What to eat this summer?  Becomes relevant

With the easing of lock-down.  With public spaces opening up.  Foreign holidays back on the agenda. Most people have put on weight during lock-down.  So we are starting to think about What to eat this summer? to look good on the beach or whatever Staycation we choose.

Why is it so hard to get going on eating well this summer?

Because we put labels on losing weight, it becomes difficult to start. You are not going on a diet, for example. Because “a diet” comes with a huge number of negative connotations.

  1. “Will I feel hungry all the time?”.
  2. “Am I going to be eating rabbit food” .
  3. “There is no way I am going to get results quickly so why bother.”

It is a word that has become misused, as you can read more about in this article on the Nutrition Gap.

So no labels, no diet! You just need to get into your mind around THREE big ideas:

  1. Processed food is bad FOR YOU.
  2. Big food companies make poor quality food.
  3. Big drink companies pile in the sugar (alcoholic or not).

Once you accept these BIG IDEAS you need to take ONE SIMPLE STEP.

Reduce or get rid of three foods. These add on the pounds:

SUGAR…BREAD…DAIRY (So no surprises)

If this sounds a bit radical, maybe it is. But if it sounds too radical for you, then you may still be trying to figure out your weight issue this time next year.

Because weight issues arise not because of how much you eat or drink but what kind of food you eat or drink

So you don’t forget, to succeed you need A NEW MINDSET?…IF YOU READ NO FURTHER REMEMBER:

  1. Processed food is bad.
  2. Big food companies make poor quality food.
  3. Big drink companies, whether alcoholic or not, pile on the sugar.
  4. Three staple foods add on the pounds—get rid of these or reduce them:

SUGAR…BREAD…DAIRY

Not as part of a brief “diet” but for good….forever because they are not real food.

HMM…are now thinking “a lot of my diet is bread sugar or dairy?”

If it is a large part of your current diet then your job is pretty simple. Get rid of these foods or reduce your intake and BINGO I guarantee that you will lose weight…I absolutely guarantee it.

How can we be so sure?

Well the only other way to lose weight quickly is to enter an exercise programme that burns the bad fats and sugars. Gets rid of the carbs in wheat and grains and takes care of the dairy (well it might not because dairy isn’t just about weight).

I did this back in 2011.  First entering a triathlon and then I joined a relay team to swim the English channel.  Because of the exercise load I ate for England. Loads of pasta, protein, and other carbohydrate etc and I didn’t put on a pound.

Until I decided I needed an extra rubber tyre around my middle to keep warm in the English channel but that’s another story.

Anyhow, I was 11 1/2-12 stones which was my “fighting” weight normally. And was quite fit and healthy until I got a gut related problem. I decided to clean up my diet by removing SUGAR…BREAD…DAIRY.

Within 2 weeks, a kilo had gone, within four weeks another 2 kilos and within a month 7 kilos had disappeared. From where?  I was really fit and doing 2 training sessions a day. But by getting rid of weight producing food, I lost another stone…unbelievable!

So I can guarantee, that you will lose weight by getting rid of or reducing:

SUGAR…BREAD…DAIRY

But how to start What to eat this summer?

Here is a list of foods to avoid and next to them I have added the foods you can replace them with. Their healthy or clean living counterparts.  Stop eating the middle list and start eating the one on the right-hand side.

Food type Stop eating Start eating
Sugary 1)Tea or coffee with sugar and milk 1)Either black tea or coffee with/without spices such as cinnamon, cardammon, cloves, ginger or with almond, coconut, rice, oat or other non-dairy milk (see Dairy section below).
2)Soft drinks /soda 2)Spring/ carbonated water infused in fresh mint and cucumber and unwaxed lime or lemon(unless you like eating polish).
3)Energy drinks (high caffeine) 3)Green Tea or Matcha Tea (low caffeine but theanine-natural  mind booster). See also sense* for busy lives (product page or longer article).
4)Fruit juice 4)Green juice made from green vegetables and fruits with low GI such as cherries (22) berries (40), strawberries (40) peach (28) and see table below for more.

DO NOT  use apple juice unless fresh apples (GI 38), AND NOT pre-prepared apple juice or apple drinks. These can be pasteurised and therefore important nutrients are lost.
5) Condiments ie particularly sauces and ketchup 5) Use only your own dressings/condiments including olive or coconut oil, apple cider vinegar and mixed spices  like cayenne pepper and herbs.
Bread/wheat 1)White bread 1)Sour dough spelt or rye bread
2)Heavily processed cereals or granola  2) Sugar-free cereals on their own eg oats mixed with nuts, seeds and fruit see Recipe here
3)Cereal based energy bars heavy on sugar/syrups 3) High protein nut energy balls/bars BUT always -low in sugars (less than 10% by weight) see Recipes here
4) Wheat pasta spaghetti 4) Lentil or chickpea pasta or courgetti spaghetti as a much lighter option See Recipe here
5) Cheese crackers (also high in salt and fats)  5) Raw seed crackers or wholegrain rice crackers or organic specialist crackers (but look out for sugars on the label).  There are so many good crackers out there, not just Ryvita!  Rude Health one of my favourites
 Dairy  1) Crème fraiche/double cream  1) Kefir.  So many different varieties. Ok for the lactose intolerant too!
 2)Full fat greek style yogurt  2) Organic or Naturally fermented  yogurt with no sugar
 3)Soft cheese  3) Organic  goat’s or sheep’s cheese (beware of portions over 10g)
 4)Cheddar cheese  4)Parmesan or other aged hard cheese (beware of portions over 10g)
5)Milk

 

  5)Homemade almond or other nut milk or if non-dairy commercial milk such as almond, coconut, rice, oat etc beware added sugar, gums and other additives.  Again Rude Health is a good choice
 6)Yogurt desserts  6) Naturally fermented yogurt with  fresh fruits   berries, papaya or pineapple

By following this you will feel empowered.  By getting rid of everything in the middle column altogether. Or replacing it with something from the right-hand column.

This simple step is going to help. We guarantee it.

IN ADDITION, if you want to go deeper into the MINDSET for losing weight, see the top professional tips from our nutritionist at sense* in the attached Article.

Why? Because Dimitra has two masters degrees in nutrition. As a result she knows what you need to be thinking about when it comes to food. In her latest Article she has her top tips about food, PLUS you can ask Dimitra anything by clicking here.