- 2 days ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00and I've struggled with weight loss my whole life I've been everything from a
00:06size 8 to a size 22 it's nowhere near I tried the calorie deficit diets the
00:13keto diet my god the shakes the fat burners this stuff that tastes like
00:18cardboard but none of it's worked for long I'm running out of diets I can't
00:23imagine there's much nutrition in it my auntie Ginny lived through the 1970s and
00:29she reckons there wasn't no big people in the 70s and some experts think she has
00:35a point is it true that people were a lot smaller in the 70s yeah it is true
00:39actually so I'm embracing the 70s lifestyle for two weeks with the help of
00:44dr. Helen I created a diet based on the average calorie consumption of a woman in
00:49the 1970s and I'd like you to do 20 minute wrist walk six times a week I got my
00:55steps in last week with a glimpse of what shopping was like back then there's
00:59all very much strawberries in the summer sprouts in the winter I rolled my sleeves
01:05up with Alan at the allotments and what makes good soil well that is me or and I
01:13tried some 70s classics with aunt Ginny but then I got some shocking news do you
01:19think I've got going since my modern lifestyle doesn't seem to be doing me
01:23much good the fact that me a 40 year old woman might have suspected go is quite
01:30hard to hear this week I'm more determined than ever to go and find out
01:34what they did differently 50 years ago it wasn't even legal to open on a Sunday
01:39and now it's surrounded by food with the help of a few families who are time
01:43traveling with me okay that's quite hard can the 70s way help me get healthier
01:48I hope it tastes better than it looks fitter and maybe even a bit slimmer
01:56wait what's the damage
02:05so it's week two of the 1970s diet and it's not good news it's difficult to say
02:10for definite but based on the fact that you've got pain in your toes and that
02:14your uric acid levels are elevated on your blood tests that can predispose to
02:18a common type of arthritis called gout
02:20gout I thought that was only like for like Henry VIII I think there's a
02:26stereotype which isn't necessarily true we are tending to see it in younger
02:30people more and more I guess it's really a disease of lifestyles and what
02:34happens is elevated levels of uric acid in the body which cause really painful
02:38swollen red joints but food and diet can play a role in that we know the certain
02:43foods like liver and pork and chicken can have high levels of purines in and
02:49what happens in the body is they are broken down into uric acid and that can
02:53predispose to having these gouty attacks so what does that mean for us going
02:57forward I think the most sensible thing to do would be to replace some of the
03:00meats in the diet with some alternative proteins well you know it's it's a bit of a
03:06shock I mean I don't want you to worry too much and actually it's going to be
03:09really interesting to see with some of the changes to your diet whether at the
03:13end when you do the repeat blood tests if the uric acid levels have reduced and if
03:17your toes are feeling better in the meantime I really hope they enjoy the
03:20rest of the diet and I'll see you on the other side thank you Helen okay take
03:25care bye bye gosh that was unexpected after finding out I might have gout from
03:32Helen this diet needs to make a difference to my health going forward just
03:37doing my brisk walks is not going to cut it I need to up my fitness game right
03:42now more than ever I need to be moving moving my body exercising and treating
03:49myself a little bit better in the early 70s health conditions like heart disease
03:54threatened the nation but the NHS was strapped for cash sound familiar so in
04:011976 the government released a report promoting the importance of a healthy
04:06lifestyle to keep us all out of the doctor's office this inspired a boom in
04:11exercise classes today I'm swapping the gym for what I would have been doing 50
04:17years ago so we're gonna make this a bit of fun today getting the arms and legs
04:24moving in sync I'm in Bristol to join fitness instructor Amanda and her group
04:29of 70s generation ladies for a disco inspired aerobics class up and down down I
04:35want to find out how they kept themselves fit back there getting into that 70s vibe
04:40the amount of aerobics classes I've had to sneak out of is unbelievable so I'm
04:46just hoping that I can keep up with them to be honest this is warming up your
04:49shoulders and loosening off those ankles oh who's this coming in
04:55welcome okay I think you need a little bit of our 70s magic don't you
05:02the 1970s saw 3000 private fitness clubs open their doors to women and iconic
05:16fitness trends from across the pond grew in popularity here in the UK here she comes
05:22now that's a bit more key let's get you warmed up with us so we're just going to
05:34start with a right left march that's there get your legs moving all right take it forward with a swim
05:42that's it just point your toe down swim the arm like you're doing the locomotion I
05:50can't remember the last time I was in a fitness class I'm not doing too badly
05:54shall we just freestyle it
05:56come on let's do it
05:58whoa they're disco star look at these two these ladies are not messing about look at them go
06:11give me a beat in a dance floor and I'll give John Travolta himself a run for
06:28his money right ladies thank you for catapulted me into the 70s but that was a little bit
06:47embarrassing actually because you lot are hard to keep up with do you think a lot has changed when
06:55it comes to fitness we just did it for enjoyment the silliness really years ago can't imagine that
07:01many people having to go to the gym back then the only ones that went to gyms were proper weightlifters
07:08yeah we didn't we didn't have access to gyms they were sweaty places with men so we'd we'd go to a
07:16church hall or a school hall or something with an instructor pretty much like this but we would then
07:23follow their routine so yeah that that was that was fitness in those days why did women start going
07:30to keep fit classes you were able to talk and and have a laugh what's the keep fit classes we're a
07:36bit of a social really for women 100% yes you've done something for yourself you haven't done something
07:43for husband jumps and something for children or grandchildren you've done something for you dance
07:49fitness sessions like Jazzercise and Jane Fonda's cardio workout classes provided women with a fun
07:55way to get fit and socialize men pumped iron hoping to grow hunky bodies like Arnold Schwarzenegger and
08:01many wives took dancing lessons which kept them in shape and ready for their husband's work dues at the
08:07same time new fancy home exercise equipment was hitting the market there was certain things you could buy
08:14that you've got in the newspaper and a bit like a a dog's bone thing and you put it around your foot
08:19and you you had to keep doing this suddenly I had one of those it was also the bulwarker which was
08:25actually the chest compressor not an expander not an expander but it used to improve your chest
08:33oh wow we've seen this this looks interesting I'm not the only one trying out 70s fitness I've not
08:51seen any of these for years two of the families who've joined my journey back in time the Riley's
08:56and the Taylors are seeing if they can figure out some workout equipment from the decade Tommy trimmer
09:01sitting erect with the legs straight sitting one any real boy and that's dangerous and down I can
09:14feel your chest and your shoulders with that one okay that's quite hard yes we did it what were the
09:25body shapes like back then oh slimmer it was sort of that sort of more waif type slim wasn't it back
09:31then we were still on that hung up from the 50s where you know a wife has to look nice and slim for her
09:39husband yeah whatever job you had or whatever how tired you were you were still expected to be doing
09:45the majority of things but look good while you're doing it yeah it wasn't just exercise classes but the
09:52upkeep of the 1970s home that kept figures trim do you remember the eubanks oh yes we didn't have a
09:59hoover the housework was much more manual one yes I'd love to think how many steps I used to get in
10:09on the day a lot more than 10,000 the 1970s saw a wave of new technology with home appliances front
10:18and center these labor-saving devices arrived to make housework easier four out of five homes had a
10:26washing machine by the end of the decade but many appliances still required housewives to do some
10:31heavy lifting I remember how excited I was when I was bought a twin tub oh yeah it was about this
10:50big yeah to use it you'd have to pull it out you'd have a pipe that would go over the sink and then
10:57you'd you'd fill the washing machine and it would wash up right at that then when that wash had
11:03finished you pick it all up it was sopping wet so it would go all over the floor and heavy so that
11:09was your your arm workout and then you pop it into the tumble dryer spinner spinner spinner and you put
11:16the spinner on and and it would be you didn't put it across the kitchen
11:22women in the 70s spent around 40 hours every single week doing manual housework by 2000 new technology
11:39and men helping out more meant that that number had fallen by a quarter when do you remember people's
11:45waistlines getting bigger I would say with the change of the food yeah and I also think quantities
11:53I think now people eat too much at one at one meal and they have bits in between whereas we didn't
12:01have money for bits in between can you remember I picked the portions well you know we used to have
12:06smaller smaller portions is then you had your three meals a day not not big plates it was spaced out
12:12properly you were eating to live not living to eat exactly yeah after all that sweating I've
12:19definitely earned myself a treat so with a few more days of being chained to the kitchen under my
12:25belt looks so appetizing I am just tucking into my overnight oats Helen's diet plan finally includes
12:32something I don't have to cook myself yay for me we are off to the chip shop and I cannot wait
12:38after 10 days of my time traveling experiment my 70s diet is treating us to a family favorite we're off to the good old chipper back in the 70s they would have probably walked to the chip shop but I'm gonna have to take the car it's getting late it's getting dark I've got a six-year-old
12:50and my nearest chippy is miles away yeah I can smell the glorious deep-fried goodness already the families definitely remember what takeaways were like in the 70s we used to go and visit my grandparents
13:05and we always used to stop for fish and that would be our Friday night supper that was a treat that we always look forward to fish and chips was once a month if you were looking depending on what finances were like even when we did
13:12when we did have kids you didn't have fish
13:30if you could have a sausage everybody had scraps Fitz
13:36if you could have a sausage everybody else grabs them
13:42eating out was far less common 50 years ago
13:45when around one in seven meals came from outside the home
13:49fish and chip shops were a familiar site on the 70s high street
13:53but the servings weren't as generous today the average chippy dishes up
13:58around 200 grams of fish and just under 300 grams of chips
14:03that's around double the size of the normal 70s helping
14:08we have been to the chip shop so this is a today's portion of fish and chips
14:16but as i'm on the 70s diet we're obviously not going to eat that
14:20there's a twist i've got to cut it in half i'm going to enjoy every single bit of
14:25it and i've not had to cook it here's my 1970s portion and it's going to be messy
14:31hang on
14:35i feel so full up i feel so so very full up it just goes to show 70s chip shop
14:42servings were definitely enough food are you really hungry i was hungry
14:50i couldn't fit another chip in reg oh one more won't hurt
14:54i have indulged tonight and i feel like i need a good
14:57walk to walk those off but it's too dark out so i'll have to make up for my steps
15:01in the morning that takeaway has really made me think
15:05about how often i normally eat out compared to people back in the 70s
15:10i absolutely dread to think how much i usually spend on it all
15:13but anyway i'm in west london to meet food historian pen vogler to find out why we eat so
15:21differently today when did it all change did we suddenly get greedy or is food just easier to get
15:27hold of she's offered to show me hello hi thank you for meeting me great to meet you right why
15:35have you invited me to this corner we are going to do a little experiment we're going to walk from
15:40one post box to another and we're just going to look at all the food shops around us see how much
15:45times have actually changed see just how easy it is to buy food right let's give it a whirl
15:50pen and i are going to count how many takeaways cafes and shops that we can spot on the short
15:57stretch of high street so we have one back there and it looks like we might be spoiled for choice
16:05two yes you do this side of the road i'll do this side indeed so you just pass the pizza place
16:11a cafe the 1970s was a turning point in takeaway food a grocery store four sandwich shop we've got
16:20a chicken shop here american brands began to appear on the high street like mcdonald's which
16:26opened its first uk restaurant in 1974. now there are close to 1500 branches five we've got a korean
16:35street food eight food from all over the world became wildly popular at the start of the 70s
16:41as nearly half a million people from countries like india and jamaica join the nation that is a little
16:47indian takeaway isn't it britain had 2000 indian restaurants in 1970 and by the mid 80s that
16:53number had doubled i got about six i think you got 12. today there are more than 50 000 takeaways in
17:01england alone and we can have them delivered to our doors within minutes we really do have everything at
17:07our fingertips 19 restaurant on the corner in the park yeah in the bakery oh there's a post box last
17:15way right well i'm no carol borderman but i make that 20. it's quite a short space of street isn't it
17:2120 food out there 24 hours a day seven days a week because in the 70s it wasn't even legal to open on a
17:28sunday and now we're surrounded by food in every area every place every hour of the day today the average
17:35person gets around quarter of their calories from food outside of the home and with more than 1100
17:41calories in some of the most popular takeaway meals it's no wonder all this choice is having a major
17:46impact on our waistlines so the thing about takeaway food and foods we eat outside of the house is it's
17:51really easy for us to over consume the calories you know they tend to be high in fat added sugar added
17:57salt but in the 1970s these foods would have been eaten very occasionally as part of a well-balanced diet
18:04there's something else i want to show you should go have a look oh i'd love to yes
18:11look at that pen has brought me to the museum of brands a time capsule of british nostalgia from the
18:17past 150 years this place is incredible she wants to show me how the way we ate at home also saw a major
18:26shift in the 70s this cabinet from the 70s which brings back lots of memories for me which shows you
18:33why our food is changing and how it's like beginning to change at this particular moment
18:39look how tiny that pizza box is i don't think i've ever bought a pizza that small in my life it's like
18:44a toddler portion most of this stuff looks tiny to us much smaller than you'd have now so pen why do you
18:52think all this convenience food took off more women were going out to work and the allure of have something
18:58quick cheap tasty to feed your kids was huge there was a real focus on fast food being convenient
19:08nearly two million women joined the workforce in the 70s and so the availability of convenience foods
19:14meant they could still put a hot meal on the table for their families with relative ease
19:18the wonderful delia smith her first book was 1971 how to cheat at cooking because that's what people
19:26wanted to do because they felt they had no time well it's weird that i'm seeing a fray bentos because
19:32i was brought up on those but if i was to go around my nans yeah you wouldn't find one of them in the
19:36cupboard oh no way no she'd do it all from scratch she'd make that from scratch yeah there was this real
19:42thing about you know she's using smash and not peeling her her own potatoes and she's not really a proper
19:47housewife if she does that oh right as the demand for convenience foods grew so did the range of
19:54products and the need for the right appliance to store them in so when did more people own like
19:59freezers then in the 70s people figure out how to make freezers that are cheap enough for domestic
20:05use what an advantage to have a freezer so you don't have to go shopping every day you can just stick it
20:11in the freezer suddenly we can eat ice cream whenever we want and we did domestic freezers
20:18entered homes in the 70s and it was a game changer some stores decided they would sell the appliances
20:25alongside food and it worked in the 1970s 100 000 freezers were sold and by 1974 one in 10 households
20:35had the appliance another household gadget that changed our eating habits was the television
20:43i remember that we were one of the first people to have a colored tv in our neighborhood and a lot
20:50of our friends had very small tvs and they were black and white we had four options so you didn't even
20:57get to pick what you watched there would always be a saturday night movie so we would try to make sure
21:01that we had dinner done so that we can all sit down and watch the movie because if you missed it you
21:05missed it so in america you start to get these things called tv dinners and we don't call them
21:13tv dinners here i think we think that's not really quite posh enough we call them ready meals and you
21:18start to think it's kind of normal to sit around just watch telly together so it's a real rarity now
21:24isn't it to get around a table and eat with your family it's only like christmases and birthdays i can
21:28think of now income starts to go up you start to get more tv more tv advertising and that has a huge
21:34impact on what people can eat if you look at the top all those kellogg cereals ricicles ready break
21:42it's all aimed either at families or kids this idea that kids can choose their own thing and you get
21:49for the first time advertising that's really aimed at children and they're seen as consumers and this
21:54idea of pester power is born some of them in my cupboard aren't they the best and they were so
22:01exciting in the 70s when they first came in and we used to have such rows over the sweetest ones and
22:06we give the ones with not enough sugar into my dad as family meals shifted from the dinner table to our
22:13laps so did advertisers attention from parents to their children tv adverts included cartoons school
22:21children and catchy jingles to appeal to kids and those kids started to push their wants onto the
22:27shopping basket oh i do remember convincing my mum to buy me those damn it they got me too and the other
22:38thing that you see is chocolate bars crisp packets and it's a sign that snacking is really beginning to
22:46take off in the 70s isn't it funny our minds have changed because i wouldn't dream of even leaving
22:52the house without any snacks for my little boy now at my primary school you weren't allowed to have
22:56sweets and in my family we had sweets once a week you didn't have a tuck shop at primary school
23:02no way no you're joking yeah yeah yeah they gave you a school lunch that was your food you ate it i used
23:07to run the tuck shop
23:08as well as being able to buy more snacks and convenience food than ever before the end of the
23:1670s saw some food prices start to fall and portion sizes start to grow food in the 70s was actually
23:23quite expensive and since then it's fallen a little bit in price partly because manufacturers have found
23:28ways of making it more cheaply and retailers are selling bigger and bigger portions as a way to win
23:33customers and so because we like a bargain that's what we buy and that's what we end up eating today
23:40that means many things that we buy are much bigger than their 70s equivalents that's 39 the tailors have
23:47got it covered they're comparing an average 1970s portion of chocolate oh 45 exactly well done to the
23:56kind of portions we've become used to this is a bar that you can buy today okay so let's pop it on the
24:03scales so what does that say 362 grams that's eight times bigger than what you could grab from a 1970s shop
24:11do you think you might be tempted to eat pretty much all of that well if it's there then you just keep
24:17eating it yeah but i would eat most of it i think if i was watching a movie and i start at the beginning
24:24the movie i think at the end there wouldn't be any left as human beings it's really natural for us
24:32just to eat what's in front of us and so if we're given a really big portion of something even if it
24:37says there's two servings we'll still eat the whole thing after meeting pen it's clear that many of the
24:43eating habits we have today actually started in the 1970s in an ideal world when we eat we would
24:49listen to our body signals telling us when we're full and we've had enough what tends to happen is
24:54that with the portion sizes being much bigger that then becomes our new norm and then it's much more
25:00difficult than to override that oh lovely i do like a chicken kia i've gotten quite used to eating three
25:08meals a day and even the smaller 70s portions but will it make a difference there's only the prawn cocktail
25:16we'll see but now my two-week diet is almost up and i'm thinking about how i should celebrate
25:22i think it's only right that the gibson throws a little 1970s party for everybody with 1970s food
25:30and 1970s drink join up oh here we go bloody hell last day of the diet smoke alone i'm also just a day
25:41away from stepping back on the dreaded scales to see if this diet has had a positive impact on my body
25:56i could not be more excited right now because it is the final day of the diet i can finally have my
26:02life back
26:02i'm just starting the day with an egg white omelette which is very fitting because this
26:10is how it all started with eggs for breakfast cheers helen i can't wait to taste a bit of food
26:17with a little bit of spice in some chilis loads of flavor underneath it all i'm nervous about my diet
26:24results what if absolutely nothing has changed my last bit of white bread yeah i don't think i'll miss
26:34this if there's one thing i do love about the 70s maybe not the diet so much but i do love the fashion
26:43so i've come to a vintage store in bristol city centre to find an authentic 70s outfit
26:49have you got a 70s section yeah it's just in the back corner over there
26:56oh i love it just as i thought people in the 70s knew how to make a statement
27:02i'm spoilt for a choice it's cute
27:05this is supposed to be a size 14 i thought that would fit me
27:20oh no it's nowhere near
27:23oh
27:32oh i can't even breathe the buttons won't even do up down the front
27:39look at that gaping holes everywhere i'm not going to find my 70s outfit at this rate none of it fits
27:48it's like a workout trying to get any of it on
27:56i can't get it off hello hello
28:03can somebody help me
28:05are you okay not really i think i think i'm stuck in the dress let me give you a hand i might have to be
28:12cut out of it i am actually stuck either i've put on weight or there's something dodgy going on with
28:20the sizing around here first thing that needs to come out is going to be the arms right i can't get
28:25it's all right i've got you i actually can't yeah you can all right you can do it oh there you go
28:30that's one all right and then this is going to have to go over the top okay oh dear i don't know
28:34i've got it on i feel like a child
28:40she's free
28:43thank goodness sarah came to the rescue
28:47like me our families can't get enough of the 70s fashion everybody thinks a disco saturday night
28:53fevered glitter balls and platforms i grew up with rock and roll loads of bright colors all
28:58merged into like one outfit everybody came out and went oh let's experiment big flares that's kind
29:03of big hair as well afros and those like shiny suits everyone had these bright little anoraks
29:10i do remember there being a lot of um orange and brown i can't actually remember wearing red
29:15trousers like that but obviously i did suddenly my dad looks very strange he's wearing this leather
29:21jacket and the mustache jacket and the hair that long hair down to the collar so a lot of um
29:28mismatching patterns yeah it looks like some grand mars curtains or something
29:34it was a decade of funk punk and disco twiggy's slender frame was idolized in the 60s and by the 70s
29:45while body shapes were getting a bit curvier athletic builds like farrah falsett were still the dream
29:52this was the dress that you just tried on in the fitting room it says size 14. however because
29:57this dress is from the 1970s the sizing is not the same as it would be in current day sizing i'm so
30:04glad you said that so if we take my tape measure the waist for this dress would be a 26 to 28 inch
30:13waist which would be a modern day uk 8 to 10 instead of a modern day uk 12 to 14. well no wonder
30:20it got stuck i tried to get into a size 10 dress so sizing's changed a lot between the 1970s and now
30:26so as people's lifestyles have changed and as people's habits have changed clothes sizes have
30:31changed in order to go with it so is that kind of what vanity sizing is people are taller than they
30:36used to be the average weight is slightly different that petite size that existed in the 1970s
30:41is a lot more petite than the average person is going to be today
30:45as the body weight of the nation has increased not to mention the rise in obesity
30:50high street brands have made clothes bigger and adjusted their sizing to match
30:58vanity sizing is about making us feel good about our bodies because if the clothes make
31:03us feel smaller than we actually are retailers hope we'll keep being happy to part with our hard-earned
31:08cash so this is a more modern day size 14. okay god this is mad this one is closer to a 30 to a 32 inch
31:18waist which is probably a lot more similar to the kind of clothes that you're used to dealing with
31:23so that was a 32 inch waist and what's the 1970s 26 to 28. that is a massive increase isn't it yeah
31:30absolutely because so much has changed i wonder if my size even existed in the 1970s oh your size
31:37definitely existed it's just what that size would have been called was different well i do feel a little
31:42bit better now you've explained the sizes so thank you but what we always recommend in terms of vintage
31:47clothing is if it fits you and you like it then wear it right zar can you help me find something
31:52that does fit yeah absolutely so we look at something like this one that one is your size lovely
31:59try that little number on something like this i do love the 70s fashion oh you me both i was born in
32:07the wrong era i think do you like that one do you think it's got enough give or not that one i don't
32:11think probably okay i mean you feel free to try it on but i think that one's probably gone what about
32:15this one oh yeah that is lovely that one no okay it does look like it's made for a child
32:33one two one two three four
32:45right i've bagged myself my party outfit and now my 70s diet is over it's time to find out if there
32:51have been any changes to my weight fitness levels and overall health after the battles i've had in
32:56that changing room i'm not too sure so after another set of blood tests i'm back at kingston
33:04university to see good old dr james josey hello how are you doing the 1970s diet is over great now
33:13how are you feeling after it do you know what i still couldn't tell you whether it's a healthy diet
33:18or not well let's see if it's made any changes to the measurements we made last time all right
33:21see how it's gone thank you very much surely something's got to have improved right right
33:36it's the end of my time traveling 70s experiment may i present chicken care and after two weeks of
33:43eating i am having a fish paste sandwich and exercising it is an absolutely gorgeous day so i might get my
33:50step count up dr james is putting me through my paces once again to find out if my fitness has
33:57improved i feel like this is a lot harder than last time going great guys
34:04and i'm finding out what's been going on with my fat and muscle balance
34:09fantastic step away great what's the damage okay josey so pre-diet or pre-intervention we had you as a
34:16relative vo2 max predicted that's 45.8 milliliters per kilogram per minute what we can now see from
34:22your post intervention we're up to 47.3 milliliters per kilogram what we've seen there is an increase in
34:28the amount of oxygen you can utilize when you're exercising by 1.5 milliliters per kilogram which
34:33means you've actually potentially got that little bit fitter over the last couple of weeks it's nice to
34:38just know it is all scientifically proven that you're a bit of a machine that's it yeah yeah
34:45yeah most definitely so it looks like i'm a bit fitter but has my weight changed in terms of your
34:51total body mass there's been pretty much no change i would have thought i'd lost like a pound or two
34:56pound or three pounds i've been doing my 10 000 steps that's fantastic i've been doing my 20 minutes
35:01brisk walking a day that's great and there's not one little change what could be interesting though is
35:07if we go through your segmental analysis and see that breakdown of muscle mass and fat mass and
35:11where it's sitting in the body so we can see you're actually quite a muscular person which is really
35:15good no muscle something so if i can just grab some other data out hold on a second
35:24did what we can see is your muscle mass in your legs has gone up by 0.1 kilos but you've been a little
35:28bit more muscle in your legs so i've lost a little fat and gained a little muscle which has kept my weight
35:34the same it's probably down to all that walking having that increase in daily activity seems to
35:41be showing some beneficial effects oh i've got a tiny weenie bit that's quite a substantial change
35:45for two weeks is it yeah yeah i'm so glad i kept up with the physical activity because if i hadn't
35:50have done that those stats would have been a lot higher so i think showing that it's not just a diet
35:55change we need but a lifestyle change hopefully that's more of an indicator of where you would go if
36:01you carried on the exercise routine you've done well thank you me
36:07so i was hoping you know to come in two weeks later and i'd be like um somewhat of baywatch but
36:16sadly it's not the case time for my final catch-up with helen to go over my results and figure out if
36:23the 70s diet was all worth it in the end hello helen how are you good how are you yeah good thank you
36:32pull up a pew it's good to see you you too so how have you got on how's the diet been enjoy thanks
36:40i'm glad i've got my life back i could go out for meals i can meet my friends i'm not running out the
36:45house with a little lunch a little lunch box i was like going to events with my like soups and
36:52everything like that so it's been a real eye-opener what was the hardest part about the diet um i think
36:57the hardest part about the diet was um being quite regimented with the times you know back then they
37:03would have had a breakfast dinner and tea my life has got no routine whatsoever so that was really
37:09really difficult and as well spending that much time in the kitchen and how about your appetite
37:14your hunger levels because you've been having three meals a day i was so full up because it was a lot
37:20more carb heavy than what i would be used to so you actually found it was too much food yeah that's
37:25really fascinating isn't it and what about sleep well because you told me to do the 20 minutes of brisk
37:31walking and i've always made sure that i did my 10 000 steps because in the 70s they were so active my
37:37sleep is the one thing i've conquered yeah that's amazing yeah and the deep sleep that i had was
37:44through the roof i was more present with reggie like my little boy and also thinking about if you're
37:49not sleeping well the impact that has on your eating habits and some of the hunger hormones that
37:54involved in regulating your appetite too yeah do you think that's something you're going to be able to
37:58keep up with in your normal life definitely yeah so should we take a look at the results of your blood
38:04tests and tests you had done at kingston all right so your weight stayed the same
38:12how do you feel about that i was a bit devastated i'll be honest remember that this wasn't a weight
38:16loss diet but what's really interesting is you were actually feeling like there was too much food
38:21and you you're you maintained your weight i think it's because i was so active i took on the 1970s
38:29active housewife role whereas we got quite sedentary lives now yeah and i think that's a
38:34really good point you know the 1970s diet that you've been on wasn't a diet as we know the true
38:38sense of dieting these days it was a way of living a way of eating they didn't eat in excess you know
38:44the portions were well controlled encompassed everything you know from lifestyle from being
38:48more physically active all of it and i think that's the key yeah it's true and that brings me nicely
38:53onto the results of the body composition test the muscle mass in your legs has increased so underrated
38:59walking in there it is and actually just goes to show that there's maximum benefit to be gained by
39:04increasing the levels of physical activity on a daily basis now for my blood test results has this
39:09diet made me any healthier it's really interesting looking at your cholesterol profile the really
39:14positive things we're seeing here are quite high levels of a hdl so what does that mean for me the hdl is
39:21what we call good cholesterol because it helps remove cholesterol from the bloodstream it's
39:26interesting is it because although yeah you've had butter and quite a high fat diet you've been having
39:32a very minimal processed foods low amounts of sugar eating lots of vegetables as well and staying really
39:40active which does have an impact on cholesterol so with these sorts of blood test results we would
39:46expect to see a reduction in your risk of heart disease and strokes oh that's good now the big
39:52one what's going on with my gout so really good news about your uric acid levels they've now dropped
39:57down nicely and they're back within the normal range how's the pain in your toes now gone totally
40:04totally gone it's really interesting that you know despite being on the 1970s diet which does have some
40:10meat in it your symptoms have actually now settled down which suggests that overall it's quite a healthy
40:15well-rounded diet the levels of uric acid they're still at the higher end of the normal range so
40:19i definitely recommend speaking to your gp about it is there anything that you think you'll be
40:23taking forward from the 1970s food and lifestyle into your normal life i think a newfound respect for
40:29people that lived through that era they just got on with it every person i've spoken to weirdly
40:35they've all said that they found happiness in the simple things they didn't have the pressures of like you
40:40know social media or trying to pin down a career you know life was so simple back then if you would
40:46slow down and take time to cook meals and do that in in the family setting it's really made me think
40:52about things it's really like brought a lot of things home i've realized being a woman you know
40:58right now like i want it all but you've got to do it all yeah definitely and i think that comes at a
41:04cost it comes down to our diet and our lifestyle and our health doesn't it really yeah you're so right
41:09right yeah i've really juggled with the like you know what how i would be in the 70s and even my
41:15auntie virginia said i wouldn't last two minutes did she you lasted two weeks yeah i lasted two weeks
41:22you've proven her wrong yeah yeah right thank you for all your help helen here's a big cheers
41:27cheers 1770s here's to muscly legs so my 70s diet is finally over and the results are in
41:35i can't tell you how relieved i am that i've got rid of that gout
41:44i can just about manage one more spin around my kitchen to make a classic culinary sensation for
41:50my party guests we never had a party in our family without choosing pineapple sticks ever it's the chance
41:56to thank the people who have helped me with my experiment well let's start with the eyes oh god it's too small
42:02oh no and reflect on what i discovered i'm not playing the you know the violin but when i was
42:11growing up there there wasn't a lot around i was one of six so i think i try to make up for it now
42:16and i've really spoiled myself when it comes to clothes when it comes to food when it comes to my home
42:22it actually doesn't look too bad that looks like a hedgehog doesn't it
42:25i've found the perfect house laid on a delectable 70s buffet there you go look at this incredible
42:37spread i created if you believe that you'll believe anything now where's my guests
42:43what do you think oh this is great chance oh look at the food i know the only thing that hasn't gone to
42:52plan really is my meat jelly it's gone a bit floppy yeah what happens at the end of the night innit
43:00it turns out ginny and her 70s generation did have a few things to teach me we better not drink
43:06anymore well i'll just have this bit all right yeah bloody hell about the value of good basic food
43:13hey look thank you i'm gonna cook that tonight there's something really lovely about growing your
43:18own yeah and you know what when i move and i've got a garden i might have a little go at it myself
43:24keeping active you lot have done enough aerobics that you could deserve a slice of the lemon meringue
43:29pie and some trifle as well i really enjoy getting to know my body again and becoming a lot more
43:36active i'm not just going to get in my car no matter rain hail or sunshine just for those tiny short
43:43journeys anymore and trying to eat a bit more moderately 2025 porsche well almost but it turns out
43:50that the 70s also shaped the way we eat today snacking is really beginning to take off in the 70s
43:57so though in some ways the 70s was healthier it was also the decade that saw us start to tip the
44:03scales it's been a huge success which makes you think everything in moderation including eating
44:09like it's the 70s i never realized how good trifle was at a party so from my fellow time traveling families
44:16and me here's to the 1970s cheers
44:27after bombshell revelations came a courtroom drama that gripped the world go inside the trial of
44:36michael jackson new at nine after a trip to spain you thought you knew michael portillo explores
44:43gems off the tourist trail in barcelona as his new series starts next
44:57so
44:59i'm
45:01i'm
45:03i'm
45:05i'm
45:07i'm
45:09i'm
45:11i'm
45:13i'm
Be the first to comment