How to work out your calorie/energy requirements.

Are you meeting your energy requirements?

Step 1: Calculate Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), using Harris-Benedict formula

For Men= 66 + (13.7 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) – (6.8 x age in years)

For women = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kg) + (1.8 x height in cm) – (4.7 x age in years)

Example: A 24 year old male, 178cm tall weighing 80kg.     

BMR = 66 + (13.7 x 80) + (5 X 178) – (6.8 x 24)

BMR = 66 + (1096) + (890) – (163.2)                                              

BMR = 1889 kcal

Step 2: Thermic effect of food (TEF)

TEF = BMR x 0.15

TEF = 1889 x 0.15

TEF = 283 kcal

Step 3: Identify physical activity level (PAL)

1.2 – 1.3 Bed or chair ridden.                                         

1.4-1.5 sedentary occupation without daily movement.

1.5 – 1.6 sedentary occupation with daily movement.

1.6 -1.8 occupation with prolonged standing.

1.9-2.1 strenuous work or high leisure activity.

Example:  (BMR X PAL)    889 x 1.7 = 3211 kcal

Step 4: Add daily exercise (metabolic equivalency or MET)

High Intensity Cycling = 12               Circuit Training = 8

Low Intensity Cycling = 3                  High Intensity Walking = 6.5

High Intensity running = 18               Low intensity walking = 2.5

Low intensity running = 7                 Intense free weight training = 6   

(Example trains for 1.5 hours of weight training)

Example: 80(BW) x 1.5 (duration) X 6 (MET) = 720 kcal

Step 5: Add steps 2,3 & 4 together!

Example = (BMR x PAL) + TEF + Exercise      

3211 + 283 + 720 = 4214 kcal

On a non exercise day just add steps 2 & 3 together.

NOTE:  TO GAIN WEIGHT ADD 500KCAL, TO LOSE WEIGHT REDUCE BY 500KCAL PER DAY

Are you a secret eater but don't even know it?

Eating healthily in the modern era is not easy; it’s not hard either, but it does take planning, commitment and sometimes an iron will.

I have encountered many individuals who are trying to change their diets, eat healthier and lose body-fat over my many years as a fitness professional (many of these finding it a struggle) and I have absolutely no doubt that people do not think they are lying to me about what they eat.  However, I do believe that for many they do not realise what passes their lips each day and do not realise how many extra calories of sugar in particular they are consuming.

Those who know me, or who have read my blogs before will know that I am anti calorie counting, but I do think that it’s important to understand the macro-nutrient breakdown of your diet if you are trying to lose body fat or gain muscle mass.  The macro-nutrients are protein, carbohydrate and fat.  A healthy balanced diet will contain all macro-nutrients, the exact quantities of each will depend on your individual situation. The macro nutrients are;

Protein: Only consume clean protein sources. Grass fed, organic or free range meat and poultry where possible and fresh water, wild fish.  Good vegetable sources can include nuts, seeds, pulses (careful of carb content) and vegan protein powders such as Sun Warrior.

Aim for 0.6g per lb/body weight per day (more if you are training hard or recovering from illness).

Carbohydrate (CHO): Coming from mainly low glycaemic vegetable sources.  Avoid grains, especially anything containing wheat. 

As a guide, if you want to lose body fat, consume no more than 100g of CHO per day.  If you want to maintain bodyweight, 100-150g of CHO is adequate (see my "How much CHO should I be eating" blog for full details).

Fat: A good balance of saturated sources (animal fats & coconut oil), mono-unsaturated fats (nuts, olive oil, avocados) and polyunsaturated fats (seeds, oily fish) will give the body a great source of energy and help keep your blood sugar balanced and your insulin levels under control.  A daily Omega 3 fatty acid supplement is recommended too.

Note: AVOID ALL TRANS-FAT SOURCES (highly processed man made fats found in cakes, pies and pastries).

Ok, this is all very well, but what do I mean when I say, “Are you a secret eater, but don’t even know it?”  I am referring to the fact that despite many of us getting the basics right in terms of eating 3 meals a day that are home cooked, full of vegetables, drinking lots of water etc. We are not making any progress in our body fat and body weight goals.

Why?

I am sure this is down to not realising how much extra food and drink passes our lips that we don’t count as eaten, or in some cases even realise we’ve consumed.

The culprits:

Alcohol:  Ok, we all know when we’ve had a drink, but if you have a heavy night (and we all do), do you really know how much you’ve had to drink?  Let’s do some conservative maths.  If you consumed 1 bottle of red wine (approximately 400kcal), 2 G&T’s (approx 240kcal) & a couple of shots of zambuca (approx 200kcal) on a night out, you have added over 800kcal of (mainly) sugar to your diet.  This doesn’t even count the kebab on the way home and the way you crave junk food the next day and you can see that someone with a particularly social job or a lifestyle that revolves around weekend drinking will have problems controlling their weight, or losing body fat even if they are exercising a lot.  The way round this is simple; moderation!  I know that’s not always possible, but if you want results then knock the binge drinking on the head.

Petrol station queues:  We’ve all been there, standing waiting to be served, your tummy is rumbling and all around you are special offers for chocolate bars, crisps and cakes.  It’s so easy to just throw a little treat onto the counter, eat it in the car and throw away the wrapper before anyone sees, it’s like it never happened.  Again, let’s do the maths.  If you fill up twice a week at the petrol station and each time buy yourself a chocolate bar and a bag of crisps (approx 400Kcal X 2 = 800 Kcal), again it’s easy to see how the calories in sugar and bad fats can rack up without noticing.  I have found the way to get around this is to pay in cash and make sure you fill your tank up completely so you don’t need to go as often.

Fizzy drinks:  This one, especially “sports drinks” really grinds my gears! They just are not necessary.  I actually chuckle to myself when I see someone guzzling a Lucozade whilst having a gentle cycle on a recumbent bike.  I mean they are actually producing a net calorie gain whilst at the gym, shocking!!  So, first of all, unless you are participating in the sporting arena, or taking part in an endurance event of over 90 minutes you have no need for an isotonic sports drink at the gym.  Non sports fizzy drinks are also full of excess sugar calories.  

If you have 1 can of cola per day (140 kcal) it will add an extra 980Kcal per week.  Not only that, each can contains around 40g CHO, which is almost half your daily allowance if you’re trying to burn body-fat.

My advice is to stay away from fizzy drinks, including “diet” versions (for other reasons) and just drink plain water & herbal teas the majority of the time for good health.  This misunderstanding of the sugars in drinks also applies to fruit juices, fruit smoothies, fancy pants coffees like lattes and such like.  Fruit juices and smoothies (if homemade) can be a fantastic source of vitamins and minerals, but be careful not to overload them with high glycaemic fruits. It’s all about the combinations!

Other notable culprits include; 

Grazers – Eating a few chips from your children’s plates or finishing their leftovers everyday does count!

70:30 – Eating well Mon-Fri but blowing out at weekends isn’t going to get you results.

Office cakes – it’s not necessary to have to take a slice of cake just because it’s Jenny’s cat’s birthday.  

Remember, those people who pressure you into eating are just doing it because it makes them question their own life choices.  

You eat too much! – You can eat too much good food.  Focus on portion sizes and food ratios on your plate.  A good fist size piece of protein, a load of leafy vegetables and some healthy fats in the form of some avocado, seeds or some olive oil to dress is how a plate should look. Try using smaller plates too.

I’m not going to pretend I am perfect, but I am fully aware of what I’m eating and what my health goals are and adjust my diet accordingly.  I hope this article has shown you that without even realising it you can add almost 2000kcal or 500g of CHO per week in mainly sugar to your diet.  I’m afraid to say, you can hit the gym 4-5 times per week, but it’s going to make no difference if you are stocking up on that amount of sugar.  

My advice is to really take the time to plan your meals, keep an accurate food diary and most importantly understand what is passing your lips!

Stay healthy!

Changing behaviour for long term health

One of the most frustrating aspects of being a Fitness professional is seeing such inconsistency in peoples training regimes and diet.  I am forever hearing next week is the week I’m going to sort my food out; on Monday I am going to stop drinking so much; after my holiday I am going to take my training more seriously etc. 

This table from Stanford University’s psychology research department makes interesting reading and can shed some light on why people seemingly find it so difficult to add an exercise or healthy diet regime to their life,  give up a bad habit or break away from self destructive behaviours that affect their overall health.

The table highlights the fact that not enough focus is on recognising or understanding how much our behaviours, therefore our lives are controlled by habits.

	Stanford University’s Top 10 mistakes in behaviour change
1	Relying on will power for long term change.
2	Attempting big leaps instead of baby steps.
3	Ignoring how environment shapes behaviour.
4	Trying to stop old behaviours rather than create new ones.
5	Blaming failure on lack of motivation.
6	Underestimating the power of triggers.
7	Believing that information leads to action.
8	Focusing on abstract goals more than concentrating on concrete behaviours.
9	Seeking at the outset to change the behaviour forever.
10	Believing that behaviour change is always difficult.

It is human nature to think that we are all in control of our lives and all of decisions and behaviours are completely rational and all of the choices we make are conscious.  The truth is that they are not; our brains may only make up 2% of our body-weight but they consume 20% of our energy resources. In fact, it has been shown that willpower behaves like a muscle in the sense that it burns more energy and can get tired when overused.  Which suggests that it’s natural for the brain to want to conserve energy; running on auto-pilot is a good example of this. 

Our lives are run by habits, so when it comes to changing your diet, or committing to an exercise regime or giving up drinking or smoking it is no wonder so many fail at the first hurdle as they are battling against environmental triggers that they don’t know exist.  The good news is there is something you can do to help; learn new behaviours and create new brain connections!

Professor Ben Fletcher, Head of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire has spent his career researching this field and has overwhelming evidence that shows that when people try new things their mind is opened to change.  This in turn has a positive effect on breaking habits, losing weight and making sustainable long term changes. 

Remember, Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. So, try making some positive changes in your life and do something different today!

Weight Loss - it's all in the mind!

To get a body like a film star all you have to do is cut out wheat, dairy, sugar and carbohydrates; only eat for five days out of seven; never eat after 7pm; and on top of that make sure you are eating enough protein to create a new species on the endangered list and guzzle so many supplements it will keep Holland & Barrett in business for decades. 

Yes, according to the glossy magazines this is what it takes to lose weight and get the body you dream of. Sounds easy, right?!

Sarcasm aside, my many years of experience in the field tell me that people who exercise consistently and effectively and have a diet full of unprocessed highly nutritious food will make significant changes in their physical appearance and maintain a healthy weight.  However, many people constantly fall at the first hurdle and find it almost impossible to stick to a healthy living regime. 

Why? I believe it is due to lack of understanding of the many psychological factors that are associated with dieting behaviour.

Habits

Human beings are habitual by nature and from the moment we are born food becomes an essential part of our lives. It’s no surprise to find out that over the years we develop habits and create associations with food that are in some cases controlled by our environment and are not under our conscious control.  So what can be done about this?  Research has shown that breaking habits can be achieved by making small changes in our daily routine and getting out of our comfort zones.  

Completing simple tasks such as watching different television programmes, eating new foods, taking up new hobbies and making new friends can not only enrich your life but help you lose up to 2lb a week before you even start dieting.  

My advice is to begin making small positive changes to your life before starting a diet and fitness regime, as this will not only open your mind to change but give a whole new perspective to life itself.

Behaviour Change

Timing when to start a weight management programme is essential for success.  By this I don’t mean that you should only start when you have no parties to go to; but knowing when you are ready and capable of change before making adjustments to your lifestyle is important.

I believe there are 5 stages to consider. Which one are you at?

1)  Pre-contemplation.  At this stage people are in denial over their need for change.  They embark on diet plans under duress from others and will rarely achieve success.

2)  Contemplation. This is the stage when a person acknowledges that they have a problem and like to talk about it, read about it and think about it.  In fact, they like to do anything except act on it. 

3)  Preparation.  Preparing for action!  This can involve seeking out a personal trainer or gym membership, deciding what foods you are going to cut out of your life and planning your meals.  A key part of this stage is to go public with your intentions to help push you into action.

4)  Action.  This stage is busy and time consuming.  A routine of new foods and exercise dominate your thoughts whilst trying to combat cravings and negative influences.  This is why preparation is vital!

5)  Maintenance. Once you begin to make changes and gain results, your support from peers dwindles.  This makes it essential that you understand that CHANGE NEVER ENDS WITH ACTION. An extensive period of maintenance is needed to engrain the new regime into your life whilst it becomes a new habit, this can last anything from 6 months to a lifetime!

TOP TIP:  Make a list of all the positives and negatives involved in going on a diet.  If the positives outweigh the negatives you are ready for change!

True motivation must come from within!

I am always shocked by the amount of people who try to lose weight due to the pressure of others.  I cannot be any clearer with this statement; “If you attempt to diet to make someone else happy, you will fail!!”

So, in danger of sounding a bit like a bad actor, what is my motivation?  Well I have found success with clients when I ask them to take part in a simple writing task;

Take the time to write down and explain in detail why you believe that losing weight will improve your life. It is important not to focus on why it will make others happy, but to focus on the emotions involved personally to you and why your life will change for the better. This gives you a chance to express the stress, anger and frustration you may be feeling in a way that is very personal to yourself without having to talk it through with anyone else.  The cathartic nature of this task provides a much needed stress relief, but it also gives fresh perspective on a journey that for some has always been just a dream that lip service is constantly paid to.

In summary, losing weight is not as simple as being told by a young, in shape fitness trainer who has no kids, to eat less chocolate.  If you take note of these important psychological factors and begin to plan your regime properly and make sure you are not only ready for change but doing it for the right reasons, you will succeed.

Avocado Advent Calendar

December is nearly upon us, another year flown by and the shops and television adverts are now in full Christmas mode, work functions are being planned and Christmas parties will be happening every week.  Inevitably this will lead to much indulgence coming over the following month, and I would be very naive to suggest, no let me rephrase, naive to expect people to hold back on their enjoyment after a hard year.  

However, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to get people to keep focusing on adding some good, healthy, nutritious food to their diets every day.

I am taking part in what I’m calling the “Avocado Advent Calendar”.  It’s quite simple; eat an avocado a day for 24 days up to Christmas day (feel free to do the full 31 days in December if you wish). 

Why? I hear you ask.

Avocado’s are finally fighting their way back to superfood status after many years of being left out in the cold due to the disastrous “low fat diet” years.   

Here are 10 reasons to take part and start eating more avocados.

Detoxification – Avocados are full of glutathione, which is both a great detoxifier and an antioxidant. Toxins stick to the glutathione which is then excreted through your stool.

Heart health – Avocados are rich in monounsaturated fat which, when eaten in the correct quantities, can reduce the risk of heart disease, strokes and improves blood lipid levels.

Natural skin moisturiser – Avocado oil can help many skin conditions, such as; dry skin, dermatitis, eczema, age spots, sun damage and psoriasis.  It also improves the production of collagen which will help improve skin condition.

Fights cancer – Avocado is full of anti cancer properties such as, Vitamin E, oleic acid, photochemical, anti-oxidants and dietary plant fat.

Reduce blood pressure – Avocados are full of potassium, which have been shown to lower blood pressure.

Arthritis – Avocados are rich in Polyhydroxylated Fatty Alcohols (PFA’s), a natural anti-inflammatory that prevents arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Weight loss – Avocados can help control your blood sugar levels as they contain a sugar called mannoheptulose that inhibits the synthesis of insulin. Controlling insulin levels helps control appetite and energy levels.

Brain health – Avocados are packed full of Omega 3 fatty acids that have been shown to improve brain function.  They have also been cited by top psychiatrist that they can help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Digestive health – Avocados aid digestive health in three ways; they are packed full of Vitamin B that helps digestion, they help the mucus lining in the gastrointestinal tract.  Avocados also release digestive enzymes which are necessary for digestion.

Eye health – Avocados are full of Vitamin E and lutien which are known to protect the eye against Retinopathy.

Avocados are an extremely versatile food and can be used in many ways, from the very common guacamole, to avocado humus, or even used in chocolate avocado mousse.  Here are my 3 personal favoutrite ways of eating them;

• Cutting them in half and scooping straight out of the skin. 

• Slicing them up and adding them to a spinach salad with some grilled salmon on top.  

• Spreading a ripe avocado on some buttered spelt toast with a poached egg on top.

Here are some more links of avocado recipes to help you keep your food choices fresh and fun;

http://shine.yahoo.com/everyday-food/7-ways-eat-avocados-154200374.html

http://camillestyles.com/food-2/10-best-avocado-recipe/?slide=1

http://gourmandelle.com/savory-healthy-avocado-recipes/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/realguacamole_81424

http://www.theearthdiet.org/2/post/2012/11/raw-chocolate-avocado-mousse.html

So, join me this December and look after your health by eating an Avocado everyday.  Watch out for my Facebook posts of new recipes and updates of my progress.  It would be great to hear how you are getting on too.  Post updates on my HutchisonPT Facebook page;

 https://www.facebook.com/pages/HutchisonPT/192506640807450

Stay healthy!

How much carbohydrate should I be eating?

Thanks to over 30 years of institutionally bad advice on the recommended amounts of carbohydrate (CHO), the western world is currently suffering from an epidemic of obesity and related metabolic disease, such as Type 2 diabetes.  For example, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) “healthy” food pyramid recommends up to 65% of your diet to be made up of CHO foods including vegetables, fruits, grains, cereal, rice, pasta etc. 

This advice is obviously flawed as there are currently 154.7 million overweight or obese adults in the United States, equating to approximately 35% of the population, this has risen from 13.2% of the population in 1962. The UK isn’t any different, NHS statistics from 2011 show 25% of adults are obese and only 37% have a healthy BMI (height:weight calculation).

What is the link between CHO advice and obesity?  This is a question that many will ask as factors such as change in working culture (less manual labour) and technology have rapidly decreased the activity levels of the nation.  Not forgetting that food technology and media advertising have increased the amount of processed foods consumed.  But they cannot take all of the blame, especially as so many people are “dieting” and going to the gym to increase their activity levels and still struggling to maintain a healthy weight.  

Believe me when I say;

CHO = sugar. 

Excess sugar = stored fat. 

Excess stored fat = weight problems!

So, how much should I be consuming? 

Well, according to Mark Sisson, author of Primal Blueprint, it depends on what you are trying to achieve.

0-50g per day = Ketosis and accelerated fat burning.

Acceptable for occasional one to two day intermittent fasting efforts towards aggressive weight loss, provided adequate protein, fat and supplements are consumed.  Not recommended as long term strategy as it depletes the body of essential nutrient high fruits and vegetables.

50-100g per day = sweet spot for effortless weight loss

Minimises insulin production and accelerates fat metabolism.  Alongside meeting average daily protein requirements (meat, fish, poultry), eating nutritious vegetables, (some) fruits, nuts, seeds and eggs, you can lose 1-2 lbs of body fat per week.

100-150g per day = maintenance range

Allows for genetically optimal fat burning, muscle development and effortless weight maintenance. Dietary emphasis is on vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and animal foods, with grains and processed sugars eliminated.

150-300g per day = Steady, insidious weight gain

This level of CHO is the level that many institutionally funded bodies (USDA, NHS etc) and many commercial “diet” companies recommend.  This continuous insulin stimulating pattern of eating provides perfect conditions for weight gain and the associated health conditions.  Chronic exercise and crash dieting may keep weight down for a period of time, but inevitably metabolic syndrome (inability to control blood sugar levels) will develop and fat levels will rise.  This even happens to seemingly cautious eaters, but a few lbs will be gained every year leading to long term problems.

300g or more = DANGER ZONE

Sweet foods such as confectionary, pastries, sugary hot drinks, fizzy drinks, cakes, excess alcohol etc, which are consumed frequently by many mean that this level is easily exceeded without even feeling full.  It will lead to metabolic syndrome, certain weight gain and a shortened life span.

Common CHO foods and their approximate values;

70g cooked pasta = 51g CHO

1 large baked potato = 50g CHO

1 large baked sweet potato = 35.4g CHO

50 g raw porridge oats = 31g CHO

2 slices of wholemeal bread = 30g CHO

1 small banana = 23g CHO

1 medium apple = 23g CHO

70g cooked quinoa = 15g CHO

70g Cooked brown rice = 15g CHO

100g blueberries = 6.9g CHO

100 g bag of mixed green leaf salad = 2.5g

Sweet treats:     1 blueberry muffin = 46.7g, 1 Mars bar = 40g CHO, 42g Granola Bar = 29g CHO

As you can see by this chart, it doesn’t really take much to end up eating excess CHO in your diet.  So it is vital that you monitor what foods you are consuming, weigh your CHO foods before cooking them and make sure you are eating the optimal amount for your circumstances.

Stay healthy!!

For more information about how to plan a healthy diet or exercise plan, contact me on james@hutchisonpt.co.uk, or find me and my colleagues at All About You Fitness Studio's in Highgate Village, London. 

How to eat well on a budget

The old adage, “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse,” has become a sad reality for many Brits recently and we are currently experiencing the fallout of the so called “Horsemeat” scandal.  For many health and fitness professionals like myself it has been an extremely interesting news story, one which both disgusts me but also allows me to feel slightly vindicated as I openly speak out against processed food on a daily basis to my clients.  The fact the food industry has been caught red handed in lying to consumers over the content of its products is no surprise to me and my colleagues, but it gives me the perfect opportunity to present a positive counter argument to something that I hear time and time again; “I can’t afford to eat good food”.

First of all I want to set out my stall; I am not naive in thinking that in today’s financial climate has not affected many individuals and families on low incomes, and I am certainly not arrogant in thinking I can give parenting advice.   I do know if many of us change the way we think about food we can improve our diets (and those of our families) and do this on a budget that suits your circumstances.

The recent news scandal has highlighted that processed food cannot be trusted;  in fact I was told by reliable source that someone is needed to literally count the animals going in and out of these meat processing plants due to the corrupt nature of the business.   For those who do not know, processed food is food that has been pre-prepared and will have instructions to either be re-heated or to be cooked from frozen.  Apart from the ambiguous meat sources, these food types are also packed with sugar, salt, artificial flavouring, fillers and sweeteners. As a general rule of thumb, if the ingredients list is longer than a few items avoid it.

Buying what we in the industry called “whole foods” and cooking from scratch is the ideal solution to make sure that you are getting good quality, healthy and nutritious meals on a regular basis.  This is usually where the phrases “organic” and “free range” pop up and on the whole I would recommend buying as much of these products as you can, but first of all; What are they and what do the terms mean?

Organic Food

According to the soil association organic food is, “... food which is produced using environmentally and animal friendly farming methods on organic farms.”  The problem with a definition like this is it is still quite ambiguous in its meaning, especially as different countries have different organic regulation.  But to put it in lay terms, Organic food will not be grown using industrial chemicals to aid the growing process, it will not be genetically modified and organic meats/poultry will not be fed with non-organic animal feed. 

Free Range

Free range food doesn’t mean Organic, what it means is that the animal in question would have been living in conditions that allow it to roam around and forage for food naturally.  In the case of chickens for example; this means they will not be kept it battery farm conditions (artificial light, nowhere to move or flap their wings).  Why is this important? If an animal cannot move around its muscles and connective tissue cannot develop correctly, which means a terrible quality of animal is produced.  The food industry has tried to get around this by using hormones to help their animals grow and by injecting water into meat to make it look more succulent, but this is purely for aesthetics to help them sell a bad product with low nutritional value.  So just think, if your diet is mainly made up of this poor quality produce, then how are you supposed to get energy and essential nutrients from it?

Below I have put together a list of common ingredients, different levels of quality and their prices.  It makes worrying reading.  The Organic Supermarket produce is over 300% more expensive than the Supermarket Value brands, which is terrible as it does price out a lot of hard working families.  But the mid range brand, which includes free range eggs, chicken and organic milk is not that different to the value brands, so is definitely affordable, especially if unnecessary products such as sweets, crisps, biscuits, cakes, alcohol and frozen food are taken off the shopping list.

Table of common Ingredients

	Supermarket Value Brand	Mid Range Brand	Organic Supermarket
Wholemeal loaf of bread (800g)	£0.90	£1.50	£3.78
Dozen Eggs	£2.18	£2.65 (free range)	£4.38
4 Pints of Milk	£1.29	£1.79 (organic)	£4.30
Whole Chicken	£4.00	£5.50 (free range)	£17.32*
Total	£8.37	£11.44	£29.78

* Available for delivery in London only, which has affected the price on this delivery service

My advice for people who wish to improve the ingredients quality of their shopping list, but cannot afford to buy at organic supermarkets (that’s most of us) is to make up your shopping list with a mix of ingredients from your supermarket (look for the better quality produce such as free range and organic), local green grocers and when possible your local butcher.  If you are unable to buy organic vegetables the make sure your scrub them well before cooking, a tip would be to use apple cider vinegar to scrub them before rinsing in cold water (this removes any pesticides).

Another piece of essential advice is to change the way we look at our diets.  Why do we need to eat animal produce every day?  You can get essential protein from combining cheaper vegetable protein sources; for example a homemade daal (lentil curry) with brown rice and vegetables can provide all of the essential amino acids to make a wholesome protein rich, vitamin rich and energy rich meal that can feed a family at a fraction of the price of a meat based meal.

If you do want to use meats and fish then look at traditional working class dishes from home and abroad to make your meals go further; Stews, curry, paella, tagine, Bolognese, stir fry’s etc. All these dishes use whole food ingredients with some meat, but can be made in bulk portions to feed a family on a budget or to feed an individual for multiple days.

To sum up, it is not impossible to eat well whatever budget you are on, just make sure you shop smart and buy your ingredients whole.  It’s really easy to blame others for the state of your health, but taking some responsibility and cooking more will not only improve your health but the quality of your life and those around you.

Stay healthy!

For more information and recipe ideas email James directly to arrange a consultation james@hutchisonpt.co.uk