My 6 slimming secrets

1- I always work out

The only reason I wouldn’t work out regularly is if my doctor orders me not to. Even though I have long working hours, I have set specific times for working out on weekdays, and I try to find some time for one workout session on weekends (that one doesn’t always pan out!). However, I only do the types of sports that I enjoy, which in turn, keeps me motivated. Since I only engage in types of sports that I love, it always feels like I’m doing something fun, like hanging out with friends, or shopping.

2- I have vegetables with every meal

I have vegetables with every meal; whether it is cucumbers and greens in my morning sandwich, or a big salad bowl or cooked vegetables at lunch or dinner. Apart from being a good source of vitamins and minerals, it helps me feel full quickly. This way, I eat smaller portions of the rest of my meal, and tend to consume fewer calories than I would have without my salad.

3- I only eat foods I like

I only eat foods that I like, but in small quantities and in a healthier form. For example, I am big pasta lover; I have it several times per week. My personal secret is that first I start my meal with a big bowl of salad that fills me up, and I opt for a healthy sauce. If I am cooking at home, I use light cream and light cheese alongside some Parmesan for my creamy sauces, or go for a light tomato sauce. If I am out, I try to share my plate with someone, or if I really indulged in a big heavy plate of pasta, I would eat lighter for the coming couple of days. Having my favorite meals more often helps me not get frustrated, and rids me the inverse reaction of overeating whenever someone goes on a diet.

4- I plan my meals around my social events

As a newlywed couple, we are frequently invited out for dinner, be it at somebody’s house, or at some restaurant. Therefore, whenever I know our schedule ahead of time, I do my best to eat lighter on all the other meals throughout the week. This way, I don’t have to worry about eating a bit more than planned on social events.

5- I pick my drinks wisely

When it comes to alcohol, it is always extra empty calories, and the more elaborate the drink, the more calories you end up taking in. I tend keep it simple, such as wine or beer, and would only have heavy cocktails when my husband is preparing something at home for our guests. I also keep the number of drinks down to an acceptable level, and hydrate with sparkling water in between drinks. 

6- I take action fast

Last but not least, I keep track of my weight. After my honeymoon, I gained 2kg, which some would say is not much, but, if not accounted for, those 2kg could turn into 4 before Christmas, and to 6kg by new year’s eve. Keeping track of your weight helps you detect the weight gain patterns early on.

Pre Christmas intervention!

In a month, it’s Christmas time! The holiday season is always full of love, gifts, and food! Since we got a month ahead of us, let’s get started with our pre Christmas intervention!

Rule#1: aim at losing a kilo or two

If you are not at your ideal weight, kick start the holiday season by losing one or two kilos. Usually, most people gain around one or two kilos at best during the holidays, and end up even more frustrated with their weight afterwards. That way, you will avoid the second of January scale shock. Instead of adding to your 2015 resolution “lose weight urgently!” you could start the year with “keep up the good work weight wise”. Such positive thoughts are always a good way to start the New Year!

Rule#2: traffic is no excuse

If you feel like you will miss out on your gym schedule due to traffic, be proactive, and start a home workout plan. You could finally make use of the treadmill you bought last year, or get sports DVDs to use after work. Or even you could just ask your coach to come at home, or teach you some moves that you can do on your own. Nowadays, let’s face it, so many options are offered for us to work out from home. So no excuse!

Rule#3: soups and salads

By the 20^th of December you will be constantly fully loaded with meaty fatty foods, such a turkey, gravy, foie gras, buche… you name it! So why not lighten up your meals this month? For example, make sure that on most days, the bulk of your meals are based on cooked vegetables, or salads, or veggie soups (of course without stock cubes, or butter or cream). For example, you could have for lunch loubieh bi zeit with brown bread, and a cup of low fat yogurt, and then at night a carrot and tomato soup with a quinoa and halloum salad. Next day, you could eat grilled fish with spinach and steamed potatoes, and for dinner boiled zucchini and green beans salad with a bit of labneh and rice cakes. Bottom line: lighten up your meals and curb your appetite with vegetables and fibers.

Rule#4: shop smart

By shopping smart I mean, take advantage of the mall to burn more calories. If the mall is next to your house, go walking. If not, don’t park at the closest spot to the elevator. While shopping, try to walk as much as possible, use the stairs, check out each floor decoration, and basically keep moving. And please no ice cream or coffee shop stops, unless you will stick to tea or black coffee.

 Enjoy!

The Hang Over Cure!

Saturday night is long gone, and Sunday morning has a flavor of headache over an alcohol breath. Who hasn't felt this end of weekend "disease", that general sense of exhaustion, coupled with the Sunday blues? Well, today, I shall fight the hang over. No weekend will have to end in bed feeling like trash anymore!

1- Drink plenty of water

Ideally, you should start drinking a glass of water for every alcoholic drink throughout the night. However, whether you skipped that part or not, it would be pretty smart to drink plenty of water once you get back home, and when you wake up the next morning. Why? Well, from scientific point of view, the post-drinking headache is due to severe dehydration caused by alcohol. To correct this dehydration, you need to drink water, so always remember to keep a bottle of water next to your bed, in case you got too lazy during the night.

2- Have a carbohydrate-rich meal

Drinking alcohol lowers blood sugar levels, and as a result, you feel exhausted since your body is running without fuel. Therefore, you need to eat carbohydrates. For the juice and fruit smoothie lovers, this is great news and a double duty strategy. In fact, you increase your fluid and sugar intake at once. In addition, consuming bread, corn flakes, oat, fruits, or any other starchy food will help you get your energy level back to near-normal.

2- Exercising

This all depends on whether you’re not feeling nauseated and can actually stand up! The trick is to hydrate first to avoid any further unnecessary fluid loss. The big question is “how can exercising help with hangovers?” Well, the good thing about exercising is the endorphin release, you know, the happiness chemicals... After an alcoholic night, we all tend to feel tired, not at ease in our own skin, and a bit down. This is where going for a run can make all the difference. Instead of spending your day feeling slow and low, you are re-energized.

4- Coffee and tea

While coffee may not help directly with the hangover, it can give you a boost to get moving. Make sure to have had enough water before gulping on your coffee.

As for tea, it will help you reduce the puffy eyes that you could have after a long night. You could use it as cold pads on your eyes. The caffeine in the tea will constrict the blood vessels around the eyes, and reduce the puffy look.

By now, you're almost fresh and ready to go for your Sunday family lunch! Happy end of weekend everyone!

September: back on track plan

Sadly, summer is coming to an end. We’ve all spent such lovely days by the pool, partying at night, and of course let’s not forget about the fabulous wedding parties. Such good times come along with great food, and the bikini look started fading away slowly but surely. Now that September has begun, I am pretty sure that most of us feel like there are a couple of kilos stuck somewhere around the waistline and butt. This is where I come to help!

Rule #1: Don’t postpone your plan to get back in shape any longer

Now is the right time. The weather is still good, so you don’t yet feel cold or lazy, and therefore have no excuse to skip the after work visit to the gym. You have no more dinner parties to attend every night, so you might as well take advantage of that to get yourself moving. It’s also a good occasion to start a new type of sports. Many gyms update their schedules around that time of the year, so go ahead and pick a new activity, and keep your butt off the couch!

Rule #2: Take advantage of the summer goodies while they’re still around

Watermelons, melons, peaches, plums… so many yummy fruits are still in season in September. So cut down on the cakes and ice creams, and indulge in nature’s goodies. They taste so good that you won’t feel like it’s a downgrade for your taste buds.

Rule #3: Don’t complicate things

You will read about the gluten free diet, the paleo diet, the detox diet, and god knows what other diet! Please, I beg you, just pass on those. You won’t make it too long to see sustainable results. Go for balanced meals that are not handicapping when you go to your friends’ homes, or when your mom cooks at home. The trick is to think about vegetables with each meal, they are your best allies to feel full while generally eating less. You’ll be able to do so by starting your meals with a big bowl of salad or cooked vegetables, and reducing your main dish’s portion.  In addition, avoid fried items and desserts, since as opposed to veggies, they provide you with a big amount of calories (obviously from fat and sugar) in  tiny portions.

Rule #4: Don’t give up after the first slip

We are humans; we are designed to be weak in the face of temptation. If you slip on a single day (most of the time it happens over weekends), don’t just blow away all the previous efforts. Go back to your plan, and move on! All of us, including dieticians, have weak days, so don’t be too hard on yourselves.

Happy September everyone!

Detox diets: what Mayo clinic has to say about it

Find out the Mayo clinic's opinion on detox diets:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/detox-diets/faq-20058040

Please god make me thin part2

Case#3: willingness to change

It is easier said than done. Over excitement over weight loss doesn’t mean you will actually lose weight. Sometimes you think that you are doing everything needed, while actually you’re barely doing any major changes. If you included fruits and salads in your meal plan, but casually eat chips, or add a bit of whatever main dish you have served; you’re talking about going to gym, but you’re being barely physically active; And most importantly, you’re so convinced that you’re sticking to your plan that  you don’t even see that you’re doing everything wrong. 

Case#4: the drinker

Well, your diet is your priority obviously, but when your friends call you for a quick drink, everything falls apart. Of course you drink more than you should. Of course, you eat nuts. And of course you end up your night having a midnight snack at a random manouche or shawarma place. And then next morning you’re back to your diet. You’re actually boycotting yourself that way. And even worse, you are piling up calories you will barely remember the next day.

Case#5: you don’t want to lose weight

The last case is the trickiest one. Of course movie stars, and magazines, and even clothing sizes are telling you, you need to lose weight. And of course, it would be easier on so many levels if you lost some weight. You’d get rid of all the nasty comments about your tummy, you’d be able to fit in the gorgeous backless dress  you saw on in your favorite shop, you’d feel more confident . But the truth is, deep down, you like the way you look. And if not, it comforts you to see your little bump, or your love handles. If feels like home being surrounded by a bit of fat. Nevertheless, society has told you that you need to be thinner, therefore you physically engage in a weight loss plan, while mentally and by all means are killing your plan.

Please god, make me thin! ( part1)

In my practice as a dietician, there is one case that used to frustrate me to the core, and that’s the case of dieters who, despite their commitment to the diet, barely lose any weight.

It would be easy to say they’re lazy; they’re not doing the right thing. However, the problem is that the human body and mind don’t always react to our orders the way we would want them to. So many reasons, and so many different people come to the clinic and do not lose weight, and yet, each and every one of them has a different reason for their ”failure”.

Case #1: Slow metabolism

We are not all created equal. As a matter of fact, going back in time, retaining energy (in other words fat) when food was scarce was considered an added value. As a matter of fact, “survival of the fittest” meant that, those with the slowest metabolisms; i.e. those able to maximize the energy obtained from small amounts of food were the ones who survived. The tremendous change in humans’ lifestyle was faster than any evolutionary genetic change. Therefore, the ones considered the fittest back in the days, are now the ones suffering from excess weight and related diseases.  The bottom line is, don’t be so harsh on yourself, not so long ago, your ancestors survived from this slow metabolism.

Case #2: The compulsive/emotional eater

A diet is a lifestyle change. You are changing the way you eat, and we all know that eating has moved from a survival instinct, to a pleasure instinct very often in our modern society. We no longer eat to feed ourselves. We eat to enjoy the flavors, the mood, and we eat to sooth ourselves. Many of us turn to sweets while facing a bad day at work. Many of us treat themselves to a fatty meal at night, as a reward for a tiring day. And, many of us consider that at this point in their lives, food is their sole source of comfort and pleasure. We all have comfort foods. Mine is pasta with cheese and ketchup or cream. For some its ice cream, or cake, or chips. Whatever brings you back to that safe memory is a comfort food. It’s only natural to indulge in a comfort meal from time to time. But the line between an occasional binge and a regular binge is very thin. The minute you start relying on food for satisfaction in your daily lifestyle, you slim down your chances of being able to cope with the changes a diet brings into your life. I very often recommend to my patients to channel the negativity in them into something other than food. For some, it could be crying, for others a hot bath, or going to the mall, or any artistic activity. And for many, dealing with these issues requires help from a therapist. Keep in mind when exploring such an option that your health’s at stake.