When hauled up for eating crisps with a glass of wine recently, the
nutritionist Natalie Savona could proudly say she was practising what she
preached: moderation. She is no saint, and she used to be a lot chubbier.
This grounding in reality, her practicality and a love of food have made
Savona one of Britain’s leading food experts. She is the author of six
books, including Wonderfoods, Wonderfoods for Kids, The Kitchen Shrink and
The Big Book of Juices and Smoothies; she presents seminars and regularly
features as an expert in magazines, on the radio and on television, where
she has presented two series. A Cambridge graduate, Savona trained at the
Institute for Optimum Nutrition in London.
WHAT’S THIS DIET ALL ABOUT?
This diet is not about dropping two dress sizes in two weeks. We all know that
rapid weight loss leads only to rapid weight gain. The Beach Body Guide is
more about giving you a preholiday confidence boost. By the end of the
two-week diet and exercise programme, you will feel fit, toned and vibrant.
WHAT KIND OF DIET IS THIS?
This is a doable diet, not some weird fad. The meals are based on the sound
principles of the glycaemic index to keep your blood sugar balanced. That
way, you even out your appetite, energy and mood, which helps to eliminate
the cravings for quick-fix, sugary foods that impede weight loss.
Although you will not be counting calories, the beach
body diet recipes and guidelines emphasise foods that are naturally low
in calories but extremely nutritious and high in essential fats and protein.
You will be eating a variety of different foods to represent all the essential
food groups. There is some repetition, mainly for practical reasons, so you
can use leftovers as part of the diet: for example, eat roast chicken one
day, then use the leftovers in a salad the next. There is also an emphasis
on eating foods of a variety of colours. Doing so provides a variety of
vitamins and minerals. Blueberries, for example, may be a superfood, laden
with antiageing anthocyanidins, but you also need betacarotene (found in
orange-hued foods such as apricots) for a healthy immune system, lungs and
skin.
This low-GI,
colour-rich, high-fibre diet is designed to make you feel full of
vitality and help you to lose weight. There is, after all, no point in
shedding pounds if you are drained, constipated or starving, or losing the
joy of eating by seeing food as a number, not a name.
NO CHEATING
If you seriously want to lose weight, be serious about sticking to the diet.
Although moderation and a little bit of what you fancy are sound principles
in the long term, if you really want to lose weight over the next two weeks,
you need to stick to the diet. Do not kid yourself: an extra half-bottle of
wine with your supper or a slice of birthday cake will undoubtedly sabotage
your efforts.
WHAT ABOUT CALORIES AND FAT?
This eating plan is not about counting calories or measuring fat content. Just
because a food is low in either, it will not necessarily help you to lose
weight or provide you with vital nourishment. The idea is that you will be
eating in a way that keeps your blood-sugar levels steady to stop you
craving sugary, fatty, calorie-laden foods. Some high-fat foods, such as
pumpkin seeds, are deliberately recommended to make a meal more satisfying
and to give you a good dose of essential fats and nutrients.
FOLLOW THE PLAN
- Do the Girl Guide thing and be prepared. Look at the beach
body diet shopping list, buy everything you need to follow the eating
plan and set aside time to cook.
- Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner each day from the recipes given, and if you
are hungry, have one of the recommended snacks. If you are a particularly
large man, you may need to increase the portions given by about a third so
you are not underfed.
- For the first week, the easiest way to stick to the plan is to prepare the
food you will be eating yourself, as per the recipe
suggestions. That way, you will not be tempted by an appetising
restaurant menu. Most of the recipes we have provided are quick and simple
to make. We’ve also proposed ways of using leftovers and cooking in batches
to make the process even easier.
- If you have to eat out, keep it simple: choose grilled or poached fish
(without sauce or butter) or chicken with plenty of green veg. If you want a
starter, plain salad is best (no sneaky extras such as parmesan or bacon),
and for dessert, just fruit. For a quick lunch, pick a large, undressed
salad with a decent serving of lean protein, such as prawns or chicken; if
necessary, supplement it with a small can of tuna.
- Before you embark on the diet, think of every excuse that could lead you
astray and banish it. Common excuses, such as “I have to cook for my family”
or “I need to eat out for work”, don’t wash on this programme. All the meals
are perfectly normal ones that any family can enjoy together; and unless you
are on a work or social meal in the chippy, most restaurants will have
perfectly suitable options. Even a Sunday roast lunch is fine, as long as
you have plenty of vegetables, a good portion of lean meat and just one or
two potatoes.
- The diet is only two weeks long, and if you don’t put in the effort, you
won’t achieve the desired results. Although the programme – including the
exercises – is designed for rapid weight loss, you will feel so good that
you will be inspired to eat this healthily even after you’ve lost weight,
rather than go back to a life of yo-yo dieting.
THE RULES – WHAT YOU MUST DO
- Always have breakfast, lunch and dinner. If necessary, snack from the
recommended suggestions.
- Include protein-rich foods at each meal to make you feel fuller for longer:
go for natural yoghurt, fish, chicken, turkey, lean red meat or tofu.
- This is not a carb-free diet. Have starchy food for breakfast, a little at
lunch and none at dinner (go for plenty of vegetables, with low-fat protein
in the evening). See the diagram overleaf for proportions.
- Portion size is important. If you have weight to lose, the chances are that
you have been eating too much. Use the recipes for portion sizes. As a
useful, rough guide, open your hands together, palms facing up, in front of
you – do not eat more food than the total surface area of your hands in one
meal. And I don’t mean piled five inches high.
- Chew your food. Turn each mouthful into a paste before swallowing and pause
between each one.
THE RULES – WHAT YOU MUSTN’T DO
- Skip meals. Calorie-counting or point-based diets have programmed many
people to “save up” for later: for example, missing lunch means you can have
extra pudding at supper. This does not result in successful, enjoyable
weight loss.
- Have more than two units of alcohol a week. Ideally, have none. If you must
drink, do so with a meal to stop your blood sugar rising too rapidly.
- Eat biscuits, cakes, muffins, sweets or ice cream.
- Eat refined (made with white flour) and fast foods.
- Eat fatty meats, such as sausages, ham and salami.
WHAT CAN I DRINK?
- Have at least six glasses of water a day. Vary them by adding fresh lemon,
or by serving hot with grated ginger. Spice and herbal teas count, too, and
you can drink up to two mugs of green tea daily.
- Have no more than two cups of coffee or three of black tea a day. (Ideally,
drink none. It plays havoc with blood-sugar levels.) Do not add any sugar,
and take the milk out of your daily milk allowance (see below). Avoid lattes
and cappuccinos.
- Steer clear of fizzy soft drinks, even the “diet” versions. They have no
nutritional value and may contain caffeine, which upsets the fine tuning of
your blood sugar.
- One small glass of fresh fruit or vegetable juice a day is fine and makes a
good mid-morning drink.
- You may have up to 200ml of skimmed milk a day (on its own, or added to
coffee, tea or cereal).
- Ideally, cut out alcohol for the fortnight. If you absolutely must have a
drink, you can have up to two glasses of wine, two shots of spirits or a
pint of beer a week. Remember that when you drink, you are consuming empty
calories, and your weight loss will slow down.
WHAT WILL I ACHIEVE?
Picture yourself on the beach on the first day of your holiday, stripped down
to your bikini: you are trimmer, you have a flat tummy and you are already
glowing with health.
If you follow this plan alongside the exercise
programme, you should be able to lose at least 3lb a week. Bear in mind,
though, that we are all different: the less weight you have to lose, the
harder it may be. Similarly, the closer this plan is to your usual way of
eating, the less marked the changes will be. Cheating will, of course,
scupper your plans.
The ideal rate of weight loss in the longer term (yes, you can follow this
diet for as long as you like) is no more than 2lb a week, so see this as a
good kick-start. It is not a crazy scheme to slim you down at any cost. A
guaranteed weight-loss diet of broth would make you so miserable, you would
probably feel like you were having a fat day every day, not to mention the
rebound weight gain once you started eating “normally” again. Feeling good
in yourself, as you will on this diet, does wonders for your confidence and
how you feel in your own skin.
TUMMY AND SKIN TONE
The foods in this programme are designed to promote good digestive health, the
bedrock of overall vitality. Poor digestion means you do not get the full
benefits from food and you may suffer from a bloated belly and discomfort.
Good digestion means that you feel healthy and have a flatter tummy and
clearer skin.
The variety of colours, tastes and textures, and of foods from all groups,
means you are optimally nourished, particularly with skin-friendly
antioxidants, leaving you energised and glowing.
DETOX WARNING
If you decide to give up caffeine and sugar, expect to feel tired, irritable
and headachy for about three days. If that happens, drink plenty of water,
relax in a hot bath and, if necessary, take a painkiller. Getting over the
addiction will do wonders for your appetite balance, energy and mood.
I thought the info was kinda helpful.
jane, New York,
For heavens sake stop repeating the Beach Diet everyday. I'm waiting for some
'recipes' (which include dried seaweed). So much shopping for so little Gerard
mccarten, bordeaux, france
She must have read the The UltraSimple Diet by Mark Hyman. Exactly the same and although this article smacks of plagiarism the diet (it's not really a diet in the "I am on a diet sense", more a detox and a restablishment of eating practices) does work. I can atest to that.
Paul Clemas, Jersey City, NJ