasta... so you won't need to reach for that Mars bar or bag of Hunky Dory's 30 minutes after dinner. 

I don't have time

I'm honestly not sure I even want to address this one... you have the time to cook, stop making excuses and being lazy. 

Get off Facebook, stop watching EastEnders or sitting on your ass in the evenings. It doesn't take long to cook...

Plan in advance, put dinner in the oven when you get in from the gym and when you've showered, dinner will be waiting for you. There's no excuse... 

I'm not sure what to cook

It would be really easy for me to say that cooking is easy... mainly cos I love it. Lots of people genuinely don't know how to cook, or what they really need to be eating to achieve their goals. 

The media and so-called experts would have us believe that we'll fade away without a low fat diet of refined carbohydrates or the latest and greatest ready meal. Don't let others make up your mind for you.... take the time to educate yourself on nutrition, there are plenty of resources online. If you're too lazy to do that... well then think about it logically, keep your food natural and fresh and you should be ok. All I'm saying is sugar and grains are bad for you.... 

As for knowing how to cook.... it is actually really easy. You don't need to be plating up Michelin star meals every day... simple meals which taste good are the key. Again, there are so many cook books and online resources that can help you out... (I'm going to add lots of suggested resources to the Facebook page over the coming days so keep an eye out!) 

Stop making excuses.... 

So I seem a little intolerant right? In fairness I am! Now that I've realised how amazing real food tastes, and how it costs less than crap that damages your health, it's a no-brainer for me.... 

Secret recipe for Abs...

If you take one thing from this post, let it be that Abs are made in the kitchen... Going to the gym is just not enough.

There's a common misconception that if you go to the gym, you can eat whatever you like... WRONG! If you don't make good choices in the kitchen, all the squat sessions and playing with ab roller will not get you the results you're chasing. 

Think about this...if you do 3/4 really hardcore sessions a week, is that really enough to counteract the other 165-ish hours that you spend sitting on your ass at a desk/in front of the tv/in the pub eating and drinking crap? Absolutely not! 

If you want to drop body fat, then your first concern should be every last thing that passes your lips. Did you steal a chip from your friend's plate over lunch? Did you pick at more cheese than you should have when you prepared your salad? Did you take a sneaky piece of cake that was offered as a sample in the supermarket? IT ALL COUNTS!!!! You can absolutely destroy your progress with little 'treats' or slips like this... I don't mean to sound like an army commander here, but you need to be vigilant!!!! You need to keep track of what you're eating...every bite... be honest about it, weigh your food, use online calorie calculators or apps like My Fitness Pal to track your daily food intake. 

For me, I have to weigh food to keep a check on portion sizes... do you know what 30g of almonds looks like? Chances are you seriously underestimate it and end up overeating. After a while, you'll get good at eyeballing how much you should be eating of certain foods... but until then, and until you're sure you're not going to sneak an extra few here and there, then you need to weigh everything! It's a brilliant way to change your mindset about portion control. 

Another thing I do that I find really useful, is planning my meals for the week and writing a shopping list based on that menu. I don't deviate from that list when I shop, which stops impulse buying of foods I shouldn't eat, keeps costs down and stops food waste as a result of buying too much. It really is worth taking 5 minutes before you go shopping to write that list. Having a set menu might seem boring, but it's not like I eat the same dinner all week, I make a conscious effort to vary meats/fish and veg so I'm always eating food I enjoy.... this prevents the appearance of cravings or the dessert stomach... 

If you really want to reach your goals, you need to be determined. If you eat crap because you think you don't have the time to cook real food, then I'll make a couple of suggestions.... Firstly, if you have time to watch an hour of tv a night, then you absolutely have time to cook. If you really find you're time restricted in the evenings, then maybe cut training from 4 sessions to 3 and spend that extra hour cooking meat and fish and preparing salads.... pop them into containers in the fridge, and you're good to go with healthy meals. It's only an hour, and it would be far better spent getting your nutrition in order, than training that's going to be undone with a takeaway.

The arguments I hear all the time when it comes to eating real food are;

1. It's too expensive to buy lots of meat & vegetables
2. I don't have many kitchen utensils/enough fridge space
3. I'm not sure what to cook

I'm going to deal with these arguments in my next post. I'll explain why eating real food is affordable, give you plenty of reasons why processed food is damaging your health, and tell you how you can make the best of the equipment/space you do have and create a varied weekly menu that fits in with your lifestyle and your goals. 

Whole 30 challenge

One of the things that people never seem to believe is that I don't crave chocolate, or bread or pizza... I honestly don't. It turns out that when you fuel your body with real foods, and ensure you're not lacking in nutrients then your body doesn't want sugar or wheat any more.

If you're thinking of cleaning up your diet, I can't recommend Paleo/Primal enough. Take the Whole 30 challenge. Be strict.. challenge yourself to eat only real food (fish, meat, eggs, fruit, vegetables and nuts) for 30 days and you'll be shocked at how healthy you feel. You should expect to see an improvement in your energy levels, mood and sleep patterns... you will most likely lose weight too! 

One of my favourite things about the Whole 30 challenge is that it's not like the 'miracle' diets out there. It doesn't promise you'll drop 20lb in 30 days, or that you'll lose 10% body fat in a week... what it will do is change your tastes, adjust your habits and cravings. 

An argument I come up against all the time is that Paleo/Primal lifestyles are too expensive. My response is always going to be the same...Food is how you fuel your body and maintain your health, how can you put a price on that? As a follow up (not being a judgemental cow here by the way)... how much did you spend on alcohol over the week? You're willing to spend €50 on drinks at the weekend which only serve to damage your health, so why not readjust your priorities and spend that cash on decent food? 

I can't deny it's more expensive to choose real food over processed food on special offer in the supermarket... I guess you've just got to make a choice.. 

Ideally we'd all eat grass fed meat, nitrite free bacon and organic vegetables... but we're all busy, we can't be perfect all the time.. and yes, all that organic food is expensive. Don't give up on eating clean just because you can't be perfect 100% of the time. You can buy meat and vegetables in the supermarket.. it doesn't even have to be Superquinn... ALDI/LIDL are fine. My point is, you don't have to go to a farmers market (let's be honest, they are more expensive).. you can eat good food on a budget. Regardless of where you're buying your meat and vegetables, it's always going to be 100 times better than the alternative frozen ready meal.....