Protein, protein, protein!
Recently I’ve noticed that I’ve put on a few pounds, nothing major, but clothes that are usually comfortable have become less so! Like many people, over the summer holidays I relaxed my eating (and drinking) – a couple of biscuits here; a chocolate bar there; the odd glass of wine mid-week. Doesn’t sound too bad but it all adds up – to a larger size jeans if I’m not careful! Time to tighten my belt – literally!
Now, I’m not someone who routinely weighs food portions or tracks calories – who has time for that? But every now and then it’s a great way to check on what you are consuming day to day and pick up on any bad eating habits you may have slipped into. For the past week I have tracked every mouthful (I use myfitnesspal.com which is really easy as so many foods are already listed in their database) and it’s been a real eye opener into just how many calories those seemingly negligible treats can add to your daily intake. A glass of wine equates to around 130 calories, 2 chocolate digestives is 170 calories, an individual cadbury’s dairy milk bar (that’s just 36 g) comes in at 191 calories (a family bar is 200g and equates to 1060 calories – not that you’d eat an entire bar obviously … ) An individual bag (28g) bag of doritos is 140 calories (step away from the family bag at just over 1000 calories!). Looking at these figures it’s not difficult to work out that just one ‘treat’ a day over 6-8 weeks of relaxed summer eating adds up to around 7000-9000 calories. That’s enough to add around 2 1/2 pounds in weight – unless you’re compensating with significantly more activity than usual.
Good nutrition and clean eating aren’t exactly rocket science – but tracking my food this week has been a useful reminder to me about how easy it is to slip into bad habits. I’m not going to give up my treats completely, life would be way too dull without the odd bar of chocolate and glass of wine, but it’s made me more mindful of just what I am eating day to day and reminded me that treats should be enjoyed once in a while, not every day! And, of course, they don’t always have to be food based – hmmm, new skinny jeans or maybe some new trainers?!
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