Holidays Can Be Hell for the Waistline!

You have been on a real mission, you have stuck to your weight loss diet for weeks or maybe even months and the day finally arrives when you breeze into the airport with case packed, boarding card in hand and are feeling fairly confident that you are going to hit the beach looking and feeling slim, trim and fit - it’s all good and you can see nothing but fun and sun ahead!

Then… you start to relax and enjoy a few indulgent treats and it all starts to go a bit belly-up and after a great holiday, you end up heading home having gained weight and it’s back to the drawing board! Unfair but irritatingly, all too common. Recent statistics indicate that our somewhat devil-may-care approach to holiday eating and drinking can lead to us piling on anywhere between 4 and 10 pounds - particularly when we head to those spectacularly cost-effective, all-inclusive holiday resorts!

there are traps everywhere!

First there is the breakfast buffet with everything you could possibly desire just sitting there, waiting to be devoured with no cooking or washing up involved, then there are the beach bars groaning with deliciously-refreshing but overly-sugary cocktails and mocktails plus mile-high club sandwiches, super-crisp skinny fries, pizzas just out the oven and ice cream sundaes begging to be bolted down. It’s still only mid-afternoon and already you have possibly consumed as many calories and as much, if not more sugar, salt and starch as you were consuming in a whole day when you were getting your body beach-ready and it’s not looking too good!

did you know?

• 2 of those ‘hot out of the oven’ delectably-moreish pastries from the breakfast buffet will start your day with around a quarter of your recommended daily fat and added sugars allowance and 500-600kcals! Solution: Go for ham and eggs or an omelette or fresh fruit and yoghurt and stay away from the breads, pastries and cereals.
• A frothy cappuccino will add around 120kcals, yet more sugar and yet more fat. Solution: Have a small, rich, dark espresso or a pot of tea (green, black, red, fruit, herb) without milk or sugar - very few calories and no sugar or fat.
• Regular snacking is possibly the most dangerous habit we happily-embrace when on holiday! A bowl of tortilla chips with a creamy dip weighs in at around 350kcals plus a whopping 10g of fat, 2 teaspoons of sugar and a load of salt. Don’t risk it! Solution: Have a generous slice of melon and a couple of handfuls of fresh nuts. 
• A couple of slices of freshly-baked pizza or a burger, bun and fries at lunchtime can up your daily calorie count by another 300 to 500 and heap more added sugar, salt and fat to your day! Solution: Go for a lightly-dressed salad with lots of colourful vegetables and some protein instead. 
• One of those enticing ice cream sundaes with toppings that cool you down mid-afternoon can add a whopping 500kcals, 5 teaspoons of added sugar and 20g of fat. Solution: If you must, have a single scoop of ice cream or frozen yoghurt coming in at around a quarter of the above!
• A steaming bowl of pasta with a meat and tomato sauce and grated cheese topping adds around 350kcals, 3g fat, 4 teaspoons of added sugar and a hefty amount of salt to a day. Solution: Grilled meat or fish with plenty of vegetables or a salad will more than halve that.
• A few fabulous cocktails in the evening can end your day with anywhere between 300 and 400 additional calories and another 3 or 4 teaspoons of added sugar! Solution: Stick to very dry white wine or prosecco, spirits ‘on the rocks’ or with soda, ensure you match every drink with a large glass of water and know you are keeping the calories and sugar under control!

Here’s a comparison of the likely totals of calories, fats, added sugars and salt involved in the above options to consider when making your daily food and drink decisions:

OPTION 1

Breakfast: pastries and a cappuccino
Snack: tortilla chips and a dip
Lunch: burger, bun and fries
Afternoon: ice cream sundae
Dinner: pasta with sauce
Drinks: cocktails
Calories: between 2500 and 2800
Fat: between 80g and 100g (and most of it is likely to be processed and unhealthy) 
Added sugars: between 10 and 15 teaspoons - more than twice the recommended daily limit
Salt: between 8g and 12g (we should aim for 6g maximum per day)

OPTION 2

Breakfast: omelette and black coffee or milk and sugar-free tea
Snack: melon and nuts
Lunch: protein-rich salad
Afternoon: scoop of ice cream
Dinner: grilled meat or fish with vegetables or salad
Drinks: white wine, prosecco or light spirits with soda
Calories: between 2000 and 2200 (body swerve the ice cream and have no more than 2 alcoholic drinks in the evening and you can reduce this to between 1800 and 2000)
Fat: between 50g and 80g (and most of it will be naturally-occurring and healthy)
Added sugars: between 2 and 5 teaspoons - well below the recommended daily limit
Salt: between 3g and 5g (just under the radar!)

and finally...

The calories in versus calories out theory is misleading as the quality of the calories you consume in a day tend to make a more meaningful difference to whether you gain weight or not than the quantity of calories but it may help to keep in mind that in a bid to burn calories in excess of your recommended daily intake for weight maintenance (1800 to 2000 kcals for women and 2300 to 2500 kcals for men), you should plan to walk briskly for at least 50 minutes or jog, swim or cycle strenuously for at least 30 minutes for every 200kcals of daily excess - otherwise, there is a strong chance they will be stored as fat and you will gain weight!

From Giant Omelette to Longest Pizza!

The bigger the better appears to be the order of the day on the food front! Last month I blogged about the humble but oh-so-nutritionally-fabulous egg on the back of the annual celebration in a small french town where chefs join forces to create a 'giant easter omelette' and now it seems to be time for pizza to hit the headlines!

Naples has recently claimed the 'longest pizza' award - have a look at the Telegraph video - that's one mighty big pizza!

I am often asked about whether pizza can feature in a healthy, balanced diet and those who are trying to lose weight, regularly want to know if the odd slice or two of their favourite pizza combo is going to wreck their diet and/or encourage weight gain. Yes and no is the answer. It all depends on the base and the toppings!

Image by Matt Lewis

I happened upon this image a while ago and thought it looked so darned delicious that I decided to have a go at creating something similar. Instead of the 'classic' refined wheat flour pizza base, it involves a chickpea flour flatbread. So... why should that be a big bonus for pizza lovers? Because chickpea flour is higher in protein, higher in fibre, lower in carbohydrate, lower in calories and richer in healthy fats than wheat flour. It is also gluten-free and is bursting with an array of vitamins and minerals. This impressive combination makes it more filling (so we eat less), a splendid route to keeping blood sugar levels balanced (so we don't find ourselves hungry a couple of hours after our pizza fest) and as it is slightly sweeter than wheat flours, satisfies any niggling little sugar cravings.

The quickest and simplest route to making one 9-10 inch chickpea flour pizza base is to whisk together 120g chickpea flour (also known as gram flour and readily available in supermarkets and health shops), 235ml water, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 or 2 peeled, crushed garlic cloves and a good pinch of sea salt. Cover the bowl and leave for around an hour. Meanwhile, prepare your toppings. I roasted thinly-sliced onions, red, yellow and orange peppers (lightly coated in olive oil, salt and pepper) in the oven until cooked through and caramelised around the edges, steamed some kale and spinach until just wilted, crumbled some feta cheese, drained some anchovies and sliced up some pitted black olives. 

When you're good to go, heat a heavy-based, oven-proof frying pan until hot, swirl 1 tablespoon of olive oil around before spreading the batter evenly over the pan surface and cooking over a medium heat for 3 minutes each side (or until the flatbread is cooked through and beginning to get slightly crispy around the edges) then spread a little more olive oil over the surface and get topping (leaves first, then onions and peppers, then anchovies and olives and finally feta). Pop the whole thing into a hot oven and bake for 6-8 minutes or until the cheese is starting to brown and the pizza base is nice and crisp.

You can get super-experimental with your toppings (the more vegetables and the fresher the better) but stick with cheeses with a lower fat content (goats, fresh mozzarella, parmesan, pecorino, Swiss - and be sparing) and if using meat and poultry, lightly cook fresh cuts rather than opting for processed, pre-packed products.

Now that I am firmly on the road to creating healthy pizzas that are not going to compromise my waistline, I intend to try all manner of different base and topping combinations - I'll keep you posted but in the meantime, let me know about any that feature regularly in your pizza world and I will include them in my recipe page - send images if you have them!

My Food Swaps

Over the last couple of weeks I've been focussing on my new series Food Swaps over on my Facebook page but in case you missed it, here it is!

So last month Medical News Today posted an article called 'Does Junk Food Shrink Your Brain?' following a PATH study carried out on adults aged 60-64 by the Australian National University. This tracked their diets and measured the hippocampi (integral to learning, memory and mental health) in the brain. What they found was that sugar, salt and fat can indeed increase your risk of anxiety, depression and dementia so follow me as I show you my recommended Food Swaps to improve your diet and therefore your health now.

Instead of: the burger, the bun, the fries, the ketchups and bbq sauces and all manner of deep fried extras

Go for: 100% meat, poultry or game or a veggie burger wrapped in lettuce leaves with as many vegetables as you can stuff in and a good dollop of salsa, guacamole or hummus

Instead of: sugary, fizzy drinks (diet and zero cal included as they are loaded with unpronounceable and health-disrupting chemicals and do little other than prompt the need for another 'sugar fix')

Go for: fresh fruit and vegetable juices - make your own with whatever is in the fridge/fruit bowl or get down to your local juice bar

Instead of: a latte and a slice of cake (or a pastry)

Go for: 'fat' coffee (also known as 'butter' coffee) and a slice of grapefruit and yoghurt bread.

Instead of: a pizza meal deal (generally involves a can of something fizzy and sugar-laden) 

Go for: a mug of carrot soup and a rye crisp bread topped with grated courgette, mashed, tinned salmon, cottage cheese and diced chilli

Instead of: a doner kebab with all the trimmings

Go for: a big mixed salad with plenty of leaves, tomatoes, cucumber, grated apple, avocado, cooked chicken or turkey, a scattering of fresh nuts and a lemon juice, olive oil and mustard dressing 

Instead of: a BLT

Go for: an open sandwich (top a thick slice of rye bread with guacamole, fresh prawns, toasted pine nuts and sliced baby tomatoes)