How many calories is Victoria Beckham taking on?
19/10/2009 at 10:21am by Rich Leigh, founder of Fat Free Fitness
Taking for a moment that it’s true, Victoria Beckham’s newest diet is on the surface a healthy sounding, if minimalistic approach to keeping slim.
Millions will read about her latest supposed eating habits, maybe even believing that a mix of just berries and sashimi (specially prepared raw fish, of which salmon, squid, mackerel and tuna are popular ingredients) is a healthy diet.
The Mail on Sunday led yesterday with how VB’s adopted yet another diet in a bid to stay model-slim in order to flaunt her fashion range. The story, given to the paper by an ‘unnamed source’ will no doubt be featured in the glossies this week too, and be taken by many women desperate to lose weight as fact, and worse still, a good idea.
I’ve got two points.
One: I seriously doubt the validity of the story, and believe it to be a celeb-named column filler. Recently, a band of documentary makers called the Starsuckers duped the tabloids into running entirely false celebrity stories without any attempt at fact verification whatsoever – their film will be debuted at the London film festival later this month. If you read about Amy Winehouse’s hair being set on fire at a party, yep, that was one of theirs.
Two: a diet of just berries and raw fish, which as I mentioned sounds healthily devoid of any food nasties is particularly dangerous, even for the Queen of Wags.
Presuming she ate it for every meal (the story said nothing different, except that she drank a glass of wine a night), and ate regularly (so we’ll go with three meals a day as the norm), and ate regular portions, here’s what she’d be taking in.
Tuna Sashimi (most popular type of sashimi)
Serving size: 3 oz, Calories: 49, Fat: 2.1g, Carbs (sugars): 0g, Protein: 7.2g
Berries (story didn’t specify, so we’ll go with mixed)
Serving size: 100g, Calories 100, Fat: 0g, Carbs: 23g, Protein: 0g
Glass of wine a night (again, not specified, so I’ll give average info)
Serving size: 175ml, Calories 120, Fat: 0g, Carbs: 3.5g, Protein: 0.3g
So, if the story’s to be believed, she’s taking on just 567 calories a day from her diet, up to 865 calories if she eats 5 times a day.
At an alleged 5’6”, with a weight of around 7 and a half stone if reports are to be believed and at 35 years of age, Victoria Beckham should be eating 1200 calories a day to maintain her weight if she was at rest all day.
When we add in her potential activity (on a scale of 1-5 from sedentary to extremely active, I’ll estimate she’s moderately active, being a mum of 3 and an exerciser – in the band of people who enjoy moderate exercise or sports 3-5 days a week), and multiply her calories by this factor, it takes her to 1860 calories a day that she would need to eat to maintain her weight, more than 3 times more calories than she’s potentially taking on a day, again, IF the story is to be believed.
Without calculating the protein and carbohydrates she’d be taking on a day, you can see at a glance it’s a ridiculously low amount. Of course, all this is hypothetical and based on assumption of her habits rather than fact, but at this rate, Victoria would almost certainly be damaging herself and providing a pathetically poor example to her 3 young kids. Carbohydrates are the primary fuel source for many of our vital organs, so taking on a dangerously low amount can result in problems with our vital organs, particularly the liver.
The worst thing about this is that people will likely adopt this diet, based on what is in effect just puff; or insignificant and irresponsible journalism on Katie Nicholl at the Daily Mail’s part. Make sure you’re not one of those people. You’ll lose weight initially sure, but will inevitably revert back to normal eating and be much worse off for it. Plus, you’ll be absolutely knackered.
Now, I’m off to read about Katie Price’s latest headline grabbing antics, no doubt accurately backed up by yet more unnamed sources close to the glamour model/entrepreneur/singer/mum/attention seeker.
'Skinny' Posh Spice
10 fitness and weight loss peeps on Twitter you should follow!
16/10/2009 at 05:15pm by Rich Leigh, founder of Fat Free Fitness
One of the best things about the internet is how open life has suddenly become. You are able to direct questions at people you are likely to never meet, yet still receive answers to these questions you wouldn’t have otherwise asked.
Twitter is a great example of being able to retain the sort of transparent anonymity that wouldn’t have been possible before the likes of it, Yahoo Answers and other similar tools. Facebook simply doesn’t offer you this freedom of not being judged, as you’re still very much consigned to your real life friendship/acquaintance groups, some of whom you may not wish to talk openly in front of for whatever reason, online or offline.
Having used Twitter for Fat Free Fitness to talk about weight loss, fitness and well, everything else, I’ve seen many, many people direct quite personally motivated questions at some of the leading diet and weight loss minds. There are experts from the world over just 140 characters away, who are often happy to help with queries and worries you may have otherwise kept to yourself. A wise man (English philosopher Francis Baron – thanks Wikipedia!) once said ‘knowledge is power’ and there’s no quicker nor more informative way of getting knowledge which can help you in your weight loss bid than with the internet.
With this in mind, I’ve created a list of ten fitness/weight loss experts on Twitter. The only requisites for inclusion were that they engaged and didn’t just fire out tweets plugging products/blog posts (there are a lot of these fitness ‘experts’ on Twitter), that they were English speaking and could be seen as a fitness/weight loss authority (just going to the gym doesn’t count :)). These guys are born motivators and really know their stuff.
It’s not a ‘top' 10, it’s simply '10 Tweeps who can help you lose weight’. There’s no way to validate who’s the best and thus, the list is open-ended and intended to be a starting point rather than a definitive list.
Without further ado; the list in no particular order!
1. @vitalflow – Josie McKenlay – Kent, England
Online health & fitness soon to feature Pilates & yoga videos to improve your life
2. @formerfatguy - Rob Cooper – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Once weighed 475 pounds... Now doesn't. Teaches natural health and weight loss principles
3. @rocofit – Rosa Coelho – London, England
Personal trainer, massage therapist, Juice plus distributor, Kettlebell addict. Passion: Making people strong, flexible and healthy
4. @livinthefitlife – Kimberly Linton – Washington DC, USA
Your Twitter Fitness Expert, mother, wife, veteran, ex-bodybuilder, boot camp coach, lifestyle coach, Corporate America escapee, fitness is my life!
5. @KTFit – Katie Morse – Chicago, Illinois, USA
Certified Personal Enhancement Specialist, Runner, Athlete, Owner of KTFitness, Core Cross Training Classes, Bootcamps, Wellness Seminars, Fit For Life.
6. @MsFitBC – Angelique Pires – Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
BCRPA certified personal trainer, spin instructor, bootcamp instructor, fitness model, figure competitor and fitness/health columnist for Rage Fashion Magazine
7. @michael_bach – Mike Bach – Manchester, England
Personal Coach, fat loss expert, sports, quick workouts, fitness buff ,film and 24 lover
8. @FitnessToGo – Tera Busker – Roberts, Wisconsin, USA
Owner of Fitness To Go. ACE Certified Personal Trainer with a passion for fitness, the outdoors, hunting and life! G-Free for 5 yrs
9. @infinitefit – Jessica Zapata – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Empowering and inspiring you to live life to the fullest by adopting a healthy and fit lifestyle
10. @fitnag – Julie Mitchell-Mehta – Aboyne, Scotland
Weekly motivational emails to encourage you to meet your fitness goals. Plus online fitness and health advice.
Have I missed somebody? Please add your own tweeps in the comments section below, and feel free to follow me, Rich Leigh at @fatfreefitness!
I’ve written pieces for many of the UK glossy and fitness mags (next in Men’s Fitness in Xmas issue, out mid-November – keep an eye out!) and have been featured in regional and national press talking about weight loss. I’m most likely to be seen with either my 3 year old daughter or a tin of tuna. Or both.
Have a great weekend!
Rich gives guest interview to online fitness magazine finalfitness.co.uk
11/10/2009 at 06:14pm by Admin
Fat Free Fitness founder and weight loss specialist Rich Leigh recently wrote a guest post for online fitness magazine finalfitness.co.uk.
The post tackles the fitness industry and personal training as a whole, as well as explaining exactly what Fat Free Fitness is, how it is bucking the personal training industry, and how it can help you.
Read the post by clicking this link here. Huge thanks to the guys at finalfitness.co.uk, a fantastic online fitness magazine that will surely prove to be the future of fitness media.
Rich will also be featured in the Christmas issue of Men's Fitness, out mid-November. Keep an eye out for it!
Follow Fat Free Fitness on Twitter here for the latest in diet, health and weight loss: @fatfreefitness
Become a fan of Fat Free Fitness on Facebook now: click here!
Please do check out the blogs on the right – have you read them yet?
Fat Free Fitness founder Rich Leigh
Are diet pills really the answer?
10/10/2009 at 07:55am by Rich Leigh, founder of Fat Free Fitness
Quick fixes are rife in fitness and weight loss in particular, hence the over-reliance on crash dieting, steroids, aesthetic surgery and of course, diet pills. I am constantly reminded of the old adage ‘anything worth doing is worth doing right’, and it definitely holds true with weight loss in my opinion.
Diet pills have a great potential to help you lose weight and this can be very appealing, especially if you are someone who has struggled to lose weight in the past.
Prescription diet pills are very strong drugs, and each has the potential for dangerous side effects. Some of the side effects from taking diet pills can be dangerous. The recent widespread exposure of Alli diet pills for instance was particularly depressing for me and my trainers; it was if it was suddenly becoming acceptable to promote these dangerous quick fixes, which of course, do not address the psychological aspect of weight loss and any issues you may have with food.
Each diet pill has its own set of potential side effects, including incontinence (try dealing with this whilst in a meeting!), insomnia, depression and a rise in blood pressure which can result in palpitations, or irregular beating of the heart. This is of course not an exhaustive list, but for me, the prime case against diet pills is that is can only ever be a short-term answer. Ask yourself, are you going to take them for life? Are you happy to be hungry for the period of time which you take them, never actually addressing your food dependency and making healthy amendments? You will in probability lose weight, I'll be honest. If that’s all you care about, without worrying that as soon as you don’t use them, you’ll put the weight back on, you may as well stop reading here.
Some diet pills, especially the stimulant-based diet pills, are habit-forming and as such can be abused. Abuse of these drugs may lead to dependence.
Most diet pills suppress the appetite, which causes you to consume fewer calories. On the surface, this seems like the ultimate solution for losing weight. However, as you reduce your caloric intake, your metabolism also slows down, as we’ve mentioned before. As your metabolism slows, the amount of weight you lose also slows down. This is why it is common for people to lose only a certain amount of weight while taking diet pills alone. The solution, of course, is to combine lifestyle changes with healthy eating, looking at the foods you need to eat rather than necessarily want to eat. Lifestyle changes such as regular exercise, dietary changes such as implementing treat/cheat days, and regular health checkups can greatly increase your weight loss success.
As always, please get in touch for free advice. Our experts are always more than willing to help, and with issues such as diet pills and the reasons a person may choose to use them, we're particularly keen to help you find viable and successful alternatives.
Thinking of drinking this weekend?
02/10/2009 at 07:25pm by Rich Leigh, founder of Fat Free Fitness
If you're one of the millions of Brits having a drink this weekend, you may not be aware how the alcohol is affecting your weight loss effort.
We'd hate to be party poopers, (especially as observing a group of Personal Trainers drinking when we don't often do so is like watching somebody eat after fasting - we're not really ones to talk!) but it's scientific fact that each gram of alcohol contains seven calories. If you're looking to lose weight, cutting down on alcohol will definitely help to reduce calorie intake. Alcohol can also weaken your willpower, tempting you to eat more than you planned - that means the afterpub/club kebab for the uninitiated :). However, being the realistic sort, we know that when a client says they had 'one or two', they very often mean 'bottles'.
Alcohol is what we call a source of 'empty calories', meaning it has no nutritional value other than providing energy, and we all know the only energy you're going to expend when you've had a few is giving your friend (who you've told you love at least 20 times) a piggyback. The energy provided by an alcoholic drink depends on the percentage of alcohol it contains, but also on the type of drink it is. For example, a creamy liqueur will have more calories than a clear liqueur. Typically;
* A pint of lager is about 215 calories
* A measure of spirit contains around 55 calories, but this doesn't include calories from the mixer
* A standard glass of dry white wine or red wine is about 115 calories, and sweet wine is about 165 calories
* A creamy liqueur contains around 163 calories per 50ml serving, while the same amount of sherry or port contains around 60 calories a glass
It really depends on the type of drinker you are as to which is best to drink to help with your weight loss effort (obvious answer is 'water', but we're going to assume you're going to glaze over that!). If you like to savour your drink, it isn't out of the question to enjoy a nice glass of wine or two as part of a balanced diet, but if you drink like a fish, it's probably best to stay away from pints/cans and plump instead for a lower calorie mixer with your spirits, otherwise that evening at the pub could work out to more calories than you should probably even be consuming through both food and drink for the day.
Have a great weekend, but keep an eye on how many you sink, it really could ruin an otherwise great week's weight loss effort.
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Fat Free Fitness Weight Loss
Launched in 2009, fatfreefitness.co.uk is the UK's only weight loss specific personal training agency. Fat Free Fitness helps you stop dieting and counting calories, by teaching you how to improve your nutrition, increase your activity and exercise levels and lose weight. Fatfreefitness.co.uk is a great way to lose weight and save money. fatfreefitness provides you with expert diet, fitness, exercise, gym and personal training advice and support, similar to ivillage.co.uk, weightlossforall.com, thecolumn.org, weightlossforgood.co.uk, tescodiets.co.uk and weightlossresources.co.uk. Win diet, exercise and fitness products by entering fatfreefitness.co.uk competitions. Fatfreefitness.co.uk is not a weight loss support group like Weight Watchers weightwatchers.co.uk or Slimming World slimmingworld.com. Fat Free Fitness is updated regularly with new information. Fatfreefitness.co.uk and weight loss expert, personal trainer and fatfreefitness.co.uk founder Rich Leigh disagree with and discourage fat loss tablets, diet tablets and weight loss aid tablets, fad dieting and crash diets such as the Atkins diet, the Cambridge diet, the cabbage soup diet, the Beverley Hills diet, the baby food diet and all other carbohydrate and calorie restricting diets.
