Bare All with Confidence - smart snacking

best ever snacks for fat loss!

If snack attacks are your elephant in the room and you find you can’t get through the morning, the afternoon or that very dangerous early-evening-before-dinner slot without a snack, here are a few humdingers that curb sugar cravings, balance blood sugar levels in record time and encourage a bit of fat burning!

I know it has been said before - repeatedly by me and others - but fat really is your friend for fat loss, particularly when it comes to snacks. Why? Because healthy fats fill you up fast and you don’t need much to take the edge off an all-consuming bout of hunger or beat a sugar craving - and if you are trying to lose weight, this is crucial!

try some of these...

Nut butters (particularly almond and cashew) and seed butters (particularly pumpkin seed and sesame seed - tahini) are the serial snacker's saviour. The added bonus here is that nut and seed butters have a rather lovely habit of sticking to your teeth for a while so the snack lasts much longer than you might imagine! Slather them onto a couple of mini oatcakes or rye crackers or dip celery sticks or sliced apple into the jar.

Hummus is hard to beat when you need a snack, again because of its richness in health-enhancing and filling fats and is great with a bunch of crunchy raw vegetable sticks - but ring the changes from time to time and use it to top some chunky cucumber, tomato and/or raw courgette slices, sprinkle some smoked paprika powder over the lot and you have some rather sophisticated-looking and tasty canapés! Another great snack involving chickpeas is 2 or 3 falafel balls dipped into natural yoghurt - tasty, herby, filling and fast.

Breads made with vegetables and fruits also make a great, filling and largely-devoid-of-sugar snack (the vegetables and fruits provide most of the sweetness). I worked on my Apple, Carrot and Courgette Bread for some time before I was happy with the result but I have to say that a couple of slices (toasted in particular) with a cup of tea or milky coffee make for a really filling and splendidly-nourishing snack mid morning or mid afternoon.  

Avocados are bursting with fats but not fattening! One fairly extensive survey found that "eating half a medium-sized avocado on a daily basis was highly correlated with improved overall diet quality and a 50 percent reduced risk of metabolic syndrome…not only did the avocado eaters report a lower body mass index and smaller waist circumference, they also consumed significantly more fruits and vegetables, and fiber and vitamin K - nutrients associated with weight loss". Avocado, egg and prawns make particularly good bedfellows so for a super-quick and super-nourishing snack, fill one stoned half of this magic fruit with a mix of chopped boiled egg, fresh prawns, natural yoghurt and give the whole lot a good few grindings of black pepper or just throw a few leaves into a small bowl, top with teaspoon scoops of avocado flesh, a dash of lemon juice and a decent glug of avocado oil, season well and devour.

Mackerel, river or lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and wild alaskan salmon top the charts for their richness in Omega 3 fatty acids. These fats are now legend for their health-enhancing and disease-defying properties - but - if you don’t like oily fish, flaxseeds or walnuts, I would strongly recommend you take a daily supplement providing 1000mg. However, if you do like oily fish, the ready-cooked varieties of these swimmers make for a splendidly-satisfying and flavoursome snack, particularly when mashed onto a rye crisp bread and topped with a few crunchy, toasted walnuts. Try some of my other Crisp Bread Toppings - all are nutritionally great and seriously take the edge off hunger.

Fruit, cheese and nuts are possibly the quickest snack you can throw together. Sheep’s milk is generally richer than cow's in medium chain fatty acids (MCTs) which can benefit weight control by promoting fullness (so a little goes a long way), breaking down fat deposits, increasing energy expenditure and being more easily metabolised so head for varieties such as manchego, ossau-iraty and pecorino and either shave them, cube them or graze on a decent-sized chunk along with a juicy, fresh piece of fruit and a handful of toasted nuts.

View all my Bare All This Summer Top Tips here.

Bare All with Confidence - healthy nails

Eat Avocado for Great Nails

In addition to being crazy-rich in heart, nerve and brain-friendly fats, avocados are an excellent source of biotin, one of the B vitamins which is really important for both attaining and maintaining healthy nails.

Studies indicate that this was first discovered when biotin was given to horses to repair brittle and cracked hooves and showed excellent results (supplemental biotin was used in this case as I don’t think horses are too keen on avocados!)

Aim to have half an avocado per day and fill it with crab meat, tuna or cottage cheese, add it to salads, mash it on rye crisp breads, add it to smoothies, make guacamole - the options are endless!

OR… and I have tried this… get yourself a bottle of extra virgin avocado oil and as well as cooking with it and using it for salad dressings, soak your nails (toenails as well if you have time) in a bowl of the oil, lightly warmed through, for 5-10 minutes once a week. Result? Super soft and healthy cuticles and great-looking, strong nails!

View all my Bare All This Summer Top Tips here.

Bare All with Confidence - healthy skin

Image Simple Sense Now

Big improvement in the weather in the UK (at last!) - not sure how it’s going for the rest of you who live in various different corners of the globe - but i hope the sun has got its hat on! So… as we start to peel off the layers of woolies and put the heavy coats and boots to the back of the wardrobe for a while, it’s time to start thinking about doing everything we can to look and feel good in the light, floaty and perhaps even micro-mini garments that we love to wear when the sun finally comes out and stays out!

Over the next few weeks, I will be offering a host of summer tips and tricks that should help achieve the body beautiful without too much hassle involved!

I will be covering weight loss, skin, hair and nail health, a few outdoor exercise recommendations with other cracking little tips and tricks along the way so stay tuned! Here's one to get you started...

top tip: get the skin brush out

Lightly brushing the skin with a dry brush or loofah stimulates the circulation, removes dead skin cells and promotes elimination. Start brushing at your feet and brush towards the heart, then brush from the fingertips up to the shoulders and toward the heart (don’t forget the soles of your feet and the palms of your hands). Use small strokes and a gentle pressure - you’re not brushing the dog! Avoid the face and neck area and any damaged or bruised skin. Jump into the shower and have a good rinse to get rid of the dead skin cells before soaping. If you are brave enough, you can turn the shower to cold (but not freezing) for a few minutes before you dry off to encourage your body to launch into a bit more fat burning to keep warm. NB: if you have an ongoing health condition or are on medication, check with your doctor before considering this rude awakening!

Another great tip is to have a mug of Hot Lemon and Ginger after your skin brushing and showering to calm the digestive system and further the elimination of toxins. Add grated, fresh ginger, lemon juice and a pinch of sea salt to boiling water, leave to cool a little then add a spoonful of Manuka honey and sip.

View all my Bare All This Summer Top Tips here.

Liquid Indulgence

Why your morning cup of coffee, your afternoon cup of tea and your evening alcoholic pick me up can offer a hefty health boost!

Research continues to uncover the power of phytonutrients (plant chemicals) in not only helping to protect us from disease but also in boosting our defences. Coffee, tea and alcohol, once deemed our evil indulgences are right up there alongside broccoli and berries - as long as we choose carefully! Here’s a rundown on the best of the best, what makes them great and how and when to fit them into a health-enhancing diet and reap the benefits. As our great grannies were wont to say “a little of what you fancy does you good” and who would have thought that after so many years of being told to swap our morning cuppa for a fruit smoothie and our stress-relieving glass of wine in the evening for a large glass of sparkling water we may have been doing ourselves more good than harm before we got caught up in the possible frenzy of abstinence! 

• COFFEE - make it dark, make it rich, make it Fairtrade, make it freshly-ground, buy the best you can afford and make the addition of milk and/or sugar an occasional treat. The less-processed the coffee, the more antioxidant-rich and protective plant chemicals you get and the smaller the cup, the greater the punch. If your usual coffee habit is a milky, frothy, sugary concoction, start the process by adopting the Italian habit of having a small, dark, single espresso with a large glass of water on the side early doors and to benefit from the now-well-documented fat-busting properties of top-quality coffee beans, wait at least 30 minutes before having your first meal of the day
• TEA - make it black, green, white or red, buy loose leaves and infuse your own tea whenever possible or spend a little extra to make sure your tea bags are either organically-grown or sympathetically-processed. If milk is required, add a splash of full-fat from pasture-raised cows (makes a way better cup of tea and adds nourishment to your cuppa) and if a dash of sweetness is required, stir in a little Manuka honey

• ALCOHOL - red wines (particularly the Pinot Noir, Merlot, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon varieties) get the vote for their richness in the protective plant chemical, resveratrol but the white, rosé and fizzy varieties don't do a too-shabby job either as long as you keep it dry - the drier the wine, the more antioxidant-rich it is and the less health-disrupting sugar is involved. Discerningly-produced beers also offer respectable amounts of protective plant chemicals and are increasingly being flagged up for their possible health benefits as do spirits but sadly, many prefer to enjoy their spirits with all manner of super-sugary, fizzy extras which do little other than upset blood sugar levels, prompt the need for another 'hit' and add inches to waistlines. On the rocks or with soda is the way to go with spirits if you are looking for possible health benefits and most important of all - make sure you adopt a responsible stance where alcohol is concerned and stay within the recommended daily levels.