8 really relevant questions to ask about your diet

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There are hundreds of diet plans available, through clubs, books, clinics, pharmacies, the internet - even on your cereal box! There are hundreds of medications available - and these pills and potions usually come with a diet sheet, too. All of these companies advertise that their plan/pill/potion is the plan/pill/potion that really works! And most of them do, indeed, help you lose weight... You're waiting for the 'but'... BUT at what cost?

Will you really drop a dress size in a week?
As a rational, reasonable, intelligent being you can't believe this one!

Will you be satisfied with the food you're allowed to eat?
It doesn't matter how many delicious options there are on the permitted list, the mere fact that there are 'forbidden' foods leaves you with a sense of deprivation and dissatisfaction.

Will you keep your temper?
Restricted and reduced nutrition lead to irritability and an inability to cope with stress.

Will you keep your sense of humour?
Feelings of deprivation, dissatisfaction, irritability and stress contribute to depression - which is definitely not funny.

Will you be able to keep up the regimen?
Well, as long as the weight is coming off, you will probably be motivated to continue. But once you hit a plateau - generally in the third or fourth week - the whole idea is probably going to go out the window. And you'll get despondent.

Can you afford the continuing financial cost?
Pills and potions are expensive - they have to be. No return customers for these products, because once you've tried them you probably won't buy them again.

Will you keep your health?
This is the most important question. Many pills, shakes and meal replacements are full of synthetic additives, e-numbers, caffeine and artificial sweeteners. Some of them even contain toxic drugs. The side effects can be numerous: insomnia, nausea, altered blood pressure, blurred vision, diarrhoea... to name but a few. Is that healthy?

Will you keep the weight off afterwards?
The straight answer? With no behaviour modification? NO.

We all know at least one person who has gone on a diet, if we haven't gone on one ourselves. I personally have started many different diets through the years. And finished them. And put all the weight back on again afterwards. With interest! It's called 'yo-yo dieting'.

People who know me know that I avoid using the word 'diet' whenever possible. In colloquial English, the word has negative connotations. It implies feelings of deprivation. It implies forbidden foods. Going on a 'diet' implies a begining and an end. And this last sentence shows just where the problem lies. Not so much the 'begining', but the 'end'.

We start a diet, usually with good intentions and high motivation. We intend losing x pounds/kilograms. When we finish the y-week plan, or when we get to goal weight, we stop the plan. And gradually resume the eating habits that made us overweight in the first place!

The only way to lose weight, and keep it off, is to modify the way you eat now. That means making gradual healthy changes to our food choices. And then making those changes stick. 'Forbidden' food lists shouldn't feature - we still want to be able to indulge ourselves occassionally, don't we?

Sorry, it's not a rapid weight loss strategy - there's no such thing - but it is worth the time and effort.
For your health. Which is everything, right?

I'm not anti diet clubs - they can supply advice, encouragement and camaraderie. But in the end, you're on your own. Is your club teaching you anything about nutrition?

The sentiments and opinions expressed on this blog are my own. You are entitled to your own opinion, too. If you have had a healthy experience with a diet plan or pills, and you have lost weight and kept it off for at least a year after stopping the plan/pills, I would love to hear about it. Bet you didn't do it without changing your old eating habits.

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Eating to feel

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Working from home can make weight loss and maintenance quite difficult. The kitchen is right there, and it is oh, so easy to make a cup of coffee and get out the biscuit box whenever I feel. Yes, that is the way I intended to write that last sentence.

I used to think that I wasn't an emotional eater, but, hey, it turns out I am! And we all seem to have a similar comfort attachment to food. As soon as we feel bored, lonely, unhappy, worried, stressed, tired, dissatisfied, disappointed or overworked - I bet you can add another dozen adjectives to this list, some even positive! - we tend to comfort or reward ourselves with food (and/or alcohol). And I'm not talking sensible portions of good, nutritious food. It's a case of "what can I eat to feel better?"

While eating for comfort may make us feel better - carbohydrates are naturally calming - the feeling is very temporary, and soon swamped out by other feelings... of guilt.

So we need to take control. We always have a choice. We can choose to eat a whole bar of chocolate / bag of pretzels / litre of ice cream. Or we can make a more responsible choice. Instead of indulging in empty calories and lots of fats - which we'll regret later - we can clean or tidy something. At home there is always some little job that needs doing, and even at the office we can tidy and reorganise desk drawers, or make a to-do list. Take a walk, even if it is only to the bathroom. Any distraction like these will improve our mood, and give a sense of achievement. (As long as we then don't then congratulate ourselves with food for a job well done!) If you must eat, have a piece of fresh fruit.

Objectivity helps, too. Mentally take a step back from the situation. Will it (the situation) really matter in a week's time? a year? Stretch. Really stretch. Breathe deeply and slowly.

Now, back to work.

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Alcohol, ethanol and acetaldehyde

Excessive drinking of alcohol, as we all know, is bad for our health. Alcohol supplies ‘empty’ calories that do not provide any nutritional benefit. The sugars available from an alcoholic drink are likely to decrease appetite.

Heavy drinkers tend to have poor nutrition because they eat inadequately. In addition, they are likely to suffer with impaired digestion and liver function. This has to do not so much with alcohol itself, but what the liver does to the alcohol in its efforts to digest it. Ethanol – the chemical name for alcohol – is used in the manufacture of perfumes, paints, explosives and antifreeze… are you sure you want that drink? Approximately 80% of the ethanol is broken down by the liver producing acetaldehyde, and it is this that does the damage. Acetaldehyde occurs naturally (though obviously in very small quantities) in coffee, bread and ripe fruit and it is a significant constituent of cigarette smoke and exhaust fumes! So much for drinking coffee to ease a hangover!

Despite having said all that, moderate drinking appears to be beneficial.

Moderate drinking, i.e. one glass of wine, 25ml of spirits or up to a pint of beer or cider a day, is believed to raise the 'good' cholesterol in the bloodstream, lower the risk of stroke and reduce stress.

However, drinking does tend to encourage nibbling on crisps, nuts etc – providing additional fats and calories that you would not normally have consumed.

I have no strong feelings either for or against alcohol, but people often behave foolishly enough when they are sober, why worsen the situation with alcohol? I seldom drink myself, because I enjoy my food so much and I would rather eat my calories. Alcohol contains calories – mostly in the form of sugar - and little else. It is certainly short on vitamins and minerals.

Of course, alcohol should be avoided by people who are pregnant, planning a pregnancy, driving, operating heavy machinery or on medication; and definitely by people who are underage.

If you are trying to lose weight, cutting your alcohol consumption down (or out altogether) can help save quite a few calories.

Honesty

When I started this blog, I talked about keeping a food diary; but a food diary is only effective if you are totally honest. Studies show that if you are not honest, you can consume up to 43% more calories than you confess to. This is due to ‘sneak eating’ – which usually involves eating or drinking high fat, high sugar foods such as chocolate, salad dressings, alcohol and cold drinks. Even the milk in your tea and coffee throughout the day can mount up to quite a few calories, usually undeclared. So if you are serious about losing weight, and you think a food diary is the way to go, be sure to enter everything.

Before you begin your weight loss program, keep a very detailed food journal for a week. Include such things as your mood, state of health, who you are eating with, time of day etc. This can provide a very valuable guide as to your ‘food triggers’ – the things that make you eat. Few of us eat only because we are hungry. Many of us eat when we are not hungry at all!

Of course, weight loss is not the only function of a food diary. Healthy eating requires a certain amount of planning and tracking, just to make sure that you are eating the recommended number of portions in each of the food groups.

After two years of following a diet for weight loss/maintenance and improved health, I still weigh and measure everything and write it all down. I know it can be difficult if you eat out a lot, but serving sizes can 'swell' surprisingly fast when you don't keep a close eye. That restaurant steak is way over a 3 serving size (the recommended number of servings a day for protein foods). If weighing and measuring seems like hard work, maybe weigh and measure for the first week of each month, and judge by eye the rest of the time. But continue to write everything down with approximate serving sizes.

Always be aware of the food you are eating. And enjoy it! Slow down and savour it.

10 weight loss tips

1. Always, always eat breakfast. Cortisol levels are highest in the morning, and high levels of cortisol encourage fat storage. Cortisol is an anti-diuretic and can weaken the activity of the immune system.
Stress and anxiety will also raise cortisol levels. Insulin counters the action of cortisol. Insulin is released when we eat.

2. Eat your evening meal before seven - if at all possible. I know this is difficult if you eat out a lot, or work long hours and still have to prepare a meal when you get home. But allowing several hours between eating and bedtime will improve your sleep.

3. Slow down, you eat too fast. Put knife and fork down between mouthfuls. Count how many times you chew each mouthful - I bet it's less than 20 times, and the recommendation is 30! Remember it takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain it’s had enough, so eating more slowly is essential.

4. Dish up, clear up. Whether you are snacking (hopefully fruit, nuts or seeds!) or dishing up dinner, serve a portion and put the rest away. Don't eat straight from the packet or container. Don't eat standing in front of an open fridge. Don't keep food hot while you eat - cold leftovers are not so appealing as a second helping.

5. Eat vegetables first. Fill up on veg and salads (slowly), and you won't be tempted to over-eat starches and protein. If you’re eating out, resist the temptation of the bread.

6. Ask for separate sauce/dressing. It is pretty well impossible to tell just how much dressing is on a restaurant salad - and I'm sure it's not a low-fat variety! If you are at home, measure your salad dressing. You don't need much. Gravy, cheese sauce, mushroom sauce, garlic butter sauce, whatever, measure.

7. Presentation, presentation, presentation. Serve food attractively - nice plate, nice cutlery, good glassware, well set table. That's what makes a restaurant meal appealing. So don't just dish up any old how; make it look good.

8. Practice portion control. Always. When you eating at home, make a point of weighing and measuring your portions. Portion sizes 'grow' if you are not watchful. This is a necessary lifestyle adaptation if you truly want to lose weight and keep it off. It's an eating style, not a restriction.

9. Don't feel deprived. If you want it, eat it - just remember 8 above. As the old adage goes 'a little bit of what you fancy does you good'.

10. Drink more water. We often confuse hunger with thirst. Have a glass of water before and after a meal - if you can't manage the post-prandial glass then you probably ate more than you needed to.

Weight control for self preservation

 

The main focus of most weight-loss advertising is on physical appearance, and though we all want to look good – in and out of our clothes – the main benefits of weight loss are actually to do with health.

 

• Losing 10% of your excess body weight reduces blood pressure, cholesterol and blood triglyceride levels; all of these are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Losing excess weight reduces blood glucose levels and halves the probability of you developing type-2 diabetes.
• Losing weight reduces the strain on weight-bearing joints (hips, knees, lower spine) and reduces the risk of developing osteoarthritis.
• Being overweight is a risk factor for developing cancer of the uterus, breast, gall bladder, colon and prostate.
• Losing excess weight can help to alleviate sleep apnea.
• Carrying excess weight puts strain on all your internal organs, not just your heart.
• Being overweight can cause complications during surgery.
• Being overweight means that you are less likely to take exercise, which in itself is a health risk.
• Reducing and then controlling your body weight increases self-esteem.
• Maintaining a healthy weight improves your quality of life as well as your longevity.

Adapting to a healthy lifestyle is the only way to achieve a healthy body weight.

Keeping (on) track

I know I’ve written about keeping a food journal before, but there’s no harm in mentioning it again – it is helpful; it can help pinpoint poor choices or overconsumption of particular food groups. I stopped tracking for a while and picked up a couple of pounds, so I’m back to keeping track – and measuring my portions!

There’s nothing like tracking to keep you on track… there’s something conscience-pricking about holding yourself accountable for the food choices you make. Research has shown that people who write down everything they eat and drink each day lose more weight… and keep it off. Yes, it takes a bit of time and effort but, in the interests of losing or maintaining weight while eating healthily, isn’t it worth it?

Write down:
What you ate – even if it was a poor choice. At least you can review it and recognize whether it was the best choice you could have made, given the circumstances.
How much you ate – estimates are okay, but be honest! Always over- rather than under-estimate; we usually think we are eating less than we really are. This can provide a guide to the calories / kilojoules you’re consuming.
Why you ate – hungry, bored, unhappy, lonely, meal time, whatever. Hungry is the best reason – your body is giving you information. We tend to eat at ‘mealtimes’ for the convenience of others, rather than ourselves; if hunger coincides with a meal time, so much the better. Any other reason for eating is likely an indication that you are an emotional eater.
What time of day you ate – breakfast should be eaten before 8:00am, dinner no later than 7:00pm (especially if this is your main meal of the day). Fit lunch and snacks in when you feel the need (hunger).
Who you were with – work colleagues, family, friend, alone. When we eat alone, we tend to eat too fast – slow down and enjoy what you’re eating. Other people at the table can be a distraction so that we eat more than we intended to.
What else you were doing – reading, watching TV, working. Didn’t our mothers always tell us that ‘reading at the table is impolite’? Reading, watching TV or working while eating detracts from the pleasure of the meal – and you may eat larger portions, too.

Remember to jot down everything you drink – tea, coffee, cold drinks, alcohol – these provide ‘empty’ calories with no nutritional value; water is the best anytime beverage.

Keep a food journal for at least a week, and then review it… it will make interesting reading.

Lose weight the easy way…

I am continually amazed that  this kind of advertising is still successful: Lose 5 kilos in just a week!: Lose weight the easy way!: etc, etc… in all the years of trying many different diets, all I lost was my faith in diets (and the advertising industry). Take it from me, there is no easy way to lose weight.

Many fad diets do, indeed, work… if you very strictly adhere to the specified foods, pills and potions they call for. But this involves such a major change in eating habits that you won’t stay on such a diet for very long before becoming bored, disillusioned and irritable, or feeling deprived and hungry – often long before you have lost any significant amount of weight. The restricted foods and portion sizes are so radically different from what might be considered ‘normal eating’ that you can’t wait to ‘finish’ the diet! And once off the diet, of course, you quickly return to your old style of eating – which is what made you overweight in the first place.

‘Going on a diet’ always presupposes that, at some stage, you will come ‘off’ the diet. If you are serious about losing weight, and keeping it off for good, don’t go on a diet; rather consider your overall health and make some lifestyle changes. This means changing the way you eat, certainly, but, as I’ve said before, you can make small changes, gradually.

Starting today, make sure you eat regularly, starting with breakfast. If you are really in a rush in the morning, with no time to eat, take a couple of pieces of fruit to work with you; a hardboiled egg, some cheese and crackers or a small tub of yoghurt. Whatever you choose, eat it before 10:00am.

Lunch can be difficult when you’re working away from home. Pack your own healthy lunch at least twice a week, rather than sending out for fatty, salty take-aways. This is not only beneficial to your weight and general health, but it costs far less too.

Dinners are easy… use the recipes I post here. They are all low fat, low salt, high fibre, healthy recipes using fairly standard ingredients. They are simple to prepare and most of them don’t take more than half an hour to make. My daily recipe posts are meals that I have prepared myself with the intention of staying healthy and maintaining my weight loss.

It took me a year to lose 18kg – quite a bit slower than I would have liked - but I have not regained any weight in the last twelve monrhs. And the way I eat now has become such a habit that I’m sure the weight I’ve lost is gone forever.

Keeping an eye on portion sizes

Now you know what constitutes a portion in each of the food groups, use the kitchen scales and/or measuring cup to better see what a portion really is. My digital scale sits out on my counter top all the time, ready for weighing recipe ingredients AND my food servings. Portion size control is vital – and your portions can increase very rapidly if you don’t keep a close watch. If you've been visually controlling portion size for a while, get the scale out and measure again, you may well find you have become over generous.

The portions I have suggested in my posts this week provide a daily intake of ±2000kcals/8400kjoules, which is adequate for a moderately active female. Men obviously need more – they have bigger bodies to maintain and generally they metabolize food faster (so unfair!). If you find that you do not lose weight, then reduce your daily portions of oils and grains slightly. If you lose a lot of weight fast, then increase the number of grains and meat portions. Vegetables are low in kilojoules/kcals and a good tummy filler – you can healthily increase the number of portions at any time. Weight loss of more than ½ - 1 kilo per week is unhealthy, over an extended period, unless you are VERY overweight to begin with. Losing more slowly means the weight will stay off.

Don’t weigh yourself more than once a week – same time, same clothes (or lack of!). Your weight fluctuates from day to day, even throughout the day. Do measure yourself: chest, waist, hips, thigh. You’ll be pleasantly surprised after a few weeks.

More PC

On Monday I covered fruits and vegetables. Today I’ll cover the remaining food groups.

Grains are starchy carbohydrates.
The grains group includes all foods made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley etc, such as bread,
pasta, oatmeal, breakfast cereals. At least half of all grains consumed should be WHOLE grains, so
choose whole wheat bread and pasta and brown rice. Generally, 1 slice of bread, 1 cup of ready-to-eat
cereal or ½ cup of cooked cereal, cooked rice or cooked pasta represents 1 portion.
Recommended daily consumption: 6 portions of grains (8 for men)


Meats and beans, nuts and seeds are proteins.
Meat and beans – 30gms lean steak or chicken, 50gms white fish, 1 egg, 1 Tblsp peanut butter,
¼ cup cooked dried beans/lentils or 15gms nuts/seeds equals 1 portion. Limit eggs to 3 per week,
although the cholesterol/egg dispute has more or less been settled in favour of the egg.
Recommended daily consumption: 3 portions of meats and beans (4 – 5 for men)

Milk and milk products are dairy.
The milk group includes all fluid milk products and foods made from milk that retain their calcium
content (yoghurt, cheese). Foods made from milk which do not retain the calcium content – cream,
cream cheese, butter – are NOT part of this group, they are fats. Most choices from this group should be low-fat or (preferably) fat-free. In general, 1 cup of milk or yoghurt, 45gms hard cheese (natural, uncoloured), or 60gms processed cheese (not reccomended) is considered to be 1 portion.
Recommended daily consumption: 3 portions (4 for men)

All fats and oils count as fats.
Oils include fats from many different plants and some fish, these oils are liquid at room temperature,
e.g. canola, olive, sunflower. Some foods are naturally high in oils, like nuts and avocados. Foods that are mainly oils include mayonnaise, some salad dressings and soft margarine. Avoid trans-fats, and try to limit saturated fats (solid at room temperature, of animal source). Mono- and poly- unsaturated fats are the good ones – monounsaturates, in particular, are supposed to help get rid of belly fat.
Recommended daily consumption: Maximum 6 teaspoons (men and women)

I’ve labeled the different food groups as either carbohydrates, proteins, dairy or fats, but obviously there is a bit more to it than that. Carbohydrates can contain some fats and proteins, they definitely contain fibre. Proteins contain fats and, in the case of beans, nuts and seeds, fibre too. Dairy products contain fats. Only fats and oils are purely fats and don’t overlap with any other food group. All food groups contain vitamins and minerals.

That covers the six food groups. Come back Friday for tips on portion control. (434)

Time for a change...

There are thousands of diet plans, books, pills, shakes and regimens available, but most of these are detrimental to health (and finances!) in the long-term. Yes, you may lose weight, but once the pills are all gone or your 14 day detox plan is over, you will more than likely revert to old eating habits – and these are what got you overweight and unhealthy in the first place! Do you actually need to lose weight? Do you know what your healthy weight-range is, based on gender, age and activity levels?

Weight loss is difficult to achieve, and even more difficult to maintain, if it is not undertaken as an adaptation to a healthier lifestyle – and even then it can be difficult. But not impossible – it just takes attention and application.

Maybe it’s not weight loss you’re after, rather a healthier way of eating. A healthy lifestyle will promote weight loss where necessary, and eventually maintain weight at your optimal level. You’ll not only look better, but feel better too. And have more energy. But you have to be realistic. Understand and appreciate that changes need to be made, and it will be easier to accommodate such changes if you make them one at a time. Once one change has become automatic, then it’s time to make another, and so on. Who are you doing this for and what is your rationale? You need to want to do this for you, no-one else. It takes a lot of persistence to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get back on track when you slip up (we all slip up occasionally). But the effort is very rewarding.

Here are some changes you can implement right now, from today – without disrupting your life too much:

• Switch to buying low-fat or fat-free dairy products.
• Eat breakfast. (Scroll down to see Monday’s post)
• Eat smaller portions – especially red meats, starches and full fat dairy products.
• Eat more vegetables and fruit.
• Eat your vegetables first – they will fill you up so that you don’t want so much starch and protein.
• Eat more slowly - chew your food well.
• Eat only when you are hungry – sometimes we mistake thirst for hunger, try a glass of water first.

Those will keep you busy for a while.

Is your child overweight?

Although it is fairly easy to calculate the number of kilojoules an adult requires per day - based on age, gender, health and activity levels – the same cannot be said for children. Children have different energy requirements to an adult, and a higher need for nutrient dense food; that’s nutrient dense, not kilojoule dense. If a child is overweight, rather look at the kind of food he or she is consuming and the amount of exercise he or she is getting.

A formalized diet doesn’t work for children any more than it does for an adult; children need to be shown, by example, how to make healthy food choices. This means choosing fruit and vegetables over sweets and fatty foods. Fish fingers, chicken nuggets and fruit juices are frequent menu items for most children – these are high in kilojoules for the nutrition they supply. Far rather offer plain fish or chicken, and always dilute fruit juice half-and-half with water. Just one teaspoon of fat equals about 792kjoules, as opposed to a teaspoon of protein or carbohydrate which equates to about 374kjoules.

Children are by nature energetic – they like to run about and explore, and they are continually testing and learning about their environment and the people and things in it. In contrast, when mum and dad get home from work, they are often mentally exhausted and just want to sit and relax. Generally, children want to spend time with their parents, and will choose a sedentary activity just so they can be in the same room. Sedentary activities such as playing computer games or watching television burn up far fewer kilojoules than taking the dog for a walk, doing some gardening or riding a bicycle. All of which can be fun for the family. If the climate you live in doesn't encourage outdoor activities, a Wii is a great indoor alternative..

As a parent, you are a role model for your children. Don’t apply rigorous dietary strictures to an overweight child – singling out one child and treating him or her differently from the rest of the family will only cause conflict, unhappiness and, possibly, future food related issues. If your child is overweight, then the only way forward is for everyone in the family to take steps towards healthy eating in the home.

We are NOT all the same.

I don’t like sweeping generalizations much. We are continually told that people are all the same, but then we are also told that each person is unique. So which is it? I think the truth lies in what criteria are in place at the time.

Hypothesis 1: We are all the same.
Yes, physiologically. Maybe. We all have bones and muscles; eyes, ears and teeth; arms, legs, hands and feet; hair and skin. Even that is a broad generalization – many people don’t have all those things. We can’t even say that we all have the same wants and needs - beyond food, shelter, health and world peace. And again, our needs and wants for food, shelter and health (yes, and world peace) are different from person to person, and different within each person at different times! The only criteria to satisfy the condition ‘we are all the same’ would seem to be…

I really don’t know. Everything I can think of leads to a quantifiable variable. Can you think of anything that makes every single person on our planet the same?

Hypothesis 2: Each person is unique.
I have to go with this one. It just makes sense to me; I don’t think I have to argue its logic or credibility. Do you agree?

So if each of us is unique, then it follows that we each have our own philosophy; our own path to choose and follow. Our own goals. We may share goals, such as weight loss or following a healthier lifestyle but we will each go about attaining those goals in our own way. And we each deserve respect for having set a goal, and continuing encouragement for striving towards it – by whatever means.

What I’m trying to say is that my way of doing things is not necessarily your way. I can show you my way to weight loss, but it may not suit your tastes or current lifestyle.

Let’s not criticize ourselves, or each other, for our different approaches to life and problem solving. Many years and experiences have made us the unique individuals we are. None of us is perfect.

Have a great weekend.

Rules can break your commitment

I’ve just seen on Face Book that my niece is starting a ’major health kick 28 day plan’. She says she is giving up smoking and alcohol (both excellent commitments to make!), and that she intends to cut out sugars and fats altogether.

Alarm bells are already sounding in my head! Very few people can set these kinds of limitations, all at once, and succeed.

The greater the number of stringent rules you make for yourself when committing to a diet or health regimen, the less likely you are to keep them up. The only rules – not even rules, but guidelines - you need to implement to lose weight and lead a healthier lifestyle are:
1. Make healthy food choices
2. Master portion control
3. Consume sufficient kilocalories/kilojoules
4. Introduce gentle exercise
5. Don’t set a time limit

Making healthy food choices means eating more fresh fruit and vegetables, and choosing whole grain products over their refined equivalents – whole grain bread and pasta, brown rice etc.

Mastering portion control is a little more difficult and takes a bit of time. Use the Google search tool above, type in ‘food groups’ and it will list all the posts I have written in the past about how much of what equals a portion, and how many portions of each food group your body needs in a day.

Eating enough is tied in to portion control. If you eat the number of portions from each food group, each day, you will be getting sufficient energy from a healthy variety of foods. When you radically limit the quantity and quality of the foods you ‘allow’ yourself, you will be hungry, tired and quickly get depressed and down on yourself. All foods are 'allowed' - just watch your portion sizes.

Introducing gentle exercise is as easy as parking on the far side of the lot, before walking briskly into the mall or shopping centre, where you will use the stairs in preference to the lift or escalator.

Don’t set a time limit. You will more than likely set an unrealistic goal, not be able to meet it, and get despondent. You will lose faith in yourself, be de-motivated and give up on the whole idea! Slow and steady attains the goal – it’s not a race. Changing too much all at once means you have too much to think about and consider every time you want to eat.

Have a great weekend.

Rewards

When you have a goal in mind, it's good to keep renewing your commitment to that goal. One way of doing this is to reward yourself as you pass milestones along the way (eg every 5kg weight lost). Of course, these rewards should not be edible. But depending on your finances, a pedicure or manicure (even if you do it yourself!) is a nice reward; a facial or a massage; a handbag or new shoes.

Once having reached your goal, you don't want to slide back into old habits, so keep rewarding yourself, every month or so, for sticking with healthy eating - eg a new book or lipstick. Look at your reward and remind yourself what you have done to deserve it.

It sounds silly, but periodic rewards provide continuing motivation and keep you on track.

Link to .pdf files for Week 17

Go here for the recipes and shopping list for Week 17.

Diet plans, pills and potions.

Continuing my thoughts from yesterday:

Will you keep the weight off afterwards?
The straight answer? With no behaviour modification? NO.

We all know at least one person who has gone on a diet, if we haven't gone on one ourselves. I personally have started many different diets through the years. And finished them. And put all the weight back on again afterwards. With interest! It's called 'yo-yo dieting'.

People who know me know that I avoid using the word 'diet' whenever possible. In colloquial English, the word has negative connotations. It implies feelings of deprivation. It implies forbidden foods. Going on a 'diet' implies a begining and an end. And this last sentence shows just where the problem lies. Not so much the 'begining', but the 'end'.

We start a diet, usually with good intentions and high motivation. We intend losing x pounds/kilograms. When we finish the y-week plan, or when we get to goal weight, we stop the plan. And gradually resume the eating habits that made us overweight in the first place!

The only way to lose weight, and keep it off, is to modify the way you eat now. That means making gradual healthy changes to our food choices. And then making those changes stick. 'Forbidden' food lists shouldn't feature - we still want to be able to indulge ourselves occassionally, don't we?

Sorry, it's not a rapid weight loss strategy - there's no such thing - but it is worth the time and effort.
For your health. Which is everything, right?

I'm not anti diet clubs - they can supply advice, encouragement and camaraderie. But in the end, you're on your own. Is your club teaching you anything about nutrition?

The sentiments and opinions expressed on this blog are my own. You are entitled to your own opinion, too. If you have had a healthy experience with a diet plan or pills, and you have lost weight and kept it off for at least a year after stopping the plan/pills, I would love to hear about it. Bet you didn't do it without changing your old eating habits.

Have a great weekend.

Diet - a multibillion dollar industry - and still growing

There are hundreds of diet plans available, through clubs, books, clinics, pharmacies, the internet - even on your cereal box! There are hundreds of medications available - and these pills and potions usually come with a diet sheet, too. All of these companies advertise that their plan/pill/potion is the plan/pill/potion that really works! And most of them do, indeed, help you lose weight... Here comes the 'but'... BUT at what cost?

Will you really drop a dress size in a week?
As a rational, reasonable, intelligent being you can't believe this one!

Will you be satisfied with the food you're allowed to eat?
It doesn't matter how many delicious options there are on the permitted list, the mere fact that there are 'forbidden' foods leaves you with a sense of deprivation and dissatisfaction.

Will you keep your temper?
Restricted and reduced nutrition lead to irritability and an inability to cope with stress.

Will you keep your sense of humour?
Feelings of deprivation, dissatisfaction, irritability and stress contribute to depression - definitely not humourous.

Will you be able to keep up the regimen?
Well, as long as the weight is coming off, you will probably be motivated to continue. But once you hit a plateau - generally in the third or fourth week - the whole idea is probably going to go out the window. And you'll get despondent.

Can you afford the continuing financial cost?
Pills and potions are expensive - they have to be. No return customers for these products, because once you've tried them you probably won't buy them again.

Will you keep your health?
This is the most important question. Many pills, shakes and meal replacements are full of synthetic additives, e-numbers, caffeine and artificial sweeteners. Some of them even contain toxic drugs. The side effects can be numerous: insomnia, nausea, altered blood pressure, blurred vision, diarrhoea, to name but a few. Is that healthy?

Will you keep the weight off afterwards?
This one leads into tomorrow's post...

Emotional attachment

Working from home can make weight loss and maintenance quite difficult. The kitchen is right there, and it is oh, so easy to make a cup of coffee and get out the biscuit box whenever I feel. Yes, that is the way I intended to write that last sentence.

I used to think that I wasn't an emotional eater, but, hey, it turns out I am! And we all seem to have a similar comfort attachment to food. As soon as we feel bored, lonely, unhappy, worried, stressed, tired, dissatisfied, disappointed or overworked - I bet you can add another dozen adjectives to this list, some even positive! - we tend to comfort or reward ourselves with food (and/or alcohol). And I'm not talking sensible portions of good, nutritious food. It's a case of "what can I eat to feel better?"

While eating for comfort may make us feel better - carbohydrates are naturally calming - the feeling is very temporary, and soon swamped out by other feelings... of guilt.

So we need to take control. We always have a choice. We can choose to eat a whole bar of chocolate / bag of pretzels / litre of ice cream. Or we can make a more responsible choice. Instead of indulging in empty calories and lots of fats - which we'll regret later - we can clean or tidy something. At home there is always some little job that needs doing, and even at the office we can tidy and reorganise desk drawers, or make a to-do list. Take a walk, even if it is only to the bathroom. Any distraction like these will improve our mood, and give a sense of achievement. (As long as we then don't then congratulate ourselves with food for a job well done!) If you must eat, have a piece of fresh fruit.

Objectivity helps, too. Mentally take a step back from the situation. Will it (the situation) really matter in a week's time? a year? Stretch. Really stretch. Breathe deeply and slowly. Now, back to work.

Way to go

Now you know a bit about the different food groups, kilocalories and kilojoules, portion sizes and GI values. But this doesn't guide you to making healthier food choices.

Weight management is difficult enough - especially as we get older - and putting yourself on a restricted regimen only leads to depression, dissatisfaction and disillusionment. So dump the doomed diet discipline. The healthy style of eating still comes down to having controlled portions of a wide variety of foods from all the different food groups - with emphasis on vegetables and fruit. Eliminating foods you normally enjoy is not the way to go - a little of what you fancy does you good, and stops you feeling deprived.

Have a great weekend.