Ive just watched this program after SammyE kindly posted a link to it on another thread.
BBC - BBC One Programmes - 10 Things You Need to Know About Losing Weight
The program is absolutely a must for anyone trying to lose weight, so if you havnt seen it already you have until next Weds to watch it on BBC iplayer.
I really want to put my thoughts down about this, and the 10 points are as follows.
1. Dont skip meals
This I think is crucial to succesfully losing weight, particularly when it comes to breakfast. Ive held the belief over the past 6 months that a protein rich breakfast is key to dealing with cravings during the day, and this was proved by point 5.
2. Use smaller plates
Yep, this is a good tip and has stood me in good stead.
3. Count calories
I discovered early on that carbs where the downfall, but not to the extent of ignoring calories consumed (as in Atkins for instance). This is why i have a distrust of the WW diet. I just dont believe that fruit and veg, while it is undoubtably good for you, should not be counted in your days food totals. The class leader encouraged us all to keep a bowl of fruit in the kitchen or on your desk at work to pick at during the day. I just dont buy into this train of thought, and I have to believe in something to give it my all.
4. Dont blame your metabolism.
The real message in this was that we eat more than we think we do, even if you record everything you eat. The lady who took part in this part of the program believed she was eating less than 1500 cals a day but was in fact eating 3000 cals a day.
5. Protein staves off hunger
Absolutely and without doubt this and point 8 for calcium were best parts of the program, (apart from the excercise bit which my brain is busily trying to forget). The trick they missed with this part is showing how carbs have the opposite effect and actually set up cravings. From what ive learned over the past year is that a breakfast of cereal and toast is possibly the worst thing you could start your day with, especially if you also have juice with it, or jam on your toast, or both. If anything is going to get the hunger pangs and cravings going before lunch this will.
6. Soup keeps you fuller for longer
Ive heard this before, and I am a fan of soup anyway, and come to that Exante, which is a kind of soup mix. But this was still really surprising. A group of soldiers are given exactly the same food, one part of the group has the food as a cooked meal (chicken breast veg and rice) and a glass of water. The other part of the group have exactly the same, but this time the food is blended with the glass of water to make a thick soup. Over the next 4 hours, their stomachs are analysed with ultrasound and the ones that had soup, had much fuller stomachs for much longer. Amazing.
7. The wider the choice the more you eat.
This actually made me feel quite happy as I have a great tendency to eat the same things day in day out, which goes against belief that variety is key. Ive always been happy whilst losing weight to eat the same things. I do eventually get sick of things, so i just move onto something else that I eat over and over. At the moment my favourite thing is Jamie Olivers Chorizo and chickpea soup ( scores well for this program as its high in protein, soup, and I know the calories for it).
8. Low fat dairy helps you lose more fat
Actually this was the biggest surprise for me, although I do take issue with 'low fat dairy' The program did not actually specify low fat dairy in the experiment itself. The point they are making though is that calcium from dairy combines with fat which makes a soapy substance that passes through the gut and does not get absorbed. A kind of 'do it yourself' Xenical. Which I guess is why Atkins dieters can stuff themselves with cheese and lose weight. I think what the program was saying is that if you include a low fat calcium rich dairy food with your food, the fat in the rest of the food combines with the calcium from teh dairy food. But I still take issue with the fact that the actual experiment did not specify low fat dairy, and the guy seemed to be eating full fat dairy from his own farm. Maybe i need to watch this section again.
9. Excercise goes on burning fat for 22 hours.
In this experiment, the presenter did 90 minutes on a treadmill at 4mph on an incline of 5%. During that 90 minutes he burned 19g of fat, and he wasnt too impressed. But the surprise was the next day when he laid on a bed doing nothing for 90 minutes and burned 49g fat. This is because the 90 minutes of walking used up his carbohydrate store, the afterburn effect of the excercise carries on for another 20 odd hours and the body then starts to burn fat as the carb store has gone. Interesting, and its enough to make me really consider taking up regular excercise.
10 Keep moving and lose more weight
In this part a DJ was monitored for a day, she was pretty much sedentary with a lot of sitting down (sounds a lot like me). Then the next day she was to do the same routine but this time move herself more, and she burned over 200 extra calories doing it.
I would really be interested in anyone elses take on this program. I found it very thought provoking and will definately make some changes to my diet and lifestyle after watching it.
