British summer time is officially here and like many I’m looking towards warm, sunny days. I’ve already dusted off my patio table and chairs and taken them out of the dark corner of my garden shed and put them in the usual place on my patio. It wasn't too long before I started to imagine sitting on them with a nice cold glass of white wine as I relax in my garden in the warmth of the evening sun.
But this time of year means something else for me and many others (and largely why The Diet Plate would work for me). As the days grow longer and warmer I get that holiday feeling and, like most people, I want my figure to look good when I’m on the beach. The dark cold days of winter makes me reach for too much of my favourite foods and this has obvious unwelcome side effects on my waistline, which I seem to bother more about this time of year.
So what do I do? I search through my draws and cupboards for my gym membership card, which has had a sabbatical for at least six months, give it a wipe down, and get down the gym. This is all well and good, but the trouble is, when I get there I see everyone else has had the same idea. As I wait impatiently for a particular exercise machine to become available I realise that I am in the epicentre of a huge gymnasium surrounded by people in a state of what I call ‘panic training’, including myself. There we all are in a mad rush and frenzy to remove the unwanted excess of our winter habits in time for our summer holidays. I hear people telling others where they are planning on going on holiday and what their goals are for that perfect body before they go. To be quite honest that’s the sort of thing that’s going through my mind at the same time. The fact of the matter is that we are all in the same boat with the same objectives. That is to lose weight, get fit and have that wonderful beach body in just a few months. Every year I myself, and others I meet, seem to think this is totally achievable. I see pictures in health magazines of perfectly toned bodies and work out plans that seemingly promise to give you such results in a matter of weeks.
In reality those people in the health magazines live their lives a lot different to me. They constantly watch their diet (calories eaten) and exercise throughout the year. They have earned what they want from their health and physique through many months and sometimes years using sensible training programs and attention to their everyday dietary intake.
When I stood back and thought about it I soon realised that everything we do has a consequence, whether it be positive or negative. For me, my winter months of eating too much had the undoubted consequence of weight gains and a flabby unwelcomed waistline. So to me this is a negative consequence. If this year I decide to watch my diet and give attention to amount of calories I should be eating and making sensible decisions on healthy foods and portion sizes, then surely there would be a different sort of consequence to my body. The consequence will undoubtedly be a healthier body that looks and feels so much better.
When looking at it in this way it’s so much more clear to me that weight loss, and becoming healthier, is about lifestyle decisions and choices we make every day of our lives. It’s about our everyday attitudes.
Do you know what? I’m going to make that change this year. I’m going to keep my diet healthy with attention to portion control through the winter months. Then hopefully I won’t be one of those panic trainers trying my best to overdo things in the gym next spring, as a result of overindulgence during the winter.
For some, though, weight loss is more of a necessity than simply reaching beach body status.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that since 1980 obesity has more than doubled worldwide. 1.5 billion adults, (age 20 and over) were overweight in the year 2008. Even more shocking is that in 2010 almost 43 million children under five years old were overweight. See how The Diet Plate can help children.
The good news is that according to the WHO, obesity is preventable.
I had heard about Perfect Portion Control Ltd some time ago and was truly amazed with what they had achieved. Their products ‘The Diet Plates’ are outstanding, by how they have helped so many people lose weight sensibly and make lifestyle changes. You can imagine how pleased I was when they wanted to join nanookie.
By Kay Illingworth
The Diet Plate® was created by Kay Illingworth. Kay needed to lose weight for health reasons, to look and feel better and fit into her favourite dress! Traditional methods of counting calories or attending slimming clubs did not appeal to her and she thought she could do better, invent an easier option.
One night, Kay set about calibrating a plate and bowl that would give her between 1200 – 1500 calories a day. And, using it lost 6 stones in 7 months reducing her dress size from a size 26 to a 14!
After patenting this original idea and registering the trade mark, The Diet Plate was launched into the public domain and the rest as they say, is history.
The University of Calgary in Canada heard about Kay after she appeared on CNN headline news in 2002 having just won “female inventor of the year.” Dr Sue Pedersen an Endocrinologist with the University conducted an independent clinical trial of the adult Diet Plate weight management system, for the control of Type 2 Diabetes with insulin based patients. The conclusion of the published study, in her words were “outstanding and groundbreaking” as it proved that, a diabetic was 3 times more likely to lose weight using The Diet Plate and Bowl, than under general GP care for the condition.
Testimonial s for general weight loss are even more impressive, Kay’s biggest losers so far, are James Dennis who lost 17st 7lbs in 2 years and Paula Simpson who lost 9st in 11 months.
The Diet Plate is available on Nanookie but the company also sells to some pharmacies, the Primary Care Trusts and it is used in many of the hospital weight management groups.
For more information please email me
