New Dawn Diet

This is a sponsored post for New Dawn Diet

WEIGHT MAINTENANCE AND WEIGHT LOSS

I don’t know about you but I’m finding the perimenopausal/menopausal years very difficult to shift & maintain weight. Once upon a time if I felt I had a bit of weight to lose, I could eat a little less for a bit and voila – weight gone, dress fits, all good!  Nowadays, this doesn’t work and I have to up the ante quite a bit!

I’m sure you’d be familiar with the fact that weight loss is 80% about what we put in our mouths and 20% about exercising.  At this stage of my life, I’ve found that what I eat is the most important thing when it comes to managing my weight. Exercise, an essential element to healthy living, to me is more about keeping my body flexible and strong and looking after my mental health than weight loss.

I eat healthy foods. Problem is that sometimes I might eat TOO MUCH healthy foods! Portion sizes might sometimes get too large and snacking can become too frequent. Snacking too often is hands down my biggest problem. The best way for us to get on top of these problems is to reacquaint ourselves with the calorie value of the foods we’re eating. We need to set a calorie limit for the day (dependent on whether we wish to lose weight or maintain weight) and organise our meals so that they fit within that limit (most of the time anyway – shh!). We will then soon realise where all those extra calories have been coming from and be reminded of the amount of food we can eat in a day to achieve our goals.

Counting calories might not be everyone’s favourite thing to do but I look upon it as a ‘temporary reminder’. Once you’ve been reminded you kinda know what you can eat each day and don’t need to count any longer. You’ve just got to be careful to not let things get out of hand again, but if they do, you reacquaint yourself again!

So how many calories are we meant to have in a day? 

I’m no expert but Calorie Calculator Australia advises the following: 

From age 19 to 25, women who exercise moderately should eat 2200 calories per day. This should reduce to 2000 calories from age 26 to 50, and 1800 calories per day thereafter. Men who exercise moderately should eat 2800 calories per day from age 19 to 25, then 2600 calories from age 26 to 45, then 2400 calories from 46 to 65, and finally 2200 calories per day from age 66.

Most information I have read about how many calories you should consume to lose weight advises a deficit of 500 calories. So if you were on 1800 calories to maintain, you’d reduce to 1300 calories to start losing some weight.

I personally need to reduce to around 1200 calories a day to lose weight but I’m 58, only moderately active, and I’m vertically challenged (if that counts). If you’re not sure what amount of calories you need to reduce to for weight loss, it would probably be best to speak to your doctor or a dietician/nutritionist.

NEW DAWN DIET

Some people hate tracking calories in the modern way – on phone apps or tablets/computers/devices of all kinds. There’s all the time it takes to work out calories for each food or ingredient and then entering in the foods, the amounts, the calories etc etc. There is another way for those of us who prefer a more tactile and less time consuming experience though and this is where I want to tell you about the ‘New Dawn Diet‘.

New Dawn Diet was created by ‘Dawn’ and was born out of the frustration of having to log everything she ate. It was tedious and time consuming! You might have guessed, but the name came about from a play on her name and a new concept – e.g. listing calories on every ingredient for a recipe. This information has not been provided before on any diet/recipe.

The New Dawn Diet is a beautifully presented box set of recipe cards filed in different categories – Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Sides, Snacks – but of course are interchangeable. Each recipe card has options. For example there might be an assortment of different carb options (all with differing calorie values) and there are optional extras that you can add to the meal or not. Every option has a calorie value all worked out for you.  The recipe’s ‘method’ is on the flip side of the card.

The New Dawn Diet meals have been kept simple and include ingredients most likely to be in the average pantry. They allow for those wanting 1200 calorie days and upwards. They include a calorie log pad and a shopping list notepad.

Here’s a few New Dawn Diet examples.

BREAKFAST

Scrambled Eggs

This recipe starts with a base of 2 eggs whisked (122 calories) and 1 light spray of cooking oil (13 calories) – 135 Calories.  You then are given some optional extras and some optional carbs. I had my scrambled eggs on a slice of toasted multigrain bread (72 calories) and added the following:

• 4 sliced Mushrooms (12 calories)
• 1 handful Baby Spinach (6 calories)
• 5 Cherry Tomatoes, halved (8 calories)

I cooked up the Mushrooms and Tomatoes till they had softened and then added the eggs and baby spinach. All calorie values were provided. I didn’t have to look up any of them.  

TOTAL CALORIES PER SERVE FOR MY VERSION OF THIS MEAL = 233 CALORIES

BREAKFAST RECIPES INCLUDE:  Smoothies, Yoghurts, Fruits, Spreads, Cereals, Indulgence (eg pancakes, danishes), and Eggs (in a variety of ways).

LUNCH

FRITTERS

Fritters are a ‘light’ lunch option at 164 Calories for 2 Fritters. The only optional extra I added was 1/4 cup Fat Free Greek Yoghurt for 76 Calories. That made it a total of 240 Calories. I actually found that for me the 1/4 cup was too much yoghurt so next time I’d probably at least halve that amount. The recipe makes 12 fritters (each fritter is 82 calories) so I had leftovers to eat on other days which was great! I kept two in the fridge for lunch the next day and froze the rest. The card provides some information on how best to freeze them.

TOTAL CALORIES PER SERVE FOR MY VERSION OF THIS MEAL = 240 CALORIES

LUNCH RECIPES INCLUDE: On the Go (eg wraps, sandwiches etc), Light (fritters, wraps, frittata etc), Grilled, and Salads.

DINNER 

CHILLI CHICKEN SKEWERS with 2 x SIDES – (1) PEAS and (2) ROSEMARY POTATOES

The Chilli Chicken Skewers recipe was 230 Calories for 2 x skewers. I  made 8 x skewers to feed four of us. I added a whole green capsicum (31 calories) between the 8 skewers so if you divide that by 4 that comes to about 7.5 calories which would make my Chilli Chicken Skewers a total of 237.5 Calories (for 2 skewers).

SIDES

PEAS – There were lots of optional extras offered for the peas but I opted with just adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice for 3 Calories. I doubled the amount of peas for the four of us which meant we got 1/2 cup each and the total calorie value came to 174 Calories (peas) + 3 Calories (1 tbsp lemon juice = 177 Calories which then when divided by four came to around 44 Calories per serve.

ROSEMARY POTATOES – As there were four of us to feed, I multiplied this recipe by 4. Each serve came to 121 Calories.

TOTAL CALORIES PER SERVE FOR MY VERSION OF THIS MEAL = 402.5 CALORIES

HOKKIEN NOODLE STIR FRY

This recipe is one for the vegetarians or for anyone wanting a meat-free meal! It’s full of fabulous nutritious veggies (capsicum, onion, carrot, mushrooms, Chinese greens) and no meat! You could always add some meat if you wanted to but of course would need to add the calories to the total. Calories are provided for each ingredient on the recipe card.  You could leave out anything you might not like and swap in something you prefer. This whole system is flexible to meet your needs. I stuck exactly to the recipe on this occasion (but multiplied it by 4 to feed the four of us) and can report it was delicious. The sauces added (vegetable stock, soy sauce, oyster sauce and Chinese Chilli Sauce) add a delicious flavour!

TOTAL CALORIES PER SERVE FOR MY VERSION OF THIS MEAL = 303 CALORIES

DINNER RECIPES INCLUDE:  Seafood, Chicken, Beef, Lamb, Pork, Pasta, Noodles.

SIDES

See examples of two sides under ‘DINNER’ above.

SIDE RECIPES INCLUDE: Carbs, Salads, & Vegetables.

SNACKS

NUTS & SEEDS

It’s not just recipes that are included in the New Dawn Diet system. It also includes options such as Nuts & Seeds. Did you know that 20g of Almonds amounts to 125 calories? That’s 20g of almonds in the palm of my hand in the photograph above.

SWEET COTTAGE CHEESE

Have you ever thought to have Cottage Cheese as a sweet treat? I haven’t, but wow I am converted now! This Sweet Cottage Cheese was delicious! I actually had this for breakfast! The base of course is Cottage Cheese (50g is 40 Calories). You’re then provided with around 7 optional extras. I chose three. I added 10 Blueberries (10 Calories), 4 Strawberries (16 Calories) and 1 tsp of Maple Syrup (no added sugar) (5 Calories).

TOTAL CALORIES PER SERVE FOR MY VERSION OF THIS MEAL = 71 CALORIES

SNACK RECIPES INCLUDE: Fresh, Dairy, Dips, Crackers, Skewers, Eggs, Sweet, Nuts & Seeds, Savoury, Drinks, Alcohol.

HOW IT ALL WORKS

Dawn tells me that she personally works on a weekly calorie count. She pulls out her meal cards out for the week, shops accordingly (using the shopping list pad) and just selects what she feel like eating on the day. That freedom of choice and flexibility doesn’t make her feel like she’s on a diet. 

You could do it Dawn’s way or you could work on a daily basis. Maybe you prefer more structure. Know your daily calorie limit, pull out cards for each of your days. Do your shopping list and shopping and voila!

ENTER TO WIN YOUR VERY OWN ‘FREE” NEW DAWN DIET BOX SET AS PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE TOP OF THIS POST

All you need to do is:

1. follow New Dawn Diet on their INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK and
2. comment on this post OR the link to this post on my Facebook page, OR my Instagram page to enter the draw.

I will put all entries names into a hat and draw out the lucky winner on the morning of MONDAY 16 AUGUST.

I will update this post (below the signature at the bottom) with the winner’s name and announce the winner on my social media.

Please make sure that I am able to contact you to let you know of your win. If I haven’t made contact with you within 24 hours I will need to draw out a new winner.

THIS GIVEAWAY/COMPETITION IS RESTRICTED TO AUSTRALIAN RESIDENTS ONLY (sorry about that to my overseas friends)

[Disclaimer the New Dawn Diet system pictured was gifted to me for the purposes of doing this post]

CONNECT WITH NEW DAWN DIET 

Webpage  |  Instagram  |  Facebook 

---

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed cooking up the few meals I have so far. They’ve all been delicious, easy to follow, and ingredients I usually have at hand. I love that every ingredient has a calorie value so that you can add or subtract to your total meal calories easily dependent on what you choose. If you decide to have something not listed on the card (like I did with the Chilli Chicken Skewers by adding some green capsicum) it’s easy enough to look up the calorie value of that food and add it into your calorie tally. The cards might seem a little old fashioned to some but I love them! The photographs are beautiful and I find the cards a lovely personal touch (made with love) and really handy to sit on my recipe stand while I’m preparing the meal. Ingredients and options one side and method and other instructions on the other. Simple but so effective. I look forward to trying more recipes and putting this system to use to try and lose a few Covid/Eye Surgery/Not always at home kilo’s! 

Good luck to you – I hope you win this box set – it’s fabulous!  Go on – make sure you enter!

Ciao for now,

 

UPDATE TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNER:  Congratulations to Karen Haer who is the winner of this competition – as per this Facebook post.