My Diet for Health and Weight Control (and Loss!)

(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