If you are using hypnotherapy to lose weight, or just on a diet, steer clear of the BBQs this summer, as a recent study shows that you could be consuming as much as 3000 calories.
A recent research study, conducted by Boots, found that the typical BBQ meal would include: two sausages, one-and-a-half burgers, two chicken drumsticks, one-and-a-half meat skewers, fish, a baked potato, a green side salad, pasta salad, and a bowl of fruit salad for dessert. That equates to nearly 3,000 calories, 500 calories more than the recommended daily intake for men, and 1,000 more than women are permitted.
If you add a bottle of wine or a few beers into the mix, you could be looking at a lot more.
Research showed that in the UK, in a single barbecue meal, we often consume more than the recommended daily intake of calories, with men often eating more than 3,500 calories and women more than 2,500.
The average family will have nine barbecues every year if the weather is nice. However, throwing caution to the wind at a BBQ could sabotage any weight loss that you have achieved. So if you have, or go to a BBQ, simply exercise the same level of control you would normally do with an everyday meal.
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However, the research also uncovered that advice on sensible eating habits at BBQs is likely to be ignored. It established that although a third of those questioned (2,000 adults) were conscious they eat more food than usual at a BBQ, 41% chose to overlook how many calories they were consuming and ate whatever they wanted.
Paul White, the behavioural change specialist at the Surrey Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy and former Chairman of the National Council for Hypnotherapy, said “We have to be aware that a BBQ is just another meal and the same rules you apply to other meals, apply at a BBQ as well. In our hypnotherapy for weight loss programme, we do not specifically target BBQs, but because we target eating behaviours and install control points, in the main our clients come through the BBQ season without too many mishaps. However, sometimes they do slip and when this happens we have to look at how the behaviour reverted back and take steps to ensure the client can avoid it happening in the future.”
By far the most popular barbecue dish is the burger, chosen by 32% of respondents. Followed by sausages chosen by 18%; kebabs, 14%; steak, 13%; chicken drumsticks, 12% and lamb chops, 6%. The healthiest option is fish; just 4% of diners chose fish, the least calorific option.
It’s not just the main protein that’s the problem, but also the fattening snacks we serve with it, like crisps, dips and potato salads and, of course, let us not forget the ice cream and fruit salad as a dessert.
We also add sides of a baked potato, perhaps a helping of pasta salad and several dollops of mayonnaise and other dressings.
Drinks do not look good for dietary intake either. Lager is the most popular drink, followed by coke, rose wine, white wine and lemonade.
At the Surrey Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy, we help clients to change their relationship with food. Your hypnotherapist will work with you to change the way you view food, even the way you think about food, so your behaviour returns to one where you eat to live, rather than live to eat. By doing so you remove the guilt, reduce consumption and feel happier around food.
Paul White has been a Director of The Surrey Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy for 11 years. He has a special interest in weight control and problem behaviours (addictions). He has been using hypnotherapy to lose weight for over a decade.