Welcome to the MAN v FAT Newsround, where we take a look at what’s been going on in the world of weight loss this week…
NEWS FROM THE MAN V FAT FOOTBALL LEAGUES
- It’s not even been a year since Nathan Harrison (above) joined MAN v FAT Football and nearly seven and a half stone later, he’s never felt better. Having joined with a basic knowledge of dieting, i.e. don’t eat fatty foods and avoid fizzy drinks, it is fair to say that Nathan was no expert. Having had an epiphany in early January, he decided to take control of his health; citing watching You Tube videos as a big inspiration. It hasn’t all been plain sailing for Nathan, when commenting on his amazing achievement, he said “the hardest part was keeping away from all the food you are used to having everyday” (tell me about it Nathan!). He also said “all of my teammates were brilliant at helping me keep track of my goals, with the opportunity to motivate others in the same boat also helping”. Despite these monumental weight loss numbers, it did take him just under a year to score his first goal on the pitch, but we’ve all got to start somewhere Nathan, ey?
WEIGHT LOSS NEWS
- You may have seen it plastered on walls at the doctors: the Change4Life Food Scanner app, which is pretty awesome. Primarily aimed at parents who are conscious about how much sugar, saturated fat and salt are in the foods they give to their children, it’s brilliant for keeping on track of what you’re eating. It has a database with the information of thousands of food products available through simply scanning the barcode, making meal planning even easier. It also combats the problem seen when some food companies don’t adopt the ‘traffic light system’, as the Food Scanner App will give you a comprehensive breakdown of all the nutritional information. Don’t be put off by the childish colour scheme and download it today – available on Apple and Android devices.
NEW PRODUCTS
- Good news for fans of sitting on the sofa eating an entire tub of Ben & Jerry’s – American brand Halo Top has launched its range of low-cal ice cream in the UK. The flavours, including cinnamon roll, chocolate, vanilla, mint choc chip, sea salted caramel, cookie dough and peanut butter, come in at between 280 and 360 calories calories per tub. Yes, per tub.
Is ice cream that’s as good as Ben & Jerry’s for a fraction of the calories too good to be true? Um, yes, sorry. We bought a tub of the cinnamon roll flavour (for research purposes, of course) and found the flavour to be ok, if a little artificial, but the texture was very odd, like when ice cream thaws and is frozen again. But y’know, not bad if you’re craving ice cream and know you’re going to want to see the bottom of the tub. It’ll save you around 800 cals compared to a tub of B&Js. You can find it on offer at Tesco for £2.50 if you want to see what all the fuss is about. - We’re three weeks into January, so hands up if you’re still doing Dry January? If you are, we take our hats off to you – it’s not easy, especially if you find yourself getting tempted by your favourite alcoholic beverages. Introducing Budweiser Prohibition, which has been dubbed the CocaCola Zero of the beer world.
Aptly named after the period of time in the US, where the sale of alcohol was prohibited by the eighteenth amendment, the guys at Budweiser have worked long and hard to perfect the taste of many people’s favourite lager. So, whether you’re determined to make it to the end of Dry January or you just want to cut down on your drinking habits in 2018, check it out. Available at Tesco for £2.40 for 4 330ml cans.
- The latest supermarket to jump on the vegan bandwagon, Sainsbury’s have launched a whole range of new Veganuary-friendly products, including ‘shroomdogs’ (mushroom sausages) and pulled jackfruit, which apparently tastes just like pulled pork. Even if you’re not vegan, the options sound pretty tasty and are fairly low-cal. You can find the new range in the chiller.
WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT ON THE MAN V FAT FORUM
- Are you a veggie? Or are you looking to reduce the amount of meat you consume this year? If so, have a read at how you can get enough calories as a vegetarian.
- It’s easy for us to get this idealistic image of how life should be, especially in the superficial social media age we live in, but life often doesn’t always go in the direction you want it to, as explained by forum user @StuartWalker.
WHAT WE’RE READING
- Rushing a task or a job in order to get it done as quickly as possible actually does more harm than good – just think, it’s a marathon not a sprint.
- A different type of conscription; calls for obese parents to be given cookery lessons in order to “intensively change their lifestyle” – thoughts?
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Apart from the group therapy sessions, the best tool I had was setting daily goals. I started off with what I called “daft” goals, but it was pointed out to me that they weren’t daft, they were normal!” – @Phippsy62 discussing techniques to help coping with depression.
