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By
Dr David Delvin
Get
trim and slim! The sensible approach to losing those
extra inches .....
PRE-HOLIDAY
SLIMMING – YOUR ONE WEEK DIET
Are you going on
holiday in August or September?
And are you going
some place where you’ll be lazing by a pool or beach?
Then there’s a
high chance that you’ll want to lose some weight beforehand.
If so, then join the club
… yes, I too have to go in for some short sharp slimming at
this time of year. Every August, I spend a week in trying to shed poundage
before going on my hols.
And most years,
I’ve managed to do it – by sticking to strict medical principles
of dieting – and also taking a reasonable amount of exercise.
You could do the
same if you want to. So
this month, I’m going to let you into the secret of my own
personal, medically approved diet.
But first of all, a
word of warning. Not
everyone who is over 50 is well enough to go on a strict diet.
So if you have a chronic illness, or if you are on medication
for some condition, do have a word with your own doc before you
embark on my pre-holiday diet.
Show it to her, and she will tell you if it’s all right for
you to go on it.
For everybody else,
however, it’s perfectly OK to go on this special slimming diet,
provided that you only stay on it for one week.
Even if you find that the pounds are really tumbling off you,
please don’t go on with it for more than seven days.
At the end of that time, you may wish to seek further dietary
advice from your GP, or a qualified nutritionist or dietician.
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I designed this
diet with the help of a skilled dietician.
It will work – but only if you really stick to it.
So please – no
cheating. No quick
biters from the fridge! No
extra portions. No
helping yourself to a few of your partner’s chips …
But if you feel you
MUST snack, then it’s OK to have something from the list that
follows:
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SNACKING
ON THESE IS OK!
So if you’re
really starting and feel you must have a little nibble of something
– well here are some foods that you can have as much of as you
like while you are on a diet:
*
Carrots
* Lettuce *
Sprouts
*
Cauliflower
*
Cucumber
*
Cabbage
*
Cress
*
Celery
*
Radishes
*
Oranges
*
Apples *
Pears
*
Peaches
*
Nectarines
*
Banana
*
Satsumas
*
Tangerines
*
Plums
*
Apricots
*
Water
Yes, contrary to
what many people believe, water does NOT put weight on.
It can’t because it contains No fat and NO calories.
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THE
TEMPTERS
v
Anything fried
v
Potato crisps (and similar products)
v
Burgers
v
Cheese
v
Peanuts (and other nuts)
v
Cake
v
Biscuits
v
Cream
v
Pastry
v
Chocolate (sorry about that ladies!)
v
Alcohol – in any shape or form (it’s packed full of calories!)
v Sweets
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WHAT
YOU’LL NEED TO BUY BEFOREHAND
Before you start,
you need to buy a few essential things from the shops – especially
to tide you over the first day or two.
They’re inexpensive – and they’re easily available.
So
here’s the shopping list:
v
One bottle of a good brand of multivitamin pills (such as
Boots Own Multivitamins, or Sanatogen Vitamins). You’ll need to
take one tablet at mid-morning through the week of the diet.
v
A couple of pints of skimmed milk (because it contains fewer
calories)
v
A low-fat spread (such as St Ivel Gold)
v
A good high-fibre cereal
v
A couple of grapefruit
v
Some lean sliced ham (or other lean sliced meat)
v
Some wholemeal bread (preferably sliced)
v
A can of broad beans
v
Enough cucumber, lettuce, tomato and cress to make a salad
The above items
will get you started. Any
other things can be bought as the week progresses.
During the seven
days of the diet, you have a fixed daily allowance of certain
things. Please stick to
them. They are:
°
Skimmed milk – half a pint (284 ml)
°
Low fat spread – about half an ounce (14 gms)
°
Multivitamin tablets – one per day (please don’t omit
these, as they’re essential to keep you healthy)
You can also have
up to 4 cups of coffee or teas per day – with milk from your
allowance. No sugar
please!
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THE
ONE-WEEK DIET
So off we go with
my one-week pre-holiday slimming diet.
Here is a set of menus for each day of the week.
We’ll kick off with Sunday’s menu.
But in fact, you can start on any day you like.
Also, the various
menus are interchangeable. So
if it’s Tuesday, and you don’t feel like having Tuesday’s
menu, just have Wednesday’s or Thursday’s instead!
Here goes:
SUNDAY
BREAKFAST:
Half a grapefruit without sugar
One egg scrambled
– with a little milk from allowance
One slice of bread
(or toast) with spread from allowance
Tea or coffee with
milk from allowance
MID-MORNING:
Tea or coffee as above. One
vitamin pill
LUNCH:
An average helping of lean roast beef
A large helping of
Brussels sprouts
A large helping of
broad beans
One apple –
either raw or baked (without sugar)
TEA:
Tea or coffee as above
SUPPER:
Two thin slices of ham (or other lean meat, e.g. turkey)
A good helping of
lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and cress (no salad dressing)
One slice of bread
with spread from allowance
Tea or coffee if
you wish
MONDAY
BREAKFAST:
A bowl of high-fibre cereal with milk from allowance (but no sugar)
One egg
One slice of bread
(or toast) with spread from allowance
Tea or coffee with
milk from allowance
MID-MORNING:
Tea or coffee as above. One
vitamin pill
LUNCH:
An average helping of grilled chicken (remove the skin)
An average portion
of each of the following: leeks,
carrots, onions
One pear
TEA:
Tea or coffee as above
SUPPER:
A herb or plain
omelette, using one egg
Two grilled
tomatoes
One slice of bread
with spread from allowance
Tea or coffee if
you wish
TUESDAY
BREAKFAST:
One orange
One slice of bread
(or toast) with spread from allowance
Tea or coffee with
milk from allowance
MID-MORNING:
Tea or coffee as
above. One vitamin pill
LUNCH:
One lamb chop –
grilled (cut off any fat)
A good helping of
cabbage or other ‘greens’
A tablespoon of
turnip of sewed
About 10 grapes
TEA:
Tea or coffee as
above
SUPPER:
One small tub of
cottage cheese – with chives if you wish
A good helping of
celery and radishes
One slice of bread
with spread from allowance
Tea or coffee if
you wish
WEDNESDAY
BREAKFAST:
Half a grapefruit
without sugar
One medium kipper
– grilled (if you don’t like fish, have a bowl of porridge
instead)
One slice of bread (or toast) with spread from allowance
Tea or coffee with
milk from allowance
MID-MORNING:
Tea or coffee as
above. One vitamin pill
LUNCH:
An average portion
of liver (if you don’t like liver, then any other lean meat will
do)
A good helping of
cauliflower
A portion of peas
One banana
TEA:
Tea or coffee as
above
SUPPER:
Two large baked
tomatoes
One portion of
baked beans
One slice of bread
with spread from allowance
One large apple
Tea or coffee if
you wish
THURSDAY
BREAKFAST:
One orange
A poached egg on
one slice of toast
Tea or coffee with
milk from allowance
MID-MORNING:
Tea or coffee as
above. One vitamin pill
LUNCH:
One small grilled
steak (luxury item)
A large helping of
cauliflower
A tablespoon of
green beans
Two tablespoons of
stewed apple (no sugar)
TEA:
Tea or coffee as
above
SUPPER:
One grilled pork
chop (cut off fat). Alternative
– baked aubergine (eggplant)
A SMALL piece of
Dutch cheese
Two cream crackers
Tea or coffee if
you wish
FRIDAY
BREAKFAST:
Two grilled
tomatoes
One slice of bread
(or toast) with spread from allowance
Tea or coffee with
milk from allowance
MID-MORNING:
Tea or coffee as
above. One vitamin pill
LUNCH:
An average sized
fillet of haddock, grilled with lemon
A good portion of
haricot beans
A tablespoonful of
carrots
One large apple
TEA:
Tea or coffee as
above
SUPPER:
Average portion of
cod – grilled
Salad made of
lettuce, tomatoes, radishes and beetroot – no dressing
Tea or coffee if
you wish
SATURDAY
BREAKFAST:
Half a grapefruit
without sugar
One boiled egg
One slice of bread
(or toast) with spread from allowance
Tea or coffee with
milk from allowance
MID-MORNING:
Tea or coffee as
above. One vitamin pill
LUNCH:
An average portion
of steak and onion (no thickening)
A good helping of
cabbage
A tablespoon of
peas
One carton of
low-fat yoghourt
TEA:
Tea or coffee as
above
SUPPER:
One grilled gammon
rasher OR one veggie nut cutlet
A good helping of
grilled tomatoes
One slice of bread
with spread from allowance
One orange
Tea or coffee if
you wish
THAT’S
IT FOLKS!
HAPPY SLIMMING!
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Q.
If you want to lose weight, do you have to exercise as well
as diet?
A.
Well exercise certainly helps a lot.
It’s very difficulty to lose width if you’re just sitting
on a couch all day long. So
it’s well worth taking at the very least a brisk walk of 2 or 3
miles per day.
Q. Is
it more difficult for older people to lose weight?
I could do it quite easily when I was young.
But nowadays, it’s an awful struggle!
A. Yes,
it is a wee bit more difficult to lose weight when you’re no
longer in the first flush of youth.
This is partly because people tend to take less exercise
after the age of 50. But it can be done – if you’re determined enough!
Q. My husband
claims that gin and tonic isn’t fattening – is he right?
A. This is wishful
thinking on his part. The
tonic water isn’t a problem, but the gin most certainly IS.
The trouble with alcohol is that it contains lots of calories
– not quite as much as fat does, but very nearly.
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Q. I hit 65 the
other day, and to my surprise my GP promptly took me off his list.
He said it was ‘on economic grounds.’
Is he entitled to do this?
A. Unfortunately,
yes. It’s very rare for GPs to do this. But a few of them do ‘strike off’, patients who need a
lot of time and medication. But
it sounds as though you’d be better off with some more carding
doctor, wouldn’t you.
Q. I’m on HRT,
and I’m very worried by the recent bad publicity about side
effects. Should I go on
with it?
A. It is certainly
worth taking HRT to treat menopausal and post-menopausal symptoms
– like hot flushes, night sweats and vaginal dryness.
But at the time of writing (Summer 2002), it is now
distinctly less certain whether one should stay on it for many
years. But things will
become cleared over the next 12 months or so. So watch this space!
Q. I’m a man of
63, and I’m now completely bald.
Is it worth trying these new drugs that make the hair re-grow
– or is it too late.
A. Well sir, if
you’ve lost all of your hair, it’s rather unlikely that either
of the two available drugs will help you.
However, it might be worth trying them for a few months –
provided that you can afford the cost. Chemist generally charge over £20 for a month’s supply.
The 2 available
drugs are called Regaine and Propecia.
Talk to your Doctor about possible side effects before you
decide to go ahead
Q. I’m 66 – am
I too old to take Viagra?
A. Not at all sir.
I have treated hundreds of men of your age or older with
Viagra
Q. I’m an
ex-athlete, but my knees are very bad these days with the
rheumatism. If I had
one of these ‘knee replacement’ ops, would I be able to start
running and playing tennis again?
A. I rather doubt
it, sir. The knee replacement operation is often good for getting rid
of severe pain. After
it, many people can play golf and go for walk.
But playing tennis or going for long runs could be more
difficult.
Q. My mother –
age 62, has just been put on the waiting list for a hip replacement,
but the list is TWO YEARS long.
Is there any way she can ‘jump the queue’?
A. Not that I know
of ma’am, sorry. But
if you can raise the money for her to go privately, she could
probably be done within a month
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