Counting versus calculation?

Before making the decision to become more healthy by looking at what and when I eat, I had tried all of the different diets known to man.  I'd restricted carbs in trying the Atkins and South Beach diets, I'd tried the GI plan and I'd attended every diet class going.  I'd also gone through a phase of counting calories, something which for a while I thought was the be all and end all of losing weight but I hadn't considered at that time that it wouldn't necessarily make my body healthier.  I spent an awfully long time scrutinising calorie counting websites and the packets of everything I was eating in order to ensure that I was eating the correct "numbers".  In doing that though I gave no consideration to what was behind those numbers, that being the rest of the nutritional content.

My change this week is to better educate myself on nutritional content.  In researching this I have discovered that in order for a food to be sold as a low fat item, it has to contain no more than 3 grams of fat per 100 grams (5g is still fairly low so I will eat foods that contain up to 5g and will use the 3g rule when I really need to cut back).  For sugar, it should be between 5-15 grams per 100 grams of product to be described as having medium sugar content, and 5 or less to be described as a low sugar product.  So, in order to get my pantry and fridge in order I spent some time hanging out in ASDA checking out labels (I have now stopped this and am using the website as I think they thought I was a stalker :) ).  I was really surprised at what I learned, for example if a food is labelled as any of the following things, it's probably not low in both fat and low sugar in the true sense of the Food Standards Agency descriptions:

• Light
• Lighter
• Leaner
• Lower
• Reduced etc etc etc

The list of phrases that manufacturers have coined in order to convince you that you are eating healthily is endless and unless it specifically states "LOW FAT" or "LOW SUGAR" you can guarantee that it's higher than the FSA advises.  Also, lots of things that are low in fat are an awful lot higher in sugar and vice versa, and you know what happens if you consume more sugar than your body can utilise?  Yes, that's right it turns to fat so it can be stored and used by your body at a later date. 

I came across this article in the Daily Mail this morning which I also found to be interesting reading:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2013267/One-start-diet-month-help-putting-sweet-treats-baskets.html

It reports on the results of a survey carried out by the vitamin and minerals company Seven Seas.  It makes for really interesting reading as it talks about how around one in five of us starts a "diet" each month and that around a third of us also shop for low calorie food without necessarily considering what nutritional benefit we will get from what we eat.  

Dr Emma Derbyshire, a nutritionist from Manchester Metropolitan University who contributed to the report, said: "While magazines and TV schedules are full of celebrity chefs, food and recipes, our diets seem to be losing their balance with potentially-alarming consequences.
'It would seem that we are still struggling to grasp the concept of "good nutrition" and the reason why we eat food in the first place.

'Though it is important to acknowledge calorie intake, this must not come at the expense of eating a balanced and varied diet, low in saturated fat but also rich in vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids.
'Often, processed, low-calorie food can contain high levels of sugar and additives, and so may not be as healthy as people think."

So there you have it, literally food for thought; think about your food and you will see the benefits.  I'm so much more conscious of what I'm putting in my mouth as a result that I am seeing great results on the scales again this week with another two pounds off so that 16 pounds in total during the last five weeks :) 


I'm going to leave you this week with something that has become an enduring image in my head, one that I am having trouble shifting at the moment but it's something which will definitely help me cut out something which I do that is detrimental to my long term goal.  My gross fact for this week is all about wine.  I do love a nice big glass of icy cold Rose of an evening, but I discovered this weekend that there are more calories (and these are those empty calories with no subtance behind them) in a medium pub sized glass of wine than there is in a tablespoon of lard!  Now every time I think of wine, I'm thinking "Lardy wine" and have a mental image of licking it off the spoon. Yuck!


Don't forget to comment if you have committed to a change, I'd love to hear how you are doing.