In this edition of the Dating Show, we look at diets, and how to get a healthy lifestyle to get yourself into shape for finding love. Debbie and Rod speak to Jane, a dietician.

Read the transcript below:

D: In this edition of The Dating Show… Rod, you’ve only got here!

R: I’m sorry about that because, I’ll tell you what, I’ve had a difficult few hours. Last night, I went out for a Chinese and I couldn’t believe it, I ate so much. I had crispy wontons…

D: Mmm.

R: Crispy spring rolls, then I went for a bit of deep fried squid with salt and chilli, crispy chicken wings with salt and chilli as well, kung fu chicken…

D: How many of you were there?

R: It was just myself actually. Then I went for the house special, bamboo shoot water chestnuts. I also had some spare ribs with barbecue sauce, chicken with OK sauce. Now the OK sauce was OK. Actually do you know what OK sauce is?

D: No..

R: It’s a fruity, brown sauce, first made in Wandsworth. I had some of that, I love that.

D: Fruity, eh?

R: Yeah it was fruity. King prawns with satay sauce, duck with kung po.

D: -laughter-

R: I also had egg fried rice and a plain chow mein. The thing is sometimes when I have Chinese, I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry afterwards.

D: After all that?

R: The reason I was late this morning is that I had to stop off and have a fry up. I had two sausages, three rashers of bacon, two mushrooms, some tomatoes, baked beans. A very, very nice thick slice of black pudding. I love black pudding. Also a bit of toast, two slices of toast and two cups of tea. And I’m bloated now.

D: I imagine you are.

R: Anyway, what are we talking about today?

D: We’re talking about a healthy diet Rod.

-silence-

-laughter-

R: That’s a bit awkward, isn’t it?

D: Yes, it is rather.

R: OK…

D: You could start though.

R: So who’ve we got on the programme?

D: You tell me!

R: I think we’ve got Jane, who’s a dietician.

J: I think the difficulty is that there is no point on going on a “diet” for a period of time and then when you stop, going back to doing whatever you were doing before that. A weight loss diet needs to be a learning process. So not only are you eating less, and hopefully moving a little bit more so you reaching your goals, but you need to be very conscious of that’s what you’re doing. When you finish the “diet”, for want of a better word, you really know exactly where you were going wrong and you don’t go back to how you were eating. Imagine if you had a back ache for example, and you take a tablet, the back ache may go, but if you don’t adjust your posture, or perhaps take up Pilates, or do something different, when you stop taking that tablet, the back ache will come back. It’s exactly the same with weight loss.

R: I will confess, I don’t know a great deal about dieting, but one of the things I’ve heard that you should start the day with a good breakfast to kick-start your metabolic rate. Is that true?

J: I think it’s always a good idea to start with a good breakfast. There are many benefits. First of all, it gives you a kick-start, secondly, if you don’t start the day with a good breakfast, by about 11 you’re going to be feeling very hungry. If you’re hungry, you are more likely to choose inappropriate choices. If you started the day with a good, healthy breakfast, you should manage to maintain your blood sugar levels and you won’t enter the mid-morning period absolutely starving and be reaching for a cappuccino and a muffin. Hopefully you’ll make a healthy choice like an apple. Likewise, you’ll get to lunchtime again and by starting the day off well, you won’t be experiencing fluctuating blood sugar levels. Breakfast helps with concentration. If you’re going to the office, it’s pretty important that you’ve had something to eat in the mornings.

R: OK, what are some of the key foods that people should look at? What are some of the key foods that people should avoid? Traditionally, I think things like chips and burgers, you know, people should avoid and look at salads, but can you give us any more tips than that?

J: Yes. At the end of the day, a healthy eating plan encompasses a wide range of foods. I really love the concept of a rainbow on your plate. What you want is lots of different colours, lots of different varieties of food, not eating fat all the time. That doesn’t mean you can’t have the occasional treat and that might be a burger for somebody, it might be a piece of chocolate for somebody else. Obviously it all has to be done in a balanced way. I think it is very important not to so much ban foods, but just be aware that some of them really are treats, and not foods for everyday, whereas others we should be eating every single day. We should always be eating a wide abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, it’s very important to have protein in the diet. Obviously meat and fish have protein, but if you’re a vegetarian, nuts and pulses are really great. Of course, I know carbohydrates have had a bit of a bad name for many years, but the one to avoid is refined carbohydrates, high sugar items, particularly fizzy drinks, particularly shop bought cakes and biscuits, things like that. That doesn’t mean all carbohydrates are bad for you, it just means choosing the right ones.

R: What about portion size. Do you think that’s where many people go wrong?

J: I think that is absolutely where we’ve gone wrong. Particularly in recent years, we are suffering as a nation from portion distortion. We’ve lost sight of what a proper portion is. To be honest, you’d walk into any petrol station to buy even a packet of crisps and you can’t buy a normal size packet of crisps anymore. Everything is supersize and bigger because it’s perceived as better value, but we’re really just harming ourselves. Recent research, with we’ve pinpointed in the book actually, suggests that the size of ready meals has increased by an enormous percentage over the last 10 years. We’ve been trained to eat more. We have to make a conscious effort now to actually eat less and eat the same amount people did 20 or 30 years ago.

R: OK, and finally Jane, what have you got planned for lunch today?

J: -laughter- I don’t know that’s a very good question!

R: A burger?

J: On a cold rainy day like today, I’m a massive fan of soup so I’ll probably be having a soup.

R: I think she probably had a burger, don’t you reckon Debbie?

D: A burger it definitely was.

R: That was Jane, a dietician. Useful advice there. When she’s talking portion distortion…

-laughter-

R: Men always have this problem, don’t they?

D: Yes.

R: Men always distort the size of their portion, don’t they?

D: They do indeed!

-laughter-

D: And Rod, talking of inappropriate, will you be making any changes to your diet?

R: I think so yes, I think I might go for just chips rather than sausage and chips.

D: -laughter- I like the idea of a rainbow plate and in Japan, they say the more colours you eat in a day, the better. Especially dark, vivid colours like beetroot and seaweed.

R: Would you say you’ve got a good diet?

D: I think I am prone to chocolate outbursts, but other than that I think I’ve got a fairly good diet, yes.

R: Dark, plain or white?

D: Dark chocolate.

R: Really? That’s actually quite good for you.

D: I believe it has lots of iron and zinc in it. Actually just a square or two is probably better than the whole bar.

-music-

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