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1. Dieting to lose weight and not improve your health
- People often forget that what they eat not only affects their weight, but also their health. A healthy diet’s benefits are endless from improving your mood and energy levels to preventing diabetes and cancer. If you put your health in perspective it can guide you to make the right food choices where you will find yourself losing weight as if by surprise.
2. Picking an extreme diet that will not fit into your lifestyle
- Extreme diets will only allow you to be at your ideal for short time. They trigger yo-yo dieting and you will be gaining and then losing and then gaining and then at one point stop losing weight.
3. Expecting miracles overnight
- Did you ever ask yourself how long it took you to put on the weight? On a healthy diet and exercise you should aim to lose 2 to 4 kg per months instead of 10 to 12! This way you will be losing weight while making lifestyle changes. It is the guarantee of losing the weight and keeping it of.
4. Skipping meals
- Skipping meals makes you hungrier at the next meal and you might find yourself “bingeing” or losing control of what how much food you are eating when you finally do sit down for a meal.
5. Skipping supplements
- If you are not eating a balanced and varied diet that includes enough daily fruits and vegetables, or are not having an appropriate intake of dairy products or other Calcium rich foods, then you might be missing out on important vitamins, minerals like the B-vitamins, Calcium, vitamin C and others. It’s best to seek medical or nutritional advice before taking supplements.
6. Not exercising
- Is your skin feeling looser as you’re losing weight? This is a sign that you may be losing water and muscle and not only fat. A weight loss plan that includes exercise is the only way to insure that you are burning fat while keeping your tight and toned muscles.
7. Forgetting that sometimes more is less
- If you are eating because you just want to eat, because you’re bored or because you’re not feeling full enough, there are actually some foods that you can eat more of e.g. lettuce, cucumbers, sweet pepper sticks and other crunchy greens. 1 kg of lettuce has approximately the same amount of calories as 30g of chocolate. Maybe it won’t make you so “happy” but at least it will make you feel full!
8. Not changing your environment
- There are many triggers in your environment that may have promoted your weight gain. Try to identify them and change them. One obvious but common example is keeping your drawer in the office stocked with sugary treats that are within easy reach when you feel a hunger pang coming on. Replace those with an apple! It has less calories, more fiber and higher water content.
9. Not preparing your own foods
- Many pre-packaged foods and restaurant meals are high in hidden fats and calories. If you depend on eating out, you might find your healthy and light food choices limited. You can prepare your own foods. If you are afraid of going near the stove, start by tossing some fresh vegetables with some tuna and a little dash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Voila! You have just prepared a healthy and filling salad.
10. Giving up
- Not every day is a perfectly nutritious day, but it doesn’t mean you failed. If you do indulge in treats on one day make sure to compensate by doubling or tripling your green salad portion the next day and very simply, you are on the right track again.
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Having a baby can bring a lot of changes to your life and of course there will be a lot of changes in the mother-to-be’s body throughout the pregnancy. Pregnancy is usually a wonderful time but in some cases can also be tiring and hectic.
There are certain foods that you should be eating and others that you should avoid throughout the pregnancy. If you start making these changes before conception, it will be easier to carry them through pregnancy until and after you have delivered. By doing so, you will be more likely to only gain the recommended weight. If your starting weight was average, or your BMI was between 20 and 25 then you should only expect to gain about 11 to 15 kg. The healthy weight gain is about ½ a kg per week starting in the 2nd trimester. Also, if you are eating healthy and are active, you can lower your chances of developing Gestational Diabetes.
The following are tips to follow before getting pregnant:
- You should already be following a healthy diet. This includes a healthy diet that includes vegetables and fruits. Lean sources of protein and the right amount of fat.
- Sugars and saturated fats should be limited.
- If you are not eating daily green vegetables then you can consider taking a Folic acid supplement.
- You should avoid caffeine and artificial sweeteners.
- You should be at a healthy body weight.
- You should be physically active or exercising regularly at least 30 min/day or 1 hour three times a week
- You should have stopped smoking
- In our region, Vitamin D deficiencies are very common, especially among adolescent girls and women. Check your vitamin D status, in case you have a deficiency you can correct it easily.
- If you are not sure where to start or how nutritionally correct your food habits are, get in touch with us to help you get started.
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Most times we need a big push to start eating healthy and if we are only thinking of our own health, then we might not be so motivated to do so. What about if you think about your child’s health?
Did you know?
- The maximum amount of caffeine kids should have are 45 mg for 4 -6 year olds, 63 mg for 7 -8 year olds, and 85 mg for 10 -12 year olds per day? In an average can of soft drinks there is 29 mg , in a hot chocolate 25 mg in an energy drink 77 mg.
- The maximum number of added simple sugars that they can have is about 37g? In a cup of sweetened breakfast cereals there can be 11 g , in a cup of flavored fruit yogurt there can be 35g, in one doughnut 19g and in a cup of sweetened juice 31 g.
- The maximum amount of saturated fats that a child should have is 16 g. In a slice of pizza there is at least 8 g per slice, and in fast food cheese burger there can be anywhere from 7 to 19g.
A lot of our kids are gaining too much weight because of fats and sugars that are sneaking their way into their diets. Kids need to eat healthy, especially these days when a lot of them are gaining weight and some are even developing adult like conditions like diabetes and high cholesterol. The saying “prevention is better that cure” has never been more important than in this context.
The recommendations from the American Heart Association for a child’s healthy diet are:
- Balance dietary calories with physical activity to maintain normal growth
- 60 Minutes of moderate to vigorous play or physical activity daily
- Eat vegetables and fruits daily, limit juice intake
- Use vegetable oils and soft margarines low in saturated fat and trans fatty acids instead of butter or most other animal fats in the diet
- Eat whole grain breads and cereals rather than refined grain products
- Reduce the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and foods
- Use nonfat (skim) or low-fat milk and dairy products daily
- Eat more fish, especially oily fish, broiled or baked
- Reduce salt intake, including salt from processed foods
Too make sure that it will work, make it a family change! If you need any help in implementing the recommendations, give us a call.
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A healthy lifestyle that includes a balanced and varied diet, can prevent type 2 diabetes or delay it for at least 10 years.
If you have the below risk factors, then you may be a risk for developing diabetes:
- Older than 45 years
- Diabetes in a past pregnancy
- Overweight, especially around the stomach area
- Family history of diabetes
- Gave birth to a baby weighing more than 4kg.
- Low HDL cholesterol, less than 35mg/dL
- High triglycerides , 250 mg/dL or more
- High blood pressure, 140/90 mmHg or more
- Impaired glucose tolerance
- Low activity level
- Metabolic syndrome
- Polycystic ovarian syndrome
If you are worried about your risk of developing diabetes you have to start making healthy lifestyle choices today.
Here are a few small changes you can make:
- For lunch and dinner, make sure you have a healthy plate.
- Half your plate should be vegetables like two handfulls.
- ¼ of your plate should be a source of protein like the size of the palm of your hand
- Only ¼ of your plate should include starchy foods like rice or potatoes which is about a maximum of one cup or the size of your fist
- If you are eating out, make the healthy choice. Order grilled foods and make sure to tell your waiter not to add extra oil or fat.
- Start cooking healthy, try steaming or grilling more often, only add 1 to 2 teaspoons of oil to your foods.
- Eat whole foods whenever possible. E.g. it takes 3 oranges to make 1 cup of juice. If you ate the orange instead of drinking the juice, you will take in less calories and feel fuller.
These suggestions are also helpful for people who already have diabetes. For a complete diet plan, contact us.
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