LOSE THE BOOZE

LOSE THE BOOZE

This might not be music to your ears, but cutting your alcohol intake will have a huge (and positive) impact on your attempts to lose weight and build muscle.

Consuming large amounts of alcohol adds a huge amount of nutritionally empty calories to your diet. But the problems don’t end there: alcohol stimulates your appetite when you’re at your weakest – would you really find a kebab appealing if you hadn’t spent the previous few hours necking schooners of beer ? What’s more, the hangover that follows will leave you feeling far less inclined to train the following day.

Which isn’t to say that you shouldn’t drink at all.

A number of studies have found that red wine, in particular, offers tangible health benefits, thanks to its high polyphenol content that protects your heart from cardiovascular disease. Hold on, though. Before you get too carried away glugging the red stuff – all the studies agreed that consuming more than two glasses a day would negate its positive effects.

In brief: Try to cut out alcohol altogether. If you must drink, stick to a glass or two of red wine… But no more than that!

START THE DAY RIGHT

Breakfast is vital – skipping it slows your metabolism to a crawl, severely limiting your fat-burning potential. But some breakfasts are better than others – limiting yourself to just bread or cereal washed down with fruit juice is wrong.

Eating a high-carb breakfast will give you low blood sugar by mid-morning, making you more likely to snack on more high-carb foods, which creates a vicious circle of snacking. So instead of starting your day with toast or cereal, have something low-carb that’s more nutritionally rounded. We’d suggest plain full-fat yoghurt with berries and nuts, or scrambled eggs with smoked salmon or ham.

Alternatively, just see off whatever’s in the kitchen because last night’s leftovers are one of the best (and cheapest) things you can eat, assuming you’re eating right in the first place.

In brief: Think of breakfast like any other meal: you need a blend of protein, fats and fruit or veg. And there’s no law stopping you from eating (leftover) curry!