100 Ways to Fight the Flab goes Closer

Closer magazine has this week featured a review of ‘100 Ways to Fight the Flab’ under the heading of ‘The world’s wackiest weight loss tips – that work!’ The article reads as follows:

You’ve starved yourself on the 5:2, survived on cabbage soup and detoxed on maple syrup, but a new (slightly bonkers) book may have the answer to the weight loss conundrum

There’s a whole host of different ways to shift pounds these days, and we’ve tried them all. But a new no-nonsense book, 100 Ways to Fight The Flab (Accent Press, £7.99), is packed with everything from commonsense strategies to downright bonkers-sounding tips to help you stay slim for good. Here are our favourites from author Jane Wenham-Jones, rated and slated by nutritionist Amanda Ursell (twitter @AmandaUrsell)…

1. STAY ON THE SHELF

Fill one fridge shelf with exactly 1,000 calories of food each day – no more, no less. Then eat it. Temptation is removed because it’s all planned and calculated. Make sure it’s beautifully balanced, is filled with foods you wantto eat and includes three meals and two snacks so you’re not left with two boiled eggs, a Mars bar and some spinach by dinner time.

AMANDA SAYS: 5/5

This is great…if you’re near the fridge all day! Successful dieting is about planning, so portioning out what you’ll eat is perfect. Depending how big you are and how much you need to lose 1000 calories may be too low, though, so be sensible.

2. USE PUPPY POWER

Lots of people who, by rights, should be far fatter manage to stay slim with toned legs and bums thanks to regular brisk walks with their pooches. If you find dogs too time-consuming, needy and fond of licking their testicles, borrow your friends’!

AMANDA SAYS: 4/5

Walking is fantastic – it’s free, everyone’s can do it, and you won’t risk injury – unlike high impact activities like running, but you don’t need a dog to do it.

3. EAT CHOCOLATE

Not the whole supermarket shelf, but a few squares of 70% – 85% cocoa dark chocolate is full of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and letting a couple of squares melt on your tongue with a cup of black coffee takes the edge off your appetite. It’s low carb, low sugar and low calorie and it’s also a mood enhancer, so it fills you up and cheers you up.

AMANDA SAYS: 5/5

I’m 100% behind this. Dark chocolate contains a fatty acid that’s hard to digest, making your tummy feel full. Also, in a recent study where dieters ate the same number of calories but either had chocolate cake or a ‘healthy’ breakfast, the cake eaters lost more weight and kept it off because they didn’t feel deprived.

4. KEEP CLOSER IN THE FRIDGE

It sounds bonkers, but often we eat because we’re bored. Find your favourite mag in the fridge and you can flick through that instead of gobbling a chocolate mousse. Keep nail polish in there too – it stops it going goopy and gives you something else to do. Genius!

AMANDA SAYS: 5/5

It’s quirky, but I love it. Many of us eat not because our stomach is asking for food, but because our bored brain is – and this is an ingenious distraction!

5. FEEL THE CHILLI BURN!

Chillies – the hotter the better – raise your metabolism, so you can burn 15% more calories for the two hours after eating your fiery fat burning friend. Infuse olive oil with the seeds, and chuck chopped chilli in omelettes, sauces and your scrambled eggs at breakfast.

AMANDA SAYS: 3/5

Chillies will boost your metabolism, but that can lull you into a false sense of security. You can’t eat a big fatty dinner, cover it in tabasco and think you’ve undone the damage.

6. SING FOR YOUR DINNER!

Belting out your favourite Beyonce track can burn up to 150 calories an hour, as well as exercising muscles in your upper body and reducing stress levels. Plus it’s almost impossible to sing and eat at the same time.

AMANDA SAYS: 2.5/5

Another great distraction, but dancing to your favourite song would be better – you’d burn more calories and no-one would have to listen.

7. BUM SHUFFLE YOURSELF SLIM

There may not be any scientific evidence to back this up, but going up and down the stairs on your bottom certainly feels like it tones you up – it’s exhausting! Do it without your arms and it’s even more strenuous.

AMANDA SAYS: 3/5

You’d be better off running up and down the stairs four times in the time it takes to bum shuffle, but packing our day with ‘incidental movement’ is great – take the stairs, stand when you’re chatting on the phone and do heel lifts at your desk. It all adds up.

…and 8. GET HIGH!

Put all the yummy food in very high cupboards. It won’t be at eye-level to tempt you and when you remember it’s there all the stretching up will work wonders.

AMANDA SAYS: 4/5

Better still – don’t buy it in the first place. A chocolate bar in your trolley is as good as in your tummy – it’ll call your name from the cupboard and you’ll gobble it in a flash. Have treats, but when you’re out and about – you’re more likely to take your time or even share (sometimes).

***

Closer readers can order a copy of 100 Ways to Fight The Flab by Jane Wenham-Jones at the special 25% discount price of £5.99 instead of £7.99 (with free P+P within UK). Just visit www.accentpress.co.uk and enter the code CL25.

You can view the original article, see http://www.closeronline.co.uk/2014/06/the-world-s-wackiest-weight-loss-tips-that-work#.U6FmtL-dL0c.

Advertisement

Flab-fighting tip No 14 – Eat yoghurt and banana

 

This idea came from my friend Irene who swears by this unlikely-sounding regime which has one simple rule – you can eat as much as you like of absolutely anything as long as it is plain yoghurt or banana. You are supposed to do it for three days. Since banana is a diuretic and yoghurt an evacuant (let’s not go there) it does work, but I don’t suggest you do it for that long. By dawn of the second day you will be out of your head with the tedium of it and hallucinating about toast and marmite or anything that isn’t bloody yogurt or banana.

It does, however work, as a quick fix to get into a tight dress. (On the other hand, you could just wear a bigger one.) (Or a decorated tent.)

Flab-fighting tip No 13: Eat eggs for breakfast

Studies have shown that if you eat eggs for breakfast you will consume, on average, 400 calories less during the rest of the day than if you have a carbohydrate-only start to the morning.

Research carried out over eight years, by dietician Dr Carrie Ruxton, showed that those eating eggs, as opposed to cereal, felt fuller for longer and therefore ate less later on. This is presumably because eggs are high in protein, which stops you feeling hungry, but they also, apparently, contain quite a specific sort of protein at that, which works well on feelings of satiety. More research is required, but eggs may also possibly affect some appetite-related gut hormones aiding feelings of fullness. In the meantime, they certainly contain Vitamin D which regulates the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body and promotes strong bones and teeth. Hurrah!

(NB Eggs are also excellent as a hangover remedy and, together with cress and mayonnaise, make the very best sort of sandwich.)

Flab-fighting tip No. 12 – keep your crisps in the loft.

Having to climbing up and down the ladder every time you fancy some cheese & onion will tone your thighs in no time…

  

 

(especially if you allow yourself only one mouthful per trip!)

Flab-fighting top No 11 – Have lots of great sex!

Have lots of great sex

(NB if you’re married, best not to let your spouse find out.)

A good shag burns up to 400 calories and increases the endorphins in your body leaving you feeling naturally high without resorting to chocolate.

Points in favour: you spend all your eating time bonking, and when you do come up for air, you don’t want to look unalluring by ramming food down your throat.

Points against: if you’re single, you might fall in love, decide to get married and that will be your sex life gone for ever.

Footnote 1

I am including a nice picture of a sunset because when I tried google images for a suitable illustration I got more than I’d bargained for. It is a Sunday after all…

Sunset taken leaving St Maarten when I was a speaker on P&0’s cruise ship, Arcadia. An experience to test one’s flab-fighting to the limit. Never seen so much food in my life…

Flab-fighting tip No 9 – Go on Twitter

Yes — you thought the reason you had an arse the size of Northampton was because you sat on it all day tweeting banalities about how many muffins you’ve eaten, but in fact research has proved that using Twitter can actually help you LOSE weight.

.

A study carried out by the University of Carolina found that those who posted updates about their diet on twitter and got support from fellow fatties, lost more of their body weight than those who didn’t. (This is my brief Sunday Summary — for the full scientific low-down click here)

So if you feel like sharing with the world, what you had for breakfast, you are not being dull and tedious after all, but Fighting the Flab! Pleased? Don’t mention it. xx

Flab-fighting tip No. 8 – JUMP!

Jump on a trampoline

If the kids have got a big one in the garden so much the better but otherwise get yourself a trampette (also known as an aerobic bouncer or a rebounder) – one of those mini circular jobs – and leap up and down on that. You can jog, hop or do star jumps– it will come with a leaflet with suggested exercises – and hold a small weight or a tin of baked beans in each hand to intensify the effect. It’s quite good fun, kind on the joints, and a good way of burning calories and firming muscles. Just two words of warning -both for my female readers.

1. Wear that sports bra and

2. If you’ve had children – they will laugh at you.

(If you’ve had lots of children, best have a wee before you start.)

        

Think Thin

There is a lot to be said for the power of positive thinking. Have you noticed how skinny people are always twitching about and never sit still? Tell yourself you are a thin person too and start fidgeting now. Walk rapidly instead of waddling along like a fatty, throw the kids’ crusts to the birds instead of hoovering them up (thinnies disdain leftovers) stand tall, think slimline and practise an irritating laugh and trilling: Sometimes you know, I forget to eat altogether….

Drink hot water with lemon and ginger

Apparently hot water makes your stomach feel full, lemon juice takes the edge off your hunger and ginger^1, 2 boosts the metabolism. I can’t vouch for this. I just know it doesn’t sound as nice as a glass of Macon Blanc Villages and a bag of Kettle Chips.

Footnote 1 – it is probably supposed to be hand-reared, organic, eco-friendly ginger but this is all I could find in the cupboard.

Footnote 2 – and I expect HE bought it. I go to Waitrose…..

Get a horse…. (or borrow one)

 

This could be more complicated to arrange than the dog,  but horse riding will also give you muscles of iron. I have the equine problem licked ever since begging for and receiving a hilarious Christmas present which had my husband choking over his credit card statement for the next six months. The iJoy ride is an exercise machine that simulates the action of riding a horse and as you jog up and down, tones your buttocks, thighs and stomach. You can flap your arms at the same time, add weights and do various exercises as outlined in the dvd of suitably bored-looking girls that comes with it. Visiting children will enjoy it too. Plonk the smallest and loudest on there and turn it up to full speed before they can trash the place.

For a quick glimpse of a slappable-looking smug bloke using one, along to a typically-annoying voice-over, I have found you this youtube clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QOQy4XlBlc

To buy one – go here

Don’t forget I am eagerly awaiting your Before and After photos for any of these tips. Or even just the “befores”. I can always photoshop your head onto a thinner body later…. 🙂

Happy Flab-fighting!