NUTRITION - Before You Turn To A Diet …

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Summary - 

Over-indulged over Christmas/ New Years? Before you turn to a diet, let me remind you about some of the most powerful strategies that you can implement today to promote optimal health, assist with weight management but make you feel your best every day too. 

Things I Mention - 

  • How to ditch diet-culture and adopt a long-lasting approach to health.

  • Why you should focus more on what to eat/ drink instead of what not to eat/ drink.

  • Ways to reduce the risk of relapse, starvation, binge-eating, blood sugar dives and internal stress. 

PLUS, I share 8 of the most effective, yet natural and holistic ways to improve your health, weight and overall happiness. 

Links & Helpful Resources - 

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Let’s say you’ve over-indulged a little or a lot lately and as a result, you’ve found yourself not entirely happy about the way you currently look or feel… it happens to the best of us but what’s the first thing you’d usually do?

My guess is -

  1.  you’d remove any “bad” food or drinks from your diet for as long as your willpower allows OR

  2. you’d jump back on the last fad diet you tried which delivered some pretty quick results despite them being quite short-lived. 

What if I told you though that there was a longer-lasting, more enjoyable approach to feeling your best - one that’s actually kind to both your mind & body too? And the ‘d’ word? Well that’s nowhere in sight? 

_________________

Truth be told, I’ve been guilty of choosing options a & b too - more times that I’d like to admit and you know what, a big part of me does agree that you’ve got to go down those paths at least once to experience the knock-on effects that arise when you take the “all or nothing” or the “quick fix” approach. 

My goal with this episode, is to hopefully spare you from the relapses, the starvation, the binge-eating episodes, the blood sugar dives, the internal stress, all of it and to simply remind you about some of the most powerful strategies that you can implement today to promote optimal health, assist with weight management, but make you feel your best every day too. So before you turn to a diet, turn your attention to these - 

EAT RECOMMENDED SERVES OF FRUIT & VEG

Most Australians eat only about half of the recommended serves of fruit & veg per day which is so scary. As a minimum, it is recommended that adults eat 2 serves of fruit & at least 5 serves of vegetables per day. Not per week, per day! 1 serve of fruit could be a medium apple, banana, orange or pear or 2 small apricots, plums or kiwi fruits. 1 serve of vegetables is about ½ cup of cooked or 1 cup of leafy green or raw salad vegetables. Until you’re consuming those recommended serves, you shouldn’t be looking to change the way you eat unless of course you’re looking for ways to up your fruit & veg intake. 

EAT PROTEIN EVENLY THROUGHOUT THE DAY

I’ve mentioned in a previous episode (episode #26) how important it is to be hitting your protein minimum each day (which is the minimum amount of protein your body requires to function efficiently) but did you know that it’s equally important to ensure that you space your protein intake out evenly throughout the day as opposed to eating just 1 or 2 protein-heavy meals?

Your body is only able to absorb and distribute a certain amount of protein per meal so by consuming smaller amounts more frequently throughout the duration of the day, you are giving your body the best possible chance to meet your protein minimum amount. 

Eating enough protein at breakfast is commonly the most overlooked so I’d aim to start here. If you prefer a sweet breakfast over a savoury breakfast, try adding protein powder to yoghurt or milk or sprinkle toast and cereals with a tablespoon of hemp or chia seeds to boost the protein in that meal. 

EAT HEALTHY FATS AT EACH MEAL

We’ve just spoken about including protein at each meal but further to that, go ahead and add at least a thumb size amount of good, healthy fats to each meal as well. Healthy fats help to decrease inflammation (amongst so many other benefits), which will help you feel better faster if you’ve been over-indulging and putting more pressure than usual on your liver - the essential organ that tends to cop a real beating from us.

EAT CARBS STRATEGICALLY

Usually one of the first things to be reduced when you’re trying to shape up (besides the obvious sugar & alcohol culprits) are carbohydrates. The amount of carbohydrates each person needs to feel their best looks different for everyone. Some people thrive off a small amount of carbs per day whilst others feel on top of the world with a higher carbohydrate intake. Rather than get too concerned about the amount, focus more on using carbohydrates to fuel your workout by consuming any foods with a higher amount of carbohydrates at least 30mins before exercise. 

Another really effective strategy is to avoid carbohydrates when snacking. Instead, choose protein-rich snacks and keep carbohydrates to meals. 

EAT MINDFULLY

Mindful eating is a very under-rated technique that helps you gain control over your eating habits. It has been proven to promote weight loss, reduce binge eating and help many people over eating disorders. Mindful eating involves eating slowly and without distraction (probably the most important point to note here), listening to physical hunger cues and eating only until you’re satisfied or perhaps 80% full, actually chewing your food and appreciating your food.

Eating has become a mindless act, often done really quickly and without much thought. This can be problematic, since it takes your brain up to 20 minutes to realize you’re full. If you eat too fast, that fullness signal may not arrive until it’s too late and you’ve already eaten more than what your body needs. By eating mindfully, you’ll make eating an intentional act instead of an automatic one which is a great way to improve your diet without needing to alter it. 

DRINK MORE WATER

Stay hydrated by drinking at least 2L of filtered water per day. If you struggle to drink plain water by itself - jazz it up by adding some lemon or lime to it. The brand ‘Twinings’ offer a product called Infuse which you can get at your local supermarket but essentially they’re just flavoured tea bags that you can add to cold water and it flavours your water naturally - there are no artificial colours of flavours but there are a STACK of different flavours available. 

PRIORITISE SLEEP

I’m hopeful that we’ve moved past the era where tackling the day with next to no sleep is somehow worn as a badge of honour. Countless studies have shown that getting less than 7 hours of sleep each night can lead to weight gain and obesity as well as heart, immune and mental health. Honestly, that’s not cool but what is cool is prioritising at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night!

MOVE YOUR BODY

Move your body for a minimum of 30 minutes every day. It doesn’t matter what you do, just find something that you love and make sure you enjoy it. You could go for a walk every day or you could lift weights one day, dance the next and stretch the following - don’t get caught up with the nitty gritty - just move. Regular exercise makes you happy, it supports weight management, boosts your immune system and can improve your sleep quality and we all know how cool sleep is right?! 

Ironically, my first few suggestions today are all based around what to eat more of as opposed to what not to eat which is a really healthy mindset to adopt. I wholeheartedly believe that if you pay more attention to adding in healthy, wholefoods that you’ll naturally crowd out the foods & drinks that aren’t serving you and bringing you closer to your goals. 

So, if and only if you are prioritising these things every single day for at least  4 weeks (taking into account that it generally takes 4 weeks to lose 1kg of body fat)  … only then should you start to weigh up other options. 

Elisha CasagrandeBrisbane Personal Trainer, Brisbane Health Coach, FEEL BE LOOK, Womens Confidence, Confidence, IIN Health Coach, Healthy Eating, Womens Health, Diets, Womens Weight Loss, Serving Sizes, Australian DIetary Guidelines, Diet Culture, Protein Minimum, Mindful Eating