Will you ditch sugar for 70 days to celebrate the NHS’s birthday?

JUST over a year ago, I launched my Slimpod programme at Tameside hospital in Manchester with high hopes that it would spark off an eating revolution in the NHS. It has been more successful than I dreamed – and next week, to mark the 70th anniversary of the NHS, the hospital is issuing a challenge to the 250,000 people it serves to Ditch Sugar.

I’m very excited because I’ll be speaking at a symposium in Manchester next week to explain how the Slimpod programme has helped 100 Tameside staff including doctors and nurses to change their eating habits with dramatic results.

I’ll be highlighting the success stories of two of our own long-standing Slimpodders, Darin McCloud and Sammie Axton, and I’m delighted Sammie will be in the audience as living proof of what a Slimpod can do.

Also there will one of the 20 Tameside nurses who have recently gone on the Slimpod programme as part of the Channel 4 series How To Lose Weight Well.

Sarah Moody is a Gastroenterology Nurse Specialist and lives in Stalybridge with her husband and dog. She’s 46 and weighs almost 19 stones and wants to lose six.

Tameside nurse Sarah Moody, left, with colleagues Angela and Elaine

She says: “I’ve been there so many times. I lose weight only to pile it back on again. I like how I look at 13 stones and my body feels best at that weight. I love a glass of wine after work. This prompts me to eat more. Disaster.”

Leading experts will explain to the 100-strong audience the dangers of sugar in our diets and how we can adopt a sugar-free diet and lifestyle. Among the speakers will be leading cardiologist, health campaigner and author Dr Aseem Malholtra, whose book The Pioppi Diet I am constantly recommending to people.

Will you ditch sugar for 70 days?

Working with the community newspaper and radio station, Tameside hospital will issue a 70-day sugar free challenge – one day for every year of the NHS – a call to arms to the people and organisations of Tameside and Glossop to cut down on sugar and ultra-processed foods with an aim to rapidly improve their health and weight.

Through the borough’s network of over 1,000 voluntary organisations and charities, and local schools and GP surgeries, it will offer advice and support, simple tips and suggestions on healthy alternatives.

I’d love all of you to join the 70-day challenge too. All you have to do is commit right now to seriously reducing the amount of sugar you consume – not just in your tea and coffee but also in sweets, cakes, chocolate, biscuits and importantly, in processed foods such as takeaways and ready meals.

I’m confident you’ll find that after a very short time you’ll be able to Ditch Sugar completely. You’ll be surprised how rapidly the body responds to sugar-reduced eating and how much more energy you have.

Leave a comment below to tell me you’re accepting the challenge – and keep posting regular updates.

By the way, there are still a few tickets available for the symposium at Hyde Town Hall, Manchester, on Wednesday July 4 from 12.30 to 3.30. You can get a ticket here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ditch-sugar-tickets-46679745375

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Dare to believe like Sammie and you really can achieve anything

INSPIRING can be a very over-used word but there’s no other way to describe what Sammie Axton has achieved and the way she has turned her life around. Six years ago, in her own words, Sammie was “a rather large lady” who’d tried every diet under the sun and had convinced herself that as nothing had worked she was condemned to a middle age of unhappiness. Boy was she wrong!

After losing 70 lbs and keeping it off ever since, she suddenly discovered she had a real taste for life. She took up karate to get herself fit enough to keep up with her young son Bobby – and as the weight stayed off, Sammie’s strength and ability went through the roof.

Last week she won a bronze medal in her class at the world karate championships. That’s her above in her white karate gear.

That’s an amazing achievement for a 50-year-old mum who once thought her greatest physical achievement was trying to chase her son round the park.

Sammie, from Denton in Manchester, is such an amazing lady that I asked her to describe how she felt about winning her medal.

“When we went to the trials I really was going as support for Bobby but joined in and worked hard as always. At the end when they were calling out the names for the ones who were chosen, I sat down with the parents not even thinking my name would be called.

Bobby shows off mum’s medal

“I was waiting to hear Bobby’s name called and when it was I was so proud. Then my name was called but I just sat there and thought they were calling someone else. They had to call me twice before I realised it really was me.

“I was shocked, amazed and proud. I couldn’t believe it. I got up and collected my badges and sat with my squad and my son – it was an amazing feeling.

“While we had our pictures taken all sorts of stuff was running through my head – how, why can I do this? And yes I can, I’ve trained hard I love my sport, yes I can do this.

“Never in a million years did I expect a medal – I was there to support Bobs. When I stood on that podium and accepted my medal I felt like all my hard work had paid off.

“I’m here at the world championships and this woman I’ve become is amazing and worthy. I realised my journey to completely re-invent myself wasn’t over, it’s just beginning.

“The pride for my country, for my squad, for my child, for my club and for myself was overwhelming. The opening ceremony was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

“I could never in my wildest dreams see myself at the age of 50 – a once rather large lady – walking through with all these different countries. And yet I was there, right in the middle of it all. Wow! Just wow.”

Aren’t those just the most emotional and wonderful words you’ve ever read?

 

Sammie before…

…and after

Sammie never dared to believe she could achieve this. Like so many overweight people, she couldn’t see past the limitations of the scales and her waistline.

But it IS possible to turn your life around. Sammie is living proof of what can be achieved.

What could YOU do if you saw past your self-doubt and dared to dream?  Let me know below!

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Why that ‘healthy’ baked potato is actually a sugar timebomb!

I HAVE to admit that sometimes the research papers I read really surprise me. Recently I discovered that it’s now been proved that type 2 diabetes can be reversed in as little as three weeks. Not by some new wonderdrug but by something much, much more simple: healthy eating and a little bit of exercise.

For those people who are on the verge of diabetes, the findings are even more exciting. Professor James Barnard at UCLA, who has written more than 200 studies on the relationship between lifestyle habits and chronic disease, recently wrote: “There is much we can do with a healthy lifestyle alone, no medications needed, to prevent diabetes.”

In fact, a healthy lifestyle where you consistently eat good food has proven more effective than medication in staving off diabetes.

So at the start of Diabetes Week, I delved into the research into what kinds of foods are healthiest for us. You won’t be surprised to know the answer is whole foods that are naturally rich in fibre and low in fats and sugars and haven’t been refined in a factory.

That means vegetables, whole fruits (not juices), whole grains, legumes such as peas and beans, non-fat dairy products, and lean meat such as fish and skinless chicken breast.

What will surprise you though is research I discovered that shows the amazing way common carbohydrate foods that we think are healthy contain a lot of glucose which seriously affects our blood sugar levels.

For example, how many people trying to lose weight eat a white baked potato? In fact, a baked potato is converted by the body into the equivalent of eight teaspoons of sugar!

The biggest offender is boiled basmati rice – a 150 gram serving converts into 10 teaspoons of sugar. Boiled sweetcorn converts to seven teaspoons, spaghetti converts to just under seven and a banana converts to almost six.

So what foods convert to the smallest amounts of sugar? According to Dr Aseem Malhotra in his ground-breaking book The Pioppi Diet, a raw apple converts to just over two teaspoons, a helping of frozen peas to just over one teaspoon and boiled broccoli to 0.2 teaspoons. Best of all are eggs – which don’t convert to sugar at all.

The conclusion, backed by worldwide medical research, is that eating hardly any processed carbs produces important health benefits – and also helps you to lose weight very effectively. Remember, the key to positive wellbeing is consistent healthy eating.

By the way, if you’re wondering what Pioppi means, it’s a village in Italy where the healthy lifestyle of natural, unprocessed food means people live active, disease-free lives well into their nineties. The oldest inhabitant is 107 and the community is called The Village Where People Forget To Die!

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Fish curry in coconut milk – healthy home-made ‘takeaway’

FRIDAY night is takeaway night for many of us – but unless you’re really careful, what you order can be a bit of a threat to your waistline! So this week Simon Smith, our NHS hospital superchef, has come up with a delicious alternative which is wonderfully healthy. “You can cook it in about 20 minutes and you’ll find that not only is it healthy, it leaves you feeling good, too,” he says.

“Cooking in coconut milk adds a whole new dimension to a curry and brings out the full flavour of the fish. By the way, you don’t have to have rice with a curry – there’s plenty of fresh veg in this dish and the protein in the fish will leave you feeling satisfied. Try a curry with a side salad like they do in Thailand!”

Simon is head chef at Tameside hospital in Manchester, where the staff love his Slimpod Specials.

 

Fish curry in coconut milk

Ingredients

2 tablespoons sesame seed oil

1 red onion, sliced

2 red peppers, sliced

50g mangetout

50g sugar snap peas

1 courgette, cut into batons

4 fillets of white fish

600 ml coconut milk (tinned)

3 teaspoons fish sauce

juice and rind of 2 limes

4 tbsp massaman curry paste (found in most supermarkets)

Large handful coriander leaves

Basmati rice to serve four (small helpings!)

Method

Heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan.

Once hot, fry the onions for 2 minutes and then add the red pepper and cook until onions have gone slightly brown.

Add the curry paste and stir to coat the pepper and onions. Season to taste.

Add the coconut milk and stir. Add the lime juice, and fish sauce, stir well.

Place the fish fillets into the sauce flesh side down, and scatter the rest of the vegetables around the pan.

Poach the fish for 5 minutes and then turn over so that the skin is facing the pan.

Cook for a further 5 minutes or until the flesh is fully cooked – flesh becomes flaky and glistens.

Serve with fresh coriander leaves and small helpings of basmati rice – leave out the rice if you’re into no-carbs or low-carbs. Try a side salad instead.

Please let Simon know what you think of this super dish by leaving a comment below. He loves reading them all!

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