Fancy A Drink?

I like to have a drink as much as the next person... Or maybe a little more, but have you ever wondered how many empty calories you're consuming when you knock back a few??

I've made another of my graphs, but here is the hard bit. I've worked it out not by standard drink but how I'd usually drink it. Ie, it's a glass of wine, a 375ml bottle of beer, or can of vodka Smirnoff or Jim Beam and Coke. Obviously I haven't covered everything and each wine/beer will vary slightly, but it's still good to see laid out in front of you.

Baileys was an interesting one, as in a 60ml drink, there are nearly as many calories as in an entire can of Smirnoff.

Surprisingly, low carb beer, my drink of choice has nearly as many carbs as regular beer!

Click to enlarge

Have you ever noticed you weigh less after a night of drinking alcohol? Have you ever thought it was actually helping your weight loss?

Let me explain how it works. When you drink alcohol, your body tries to flush it out of your system by making you urinate more frequently. Frequent urination leads to dehydration and dehydration leads to weight loss.

Sure, the next day you will weigh less, but you'll be thirsty. A couple of glasses of water will bring you close to what you weighed before you started drinking.

After a big weekend of drinking, try and avoid oily food. It may seem the only thing that will settle your stomach, but instead, drink lots of water and some juice (preferably vegetable), green tea or coconut water.

If you're hungry, snack on foods that will replenish your body in the way of vitamins and minerals. Bananas are good, and eggs help soak up the alcohol without breaking the calorie bank!

I'm going out tomorrow night to celebrate my birthday, I will try to keep my empty calorie intake to a minimum... if not by drinking less, then at least by drinking the lower calorie option!

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Did you know you're fat?

Last week I was asked to sit in on a market research group run by the Australian Government.
They were testing TV and print ads for their new campaign Lose Weight. Gain Life.

Most of the people providing feedback were overweight, and everyone had to talk about whether the ads would make them change their lifestyle and start losing weight.

They played the tv ad and we watched a obese man and his daughter go through milestones together then she holds her dads hand while he's in hospital, then he dies and we watch the daughter get married without her dad by her side.
It was actually quite emotional.

The first hurdle I saw in this ad was that they were using an obese man in the commercial.

I felt it would not be relatable to the general public as he would be perceived as an extreme case. 

So when the public saw him lying in a hospital bed recovering from a stroke,  it would be easy to say 'well that's not me, I'm just not that fat'.

As the group sat their discussing each ad, it became clear that not one of them thought they were overweight.

I guess I always thought you had to be morbidly obese to be susceptible to these diseases, but just by being in the overweight category, you are at a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes and some forms of cancer, like breast and bowel.

The last ad shown to the group was a print ad for a magazine. It had 5 fairly regular looking men and women standing in a line with the headline 'Which of these people are overweight?' Then at the bottom was written 'All of them'.
The room of people went quietly into shock.... Then denial.

One woman pointed out that these men and women looked perfectly healthy, that it wasn't fair to pick on these people as they're normal, healthy people. I think she missed the point altogether.

After much discussion it was decided that this print ad was the most effective of all that were shown. It got through to this group that you don't have to be ridiculously overweight to be at risk of cancer and disease.

The world has changed it's perception of overweight people recently, and there's been a movement from the 'fat is lazy' attitude to 'big is beautiful'. 

There's nothing wrong with this, people come in all shapes and sizes, but we forget that just because you're happy in your skin, it doesn't mean you will avoid the diseases caused by being overweight.

Obesity is a pretty sensitive issue,  and it's something we don't talk about because we have accepted the image of overweight people and are more frequently rejecting the image of stick thin models.

No one seems to have an issue reminding a smoker that cigarettes are killing them. Yet to tell someone they're going to have a heart attack if they eat another pizza is not a done thing. 

I'm not saying it should be, and I'm not saying everyone needs to be on a strict clean eating diet. I think it would just be good to identify if there is a health issue then work out to what extent you want to do something about it.

It's a hard one to discuss really because someone will be reading this thinking 'I'm overweight, I eat well, I feel healthy and I like the way I look.' 

There are others who are in the healthy weight range who eat fast food daily and don't exercise.

So there's a huge fuzzy grey area when it comes to obesity, but if we all politely side step around the issue, obesity will keep claiming lives.

Currently, Australia is one of the fattest countries in the world, with 2 out of 3 people being overweight. 

Obesity is currently costing tax payers $58 BILLION dollars a year, wouldn't it be nice if we could spend that money elsewhere?? (this is not a typo!)

Below is a BMI calculator to see where you come in on the weight scale. Are your results different to what you were expecting?

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So, I slipped up this weekend

So I slipped up this weekend.

I didn't just overindulge in a meal, I ate without thinking or without thought of the consequences all weekend. 

I ate McDonald's for the first time in months, fried corn fritters, potato bake, a huge brekkie cook up with pork sausages, pita with dips and a huge bowl of Nonna's risotto last night with a side of cheese and salami.

I can honestly say I have not eaten that much, or that unhealthily in such a short amount of time in over a year, before I started my healthy lifestyle.

It was almost like I forgot who I was and it was scary to see how easy it was to slip back into the old me.

I lay awake last night looking for the lesson to take away from this, and I thought of a few steps to handle a slip up and how not to let it ruin the good thing you've got going...

Ask yourself why.

Why did I eat that much this weekend?
I identified that it was a combination of being hung over from Friday night, so my craving for oily food was easily justified if it meant I was going to feel better. Also yesterday I had 3 social arrangements that all revolved around food. After eating as much as I did on Saturday my stomach was stretched and I didn't feel the regular alert that I was full. I honestly didn't even think about the consequences at that point, I was on auto pilot, and looking back now, it was dangerous!


Don't give up. Don't let one slip up make you give up. My 2 day binge came after 18 months of healthy eating, and in the grand scheme of things is just a a drop on the ocean.
You have to let yourself have the occasional slip up without being too hard on yourself, but you can't let it throw you over the edge and let your sense of self loathing make you punish yourself by quitting all together. The mind is a powerful tool if you use it the right way.


Make it up to yourself. After a setback, repay yourself by doing something that makes you feel healthy and good. Use your setback as motivation for the rest of the week.
I will use the image of me stuffing my face as motivation to eat clean and exercise. I'm writing this while on the exercise bike, and I'm working harder at the gym today than ever before to make up for my slack weekend.  I'm also staying away from carbs today, and I will feel better for it! I'm making up for it, so I know that when slip ups do happen, it's a minor setback and its easily rectified!


Plan ahead. A huge part of the fact that I over-ate this weekend was that I didn't plan. I rocked up to each engagement that I had and just ate. I would normally plan it through at the start of the day, identify that it was going to be a challenge and only eat what I needed to, while still enjoying my food. I know I don't ever have to go without, but I blew out the scale when it came to the healthy balance.
Talk yourself through the events you have and make yourself a little promise/bargain to get you through.

I'm physically going to write down my get-through-Easter plan, as I know that's my next big weakness, and I'll be sure to share it with you.

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Make an Announcement

I wasn't going to write on this topic yet, but while at the gym yesterday, I witnessed Australian Comedienne Magda Szubanski being interviewed on the morning show, announcing that she is back on the weight loss wagon after rejoining as the face of Jenny Craig. She originally signed with them 5 years ago and lost 35kg, but has since put the weight back on.

Magda Szubanski lost 35kgs with Jenny Craig before putting the weight back on.

The fact that she has been there, lost the weight then regained it would give you the idea that Jenny Craig is purely a diet, once you stop the program, it's an easy slide back to your old habits and put the weight back on. It doesn't look like it helps you to continue your lifestyle in a healthy fashion once you're on your own.

So it's not the program for me, but Magda has 1.25 million reasons to stick at it. (Yes, she's getting paid the big bucks to lose the weight) I'd say that's pretty good motivation!
While we don't all have that luxury, one great motivation tool is to make an announcement.   While it doesn't have to be a national announcement the way Magda has done, this is a valuable tool to motivate yourself.

Tell your friends and family that you're embarking on a weightloss journey/lifestyle change. Tell your Facebook friends or make an announcement at the next family dinner!

Magda explained that by announcing it publicly, she felt pressure but also motivated to get it right this time.

If you can handle the pressure, and channel it into positive energy to excel, then start the process.

It's not for everyone, and it can be quite daunting, but it could be the difference the next time you don't feel like exercising or when you want to pig out on cake, chocolate or chips!

I used this tool and found I had that little voice in the back of my head telling me to stay strong and hang in there and then the next time I would see my family, they'd tell me how good I was looking, or friends were asking for my secret.

I know I don't owe it to my family and friends to lose weight and get healthy, I'm doing it for me. It's just nice to feel like I'm not on my own, and I have support along the way.

Whether you want to lose weight, or just make a change to a healthier lifestyle, make an announcement, get the support of your family and friends, and use it as motivation. 

Facebook weight/goal tracker app LilySlim is a ticker that keeps tracking your goal and letting everyone else see your progress. Get one here.

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