INTERMITTENT FASTING - WILL IT WORK FOR YOU?

Intermittent Fasting diets have been popular for a few years.  Recently researchers from Austin Health and the University of Melbourne compared the results of the popular 5:2 intermittent fasting diet with a standard kilojoule reduced diet.  The 5:2 diet involves eating only 2,500 kilojoules (or 600 calories) on two non-consecutive days a week and then eating normally on the other five days.  Both diets demonstrated similar weight loss and reduction in body  fat and girth over a 6 month period.  

Often clients ask me whether an Intermittent fasting approach would work for them.  My answer is - it depends.  It works well for some people. If you are like Client A  who has a busy job, not really into food, happy to fast for 2 days because they forget to eat much at work anyway and don't feel the need to "feast" on the non fasting days an intermittent fasting approach might work.  

However for client B who works from home, prepares the family meals, who gets a lot of hedonistic pleasure from planning and enjoying meals (this is me by the way) - going 2 days with only 500 calories ("what does that equate to anyway?!") would find intermittent fasting a challenge.  

Client C might be a  strict "If it fits your macros"  gym-bro who isn't afraid to sacrifice meals, avoids "cheating" when a goal is near, and is used to restrictive eating might be able to persevere with intermittent fasting while they get results and then might move on to the next thing if intermittent fasting non longer works for them.  

Really, any approach that involves eating less and moving more is likely to get results. However with any way of eating before you commence it you need to think about whether you can imagine doing it for the rest of your life because that's ultimately the plan that will work for you.  

I'd prefer people to tune in to mindful eating, where they notice and enjoy food and recognise hunger and fullness cues.  I'd love to see more families cooking at home and eating together  with parents modelling a balanced, healthy approach to food.  You can find out more about mindful eating here and my coaching approach here.  

If you do decide to try intermittent fasting make sure you talk to your GP first. There have been concerns around risks for some people on certain medications or with particular medical conditions – fasting might make some conditions worse. If you're on medication for high blood pressure or type II diabetes, you may need a different medication regime on that day or a whole change of medication. Also in some susceptible people, it can stir up their liver as the fat starts emptying out of it. This can actually make the liver more inflamed and trigger liver disease. A similar thing can happen in the gallbladder, too.

My 3 top tips for eating mindfully

Mindful eating is all about focusing our attention on the act of eating.  It means eating with awareness and using all the senses - sight, sound, touch, taste and smell.  

image source: eatingmindfully.com 

I love this image from the guru of mindful eating - Susan Albers.    Before you start eating take a few deep breathes and truly concentrate on the taste of food.  Savour the flavours.  As you progress in your meal you might notice that the pleasure in eating decreases and the speed at which you are eating increases.  When the food is not giving you pleasure it might be time to put down your knife and fork.  

Here are some of my favorite ways of bringing mindfulness to mealtimes: 

Eat slower

It’s a good idea to remind yourself (and your family) that mealtime isn’t a race.  By eating slower you are more likely to notice when you are full.  S lowing down and chewing food properly helps you digest your food and helps prevent food-baby tummy aches we get from eating too quickly.  

REMOVE the phone.  TURN off the Telly. 

 do you see a spot for your mobile?  I don’t either

Our lives are full of distractions, and often families eat with the TV on or with someone playing with their iPhone. Try making family mealtime an electronics-free zone. I’m not saying you can’t ever eat pizza in front of the TV, but if you do want to do that - make it a deliberate choice. 

Pay attention to flavor

The tartness of lime, the spiciness of chilli flakes, the crunch of a pizza crust — paying attention to your food can be a great way to eat mindfully. When you eat on the go or get through your meal in five minutes, it can be hard to notice what you are actually eating, let alone truly savour all the different sensations of eating. 

Mindful eating can be a simple commitment to appreciating and enjoying the food you eat every day. It can be practiced with salad or ice cream, an apple or a piece of chocolate, and you can practice it at home, at work, or even as you snack on the go -though you may find yourself doing this less often.

When the focus becomes how you eat, rather than what you eat, you might find what you want to eat changes too.

If you'd like to learn more about MINDFUL EATING and be supported along the way with lessons and recipes click here

7 tips for mindful eating at Easter

I love the Easter break - we usually head to Canberra for some gorgeous Autumn weather and have an easter egg hunt in my parent's garden with the other grandchildren.  You might be surprised that I like to enjoy nibbling on a chocolate egg myself, I'm not in the corner enjoying a "guilt free" paleo bliss ball or other such nonsense.  Indulging in festive treats with your family is part of normal, healthy eating.  Easter can be a tough time for those on a self-imposed ‘diet’. Here's my top tips for enjoying Easter mindfully with your family and friends so that you can manage your weight, energy levels and mood:

1. Choose good quality dark chocolate that you really enjoy. Savour it. Don't eat it in front of TV or Facebook. Think about how much you are enjoying that piece and when your pleasure diminishes put the egg away.

2. Don't waste your calories on tiny little choc eggs that are full of fillers. Psychologically with the little eggs you don't realise how many calories you are actually consuming and a small bag can set you back 800 calories or so

3. If chocolate isn't your thing perhaps your gift from loved ones could be a new running top, a great book or movie tickets

4. Use the Easter break as an opportunity to fit in more exercise, either with your family or solo. We are planning some parkrun tourism as a family, I am heading to the gym before we leave tomorrow morning for a strength workout and I'll be slotting in a long solo run on Monday. Take your kids for a bike ride or to the park for a game of footy.

5. Save the Hot Cross buns for Easter Sunday, they are a treat - you don't need them late April when I can guarantee they will still be on sale. I buy the mini buns or bake them myself

6. Tune into your body's signals of hunger and fullness. The answer to the question "how much chocolate is too much" is feeling uncomfortably full or sick or no longer enjoying the food while eating it.

7. Give away or toss any low quality extras after Monday - if they are in the house you or the kids will eat them eventually

Good quality dark chocolate has been linked to reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and improved exercise performance.  The health benefits are due to the flavenols in the cocoa which are full of potent antioxidants.  Don't forget though that flavenols are also contained in fruit, vegetables, red wine and tea.

Consider Mindful Eating  over the Easter break by making more conscious food choices, paying attention to how you eat, and practicing self-acceptance.   Happy Easter!

Do you need help getting your healthy eating back on track?  My 6 week customised nutrition program was specially designed to help you establish healthy eating habits, lose weight,  or recover from the diet cycle.  Find out more here.  

Which oil is "best" for cooking?

Photo by Edgar Castrejon on Unsplash

I often get asked about which oil is "best" for cooking. Personally I use Australian Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) pretty much for everything.

EVOO is the highest quality olive oil, made by mechanically pressing olives and applying centrifugal force to separate the oil from water. With its vivid colours and rich flavours it's ideal for salad dressings, eating with bread and drizzling over dishes. High quality EVOO can reach smoke points at temperatures of between 200-215 degrees , making it a healthy option for most types of cooking, including oven baking.  EVOO contains natural antioxidants and vitamins A, D, E and K. Research has shown good quality EVOO reduces the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.  I use Australian EVOO as I've just seen too many reports of european olive oils that aren't 100% EVOO (or even 100% olive oil).

This article provides an excellent summary of which oil to use, when in your cooking.

Although the coconut oil brigade would have you believe otherwise, extra virgin olive oil can be used for frying, roasting and baking. Frying food in EVOO has been shown to transfer the antioxidant phenols from the EVOO to the veggies, improving the quality of the raw foods.

Remember that all forms of fat (whether EVOO, butter or coconut oil) contain the highest number of calories of any macronutrient, and if you eat more calories than your body needs you will gain weight.  Being overweight is a leading cause of chronic disease such as heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance and some cancers.  Coconut oil is often held up as a nutritionally superior oil, even being promoted for weight loss, however the study this weight loss claim was based on used very small sample size of 30 women.  Don't be under the illusion that coconut oil is a superfood with superpowers. It’s an oil.

"Mum, I'm hungry!"

In my house gone are the days of the picky pre-schooler.  Instead I'm seeing two growing teenagers who seem to be constantly hungry.  In particular the minute they get in from school!  Teenagers have a higher energy requirement to accommodate their growth.  However 41% of today's Australian teenage diet is coming from discretionary food choices that are linked to obesity,  increased risk of diabetes and tooth decay.  Did you know that tooth decay is five times more prevalent than asthma among Australian children?

Key micronutrients at this age are calcium, iron and zinc.  For both boys and girls the growing skeleton requires increased amounts of calcium to help reach peak bone mass in their 30s.  Think dairy - milk, yoghurt and cheese.  As soon as girls start menstruating their iron needs increase, but boys need iron too for growth and energy.   Red meat and fortified breakfast cereals like weetbix are a good source of iron.

So how can you fill up your teenager and steer them away from the packaged stuff?

1. Make sure their afternoon tea will fill them up for a couple of hours. Those small packages of processed food (even if you get it in the health food aisle) are unlikely to do that. A good snack will combine a serve of protein along with a wholegrain carbohydrate. For example, wholemeal toast with nut butter, or a toasted wholemeal english muffin with cheese, or corncakes with ricotta and tomatoes.

2. Fill up the fridge with vegies and fruit. Have easy to grab fruit and veg at eye height in the fridge - cherry tomatoes, mini cucumbers and snow peas are a great quick snack with humous or a handful of nuts

3. The toasted sandwich maker and a blender are the teenager's best friend. Teach them how to make a quick smoothie - my daughter's favourite is milk, yoghurt, oats and frozen raspberries or mango. My son's fave is milk, weetbix, banana and milo. Great before or after sport if they don't want something solid in their stomach.

4. Again leave left over pasta or stirfry at eye height so they can be reheated quickly

5. If you don't want your kids to eat it - don't buy it!

Rachel is a university qualified Clinical Nutritionist based in Balmain.  She is also the busy working mum of two teenagers, so is practical and realistic with her advice . Rachel offers private consultations to improve your family's health and well-being. You can find her on Facebook and Instagram for more healthy tips and tricks. 

So, if I shouldn't drink soft drinks - are diet soft drinks OK?

I think by now we've all realised that sugar is a big part of the obesity epidemic and cutting out soft drinks is a great way to improve your weight and with that reduce your risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and prevent certain types of cancer.  So are diet soft drinks a better option? Well, no.

Diet soft drink appears to contribute to weight gain also.  A  recent study of 66,000 women over 14 years found an increased risk of type 2 diabetes for consumers of diet drinks.  A study published in Diabetes Carefound daily consumption of diet soft drinks was associated with an increase in metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

The research into the effects of diet drinks on humans is still in its early days and the reasons for the associated weight gain are still not fully clear however it is thought that because artificial sweeteners are hundreds of times sweeter than sugar our genetically-programmed preference for sweet taste is activated.  The diet drinks make your metabolism think sugar is on its way which causes the production of insulin which causes your body to store fat.

Diet drinks also seem to affect bone strength and risk of fractures. One 2014 study found that each daily soft drink (diet or non diet) increased the chance of hip fracture by 14% for postmenopausal women.

Instead of soft drinks chose water or green tea.   In summer I use our soda stream to carbonate cold water and add a few slices of lime, cucumber or a crushed handful of mint.  Cheers!

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Cold-pressed juices - should you be buying them?

Every where I look, the supermarket, the deli, the coffee shop  - cold-pressed juices are front and centre of the display, and they are expensive - $8 - $10 a bottle.  Should you be buying them? The marketing spin is that the cold press crushes and squeezes rather than damaging the nutrients through the heat and oxygen used by a standard juicer.  Sounds legit, right?  However the marketing hype has rushed ahead of the science.  Even if there are more nutrients, can our systems absorb them?  The average Australian diet already contains more than enough Vitamin C, and any excess just ends up down the toilet.  The way your gut absorbs nutrients depends on what else you are consuming.  For example, the extra virgin olive oil that you dress your salad with helps your uptake of some of the vitamins in your salad.

Chewing your food, rather than drinking it signals to your brain that you are getting full, it's easy to miss the satiety cues when drinking your calories.

All that said, the typical Australian diet does fall really short on getting in at least 5 serves of veggies every day.  Drink cold-pressed juices if you enjoy them and can afford them, but be sceptical about the claims on the bottle.  So you don't end up with a meal's worth of calories make sure they contain no more than one fruit and the rest is vegetable content.  Some of the juices for sale contain 88% fruit juice which is a significant source of sugar and calories.

I like to make my own green juice if I've not been getting enough veggies.  I use the thermomix so I can retain the fibre - here's my recipe.

green juice cold-pressed

Green Juice

Author:

rachel

Serves:

3

Ingredients

• 250ml coconut water, water or chilled green tea
• 1 apple
• 2 cucumbers
• 2 celery stalks
• thick slice of lemon
• 2 large handfuls of baby spinach or kale

Instructions

1. Put all the ingredients in a high speed blender like a thermomix or vitamix. Process for one minute. Enjoy straight away.

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Creating your own food rules

I was reading this very interesting article about Food Rules and it made me think about how I was able to shift 10 kilograms of post baby weight with a mindset change about 5 years ago.

My rules are:

1.  Make an appointment for exercise.  Yes I would rather be meeting my friends for a coffee after school drop off but they know that's when I get my run or weights in.  It's an appointment in my diary that I prioritise.

2. Avoid wasting calories.  I think this is one of the reasons that the 5:2 diet and other intermittent fasting models work.  For me a weekday lunch where I am grabbing something quick on my own I make it a salad with protein or a salad packed wrap and protein.  I save beautiful sourdough bread, aged cheddar and ham off the bone for weekend lunches with my family.  This is similar to what Susie is mentioning about avoiding the cheap office birthday cake.

3.  I always make myself/pack something to eat for 3 or 4pm before I get really hungry. I grab a corn thin with ricotta and tomato, some almonds and grapes or some veggie sticks and humous.  If I do this I don't start hunting for food at 530pm and eating two dinners.

4.  I don't have packaged biscuits in the house (otherwise see point 3)

5.  I try to only have wine with company.  My husband is away a lot for work so I don't drink unless he is at home too.  I also skip wine at school P&F meetings and the like.  But not book group - when I'm having a nice night out with friends it is lovely to share a beautiful bottle of wine.

One of the subjects that I'm studying at uni this term is Food Behaviour, I am finding it fascinating so far.

Protein and iron for fussy kids

Some kids are just not that keen on meat.  Don't panic!  However you need to be careful that they get good quality protein.  Protein supplies your child with amino acids, essential chemicals which are the body’s building blocks. Whilst all animal proteins including egg and dairy products provide a high quality protein containing all the essential amino acids, cereals and vegetable proteins (e.g. peas, beans, lentils, and nuts and seeds) have a lower quality.

To provide a complete vegetarian protein you need to combine cereal and vegetable proteins like pasta, bread, rice and lentils with a small amount of dairy or eggs.  Or you can combine two vegetable protein food groups.  Soya and quinoa are the only plant-based food that contain all the amino acids.  Here are some examples of good combinations:

• Peanut butter sandwiches

• Baked potato with cheese and milk

• Lentil and vegetables with cheese

• Pasta with cheese sauce

• Baked beans on toast

• Rice and lentils.

Another issue faced by fussy non meat eaters are iron deficiency, which is the commonest nutritional deficiency in the Western world.  There are a few types of iron, the best source is found in meat and is easily absorbed by the body, plant food sources are more difficult to absorb, and lastly a third type added by manufacturers to foods such as breakfast cereals is absorbed less well.

When my children were little the issue was less about the taste of meat but the energy required to chew it!  I found mince meat the best solution - bolognese sauce with pasta and "non chilli" chilli con carne (see Taco Tuesdays).

Good source of iron for non meat eating kids: • Fortified breakfast cereals. • Egg yolk. • Wholemeal bread. • Dark green vegetables e.g. spinach and cabbage. • Beans and lentils. • Dried fruit e.g. apricot, prunes, peaches, raisins.

The best way for the body to absorb the iron is to serve it with a vitamin C rich food, like capsicum or a small glass of orange juice.