Finally, we're getting a wee bit of sunshine (hurrah) and for lots of us, the lovely weather is a reminder that there's only a few months till bikini/Speedos time.
Although summer is still a few months away, now is actually a good time to start thinking about losing weight as slimming down gradually is what you should be aiming for. There's nothing worse for your body than losing weight quickly or yo-yo dieting.
The guideline daily amount (GDA) of calories for a woman is 2000 kcal and for a man is 2500 kcals. So if you want to lose weight and your BMI is over 25, then you should try and reduce the calories you eat to 1500 kcals per day (for a woman) and do some sort of physical activity at the same time.
This should result in a weight loss of about 2lbs a week which is a safe and steady weight loss (and means you're more likely to keep the weight off once you've lost it).
Science has also shown that when we lose weight, something known as our basal metabolic rate (BMR) falls too. BMR is the amount of calories we need to go about our day-to-day business and the amount of lean tissue (i.e muscle) we have is related to our BMR.
When you lose weight, most of it is fat but there is also a loss of lean tissue too which is why our BMR falls.
If you lose weight too quickly, you will lose more lean tissue than you should. Consquently,the amount of energy you need to maintain weight will fall and that's how the cycle of yo-yo dieting starts. So when it comes to losing weight, slow and steady always wins the race.
Now, I get asked a lot of questions about the calories in smoothies. Since our smoothies are made from at least 2 portions of fruit, they have the same amount of calories in them as 2 portions of fruit do. These calories come from the naturally occurring sugars found in the fruit. The average amount of calories in a smoothie is 146 kcals (which is only 7% of the amount of calories you should have in a day). Smoothies also give you lots of amazing nutritional treats like 16% of GDA for fibre, vitamin C, lots of anti-oxidants and a whole host of phytonutrients.
When you're trying to lose weight, it's really important that you get all the nutrients you need. Fruit and vegetables by their very nature are full of nutrients and because they contain water, the amount calories are lower than other foods. Smoothies are made from 100% fruit, so are a brilliant way to stay healthy whilst you slim.
As ever, do drop me a line if you have any questions.
Bye for now
Dr. Shilps
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