The Slimming Calendar 70’s diet Edit
(Disclaimer – This is just gimmicky fun and probably not exactly right. With this in mind if you are just starting a weight loss journey, I’d recommend you do a food diary of everything you eat in a week ~ be honest as it works better. Then reduce your daily intake by 500 calories until you get used to this amount of calories, then keep reducing by 500 till you get to your goal weight. In the 70’s women were told to go from a large calorie intake to 1,000 calories a week. This didn’t work and created what was known as yo – yo dieting and food disorders. It was supposed to emmulate what a slim women ate. If you want to get down to 1,000 calories a day it takes time so be gentle with yourself ~ you will get there ~ better to get it off and keep it off than get rapid results and disorders. At first the weight comes off really fast anyway so you might as well enjoy yourself for a bit. I’m not just making this up as I’ve been through this. Taken me a few years to teach myself in a world where all the slimming magazines don’t exist anymore – all the knowledge I have learnt is in the slimming calendar for free.)
Need to fill this in a bit. I use it everyday now it is my health magazine until it comes back.
Although 70’s diets weren’t obviously healthy, people on average were slimmer.
Apparently some people in England were still on rations from the 2nd World War, not sure if that is correct. The big difference was the fact they exercised more in the 70’s from sport to disco dancing on Friday Afternoons.
Maybe they were working off the energy from the junk food and additives ~ some school children were like that on E numbers when I was a teacher.
I’ve got no skills in nutrition at all so just working it out as I go along.
These ideas are frowned upon by some nutritionists so it is up to you whether you do it or not.
I’m not bothered so I’m doing it.
(You need to study this a bit as we are all different, plan it a bit, but basically it is fairly straight forward.)
THE DAILY MENU
70’s breakfasts
We love these now. We discovered them due to covid food restrictions.
The can is as healthy as fresh grapefruit but easier to serve and eat. We have to get boiled eggs from the supermarket in pre made salad or snack boxes at the moment as our extractor fan has broken.
You can add rasperries also, I add frozen blueberries.
Scrambled egg on toast
You can have this for breakfast lunch or dinner.
They used to loose weight on fried egg on toast also, discussed this in a chat room at a slimming club once.
If you are in a rush toast made from slimcea or nimble bread.
Try switching from butter to Lightest Philadelphia when you are ready. Just changing bread will make a massive difference at first anyway.
If you get hungry between meals checkout how Margo is planning to curb her appetite.
Sunday Day off treat
You can relax things on a Sunday so in the 70’s they had fried breakfast ~ remember to use vegetable oil to fry.
To make it more healthy if you want:
You can grill the bacon, have toast instead of fried bread, have a vegetarian sausage instead of a full fat one, just fry the egg and mushrooms.
70’s Lunch Options
70’s egg, salad and slimming salad cream on slimcea bread.
You arrange the salad on the crispbreads. I use the egg and salad out of the M and S salad box. The ham one might of come back now so you could use that also. These crispbreads are really nice. If you prefer a light lunch before exercising these taste nice and are filling. Even if you aren’t slimming they are great pre exercise. Thinking of trying other toppings. You can count them as carbs even though they are wheat free.
sainsburys-wafer-thin-brunswick-ham-slices
Cottage Cheese salad
&
50 calorie yoghurt
(I can’t find either of these ~ don’t think they sell it anymore)
If you can find it you could have that.
Celery with sea salt or Philadelphia lightest.
You can still get this, you can have philadelphia instead of cottage cheese.
I used to have tomatoes and philadelphia as well.
(Great for when your getting used to less calories and feel hungry.)
Fill up on salad and veg
I’ll do this instead, you just have salad and veg as free calories.
Wednesday Wine Night
Hot or cold Roast beef Sandwich with horesradish sauce and a glass of red wine from your allowance.
If you have cut out horseradish sauce for the cream content try sliced onions and sea salt instead.
I can’t drink midweek, but it is healthier to spread out your drink allowance if you prefer this idea.
This is a really enjoyable way to slim as it allieviates the boredom of slimming.
Have it watching your favourite TV.
70’s Dinner Ideas
(Adapted these ideas from research I found on the internet about 70’s diets.)
Chinese Fresh or Ready Meal
I’d make my own but the extracor fan has gone.
Also if you switch from home cooking to slimming ready meals the food is portioned for you so you can’t cheat.
For this month don’t add rice stick with noodles. Not sure it makes a difference. I think it is trying something different and making changes to your diet that works.
count-on-us-chicken-vegetable-chow-mein
You used to get slimming chinese chow mein noodles that you heated up with hot water but they went during covid.
Chips for tea
I’ve sort of made this idea up but people did eat chips in the 70’s as oppose to rice or pasta.
(Just look for frozen diet chips in the supermarket frozen section.)
You can add convenience food, sliced beef and pickled onions, salad or nimble bread.
Pizza and chips
People had pizza in the 70’s but not pasta.
I kept slim on pizza and chips as a student because it was cheap and I hadn’t much money.
I’d buy a bag or 5 small round frozen pizzas and divide out a bag of frozen oven chips then have strawberry or chocolate mousse for dessert. They came in a pack of six for 50p.
(I also preferred spending my money on fashion, makeup and fun than food.)
None of the above was diet or slimming but it worked.
We found the small pizzas at M & S
260 calories per pizza
M&S+Simply+Kids+Cheesy+Pizza+95g
They used to be sold for adults?
They are really nice anyway and make you slim ~ who cares how they have been re – imagined.
You could put low calorie topping on them or mixed herbs ~ serve with the chips below or salad.
Both products freeze so you find you will always have something in and it offers more meal choices for you.
Ready meals which are just meat, potatoes and veg.
I saw a documentary once about 70’s & 80’s foods.
In 70’s they ate chips and chinese in 80’s they switched to pasta as it was quicker to cook if you were part of the feminine revolution going back to work.
Over Christmas I just ate chips for some reason and got some bloat down.
They also ate a lot of dinners like shepherds pie and cottage pie, perfect for keeping slim.
(English food sometimes gets bad reviews but when Americans come to England they like actually like Traditional English food. Worth a try.)
marksandspencer.com/food/cottage-pie
Fish Fingers, diet chips and peas
These are so easy to make and great comfort food.
The fish and greens are obviously really good for you too.
Hot Dog Sausage and chips or sausage & chips
Yes, hot dogs were definitely popular sausages in the 1970s, continuing their long history as an American staple, with trends including regional variations, fast-food presence.
Google Search
You can vary this to suit your calorie allowance.
Vegetarian sausages were actually evented by a scientist in the 70’s for meat eaters who needed to loose weight.
Try them you might be surprised ~ you can still eat meat on this diet anyway.
Just found sausage and mash
Friday Pizza
Will probably have this in the week as well during February with chips and mineral water although mineral water came in the 80’s.
Steak and chips or Quorn and chips
You can have steak on a diet just work out your calories per portion of steak.
Then switch diet chips for fried chips.
Have at the weekend with a glass of red wine from your alcohol allowance.
Saturday Beefburgar or chips treat
If you like Mcdonalds or Burgar King as a weekend treat just have the burgar or the chips but not both.
You can even just have the burgar on its own without the bun.
I still do that due to food restrictions as I need beef for my low seratonin condition.
(It actually tastes really nice.)
You can work out your calorie allowance as they put all the calories on their site.
Sunday
Then a roast dinner on Sunday with all the trimmings.
Some people frown on this idea but they had it in the 70’s; it is meat, potatoes and veg idea again.
We get low calorie Aunt Bessies Yorkshire puddings.
And low salt bisto.
Just have wine at the weekend or have some wine in the week by spreading out your allowance.
Dessert
You can have these every day after dinner, if you tried the sugar and salt free diet and it didn’t work for you. It might help to have a bit of sugar.
Mr Kipling makes sugar reduced cakes now.
Nice with a cup of tea of coffee.
He does a wide range of reduced sugar cakes, hopefully we will source and taste test them all.
You can have with low calorie squirty cream
(you can also use this on jelly and mousse and so forth.)
You can put cream on these too.
70’s diet treats and snacks
GREAT IF YOU CAN’T HAVE CHOCOLATE AS IT IS MAINLY TURKISH DELIGHT.
Blue Riband Biscuits
95 calories per biscuit
You will eat at set times like the 70’s ~ if you feel hungry or want to cheat take up a hobby like blogging or altering covid fashion and you will find the hunger actually passes, by the end of the month any bloat will go down, your stomach will shrink and you won’t get as hungry anymore.
I’m trying this so join me and we will support each other.
Whether 70’s diets work or not doesn’t really matter anyway because changing what and how you eat does work.
(This is probably why unusual diets often work as your body isn’t used to it and enjoys the variety).
What makes us plateau is eating the same food all the time ~ not eating enough makes the body store food as it thinks there is a famine.
Quite amazing how resourcefull the body is but not as amazing if you want to slim down.
If you are a man or cooking for a man remember men need more calories than women so adjust this idea appropriately.
I make my own journals these days as I can’t purchase the ones from book shops anymore for some reason?
Margo’s Slimming Club
As it is the 70’s again Margo is into Holland & Barrett as she wants to stay slim, take collagen and use serums.
She now has a shopping column every Sunday on Weekend TV, where you can shopalong with her.
In preperation for her weightloss journey in February she has purchased a few slimming products you may want too.
Feeling puffed up and heavy, or as if your belt suddenly fits tighter than usual? Novomins De-Blo Gummies are designed to help you feel lighter and more balanced from within. They combine natural botanicals, prebiotic inulin fibre, zinc, calcium, and friendly bacteria.
- Every serving of two gummies provides 2 billion CFU of Lactobacillus rhamnosus.
- Traditional botanicals such as artichoke, dandelion, fennel seed, ginger, and peppermint, along with bromelain enzymes.
- Plus, Vitamin B6, calcium, and zinc contribute to normal energy release, macronutrient metabolism, and digestive enzyme function, helping your body’s natural digestive rhythm flow smoothly and comfortably.
Deliciously flavoured with natural watermelon and strawberry. This is a vegan-friendly formulation, certified by the Vegan Society.
Some people struggle with gummies as they are like sweets ~ I’ve had them before and find them easier to digest ~ I don’t like sugar that much so am fine with them. Stick to the daily dosages of everything like this.
These came up under weight loss.
I take these for my hair so interested about the weightloss claims.
Description
These fat metaboliser tablets are designed to support your wellness goals. These clever coated pills contain green tea, plus key nutrients like vitamin B6, zinc, carnitine and chromium – chromium contributes to normal macronutrient metabolism; while vitamin B6 supports energy-yielding metabolism.
Vitamin B6 contributes to normal protein and glycogen metabolism, while chromium helps maintain normal blood glucose levels and influences carbs, lipid and protein metabolism.
How will these tablets fit into your everyday?
It’s a little support (not a magic pill) but when taken with food mid-morning and mid-afternoon, it fits seamlessly into your routine. Just remember: don’t take it near bedtime, and definitely not on an empty stomach.
These tablets also contain EGCGs, so make sure you’re not doubling up on other green tea products and stay within safe limits.
Either have these or the green tea ones then.
I doubled up on magnesium and went dizzy.
Before using these you need to sit down with all your supplements and go through the ingredients.
The gummies haven’t got green tea in. They have apple cider vinegar in.
I’m going to just do the gummies and fat metaboliser ones in February and nothing else ~ except maybe my collagen drink if it doesn’t double up.
If you get addicted to sugar you could just take apple cider vinegar on its own ~ follow the instructions carefully.
Looking forward to this ~ want to loose some weight round my midriff and abs that I still haven’t got down.
I can’t actually recommend these as haven’t tried them yet ~ you can wait and see what happens if you prefer, if they work you could do them in March in March.
I do recommend the green tea ones though, they are easy to digest and I can’t aquire the taste for green tea ~ I’m a coffee drinker.
Conclusion
What you do with this diet is work out your calorie allowance and just look at the calories in the convenience food and not any of the other content such as fat or sugar.
If you have a sugar addiction this might not work for you. Stick to what works for you. You will be better with the salad and veg ideas also the meat and potato ones. Basically read all the ingredients for added sugar content. I’m the other way I felt lousy without any sugar.
I’m not sure if it works anyway till I’ve tried it out.
I haven’t got a sugar addiction, but I get addicted to dark chocolate ~ trust me to be different.
They actually recommend dark chocolate for slimmers for some reason.
These are some ideas that can be added to.
Just think of your favourite 70’s food or modern convenience food alternative, then check out the calories and work it out in your food diary.
For instance we like these:
Actually they have improved since the 70’s.
These might work if you loose your appetite on slimming pills but need to eat something to make up your calorie allowance.
There might be similar 70’s frozen food you can serve with it or chips.
I do grilled or steamed tomatoes with the cheese ones, you could do some onions as well or loads of vegetables that are calorie free or mushrooms or a large side salad.
You can adapt this diet if you are addicted to sugar and so forth.
Hope this slimmers idea inspires you.
This will take us through to March in March.
Enjoy.
Saphire
n.b.
We started doing this to sample some products.
It reminds me of pre covid diets.
Quite enjoying what you are allowed to eat, especially after the no sugar one.
Surprising me so far ~ will have to do the whole month then review.
If this works I sort of have an idea where to go with diet plans ~ really hope it does work as it is food I like to eat rather than green gloop and baked cottage cheese.
SAPHIRE LIFESTYLE BLOG 