Fat Vs Sugar

Fat has always been regarded as a heinous and forbidden substance if you were trying to lose weight. A huge industry has sprung up around the manufacturing of low fat food. Only now it seems that there is a new bogeyman on the street and Sugar should be regarded as public enemy number one. So which one is worse for you? Are they as bad as each other? Do we all need to rethink our attitudes towards healthy eating? I've been doing some reading and some research to try and make sense  of it 

Fat

Assessing the impact of fat on your health is quite complicated and even experts seem to disagree. The most important thing to look for is the type of fat that you are consuming.

Trans Fat

This is the fat that you really need to avoid. It raises the amount of bad cholesterol in your blood and also lowers the amount of good cholesterol. It is also commonly known as partially hydrogenated oils. Some countries have taken legal steps to limit the use of trans fats in fast food restaurants but unfortunately it still remains in use in many areas. Trans fats are often found in baked or fried goods.

Saturated Fat

This is where you can start to get some conflicting evidence about whether fat is harmful. Previously all types of saturated fat have been lumped together and viewed as equally bad. Research is now showing that this may be incorrect as certain types can be worse than others and some may have health benefits that possibly outweigh any small risks. 

Stearin acid, commonly found in meat, has been shown to have little effect on cholesterol. Myristic acid, found in dairy products and coconut oil, may increase bad cholesterol but it also increases good cholesterol as well thereby maintaining the correct ratio in the blood.  Lauric acid, also found in coconut oil, may increase good cholesterol more than it increases bad cholesterol. 

This doesn't mean that we should all go out and start eating huge amounts of saturated fat as part of our diet. It does mean that it has probably been incorrect to demonise all types.

Unsaturated Fat

These are divided into two types - monosaturated and polyunsaturated. The general advice is that these types of fats, while still being fairly high in calories, can have a beneficial effect on your health by improving cholesterol levels.

Sugar

The impact of consuming high levels of sugar in your diet has really only been properly assessed recently. I can certainly remember my mum on diets where she would eat sugary snacks every day but she thought it was alright because they were low in fat. 

Sugar is often described as empty calories as it gives no health benefits. Recent research gives a long list of the detrimental effects of high sugar consumption. This includes:-

Insulin resistance 

Diabetes

Obesity

Fatty liver disease

In addition to this, there is evidence to show that consuming fructose, one of the common forms of added sugar, can raise bad cholesterol and lower good cholesterol. 

Which is worse?

I don't think you can say conclusively that either fat or sugar is worse for you. What it is safe to say is that certain fats may not be so bad for you after all and can be consumed in moderation.

What the latest research has clearly demonstrated is the potential harmful effects of sugar which had not been a deciding factor in many people's dietary decisions before. 

Personally I am going to keep to the principle of everything in moderation although I will pay greater attention to the types of fats that I consume. I feel happier about including coconut oil in my diet now. I also now understand why weightwatchers changed their points system to cut out more sugar and this has motivated me to stick with Smartpoints again.

Hope you found some of this useful. Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx

Monday Motivation - Make Time

Finding extra time is my motivation for this week. I've been feeling quite swamped lately with too many things to do and not enough time. 

I'm self employed and work on a freelance basis. This means that I have to grab work while its there and can mean working late into the night. If I don't work then I don't get paid and I can't pay my bills!

I'm a single mum with one daughter at home and one at university. My youngest has special educational needs which means she can need extra support plus she is an athlete and trains three times per week. I get no respite at all. I'm mum 24/7. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have it any other way but it is another time constraint. Add into this, trying to workout each week and work on this blog and you get an idea why I struggle for time. Sleep seems to be the thing that I cut down in order to try and fit everything else in, although I know that this is not particularly healthy for me. 

Now I really have proved myself to be a glutton for punishment by deciding to produce the recipe ebook. I'm not panicking, honest!! 

So solving my time management issues is definitely my motivation for this week. It's July now and before we know it, it will be 2017.

I have an idea of where I want to be both personally and professionally by 2017 but how do I get there? I don't have an easy answer and it frequently feels like time is getting away from me.

I'm going to start by making a series of lists. I'm a great one for making lists anyway but this will take it to a new level. I intend to have daily lists, weekly lists, monthly lists plus a plan of what I want to have achieved by the end of the year. I know this sounds a bit obsessive and that something might slip but it will focus my mind and help me prioritise. I might even colour code my lists! Maybe then I will manage to get more than five hours sleep on a regular basis. 

So I have a notepad ready and now I just need to set aside time today to start working on the lists! 

Here's a few images that have motivated me today.

The last image struck a particular chord with me. I read it as meaning that you should never rest on your laurels. We are all on a journey and you can always push to improve. 

Hope you are all feeling motivated and having a great Monday. Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx

Spicy Chicken and Date Tagine

My continuing obsession with using dates in my recipes really is getting out of hand! I promise that this will be the last recipe using them that I post for a while. This dish was partly inspired by my attempts to increase the amount of spicy food in my diet.

Ingredients 

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp ground ginger

1 tbsp cinnamon 

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp tumeric

375g diced chicken

2 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves of garlic

1/2 red onion

100g chestnut mushrooms 

2 tsps chilli purée

400g tin of chopped tomatoes 

150g dates

100ml cold water

Knorr chicken stockpot

Method

1. Mix all of the spices together in a small bowl.

2. Toss the diced chicken in the spice mixture until it is fully coated on every surface. Leave the chicken for 20 minutes.

3. Heat the oil in a large stir fry pan or wok. Add the chicken and cook over a medium heat until it has browned. This may take about 4 minutes but use your judgement.

4. Slice the mushrooms and finely chop the red onion and garlic. Add these to the pan and cook for another 2 - 3 minutes while stirring.

5. Chop the dates into small chunks.

6. Add the dates, chilli purée, tomatoes, water and stockpot. Stir until mixed in.

7. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 - 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

There are a number of ways that you can serve this. I was cooking for my eldest daughter as well as myself so I served hers on a bed of couscous.

I had mine with my favourite NoodleSlim rice so I just added that to the Tagine for a couple of minutes and stirred until the rice was heated thoroughly.

The recipe is 1141 in total. It made two very generous portions and could have easily been stretched to three particularly if you added a side salad. Two portions came to 570 calories each whereas three portions would only be 381 calories. If you decide to serve it with couscous then don't forget to add in the extra calories.

I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed this considering the fact that it contains a lot of spices. There is a definite kick to it was it wasn't overly hot.

I also loved the fact that my daughter doesn't normally like dates but she ate this without realising there was dates in the recipe. She even rated the Tagine as 8/10 which is good as she's quite fussy. 

This is definitely a meal I will make again. Let me know if you try making it. Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx

Exciting News

Just a quick post as I really wanted to share some news that I am really excited about.

I have had such a lovely response to my recipes that I have posted on the blog that I am looking at bringing them all together into an ebook. This is a big step for me as it's something that I have never considered before. I've spent the last couple of days reading about how to publish my own book and what I need to do. Although it's a lot of work, it doesn't appear to be too difficult so I've decided tonight that I'm definitely going to go ahead. 

The book will include all the recipes that have been featured on the blog plus some new ones. I haven't decided whether to place the book on Amazon for kindles but I'll make sure that you are all the first to know when it's available. 

So I've been downloading design apps and templates and hopefully it will be completed within the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime I will keep you up to date with how it's progressing and maybe even give you a few glimpses of how it looks. It's a completely new venture for me so I'm really excited to see how it pans out.

Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx

Honey and Date Muffins

These muffins were born out of the fact that I still have a huge bag of dates in my kitchen cupboard and I'm trying to think of different ways to use them. I think they actually turned out really well.

Ingredients 

100g Coconut Oil

100g dates

100ml Almond Milk

2 Eggs

1 tsp Baking Powder

250g Self Raising Flour

150g Honey

Method

1. Beat the eggs and add to the coconut oil and honey. Mix well until combined.

2. Add the flour, baking powder and milk, then mix together.

3. Chop the dates into small chunks. I used a cooks knife which worked quite well.

4. Fold the dates into the mixture.

5. Place a heaped tablespoon of the mixture into large muffin cases in a muffin tin.

6. Cook in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for approximately 20 minutes or until the muffins  are golden brown on top.

7. Allow to cook until removing from the 

muffin tin.

These make the perfect snack. The recipe makes 12 muffins and they are only 231 calories each. 

They would also be really good for a quick breakfast. The dates make them deliciously moist inside and they combine beautifully with the flavour of the honey.

Let me know if you try making them. Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx

Wednesday Weigh In - Week 26 - Feeling like a tortoise!

I lost another quarter of a pound this week! 

This takes me to 26.5 pounds lost in total. I know it's very small losses each week at the moment. I keep reminding myself of the story of the tortoise and the hate, hence the title of this post. The tortoise plodded along slowly while the hate streaked ahead. It was the tortoise though who won the race with his slow and steady progress. That will be me on this weight loss journey! I also keep reminding myself that weight lost slowly is more likely to stay off permanently.

I'm still working on strengthening my knee. I had to walk for miles yesterday as my car had to go into the garage. I had no bad reaction from my knee so that's definitely promising.

Hoping to work on some new recipes this week. If you're a fan of spicy chicken then keep an eye on my posts! Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx

Monday Motivation - Peace

I titled this post Peace because I had been thinking about inner peace. By that I mean the certainty of knowing that you have chosen the right path for yourself and that you are comfortable either with the person you are now or the person that you are trying to become.

I'm trying not to sound too cliched but I suppose it's listening to that inner voice that we all hear in our minds and recognising that our actions and decisions are in sync with that voice.

For me it mean knowing my end goal, not listening to any doubters or cynics and recognising that if I do lapse or have a setback then I will get over it and carry on.

We all make minor decisions every day but deciding to do something to improve your health and fitness is a big decision that can only enhance your life. Recognising that will bring you peace with your decision and help you become singleminded. 

Here's some of the images that have motivated me today.

Hope you are all having a peaceful and motivated week. Thank you for reading my somewhat rambling thoughts! Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx