Multitasking is bad for you

Most women cite multitasking as one of their skills. Women are known for their ability to multitask. Somehow a woman appears able to think about and carry out tasks simultaneously. However this is a myth.

It is not possible to 'multitask'; to think about and carry out several tasks at the same time. The reality is that women quickly change thinking about and performing different tasks in a short span of time. Women do this because they are rushed, busy and attempting to complete all their tasks. They believe it saves time, but the science shows that it takes longer than if each task were completed before commencing the next one.

Each time you 'multitask' your brain takes a second to change gear. A second might not sound like much time until you add up all the seconds as you switch between tasks all day. Instead of saving minutes you are increasing the number it takes in the long run.

There are more negative effects to multitasking. In addition to taking more time it also takes more energy, you are less likely to perform the task as well as if you had concentrated on one task at a time and it can lead to exhaustion, overwhelm and depression.

Society expects women to multitask including in their careers. Employers believe that this will be more cost effective but it is not cost effective and leads to employee stress and dissatisfaction. There are also the family expectations that the woman of the home will juggle all the domestic tasks, and in many cases this is done whilst working outside the home.

Stress can lead to weight gain as it causes your body to produce cortisol which helps your body store fat, especially around the abdomen. Stress also leads to a reduced immune system leading to more illnesses.

Next time you start to multitask it would be beneficial to your physical and emotional health to stop, reconsider how you are going to complete your tasks and then undertake each one individually.

warmest wishes
Sarah

3 Reasons why calorie based diets don't work

A while ago someone told me that many women have tried over 40 diets by the time they are 40. For many of these women this has meant at least two diets a year, sometimes more. If the first diet had been successful they wouldn't have needed to try yet another diet. These women will also tell you that whilst they were successful in the early stages of each diet the results were always the same: the diet was not as successful in the long term for a variety of reasons and to add to this they weigh more after each diet than they did before.

Logic would appear to dictate that weight management is simple maths: value of food in must be the same as the value of food used up by the body. In other words a large meal is going to require a lot of physical exercise to use up all the energy consumed. And there is some truth in this, but it isn't the whole story.

Dr Rick Kausman, a medical doctor specialising in healthy weight management, says that when people attempt to manage their weight by only focusing on their calorie control they are going to fail. There are many reasons why this is the case and here are 3 of them:

• When you start to deny yourself food to loose weight through counting calories your 'caveman' part of your brain interprets this as 'famine'. It thoughtfully changes how your body utilises the fuel you feed it and saves as much of the energy that it can through chemical changes in the cell, and it also ensures that you expend less energy. This way it can store a greater amount of the food that you eat as fat to help you get through the famine.
• Counting calories to loose weight is not resourceful in the long term. To be resourceful your eating habits need to be obtainable AND sustainable, and going without voluntarily is not sustainable in the long term. When you focus on your overall health and on developing life-long healthy habits you will be able to obtain and sustain these for permanent results.
• Motivation is very short lived. Many of the well-known fitness experts have shared the ways that they ensure that they exercise every day through routine and determination. They don't feel motivated to leap out of bed in the cold and the dark at 5am in the morning or to go to every training session. They have developed habits that assist them to maintain their routines. It is the same with weight management. Whilst most people start their calorie controlled diets with lots of motivation this is short-lived because by its very nature it feels like deprivation and hard work.

Developing habits that are holistic and include changes to encompass several areas of your life offer life-long opportunities to improve your health and weight management.

warmest wishes
Sarah

How big are your snacks?

When you get home from a long day do you snack whilst you get sort out the house, get dinner, do laundry and anything else that can't wait until your next day off? When you snack like this do you choose a small bowl of yoghurt or is it more likely to be several biscuits, some chocolate, a chunk of cheese or just what ever comes to hand easily?

When we are tired our brains demand glucose, which can be found in sugars such as table sugar. We also want comfort food which means high saturated fat added to sugar. This is why we are more likely to want hot toast with butter and jam or a slice of cake than a bowl of natural yoghurt or an apple.

There is often much to be done once we get home but we need to charge our batteries before we can start again with some renewed strength.

Whilst it may appear that there is no time to spare; we must dive straight into the household tasks, most of the time we could take 10 - 15 minutes to sit down with a cup of tea or a glass of sparkling mineral water and a snack that offers some energy for the next part of our day. This will help you to recharge your batteries, supply your brain the energy it requires and to relax a little.

A snack that contains some protein will help you with sustained energy until dinner time and some carbohydrates supply some sugar for your brain. You could try:

• cheese and crackers and/or an apple/pear/peach
• natural yoghurt with Cinnamon and/or a teaspoon of honey/maple syrup
• 1 slice of toast with a slice of ham and tomato
• 1 slice of toast with nut spread
• a banana and some nuts (non-salted)

 It is what we do 80% of the time that makes the difference, so if you change to a short break with a more sustaining snack during the week you can enjoy a slice of cake or crumpet dripping with melted butter and honey on the weekend.

Enjoy being slender
love
Sarah