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Hello Joanne, I have one real vice which is chocolate. I try really hard to cut it out of my diet, but it's like an addiction. Can you recommend anything to combat this.
Answer
Hi Stephen. You good news is that you cannot be addicted to chocolate! What you probably have is a roller coaster blood sugar problem which makes you think you're addicted. I wont get too scientific, but let me just say that when you eat chocolate, several things happen as a reaction to sugar and threobromine which make you feel great- for a while, followed by a big crash until you have more chocolate. You have to get out of this cycle, you could cause yourself type 2 diabetes with comes with a whole lot of misery. You need to train your body, and its not that difficult, to stop roller coasting and remain stable by eating complex carbs only, and have chocolate as a treat no more than once a week. If you have a sweet tooth, I'm not going to bamboozle you or me into believing that you will only eat things like beans and other rough, fibre carbs sources immediately. You may do it for a few days until you crack and get back on the chocolate. Try this, bake yourself some oats pancakes or cookies but use Splenda or sugar free maple syrup for sweetening, NO SUGAR! There are a million recipes on the internet. When you feel a chocolate frenzy kicking in, have a cookie or pancake. You will get the physiological "high" of something sweet hitting your tongue, but your blood sugar wont race up. The complex carbs will provide you with slow release carbs and you wont have the big crash later on. Protein shakes, like Pure Protein GRS-5, are also brilliant for quelling sugar cravings. I hope this helps. Good luck.
Question
Hi Joanne, I am 5ft10 and weigh 14st. I would like to know what is a sensible eating plan, also is it necessary to eat more carbs in the winter months? I would ideally like to be around 13st in weight. Thanking you in advance.
Answer
Hi Rayno. Firstly a balanced diet all year round is essential. There is no reason to do anything differently in winter. You may put on some boyfat in winter naturally because of ancient survival instincts. If you’re looking to lose a stone, you need ensure your diet contains 50-60% of slow release carbohydrates (i.e. as little sugary carbs as possible), and you need sufficient protein with every meal. There is vast information detailing eating plans in the advice section see www.sci-mx.co.uk/advice. I’ll give you the most important basics though. 5 to 6 small, balanced meals per day. Balanced meaning protein, complex carbs, vitamins, minerals and essential fats with every meal. Now one could argue that fish and chips contains protein and carbohydrates. Yes it does, with a massive amount of saturated and trans fat, so don't fool yourself. Each meal should consist of something like a lean, skinless, chicken breast as the protein portion. A medium sized boiled potato or some brown rice as the carb portion and a few pieces of at least three colourful fruits for vitamins and anti-oxidants. You can replace the protein portion with anything similar as long as it is lean, hasn't been fried in oil or processed. So it could be a piece of tuna, a turkey breast, two eggs (cooked any way you like), lean steak etc. When you think carbs, make sure the carb portion is not sugary or white and flowery. So no white bread, and very easy on pasta. A few examples of great carbs are - drained baked beans, runner beans, fine beans, butternut squash, etc. Oats and all bran flakes are brilliant for breakfast but rather than adding milk, mix whey protein with water and use it as milk. It contains no sugar and supplied the protein portion you require with very low calories. The trick is to do this 5 to 6 times per day. That's where meal replacements are worth their weight in gold. Lean Grow MRF or Pro-Plex are the equivalent of one of these good meals and more. So if you have a solid breakfast, and a shake at 11 o'clock, a solid lunch and a sake at 3 o'clock etc. This way you never get really hungry and the fat falls off. Xedra-Cut MX and CLA Ultralean 1000 will help speed up the fat loss process.
Question
I have a big problem, its so embarrassing I struggle to even type the words, but here goes- Bingo Wings. Please help me Joanne. Waiting in great anticipation.
Answer
Hi Mellissa. This can be managed in two ways. Firstly, the basics must be in place such as a high protein, low sugary carb, high fibre diet. The 5 to 6 small, balanced meals per day strategy works best as it balances blood sugar, enhances your metabolic rate and ensures that your body does not go into a survival mode, storing fat and slowing down your energy levels. Having one area, like the back of your arms appearing more "flabby" than the rest of your body is often because muscle wastage caused by not enough protein in the diet, and no resistance training. Having 5 to 6 meals per day can be quite difficult. A low carb meal replacement like Sci-MX's Diet Fuel or Pro-Plex make this easier as you can cycle them with solid meals to make up your 5 to 6 meals. Xedra-Cut MX fat burners will help you get your body fat percentage down as well. With regard to training, upper body resistance (weights) will help, especially chest and triceps routines. One of the best exercises which targets that area is bench dips. This is done by sitting on a bench, heel of your hands on the edge of the bench, legs bent. Lift your body weight off and dip down 10-12 times. Rest for 45 seconds then repeat 2-3 times in total.
