Time To Man Up About Diets
Still struggling to achieve that bikini body, ladies? Maybe it’s time to follow men’s lead for successful weight loss
Generally speaking, women whine on about diets infinitely more than men, yet – in a cruel ironic twist – it’s blokes who actually manage to lose more weight.
This is partly thanks to their hormones – testosterone is thought to help burn body fat while oestrogen attracts it.
But also, and this is the part we can change, they diet by, well, not dieting.
“Guys rarely ever ‘diet’,” Jim White, a dietician and personal trainer from the US, recently declared. “Sure, they might try to eat healthier or cleaner, but that’s about it. No D-word.”
And it’s true. Think about it – when did you last witness any man frantically totting up how many calories were in that biscuit? Or saying ‘no’ to a steak and ‘yes’ to a salad? Or pouring skimmed milk on a bowl of low-fat cereal?
Clearly, the answer to successful weight loss might be easier than we think…
:: Eat more meat
“Men tend to eat more meat and fat, which can help with blood sugar balance,” explains Katy Mason, nutritionist at The NutriCentre (www.nutricentre.com). “New research reveals one of the best things you can do for health and to control weight is to keep the amount of sugar in your blood constant, not too high, not too low.
“If you’ve had your hunger satisfied by good protein [like meat], you’re less likely to crave something sweet, which can throw your blood sugar levels out of balance.”
:: Eat more fat
It’s been the dieting devil for years, but it’s time ‘fat’ earned its angel wings.
“Women have learnt that fatty meat, cheese and eggs are all high in calories and so avoid them,” says Mason. “The problem is, if you cut out these substantial foods, you’re more likely to be feeling hungry after your main meal, making it much harder to avoid a pudding, or a snack later on.”
Obviously, some fats (trans fats found in processed cakes, crisps and junk food) are still the enemy, but remember that others (unsaturated fats in oils, fish, nuts, avocados) want to be your friend.
:: Drink more beer
Many women avoid beer because it’s high in calories and associated with a big belly, but if you actually want to lose weight and have a drink, Mason believes that you’re best off opting for “a proper ale or beer, instead of all those sickly sweet cocktails”. We’re not pretending glugging beer is as slimming as not drinking at all, but it does have the benefit of being more filling, and therefore less snack-on-the-way-home inducing. Plus, it has less sugar than many of the sweet but seemingly ‘healthier’ fruit cocktail alternatives.
:: Don’t eat your emotions
It’s a cliche, but it’s a cliche for a reason. Hormonal? Have some chocolate. Upset? Have some chocolate. Treating yourself? Have some chocolate. Admittedly (yes, another sweeping generalisation) men have the advantage of being less in touch with their feelings in the first place, but they do also tend not to eat through their fluctuating moods; they just have normal meals, at normal times, with normal levels of emotion.
What are your views and experience of trying to diet?
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