HEALTHY WEIGHT LOSS – WITH OR WITHOUT FLOUR?

Undoubtedly, the biggest highlight of each winter is Christmas festive season (also called Winter holidays)! It’s the time when people get together with their loved ones, relatives and friends to celebrate this magical time. Cookers and ovens are on around the clock to prepare some amazing dishes and bakes. A traditional Christmas pudding, mince pies, and gingerbread in all shapes and forms are a must! People feast and nibble, while a very few watch over how much they actually eat. This is why so many of us have a primary New Year resolution and that is to lose weight! 

After setting a weight goal, the next thing people do is that they reevaluate their diet. They think about what food to include, what to leave out, what replacements in their current diet would help etc. More often than not, the single most important question is whether to keep or remove flour from their daily diet plans. From the perspective of carbohydrates, this question has some weight. Ordinary plain white flour doesn’t necessarily offer any health benefits, but the same doesn’t apply to the Pernerka wholemeal flour range! Thanks to the Pernerka wholemeal flour composition, it should form an integral part of all of our diets and not only during weight loss! So how to approach weight loss not just after the Christmas holidays?

LOSING WEIGHT FAST AND HEALTHILY

One of the most common mistakes is the desire to lose weight quickly and people opt for a drastic reduction in food intake. However, this is not a healthy and sustainable way to get rid of those unwanted pounds! As soon as you revert back to your original eating habits, the pounds will pile up again! This phenomenon is well known as the “yo-yo” effect. In addition, insufficient intake of basic nutrients is an incredible shock to the body, and you can cause more harm than good. Healthy weight loss can only be achieved if you gradually and systematically reduce energy intake from food, and at the same time increase energy release through different physical activities.

ACHIEVING HEALTHY WEIGHT LOSS

The first step in preparing a diet plan should be calculating an energy balance according to our height, weight, age and activities we do at home, work etc. There are many tools available to help you to calculate this, as an example we suggest you look at the Energy Balance Equation on verywellfit.com (please note we’re not affiliated with or endorsed by this site). 

Ideally, if you want to lose weight the right way, you should first reduce the value of energy intake by about 10%. This way, you supply your body with enough nutrients needed for its proper functioning, and at the same time the amount of food you eat does not change enough to make you constantly hungry. The body gradually gets used to a food lower intake and starts using excess body fat during physical activities as a source of energy for muscle growth. After a few weeks, you may notice that the scale doesn’t move much anymore. Don’t get alarmed as this is perfectly normal. What this means is that your body got used to your new eating habits and an exercising regime and it may need a little help to lose more weight. If, and only if, you wish to carry on with the weight loss at this stage, you can systematically start reducing your food intake further.

COMING UP WITH A MENU

Now that you know how to lose weight healthily, and ideally how not to gain it back; let’s take a closer look at the diet, where wholemeal Pernerka flour should definitely play an important role! Are you asking why? The answer is simple! Pernerka wholemeal flour contains high fibre (e.g., up to 16g per 100g in our wholemeal rye flour). This allows you to make baked goods which will fill you up for longer and this can help in combating those unwanted cravings. This enforces the approach to weight loss we’ve mentioned which is an overall reduction in your energy intake. 

Please remember, that a healthy diet really needs to be varied and should include proteins, fats, fruit, vegetables, fibre and carbohydrates. A diet which asks you to cut out one or more of these groups is hardly sustainable long-term! You shouldn’t be choosing a menu which only asks you to eat eggs and meat and completely eliminates things like dairy, e.g., milk. Carbohydrates have always been portrayed as a number one ‘elimination’ when losing weight, but carbohydrates are vital. What’s important to remember is to choose the right ones! Avoid simple carbs which include sugar or glucose syrup as these will cause excessive fat storage and fatigue. Instead, include carbohydrates such as legumes, rice and wholemeal flour. All of these release energy gradually and when you combine them with protein, fats, vegetables etc. in right proportions, they will fuel your body with an energy throughout the day. The more complex a carbohydrate is, the lower the glycemic index it will have. As we’ve mentioned already, a good wholemeal flour, which is high in fibre; will make you fuller for longer and will help in combating cravings. High fibre also helps with the level of fats in the blood stream. Fibre binds cholesterol to itself and prevents its absorption into the bloodstream. Fibre can be found in fruit, leafy vegetables, oatmeal and of course in the wholemeal Pernerka flour. When it comes to proteins and fats, you shouldn’t just concentrate on consuming animal products, e.g., milk, eggs, cheese, meat etc., but also vegetables such as lentils, chickpeas, olives and nuts; which are all a great source of what your body needs.

WHAT IS WHOLEMEAL FLOUR AND WHY TO INCLUDE IT IN YOUR DAILY DIET

Wholemeal flour is ground from a whole grain, including the shell and the sprout. It is therefore a lot more nutritionally valuable and healthier than an ordinary plain white flour. Here are some main benefits of consuming wholemeal flour:

– High fibre content and lower glycemic index. Wholemeal products keep us fuller for longer.
– More protein. Proteins have a positive effect on muscle building, they are necessary for building tissues and cells in our body.
– More minerals and vitamins.
– Higher content of unsaturated fatty acids.

LET’S FINISH OFF WITH OUR AMAZING PERNERKA WHOLEMEAL FLOUR

Need a little help with what a healthy meal should look like? Let’s zoom in on breakfast. Why not try this combination? 50g of quality ham, two eggs, 100 – 150g of vegetables and a slice of a wholemeal bread. Bake your own wholemeal loaf by choosing from the variety of our wholemeal flour. We also have a plenty of recipes to inspire you! Please note, you can adjust ratio of the breakfast ingredients according to your individual requirements and energy intake. Please remember, that we’re all unique and we all have different diet requirements. However, what should apply to everyone when trying to lose weight is the reduction in energy intake done safely! Eat small portions and more frequently (preferably 3-4 hours); drink plenty of water, increase your physical activity, and get a good night sleep! We, from Pernerka, wish you a good luck on your weight loss journey!