Links, Mir Diet, Recommendations and Favourite Things...

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The Mir Diet

Using Mir Skin Care and keeping fit and healthy are your best beauty and anti ageing tools and, as I said in Bella Magazine, keeping slim with a pronounced definition between neck and jaw line keeps you looking young, elegant and beautiful whatever your age.

Here's a rough version of the Mir Diet, it has no dread factor, really works and is so simple!  Please note this is a work in progress, I regularly add to and update it and will eventually give it its own page. 

 

Eating

I used to think counting calories could lead to obsession and was an unhealthy way to lose weight. But, for me, eating without counting calories is like spending without checking my bank balance. In both cases I have to budget. And in the same way that watching the £ pounds enables me to have the occasional splurge, counting calories enables allows me to go over the limit occasionally without gaining lb pounds.

If you don't want to count calories you don't have to, simply follow my guidelines - some of which are taken from Lee Janogly's excellent book (see book recommendations below).  (Lee doesn't recommend counting calories and - when at goal weight - I don't but I still follow this eating plan to maintain it.) If you find you're not losing weight then reconsider counting calories. I also use the principles set out in Brad Pilon's Eat Stop Eat e-book (again, see below).

• The basics:

Starchy carbs only for breakfast and, if hungry, as a late night snack.

Avoid sugary foods.

Lunch and dinner: have lean protein with either salad or veg. Fruit for dessert. Dried fruit - in limitation - if really craving something sweet.

Only have snacks when hungry eg fruit or an apple and a Babybel light (small individually wrapped cheese portions, 43 cals each).

Out and about, stick with it - Restaurants: so many options eg you can ask for a skinny hamburger substituting salad for the bread and fries. Have your Indian with dahl and yogurt instead of rice; have Thai with stir fried veg. Cafe: have a skinny cappuccino, no cakes or muffins! In the pub, watch those calories, I tend to have a maximum of 2 x 175ml glasses of white wine, no nuts or crisps.  I slip a Babybel light or a few almonds into my Mulberry before leaving the house.

• An example - what I'm currently eating and not eating:

Breakfast: Coffee; organic, sugar-free puffed rice (Kallo) with Vanilla Rice Dream (rice milk).

Morning snack: just a coffee but if hungry an apple too.

Lunch: skinless roasted chicken breast (Waitrose) or hard-boiled egg with my special salad: lettuce, beetroot, tomato, 2 tsps chopped green olives, quite a few slices of chopped jalapeno, 2 tbs EPC Honey & Mustard dressing, huge dollop of Waitrose Dijon mustard.  You can stick this in a lunchbox and take it to work or you can buy a ready made version near your place of work. I don't generally like salad but love this!  (This dressing is 2% fat and does contain sugar but this is OK as it only forms a small part of the overall meal.)

Lunch - v low cal alternative: if I'm going out for dinner or went out the evening before and slightly over-indulged I just have an apple, couple of raw carrots and a Babybel or two. Very simple and portable.

Snack: usually only if I've had the low cal lunch alternative or have been out and about so am hungry: apple and banana.

Dinner: Microwaveable bag of mixed veg - about 250 grams - with: Quorn Escalope or, once a week, two roast chicken legs with the skin (my weakness!); takeaway chicken or lamb curry (another weakness, yeah.. so I've got a few), no rice, with some tarka dahl, veg, yogurt; lean (5% fat) organic minced beef browned in a tsp olive oil with onion, herbs, tomato etc again with mixed veg. Of course you can have whatever non-starchy veg you like but skip the starchy ones like peas, corn, potatoes, parsnips and butter.

Late night snack: couple of rice cakes with sugar-free jam; a frozen Mejdool date. I hardly ever have this but knowing you can eat something later if you're hungry enables you to eat less for dinner.

General: ready made meals - carb-free and aim for as close to 5 grams of fat per 100g.

Skipping the starchy carbs leaves more room for nutrient dense foods - ie fruit and veg. But, once a week, I might have a pasta or rice dish if I feel like it. I do eat ready made curries, this has to be an easy way of eating or I won't do it, but I still skip the rice and have it with veg.  Eating starchy carbs just dilutes the flavour of things ;-)

I do have the occasional dessert but on the whole can resist temptation because I'd rather be slim.

(A lot of people say they couldn't possibly give up biscuits, sugary snacks, cakes, ice cream etc but maybe they don't really want to lose weight either.)

• I like eating - who doesn't?  Well, I like eating a lot - in both senses.

There are times when I over-indulge so I have a safety net built into this diet and it's called Eat Stop Eat.  ESE is an e-book by Brad Pilon.  I'm not affiliated but like telling people about things that work and this really does.  In a nutshell, it's short term fasting - totally pain free and only involves missing the occasional meal... something remarkably easy to do specially when you're busy.  Not going to say more because that would be unfair to Brad.  You can purchase the book from his website - it's essential for plateau shattering!

Essential apps etc :

• No iPod/Phone? Multiply your goal weight in pounds by 12 to work out your daily calorie allowance. (From Calorie Queens by Jacke Scott.)
• Lose It! A brilliant iPod Touch/iPhone app.  It's free but you will need a US iTunes account to get it. (You can get one even if you're not in the US, do a search on "how to open a US iTunes account without a credit card". )  This app uses a US database for calories but you can easily add your own items. I can't recommend this app highly enough, it is so easy and quick to use once you've got the hang of it. This does everything for you, including setting out your calorie allowance, allowing you to add calorie counted recipes, exercise etc.  You can set it up for 1lb a week loss, 1.5, 2 or maintenance.
• On the UK iTunes store Tap and Track looks good but I haven't tried it.
• An alternative is ShapeUp which is obtainable from the UK iTunes store. I use Lose It! as my main app and ShapeUp for looking up calories of items which aren't on Lose It!.
• Weightbot - another excellent iPod/Phone app.
• If you're not using apps then you'll need a small Filofax, notebook or can use your smartphone to log cals, steps, results so you know what is working.  Also, see books below.
• Keep it simple or you won't do it. 

 

Moving

Already fairly active? Great, stick with it. Otherwise move a little more: Simplest is 15 mins brisk walk or indoor jogging/dancing + 30 curl ups.  I just clip on my iPod Shuffle and dance, jog on the spot etc for as long as I feel like. I always aim for a minimum of 10 mins and quite often do more than 40.  It's better to aim low and exceed it than to set yourself a high goal which puts you off doing it in the first place. Avoid the dread factor at all costs.  Get some extra steps in: march or jog on the spot while waiting for kettles to boil, brushing your teeth, during commercial breaks. As you get fitter you will want to do more but don't become obsessed or the dread factor will eventually kick in. Need some help getting started: buy the Quick Fit book shown below, it has a total 15 min workout you can do anywhere without even having to change your clothes and has options for the totally unfit and for those who want to do a longer workout.

Optional extras that help: 

iPod Touch (or iPhone) - essential if you want to use the above apps. iPod Shuffle is also handy as it clips to your clothes - you will want to exercise if you have a good playlist; Gymboss timer, I set mine to buzz each minute to alternate dancing, jogging, marching on spot etc; Omron Walking Style II Pedometer to log steps and beat each week's average. Two soft, weighted balls to hold while dancing/marching.

 

Thinking

If you think any of the above is too much effort then ask yourself how important being slim is to you. Are you happy to stay the same weight, maybe even gain some more?

When faced with temptation just say to yourself "I'd rather be slim". (With thanks to Lee Janogly.)

Make a list in your diary or on your computer or smartphone of the reasons why you want to be slim, keep adding to it and read it daily.   Eg 1. Being slim suits my face.  2. I will look and feel fitter 3. My muffin top will disappear etc etc.

Write the Mir Mantra down in the same place:

*Don't ever use lack of time, special occasions, celebrations, travel, holidays, feeling fed up, stressful events, minor setbacks, weight gain, cravings, poor health, anything or anyone as an excuse to go off track.*

You can add your own bits to the above to customise it!

This doesn't mean you have to miss out.  Using the apps mentioned above makes it easy to plan ahead for the odd splurge, once or twice a week.  Say you have a birthday coming up, you can add a couple of extra exercise sessions and stick with lower calorie options beforehand to budget for it. The Lose It! app makes this incredibly simple. But, as the Mir Mantra says, these occasions aren't an excuse to go completely off track.

As for the "lack of time" excuse, don't even entertain that one. We all have the same number of hours in the day, however busy, exhausted, stressed you are there's somebody out there who has even less free time and they're probably exercising more. When you want to do something you find a way to do it.  If you use the time excuse then maybe it's a cover up for laziness, fear of failure or reluctance to begin making changes.

Thinking about doing something is often harder than doing it. So just get on with it. Motivation will increase as your weight decreases.

 

Maintaining once you've reached goal

Keeping it off is harder than losing it so stick with the above plan.  If you'd like to reintroduce starchy carbs then just have them with lunch or dinner, not both. It is very easy to slip back into old habits and find the pounds that you lost. If you're using Lose It! maintaining your weight will be very simple as you can adjust it to show your daily maintenance calories.

 

Recommended books:

"Only Fat People Skip Breakfast" by Lee Janogly a wonderful, straightforward, humorous, realistic book on how to banish the blubber for ever without feeling deprived. The Living Slim way of eating set out in this book is an eye opener and a good kick up the rear end for everyone weight or eating issues. Lee now has a new book: 50 Ways to Lose your Blubber.  Her books and Talk Yourself Slim CD are a must. She is my all-time favourite diet/fitness guru and the methods she teaches for losing weight are skills you will retain for ever.

"Eat Stop Eat" - e-book by Brad Pilon on how to do intermittent, short-term fasting. See "I like eating" above.
 
"Quick Fit: The Complete 15-Minute No-Sweat Workout" by Richard R Bradley. This is the one that will rescue you from the firm embrace of your sofa and shake you out of hibernation mode. You can even do the routine in your office in your work clothes. Who hasn't got 15 minutes? This is the one I do every day without fail - you can even combine it with using Nintendo Wii Fit Plus and other Wii fitness games.

Another favourite is Strength Training for Women by Joan Pagano - This is the one I always turn to for inspiration and motivation. Intelligently written, beautifully photographed. Anything by Joan should be snapped up for your fitness library. 

Make up for sensitive skin

Before you buy any new make up see Gisèle’s Guide for a list of ingredients to avoid. 

Chantecaille's Future Skin is compatible with Mir as it contains soothing ingredients and feels cool on the skin. However it’s very expensive and we personally prefer the finish of Laura Mercier's Oil Free foundation. Use one pump of it on a flocked sponge slightly dampened with Mir Skin Refresher or mixed in your palm with a dollop of Mir Moisturising Lotion or Skin Silk. Liberty in Regent Street, London W1 and Space NK sell Laura Mercier, but please check with them first.

We haven't tried it ourselves but a few customers have recommended Becca's Luminous Colour foundation.

Smashbox High Definition Healthy FX Foundation feels cool and soothing on the skin, rather like Mir, and comes in a wide variety of shades.

Eyeshadows: Stila for its wonderful colours and sparkle, Chantecaille for sophisticated, sheer washes of colour which glide on and stay put (but £20 for an eye shadow is extortionate!), Laura Mercier for velvety textures and all of the above. MAC for an incredible range of colours some of which are so complex and original that they defy description.

Lips: Love Laura Mercier's colours but can't tolerate the fragrance. Bobbi Brown's feel very comfortable and there are some beautiful shades in a variety of finishes. Giorgio Armani wins hands down for its beautiful, flattering colours and the fact that it is uniquely unscented but why isn't it more widely available and why do they always do the best shades as Limited Editions?
 

Favourite beauty haunts in London: 

Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Liberty and Space NK.

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