Staying slender with inspiration

Occasionally I get asked to give a talk on motivation. This is usually to women in weight loss groups who are struggling to remain motivated. Have you ever experienced a lack of motivation? I know that I have.

We tend to procrastinate when we lack motivation, or even put things off indefinitely. Sometimes we feel overwhelmed which leads to inaction and is really another form of procrastination. Why is it so hard to remain motivated?

Motivation is external. We need to see or hear something to remain motivated. A photograph on the fridge to stop us snacking or a personal trainer encouraging us to do just one more rep. And this is the problem with motivation. The very fact that it is external means that you need the stimuli all the time.

The alternative way is to become inspired because inspiration is internal. It comes from within you which means that it is with you all the time. Take a minute to think about something that you are passionate about. For example you could be passionate about dogs. You not only own a rescue dog but you volunteer at a dog rescue centre or donate to a dog rescue centre. You might even become a dog trainer so that people have more positive experiences with their dog and fewer dogs will end up being surrendered to rescue centres. You don't need to have a photograph on the fridge or a personal trainer to keep you motivated. You are inspired and probably inspire others with your enthusiasm and passion.

When you are inspired you want to take action.

What would cause you to become inspired about staying slender? You may not have the answers immediately so let this question sit with you for a few days or even weeks because it is worth the effort to find the answers. When you become inspired you won't need to look to external sources to stay slender.

Sarah

3 tips to stay slender during the Christmas party season

There will be several Christmas parties this year that will probably attend. It may a work party, school mums party, the neighbour's Christmas bash or any number of other groups to which you belong. They will have alcohol, soft drinks and food that is full of fat and sugar.

It can be tempting to fill your plate with all the delicious seasonal goodies and enjoy several drinks because it only happens once a year, everyone else is doing it and you feel that if you don't you won't enjoy yourself.

The great news is that you can drink, eat and enjoy yourself without going overboard, especially if you have several parties to attend this season.

So here are 3 tips to guide you through the Christmas party season:

• Make sure you are well hydrated before you go so that you don't drink lots of soft drink because you are thirsty. Once there alternate an alcoholic/soft drink with a glass of water.
• Have a healthy high fibre snack to eat before you go so that you aren't hungry when you arrive, which would make you crave sugary and fatty food.
• Fill your plate with three foods that have a high water and fibre content, such as fresh fruit and vegetables and salads. This means that you won't crave the sweeter foods as much and will be able to enjoy smaller portions of those you do want to enjoy.

 These 3 simple rules offer you the power to enjoy the treats without upsetting the balance of your overall healthy eating plan.

let the celebrations begin
Sarah

Strength in vulnerability

Last night I was at a women's network meeting during which an inspiring woman gave an excellent 10 minute talk on goal setting. In that moment I realised that I had stopped setting goals because I had become scared that I might not fulfil them. I chose to share this with the group and guess what? I wasn't the only woman there with a fear.

Sometimes we believe that we have to hide our fears, not only to others but to ourselves. We believe that we need to be strong, carry on and toughen up. Whilst it is true that we need to continue to take positive actions it can be detrimental to our success, emotional well-being and to those around us when we don't admit our fears. It was in that moment of admission that I found new courage. This was bolstered by overwhelming support from a group of amazing women.

There is beauty and strength in being vulnerable. It shows others that it is not only acceptable to be vulnerable but that there are many benefits to it.

Years ago when I had my first baby I tried to do it all by myself. Even though I had mild postnatal depression and was exhausted I refused all offers of help. I believed, incorrectly, that showing my vulnerability would be interpreted as me being an inadequate mother. I learnt the hard way. When I had my other four babies I accepted all the help that was offered. This was good for me and good for my family.

What is stopping you from reaching your goals? If there is any fear of vulnerability it is time to acknowledge and celebrate the strength and courage that you have in sharing this.

Let's support each other in our vulnerabilities.

Sarah

You have the power to manage your weight

I have talked to so many women who have become to believe that they can't manage their weight without being on a formal weight loss diet or unless they deprive themselves of all the foods they love. This is not true but there is a large diet industry that is banking, literally, on making you believe that it is the truth.

Penny is typical of many women that tell me about their weight loss battles and explained that she had lost 10 kgs, twice, and both times she regained all 10kgs plus a few more each time. She now weighs 15kgs more than before she went on her first diet. She also had come to believe that she was unable to manage her weight unless she went on yet another weight loss diet.

There are many weight loss diets to choose from. Some offer instant results in only 1 - 2 weeks. Many tell you exactly what and how much to eat for every meal, have you counting calories, points or some other food value like the fat content. There are a few who help you change your mindset, educate you about food and motivate you to be more active. If you want to choose a weight loss diet I recommend one of these because afterwards you will still have the new mindset to help you manage your weight.

The alternative is to take back the power that you think you have lost and manage your weight by following 7 simple rules. You can enjoy being back in control when you learn about the science of weight gain, loss and management and apply it to your life. You can eat your favourite foods and learn how to regain your mojo.

There will be more details about how you can regain control and enjoy the power of weight management in the coming weeks.

Enjoy life
Sarah

Should we eat meat?

I am not a big fan of red meat, preferring chicken and fish. I find red meat hard to digest and it leaves me feeling a bit uncomfortable. Other people chose not to eat red meat for religious, environmental and/or animal welfare reasons. However if you are one of the many people love their red meat the following information is for you.

All the research shows that eating white meat like chicken has very few health issues providing you eat chemically and processed free chicken. (More about processed foods in a minute). The health issues appear to be related to red meat and processed meat.

There are many healthy nutrients in red meat including iron, zinc and Vitamin B12. You can get these in other foods but need more of them and a wider range to ensure healthy quantities. For years the saturated fat in red meat was deemed to be the culprit however new research and findings several years ago have shown that it probably isn't the saturated fat that causes the heart problems and increased risk of cancer. It is something found in the lean part of red meat. The newest recommendations are that you reduce your intake of red meat to a few days only each week.

Processed meat contains nitrates and a lot of salt. The nitrates are thought to react with the bacterial in the bowel and this may lead to polyps which can then become malignant. Smoking meat produces another health issue when it reaches the bowel and may also cause some health issues.

Eating lots of vegetables, fruit and other fibrous foods helps the meat to pass through the bowel and reduces the risk of developing bowel cancer.

The ideal for red meat lovers is to avoid processed meats (bacon, ham, salami and sausages), keep meat dominated meals to no more than three times a week and when you do eat meat have it with lots of vegetables and high fibre carbohydrates like wholemeal pasta, wholemeal rice or root vegetables (except white potatoes). 

Enjoy your steak and roast beef

Sarah

Exercise can make you fat

Yesterday I booked into a Zumba class but it had to be cancelled and instead we were given a 'vive' class. On paper it probably appeared to be the same sort of class with some aerobic exercise to music but there was one very big difference.

Chronic stress leads to adrenal fatigue and your body functions differently in this state. As far as your primitive brain is concerned there are only three reasons for chronic stress: war, flood or famine.

An exercise class that involves lots of running type movements tells your primitive brain that it is correct because you are 'running away' from something bad. It gets your body to produce more stress hormones and instead of loosing weight you gain weight (because of the chemistry and biological changes that occur with stress).

When you dance your primitive brain interprets this as 'all is well' because who dances when they have to run away or survive a war, flood or famine? People dance when they are happy, at celebrations and when they are at a party.

And this is why an aerobic class is different to a Zumba class.

If you want to stay slender and are prone to feeling stressed and/or anxious the best types of exercise classes are fun ones like dance classes, and relaxing ones like yoga, Pilates and body balance. These reduce the amount of stress hormones produced and your body will switch from burning muscle to stored fat.

Have fun and stay relaxed
Sarah

A happy liver helps keep you slender

Last night I had to give a short speech and ended up giving a speech about drinking responsibly. I was not and am not suggesting that any one stops drinking alcohol. Personally I enjoy a good quality bourbon, especially since I had to stop drinking wine because I developed a sensitivity to it.

The message with alcohol is all about how much you drink, both in one sitting and in total during any given week. There are two reasons for this:

1. When you drink too much your thought processes change which can cause you to make choices that you would never consider when sober
2. Alcohol is a poison that your liver has to process and then pass on to other organs to excrete. If you drink too much it can destroy brain cells permanently, cause liver damage and a host of other health related issues.

One of these health related issues is body fat, and drinking lots of alcohol can lead to obesity and the health issues related to obesity.

When you drink alcohol your liver will process it first because your liver works on a 'most dangerous always gets to the front of the queue' system. This helps your body to excrete toxic substances as quickly as it can. Whilst your liver is busy processing the alcohol there is a slow but steady build up of other substances that need to be processed. These include things like cholesterol and estrogen. These might be able to enter the liver for phase one but have to wait too long for phase 2, so your liver sends them back into your blood stream without processing them. You now have additional cholesterol and estrogen in your system creating havoc.

Caffiene and nicotine also require processing by your liver and are put to the head of the queue after alcohol.

Alcohol can mess up your body's ability to maintain a healthy balance of insulin production, fat storage and hunger signals. Because your liver is busy with the alcohol your body ends up storing more of the energy you eat as fat. But your body needs to use instant energy so it uses the easily available glucose in your muscles. This adds up to less muscle and more fat storage. It can also lead to insulin resistance, which means that your body has to put out more insulin to be able to use the sugar in your blood.

Alcohol is very high in sugar, which means that any energy available from the alcohol will be utilized first and sugar from other foods and drinks will also be stored as fat.

As you can see drinking alcohol can make it difficult for you to stay slender unless you follow some basic rules:

• No more than 2 standard drinks per day
• To stay slender chose 2 days/evenings a week to enjoy a drink of alcohol and have 5 alcohol free days
• Plan your week (where possible) so that you can enjoy a drink with friends or at social occasions if you wish

• Now and then there will a surprise occasion where you drink when you had planned an alcohol free day. As these happen rarely enjoy the occasion and continue as before. If these occasions start to happen frequently you need to plan them into your week. 

Love and care for your liver and it will help to you to stay slender.

Sarah

Less sleep can equal more weight

A recent study showed that women not only work out of the home, but once home they undertake twice as much childcare and three times as much housework. I don't think that we needed a study to show us that. We already know!

It is not surprise that women can become so tired. There just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. Something has to give, and usually it is quality sleep. Even when you get to bed your mind is racing thinking of all the things that you still have to do, or haven't done that must be done by yet another deadline.

In most households everyone comes to you. Broken shoe laces, missing socks, forms that need signing, sore throats, insufficient phone credit... and the list goes on. "MUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM?"

20% of road fatalities are caused by fatigue. These aren't all tired women, there are many tired men out there as well. Being really tired is the equivalent to being drunk. It has similar neurological effects including being unable to make good decisions, being emotional, slower responses and quick to anger. Does any of these signs and symptoms ring a bell with you?

This blog is usually written in the morning, or even the day before, but I have been busy. I could have stressed myself out and either stayed up late or got up extra early to write it, but I chose not to. I know what physiological and psychological consequences either of those actions would involve. So I am writing it late in the afternoon, feeling nice and relaxed and enjoying the potential of helping some of you to say "NO!" I am not going to take all of that on today, this week or even this month.

When you go to bed tonight you will sleep so much better if you:

• eat before 7pm or only eat a very light meal before 8pm
• no coffee after 5pm (or cola)
• go to bed at a reasonable time, which is any time before 10pm
• once in bed read a book or a magazine but no television, phones, ipads or any other device unless you are reading a book from it
• keep the room cooler than during the day because our body's need to cool down to feel sleepy
• acknowledge yourself for all the things that you achieved today, including getting something partially done
• set the alarm for 10 minutes before you have to get up so that you can wake up slowly 

Enjoy a quality sleep of 8 hours as many nights as you can manage.

sweet dreams
Sarah

Hilarious!

You Know You're a Mother When ...

You count the sprinkles on each kid's cupcake to make sure they're equal.
You have time to shave only one leg at a time.
You hide in the bathroom to be alone.
Your kid throws-up and you catch it.
Someone else's kid throws up at a party. You keep eating.
As you cling to the high moral ground on toy weapons; your child chews his toast into the shape of a gun.
You hope ketchup is a vegetable, since it's the only one your child eats.
You find yourself cutting your husband's sandwiches into cute shapes.
You hear your mother's voice coming out of your mouth when you say, "NOT in your good clothes!"
You stop criticising the way your mother raised you.
You donate to charities in the hope that your child won't get that disease.
You hire a sitter because you haven't been out with your husband in ages, then spend half the night checking on the kids.
You use your own saliva to clean your child's face.
You say at least once a day, "I'm not cut out for this job", but you know you wouldn't trade it for anything". 

When we laugh our brains know that there can't be any danger around. It can relax and let your body go back to burning fat instead of readily available glucose.

What a great way to stay slender. Find ways to have a good laugh every day. In addition to jokes there are funny films, youtube clips and cute things that young children say. Even better have a laugh at yourself now and again, in a loving and gentle way. Trying to be perfect is stressful, and you know what happens when your brain becomes aware of stress.

Please share one of your favourite jokes below in the comment section.

best wishes
Sarah