Welcome! Expert diet and nutrition webchat with Lowri Turner

Hi everyone

Are you desperate to shape up for your big day but finding it a struggle? Do you know which superfoods will give you the glossiest hair, the clearest skin and the most sparkling eyes in your wedding photos? Need some top tips to clear your bridezilla moods and calm your nerves?

Lowri Turner will be joining us for a live webchat now so don't miss out! She's got all the expert advice you need on weightloss and nutrition for great hair, skin and nails

Please do make sure that you post within this thread (by clicking "post reply" at the top or bottom of the thread) as unfortunately we're not able to answer questions posted elsewhere in the forum.

Enjoy!

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[Modified by: Web Master on 19 January 2010 16:12:30 ]


[Modified by: Web Master on 19 January 2010 16:20:52 ]

Calling all brides with food/dieting/skin dilemmas! I'm here to answer your questions. Do you need to lose weight in a hurry? Is your skin prone to break-outs and you're worred about how it'll look in the pictures? Do you feel totally stressed out and don;t want to be a bridezilla on your big day? Just post a question and I'll do my best to help.

Regards,

Lowri

Hi Lowri!
I've got just under 6 months til my wedding now, and I really need to tone up my tummy because I'm wearing a slinky dress!
I have quite a lot of fat in a 'spare tyre' area on my waist and I don't know whether it's food problems causing it (I have IBS) or under-exercising because I feel like I've tried everything and it just doesn't shift! Can you help???! Thanks!!

I need to lose about 3 stone at least for my wedding in september..im about to join a gym but whats the best things to do to get weight loss properly??

plus i hate how i look in photos and i got a double chin ..is there any particular way that i can pose or waht not without looking like a wally

thanks ever so much

rebecca

hi lowri , i have actually already had my wedding in august but i have put on a few pounds since what are the best sort of exercise for tum , love handles and also the bits around your back on your bra area? is there many foods that would be best to eat for weight loss from these areas? thankyou

Dear ChicShropshire,

When you want to shift fat that is concentrated round the tummy, it is often as much a matter of the type of food you're eating as the amount. Don't get me wrong, you will have to restrict calories, but going on a low fat diet probably won't do it.

The culprit, I'm afraid, is sugar in the form of bread/pasta/cakes etc and especially alcohol. All of these feed the body's stress response making it think it needs to keep energy stores close to vital organs (in your midriff region) in case it needs to mobilise a fight or flight response quickly.

So, what to do?

1) Swap all processed carbs for wholegrain one.
2) Restrict even those. So no more than two servings a day (1 serving is a teacup full of cooked rice/past/beans/1 slice bread).
3) Fill up on veggies, especially green ones.
4) Reduce your caffeine and alcohol, both of which make the situation worse.

Sit ups will defintely help the problem, but to be able to see those fantastically worked out abs, the sad truth is you need to reduce the spare tyre over the top and that means sorting the food out first.

Best wishes,

Lowri

Hi Lowri, I get married in August, and have managed to get to a size 12. Im not all that fussed what the scales say, but going more by dress size. Im not too fussed either about my middle, but have a thing about my upper arms being on show. Are there any particular excersises that target this area, to tone them without making them chunky and muscular, and really just defined?

Thanks

x
x
x

Hi! I am really strugling with my skin at the mo for my wedding in sept. I have psorisasis and roseacea on my face. i have been having acupuncuture but its not shifting - please help! love
emsx

Dear Rebecca,

The simplest way to lose weight is to cut down on starches - bread/pasta/potatoes/rice/cakes etc. All of these foods are really easy to over-eat and highly addictive. Pasta, in my view, is the devil's food. I remember being on weight watchers a long time ago and measuring out two ounces and almost fainting when I saw how little that was. Better to do without.

For weight loss, you want to aim for 1 - 2 teacup sized servings of cooked starches or 1 - 2 slices of bread p/day. Fill up on veggies.

Re: the double chin, I used to have a rule when I presented House Call that no camera could ever film me from below. if you're worrried about a double chin the in the pics, ask the photographer to bring a step ladder and do all the photographs from slightly above, the groups ones and the individual. You won;t get such a great shot of the Church behind you, but you will look gorgeous.

Good luck,

Lowri Turner

Dear Kyla,

Sorry to say there are no magic foods to melt away love handles. However, I would think about removing foods that bloat. When I take my clients off all grains and dairy foods (only for 2 weeks!) they seem to debloat massively. Of course, your calories are reduced, but the effect is more fundamental than that.

So, if you want to slim down quickly that's the way to go.

Regards,

Lowri Turner

thanks x

Dear Nikkui,

it actually takes an awful lot of work for most women to become muscular. Madonna is in that gym about 4 hours a day, remember!

The best exercises for upper arms are tricep dips and press ups. Otherwise, I find lifting children in and out of puschairs is brilliant.

Good luck,

Lowri Turner

thankyou!

Desr Ems,

I sympathise, as a fellow rosacea sufferer. The fact you also have psoriasis suggests that you have what we call an 'inflammatory' system, that is that your skin is basically misebehaving all over the place. I would suggest you do the following, tough but effective.

1. Heal your gut. The skin is a mirror to what's going on in your tummy and if you have inflammation on your face, you can bet that your gut is struggling, So take a probiotic (capsules from the healthfood shop not Yakkult et.). A one month supply should be enough.

2) Support the liver. If your face is breaking it out, it maybe becasue the liver, the organ that usualy detoxifies the body, isn't working properly. Take milk thistle to support he liver and eat more brassicas - cauliflower, brocoli, cabbage and kale.

3) Remove potential allergens.
Reduce or preferably eliminate all:
Grains
Cow dairy foods (sheeps, goats, soya, rice mil etc. should be fine.

4) Identify triggers for your rosacea and avoid. Commong triggers are alcohol, caffeine, spicy foods, possibly tomatoes, eggs,. aubergine, peppers, chocolate.

4) Boost oily fish, nuts and seeds or take an omega 3 supplement. Essential fats are anti-inflammatory so should reduce your symptoms.

I know this probably all sounds awful, but it depends how much you want to clear your skin? Wish I could say eat chocolate all day, but there you are.

Good luck,

Lowri Turner

Hi Lowri

Someone mentioned double chins so i thought I would ask, are there any exercises you can do to reduce it and/or get a more defined jaw line. I know when you lose weight, it tends to go down, but even when I was stick thin aged 11, I still had one that I hated lol!