Weight Watchers

LOSE UP TO A STONE Eat like you’re in the Med

WITH holiday plans in an ongoing state of flux, it looks as if we’re all going to have to make the most of staying at home this summer. But after months of being stuck indoors, many of us are ready for a health overhaul right now.

Research shows that 42 per cent of Britons have gained weight during lockdown and 45 per cent are now keen to lose some pounds, shape up, eat more healthily and become more active.

Thankfully, things are finally beginning to look up: a little light socialising is back on the cards and there is plenty of summer still stretching ahead for us to spend outside with the friends and family we’ve missed so much.

So there’s never been a better time to cast aside those comfy leggings and baggy tops and pull out your summer wardrobe.

Even if you’re not going to make it to the Mediterranean this year, you can at least capture some of its magic – and throw off those excess lockdown pounds – by switching to a more Mediterranean way of eating. We’ve teamed up with WW (formerly Weight Watchers) to bring you an exclusive fiveday Mediterranean-inspired meal plan so you can enjoy some of the deliciously fresh and nutritious food you might expect to get on holiday, while also losing weight.

In fact, if you stick to the WW way of eating, you could enjoy a steady and safe weight loss of ½lb to 2lb a week and set up healthy eating patterns for life. It soon adds up – this could see you dropping two dress sizes in just two months.

HOW THE PLAN WORKS

THE WW programme has always been based on a points system, but this year the team has created a new customised programme that offers three slightly different approaches tailored to the different ways we like to eat.

When you sign up (either on the ww.com website or via the WW app) you answer a simple quiz, which builds a picture of the way you like to eat. You are then given a

customised SmartPoints budget and matched to one of three food plans – green, blue or purple.

The blue plan combines a generous SmartPoints budget (usually about 23 SmartPoints per day depending on your age, gender, weight and height) and unlimited access to 200 ZeroPoint foods, which include fruit and vegetables, pulses, eggs, fish and shellfish, lowfat poultry, fat-free dairy products and vegetable protein. These ZeroPoint foods are vital for good health, so you’re naturally guided to base your meals around them.

If you’re a ‘grab-and-go’ kind of person and you prefer the flexibility to eat a pre-packaged sandwich for lunch or need extra points for a meal out, the green plan is for you. It offers a more generous SmartPoints budget (usually about 30 SmartPoints per day) balanced by access to 100 ZeroPoint foods (mostly fruit and nonstarchy vegetables).

At the other end of the eating spectrum is the carb-lover who would rather not be restricted. The purple plan is perfect for this type of eater because it offers a smaller SmartPoints budget (usually about 16 SmartPoints per day) but unlimited access to a huge list of 300 ZeroPoint foods, which include all of those mentioned above plus starchy vegetables such as potatoes, wholegrains, wholemeal pasta and brown rice.

You don’t have to worry about portion sizes with this long list of go-to foods (within reason!), with no counting or weighing required.

Whatever colour plan you choose, you can be confident that there is solid scientific research to show you will lose the same amount of weight on each. ‘Everyone is different, and our research shows that with losing weight, what works for one person may not for another,’ says Julia Westgarth, Head of Programme at WW. ‘My WW gives you the freedom to choose a plan that fits in with your life. Nothing is forbidden and you are encouraged to make small changes to get the results you want.

‘You’re more likely to stick with your healthy programme if you enjoy it.’

In addition to your daily SmartPoints budget, everyone also gets a handful of ‘weekly’ SmartPoints, which you can hold in reserve to use at any point when you want to feel as if you’re on holiday and you fancy something like a cool, refreshing glass of Aperol Spritz (8 SmartPoints).

You can also ‘roll over’ up to 4 SmartPoints from each day’s allowance, and perhaps gather them up so you can really enjoy a pub meal with friends, without worrying about breaking your SmartPoints budget and compromising your weight-loss success.

You can also boost your SmartPoints budget and earn extra FitPoints by being active: a halfhour walk = 2, circuit training = 5, a run = 9 (although FitPoints earned will vary slightly from person to person as they’re based on your weight and the amount of effort you put in).

WHY A MEDITERRANEAN STYLE DIET IS SO HEALTHY

IN NUMEROUS studies over the past few decades, the Mediterranean pattern of eating has been consistently linked to longer and healthier lives. That’s because it is founded on strong dietary principles of plenty of fruit and vegetables, healthy fats (in the form of olive oil, nuts and seeds), fish and pulses, and with relatively small quantities of the sugary foods and saturated fats now known to contribute to life-limiting conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.

It is no coincidence, therefore, that the WW plans naturally nudge you towards a Mediterranean style of eating. ‘The SmartPoints system is configured to encourage the eating of these healthy foods, with delicious Mediterranean ingredients such as salads, olives, seafood and even avocados being either zero or very low in SmartPoints,’ explains Julia Westgarth. It naturally steers you away from unhealthy (and un-Mediterranean) processed foods and fatty meats. Think about building a meal around fish or seafood rather than your usual meaty options. Whichever plan you choose – purple, blue or green – you will be eating plenty of fruit, vegetables, wholegrains and pulses, and the system cleverly nudges you towards healthy fish and seafood too.

Use fresh herbs such as dill, oregano and parsley (all ZeroPoint foods) to add more flavour to your dishes and enjoy the crunch of toasted seeds (2 SmartPoints per tablespoon) or pine nuts (3 SmartPoints per tablespoon).

To get you started, here is our five-day Mediterranean-inspired meal planner with suggestions for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a few delicious desserts to show you really can eat healthily, enjoy food and still lose weight.

The plan gives you the freedom to choose which meals you’d like on which day. Just keep an eye on the SmartPoints value of your chosen recipe in your chosen colour to help you stay within your daily budget.