(Picture Credit - Weight Shapes dot com)
On
the web there seem to be thousands of sites telling you how to eat healthily
and lose weight. Here’s my personal take on all this, from an average bloke in
the proverbial street.
Since about mid-December 2014 I have completely
stopped eating mini-Battenberg cakes. They are layers of coloured sweet-cake
coated with thick marzipan. As blatantly sugary as you could get (short of
honey maybe).
Processed
Sugar
This should have been my very first step in my bid to
lose and control my weight. My first move towards being healthy. Better late
than never. Now I am completely Avoiding processed sugar except for
emergency energy inputs (stranded on a mountain or something).
When I stopped putting sugar in my tea or coffee in
the 1980s or whenever, I stopped having lots of dental fillings from tooth
decay. By avoiding processed sugar I hope to delay the eventual onset of Type 2
Diabetes. NB that word “Processed”!!!
Way back I stopped eating a certain “healthy” muesli
because it was packed with sugar: you could tell because it was so yummy!
Beware food with added sugar: labels might help: enhanced taste can be a
giveaway.
However, to prevent myself being a “Sugar Nazi” I do
allow myself Battenberg and other sugary treats on Sundays and “Special
Occasions” only. About three years ago I was about 15 stone 5 pounds in UK
weight. Now I’m down to 13 stone 8 pounds and falling. Yet there is more…
Processed
Foods
It isn’t just about sugar. You watch any TV programme
on healthy eating and they will recommend you eat fresh fruit and vegetables,
nuts, maybe wholegrains etc. They always recommend you avoid “processed” food such as sausages, pies,
pastries, cakes, biscuits, even white bread. These products are packed with
sugar, salt, saturated fats (trans-fats!!!) and all sorts of baddies. I avoid
processed foods as much as I can.
One TV Documentary surprised me once: even ham and
bacon are processed. They fill them with salt amongst other baddies. (“E
Numbers” and other “flavour enhancers” are of course bad for you too). I’d not
thought of ham as being “processed”, but seems it is. So if I have meat I go
for lean, unprocessed meat…
Salt
Wow I’ve written nearly 400 words now: this is quite a
topic! So many Do’s and Don’ts. (Or Dos and Don’ts if you prefer). Another
“Don’t” is to Avoid eating too much salt. First thing is not to sprinkle it on
your food for taste enhancement. Salt is often added by food manufacturers and
cooks anyway… It causes high blood pressure etc. I only add salt to my food
just before, during and after table tennis matches and sessions. Salt helps me
avoid cramp during table tennis. I sweat a lot playing this game so… But that’s
the exception.
Oh, and sure, I avoid processed food but can’t do so completely, so yes I guess I remain
vulnerable to “invisible” salt intake.
Fruit,
Vegetables, Salads Nuts and Oily Fish
Time for some Do’s!!! Fruit, vegetables, nuts and fish
(especially Omega 3 rich oily fish) may be eaten to your heart’s content
apparently. Anything with Omega 3 in is great: including nuts, beans etc. These
are healthy foods!!! Nuts might be problematic with allergies etc., but I’ve no
known allergies so…
Frankly I usually go out and buy a cooked lunch each
day. That usually consists of mainly vegetables or salad, with some sort of
lean meat. (Unless I have a chilli or curry of course). I admit that generally
I find fruit rather difficult to get into. Apples and the like tend to
give me indigestion. My favourite fruit is the banana: fattening maybe but as a
dietician once told me: “There are much worse things than a banana!”
By the way I hate salad dressings and other
additives like coleslaw, mustard, chutney and vinegar. Just as well: most of
them are bad for you anyway!!! Yes, I’ve always been a very plain eater: it’s
the way I was brought up. Only in my thirties did I discover the delights of
chilli and curry! (Spicy foods are said to be good for you too).
A
Balanced Diet
“A Balanced Diet”: there’s a nice old cliché. But yes,
I have to agree with that. All the above (and what follows) are rough
guidelines only. A bit of variation, even “naughty” variation is probably good
for you. I avoid any extreme diets. Oh and I can’t be bothered measuring foods and all that palaver.
Sorry. Well, I guess I’m a typical bloke there.
Fried
Foods
Fried foods are another no, no for me. Fried fat is
bad for you. Hydrogenated fat is the worst. But if someone makes me a nice
tasty bacon sandwich I will enjoy it as a change. I also have fried fish, often
with chips, about twice per week. The lady at the Trinity Road Cleethorpes
Chippy fries me fish in flour, so I can avoid too much fatty batter. Everything
in moderation. Will even have the occasional fried “English Breakfast”, but
only for a change.
Bread,
butter and margarine
Well, they say margarine is bad for you, so I avoid
that. Butter is better. Having said that if I buy anything it’s “Flora” – a
“healthier” margarine apparently.
They recommend “Whole Grain Bread” but I’ve never
found any. Wholemeal or brown bread rather than white they say. But I’ve never
liked bread (apart from freshly cooked baguettes or whatever) so I stopped
eating it at home ages ago. No bread: no margarine or butter. Simples.
By the way I’m Single. And I don’t often cook. So I
avoid bread, fried food etc. at home but compromise by going with the flow when
visiting.
Carbohydrates,
including potatoes
Apart from my purchased lunches, I now keep Carbs to a
minimum (except around table tennis sessions). I particularly avoid potatoes as
they are very fattening. For tea I usually have chicken (or, recently) cereal.
I try to pursue a moderate form of the “Atkins Diet”: low on carbs, high on
muscle-repairing protein.
Alcohol
Alcohol I drink in moderation. I monitor my intake
(count the “Units”) and generally keep below the UK Government recommendation
of 21 Units per week. (A Unit equals half a pint of regular beer or lager, or
in my case a single measure of whisky or a small glass of wine). Alcohol is
full of sugar and calories and is a strain on the liver, so I moderate.
Cereals:
Good Versus Bad
I usually have cereals for breakfast. They provide
lots of roughage, protein, vitamins etc. But I Avoid those sugar-laden brands aimed at kids. I prefer such
products as Shredded Wheat, Weetabix, Bran Flakes (including “Fruit and Fibre”)
– all the less processed and low-sugar ones. Muesli is good too, if rather like
birdseed without that added sugar. Shame they seldom make or sell Oat bran flakes any more – they are
good for the heart. Have tried pure bran
but I find it too tough on the old bowels.
Caffeine
I rarely have caffeine. At home I drink water or weak
orange squash. Drank coffee at work. Drink it when visiting. My late Mum made
me lots of tea. Left to my own devices I don’t bother with it. Caffeine is a
stimulant, slightly addictive to some. They say it’s found in sugary fizzy
drinks like Coke, which I rarely drink. It seems to have no nutritional value.
Like bread, not a problem for me to leave alone.
White
Versus Red Meat
The experts seem to say that the best source of
“animal” protein is fish. (Vegetarians have it tough adding protein to their
diets). But the next best source of animal protein is white meat, such as chicken and turkey. (Sorry you chickens)! Pork
is classed as red by the way, along with beef, lamb, ham… Apparently red meat
has more saturated fat and other baddies so I try to have it only as a treat. I
eat lots of chicken and turkey, especially Chicken for tea.
Google
It!
Well I’ve skimmed over lots of areas here. No doubt
later I’ll think of more I could
have covered. There are many websites out there on each of the sections above.
You just have to Google them.
I trust Google will agree that I have written here at
greater length than usual. Hope you find this all useful. There is nothing more
important than your health. Getting good nutrition and controlling your weight are
essentials in the quest for wellbeing. Exercise is good for you too, of course,
but diet comes first. Not a two week faddy diet, but a diet of consistently
healthy eating.
There remains lots of debate around good versus bad
fats, sugars and so forth but you can see those elsewhere. Hope you enjoyed
this introduction to a “healthy diet”. Remember though, I’m not a medical
expert (though I have some medical aptitude) so don’t take any of the above as
“gospel”: always check it out if there are any doubts.
Paul
Butters
