Little Black Dress Challenge - Week 2

We are in week two of our Little Black Dress Challenge where we are going to lose a stone by Christmas – just ready for putting on our glad rags for the festive party season! If you want to catch up on the challenge so far, just read my last 2 posts (introduction and week 1 ) – feel free to join us at any point! Last week we started to look at our calorie intake and the need to reduce it by 500 calories a day (see last week’s blog to find out how to calculate how many you should be eating).

Last week we discussed calories here on my blog and in my classes. This week, we need to consider fat. We should always keep saturated fats and trans fats low as they raise blood cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease. Of course, not all fats are bad and we need some fat in our diet to keep us fit and healthy. However, when we are trying to lose weight, the fat in our diet, even the healthier fats, can have a huge impact on our calorie intake. That’s because foods which are high in fat are also very high in calories – in fact, fat contains about twice as many calories as sugar per 100g!

So, during the course of this challenge you should try to eat food which contains less than 5% fat. Check the nutritional guide on all packaging and try to only select foods which are have 5% or less fat content. The exceptions are oily fish, porridge oats and also sauces and spices, which you only eat in tiny amounts. Also don’t add fat while preparing your food – such as oil when cooking, or butter/spread on bread.

There are some great tips for reducing fats on the NHS website and if you need any more tips, we will be discussing this in class this week, so come along to one of my weight-management fitness sessions. Email me for more details.