New Year, New Start

How fabulous is the feeling that a brand shiny New Year is on its way? An opportunity to start afresh, with clear diaries and with the potential to build and work towards a successful, fulfilling 2013. Whether you are looking for the year ahead to be better than the last; or wanting it is signify change and different life directions or simply just to cement and enjoy what you have already created, there are few people who do not begin a new year without some hopes, dreams and wishes for the next 12 months. When it comes to diets and weight control, a New Year also means magazine covers packed with new diet tips and tricks to drop a few kg quickly; specials on weight loss products and programs that are heavily promoted to compliment the number one New Year’s Resolution for weight loss.

Unfortunately, come January 1^st, and the accompanying hangover or general lethargy from a previous 4 week period spent overeating and under exercising, few of us run with the momentum of a New Year when  it comes to taking control of our diets. So, if you are really serious about taking control of your weight and dropping a few kg in early 2013 here are the steps you need to take.

1) Get organised after Boxing Day

None of this waiting until January 1^st, then January 8^th to get your diet on track – if you are really serious this time around, you need to set the wheels in motion straight after Christmas. This means throwing away your high calorie Christmas leftovers, starting to exercise immediately and committing some time while you have time on holidays to make a plan of attack for a fit and healthy 2013.

2) Make a plan

While it may sound like the obvious thing to do, you would be surprised how many people who claim to want to lose weight, have no idea about how they are going to do it. Spend some time considering what will be the best exercise program for you and the best way to approach your diet. Identify which days of the week you will exercise, how you will balance your calorie intake and what support structures you will need to help you keep focused and on track. Most importantly, spend time writing these strategies down – goals are significantly more likely to be achieved when they are documented and reviewed on a regular basis.

3) Start calorie counting

Individuals who want to lose weight lose more weight when they keep a log of their calories compared to dieters who do not. The week post-Christmas is the perfect time to start to reflect on how many calories you are having on a daily basis, and identify the key times you may need to cut back. As a general rule of thumb, adult women will need 1200-1500 calories a day for weight loss, and adult males 1600-1800 calories each day, although naturally this may differ depending on age, activity levels and hormonal issues.

4) Rally support

Human beings are naturally social creatures and also become like those people who they spend their time with. This means that if the people that you spend the most time with are fit and healthy, chances are, you will too. On the other hand, if your family, friends or even work colleagues are an unhealthy bunch, and you are trying to lose weight, it may prove a little more challenging. For this reason, if one of your goals for 2013 is to lose weight and keep it off, you need to identify and recruit your support team. Whether it is your partner, bestie, adult child or neighbor, seek out someone to help keep you on track, to exercise and eat well with and your weight control journey will become a whole lot easier.

5) Adopt ‘acceptance’ as an attitude

Often clients will come and claim to be lacking ‘motivation’, and then use this motivation deficit as the excuse as to why they have not achieved the diet and exercise targets that will help them to lose weight. So, here is the key – the sooner you stop looking for the ever elusive motivation to take control of your weight, and rather accept that eating well and exercising regularly most of the time for the rest of your life is what you need to do to take control of your weight, for good, the sooner you will do so. It is safe to say that if you are one of the many who struggle with your weight, you are not a naturally motivated person when it comes to your diet and exercise. There is no issue with this, we are all different and have our own strengths and weaknesses but simply accept that you are not a celebrity trainer and get on with it. The sooner the better and lets move into a fit, healthy and most importantly happy 2013.

Why did I write The Monday to Friday Diet?

Why on earth would a dietitian write a ‘diet’ book – we know that diets do not work. Well, for some of us they work initially but the research shows that strict diets do not work long term. Inevitably once we have cut back our calories for a few weeks and lost a few kg, unless we keep pretty focused, exercise for an hour a day and follow a 1300 calorie diet, most of the time, the weight always creeps back on – depressing isn’t it?

So, now I should clarify, The Monday to Friday Diet is not a ‘diet’ as such, but a way to approach our busy (and getting busier) working weeks so that we have some clear food and exercise rules with which to build strong lifestyle habits. Once we have these habits, taking control over our week and ultimately our food intake over the course of the week helps us to manage our calorie intake and commit to moving our bodies, for life. And that, put simply, is the secret to weight control.

Now this concept is not only relevant to the Monday to Friday working peeps out there – balancing food intake and exercise throughout any week can be challenging for working women, full time mums, shift workers, those juggling study and work, travel or life in general. We are all dealing with intense time demands, traffic, huge family and social commitments and an increasing need to move well and eat less. For this reason The Monday to Friday Diet offers you the specific strategies you need to deal with all of these demands and pressures. The Monday to Friday approach shows you how to adjust your calories on different days of the week, how to deal with your food and exercise when you travel, how to control your calories but still enjoy your weekend, how to get balance over your food, your body and your busy, busy week.

Ultimately we all want to eat tasty food and enjoy a busy fulfilling life, a big part of which is coming together over food with those closest to us. Unfortunately for many of us, our weight and our bodies become a victim to this lifestyle and so it is time to take control. The Monday to Friday Diet will show you how to do that – with food plans, recipes and plenty of tricks and tips, you will wonder how you ever got through the working week without it.

For the past 12 years I have spent much time with my clients helping them to work through the juggles and demands of their busy weeks, and develop strategies to continue to eat well and exercise no matter what their weeks look like. I have brought together these recipes, strategies and ideas to help you do the same. I look forward to hearing how the Monday to Friday Diet helps you to take charge of your week and ultimately your weight and health too.

A letter to my clients this Christmas

You know I love you all dearly – many of you I have seen for many months if not years and know you often as well as I know my own friends. I also often know your family as well as your friends who you have also sent to see me over the years so they too can learn to take control of their food, their body and their lives. I even feel great affection for those of you who skip your weigh in’s, who forget to text me your weight each week and even those who seem to come down with a cold every time the weekend eating and drinking became a little too much. I have seen you at your worst, often when you are most vulnerable and in general I feel privileged that you trust me to look after your weight and your diet.

But, I do have one request a mere few days before Christmas – please, please, please can you remember how hard we have worked together, how great our gains have been and not let it all go to waste?

Please don’t take this the wrong way; of course I want you to enjoy Christmas with your friends and family and indulge a little. Of course you are going to eat a little more than you should be eating and you are also likely to skip some of your training due to other commitments or family holidays.

You know what though? Such changes to your food and training schedules do not have to mean weight gain, at worst they should only result in no weight loss over the next couple of weeks.

If though you are viewing the holidays as an opportunity to throw all your hard work out the window, binge eat every morsel of food that crosses your path, opt to move your body as little as possible and see Christmas as a 4 week break rather than a special day or two, things are not looking great. Not only are you likely to regain significant amounts of weight as your body becomes overwhelmed by carbs, sugars and calories that it has been learning to live without but you are also likely to find it extremely difficult to lose this what all over again as your body’s cells start to tell you that they are sick and tired of these food games.

You know how good you feel when you are on track with your food and training, and you know how much better the start of a new year will be if you also start it feeling amazing. I promise I will be there for you all in January, helping to direct and motivate you for the year ahead but I need you to consider my needs to – and I need you to remember the foundations of what we have built together and give them the respect they deserve.

With Much Love and Kind Thoughts at Christmas

Your Devoted Dietitian

 

xx

 

 

Why did I write The Monday to Friday Diet?

Why on earth would a dietitian write a ‘diet’ book – we know that diets do not work. Well, for some of us they work initially but the research shows that strict diets do not work long term. Inevitably once we have cut back our calories for a few weeks and lost a few kg, unless we keep pretty focused, exercise for an hour a day and follow a 1300 calorie diet, most of the time, the weight always creeps back on – depressing isn’t it?

So, now I should clarify, The Monday to Friday Diet is not a ‘diet’ as such, but a way to approach our busy (and getting busier) working weeks so that we have some clear food and exercise rules with which to build strong lifestyle habits. Once we have these habits, taking control over our week and ultimately our food intake over the course of the week helps us to manage our calorie intake and commit to moving our bodies, for life. And that, put simply, is the secret to weight control.

Now this concept is not only relevant to the Monday to Friday working peeps out there – balancing food intake and exercise throughout any week can be challenging for working women, full time mums, shift workers, those juggling study and work, travel or life in general. We are all dealing with intense time demands, traffic, huge family and social commitments and an increasing need to move well and eat less. For this reason The Monday to Friday Diet offers you the specific strategies you need to deal with all of these demands and pressures. The Monday to Friday approach shows you how to adjust your calories on different days of the week, how to deal with your food and exercise when you travel, how to control your calories but still enjoy your weekend, how to get balance over your food, your body and your busy, busy week.

Ultimately we all want to eat tasty food and enjoy a busy fulfilling life, a big part of which is coming together over food with those closest to us. Unfortunately for many of us, our weight and our bodies become a victim to this lifestyle and so it is time to take control. The Monday to Friday Diet will show you how to do that – with food plans, recipes and plenty of tricks and tips, you will wonder how you ever got through the working week without it.

For the past 12 years I have spent much time with my clients helping them to work through the juggles and demands of their busy weeks, and develop strategies to continue to eat well and exercise no matter what their weeks look like. I have brought together these recipes, strategies and ideas to help you do the same. I look forward to hearing how the Monday to Friday Diet helps you to take charge of your week and ultimately your weight and health too.

 

The secret to getting and keeping motivation

 

If I knew the secret to getting every single individual motivated I would be in a very powerful position indeed, but unfortunately, as is the case with many human attributes, motivation is a complex and changeable state. For many, motivation, particularly when it comes to health and fitness routines is innate; we learnt to eat and behave in a certain way when were small and will continue to do so for the rest of our lives. For others, a health scare or realisation that you are 20kg heavier than you should be gives us the kick we need to change our daily habits and turn our lives around. Then there are those individuals who just seem to never get it and keep at it; they try one health and fitness craze after the other, never cementing a pattern of living that give their bodies and lives at better chance. As we edge closer to the warmer months and before all things weight loss become popular again perhaps it is worth trying to locate some of your own motivation. Some questions to ask yourself during this time as you try to find it include:

·         What are the benefits of keeping my body fit and healthy?

·         How would my life be better if I felt better about my body?

·         Am I the kind of healthy role model I would like to be for my children?

·         Can I physically do all the things I would like to with my body?

·         What am I really putting into my body each day?

·         If I was fit, healthy and happy what would I be eating and what training would I be doing each day?

·         If I knew I could keep my body disease free by eating well and moving, would I be more inclined to move more and eat less?

·         Who are the people in my life who would support me living like this?

·         What changes can I make to my lifestyle today that will help move me closer to my goal of living well and feeling healthy?

Remember, motivation starts with a single positive thought and is maintained with every small, single step you take in the right direction.

Supplements and schoolboy athletes

Teenage boys love them, parents tend to be concerned about them and teachers try and ban them – supplements. The mix of white powders, special drinks and potions packaged in brightly coloured, extra-large containers with the words ‘huge’, ‘ripped’ and ‘massive’ plastered across the front in large bold writing via which school boys see the body of a Super 15 or NRL player suddenly within their reach.

So should we be concerned with teenage athletes turning to various supplements to boost their protein and nutritional intake to support weight gain? As is the case with all areas of nutritional science, there are two sides to the story. Of course parents should be concerned or at least aware of what their teenage athletes are consuming but the first thing to know is that we cannot group all supplements into the same category. There is a wide range of nutritional and performance supplements available, which all do very different things. Sure, some may warrant concern with various suspicious ingredients and stimulants, but many, as is the case with most ‘protein’ supplements are simply a mix of concentrated milk protein and some carbohydrates for energy.

Now while the most common question that comes from parents is, ‘can’t they just get their nutrition from their food and drink some extra milk?’ is warranted, here are some of the number to consider. A busy teenage athlete, competing in 2-3 different sports at a relatively high level will be burning and as a result require several thousand calories a day – and this is just to grow and develop normally. If the athlete then has considerably athletic ability identified and his sport will benefit from him gaining 5-10 extra kg, unless he is drinking a litre of milk in a sitting to get the equivalent 30-40g of protein he can get from a protein shake or eating large serves of lean meat or eggs at every meal and mid-meal, it is going to prove challenging for him to get the amounts of carbohydrates, calories and protein he will require for muscle growth and recovery on a daily basis. This is not to say that it cannot be done, just that it will require a lot of attention and eating – something which teenage boys are not necessarily good at, or have time for.

So for this reason, as long as the supplement schoolboy athletes are choosing is pure – that means contains just carbohydrates and proteins without growth additives such as creatine, which we do not know are safe for teenagers at this stage, and comes from a reputable Australian brand such as BSc, I do use protein supplements with school boy athletes. Naturally we stress that more is not better, and supplements will only work in conjunction with a strong baseline diet, but they are an option. And surely as parents it is better to know what they are having, where it comes from and make sure they are taking it the right way, as opposed to them purchasing a dodgy supplement from overseas and taking it on the sly, because this is what tends to happen deep in private school dorms late at night anyway.

 

 

Eating for HSC Success

With the exam period upon us and hundreds of thousands of high school students completing their final exams, stress levels within the family home are likely to be at an all time high. Getting your teen to eat well during this intense period may be more challenging than usual, but is crucial to ensure they are at their best mentally and physical throughout the entire exam period.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for all of us but is of utmost importance on the day of a big exam. Unfortunately nerves and stress are both likely to impact on appetite the morning of exams. It is absolutely imperative that some sort of breakfast is eaten on exam days. Skipping breakfast has been proven to reduce the ability to concentrate and remain focused throughout the morning and hence must be seen as a priority. Ideally a breakfast option that combines both low GI carbohydrates and lean proteins will sustain your teen throughout the morning. Good choices include eggs on wholegrain toast or oats or muesli with yoghurt and fruit. If solid food is not an option, try a liquid meal breakfast drink or protein shake. For worst case scenarios, a couple of dry crackers with spread or a muesli bar will be better than skipping breakfast altogether.

A second dietary factor to consider for busy students is whether they, particularly the girls are getting enough iron. Many teenage girls will cut back on red meat in their later high school years, but lean red meat is the best source of readily absorbable iron and ideally needs to be consumed in small amounts 3-4 times each week. If your teen appears abnormally tired, it may be worth having a blood test to check their iron levels and try and get them to eat red meat regularly throughout the exam period.

Finally, pay particular attention to how much caffeine and other stimulants your teen is consuming. Energy drinks, coffee and caffeine tablets may provide a short term energy burst but they can also result in increased heart rate and anxiety, insomnia and fluctuating blood glucose levels – all less than ideal symptoms for already stressed teens. Encourage your teen to drink water and herbal tea, limit their coffee intake to just 1 to 2 cups each day and encourage them to get plenty of rest during this time. Remember that small regular protein rich snacks of nut bars, protein drinks or dairy food will help to keep them alert and better able to concentrate and a good night sleep is sometimes the best thing for a tired and stressed out brain.

 

When a drink becomes a problem

A disclaimer before I begin this piece, I enjoy a drink. A glass of wine with a friend or a few vodkas on a big night out is a part of my life, as enjoying a few drinks each week is a part of many people’s lives. This column is not about a drink or two enjoyed occasionally and socially. It is not even about enjoying a glass or two of wine each night over dinner. This column is about drinking habits that are negatively impacting on your relationships, your health and ultimately your life. And unfortunately this is the type of drinking that we see far too often in Australia – ½ a case or a bottle or more on a daily basis that is not helping you to relax and unwind like you are telling yourself it is, it is serving as a crutch and escape from the real issue.

From a health perspective, excessive alcohol consumption causes two main issues – the first is that alcohol is relatively high in calories and hence it is easy to gain weight when we drink too much. Individuals who drink too much alcohol over many years often develop an alcohol fat apron around the abdominal area – for women this can make them appear pregnant, while for men a hard packed solid mass which is exceptionally hard to budge. The other issue, which is perhaps the worse of the two, is that excessive alcohol consumption results in disinhibit ion and lethargy -  you do and say things you should not, far less gets done, mood is impeding and basically you function at a much lower level than you could be at any point in time. Occasionally this is no issue but on a daily basis, this pattern of behaviour starts to destroy lives.

You know the stories – couples fighting after one partner have drunk too much again, someone passed out in front of the television at 9pm, the aggressive  and non-personable behaviours that can almost be 100% attributed to drinking too much. And alcohol and the perception of escaping pain and stress that it offers becomes a habit very, very quickly. What started as a twice a week habit is now a nightly one, in double the amounts that you once consumed. As you are used to now drinking this much it seems normal to you, once it starts to affect your health, your daily performance and your relationships, it is a problem and a problem that needs to be looked at more closely.

Signs that alcohol may be an issue in your life are as follows – if you cannot go a night without a drink, if you regularly pass out after a few drinks or if you cannot remember the night before, it is time to take action. One option that works for many is a complete break from alcohol – sometimes all that we need is a period without the substance whether it be a particular food or in this case alcohol to remind us of how much we are actually consuming and have become reliant on. If though the issue is bigger than this it is time to get professional help, as our lives and relationships are far too precious to be lost over beers or a cheap bottle of wine.

Why you should see a dietitian for weight loss and dietary advice

 

One of the most common questions that you get asked as a dietitian is ‘what is the difference between a dietitian and a nutritionist? Admittedly it is confusing – if anything the term nutritionist sounds far more user friendly compared to the term ‘dietitian’ which tends to conjure up images of a practitioner in a white coat dictating what you should and should not be eating. This is as opposed to nutritionist in which case we tend to imagine holistic health imagery filled with fresh fruit, vegetables and wellbeing.

While a dietitian is always also a nutritionist, this is not the case for a nutritionist. A dietitian is someone who has completed tertiary training, usually with a Master’s Degree at university in the area of nutrition and dietetics – the applied science of nutrition and its application to dietary change in people. To be called an Accredited Practising Dietitian (similar to an accredited accountant) you not only need to have completed this university training but annually complete a certain number of continuing education activities to ensure that your practice is current and up to date with the latest scientific research and its application to humans. The scientific training of a dietitian involves studying biochemistry, physiology, disease states, psychology, supervised nutritional counseling and statistical analysis. Such in depth training not only takes many years but teaches dietitians to be able to interpret scientific data and medical results in order to develop individual client dietary prescriptions based on scientifically proven data ad research. On the whole, the profession is highly regulated to ensure that best practice is ensured for our clients.

Nutritionists on the other hand are managed a little less rigidly – actually anyone can call themselves a nutritionist, and while some people may have studied nutrition at a tertiary level and earned various qualifications, others may simply have completed a course at a private college or via an online course. And for this reason, it is imperative that consumers check the credentials of the health professional that they are seeing. Recommending that those consumers wanting dietary advice or weight loss advice see a dietitian is given not because a nutritionist is not likely to improve the diet quality of any client that they see, but rather because dietary intervention can be a little more complicated.

To demonstrate this, a client story of mine that I will share with you;

A couple of years ago I saw a 32 year old female for weight loss. The female was roughly 90kg and had been feeling exceptionally tired. She has already seen a GP and an endocrinologist who had blamed the fatigue on a poor diet and her insulin resistance. Since these consults, my patient’s symptoms had not improved and she had also see a nutritionist at her gym who suggested she stop consuming wheat and dairy. Initially my client had felt better with this advice but she was still not losing weight and a month later she was still tired. When I first saw her, I simply changed her macronutrient ratios (her carb, protein and fat levels) slightly but had that practitioner sixth sense that all was not well with this girl. I have seen too many other women for weight loss, over many years to know when something is not right. My client appeared grey, low in energy and mood and even with insulin resistance her fatigue was extreme. When I went home I discussed the patient online with some dietitian colleagues – as a profession there is support available from other practitioners online when you are a dietitian. One of my colleagues suggested another endocrinologist simply as this one specialist had much experience with clients presenting with fatigue. While I continued to see the client and managed to help her lose 3kg, she finally got into the new specialist and was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. She has since had it removed and is in full remission.

Now I do not share this story to show off or claim glory but rather to show that simple dietary presentations whether they are fatigue, bloating, irritable bowel, bad skin or unexplained weight gain can be masking significant health issues, health issues which do need practitioners with a certain level of training to deal with. If I was not a dietitian I would not be in close contact with other medical professionals, nor would I have access to a 2000 other practitioners to reflect and discuss cases and refer on when necessary. Luckily in this case we were able to have a patient diagnosed with cancer thanks to these professional interactions and as a result ultimately saved her life. In my 12 years of practice I have seen 5 cancer diagnoses, numerous cases of insulin resistance and PCOS, more than 20 pregnancies and 12 coeliacs diagnosed – and I can guarantee that it was my training as a dietitian that resulted in these outcomes.

Telling someone to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables is unlikely to do any harm but it is always useful to be aware of ones limitations in this space, and when it comes to many dietary issues and weight loss, a dietitian is the best practitioner to manage these.

What is Zotrim and how can it help me lose weight?

As a dietitian you are constantly bombarded with the latest and greatest weight loss supplements and programs, and after more than ten years working in this field my response is generally lackluster to say the least. But I have to admit that late last year when Body Science presented me with the scientific evidence to support the herbal weight loss supplement Zotrim, I had to take it a little more seriously.

 Zotrim has been available in the UK for a few years now, and is a mix of three natural herbal extracts; Yerba Mate, Damiana and Guarana. The mix has been proven to help delay gastric emptying which appears to help keep users feel full and eat fewer calories as a result. Such a response appears to enhance weight loss attempts. For example, if you would usually get ½-1 kg off using a standard calorie controlled diet, in my experience Zotrim helps you to get 2 or 3kg. Users describe a constant feeling of fullness without the nasty stimulatory side effects of caffeine based supplements, and no other side effects.

As a nutritionist, my professional tendency is to always achieve sustainable weight loss results using what I know, and what is proven to work long term – calorie monitoring, high intensity exercise as well as regular movement. In the past I have generally not recommended weight loss supplements as there are none that I know are safe and /or proven to work. In the case of Zotrim, there is evidence to show that it can support weight loss. It does not change what you need to eat to lose weight, nor does it mean you do not have to exercise; it simply helps to control appetite and as a result caloric intake.

So is it for you? There are a few clients that I would support in using Zotrim. For anyone who battles with constant hunger and sugar cravings, using Zotrim in conjunction with a protein rich diet should help manage appetite. It should also be said here that if you need to lose more than 20-30kg, it may also be a good idea to have your insulin levels checked with your GP to ensure that an underlying insulin resistance is not acting to prevent weight loss. For those wanting to lose a little less, say 10-20kg, using Zotrim is likely to help you achieve better weight loss results initially, especially if you use it as part of a diet and exercise plan. If you can lose 2-3kg or even 5kg over a month using the supplement, chances are you are more likely to keep motivated compared to losing just 1-2kg with diet and exercise alone? Finally for those who simply want to lose a kg or two but struggle with portion control, Zotrim too may off you support with appetite, portion size and calorie control.

I have trialed Zotrim with a number of my clients with positive results. If you are looking for something to support your weight loss attempts, it may be worth trying Zotrim to see if you think it helps your attempts. And most importantly, make sure you let us know how you go.

Why I recommend meal replacement products for SOME clients

A few weeks back it was fructose, then gluten and now after posting a reference to a meal replacement product on Facebook there is lively debate on why a nutritionist would recommend a meal replacement product. So, here are my reasons given that a science degree and 10 years clinical experience working in weight loss does not seem to be enough.

For the record, a meal replacement is not a ‘protein shake’ – a meal replacement is a scientifically formulated product that contains similar macronutrients to that of a meal (20-30g total carbohydrate) as well as a full micronutrient profile with far fewer calories than that of a meal. Meal replacements were originally formulated and used with patients who were in need of rapid weight loss prior to surgery, when completely replacing all meals controlled calorie and carbohydrate intake to such an extent that the patient was put into ketosis and were able to lose weight rapidly.

While still used for this purpose, meal replacements are also commonly used on many ‘diet’ programs with the same goal, helping individuals to control calorie intake as well as being used as a meal option for meals which are commonly missed, such as breakfast.

Being trained as a dietitian, I was of course taught by academic types that as a nutritionist the focus should always be on fresh, healthy, natural food and using such products was really only a good option for those who were in desperate need of weight reduction under medical supervision ie as a dietitian always promote ‘real food’.

It was not until I began working at The Children’s Hospital almost 10 years ago solely with overweight and obese children and teens that I began experimenting with these products. In client cases in which I had an overweight teen that generally skipped breakfast, I began using these products as a breakfast alternative. The teens were often happy to ‘drink’ their high protein breakfast and almost to my disbelief we started to get positive weight loss results with these teens, even better than we got when we used standard breakfast options of cereal or eggs on toast.

It is was this observation that lead me to approach a supplier of meal replacement products in Australia to look at supplying product for a research trial and ultimately an endorsement of these products as I do get positive results using them in clinical practice for weight loss.

This is not to say that I recommend meal replacements for all of my clients but I do find that for breakfast skippers, busy executives who often miss meals and for those who need a weight loss kick-start after finding themselves on a tough weight loss plateau that meal replacement products can support weight loss.

To this day I still do not really know why these products work so well, but I do know that if I nutritionally model breakfast with a similar macronutrient ratio to than of a meal replacement that I do not get the same weight loss results and all I can put this down to is the calorie restriction even if it is only a 100 calorie difference between the standard breakfast option and a meal replacement product.

Then of course there is the ongoing aggression that arises whenever sugar is spied on a nutrition label. Meal replacements tend to be relatively high in sugars as a high protein drink will taste pretty ordinary without some sort of sweetener or sugar base to sweeten it up. This appears to have no negative outcome on insulin release or weight loss in these products simply as the high protein load of these products is likely to be buffering the sugar load, particularly as part of a tight calorie control.

Of course it would be amazing to have a randomized controlled trial that really investigates why and if these products really do work but I unfortunately do not have the 3 to 5 years an RCT takes to justify using these products, I need to get results with my weight loss clients now.

As is the case with every option in nutrition and life in general people can ultimately make their own decisions when it comes to the way they choose to go about weight control. It is not my job to tell everyone what they should do for weight loss. Nor is it to constantly defend why I choose different options working with clients towards sustainable weight loss – this is the art of my own clinical practice but if asked I can give my best scientifically informed opinion on what I find works well in practice and that is what I have done in the case of meal replacements. Whether or not you agree is up to you but there really is no need to get so nasty about it.

Butter or margarine?

The growing number of reality television shows that highlight home cooked meals as well as the use of copious amounts of butter and oil again bring up the question, “should we be using butter or margarine?” Indeed it is one of the most commonly asked questions when it comes to nutrition and as is the case with all areas of nutrition, the answer is not so simple.

If we take a step back and consider the role of any type of added fat in the diet, it is important to remember that the average adult will require just 40-60g of fat in total each day. If we then consider that a serve of nuts, some oil in cooking as well as some oily fish will provide at least 2/3 of this amount we are really just considering where we need to get just 10-15g of total fat, or 2-3 teaspoons each day. For those of you who are now considering how much butter or margarine you smear on your toast, or how much is added to the average recipe featured on television cooking shows, yes, you probably do need to cut back as we really do not need a lot of added fat in general.

So, of these 2-3 teaspoons which is best? Butter, while the spread of choice because of its more “natural” image is largely a saturated fat. A teaspoon of butter will give you almost 3g of saturated fat, the type of fat which we need to keep as low as possible in our diet as it is the type of fat most likely to store and clog our arteries. A teaspoon of margarine on the other hand; a formulated blend of different types of oils depending on the one you choose , will give <1g of saturated fat per serve.

The story then becomes a little more complicated when you then consider that many of the varieties of both butter and margarine are now blends of different oils, as food companies attempt to get rid of as much bad fat from both the butter and margarines they sell, while bumping up the good fats from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated sources. Light and extra light varieties of both butter and margarine mean that the total amounts of fat received from these sources can be as low as 2g of total fat per serve, which means that either used in moderation of just 1-2 serves each day can be incorporated into any nutritionally balanced eating plan.

Cholesterol lowering margarines offer another selling point to consumers, especially given there are also light varieties of such margarines which contain concentrated amounts of plant sterols which, when consumed in high enough volumes can significantly reduce blood cholesterol. What also needs to be considered though is that these spreads are very expensive, need to be used in the right amounts (3-4 serves a day) and the cholesterol lowering benefits are perhaps not as powerful as weight loss itself. Such formulated foods then suit individuals who do not need to lose weight, who eat a low fat diet in general and who still have elevated cholesterol levels.

So, have I answered the question about which is preferable? As a nutritionist, my focus is developing entire diet plans that tick a number of nutritional boxes. Dietary modeling will indicate that of all the types of fat in the average person’s diet, it is the long chain polyunsaturated fats that tend to be lacking in the diet. For this reason, when choosing spreads I generally suggest an extra light variety that offers a decent serve of polyunsaturated fat. As is the case with any added fat though, I would much prefer my clients get the fat in their diets from nuts, seeds, oily fish and good quality oil which means that there is really very little place for spreads in the diet in general.

Finding your motivation

“You can have anything if you want it desperately enough”

If I knew the secret to getting every single individual motivated I would be in a very powerful position indeed, but unfortunately, as is the case with many human attributes, motivation is a complex and changeable state. For many, motivation, particularly when it comes
to health and fitness routines in innate; we learnt to eat and behave in a certain way when were small and will continue to do so for the rest of our lives. For others, a health scare or realisation that you are 20kgs heavier than you should be gives us the kick we need to change our daily habits and turn our lives around. Then there are those individuals who just seem to never get it
and keep at it; they try one health and fitness craze after the other, never cementing a pattern of living that give their bodies and lives at better chance.

If you are reading this it is safe to say that on some level you are motivated. If you know that now you also need to cement your motivation it may be useful to clarify a few things. Some simple
questions that may help you to clarify the key reasons that you want to get your body fit and healthy and ultimately keep it that way include:

What are the benefits of keeping my body fit and healthy?
How would my life be better if I felt better about my body?
Am I the kind of healthy role model I would like to be for my children?
Can I physically do all the things I would like to with my body?
What am I really putting into my body each day?
If I was fit, healthy and happy what would I be eating and what training would I be doing each day?
If I knew I could keep my body disease free by eating well and moving, would I be more inclined to move more and eat less?
Who are the people in my life who would support me living like this?
What changes can I make to my lifestyle today that will help move me closer to my goal of living well and feeling healthy?

Having clear answers to some or all of these questions is not only useful in helping to remind you of the bigger picture reasons for wanting to get in shape and stay there but keeping the answers to such questions on hand can be very useful to refer back to when and if you do find yourself going off track.

The truth is that for behavioural change to be sustained, the desire for wanting it needs to come from within. It cannot be based on wanting to look good for a wedding, or to fit a certain dress, it
has to come from deep within to such an extent as it actually becomes part of you and you can no longer imagine life without it. As you embrace this new approach to weight loss and control, give yourself time to cement your new habits – you need 3 months. 3 months of regular training and eating well for these behaviours to become habits. And the longer the habit is with you, the harder it is to break.

Is your teen obsessed with being thin

A few years ago, I wrote a piece for Dolly magazine about an increasing common style of eating in which teenagers became somewhat obsessed with ‘healthy eating’. The girls typically presented with concerned parents who had noticed a change in eating habits and significant weight loss. These tall, lanky, lean girls did not satisfy the diagnostic criteria for a clinical eating disorder but refused to eat anything other than low calorie, low fat, unprocessed foods. Epitomizing all things natural’ and ‘healthy’, such a diet, solely consisting of fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds and grains, while lacking in essential nutrients remained adequate (just) in calories so that followers become exceptionally thin, although not necessarily underweight.

Now whether it is becoming increasing common, or I just happen to see it in my clinic, again this week I have been referred two teenage girls with the same presentation - a presentation I am now treating as ‘orthorexia’. “Orthorexia’ was first described by an American doctor in the late 1990’s, who was seeing an increasing number of female patients who were exhibiting a number of eating
disorder related symptoms including eating only an extremely limited food variety, and maintaining an extremely low body weight without satisfying the criteria for a clinical eating disorder. These girls were obsessed with only consuming foods that were “pure” and “healthy”, and as a result tended to consume only extremely low calorie, unprocessed foods, which in turn kept their body weight extremely low.

Unlike sufferers of a clinical eating disorder, these girls were not malnourished, as their diets were packed full of nutritious food choices, but in many cases their mood state was low either a result of a low food intake or a result of other stressors in their lives such as school issues caused by a clinical depression.

All cases I have seen in practice have been teenagers between the ages of fourteen to sixteen, from middle class family backgrounds attending good schools. All girls have been classified as “very intelligent” but struggle socially with the pressures only teenage girls experience from peers - the lure of boys, the pressure to achieve at school and to look good. A trigger, either family distress or negative interaction at school appears to be a common link with all cases, leading to depressed mood and the desire to be in control of as many other variables in their life as they can, such as their food intake and the way they feel about their body.

From a clinician’s perspective, this is a challenging situation. The girls are underweight but not “unhealthy” and their eating patterns are disturbed, without being clinically disordered. Blood biochemistry can be checked for signs of physiological distress but in a number of cases, return within normal ranges as food or supplement intake, although minimal keeps the girls within normal biochemical ranges.

For parents the scenario is exceptionally daunting. The rigid ‘all or nothing’ thinking that accompanies clinical eating disorders can be observed with this patient group, and we can be talking just a few kg shy of becoming clinically underweight. For this reason parents can be assured that the best thing they can do is to take control of the home food environment. Be strict with meal times, ensure family meals are enjoyed together and insist that your teen consumes the protein rich foods that they require for optimal growth and development in some form, whether it is in vegetarian protein rich options or via supplementary foods. Failure to comply with these basic eating rules needs to result in clear consequences such as removal of privileges or social media in the same way you would parent a toddler or small child. Most importantly, any link to weight loss and monitoring needs to be removed from the home, which means that the scales may need to be quickly thrown away.

Secondly, but most importantly exploring the underlying emotional triggers such as stressors at home or at school that may be directly or indirectly related to the depressed mood and rigid eating patterns of these girls is an important part of the process to help empower them to be able to manage the various scenarios that arise in their day to day lives. There are a number of simple
techniques including diarising all personal interactions with both friends and family that may be causing distress or anxiety is one way to help the girls learn to identify and manage their emotions, rather than using food and exercise as an escape from them. For teens that are exceptionally bright, keeping them busy and their minds active with scheduled exercise and/or sport, controlled social media usage and regular relaxation via pilates, yoga or meditation are other possible ways to shift their focus from food to life.

While adolescents’ can be an extremely challenging group to work with, they can also be an enormously rewarding client group. I have now seen a number of what I would describe as ‘orthorexic’ teens gradually work through their eating distress and are now well on their way into their final years of school, significantly happier and healthier than when I first saw them.

Unfortunately, the powerful media images of health and beauty are unlikely to disappear entirely and hence the incidence of conditions such as orthorexia is likely to increase. The key for health professionals and families affected is to know how to identify and manage this healthy food habit before it is too late.

Are you tired all the time?

If there was a commonality of all the women I see in my clinic, it would be that they are all tired. Tired from not getting enough sleep, tired from the demands of the kids, tired from working too hard, tired of dealing with their weight and tired of not having enough energy to do all the things that they need and want to do with their day.

This is not surprising. So many of us live frantic lives with long working days and even longer commutes, ever increasing family and relationship commitments and bumper social lives that it is a constant juggle to get through the day, let alone with a reasonable amount of rest and time to get your thoughts together to power on all over again. While the demands of modern life are unlikely to change anytime soon, there are a few key lifestyle changes you can commit to that will at least help maintain your energy levels on a daily basis so you cruise to the end of your day, rather than collapse into it.

Iron Up
If you are a meat eater you need to eat red meat 3-4 times each week. Why? Simply because your body is programmed to absorb the iron it needs to transport oxygen around the body from animal sources of iron, namely red meat and if you do not give your body regular access to it, your stores will gradually be depleted and you will be tired. Vegetarians are different, as they are programmed to absorb their iron from non-meat sources but meat eaters; you need that steak, lamb or pork 3-4 times every single week.

Get into the sun
I know you are not keen to bring on any more wrinkles but the truth is that many Australian’s are simply not getting enough sunlight when we can to ensure we are making enough Vitamin D. Vitamin D has numerous functions in the body and is also known to help prevent a number of diseases including some types of cancer. When it comes to energy levels, low Vitamin D also tends to result in lower mood states and muscle fatigue so if you are not feeling 100% and cannot remember the last time you went into the sun, it may be time to have your Vitamin D checked by your GP.

Fresh is always best
For busy women on the run, grabbing a one off coffee, protein bar or pre made sandwich in place of a home prepared, nutritious snack is not an issue but if your diet is based solely around processed foods and supplements, you will not be doing your energy or immune system any favours. Fresh foods include fruits, grains, vegetables and seeds offer numerous nutritional benefits over any processed foods, which means you need these foods every single day to keep your training body at its best. As a general rule of thumb, the brighter the fresh food, the better it will be for you and we need at least 2-3 cups of brightly coloured vegetables and a couple of pieces of fruit every single day. Easy yet convenient ways to get your vitamin hit each day include grabbing a fresh juice rather than a coffee, keeping quick cook vegetable packs at work and for quick dinners and try snacking on fresh carrots and other cut up vegetables on a daily basis.

Watch the stimulation
The ironic thing about consuming caffeine and other “energy” type drinks to help increase energy is that they are just as likely to leave you feeling even worse than before you consumed them. The reason for this is that even though stimulants, whether they are in the form of caffeine or sugar will give you an initial “hit”, they will also see a subsequent “drop” once the stimulant has been metabolized. For this reason, using caffeine in small amounts regularly and avoiding all sugar based drinks is a much better option than relying on them for an energy hit in times of trouble. Ideally large volumes of water, some herbal tea and a couple of cups of tea or coffee each day are the best types of fluid for you to ingest to keep you optimally hydrated and your energy systems at their best.

Add in your energy superfoods
When energy demands are high, it makes sense to include as many nutrient and energy rich foods into your diet as you can. Often as women try and keep their weight down, they consciously drop carbohydrates from their diet but it should be remembered that wholegrain carbs are a rich source of both essential nutrients required for energy production, including the B group vitamins. If you have been feeling tired, make sure that you are including at least one serve of wholegrain carbs in each of your meals and snacks.

Just as important is to ensure that you are getting plenty of powerful antioxidants from brightly colours fresh fruits and vegetables on a daily basis. Add in a fresh vegetable juice and aim for serves of salad or vegetables at both lunch and dinner to give your body every chance of being at its best, day in, day out and fend off fatigue with as much good nutrition as you can.

Go to bed
Perhaps the most obvious and simplest way of improving your energy levels, preventing
fatigue and feeling better in general is to simply get more sleep. While the average adult averages just 5-6 hours of sleep a night, we need as much as 7-9 hours’ sleep a night to be at our best. So even if you can only get to need early a few nights each week, make this commitment. Remove all electronic equipment from the bedroom including mobile phones near the bed and practice getting into bed by 10 or 11pm and reading before you sleep – just the way nature intended it.

I call Bullsh*t

You do not conduct surgery unless you are a qualified medical professional and you
rarely represent someone in court until you have a legal degree but when it
comes to food, weight loss and nutrition, as we all eat, many of us think we are
quite the expert. And indeed, I always tell my clients that no one knows their
own body better than they do BUT when it comes to scientific dietary advice
being given to others, this really should be left to the experts. Over the past
week I have collected some of the pearls of wisdom coming from the mouths of
ex-journos, successful dieters and trainers which is simply wrong.

“Gluten, gluten is like poison for the body”
Hmmm, maybe if you have coeliac disease, but for the other 97% of the population, gluten
is a component of wheat that we are well equipped to deal with. In fact, one
would argue that many gluten free foods including the bread and biscuits are
actually more processed than the non-gluten free varieties and hence do far
worse things to our insulin levels and weight over time than a little grain
based carbs ever will.

Alcohol is fine; there is no sugar in alcohol”
Ok, where do you think the alcohol comes from? Alcohol is fermented carbohydrate
and while some types of alcohol do not contain ‘sugar they do contain
carbohydrate which are simply sugars in a different chemical form which will be
eventually broken down into glucose in the bloodstream – and yes, this is why
many people who drink much wine and beer are fat.

“Fructose, well fructose gets converted straight into fat by the liver’
Maybe you only read a couple of lines from a random biochemistry text book when you were
“searching” for evidence to support your theory. Fructose only gets converted
straight to fat in the liver IF a person’s intake of fructose is exceptionally
high at any one particular meal. Furthermore, recent Australian data suggests
that our intake of fructose is actually declining so again, no cred here. Maybe
you mean processed carbs? Actually, who knows what you mean.

‘Polyunsaturated fats cause cancer’
In case you had not realized it, no one knows exactly what causes cancer; this is
why people are still getting it. You do not need a medical degree to have
worked out that cancer is a complex beast, caused by a range of factors. There
is no more evidence to show that polyunsaturated fats have a specific role in
cancer growth or development than there is a range of other factors related to
the development of different types of cancer. In fact, of all evidence available, the balance of fats in our diet is known to be related to our immune function and in Australia our intake of long
chain polyunsaturated fats is actually low. In order to achieve an optimal
balance we actually need to consume a little less monounsaturated fat from olive
oil and avocado and more poly’s from soy/linseed products, walnuts and oily
fish.

“As soon as you finish the glass of apple juice you have in
the morning, the first mouthful has already been converted into fat in your
bloodstream”
No, that is not right. As explained before, this will only happen when a
certain level of fructose has been consumed in the diet overall.

"It doesn't matter if it's plain white sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar or
castor sugar; they are all exactly the same - all fructose."

Wrong again – sugar; white, brown, raw is actually the chemical
sucrose which is made up of one glucose molecule and one single fructose
molecule. All the sugars will contain some fructose, as many foods do, but not
only fructose, ever. It should also be said that different foods we eat including
fruit contain different amounts of different sugar mixes. For example, an
average sized banana will contain between 4-5g of glucose and 4-5g of fructose.

“Exercise is not important in weight loss”
I cannot believe that I have to explain this one. While calorie restriction will
result in weight loss, one of the only things that will help the body burn
calories more efficiently long term is to exercise. Admittedly there are many
different kinds of exercise and some types (namely high intensity interval
training and resistance training) are much more effective in achieving this
goal but to postulate that exercise is not necessary for weight loss is a
ridiculous, socially irresponsible statement.

I am sure there will be more of these pearls of wisdom to come from those who are
not qualified to be talking about nutrition, weight loss or biochemistry at any level so
will update this blog as those pearls infiltrate our social media portals over
the next few hours, days and weeks.

Are the weekends making you fat?

Early Saturday morning seems as good a time as any to talk about
the weekend weight gain cycle that many of us find ourselves in come Friday
night. A week of relatively well controlled eating quickly replaced with overeating,
over drinking and basically overindulging until Monday morning. While there is
nothing wrong with enjoying the weekend with plenty of good food, wine and
company, a weekly ritual of consuming many, many more calories than anyone
needs, simply because it is the weekend is a habit that has to be broken.

Whether it is programming imprinted in our brain when we are
small, or that we are overly restrictive with our diets in the week and feel
that we need to reward ourselves on weekends, straying too far from our calorie
controlled meal plans simply because it is the weekend is a recipe for disaster
â research has proven this. The US Weight Control Registry, a research group
that tracks the progress of those who have lost significant amounts of weight
and kept it off for longer than 5 years has shown that people who control their
weight keep their food intake stable MOST of the time. What this means in
relation to the weekend is that while they many enjoy a meal wth more calories
than they usually would for special weekend occasions this does not equate to
an addition two coffees a day, a bottle of wine on Friday and Saturday nights as
well as Sunday afternoon, some extra cake with coffee as well as dessert simply
because it is the weekend.

My observation is that clients get things wrong on the weekend due
to three main factors; too much alcohol, café style eating and high calorie restaurant
or takeaway meals. These extra calories, combined with far less physical activity
mean that you can easily gain a kg or two, just over the weekend and find
yourself starting each week behind the eight ball when it comes to controlling
your weight long term. The good news is that just a few simple tricks will help
you to balance your caloric intake over the weekend to ensure you can still
enjoy your weekend minus the extra few kg to match.

Café breakfasts are a lovely way to enjoy the weekend with friends
and family, but heavy banana breads, Turkish toasts, large juices and jumbo
coffees are far too many calories for the average person. Instead focus on your
protein rich options of eggs, ricotta, smoked salmon or even lean bacon and aim
for just 1 slice of grain or sourdough toast to balance the calories. Remember
your mantra of ‘no one needs a large coffee’ and keep the freshly baked goods
to special occasions only. Order extra vegetables such as mushrooms, spinach
and tomatoes to give your café breakie plenty of bulk and remember that you are
unlikely to need to snack if your breakfast is much larger than it usually
would be.

When it comes to the alcohol, self-control is the key. A highly
controlled intake of wine and beer during the week is pointless if you then
down 2-3 bottles of wine or 10-15 beers in a sitting over the weekend. Try and
shift this binge drinking mentality to a more moderate approach in which you
can enjoy a few alcoholic drinks without feeling the need to drink for the sake
of it. Be mindful of spending time socially with people who encourage binge
drinking and if you can limit heavier drinking occasions to just once or twice
each week. Alcohol tends to be a habit rather than an enjoyable addition to
life and for this reason can be managed.

Finally watch those calories from higher fat fast and restaurant
style meals. The average fast food or restaurant meal will have at least 200
calories more than a meal you prepare for yourself at home simply because of
the extra sauces, breads, oil and dressings and larger serving sizes. Have a
substantial protein or vegetable based snack an hour or two before you venture
out so you do not put a food order in while you are starving. Share meals where
possible, especially dessert as portion sizes tend to be large and again try
and avoid overeating simply because you are out. Training ourselves to not eat
extra simply because we are ‘going out for dinner’ is a key way that you are
able to enjoy eating out regularly without associated weight gain.

Aside from these tricks and tips for specific weekend eating occasions,
another simple way of keeping your own weekend under control when it comes to
your food intake is to follow as normal a food routine as possible and if you
do have breakfast or lunch out, compensate with a light soup or salad the
following meal. If you find that you have a number of heavier meals over the
weekend, then have a lighter day or two of eating earlier in the week. We live
in a world of constant calorie overloading and minimal activity and for this
reason we cannot wipe out two entire days of the week if we want to maintain
let alone lose weight, so identify your food rules and stick to them, even on
the weekends.

To sushi or not to sushi?

Fresh sushi seems like such a healthy option, but is it? While fresh
sashimi has numerous positive nutritional properties including being low in
calories and rich in omega 3 fats, some of the popular rolls of choice contain
much carbohydrate and plenty of calories. For this reason, if you do enjoy
sushi you are best to choose sashimi and really enjoy it with the beans and
seaweed salad to really get the low calorie benefits of Japanese food.

Sushi (Per roll) Calories Total Carbohydrates (g) Protein (g)
Teriyaki chicken 170 27 7
Tuna 210 24 7
Avocado 180 30 3
Bento Box 640 65 40
Sashimi 150 <1 18
Seaweed salad 25 3 2

Everything you have been taught about weight loss is wrong

A few days ago, scientists attending an academic conference presented a new formula which is proposed to accurately predict how many calories and how much exercise one must do, over a period of months or years to successfully lose weight. Prior to this, many believed that weight loss was a gradual process that was completely dependent on calculating calories in versus calories out. For example, if you routinely consume 1200 calories a day, you will comfortably lose ½ - 1kg a week.

Now, anyone who has successfully lost weight, who works in the field of weight loss or who is currently trying to lose weight, will know that this is not the way things work. In real life, sometimes you will lose weight, and sometimes you will not, and sometimes this can have nothing to do with how many calories you have taken in, nor how many you have been burning via exercise, rather it has to do with changes to metabolism over time. To make this clearer, try and imagine that your body is like a machine, with each cell representing an engine that can burn fuel or in this context, calories. When someone is overweight, chances are the cells are not burning their fuel efficiently and as a result; a reduction in fuel intake from taking in fewer calories from food will result in weight loss. Once though a certain amount of weight is lost, whether that is 5kg or 10kg or 20kg, the cells will begin to work more efficiently, which also tends to mean that they need more calories to continue to burn energy as efficiently as they once did. In the case of weight loss, this may also mean that people may need to eat more calories to keep losing weight. Or if someone has been used to consuming a high number of calories and has still been losing weight, they may need to further cut back on calories to continue to get the weight loss results they are looking for.

Basically what this means if you are trying to lose weight is that adjusting the number of calories you are having regularly is crucial for long term weight loss. Sure a 1200 calorie plan may see you take 5 or 10kg off, but once weight loss slows down, you are likely to need 100-200 calories more to see continual weight loss, simply as 1200 tends to be the lowest any human can go calorie wise without negatively impacting metabolic rate.

When it comes to training, it also means that you can do too much. If you are only consuming 1200 calories and then burning 600-800 with 2-3 hours of training a day, your weight loss too may slow as the differential between calories in and calories out is simply too great.

So, the take home message today – if you are trying to lose weight, adjust your calories when you experience a weight loss plateau and check that you are not overtraining for the amount of calories you are taking in. As a general rule of thumb, add an extra 100 calories for every hour of exercise that you do and you will be on the right track.

To protein or not to protein?

To protein or not to protein?



Research findings published yesterday by the University of Sydney which found that higher protein diets produced superior weight results results compared to high carbohydrate, low fat diets comes as no surprise to weight loss practitioners. A diet with a greater proportion of protein (25-30%) is known to improve appetite, helps to control insulin levels, improve the intake of essential nutrients including iron, zinc and calcium whilst being exceptionally easy to follow.



What is important to remember when the concept of ‘high protein’ is bantered about is that we are not talking about a ‘low carb’ diet, in which the majority of carbohydrate containing food including bread, rice, cereal, pasta, fruit and starchy vegetables are eliminated. Rather we are talking about a more subtle shift in which a small amount of wholegrain carbohydrate is combined with protein at each meal and snack to help regulate appetite and calorie intake.



A higher protein diet tends to be more filling, helps to prevent the sugar highs and lows many people experience when their diet is filled with processed carbs and fruit and is easily adopted into everyday life. It includes subtle shifts from cereal to toast with eggs or cottage cheese for breakfast, snacks of nuts, protein snacks and natural yoghurt rather than fruit and biscuits, and swapping heavy bread, rice and pasta for lighter salad and meat or fish based meals with a little wholegrain carbs in the form of crackers, grains or beans.



The diet of the average Australian, in particular our children is largely high carbohydrate in nature – white bread, processed breakfast cereal, snack bars and heavy rice and pasta base dishes dominating our daily food intake, and for a society which remains relatively inactive, weight issues are common. A gentle shift to a higher protein, more nutrient dense diet is an easy way to improve your nutrition and help control your weight on a daily basis.



Standard High Carb Diet High Protein Diet

BR: Just Right and milk with banana 2 eggs + 2 slices Burgen toast

MT: Fruit Cheese and crackers

L: Ham and salad sandwich Salmon salad with sweet potato

AT: Fruit yoghurt Nuts and Bodyforwomen shake

D: Chicken stir fry Grilled steak with greens

Kids dont want hommus in their lunchbox

The week before school goes back and as expected the Sunday papers are featuring a ‘Back to School’ special with some lunchbox tips to boot. Now I am sure I am not the only person who sees the school lunchbox suggestions of ‘hommus’, ‘homemade frittata’ and ‘mini bran cakes’ to be nothing short of ridiculous, and I am a paediatric dietitian. Just in case you had not realized it before, kids do not eat this type of food. Children, young children in particular want recognizable, easy to eat foods, in small portions in generally as many packets as possible. Our job then as carers is to combine some level of nutrition with foods that our hungry, growing children will actually eat.

The biggest issue with lunchboxes is that they can easily contain far too much carbohydrate and too little protein. A fruit break, followed by a recess of potato chips, muesli bars and fruit along with a plain sandwich and juice for big lunch and you are looking at roughly 60% total carbohydrate and as little as 10% protein. Such a nutrient imbalance leaves our kids prone to sugar highs and lows, fluctuating energy levels, hunger and overeating.

The good news is that it is easy to fix. All you need to do is follow this simple lunchbox formula and you will achieve both nutrient quality and a lunchbox balance that the children will actually be happy to eat.

1) 1 vegetable – forget fruit break, the sooner it becomes vegetable break the better.
2) 1 piece of fruit – fresh only, dried fruit and fruit snacks are packed full of high GI sugar.
3) 1 protein snack – flavoured milk, cheese and crackers, dairy desserts, yoghurt – the kids love these foods, they are packed with protein and calcium and you can freeze them to keep the lunchbox cool.
4) 1 small packaged snack <400kJ – so they do not feel like they have a ‘boring’ lunchbox; look for wholegrain bars, popcorn, vegetable chips, homemade banana bread or muffins and perhaps include a treat of potato chips or a small chocolate once each week.
5) A wrap filled with protein – vegemite and Nutella are not good enough. Lean meat, egg or cheese will help to keep the kids full and the wrap break will help to lighten the carbs in the lunchbox.
6) Water to drink – no exceptions – cordial, juice and soft drinks have no place in the diets of children.

After working with children and their weight issues for more than 10 years, one thing I have learnt is that we have to leave children with a positive view of nutrition. This means combining what we them to eat to ensure optimal nutrition and weight control, along with foods that are child friendly. Once the lunchbox has a firm base, with less sugar from fruit, white bread and snacks and focuses more on vegetables, lean proteins and just 1 snack food, a perfect balance is achieved. Try working towards this lunchbox balance with your kids this school year, it never fails.