Posts Tagged ‘health’

Beat the snack attack and save your diet

Monday, February 15th, 2010

The start of the New Year has well and truly come and gone, and as we fly towards Easter – sorry to wish your life away – how have your resolutions gone? I’d love to know what they were and how successful you’ve been at sticking to them.

One of the most popular pledges is to lose weight and eat more healthily, yet new research from Total Greek Yoghurt and Mumsnet suggests that we’re not too successful at this.

One of the biggest enemies to successful dieting is craving calorific food, according to the survey. Almost 80% of respondents said the danger zones were mid-morning, mid-afternoon and late evening.

This means that finding out when you’re most vulnerable to a snack attack can be a major factor in helping you stick to your slimming regime. And once you’ve identified your weak point, the new trend for food that keeps you fuller for longer could be your ultimate weapon for dealing with the problem.

The usual snacks that people indulge in so satisfy their cravings will simply leave you wanting more, meaning you’ll probably scoff something else soon after. But Ador’s Swiss chocolate and oatbar ranges only contain 175 calories a bar and include a natural ingredient that fills you up. This calms your cravings and helps you get to your next meal with serial snacking. This makes them perfect for the mid-morning and mid-afternoon danger zones.

To prevent late night cravings, the answer could be Marks & Spencer’s new Simply Fuller Longer range, which features ready meals that are high protein to keep you full right up to when you go to bed.

Share your tricks for sticking to your diet with our readers.

Click here for more on the Mumsnet survey.

Plus keep up to day with the latest women’s issues on the Mumsnet blogs.

Meanwhile, click here to become our Facebook fan and you’ll receive free healthy meal and snack recipes every day.

Why go HCG when you can curb your appetite with great-tasting food?

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Jersey Shore actress Jenni Farley puts her slim figure down to the appetite suppressing effects of a supplement called HCG allowing her to eat just 500 to 1,200 calories day and not feel hungry.

Jenni reportedly says that HCG allows her to survive on just tea or coffee for breakfast, a small piece of chicken, spinach, a breadstick and grapefruit for lunch and a melba toast, tiny bit of crab and a few strawberries for dinner.

If like most people, including us, you think that HCG or not, this little food would drive you to distraction, not to mention the biscuit tin, you are probably up for more realistic ways of staving off hunger pangs.

Ador chocolate contains extracts of pine nut oil, which have a natural ability to switch off your hunger so you can enjoy a delicious but small bar of Swiss chocolate without craving more. Meanwhile, Ador oat bars work by using a clever natural ingredient called Fabuless, which makes you feel full by making your body think it’s eaten more calories than it actually has.

So there’s no need for expensive supplements to curb your appetite. You can do it with great-tasting food.

Tell us what you think about HCG? And what diet plans do you think are most effective?

Click here to read more about Jenni Farley’s diet

Click here for more on HCG

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