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Day #7 Snack on 40 almonds a day

It’s Day 7 of your January Tweak Diet. Good news. New evidence finds that eat a big handful of almonds as snack each day with no effect on your weight. They even make you eat less at meals

Here’s what to do. Instead of your usual mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks – chocolates, crisps etc – have 20 almonds at each snack time.  Not only do almonds keep you full for longer, keeping hunger and cravings at bay because of their essential fatty acid and protein content, new research suggests that despite their calorie content, they don’t affect weight. Here’s why:

A recent study led by Dr. Richard Mattes and Dr. Sza-Yen Tan at Purdue University published in the October issue of The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that participants who consumed a 43 gram portion of dry-roasted, lightly salted almonds every day for four weeks saw boosts in their vitamin E and monounsaturated or ‘good’ fats, but didn’t gain any weight – despite the 250 calorie daily intake. This was tested on both men and women, of which some were overweight and some normal weight.

Almonds

This equated to eating about 43 almonds every single day. The beauty of eating almonds instead of crisps or chocolate is that they are much less likely toy lead to extreme hunger later than say a chuck of Cadbury’s finest because they don’t spike your blood sugar in the same way.

In fact, the researchers in the same study also found that during an eight hour day, participants who ate the almonds didn’t feel as hungry as those who went without and those who ate the almonds as snacks also ate less at subsequent meals.

 

THE HEALTHISTA JANUARY TWEAK DIET – guidelines

What is the Tweak diet?  Designed for anyone who doesn’t want to go on a big starv-y diet during January, we deliver you one new small change to make to your diet or lifestyle on each day in January.  You continue each change throughout the month and come February, be on your way to weight loss and new healthy habits you can keep all year. You in?

1. Start anytime. Some of you will be starting on January 1st, but that’s not compulsory. If you’re joining us after January 1st, simply go back to Day 1 and start from there.

2. Continue with each of your small changes throughout the month and come end January, you will have built up a heap of new healthy habits and will be well on your way to losing weight and feeling better.

3. If you fall off the wagon just get back on asap If you don’t manage to keep up all your small changes every day, don’t worry. Just get back on the next day or even better, at the next meal.

4. Measure once at the start and once at the end. That’s all Take your waist, hip and bust measurements and weigh yourself at the start and end ONLY of your tweak-a-thin journey. I don’t want you getting bogged down in the numbers and would prefer you focus on how much better you’ll feel (the weight loss will happen, don’t worry)

5. Send us selfies of your tweak-a-thin journey Post them to Healthista on TwitterFacebook and in the comments below. At the end of January we’ll publish them and you’ll be in with a chance of winning a Healthista exclusive pamper hamper handpicked by yours truly.

6. Do what you can Obviously you don’t have to do every single tweak we suggest. Even just one will make a difference as we’ve handpicked each change to be small but powerful.  The more you do though, the better your results.

 

More posts in Healthista’s January Daily Tweak Diet

Day #1 Record everything you eat

Day #2 Drink two litres of water daily

Day #3 Your at-a-glance portion guide

Day #4: Have a protein breakfast for weight loss

Day #5 Cut back on sugar with these simple tips

Day #6 Burn an extra 500 calories a day (without the gym)

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