Being prepared prevents weight gain

Were you a girl guide or had friends who were? One of the things that they are taught is to 'be prepared'. I was a girl guide for a short time but I never found out what I was supposed to be prepared for. Maybe I needed to be a girl guide for longer!

If you are a parent then you know that once you have a child it pays to be prepared for certain events including days out and rainy days. The first time I had to take one of my children to the emergency department it was the middle of the night, my daughter was six months old and I rushed the pair of us into the car and headed for the emergency department. It wasn't life and death but it felt like it. If I had taken just five minutes to prepare our time in the hospital would have been so much easier. I would have had spare nappies, toys, and something for me to drink.

The second time I had to take one of my children to the emergency department I was prepared. I had a bag that would keep us going for an entire weekend if required and whilst being in the emergency department is always stressful at least I didn't have to worry about having something to drink and help my child feel a little more relaxed.

Fast forward nearly three decades and I am attending a weekend course. At lunch time we are released for an hour for lunch and we all head out to find various cafes. By this time I was starving and you already know that when you are hungry you make poorer decisions about what to eat because your brain is already screaming for sugar. So guess what happened? We all headed to cafes to enjoy fatty food followed by something sweet. Most of us did not make good food choices.

On the second day I came prepared. I brought lots of healthy snacks and a healthy lunch. I had a snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon. At lunch time I headed to a beautiful little park opposite the venue to enjoy my lunch. A few other people had chosen to do the same thing and we enjoyed chatting about the course whilst enjoying the warm sun and fresh air. When I got home that evening I was less tired and continued to make better food choices.

How many times have you chosen the less healthy option because you were out and there were no healthy choices? More often though, you find yourself feeling hungry and your brain is screaming out for sugar. NOW!. So there you are at the check-out, or in the middle of Christmas shopping or having a day out.

What could you have in your handbag for those moments? What could you keep in your car or backpack? It best to avoid 'health bars' because almost anything processed has sugar in it, and/or a lot of preservatives. Just think about this for a moment. How can that bar have a long shelf life without chemicals to keep it edible? If you made biscuits how long can you keep them fresh?

What you can keep in your bag or car are things like a little tub of nuts and/or some dried fruit. Usually I recommend staying away from dried fruit unless it is in extremely small quantities because of it's high sugar content. However in this case if your brain wants sugar a little dried fruit is a great way to give it some sugar, followed by some nuts and/or seeds to give your body a longer lasting form of energy.

Being prepared can benefit every part of your day, from breakfast to your evening meal. Write down a menu for the week which helps you eat well every day and also helps you plan your weekly shop. Take packed lunch to work which helps you eat well and saves you a lot of money. Work out what you can cook quickly and easily on the days that you get home later and will be tired. When you cook make double portions so that you can freeze half for another evening meal.

Enjoy having the power and energy to eat well all day

Sarah

A blog by nutritionist Aaron Flores, RD

What France Taught Me About Balance Variety and Moderation

I just returned from a 10-day vacation in Paris.  My wife and I went for a family wedding but we also used it as an excuse to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary and our 40th birthdays.  It was a memorable trip for many reasons and as I thought more about it, I realized that there is a lot that the French can teach us, if we are ready to listen.  So here are some things that I observed while I was there, in no particular order.

1) There is a very nice sense of balance in France.  Of course that is a word that would resonate with me, right?  There is a sense of balance when it comes to juggling work, family, friends and making time to relax.  I first noticed this just after we arrived in Paris.  We found that many places were closed during the end of July and August.  They were closed because the business owners take an extended vacation during the summer. What a way to really balance work and personal life than with planned long vacation each summer.  Secondly, walking through the city, we found multiple places to just sit and enjoy a picnic or just watch people go by.   You can see by the pictures below that we made sure to use as many of these open spaces as often as possible.

 

 2) Obviously the French are known for their food and, being a dietitian, I knew that I was going to experience as much different foodie experiences as possible.  But for all the "heavy" foods that might come to mind when you think about French food, there is a very strong respect (for lack of a better word) for food and eating.  That is to say, meals are events.  Eating is a time to focus on food, friends and family and not something to rush through.  If you want to experience mindful eating, eat a meal in France.  The best example of this was at a cooking class my wife and I took.  The class started in an open-air market going through the stalls, smelling, looking and talking to vendors about what's fresh and what looks good.  After buying all of the ingredients we needed, we went back to the kitchen to cook our meal.  The spontaneous menu ended up being squid stuffed with risotto, greens and pine nuts in a fennel cream sauce.  Of course there was dessert and we made a Creme d'Almond.  All made from scratch and of course, all delicious.  Since we were in France, we just had to have a cheese and wine course right?!  The entire meal (which was really lunch) was over 2 hours (not including cooking).  A slow cooked meal that was savored the way any meal should be.  Despite the cream, cheese and dessert, there was no feeling of guilt or overeating. It was truly an intuitive eating experience.

 

3) I don't speak French but I had my Google Translate with me all the time so I was able to interpret different words that my wife and I encountered.  Not once did I come across the words "gluten-free." In LA, it seems like I can't take 10 steps without hearing or reading the words "gluten-free."  I'm sure there are as many who suffer from celiac disease and gluten intolerances in France as there are in the USA, but it's clear that we've hit epic fad status here in LA so it was refreshing to not hear those words for 10 days and to not be judged like we were carrying the devil in our bag every morning as we left the boulangerie with a fresh baguette!  

4) France is the land of balance, variety and moderation.  Those words, which seem to be co-opted by big food companies in America, still retain their meaning in France.  Sure, not everyone eats cheese, bread and wine at every meal, and we saw our fair share of "big food" marketing and products while we were there but it's a very different mindset. Balance in all things.  Variety in food choices but also activities.  Moderation with foods by enjoying each bite.  My best example of all of those was going for ice cream at the world famous, Berthillion. My wife and I chose different flavors and the first thing we noticed was how small the scoop was--no more than a melon-ball size of ice cream but the flavor in that one scoop was beyond any I had before.  It was the most intense and delicious scoop of chocolate ice cream that I've ever had.  The French are known for their cheese and wine but I'd submit to you all that their ice cream should receive just as much praise and recognition.  

 

 Like I said above, it was a trip that has had a lasting effect on me.  I feel inspired about food once again and confident in my convictions that ALL foods fit in moderation.  We should respect not only food, but where it came from, and the act of eating it. 

 

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enjoy

Sarah

When more is less

Many diets encourage you to count calories, points or something so that you can add up the total amount of energy that you have consumed and work out how much energy you need to use up to create a deficit. The premise is that to loose weight energy in must be less than energy out.

Whilst this premise is correct it is far more complex than a simple math equation. For example the body uses a different amount of energy to process different types of food. It takes more energy to process protein than it does sugar. In fact it takes zero energy, absolutely no energy at all, for your body to process sugar.

This means that when you eat protein your body doesn't get all of that protein as energy to use or store; it only gets a percentage of it. But when you eat sugar your body gets all of that energy to use or store.

And here's another thing. Your body finds it much easier to use rather than store certain foods. These foods are vegetables, especially green vegetables. Not only do you get to eat a whole lot more for your buck, so to speak, but when you do eat them your body will use them as energy. In addition they provide a host of vital vitamins and minerals, are an excellent source of fibre which means that you will feel fuller for longer and it keeps your bowels healthier and if that wasn't enough, all that fibre helps your bowel to create the microbes that increase your immune system.

Children often grow up hating vegetables. There are threats and promises made to get children to eat their vegetables. There are several reasons for this: vegetables are introduced later to their palate than sweeter foods; young children have many more taste buds than adults and this can mean that vegetables can taste bitter compared to other foods; children may not like the texture; culturally some countries introduce greens earlier than in Western cultures and this means that these young children accept green vegetables as part of their meals quite easily.

If you are one of the many who don't really like green vegetables and remember being made to eat them under duress, it could be time for you to reconsider this food group for the many benefits already stated.

Experiment with green vegetables that you haven't eaten yet. Find new ways to cook and flavour them. Add them to other vegetables that you do like. As you find more and more types of vegetables that you enjoy increase the percentage of vegetables that you eat at each meal. Eventually you want to aim for vegetables being 50% of your main meal. (Potatoes are a starchy carbohydrate and don't count as a vegetable in this context).

Enjoy experimenting and having fun with healthier habits

Sarah

Diets do not work

As you are probably well aware, diets do not work. Whilst they may work in the short-term for some people, they do not work in the long-term for a variety of reasons.

One of the main reasons that they don't work is because your primitive brain doesn't want you to loose weight. No, it doesn't hate you. In fact the opposite is true. When there is another famine you will have the advantage over the people without excess body fat. And you brains 'knows' that there will be another famine because you have already demonstrated that there are frequent famines. Every time you go on a diet your primitive brain interprets this as a famine.

To keep you safe during all these famines your primitive brain is able to change the way your body processes food so that you store more of it as fat; it ensures that you are tired and lethargic so that you won't be able to expand any unnecessary energy, which is any energy not connected to survival; it will make sure that you are totally focused on finding your next meal, so that you survive this current famine. Once the famine has passed, because you have stopped dieting, it will ensure that you regain any weight you lost, gain a little extra for the next famine and make sure that you continue to focus on food for up to a year.

There are a few other reasons that diets don't work, including the primitive part of the brain that ensures you become bored very quickly with the same food. This is to ensure that you eat a variety of foods which is the best way your brain can help you maintain your health. You may think that you will always want cake because you rarely have any, however, if you were to have a slice of the same cake day after day you would actually become bored with it.

If you loose more than 2.5kg in a week your body will automatically go into famine mode. It can't have you loosing that amount of weight so quickly unless there is a really good reason for it, which is survival. If your brain thinks that you need to loose weight to survive it will help you trim down so that you can run away. It can be tricky to convince it of this scenario. Mostly people think of what they don't have, which is interpreted as famine. This doesn't have to be about food. Worries about lack of money, a partner or even a dress to wear to an event can all trigger the famine response.

So if you want to loose weight and maintain that weight loss, is there an alternative to dieting?

Yes there is.

You change your current habits to those of healthy slender women. I use the word 'healthy' because you would not want to adopt habits that could harm your health. It is also important to use healthy role models, women who look after their bodies and have a healthy relationship with them. Using drugs, excessive exercise or near starvation diets are not the habits of healthy slender women.

Next month I will be launching an online program to help women learn about the habits of healthy slender women. No diets, no excessive exercise and definitely no hunger will be involved. Nor will it be boring, limiting, expensive, faddy or involve meals that only you can eat.
It will explain each habit and how you can make it part of your life for the rest of your life. You will still be able to enjoy chocolate and cake.

There will also be workshops for those who prefer to have their information in a face-to-face setting either instead of or as well as online.

Enjoy eating and being slender

Sarah

Sitting dow for long periods can cause weight gain

You may know that long hours of sitting down is not good for your health. It can cause back problems, neck problems, digestive problems and of course, if you are sitting down you aren't being active and burning up calories.

But there are more negative effects of sitting down for long periods. In fact sitting down for long periods is so bad for your health that it shortens your life span more than smoking cigarettes do.

By now you are probably wondering how sitting down can be more detrimental to your health than smoking. The reasons for this are because when you sit down certain biological processes are reduced, causing a host of health issues.

Sitting down causes your muscles to relax, which is a good thing for a short period but unhealthy for a longer period. It is the relaxing of your muscles that leads to other processes changing. After one hour of sitting down you process sugar less effectively and burn around 600 kilojoules less than if you were standing.

Your hormones that reduce your appetite decrease whilst your immature fat cells develop into fully formed fat cells at a faster rate.

If you are a regular visitor to the gym and/or take regular exercise in other forms you may think that this doesn't affect you, but it does. Even if you exercise every day for an hour or two, when you sit down for more than an hour at a time your body processes will start to be reduced.

But there are alternatives to sitting for long periods that will still allow you to work and prevent the hazards of sitting down for long periods. Try changing your habits to include the following:

• Stand up every 30 minutes and do some stretches, or take a little walk
• Move the printer away from your desk so that you have to walk to get the paper
• Take the opportunity to stand when on the phone or when talking to someone in the office
• Set your phone to remind you every 30 minutes to stand up and be active
• If you can't stretch or move away from your desk just stand up and stand up and down on your toes because this will work your calf muscles
• Have your tea breaks standing up

There is a move to change to standing work-stations, with people standing to work on their computer, standing a meetings and rarely sitting down in the office. Earlier this week a chiropractor shared with me that sitting down for long periods is so unhealthy that in a few decades it will be perceived in the same way that smoking is currently perceived.

You probably still have to sit, or want to sit for periods of time and the magic number is two hours. The risks increase after two hours so this is the longest that you should sit for before standing up and moving around. Sometimes this isn't possible such as during a long flight. In these cases move your feet in circles and up and down to get some muscle movement in your legs and stand up when you can.

Enjoy keeping your body processes fully functioning

Sarah