Saturday, September 08, 2012

Trying to eat healthier - losing weight

So here's the thing.  I'm now weighing just over 9 stone.  I've never weighed that much in my life.  And I don't like it.  Not least because I can't fit into some of my clothes.

NHS advice (because I won't touch any generic "lose weight by living on water" rubbish), suggests the following:

Breakfast

  • Swap from whole milk to semi-skimmed, 1% fat or even skimmed milk. - I drink only skimmed milk
  • Swap a sugar-coated breakfast cereal for a wholegrain breakfast cereal such as porridge or shredded wholegrain wheat cereal, with no added sugar. - um, I guess honey-nut cornflakes aren't the best right?
  • Swap a sprinkle of sugar on your breakfast cereal for a topping of fresh or dried fruit, which counts towards one of your five a day. - I don't sprinkle anything on my cereal, sugar or otherwise
  • Swap full-fat Greek yoghurt for fat-free Greek-style yoghurt or natural low-fat yoghurt. - yoghurt.  Yuk.  Tried to like it several years ago.  Realised it's vile stuff.  Full fat or not.

Lunch

  • Swap white breads, bagels and muffins for wholegrain varieties. - most bread products we eat are wholegrain, granary etc
  • Swap butter and cheese in your jacket potato for reduced fat spread and reduced salt and sugar baked beans. - I hardly ever eat a jacket potato
  • Swap a tuna melt panini for a tuna salad sandwich on wholemeal bread, without mayo. - don't like tuna paninis
  • Swap a cheddar cheese filling in your sandwich for reduced-fat hard cheese. - sorry, I do like Cheddar, and Double Gloucester. Though I don't eat as much cheese as Neil.  And I don't do Stilton.

Dinner

  • Swap creamy or cheesy sauces for tomato- or vegetable-based sauces on your pasta, meat or fish dishes. - hardly ever have cream sauces.  Mostly tomato and veg anyway
  • Swap mashed potato made with butter and whole milk for mash with low-fat spread and a lower-fat milk such as semi-skimmed, 1% fat or skimmed. - Don't do mash potatoes much.  If I do, it's marg and our milk.  Skimmed.
  • Choose leaner cuts of meat, for example, swap streaky bacon for back bacon. - if we have bacon it is always back bacon,
  • Swap the frying pan for the grill when cooking meat. - hardly ever cook meat.  If I do, it's grilled. Never fried.

Drinks

  • Swap your usual coffee made with whole milk to a ’skinny’ coffee made with skimmed milk. - skinny coffee.  Fine by me.  Hardly drink coffee anyway.
  • Swap your cordial for a cordial with no added sugars. - only drink fruit juices if I do
  • Swap a few of your sugary drinks for a glass of water. - try to drink water but I'm a camel when it comes to drinking!
  • Swap hot chocolate made with whole milk and served with whipped cream for a hot chocolate made with skimmed milk and no cream. - never drink hot chocolate.

Snacks

  • Swap a blueberry muffin for a currant bun on its own or with some reduced fat spread. - don't eat muffins more than once a year if that.
  • Swap yoghurt-coated raisins for plain raisins. - would sooner eat sultanas.  Definitely no yoghurt covering!
  • Swap salted nuts for unsalted nuts. - no nuts
  • Swap cheese straws for rice cakes with lower-fat cream cheese - cheese straws?!  Are you kidding me?! Yuk!
So what is it that we're doing 'wrong'?  I know what it is.  I just plain old eat TOO MUCH.  I have hollow legs and slow signals.  I take ages before I know I'm hungry (hence the "I get cranky when I'm hungry" jokes) and take ages before I know I am full.

I guess I just need to cut down.  Huh.  Dieting eh?  Let's face it, every time it ALL boils down to that.

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