New Year, New Weight
27 Dec 2007
Brits will collectively lose 120,000 TONNES in weight this January, according to new research.
An unhappy 71 per cent of Brits will attempt to lose an average of 8lbs each – a total of almost 367 MILLION lbs - in the New Year.
That’s the equivalent of 19 million turkeys, 12.1 billion Brussel sprouts and 242 million Christmas puddings.
And January 3rd is the date the average dieter will start their post-Christmas detox.
A spokesman for British Lion eggs, which conducted the poll, said: ‘’It’s incredible how many people are aiming to go on diets in January and astonishingly, how much weight we’ll lose as a nation."
While more than half are planning to lose weight by simply eating healthily, 29 per cent of people are going to eat less and one in ten are going to join a gym.
More than 59 per cent of the 2,500 Brits polled think January is an ideal time to start a diet with 66 per cent of those saying the New Year offers a fresh start.
But not everyone will lose the weight they want to as the 37 per cent who tried to shift the pounds at the start of 2007 only managed an average of 5.9lbs each – more than two pounds less than the 8lb they wanted to lose.
And that could be because eight per cent of Brits never eat breakfast – with three quarters of those saying they then end up snacking on junk food to make up for it.
Nutritionist Cath MacDonald said: “It’s so important to go about dieting in the right way and skipping breakfast is certainly not the way to do it. You will only make up for the calories saved by snacking on bad things later in the morning.
“Eggs are a good choice for keeping hunger satisfied. Not only are they a rich source of protein, eggs are relatively low in saturated fat and have a 50 per cent satiety index compared to breakfast cereal – and all for 78 calories per egg.”
Worryingly one in ten Brits also admit they don’t think breakfast is an important meal.
While 12 per cent of dieters say they skip breakfast so they can eat more throughout the rest of the day, 52 per cent say they just don’t have time.
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