Water for Fat Loss - But Not By Drinking It!

"If you watch the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves"

The way to make big changes to your physique is through small changes that you will barely notice. If you consistently apply small sneaky changes to your diet, they all add up over a day, a week or a month without you (or your deprivation brain) noticing the difference.

Today's hint is adding water for fat loss. I am not talking about drinking your 8 glasses of water a day which is a given (ahem, for some of us ...) I am talking about adding no calorie water to food so that it has more volume and less calorie density.

Everything that is a liquid can stand to be watered down. Salad dressing, mayonnaise, tomato sauce, even jam, yogurt and cottage cheese. The trick is to add the water directly into the container, give it a decent shake/stir to mix it in and then promptly forget that you've done it. When you measure out the watered down substance, just log the usual amount. You will save a few calories each and every time you dress your salad and you won't even notice (or even remember most of the time).

Don't just drink your water to lose weight, add water for fat loss. If you combine this trick with minus one plus one you will be always be in slightly more of a deficit which will result in slightly more fat loss than you expect.

Painless fat loss - my favourite kind!!

Protein Powder vs Real Protein

I love my protein powder pancakes for breakfast (I don't add the fruit anymore), instead of bread in a sandwich and for dessert. I eat them all day long.

But is protein powder the best source of protein?

We need protein in our diet to build and repair our muscles, but protein is also beneficial as it is the blunts hunger, and it takes the most calories to digest.

Although protein powder delivers the required amino acids to our muscles, I don't believe it is very filling or that it takes a great deal of digestion (which is sometimes the point of choosing the powder over whole foods). I have been making my pancakes with buckwheat flour instead of the powder and having chicken thigh meat on them for breakfast. As chicken has a fairly bland taste, it is actually perfectly delicious to still add peanut butter, maple syrup and ice cream. Sounds freaky I know, but tastes just as good, if not better.

If you find yourself getting hungry quite quickly after a protein shake or a protein powder meal, try switching to real foods - chicken, eggs, nuts - and see if you notice a difference.

Only Binge in Your Best

Yesterday I was sitting around in my training gear contemplating having a binge day. I was sticky and sweaty, I had greasy limp hair and I felt blobby and unattractive.

Before I commenced my eating catastrophe, for some unknown reason I decided to have a shower, wash my hair and put on some makeup.

By the time I had spent some time making myself glamorous, the urge to pig out had passed. I had wanted to eat because I felt like shit. Once I felt better about what I saw in the mirror, it was easier to treat myself with respect.

So before you go on an eating rampage in the kitchen and clean out the fridge and pantry, go take a shower, blow dry your hair, put on some makeup and your BEST clothes.

I wonder if you'll change your mind like I did?