Beauty diet and Weight loss: The ONE thing you need to slim

Lose weight forever as fast or as gradually as you want
with the Ultra Beauty detox diet plan - and get
glowing, healthy and slim

Have you made resolutions to detox, diet and shift that extra weight? To slim down and fit into old clothes, to lose that Christmas weight, or just to look stunning at an important event that’s coming up soon?

At Ultra Beauty we want you to be healthy, glowing and happy, whatever your natural weight is, and if you follow The Diet then you should experience weight loss as you get healthier and more beautiful. Radiant health is what you should be aiming for, and what will make the biggest difference to your beauty – not just being thin. 

Quick note - please follow me on Twitter +Ultra Skin Beauty ! I would love to get more followers! 

But sometimes, you simply want to lose weight. You need to shift half a stone of fat to kick start your health regime and that is priority number one.

There are LOADS of diets on the market, and in the past I’ve been really confused by which ones work, and in the process have only put on more weight.  I tried eating only protein, or low fat, or no food after 5pm – trust me, and millions of other dieters - they don’t work!  

But there is really only one ‘diet’, or eating principle, that gets serious results.  And once you follow it, you will see serious weight loss, and never look back. 

It’s called Calorie Counting.  

Yep, good old fashioned energy in versus energy out.  What you eat must be less that what you are using up, when accurately measured by adding the number of calories in your food.  If you ask a member of the medical profession, he or she will tell you that this is categorically the only way that you will shift fat and reach your optimum body goal. When it comes to weight, a calorie is a calorie, whether it comes from Coke or carrots.  

Obviously it’s in your best interests to eat mainly foods that are wholesome and nutritious, as they will give you energy and keep your appetite in check. But you still need to count the calories that your healthy meals are giving you if you want to lose weight.  Case in point – avocados are extremely nutritious, packed with skin-friendly vitamins and anti-ageing antioxidants, and Ultra Beautiful fans should certainly include them in diet, regularly. But watch the portion size, as a large avo contains 400 calories - a third of your daily allowance if you’re on 1,200 calories per day.  Enjoy these healthy foods, but just be aware of how much energy they are giving you!

Exercise burns calories, and will help with weight loss

What about fat?  Fat in itself isn’t bad, except for the calories it contains. I am an avid salad dressing-dodger, and that’s not because olive oil is bad, but because I’d rather eat the 200 calories in something more substantial, like nuts or oily fish. Fat is important in the diet as it keeps you feeling full until the next meal, so don’t be tempted to shun it altogether.

Anyone who says ‘Oh, I want to diet but I hate counting calories’ simply hates seeing the number of calories in a cup of dried fruit, and how long it would take to burn it off. (440 calories, and 30 mins of running, for an average man. Yikes.) Check out this excellent article on snacks that that way too long to burn off. 

A small cappuccino takes 30 minutes of running to burn off

So what is the one thing that you need to achieve this?  

A calorie counting app that you use every day. 
These brilliant inventions make it easy to track what you eat, and tell you how much you have left for the rest of the day, making it easy to plan meals.  They track not only calories, but vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, so you can see if your diet is lacking anywhere.

MyFitnessPal logs your meals, and
shows you how your diet adds up in terms
of vitamins and minerals - showing if
you're missing out on anything

My total favourite which I swear by is MyFitnessPal which organizes your diet, telling how much you should be eating for your height, your weight-loss goal, and how soon you want to reach it.  For example, if you want to lose a stone in a short amount of time, it’ll give you a small number of calories you can eat each day to achieve this goal quickly. The app seems to know the stats of every single food in the world, from sweet potato falafels to bacon cheeseburgers. 

The word 'calorie' comes from the Latin for 'heat',
and represents a unit of energy. Your body uses up loads
of calories in cold weather, simply staying warm!

You can also log any exercise you do, to ‘buy’ yourself more in your allowance.  There is no way I could accurately calculate the energy in foods without it, let alone remember it all day!  You can also record your progress, and consult the online community to ask questions and chat dieting tips.  

Portion control is key...

I got a few surprises when I started using the app, because food I thought was diet-friendly, like humous, was frighteningly high in calories, and reminded me of the small serving size that you’re meant to eat. It's worth looking at the portions you serve in general as seemingly healthy food can still pack a punch when you pile it onto your plate.

This amazing meal in a Japanese monastery had incredible
dishes in tiny portions

 

I think apps work so well because your phone is always at hand, so you can so easily tap in what you’re thinking of eating to find out how it fits with your diet; and if you record absolutely everything honestly, you will find that you lose kilos alarmingly fast. It sounds obsessive to log your food, but it really takes the guesswork out of what you should be eating and keeps it simple – which can only be a good thing.  At the end of each day, the app helpfully tells you how much you’ll weigh next week if you keep up the good work, which is very encouraging, and reminds you why you declined the cheesecake at dinner. 

Dieting with friends means you'll get their
support and can share tips and recipes

You don’t have to use MyFitnessPal, and here are two links to the best iPhone and Android diet apps. Loads are free which makes it even easier to give one a go.

I’ll be posting more tips on losing weight and dieting, but in the meantime, if you have any burning questions or things you want addressed, please email me!