Posts Tagged ‘food’

Newer Entries »

Tone down the Feb 14 food frenzy

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Valentines Day seems to be all about food!

There’s always a rush to book into your favourite restaurant. However, when you get there you find that not only have the prices been hiked especially for Valentines Day, but also that there are two sittings and you either have to down your meal quickly and get out or eat late. Neither of which is very romantic, as all you really want to do is have a relaxing evening with the one you love. What’s more, often there’s a restrictive set menu, so you lose out on a number of fronts.

Then there’s chocolate. Every brand on earth seems to have come up with something special to give your Valentine – and once again the prices tend to be ‘special’ too. From organic Green & Blacks to Cadbury’s (or should we say Kraft’s), they are all at it.

The problem is that this is the time when many people have started the year with the good intentions of getting fitter and healthier. And this sudden focus on food could seriously derail all your hard work. So here are some tips to take the calories and the expense out of Valentines Day, so you can actually enjoy it in the way you were meant to.

As far as the restaurant rip off goes, if you are keen to eat out to celebrate your love for each other, go on another day – say 13 or 15 February. You’ll find it’s quieter, you have a greater menu choice and the price is right. Then have a romantic dinner in on Valentines Day itself. Also, if you are keen to control your weight, don’t let that keep you indoors. Simply go for healthier menu options and smaller portion sizes. Click here for more tips on eating out healthily.

As for gifts, try to steer your partner away from getting you chocolates. Why? Because they are packed with calories. Scoff a 250g box of Guylian Belgian Seashells, and you’re looking at 1,365 calories! Or the wonderful Hotel Chocolat Love Selection Box (see what they’ve done there) contains 30 chocs and 1,500 calories. Meanwhile, a Cadbury’s Milk Tray 400g box packs in nearly 2,000 calories – eek!

There are plenty more calorie-free presents around that are just as satisfying and won’t pile on the pounds. Rather than eating chocolates, you could be beautifying yourself with the Organic Pharmacy Party Girl gift box, for £65. Or enjoying a three-part massage that you’ve created yourself at the Tripletz website.

Plus you can still enjoy delicious Swiss chocolate on Valentines day guilt-free by getting your partner to slip in an Ador 30g, 175 calorie bar, which also includes natural pine nut oil to keep you fuller for longer.

Click here for more calorie-free Valentine gift ideas…

Click here For for Valentine gift ideas for men

Click here for some great value options

THE VALENTINES DAY CALORIE MASSACRE

Counting the calories of the big sellers…

Hotel Chocolat Love Selection Box
30 chocolates 1,500 calories

Green & Black’s Organic Luxury Assortment
200g 970 calories

Cadbury’s Roses Box
220g 660 calories

Milk Tray Chocolate Box
400g 1,940 calories

Nestle Dairy Box
100g 543 calories

Thornton’s Moments
250g 1,018 calories

Guylian Belgian Seashells
250g 1,365 calories

Black Magic Box
188g 863 calories

Cadbury’s Koko Truffles
200g 1,160 calories

Celebration’s Box
420g 2,184 calories

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorised | 2 Comments »

Eat yourself happy

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

Few, that’s better! If you’re worried about the economy, or how expensive everything’s getting, or perhaps your kids are stir crazy because the weather’s too rubbish for them to go out much, then be thankful in the knowledge that you’ve just got through what was officially the unhappiest week of the year.

Kicking off with Blue Monday, 22 January (how dare they name the most depressing day of the year after a classic New Order track!), last week was when people’s New Year resolutions tumbled like trees in a hurricane. The combination of cold weather, grey skies, post New Year abstinence and a flurry of pesky credit card bills has everyone running for the duvet with a plate of their favourite comfort food.

In fact, a Cardiff University psychologist has actually devised a formula that shows 22 January as the most depressing day in the calendar. The man himself, Dr Cliff Arnall, has come up with an equation that takes into account six factors: weather, debt, time since Christmas, time since failing our New Year’s resolutions, low motivational levels and the feeling of a need to take action.

And taking action is certainly what you need to do to pull yourself out of the doldrums. The trouble is, that plate of comfort food probably won’t help. However, the good news is that you can eat yourself happier – and healthier. So pump up your iron levels with protein, breakfast on slow-release carbohydrates, fill yourself with folic acid, open up to omega 3 and boost your mood with berries. Do this and it could be the start of a wonderful friendship with the food that really matters, and your route to a healthier lifestyle.

Check out our feature Lift Your Mood With Food for more details…

Share your seasonal blues experiences at Seasonal Affective Disorder Support’s Journal

Plus click here for more tips on relieving seasonal affective disorder

And finally, click here for Sleep Strategies for Seasonal Affective Disorder Sufferers

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Uncategorised | 1 Comment »

Don’t get caught in the portion trap

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

It only takes a few hundred extra calories eaten here and there over a typical day to gradually build up and trigger a gain in weight. For example, if you are a normal weight right now, just having a couple of hundred extra calories each day could, this time next year, see you being a stone and four pounds heavier by the New Year.

Very often these extra calories come from us unwittingly eating larger portions and servings of everyday foods than we used to. Take for instance the size of an average scone. Back in the 1980’s, it would have weighed around 50g and have provide 157 calories. Now the average size of a scone from a supermarket is around 70g and if you go into a typical high street coffee shop, they can tip the scales at 190g with a whacking 600 calories.

Or think about chocolate. When we were growing up, a 50g bar was the absolute norm. Now 100g bars sit right next to them on shelves and don’t look unusual. It just looks like another bar of chocolate.

And here is the problem. We eat in portions. How many people do you know who, on picking up a now fairly standard 50g packet of crisps say: “Crisps used to come in 25g bags, so I’ll just eat half,” or “I’ll break this big bar of chocolate in half and have the rest later.” It just doesn’t really happen.

The consequence is that we end up unwittingly eating more than we think and more than we used to. Portions have, quite simply, become distorted over the last few decades and this distortion is taking its toll on our waistbands.

But it isn’t just that portions are getting bigger. Most of us wouldn’t know what the ‘30g’ size serving of breakfast cereal recommended on the box actually looks like, let alone, an average sized slice of bread or steak.

Here at Ador, we take portion size seriously. This is why our chocolate comes in 35g bars. Along with the pine nut extract it contains, which helps to keep you feeling full, 35g is quite enough – and with 179 calories, it won’t ruin your diet.

Same goes for our oat bars. They are 50g in weight. No one really needs a 100g flapjack, which you see for sale in train stations and newsagents. With 500 calories plus, they are a waste of your daily calorie intake. Our 50g bar contains Fabuless, an oat and palm oil extract, which, again, helps to keep you feeling full for just 168 calories. It is enough, believe us.

In fact, don’t believe us, give it a try for yourself and then tell us what you think.

The blog at http://tinyurl.com/yku5eyr has a useful guide to portion control that you may find helpful.

Meanwhile, the Food Standards Agency is proposing to encourage food manufacturers to offer smaller portions of their products to help people eat more healthily – http://tinyurl.com/yjeox9v

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Uncategorised | No Comments »

Newer Entries »