Gok Wan

Last night's screening of "Too Fat Too Young" on Channel 4 was intriguing for most people struggling with weight issues. Here we have Gok Wan, built like a fag paper, on a mission to make us all look good naked, revealing he has a skeleton in his closet (skeleton maybe isn't the best word to use when you're talking about a 21 stone teenager). My whole blog revolves around losing weight in a healthy way - converting to sensible eating - and here we find out that his excess baggage was lost in a mere 8 months. I was so disappointed. Gok Wan's a great personality with a fantastic ethos of encouraging people to be confident in their own skin and yet the program left me feeling a bit empty. The interviews with the teenagers and then with Dawn French left me feeling the producers had no clear objective. Perhaps it was just spin.

Online recipe analyzer

Here you can type in your recipe and, bingo, this clever site works out the nutritional data

http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php

Soups

I find soup a really satisfying meal in winter from a hearty chestnut and chorizo to a no-fat veg, they fill you up and warm you up.

My favourite right now is carrot and coriander which I've adapted to make low-cal.

serves 4

Spray oil
200g carrots, chopped
1/2 a large or small onion, chopped
clove of garlic
same amount in ginger
fresh or dried chilli to personal taste
fresh coriander, leaves and stalks
300ml 1/2 pint of stock

Fry the onion and carrot, add ginger, garlic, chilli and chopped coriander stalks.
Add stock.
When carrots are tender whiz everything in a blender.
Serve with coriander leaves (and optional cream for non-slimmers!)

No-check or 100cals per serving

New Year, New You.

Well everyone says the 1st of January is the worst day to start dieting so I'm suggesting today. You have the January blues: you're skint, you probably hate your job and you put on weight over Christmas. Sound familiar?

Well dieting sensibly can really affect your mood. What you choose to eat can alter your state of mind.

"There is substantial evidence to suggest that positive diet changes may have a beneficial impact upon a person's mental health"
Dr Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation

The Mental Health Foundation provide comprehensive information here.
Be sure to check out 'The Feeding Minds' section where you can click on a problem and be presented with a dietary solution. For example, did you know stress is linked to a B6 deficiency which can be found in wholegrains and bananas?

Lentil Dahl

Super healthy and filling with no added salt!

Fry a small chopped onion and a clove of crushed garlic in 1tsp olive oil.
Add a pinch of ginger, cumin seed, turmeric and coriander.
Fry for a few minutes.
Add one chopped tomato.
Add 100g cooked lentils.
Cook on a high heat for 2 minutes then serve with fresh parsley or coriander.

175 cals
6 checks (serves 1)

CHOCOLATE!

Just started a new job and struggling to get through the day without a wee snack - here's the damage:

Dairy Milk, Cadbury’s 1 Bar/49g 255
Dream, Cadbury’s 1 Bar/45g 250
Rolo, Nestle 1 Pack/52.5g 247
Dairy Milk with Caramel, Cadbury’s 1 Bar/50g 240
Dairy Milk with Fruit & Nut, Cadbury’s 1 Bar/49g 240
Crunchie, Cadbury’s 1 Bar/42g 200
Toffee Crisp, Nestle 1 Bar/44g 227
Snickers, Mars 1 Snack Size/38g 190
Maltesers, Mars 1 Packet/37g 187
Turkish Delight, Fry’s 1 Bar/51g 186
Mars Bar, Mars 1 Snack Size/32g 175
Flake, Cadbury’s 1 Bar/32g 170
Crème Egg, Cadbury’s 1 Egg/39g 170
Buttons, Dairy Milk, Cadbury’s 1 Pack/32.5g 170
Aero, Nestle 1 Bar/31g 164
Twix. Mars 1 Single Bar/29g 143
Bounty, Mars 1 Bar/28g 135
Milky Way, Mars 1 Bar/26g 118
Twirl, Cadbury’s 1 Finger/22g 116
Fudge, Cadbury’s 1 Bar/25g 110
Kit Kat, Nestle 2 Fingers/21g 106

Top tip: Drink 8 glasses of non-alcholic drinks a every day. This really helps with fluid retention by ridding the body of sodium, and keeps you full. Slight dehydration really affects your concentration and food cravings can often be a sign of dehydration. There's also a link between poor hydration and cancers of the colon, urinary tract and breast.

83 per cent of blood is made up of water
75 per cent of lean muscle (including brain tissue) is water
25 per cent of fat is water
22 per cent of those solid-looking bones are water.