Mary A. Nash blog

DOES it ever seem to you that life is just one long bout of S-T-R-E-S-S ! You get up after a patchy night’s sleep, you rush around getting out of the house, you battle through the traffic, you get nothing but hassle at work, then there’s the shopping, the cooking, the demands of the family…and before you know it, there’s another day gone.

The problem these days is that far too many people reach for food or alcohol (or both!) to help them cope with stress.

For a short time it dulls the pain and makes them feel better, but as we all know anything in excess plays havoc with your waistline.

So I’ve made this special video in which I look at stress and give some practical advice on how to break the patterns of unhelpful behaviour that stress leads to.

The key to leading a calmer, more rewarding and much healthier life is to reduce the stress hormone cortisol in your body.

Our bodies need some cortisol and it’s an important hormone because it actually helps keep us alive. But when we’re stressed we overproduce it and this can mean weight gain.

In the weight loss world, cortisol is now public health enemy number one.

So having the right balance is essential.  Here’s those five things I talked about in the video which you can do to take control.

ONE: Exercise is crucial. Give your brain a buzz from doing something physical.

TWO: Use a meditation or relaxation download – our Chillpod is a great way of dealing with it.

THREE: Laughter is fabulous! It stops stress and lowers cortisol.

FOUR: Eat healthily. The Slimpod will take care of that.

FIVE: Get more sleep!

Let me know what stress is doing to your enjoyment of life by leaving a comment below. And do let me know how you get on with my five stress-busting tips.

The post Five ways to take control of stress appeared first on Slimpod.

THIS may sound like a pretty big claim, but here goes: I’m about to tell you the secret of a happier, healthier life. Not only that, I’m launching a special Spring Challenge to show you how easy it is to make a fabulous change that will deliver enormous benefits that will last forever.

You see, I was reading some research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine the other day which really excited me. It said that a brisk walk even once a week is enough to significantly reduce the chances of early death.

Gentle exercise once a week can cut the risk of heart disease and cancer by nearly 20 per cent, the study said.

Which got me thinking: If a few minutes of gentle exercise can do that, what would 20 minutes of moderate exercise like running do?

And so, with the help of Slimpodder Nickie O’Hara I’m launching my  Slimpod C25K Spring Challenge today. I want you to go from being a couch potato to a 5K runner!

It’s nowhere near as daunting as you might think. Nickie is a community run leader for the Couch to 5K campaign (C25K) which is run by the NHS.

She started doing easy, gentle runs about five years ago – and soon became hooked on them. Now she has progressed to serious distance running.

Slimpod C25K Spring Challenge video explains everything

Here’s a video Nickie and I made in which she tells you all about the Slimpod C25K Spring Challenge and how easy it is to take part.

Last year Nickie lost 2st 4lb and ran over 1,000 kilometres (that’s 626 miles). This year her target is to lose another 28lbs and run 1,000K again.

“I’ve been using Slimpods for a few years now and they provide me with focus and a Positive Mental Attitude that helps me focus on my goals,” she says.

“I admit that I had good and bad days – this was important to me because it’s not all a bed of roses out there and you learn from the negatives as well as the positives. I also found my tribe and they came on my journey with me.

“Some came out on training runs with me and pushed me beyond what I thought were my limits, some ran beside me in races to make sure I was giving my absolute best, some applauded me at my slimming club when I lost a few extra pounds, some let me cry on their shoulder when I wasn’t feeling great and it took the full year to achieve everything – literally to the last day!

Nickie will be starting a special thread in Slimpod Club that tells you how you can join the Slimpod C25K Spring Challenge. I think you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve in the first four weeks.

We’ll be using the NHS C25k app. You can download this free from your app store (Apple or Google versions available). And here’s where you can find out more about C25K on the NHS website.

Many Slimpodders know the physical and mental benefits that C25K can bring.

Here’s what Helena Doey posted in Slimpod Club recently: “It was amazing as I met a group of people who were in the same place as me (thinking ‘this will never work, but hey I will give it a go’.)

“You soon realise ‘Actually, I might achieve something here.’ Each week there was improvement and your confidence grew with it.

“The team spirit and friendship and achievement that I have gained with this will stay with me forever. Running has become part of my life, I am still slow but I can do it and more importantly I love it.”

So there you have two really inspiring stories from fellow Slimpodders.

Join me on my Slimpod C25K Spring Challenge. Let me know you’re in by leaving a comment below – and if you’re a Slimpod Club member, join Nickie on her thread!

Please use the hashtag #SlimpodC25K – you can use it on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

There’ll be two other exercise threads in Slimpod Club from Monday so if the Slimpod C25K Spring Challenge doesn’t float your boat why not try them.

The post Slimpod C25K Spring Challenge is off and running today appeared first on Slimpod.

THE lady on the phone was adamant when I asked her what would make her happy. “Getting down to 9st 7lbs,” she insisted. It was an interesting answer. But not as interesting as her answer to my next question.

“So if you’d lost two stones, apart from a different number on the scales what would be the evidence that you were happier?”

There was a pause. A long one. “Hmm,” she said. “I don’t know what happiness will look like. It’s been such a long time since I last weighed nine stone that feeling happy is something I’ve forgotten.”

It was time for my killer question. One that always makes people stop and think.

“Tell me Jill,” I said. “In your mind, why is happiness solely attached to the number on the scales?”

She paused again. Then…

“OMG,” she said with obvious delight. ”I’d never looked at it that way before.”

And that’s the problem so many people have.

They cast their minds back to the days when they were happy and trouble-free and assume that if only they could be as slim as they were then, all that happiness would just come flooding back.

It creates huge and unnecessary stress that simply drags them down.  They spend all their time being obsessed about the number they saw on the scales 25 or 30 years ago.

They think that’s the key to their weight loss happiness.

By directly linking smaller size with greater happiness they overlook the fact that the world has changed for all of us.

When we were younger (OMG, I’m sounding like my mother) there were no mobile phones, no laptops and no social media – so we weren’t constantly comparing ourselves with other people and the way they looked and felt.

Today life is super-busy and ultra-stressful. Linking happiness to the scales means life can become an emotional rollercoaster.

That’s why I’ve posted this special video in The Slimpod Channel on YouTube because it’s so important to stop this obsession with the number on the scales and to be able to think carefully about what happiness really means to us.

Instead of doing something that makes us unhappy every day, we need to flip it round completely.

Knowing your destination is important but you must learn to love the journey.

Enjoy the process. Get your weight loss happiness from small daily and weekly steps that are achievable.

That’s where your  Slimpod will be a great help. Feeling good about yourself is the route to self-fulfilment and self-esteem.

Forget the scales. Just be you – a warm and wonderful person, not a number.

Please leave a comment below to tell me what’s going to give you weight loss happiness. I love reading them all – because they make ME happy.

  The post Is happiness a number? appeared first on Slimpod.

DON’T know about you, but I love February.  The days are getting a bit longer and I do love the brighter mornings and evenings. As I walked the dogs this morning I was thrilled to see that in sheltered spots around the lake the snowdrops and daffodils are poking their heads out.

The birds are busy, noisily calling for mates, and once the blue tits in the garden have finished feasting on the peanuts we put out it won’t be long before their thoughts turn to nest-building.

It all means Spring’s not far away and that fills me with joy.

Which is good, because scientists have discovered that positive happy thoughts have a hugely-beneficial effect on our wellbeing.

Being happy with life has the power to boost our immune system and calm our heart rates, according to research I read in the journal Clinical psychological Science last week.

As you might know, positive psychology is at the core of the Slimpod programme, so it was good to see a study explore the physical side of positive thinking and not just the mental health side.

The snowdrops I saw today

By being kind to ourselves we feel relaxed and safe, and this lowers our heart rate. Because this switches off what’s called our subconscious threat response, we boost our immune system and give ourselves a better chance of healing.

What’s not to like? So let’s all give ourselves a break, stop being self-critical, treat ourselves kind and think happy, positive thoughts about all the wonders that surround us.

Let’s look for things which inspire us and help us feel great, because that’s definitely the way to go!

Over the past week we’ve had a lot of positivity going on in Slimpod Club and I thought I’d share some of it with you to inspire you as we head into a new week.

If you’re part of our Facebook group you’ll know it’s a very positive place to be and you might recognise some of the quotes (but not the faces, which we’ve pixellated):

Joanna posted:

Then Ros posted:

Finally Carol posted:

Reading about these Slimpodders’ happiness is infectious – I know it fills my heart with joy – so this week I’d love you to reflect on all the positive things in your life.

For some of you they may only be small changes, but you know they are building into something bigger, so smile and be happy.

And if you’re a recent starter and your Slimpod is still working away on the inside so you haven’t noticed real differences yet, that’s means you’ve got a lot of happy times to look forward to.

Keep posting your successes in Slimpod Club everyone! And why not post them here too in the Comments?

Spreading happiness is wonderful thing.

The post Smile and be happy about life – it’s so good for your health appeared first on Slimpod.

IN my last blog I was so excited about Slimpod and myself making our TV debut on Channel 4’s How To Lose Weight Well and I explained how believing in myself and my goals was the critical part in making that happen.

Over the many years that I’ve been a weight loss specialist, I’ve noticed that people who’ve struggled with their weight for a long time, lose the belief that they CAN lose weight.

Then for many, it affects their self-esteem in general.  They’ve been so focussed on the scales and have literally allowed that contraption to control how they feel and believe about themselves as a person.

And that’s when things go very wrong, because even though you’re acting as if you want to lose weight, your heart isn’t in it because you don’t believe you can do it.

Then you give up.

To achieve lasting weight loss you have to take back control and believe in yourself!

This involves a daily habit-changing process because when you change your daily behaviour this begins to filter through and has a big influence in the way you think about yourself and your beliefs about what you can achieve.

If you’re making a habit of noticing daily improvements to your behaviour and to the way you feel, magical things happen because seeing is believing!

And trust me, the change can be truly dramatic.

For starters, it has an amazing effect on consistency because you’re focusing on the daily wins rather than the results (ie the number on the scales).

This process of daily actions and wins builds your belief and belief helps to build resilience.  It’s resilience and consistency that gets you to your goal!

The psychology of self-belief is process I teach to our Slimpod community and those who choose to adopt the advice get great results.

In Summer 2018 we ran a challenge in Slimpod Club which involved members recording their daily wins in a very short video on their phone and uploading it into our private group every day.

It really worked well and helped people to focus on the daily process, which in turn helped their self-belief.

The nurses who had taken part in the How To Lose Weight Well programme said it really helped them believe in themselves and their goal too.

They really got into the habit of doing their daily video because it helped them to reflect on the positive things in the day and they got a huge sense of achievement.  Crucially, they heard themselves speaking the positives out loud and this has a dramatic effect because it makes it real.

But one of the best things is that it helps with motivation. As you know, it’s the repetition of small daily actions which creates the results and when you get in the habit of focusing on the daily process, it becomes very motivational.

You get the opportunity to give yourself a big high five and it’s a huge vote for the person you want to become.

And finally, it’s truly inspiring for other people watching and creates a lovely positive and motivational effect all round!  Everyone gets to experience Nature’s happy drugs!

One of the people who took part in the challenge last year popped up in a video in Slimpod Club last week and it was SO lovely to see her.

I asked Christina McKay if I could share her message because it was such a powerful one.

Whether you’re a member of Slimpod Club or not, please do spare a few minutes of your time to watch the video because it’s truly inspirational.

Thanks so much Christina for allowing me to share this and inspire people via my blog.

I’m about to kick off another video challenge in the private group, so if you’re in our Slimpod Club community watch out for it!

If you’re not in the group, it’s no problem.  You can easily record a very quick video at the end of the day or any time you have a ‘Wow’ moment.

You could buddy up with a friend and help them to believe in themselves more by taking some daily action too!  Do scroll down and let me know if you struggle with your belief in your ability to lose weight.

It’s one of the most important things to get right and we cover it in the programme. But I can also create a special vlog next week to help you if I know it’s something you’d like more of.

Let me know by leaving a comment below. I love reading them all!

  The post Be honest now, do you really BELIEVE you can lose weight? appeared first on Slimpod.

HOW to lose weight well is everyone’s goal and one of the key parts of our Slimpod programme is about personal empowerment – giving people back control over their food and lifestyle choices.  We base a lot of our system on positive psychology and we encourage people to share their wins.

When you share good things you feel good and you inspire others!

So I thought I’d share some of my big wins this week because I’m very proud of them!  I hope they’ll inspire you too!

For many years my dream has been to make a difference to the health of the staff working our National Health Service.

The people who work so hard to keep us healthy and alive are the least able to keep themselves healthy because their working environment makes it so difficult.

It’s not been an easy ride – and I had to really believe in my dream!

However, nearly two years ago it happened and I began working with the Chief Executive and staff at Tameside Hospital in Manchester to help staff lose weight and be healthier.

I’ve loved every minute of it and together we’ve been making a big difference.

A year ago the restaurant became the first hospital restaurant in the UK to go sugar free and it made the news!

Last June the producers of Channel 4’s How to Lose Weight Well asked if they could feature us on their programme. Well! That was a bit of a no-brainer!!

We spent a day filming and we enjoyed every minute of our time with Dr Xand!!

Here’s me being interviewed by Dr Xand for How To Lose Weight Well…

Throughout the 12 weeks the staff had to record their video updates in a Whatsapp group and it was so wonderful getting to know these wonderful people. Their eating habits changed and it was SO lovely to witness the joy and happiness.

The programme was broadcast on Monday evening and I was very nervous about what would make it on to the screen because we weren’t told in advance.

I must admit I was a little disappointed with how little time they gave to the results because we gave them loads of footage. Lovely Dawn, who was featured, felt they could’ve shown more too but I know there’s a limit to how much can be crushed into the show and I’m SO  very grateful to Channel 4 for the opportunity.

In case you missed it here’s some pictures and you can see it on the Channel 4 site. It’s in the second half of episode two.

And here’s the real stars of How To Lose Weight Well, some of our lovely Tameside hospital staff…

The TV publicity has attracted tons of people to Slimpod so a very warm welcome if you joined us after watching the programme.

If you didn’t watch the show, here’s where you can see it.

How To Lose Weight Well

Slimpod’s always in the national press, it seems, and this week saw us pop up in three places.

The Daily Mirror did a lovely piece on how we’ve helped the staff at a hospital to be healthier and happier. You can read the Mirror article here.

The low calorie healthy eating hospital

Then our lovely nurse Laurabeth Ives, who’s lost an amazing amount of weight with Slimpod and looks just sensational, was featured in the Daily Mirror and two other national newspapers.

Here’s the Mirror article

As a result, I’m so proud that several hospitals have been in touch about the work we’re doing at Tameside and a lot of NHS staff have become part of the community. It warms my heart so much.

So there’s my Win Of The Week! I hope it’s helped inspire you to believe in your goals – because when you believe, you achieve! That’s how to lose weight well.

Tell me more about your dreams and goals by dropping me a comment below.

The post How to lose weight well: Believe in your dreams and you will achieve appeared first on Slimpod.

HI THERE, Boot Campers! I’m so happy you’re taking part in the four week challenge!  Following on from last week and the work we did creating our Goalmaps, in week 2 we get down to business!  The food!!

Obviously Slimpod motivates us to automatically make healthier food choices, which is key,  but I know there’s a lot of confusion about what food is best to help you lose fat.

So this week I thought I’d bring in some expert advice and the Medicinal Chef, Dale Pinnock, is here to help you get a step closer to achieving those goals you created!

Dale has written 14 books and appeared on TV many times so he knows a thing or two about healthy eating!

I asked Dale to join me to help you with your mission towards lasting weight loss and here’s the video:

The link to Dale’s programme is here and if you insert the code SLIMPOD you’ll get a 15 per cent discount.

So let’s put Dale’s advice into practice over the next few weeks and build some healthy habits!

Use food to our advantage, whether it’s for weight loss, wellbeing or general health. Remember you are what you eat.

How to eat to lose fat

So for the next three weeks I would like you to focus on loving your body – and I mean really loving it!

Imagine it’s your most prized possession, something you worship and care about.

You could even imagine your body is a six-month-old baby – how careful would you be about what went in its mouth?

Healthy eating means cutting refined carbs!

Here’s the task!  For the next 21 days, I’d really like you consciously be aware of the refined carbs and processed food you’re eating and gently cut them down.

This means cake, biscuits, white bread, chocolate, white pasta and anything that you know in your heart is not worthy of going into your mouth!

Slimpod will be nudging you towards the healthier choices but there’s so much food that looks healthy but really isn’t nutritious or good for you at all!

There’s SO much hidden sugar in processed foods so aim to avoid them.  I’m not asking you to give them up completely, all I’m doing is asking you to be a bit more aware of what you’re putting in your shopping trolley and then in your mouth!

I bet you’ll be amazed how easily you can do this and imagine how much good you’ll be doing your body.

Remember, we’re not dieting here.  We’re just making a few good changes to your daily eating habits.

One of the main action points for this week is to make sure you eat protein twice a day. Lean meat, fish and eggs are packed with healthy protein.

This is the only thing I’m going to insist on.

So just to recap: It’s really simple. Cut down on the refined carbs! That means less processed food. And pump up the protein!

You’ll naturally be losing interest in most of the sweet stuff and snacks but sometimes we’re fooled by the marketers and we fall prey to the 3 for 2 offers – so beware!!

If you don’t buy them they won’t get into your mouth!

I’m hoping you’ve taken your measurements last week, but if you haven’t do it now!

If you have a tight pair of trousers or a skirt then in three weeks it should be easier to get into.

So there you go!  Your Slimpod will support you with your healthy eating and I’d love you to write down your daily wins below or if you’re a member of the Slimpod Community share them with us there.

Here’s to your success!

The post Boot Camp 2: How to eat to lose fat, by Dale the Medicinal Chef appeared first on Slimpod.

IN my first blog about New Year Boot Camp on Monday I said I had an amazing goal-setting expert to help you create goals that will serve you through 2019 and help you succeed.  Brian Mayne is great friend, mentor and a world leader in personal development.

He works with corporates and celebrities worldwide, helping them achieve great things in their lives. In the video below Brian takes you through the process of creating a goal map by using his system – and it’s free!

Brian explains how his unique and exciting goal-setting system works and shows you how easy it is to create your own goal map that you can use to help visualise your goals and help you to lose weight.

Brian and his Goalmapping system helped to change my life many years ago and I still use it all the time so I’m sharing the magic of goal-setting with you today. He explains everything in this video below which I’m sure will inspire you and capture your imagination they it did for me when I first met Brian many years ago.

  I would REALLY encourage you to spend a few minutes creating your own goal map.   Please do take a picture of it and post below or in Slimpod Club if you’re a member of our private group on Facebook.  I’d love to see them!

While you’re at The Slimpod Channel on YouTube you might want to subscribe – because then you’ll get a notification every time a new video goes up each week.

Look out for next Monday’s blog which will star another one of my expert friends, the Medicinal Chef Dale Pinnock.

We’re about to record another video together and in this next one, Dale will be giving you tips on how to eat to lose that excess fat for the last time!

Enjoy!

The post The art of goal-setting made easy when you’re losing weight appeared first on Slimpod.

THE New Year is here so let’s attack 2019 with gusto in my four-week fun Boot Camp! There’ll be no pain but lots of gain – and most of all, I’m going to make it really enjoyable. At Christmas so many people completely lose the plot with food and drink and daily routines go out of the window. So here’s the chance to slip back in the groove and get motivated to shift some more inches with my New Year weight loss Boot Camp!

Work with me over the next four weeks and we’ll get you achieving your goals!  This first blog is a quick recap on goal-setting and a couple of tasks to kick you off. Then we’ll follow this with lots more advice and tips.

This year I’m involving two of my expert friends in my New Year weight loss Boot Camp and they’ll be helping you succeed – so there’s NO excuse!  The first expert is Brian Mayne, who’s a goal-setting expert.

For over 20 years his Goalmapping system has been helping companies and individuals worldwide to achieve huge success. Bryan’s also an international speaker on the subject.

He’ll be helping you to create amazing goals using his Goalmapping system. I’ve been good friends with Brian for nearly 15 years and his system helped me transform my life so I thought I’d share the magic around a bit!

Brian will be taking you through the Goalmapping process and his system is free to use. You might like to take a look here . I’ll be recording a video with Brian later this week and I’ll be sharing it with you.

So firstly – let’s kick everything off by quickly revisiting the whole reason for setting goals.  A goal provides a target on which to concentrate your effort.

Our brains are like goal-seeking missiles – they love it!  Goals give you direction and allow you to focus on what you want to achieve.

And a hugely important part of this process is that it helps you KNOW specifically what you want so you’ll be aware when you’ve achieved it.

If you have a destination in mind, you have to know what it will look like when you get there!

By setting goals you’re also able to measure your progress because you have start and finish dates. They make you accountable.

So we’ll kick off my New Year weight loss Boot Camp by thinking about the big goal.

When you’re creating your goal, please make sure it’s meaningful – getting attached to the emotion of WHY you want this goal is essential because that’s what’s going to help to drive you!  Here’s some possible goals:

* A size goal.  These are the BEST goals because one of the major aims of losing weight will be to get into smaller clothes and you’ll FEEL GREAT when you do! You could easily set a goal to drop a size during this four week Boot Camp.

* A health goal.  Some people want to get their diabetes under control…great goal!

When you’ve worked out your goal, the next step is to break it down into baby steps.  This is the key to consistency and habit formation.

Habits give us the results we want but the real reason habits matter is that each action you take is like a vote for the person you want to become. And we become what we repeatedly do.

Small daily actions and small wins take you towards your goal, enabling and empowering you to form good eating and lifestyle habits which will result in sustainable weight loss.

And this is where the importance of small wins comes in. Small wins help you feel like you’re regularly accomplishing something.

You need the big goal but the small wins motivate you to keep on going – and eventually that big goal is reached.

The small daily wins trigger a shot of dopamine, the pleasure neurochemical, and this is crucial for motivation.  If you have dopamine working with you rather than against you then you’re on to a winner.

This is why it’s important to jot down three small wins at the end of each day because that’s the power that will help motivate you to succeed.

The small wins can be improvements in what you’re eating, your movement or the way you’re feeling. How you’re feeling is fundamentally important to your weight loss journey because that’s what’s going to give you the fuel to keep going!

So the task for the first week of my New Year weight loss Boot Camp is to identify your goal and during the week you’ll have Brian’s help if you choose to create a Goalmap.  It’s a lot of fun and can be used in every area of your life, so I thoroughly recommend you do it!

For the next week I’d like you to identify those baby steps which will take you towards your goal and make sure you achieve two or three of them every day.  Here’s a suggestion:

ONE: Listen to your Slimpods EVERY day. Obviously, listening to your Slimpod (and other pods if you have them) is crucial if you’re to lose some inches!  It’s only nine minutes (and you’ll be asleep in two!) so make it your first task to focus on this.

TWO: Complete your success log and write down your wins at the end of the day. This is easy to do if you’re following the habit plan and have identified your baby steps because all you have to do is block out a little time each day to complete your action and there you have the win! Couldn’t be simpler. And of course Slimpod makes habits so easy to create that soon you’ll notice you won’t even have to think about what you’re doing.

THREE: Could be to consciously change your diet slightly and buy fewer processed foods or refined carbs.  You’ll notice you won’t miss them at all. OR you could do 15 minutes exercise every day (or you could do both!!)

So now’s the time to get to it with my New Year weight loss Boot Camp and lose some inches! For the next seven days, feed back every day by using the comments section below or post in Slimpod Club on Facebook.

I’ll be looking out for you! If you have any questions for Brian, please post them below and I’ll make sure he answers them in the video.

If you’re a member of our private Slimpod Club group on Facebook, then we’re running some special motivational threads in there for the next few weeks.  If you’re not on Facebook then watch out for my blogs/vlogs over the next four weeks because they’ll really help you.

Do let me know how you’re getting on with my New Year weight loss Boot Camp. I love reading your comments.

  The post New Year weight loss Boot Camp – no pain, lots of gain, plenty of fun appeared first on Slimpod.

WELL, it’s almost Christmas and that time of year when everywhere you look is wall to wall party food, mince pies, chocolates and booze. It’s really easy to overeat and SO many people really pile on the pounds and regret it afterwards.

I bet you didn’t know that a large portion of people’s YEARLY weight gain happens in the next couple of weeks!

Watch my Vlog and find out how you can you can stop those mince pies going on your waistline and make sure your jeans still fit comfortably in January!

Please leave a comment below – I love reading them.

The post How to control your weight at Christmas appeared first on Slimpod.

HERE at Slimpod HQ we’re often talking about empowerment, confidence and choices and in this video I discuss the importance of having that inner confidence DURING the journey to lasting weight loss  – and not just when you stand on the scales.

There’s also a special mention for a very lovely lady on her birthday – and her story is sure to inspire you! She hadn’t been to a work Christmas “do” for 12 years until Slimpod gave her the confidence to go out and enjoy herself.

PS: If you have any questions you’d like to ask me – or any happy messages for the birthday girl – please feel free to leave them below.

The post Confidence, self-esteem and weight loss appeared first on Slimpod.

WHEN I asked people if they had any health-related questions for Dale Pinnock, the Medicinal Chef, I was swamped with replies – so thank you to everyone. Dale’s working with us to guide you on food to eat for better health and specifically advise on food which will help you lose weight and/or help to heal any underlying conditions which may be preventing weight loss.

This week I had an hour-long video call with Dale when he answered the first of your questions about food to eat for better health!  Here’s the video, which provides some fascinating insights into how our bodies work and what we should be eating.

Dale also has some great advice on little treats like a piece of cake every now and then!

I’ll be interviewing Dale again next week and if you want to ask any questions or add comments about food to eat for better health then please do that below the blog.  Enjoy!

The post Food to eat for better health, great advice from the Medicinal Chef appeared first on Slimpod.

FANCY a healthy chicken stew? I do! Since I teamed up with the Medicinal Chef, Dale Pinnock, I’ve been getting lots of lovely comments and feedback about his recipes.  Several people have asked if he could share a “healthy comfort food” recipe.  So your wish is my command and this week he’s produced his fantastic chicken stew recipe just as the weather is getting a little colder here in the UK!  Perfect timing!

Dale will be recording a Q&A session with me next week which I’ll be sharing with you. We’ve had lots of questions already, which is very helpful, so if you have any further questions on specific food to eat to improve any health conditions you may have, please do let me know in the comments below and I’ll chat it through with him.  Enjoy the recipe!

Dale tells me: “This dish is winter time comfort food, done healthy, at its very best. Why not have an enjoyable culinary experience and do ourselves some good at the same time?

“There’s no reason at all why we can’t tick both boxes. This particular dish proved very popular on my TV series Eat Shop Save and if you try it, you’ll see why.

“From a nutritional point of view healthy chicken stew ticks a lot of boxes. Low glycaemic, high fibre, high protein, keeps you full for HOURS and is rich in many micronutrients like zinc and B vitamins.”

Dale’s healthy Chicken Stew recipe

Ingredients for healthy chicken stew

Serves 4.

1 Large red onion, finely chopped

3 Garlic cloves, finely chopped

Olive oil

2 X 400g cans of cannellini beans, 1 drained, 1 with liquid retained

4 Chicken breasts, diced,

200ml vegetable stock

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon mixed fresh herbs

Salt

Cooked greens or salad to serve

Method for healthy chicken stew

In a pan, sauté the onion and garlic in a little olive oil, along with a good pinch of salt, until the onion has softened.

Add the beans, including the retained liquid. Simmer for 7–8 minutes, stirring often.

Add the chicken and the vegetable stock. Allow to simmer for around 20 minutes, stirring regularly. Add a little water if it starts to dry up.

At the point where the sauce has thickened to a delicious creamy texture and the chicken has cooked, take off the heat.

Add the grated Parmesan and mixed herbs and stir well.

Serve with cooked greens or a salad.

  Dale’s book Healthy Every Day is packed with yummy recipes that are bursting with healthy ingredients. You might also like this recipe from Dale: Healthy whole wheat spag bol

Please let me know how much you liked Dale’s healthy chicken stew recipe by leaving a comment below. And please leave your questions for Dale here, too.

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AS I excitedly announced a couple of days ago, I’ve teamed up with the Medicinal Chef, Dale Pinnock, the leading nutritionist, author of 14 books and a TV regular. When I met Dale at a conference in the United States a couple of weeks ago, it was obvious our values were aligned.

We’re both passionate about helping people live healthier lives and I knew instantly that if he agreed to partner up, it would be a match made in heaven!  He did and it is!

One of the most important things that makes lifestyle change sustainable is doing it in small steps.  This is a core principle of the Slimpod programme.  And as you’re about to see, it’s what Dale advocates on the food side of things, too.

I said a couple of days ago that Medicinal Chef Dale would be giving you a series of challenges to help you drop a size and get into your party gear for Christmas.

Here’s Dale’s first challenge – please let me know how you get on with it by leaving a comment below. And if you’re part of our Slimpod community I look forward to seeing pictures of the dish you’ve cooked up!

Over to you, Dale:

“One of the big issues so many people have when they begin to eat healthier is that they try to change everything all at once. They try to do a complete overhaul of their habits in one go and shift themselves into a whole new way of eating overnight.

“Now for 99.9 per cent of us that just isn’t the way forward at all. In fact, it’s the road to ruin. They key for real long-term change, as you know, is by changing your habits, and the way that you eat is a series of habits all built one on top of the other.

“We need to change things bit by bit to completely shift our lifestyle over time. This is why I always use the rule of ‘change one thing’.

“As the name suggests, this means finding one single thing that you can change straight away – then change just that.

“Keep this up for a few weeks until it is a habit, then make another goal and make that simple change. Keep this up and after six to 12 months your lifestyle will be drastically different.

“So where to start? Well, that’s up to you but one of the most fun things is to ‘give your favourites a facelift’. Start with what you already enjoy eating and your favourite foods.

“Learn how to give them a bit of a facelift. You like pizza? Amazing! Have a go at making one yourself.

“Use a multigrain bread mix to make the crust. Top it with loads of vibrant veggies like spinach, red onion, fresh garlic, artichokes, maybe some goat’s cheese or feta on there.

“Why this change? The multigrain bread base is much higher in fibre and will keep you feeling fuller for much longer and stabilise your blood sugar levels. which in turn will reduce your desire to snack, reduce overall calorie intake, and majorly improve gut health.

Small simple swap, major benefit

“The toppings deliver far more micronutrients, antioxidants, and beneficial phytochemicals. Small simple swap, major benefit.

“You like spag bol? Excellent, swap the pasta over to the brown variety and bulk up the ragout with red lentils to raise the fibre content.

“The wholewheat spaghetti again keeps you feeling fuller for longer, keeps you satiated, and stabilises blood sugar. You get the point.

“If you think eating healthy is about self-deprivation, denial and self-punishment then man alive have you missed the point! Enjoy the food you love but at the same time get educated about what healthy actually looks like and why, and bring the two worlds together so you have something that is both sustainable and thoroughly enjoyable for life!!

“Over the coming weeks I’m going to be giving you small tips and challenges so you can begin to adjust your diet and lifestyle to not only help manage your weight but improve many aspects of your health.

“It’s a complete dietary overhaul that’s simple, enjoyable, fad free and not a calorie or set of scales in site. My tips and challenges will build on each other to really step up your healthy eating game!”

Here’s Medicinal Chef Dale’s super-healthy Spag Bol recipe

Spag Bol’s a real family favourite up and down the country – and one that can be a monumental calorie bomb if we aren’t careful. This one will go down an absolute storm. The changes aren’t huge – just a couple of tweaks and this dish becomes so much better for you. By swapping white pasta for brown we up the fibre, and adding the lentils means extra protein, fibre and B vitamins.

Ingredients

180g dry red lentils

1 large red onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 red seeded, finely chopped and deseeded

Olive oil

500g lean minced beef

1 tablespoon tomato puree

2 X 400g cans of chopped tomatoes

250ml beef stock

500g wholewheat spaghetti, mixed leaf salad to serve

Method

Place the lentils in a saucepan, cover with boiling water and simmer for 15–20 mins until soft, then drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a pan sauté the onion, garlic and red pepper in a little olive oil, along with a pinch of salt, until the onion and peppers have softened.

Add the mince and gently fry for 7–8 mins, until it’s cooked through. Stir in the tomato puree. Add the lentils, chopped tomatoes and stock and simmer for 10–15 mins, until the sauce has thickened.

Finally, cook the spaghetti until al dente or according to the packet instructions.

Serve with a mixed leaf salad.

The post Change one thing at a time for major wellness benefits, says Dale appeared first on Slimpod.

YOU’VE probably seen Dale Pinnock, the Medicinal Chef, on TV or read one of his 14 books. He’s been on Lorraine, the Alan Titchmarsh Show and the series Eat, Shop and Save explaining the science of how food can make us healthier. Well, here’s the exciting news: Dale is teaming up with me to give Slimpodders expert advice on how to eat for good health and what to eat to lose weight more effectively.

He’ll be joining us on Facebook for a live session in a week or so, and today in this blog he’s giving you an introductory insight into the invaluable guidance he’s going to be sharing with you. I’m SO excited!

Over the next four weeks Medicinal Chef Dale will be showing you that if you just change one thing in your diet it can make a big difference to your weight and your health.

He’ll be showing you how you can give your favourite food a facelift and also how you can eat to help underlying medical conditions, like under-active thyroids, and other health related issues that might be preventing you from losing weight so far.

He’ll even be helping you to make healthy comfort food during the winter months and sharing some great recipes! Dale and I met in October at a conference in California and I knew right away that he’d be just the man to give podders expert help with nutrition and health.

Dale has degrees in human nutrition and herbal medicine and is completing a master’s degree in nutritional medicine. Don’t worry that he’ll be baffling you with science – Dale has a remarkable knack of putting everything in a down to earth way that’s great fun.

His book The Medicinal Chef is packed with recipes that prove how easy it is to use seemingly humble ingredients which have been shown to have beneficial effects on a range of medical conditions – as well as helping you to shed pounds.

You can find out more at Dale’s website. Today the Medicinal Chef has this advice for you to set the scene for the amazing stuff he’ll be sharing:

“How many of you were on the diet hamster wheel for years and were involved counting or recording something? A lot of you, I would guess. For decades we’ve been taught the concept of diet that revolves around counting calories, counting points, or syns, or all manner of different things.

“Yet the more of us that do this, the more of us that fail. We focus on all of the things we shouldn’t do, and arbitrary numbers that in theory, if the maths add up, take us to health and fitness Utopia.

“However, the health of the nation is in crisis. That is undeniable now. Here in the UK between 2005 and 2015 the percentage of adults that were overweight or obese rose from 60.5% to 62.9%. We are WAY over the halfway mark!!

“We are in an age where we know so much about the way that our bodies work, and there is so much information at our fingertips, yet the scales keep going up. I believe there are two things responsible for this. Environment and misinformation.

“The first, we cannot easily control. The second, well that very much influences our choices. If we tackle that, we can determine how we respond to the first.

“So what is this misinformation? Well, I’m going to tease you with it here, and make a very controversial statement…

“The biggest piece of misinformation is that weight management is simply a “calories in” versus “calories out” equation. Burn more calories than you consume, and you will lose weight.

“OH IS THAT IT?? That’s all I need to do then…if only!!! Millions of people have been doing this and just continue to pile on weight or struggle to lose a pound. In my clinical practice I have worked with thousands of patients over the years and I have NEVER met ONE single patient that strictly adhered to a calorie counting diet and managed to maintain it and to successfully keep the weight off for more than two years.

The Medicinal Chef says you’re not to blame

“This is the norm. We are taught this, we put it into action, and we fail. Then, even worse we believe that it’s US that’s to blame. We feel like a failure and we beat ourselves up. We get disheartened and we give up and stop our efforts to live a healthier life.

“Our bodies are not a mechanical engine that runs at a set rate on a single standardised fuel. We are biological systems. We break down, absorb, metabolise, respond, react, adapt.

“We are an incredibly complex and beautifully orchestrated sea of interconnected biochemical processes and interactions. We are regulated by hormones, by cross-system communication and it is understanding this, our very nature that holds the key to getting free from the dieting trap for ever.

“Understand exactly how your body works, how the food that you eat influences the myriad of control systems, hormonal responses and biochemical interactions, and how to put this knowledge into action when you eat, then you will finally have the map out of the woods.”

And I’m delighted and excited that’s what Dale the Medicinal Chef is going to be showing us all! So look out for my blogs in the weeks ahead. Please leave a comment below with your food questions and to give Dale a warm welcome to the Slimpod community.

The post Medicinal Chef Dale reveals which foods can make us healthier appeared first on Slimpod.

WANT to look younger, feel more energetic, lose some belly fat and improve your health? Of course you do! But you don’t have to buy any expensive “magic” potions or book into a swanky health farm – just give up sugar for a month and you’ll notice some great changes to the way you feel and the way you look.

As this is Sugar Awareness Week I thought you might like to find out the benefits to you if you quit sugar. I don’t just mean the spoonful you add to your tea or coffee, by the way.

I mean being totally aware of the hidden sugar in everyday food and drink and steering clear of it.

You can find out more about hidden sugar in some of my earlier blog posts.

More sugar in ready meals than in Coke

Think you’re eating healthily? Think again 

Jamie Oliver’s shock food video 

But just take a look at some of the scientifically-proven benefits of a life without sugar.

Quit sugar for younger-looking skin

Research suggests that high blood sugar hinders the repair of your skin’s collagen. So a poor diet can make your skin less elastic and bring on premature wrinkles. Studies show that if you quit it can help reduce visible signs of ageing.

Quit sugar and lose that belly fat

Cakes, biscuits and fizzy drinks pile on the pounds around your middle. This is because high blood sugar levels release a flood of insulin through your body and over time make fat build up around your belly. This is especially dangerous because these abdominal fat cells release hormones that bring on the kind of inflammation that can cause heart disease and cancer.

Quit sugar and keep diabetes at bay

For greater protection against type 2 diabetes, you should quit sugar (or at the very least cut down on it). When you eat a lot of sweet carbohydrate the pancreas releases huge amounts of sugar to cope. Repeat this day after day at every mean – and between meals with snacks – and the cells which produce insulin can get tired and stop working, eventually leading to diabetes.

Quit sugar and protect your heart

A research project shows that people who get between 17 and 21 per cent of their daily calories from food packed with sugar had a 38 per cent higher risk of dying from heart disease than those who kept their added sugar intake to below eight per cent. So stay away from ready meals, junk food, pizza, sauces and all processed food in tins and jars. Their sugar content is huge.

One man in Holland who quit sugar and alcohol for a month for a TV documentary lost 8lbs, saw his blood pressure fall from 135 to 125 and got his cholesterol level to drop by eight per cent.

But going “cold turkey” wasn’t easy. He felt “cranky” and was constantly hungry. This is because sugar is like alcohol – it makes you feel tired, dehydrates you and sucks the vitamins out of your body.

The Dutch guinea pig said he felt much fitter at the end of his month being forced to live on fruit, yoghurt and salads. But it took three weeks for the sugar cravings to finally disappear.

What really grabbed my attention was when I discovered what happened when he started eating sugar again. “I got arrhythmia [irregular heartbeat] twice,” he said. “I also had trouble sleeping. I couldn’t fall asleep before 3am or 4am. My body wasn’t used to sugar any more and it came in like a drug.”

That’s precisely the problem we face in our sugar-laden world today. Sugar is like an addictive drug – and it’s hugely powerful.

Is sugar a problem in your life? Could you challenge yourself to quit sugar for 21 days? Please leave a comment below – I read them all with great interest and they really help me to help others.

The post Quit sugar and this is why you’ll look younger and feel better appeared first on Slimpod.

HABITS give us the results we want but the real reason habits matter is that each action you take is like a vote for the person you want to become. And we become what we repeatedly do. Small daily actions and small wins take you towards your goal, enabling and empowering you to form good eating and lifestyle habits which will result in sustainable weight loss.

And this is where the importance of small wins comes in. Small wins help you feel like you’re accomplishing something. Focus too much on the big goal and you’ll feel like you’ll never get there. Small wins motivate you to keep on going – and eventually that big goal is reached.

I always tell people on my Slimpod programme to jot down three small wins at the end of the day that stand out as being a bit different and could be attributed to their Slimpod.

I call this a Success Log and I’ve made mine out of a lovely journal I’ve kept over the years. The differences can be improvements about your eating, your movement or the way you’re feeling. How you’re feeling is fundamentally important to your weight loss journey because that’s what’s going to give you the fuel to keep going!

An inspiring Success Log

The Success Log is based on a psychological principle called priming and this is about letting your brain know you have something important for it to notice.  So by writing down the good things that are happening in your day, this encourages your brain to notice more of them.

It’s one of the golden rules of the brain.  The more you notice, the more you will.  Think about this for a moment.  If you’re thinking about changing your car and getting a new one in red, suddenly all you see every day is red cars.

What’s on your mind is brought to mind.  Same with food.  If you’re spending your day thinking about your next meal, food is what occupies every waking moment.

So you have to retrain your brain to notice things that will move your focus of attention to things that are healthier for you and the Success Log is part of that process.

We all lead such busy lives and unless you stop and think about your wins and positives they’re likely to go unnoticed.  Seeing is believing!

Do let me know about your small wins by leaving a comment below. I love reading about all your successes!

  The post How daily small wins magically lead on to achieving a big goal appeared first on Slimpod.