Ditch sugar this summer and take back control of your body

LIKE many of you, I was clapping to celebrate the 72^nd anniversary of the NHS yesterday and it brought back memories of the fabulous project I did with Tameside Hospital trust two years ago on the 70^th anniversary!

We launched a Ditch Sugar challenge to 250,000 people in Manchester. One of my fellow speakers was the leading cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, an expert on healthy sugar-free eating, and as we chatted during a break I had a light bulb moment…

Why not issue a similar challenge to readers of my blog and all my Slimpodders! So that’s what I did two years ago and a huge number of Slimpodders took part and reported great successes.

Me and Aseem at the conference

So now as we celebrate the NHS’s 72nd birthday  I thought I’d start you all off on a special project to raise your awareness of any excess refined sugar you might be consuming.  Stress levels have been at an all time high since lockdown began in March and I know so many people have found themselves eating sugary things as a result.  

Slimpod will really help with reducing your sugar intake but some people need a little extra help because the habit is so ingrained and can be a bit stubborn to break.  So if sugar has been raising its ugly head recently then this project is for you!

Ditch sugar and stay on track

Even without all the pressure of the virus, July and August can be really difficult months when you’re trying to eat healthily and lose weight because these months are full of temptations and distractions.

It can be that classic “fall off the wagon” time! But it really doesn’t have to be that way. You absolutely CAN stay on track if you ditch sugar and I’m going to help you do it by cutting down on the refined sugar you’re consuming!

Slimpod star Sammie Axton joins me at the conference

Sugar is really addictive and it hijacks your brain so you feel you’re losing control.

Here’s what happens: The vast quantities of hidden sugar we consume every day in food and drink is hooking our brains into repeating unhealthy food behaviour over and over and over.

Once you’re on that sugar-fuelled roundabout that’s harming you it’s almost impossible to get off without the specialised help a Slimpod programme offers..

In my research I uncovered a statistic which horrified me: There are an estimated 600,000 different food products on sale in America and 80 per cent of them contain sugar.

That proportion is undoubtedly repeated on this side of the Atlantic.

Tameside hospital CEO Karen James was a co-speaker

Worthless, empty-calorie, unnecessary sugar does nothing for the human condition but helps make food and drink manufacturers rich.

They use a substance called fructose which tastes sweeter than sugar but is far cheaper to produce. It crops up everywhere – in processed food like pizzas and pies, in biscuits and cakes and in fizzy drinks.

Ditch sugar and choose healthy alternatives

For the next six weeks, I’d love you to become more and more aware of how much refined sugar you’re putting into your body every day.

Once you recognise the sources of sugar you can start replacing sugar with healthy alternatives.

The simplest way to ditch sugar is to stop buying processed food such as ready meals, takeaways, things in tins and packets.

Buy fresh food and cook it yourself so there’s no danger of hidden sugar creeping in, which is the real danger with non-fresh food.

NHS nurse Sarah Moody spoke too

You might be surprised just how good you feel after just a day or two on healthier food because it creates a virtuous circle in your body and your mind.

Once you start to get your buzz from eating fish, lean meat and vegetables instead of pizza, pasta and curries it just becomes easier and easier to keep up the good work for yourself and your family.

Ditch sugar and take back control

I’ll be talking about how sugar hijacks your brain and revealing some strategies you can use to ditch sugar and take back control in my Facebook Lives this week.

So please join me on our public Slimpod For Weight Loss page tomorrow (Tuesday July 7) at 7.30pm UK time. And if you’re a Slimpodder and you belong to our private Slimpod Club group, I’ll be devoting a whole hour to more on this important subject on Wednesday at 8pm.

Happy Slimpodder nurse Dawn Hamer was there

Leave a comment below to let me know if you’re up for it. Do you want to ditch sugar and take back control?

The post Ditch sugar this summer and take back control of your body appeared first on Slimpod.

Ditch sugar this summer and take back control of your body https://t.co/RfG9xP7XpX

Ditch sugar this summer and take back control of your body https://t.co/RfG9xP7XpX

— sosnicaragua (@sosnicaragua) July 6, 2020

from Twitter https://twitter.com/sosnicaragua

This is the one of the keys to staying motivated and keeping on track https://t.co/UAZJSxHbAE

This is the one of the keys to staying motivated and keeping on track https://t.co/UAZJSxHbAE

— sosnicaragua (@sosnicaragua) June 22, 2020

from Twitter https://twitter.com/sosnicaragua

This is the one of the keys to staying motivated and keeping on track

Statistics prove that people struggle to stay on eating plans, diets and challenges for longer than four weeks before they lose motivation and fall off the wagon.  But of course the Slimpod programme is different.  There’s no wagon to fall off!

Yes, it’s true!  But the thing is, a lot of people find this concept quite difficult to comprehend.

They find it hard to believe because they’ve spent their adult lives on and off the dieting wagon and their minds default to failing behaviour.

And believe me, it’s really easy to start thinking like this. But it’s not your fault because it’s your mind doing what it’s always done. Remember, losing weight is just as much of a mental challenge as a physical one.

And this is why every week I host Facebook Lives – to help people stay on track.

One of the key ways to stay on track and stay motivated is to remember that a weight loss journey is full of ups and downs.

Nobody will tell you it’s all a bed of roses.  Just like life isn’t a bed of roses.  

Stress stops us in our tracks

Right now the challenge of things happening in the world around us is causing so much stress and people are having difficulty controlling their eating as a result.

Stress hijacks the brain and we need to take action to help to prevent this happening because it stops us in our tracks!

The Slimpod Summer20 challenge is really just the beginning of a process.  The thing that will keep you motivated is when you consistently follow the process and ingrain new exciting habits.

This was posted in our Slimpod Club by Catherine, one of our lovely podders, and I got her permission to share because I LOVE the way she described her journey.

 I’m nearing the end of 27 weeks – 6 months of Slimpod. Yes, it’s a record for me and one huge win!!

Someone asked me this week how I stay motivated and this made me think how it’s easy to only see the best bits of people.

The truth is I’ve struggled a lot from time to time with motivation – I’m sure we all have (or will) from time to time. Just as we can’t expect it to be sunny every day, we can’t expect that every day will be a ‘good’ day.

But there is one big difference with Slimpod.

With previous attempts at losing weight I’ve always done really well for a few weeks, or even months but every time (especially just when things were going really well) I’ve hit a wall, thrown in the towel, fallen off the wagon and gone back to square one.

Second attempts on any diet regime never work for me – I can never get that same excitement and impetus back as the first time so, off I go, in search of the next big thing.

But Slimpod has no towel to throw in, no wagon to fall off, no wall to hit. There’s no square one to go back to.

I picture the Slimpod journey as a path. Sometimes, as I wander along, I may come across a bench to sit on for a while or a distraction that keeps me in place for a bit (maybe a carousel, I’m a sucker for those!).

When things have been really ‘bad’ I imagine that I have wandered off the path completely – but I always keep it in sight and I know it’s there to come back to when I am ready.

There have been times when I’ve been heading back the way I came, but that’s ok too because I’m still on the path – all I need to do is stop, check the (goal) map and get myself in the right direction.

One. Step. In. Front. Of. The. Other.

That way I know I’ll reach my destination. Eventually.

So, when you see people post and you wonder how they maintain momentum, remember that they don’t all the time!

Sometimes we all need a little push. Lots of experienced podders (myself included) choose not to post about the ‘bad’ times until they are over because, at those times, we need some quiet time to reflect and wander about a bit, to check the map and make our way back to the path.

We really are all in this together and we really can all reach that destination – even if our path takes longer than others because everyone’s journey will be different.

Staying motivated thanks to good habits

I really feel Catherine’s post is such a wonderful description of how life is when you’re not defaulting to the way you used to be.

Success comes from the daily actions you take and that’s how habits are created. Habits plus practice equals mastery.

Good habits are worth mastering because they change your life.  Every four weeks or so we need to take time out to reflect on what we’ve achieved and what needs tweaking a little.

This is crucial. Because that’s how you’ll get to your destination. 

And yes, sometimes it will feel like nothing is happening or you’ve gone off track.

But that’s the time to jump straight back on the path, keep calm and carry on!

Make sure you join me live tomorrow (Tuesday June 23) at 7.30pm UK time on the main Thinking Slimmer Facebook page where I’ll be talking about staying motivated.

Please leave a comment below to let me know how things are going for you and whether you’re up for staying motivated!

The post This is the one of the keys to staying motivated and keeping on track appeared first on Slimpod.

How happiness and positivity will help you reach your weight loss goals! https://t.co/cWRdMY8iye

How happiness and positivity will help you reach your weight loss goals! https://t.co/cWRdMY8iye

— sosnicaragua (@sosnicaragua) June 15, 2020

from Twitter https://twitter.com/sosnicaragua

How happiness and positivity will help you reach your weight loss goals!

 

THERE’S a wonderful quote from the American writer Dale Carnegie that I love to share with people: “It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It’s what you think about it.” How true!

The secret of happiness is deeply-rooted in positivity and that’s why it’s all part of the 30-day Summer20 Challenge.

There’s so much doom and gloom in our environment right now and it’s having a huge effect on our mental health and our stress level.

We MUST actively protect ourselves and take measures to do things which make us smile and help us feel happier and more uplifted.

Last week I kicked off a big positivity drive in Slimpod Club  and if you’re part of the Facebook group then many of you will have seen me turn up in my pink wig to give people something to smile about!

In case you missed it…

The Slimpod programme is rooted in positive psychology and part of the process is to help you feel better about yourself.

But sometimes the stressful events in the world around us are challenging and we need to give ourselves a little extra help by consciously building some simple strategies into our day-to-day lives.

If you’re part of the programme then you’ll have seen the negative effect stress can have on the body.

Cortisol is a stress hormone and high levels of it are linked to conditions such as type II diabetes and hypertension.

If you need more info on this then have a look through my blogs and the many Live chats on the subject over the past three months.

The main message is that the stress hormone cortisol stops weight loss and can actually make you put on fat round your waist.

BUT there is some GOOD news and it’s about a chemical the body produces which helps reverse the effects of cortisol.

It’s called serotonin and it’s one of Nature’s “happiness drugs.”

Serotonin is a chemical nerve cells produce and  is considered a natural mood stabiliser. It’s the chemical that helps with sleeping, eating, and digesting.

Serotonin helps regulate your mood naturally. When your serotonin levels are normal, you feel:

· Happier
· Calmer
· More focused
· Less anxious
· More emotionally stable

And this affects your weight in several ways because your behaviour changes.  Higher levels of serotonin enable you to be less impulsive around food, curb “emotional” eating and bingeing, thereby giving you more control.

When we feel happy, we tend to have higher self-regard and a drive toward self-preservation (as opposed to self-sabotage). We’re also less likely to hunt down high fat or high sugar for a quick mood fix.

 

Then a longer-term feeling of well-being often helps us to see ourselves as people who make good choices — and this becomes part of our identity.

Now we know Slimpod helps you feel good, and that’s part of the benefits of the programme, but in these challenging times,  what can we do to give an extra boost to our serotonin levels?

Exercise: Regular exercise can have mood-boosting effects.

A healthy diet: Foods that can increase serotonin levels include eggs, cheese, turkey, nuts, salmon, tofu, and pineapple.

Meditation: Meditating can help relieve stress and promote a positive outlook on life, which can greatly boost serotonin levels.

Limit your exposure to negativity – especially at night

Listen to uplifting music or self-improvement podcasts

Read uplifting books which make you smile

Write three wins every day AND/OR three things you’re grateful for

Daily affirmations

Do more smiling and laughing!

In studies there is a direct correlation between obesity and mental well-being, and research by the University of Adelaide suggests people should focus on improving their happiness rather than focussing solely on their weight.

So as part of the Summer20 Challenge, the aim this week is to improve your happiness and positivity.

Pick two things you can build into your day which will help raise your serotonin level.  This can be from the list above or something you know you can do that makes you happy.

Let me know below (or in Slimpod Club) how you’re going to prioritise some happiness and positivity in your life this coming week!

Tomorrow evening (Tuesday June 16) I’ll be live on our main Slimpod weight loss page on Facebook at 7.30pm UK time and I’ll be chatting about serotonin so do join me!

There’s also a thread in Slimpod Club under the hashtag #Summer20 so do join in and hold yourself accountable!

The post How happiness and positivity will help you reach your weight loss goals! appeared first on Slimpod.

Three really great and easy ways to shape up for summer https://t.co/0piB2Q43yE

Three really great and easy ways to shape up for summer https://t.co/0piB2Q43yE

— sosnicaragua (@sosnicaragua) June 8, 2020

from Twitter https://twitter.com/sosnicaragua