Alex B Cann Column - 15/01/26

A lot of us are trying to lose weight at this time of year, now that the last of the festive goods have been scoffed. Incidentally, I found a Quality Street tub in the offices of this very newspaper a few days ago, and thought I'd struck gold, until I realised it contained nothing but paper clips. That sort of thing should attract a punitive fine. Outrageous behaviour.

Anyway, back to healthy eating, and we are all bombarded with messages about the things to eat and not to eat in our news feeds on a daily basis. It can all get a bit overwhelming. The only hard and fast rules I've found that work are that moderation is key, and we should all probably move a bit more, speaking as someone who does a very sedentary job. I'm not saying I always follow these rules to the letter, however, as my currently burgeoning waistline will confirm, but I have proved to myself that I can lose several stone if I put my mind to it. Remember my 2022 Slimming World journey? If you've been reading this column for a while, or listening to my morning show on Tameside Radio, you'll know how proud I was back then to shift 3 stone. I'm still very grateful to Gail and Jane, who mentored me in those days, when the weight fell off and things began to fit more comfortably. Sadly, a lot of it has crept back on, but I know what I need to do!

There's been quite a lot said about the so-called 'fat jabs', which apparently around 1.6 million of us have used over the last year, and several supermarkets have even devised tailored ready meals for people who are taking on weight loss medication. M&S call theirs 'nutrient dense', and Ocado has even announced an extra small steak as part of its 'Everything Weight Management Aisle'. Charlie Parker, their Senior Nutritionist, told The Grocer: "As weight-loss medications become more widely used, it's crucial that diet and nutrition remain part of the conversation. Preserving lean muscle mass plays an important role in long-term health, metabolism, and overall well-being".

Asda, Morrisons, and Co-op have all proudly unveiled portion-controlled ready meals, and it's a real growth area in the supermarkets, along with low and no alcohol beer, which seems to be flying at the moment too. An Ocado study has found that one in five of us have considered using fat jabs, rising to more than a third of 25 to 34 year olds. I'm not here to give my opinion on this, as it's very much an individual decision, but I personally feel there needs to be more research into their long-term effects on the body. But good luck if you are giving them a whirl.

I had a really interesting conversation this week with a chef who's based in Skipton, North Yorkshire, and his advice is that we need to be paying more attention to labels and ingredient lists. There are clever apps that you can use to scan bar codes, and they rate food in terms of its nutritional value. As a general rule of thumb, if the ingredient list is really long, it's probably not a good thing. He also said if we all made a couple of small changes to the way we eat, that's probably more sustainable than January resolutions, which often fall by the wayside long before Valentine's Day.

Weight is very personal to all of us. Another good rule for life is don't mention someone else's weight, even if you think you're paying them a compliment. It's just best avoided as a topic of conversation, unless they've initiated it. If you're reading this, and you're currently trying to either lose or gain weight (the latter can be just as difficult for some), I wish you the best of luck. Personally, I'm not convinced calorie counts on menus are helpful, as some higher calorie foods can actually be really good for you. It's a crude measurement. I think I'll stick with trying to avoid too much ultra-processed food, and items that have ingredient lists longer than a novel. That seems to be the way to go. As for the new 100g 'small extra lean steak', it doesn't sound hugely tempting. I'd rather go for a massive sirloin steak served up with new potatoes and a pile of seasonal vegetables. But whatever tickles your palate!