Looking at patterns

You have now accurately completed your food diary for the past 7 days.  It is now time to take a look  and see if you have some common patterns.

There is a common myth that missing breakfast will help you lose weight.  People who miss breakfast often over compensate and eat more at mid-morning and lunch. Breakfast should consist of some wholemeal carbohydrates and a little protein. Cereal, low fat yoghurt and a fruit juice would be ideal.  If time allows, what about scrambled eggs on wholemeal toast? Eating a healthy breakfast will kick start your metabolism and calorie burning potential.

How long do you go between meals? Going more than 5 hours without eating causes a drop in insulin and glucose levels.  We get sluggish and often reach for something sweet to give us a boost. This causes a rapid spike in insulin and glucose levels which will drive any excess calories into the fat cells - not a good idea! A sensible approach will be to include a healthy snack between meals so that you are eating every 3 hours or so. This will provide you with more energy and avoid the temptation for chocolate or biscuits.  Also, every time you eat, your metabolic rate is increases by around 10% for the next couple of hours - more calorie burning potential.

We will end with another common myth.  Eating late at night means that the weight goes straight to your hips, or other areas. You burn calories throughout the day, even while sleeping.  Increase in weight occurs when you consume more calories than you expend.  It does not matter when these calories are consumed!  Eating late at night may keep you awake with indigestion, but that's about it.

Next time we will look at some simple tips and changes to aid weight loss.