January, we've had enough of you. Our New Year do-some-running-stop-eating-chips motivation is wearing thin. Plus it's freezing, and our energy levels are around zero. In fact, research shows one in 10 Brits suffer from persistent tiredness.*
According to Gwyneth Paltrow's energy guru (yup, you read that right), feeling "spent" is not normal.
"Our bodies weren't built to eat bizarre combinations of processed foods, or subsist on no-fat, no-carb diets," says Frank Lipman, author of new book Revive!.
But don't despair - say hello to The Energy Plan, which involves eating carbs and will leave you leaping around like Michael Flatley (minus the tap shoes).
The most important thing to remember is that there are good carbs and bad carbs. Carbohydrates break down into simple sugars, which enter the bloodstream and are used as energy. Handy, but certain foods, known as high glyceamic carbs (high GI), such as cake and white bread, break down quickly, providing us with a quick zest burst. They cause a swift rise in blood sugar levels, then an equally quick dip. Cue that sluggish feeling. Also because only so much of these high-GI, super-speedily made sugars can be used at once, any excess is quickly stored as fat. Boo.
However, low glyceamic carbohydrates (low GI), such as sweet potatoes and brown rice, make sugars steadily, releasing energy slowly and keeping us going long after we've eaten. Read on for your va-va-voom plan.
Energy plan rules
- Choose slow-releasing, low-GI carbs, such as mixed-grain bread and chickpeas.
- Limit high-GI carbs, such as chips, mashed potato and white pasta.
- Have protein (nuts, chicken) each meal.
- Eat B vitamin-rich food such as avocado - essential for converting food into energy.
- Stay away from tea, coffee and energy drinks. They encourage the release of sugar into the blood stream, resulting in a dip once the "high" subsides.
- Water should be your main drink. For a hot drink, go for herbal tea.
- Eat one breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack a day and feel your energy levels so...
Some people have reported increased energy levels after removing certain foods from their diet. Try the York Test food intolerance home-testing service (Yorktest.com).*
Buzzing brekkies
- 2 stewed pears with 2½tbsp natural soya yoghurt and 4tsp chopped walnuts.
- Cinnamon-spiced porridge. Make with 200ml oat milk (low in fat and lactose-free) and top with a generous handful of blueberries, 2tsp sunflower seeds and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
- 1 poached egg on 1 slice rye toast with reduced-sugar, reduced-salt tomato ketchup.
- Mushroom and herb omelette. Whisk up 1 egg, sprinkle in herbs and 1 large handful chopped mushrooms. Cook omelette base in a frying pan with light cooking spray, then cook top under the grill until it turns golden.
- Berry smoothie. Blitz 2 handfuls mixed berries (blueberries and raspberries work a treat), 2½tbsp natural soya yoghurt, 1 heaped tbsp oats, 1tbsp flax seeds and a glug of oat milk.
- Homemade muesli. Use 4tsp each of rolled oats, nuts (brazil nuts or walnuts), and seeds (pumpkin or sunflower). Soak in 200ml oat milk and top with 1 apple, grated.
- 100g can reduced-sugar baked beans on 1 slice rye toast.
- Feeling meh? Boost
Live-wire lunches
- ½ pot supermarket fresh spicy lentil and tomato soup.
- Sweet potato and red onion tortilla. Crack 6 eggs into a bowl, whisk, then add 1 cooked, chopped sweet potato and season. Fry 1 chopped red onion in low-fat cooking spray. When soft, add the egg and potato mixture, frying until firm. Freeze ½ for next week.
- ½ wholemeal pitta, toasted and filled with prawns, 1 chopped spring onion, Romaine lettuce and a drizzle of fat-free French salad dressing.
- 2tbsp smoked mackerel paté spread on 2 oatcakes, served with plum tomato and rocket salad.
- Smoked trout, avocado and watercress salad with orange segments. Drizzle with 2tsp olive oil and lemon juice.
- Roast vegetable and cannellini bean salad.
- Make with peppers, courgettes, tomatoes and aubergine roasted in 2tsp olive
oil. Mix in 1 tin cannellini beans and add fresh herbs, season with
black pepper and drizzle with o
live
oil. - 1 tin tuna, drained, served with 1 chopped red pepper and ½ pack rocket mixed with 1tsp light mayo in a wholegrain wrap.
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Get-your-drive-back dinners
- 2 veggie sausages served with sweet potato mash (2 sweet potatoes mashed with 2tsp low-fat cream cheese) and a large handful green cabbage.
- Moroccan chickpea tagine. Simmer cumin and turmeric in 2tsp olive oil, then add 400g chickpeas, 1 red, yellow and green pepper, chopped, before finally mixing in 400g tinned tomatoes.
- Grilled chicken breast served with 1
handful
each of roasted beetroot, baby carrots and butternut squash. - Vegetable stir-fry made with low-fat cooking spray, a handful of mushrooms, 400g tin water chestnuts, 1 red onion, 1 pack bean sprouts, 10 cashew nuts and ½ pack microwaveable brown rice.
- Salmon fillet baked in a tin foil parcel with Mediterranean vegetable ratatouille made with 1 each of yellow pepper, courgette, red onion and aubergine, stewed in 1 carton passata.
- Home-made beef burgers. Combine 300g lean mince with 1 onion, 1 garlic clove, dried mixed herbs and 1 beaten egg. Shape into burgers and grill. Serve with a generous salad of cherry tomatoes, cucumber and lettuce.
- Cod fillet topped with sun-dried tomato paste and grilled. Serve with 1 large handful broccoli and butter bean mash (cook butter beans and smash with 2tsp low-fat cream cheese).
Stamina snacks
- Scoff one a day to keep you zingy:
- 1 small bar organic 70 per cent cocoa solids chocolate. Choc with a high percentage of cocoa provides a slower release of energy.
- 8 walnut halves. Packed with good fats, such as omega-3, these will keep you going and going.
- Apples and pears. Low GI, these faves are a much better option than a banana, which has a high GI.
- Small pot soya yoghurt. This has the same protein content as regular cow's yoghurt, but is all about low-GI carbs rather than quick-release sugars.
