Fitness Strategies

Lesson 3: Weight and Eat.

Weight and Eat - Food and Fitness 2.

A balanced and sensible diet is more likely to work in the long term than a fast-results or fashionable diet. Here are some tips we have found useful in our quest for eating more sensibly.

Eat about an hour before exercise. This prevents both indigestion and that weak feeling.

Drink plenty of water.

Dehydration

Dehydration is a sneaky condition. It is most common in hot climates, but prolonged exercise can cause it in any climate if you don't drink enough to offset the problem. You may not feel thirsty if you are dehydrated, but you will probably feel dizzy and unwell.

To prevent dehydration, drink enough water before, during and after exercise. If you do become dehydrated, drink water slowly and sit down until you feel better.

Shopping and Cooking

When you go shopping, buy fresh fruit and vegetables in season. They are likely to be cheaper.

Buy wholegrain cereals, pasta, flour etc instead of the refined varieties. They have more fibre.

Buy skim milk and reduced-fat butter or margarine.

Buy small amounts of strong-flavoured cheese rather than large lumps of the bland ones.

Use onions, garlic and ginger to lift the flavour of salads. This reduces the oil and fat you need to add.

Limit the snack foods such as chips, biscuits, sweets and chocolate and cake. These don't cause most people any trouble in moderation, but if you eat them as well as your usual meal you will end up with too many kilojoules/calories and too much fat, salt and sugar.

Something Else Most Books Won't Tell You.

Most diet books and articles suggest substituting carrot sticks and fruit for biscuits, cake, chips and chocolate. This is undoubtedly a good idea, but what they (usually) forget to mention is that the two kinds of foods are not synonymous.

Texture.

Chocolate has a texture unlike any fruit (except maybe bananas) or vegetable stick. It melts in the mouth. The only real alternative is cheese, which is about as high in fat as chocolate and has salt instead of sugar.

Potato straws are crisp and brittle, and soften in the mouth. Carrot sticks are crisp and brittle and do not soften in the mouth.

Filling.

Fruit and vegetable sticks are nowhere near as filling as chips, chocolate, cake etc. This is because they lack fat and are lower in carbohydrate.

Salt/sugar/fat.

Most of us have a mild-to-moderate addiction to sugar, salt or fat or all three. Guess what elements are high in cakes, biscuits, chocolates and chips? Fruit and vegetables contain no fat, no added salt and are mostly low in sugar. To put it simply, the two food groups (chips/chocolate/cake and fruit/vegetables/salad) are poles apart.

All right, now it's out in the open. You cannot substitute carrot sticks and apple slices for your favourite chips and chocolate and expect the same effect. That's like substituting a handful of soybeans for a steak or a cup of herb tea for a cappuccino. What you can do is this.

Make your own chips or potato straws.

Peel and thinly slice potatoes, parsnips and sweet potato. Spray a baking tray with non-stick spray, cover it with slices and then spray again. Bake in a moderate oven until crisp.

Advantages - you significantly lower the fat content, and eliminate or control the salt without losing the texture and taste.

Make your own muffins or rock cakes.

Use existing recipes, but substitute wholemeal flour for the white stuff. Cut the sugar and fat down by half. The result may not stick together so well, but it will taste perfectly all right.

Buy expensive single chocolates instead of blocks of the cheaper stuff. That way you will eat less and appreciate it more.

If you do splurge on a bag of hot chips or a couple of muffins, eat them instead of your meal and not as well as it.

Try to cut down on the sugar in tea or coffee.

Stop smoking and limit your alcohol intake.

Try using vinegar, lemon juice or pepper instead of salt.

Foods that need no added salt but which give you a "salt" kick include tinned fish or fish such as trevally, and dry-fried mushrooms and dry-baked potatoes and parsnips.

Bananas are a fruit that has a texture reminiscent of cake or chocolate.

Beware of "health bars" which are often high in fat and sugar.

Use skim milk in recipes instead of whole milk or cream. It will usually work.

Cut all visible fat off meat and remove the skin from chicken before cooking. Don’t add fat to the pan.

Skim all the fat from stock before you make soup.

Don't add oil to stir fries.

Steam vegetables or dry bake them.

These changes are relatively easy to make, and the result is a better diet with less fat, sugar and salt, more fresh vegetables and fruit and more water. It is easy to maintain, and won't cost any more time, money or effort than the ordinary diet.

Love takeaways or dip-in-the-bag snacks? A bunch of grapes or a bag of almonds or pecans or salad sandwich can work very well.

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