Three reasons you need to stop counting calories

Three reasons you need to stop counting calories

I WORK with clients on a daily basis who are so confused by the amount of contradicting information around finding and maintaining a healthy weight.

Over the past few decades there has been a huge emphasis on calorie counting. People measuring each ingredient like a science experiment waiting to explode. The only explosion is usually the frustration that comes with setting yourself up with failure.

The fact is, it’s not practical for most of us, and takes away the enjoyment of food as we are constantly faced with failing our numbers like we are back in school sitting a dreaded maths exam.

For a nutritional plan to work for you, it has to be easy to follow, sustainable and rewarding. Here are three reasons calorie counting should be sent back to the dark ages:

1. THE PROBLEM ISN’T THE AMOUNT OF CALORIES, BUT THE TYPE

Take for example 100 calories from pure sugar compared to 100 calories from avocado. Are they going to be burnt the same way? Will they have the same effect on your hormones such as insulin? Will they create the same cravings and energy low afterwards? Will they stimulate your hormones such as testosterone and oestrogen in a positive way? Are they both used as building blocks to actually build new cells in the body?

The truth is a calorie is not a calorie is not a calorie.

If you understand the effects each type of food has on your body and then you listen to your body, you will have a sustainable way to enjoy eating healthy.

2. IT TAKES AWAY ENJOYMENT

When we set up strict rules and are constantly counting and measuring, it takes away the enjoyment of food. Not to mention that measuring food is not practical unless you are at home with the scales and a calculator. So you set yourself up to fail, especially if you are a social person. No one likes to fail and it kills your sense of achievement and creates unneeded stress.

3. THEY’RE HARD TO ACTUALLY MEASURE

We can measure calories in with hard work, but can we measure calories out precisely? Have you ever been on a treadmill and at the end of a hard one hour run it tells you that you have only burnt off the banana bread you just ate? You freak out and think ‘how much do I have to run to balance everything I am eating in a day?’!

The truth is your body is burning fuel even when you are not moving. Your cells are continually changing, replicating and growing. Your muscles are continually contracting and relaxing even when you are not moving. Take shivering for example.Studies have found that 15 minutes of shivering is equivalent to an hour of moderate exercise.

Also, the more muscle you have the more energy you burn at rest (resting metabolic rate). It is quite impossible to measure your calories burnt unless you are continually hooked up to a respiration monitor.

When it comes to eating healthy, try stick to this method for most meals. Each meal should contain some protein about the size and thickness of your own palm, salad and veggies about the size of your two open hands together and some healthy fats about the size of 2-3 fingers.

This is so much easier than counting calories, but you do need to learn about what are the best sources for your fats/proteins/veggies/carbs etc.

Why your kitchen is making you fat

Why your kitchen is making you fat

WHAT’S going on outside the fridge might be as important to your weight-loss goals as what’s inside it.

New research from the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University has found that many triggers for mindless, unhealthy eating involve how your kitchen is organised and decorated.

“The food on our counters, the smells in the kitchen, the lighting in the room and even the colour of the walls can contribute to obesity,” says the study’s co-author, professor Andrew S Hanks. Here, he shares tips for a healthy diet by design.

KEEP A BLENDER ON YOUR COUNTER

“When you have that craving for something sweet, the blender might just serve as a reminder that healthy fruit smoothies can satisfy that urge.”

KEEP BREAD IN FRIDGE

“Bread can be a healthy snack, but if eaten too frequently, it will lead to extra pounds. Keep the fruit on the counter and put the bread away so the lower calorie snacks are easier to grab.”

COVER HIGH-CALORIE ITEMS WITH FOIL AND THE MORE NUTRITIOUS ITEMS WITH TRANSPARENT WRAP

“Hiding temptations can help you remember to eat fruits and vegetables. This can keep you from eating 120 extra calories a day.”

KEEP A JUG OF FLAVOURED WATER

“Water infused with fruit can satisfy our craving without loading us down with extra calories. Compared to soda, drinking water can save you 100 calories per eight ounce glass of fluid.”

SERVE DINNER FROM THE STOVE INSTEAD OF AT THE TABLE

“People who use this strategy eat 19 per cent less food, which can be beneficial to the waistline in the long run.”’

DIM YOUR KITCHEN LIGHTS

Doing so can help you “eat more mindfully ­— resulting in 175 fewer calories per meal.”

PAINT YOUR KITCHEN IN NEUTRAL TONES

“Brighter tones cause us to feel anxious so we eat faster; darker tones relax us so we take more time to eat and might eat more. A neutral colour can help avoid either extreme.”

USE AIR FRESHENERS

“Clean, fresh scents most likely will not trigger our memories of delicious foods or spark a craving for something sweet ­— helping us avoid unnecessary snacking.”

How many snacks per day should you eat to help with weight loss?

How many snacks per day should you eat to help with weight loss?

SNACKING — is it good or bad? Can between-meal noshing help to manage your weight or is it just another opportunity to eat more?

The notion behind eating smaller, more frequent meals is simple: spreading out one’s daily calories over the course of the day will help to regulate appetite, boost nutrient intake, improve glucose and insulin control and even help keep metabolism revved up — so the story goes. While others report snacking is used to satisfy cravings, pass the time or deal with unsettling emotions.

But it depends on what constitutes a snack.

In a snack-obsessed society where companies are coming up with endless new ways to package foods we can eat on-the-run, along with our current Instagram obsession with bliss balls and luscious smoothies, many snacks are in fact energy-dense, containing as many calories as a small meal. So, it is very important to keep in mind that portions matter — a lot.

HOW MANY MEALS?

According to new research, three meals a day is a myth. People eat all the time!

The aim of the study was to determine whether restricting the timing of meals might help people lose weight. With the 156 people in this study, results showed more than half of the adults ate for 15 hours or longer every day, which meant that reducing the daily eating duration could contribute to weight loss.

It was a small study, however, compared to a well-known review paper published in the Journal of Nutrition and Dietetic, which looked at the scientific evidence for how eating frequency could affect weight and health. It showed eating more frequently did not boost the metabolism. Rather, it’s overall the amount you eat in the entire day (whether that three or six mini-meals) that counts. In other words, snacking works against people when they add the extra food on top of their normal daily intake, rather than adjusting portion sizes accordingly.

WHAT ABOUT CHILDREN?

Snacks provide an important contribution towards meeting children’s daily nutrient requirements due their fast metabolic rate and rapid rate of growth. What’s more, children’s appetites (and the portions they eat) are generally smaller than adults, which means eating every few hours is beneficial for keeping up their energy levels. It is generally encouraged for children to choose high-calcium foods such as milk, yoghurt and cheese, along with fruit and vegetable and limit energy-dense snacks seen in common snack foods, like biscuits, cakes and pastries, crisps, confectionery and sugar-sweetened beverages.

WHAT MAKES A SNACK HEALTHY?

The key is to get the right mix of nutrients in each snack. Eating a snack high in refined carbs alone (eg: rice crackers, crisps) is not going to do much for you. Your blood sugar levels will soar, to only plummet back down again. Aim to mix a protein — rich food with a fibre — rich food.

• Fresh fruit

• Nuts (small handful)

• Natural yoghurt (150 g) sweetened with fruit and cinnamon

• Fruit smoothie (small serving) — limit the ingredients or milk beverage

• Trail mix (mini box)

• Plain popcorn (1 cup)

• Two wholegrain crackers with hummus or cheese or avocado

• Vegetable sticks and protein-rich dip

BOTTOM LINE:

There is no consensus regarding an ideal pattern. How regularly a person eats and whether they snack or not, is a matter of personal choice. If a current eating pattern is working to help shed weight, or stop weight gain, then there’s little reason to change eating frequency purely based on the latest fad-diet.

If you are a nibbler or can’t do without snacks between meals, than make sure you choose nutrient-dense snacks in small amounts.

Done right, snacking can help you avoid energy slumps, fill nutritional gaps in your diet and keep your appetite in check.

Be honest: Are you snacking right now?

The health foods that contain more fat than a doughnut

The health foods that contain more fat than a doughnut

WE KNOW fats of the ‘healthy kind’ are good for you, but despite their nutritional benefits, many of us still avoid consuming high calorie foods such as olives, nut spreads and oily fish with a fear of gaining weight.

The stigma that surrounds that word ‘fat’ has long been associated with calorie counting, with many painting ‘good fats’ with the same brush as ‘bad fats.’

“I think the issue is that it is confusing, but the basic rule is that added fats via processed foods should be kept to a minimum in the diet,” nutritionist Susie Burrell told news.com.au

“Aussies get more than enough saturated fat courtesy of dairy and meat, and adding good fats each day is all we need to do for good fat balance.

“Good fats are involved in a number of cellular processes in the body, they transport fat-soluble vitamins, are important for hormone production, keep our skin and hair healthy and in fact every one of our cells has a layer of fat around it,” she said.

Here are some health foods that pack a bigger fat punch than a doughnut — but should still be part of your daily dietary intake:

We know the value of an egg, but did you know that an omlette containing three or more whites and yolks has more fat than a glazed doughnut?

A single egg contains around 5.3g of fat and around 78 calories, but also carries more essential vitamins and minerals per calorie than almost any other food.

As a valuable source of protein, minerals and vitamins, an egg yolk also contains cholesterol/fat soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids.

For many years, eggs had been considered a health risk for those with high cholesterol, but as it turns out, the cholesterol content is much lower than it was 10 years ago. According to the British Heart Foundation, a medium egg contains 100mg of cholesterol which is one third of the recommended daily intake.

“We need 3-4 serves on average of good fat via a serve of fish, handful of nuts, couple of tablespoons of good quality oil, 60-80g for the average adult,” Susie said.

Today, it would seem you can’t go wrong with eating coconuts — with flakes, flour and water readily available on supermarket shelves. But the coconut has ping-ponged between being a ‘good food’ and a ‘bad food’ for many years, with nutritionists across the globe at loggerheads about whether it should be categorised as a ‘health food’ or not.

“Fresh coconut contains 33 per cent fat, most of which is saturated fat,” Susie said.

“While the health benefits of coconuts are regularly sprouted, the truth is that we get more than enough good fat via oil, nuts, seeds and fish to need to add saturated fat into the diet.”

A single cup, or 80g of shredded coconut contains 27 grams of fat alone — with 24 grams of that being saturated.

“Saturated fat is found predominately in animal-based foods including meat and full-fat dairy as well as processed foods such as including a number of biscuits, cakes, pastries and fried takeaway food.

“When consumed in excessive quantities, saturated fat is known to increase blood cholesterol and be stored in the body more readily than unsaturated fat, and hence more likely to be linked to weight gain, particularly around the abdominal area,” Susie said.

Peanut butter has turned from a treat to a health staple for many health conscious consumers looking to increase their nut and ‘healthy fat’ intake.

“Similar in fat type to that of avocado, the key with peanut butter is to make sure you are choosing 100 per cent peanut butter not varieties with salt and sugar added,” Susie said.

“One tablespoon offers almost 14g of fat, and more than 150 calories, and as it is easy to overeat. I would watch portions, enjoy it occasionally and get your good fats via olive oil, avocado and fresh nuts rather than nut-based spreads.”

Providing a valuable source of vitamin B12, vitamin D, selenium, and omega-3, salmon is known as being one of the healthiest fish species on the planet. Containing 13g of fat per 100 gram portion, only 15 per cent of that is saturated fat.

“Fresh salmon is one of the richest natural sources of long-chain omega 3 fat offering a massive one gram of omega 3s per 175g serve,” Susie said.

“While you do get some omega’s 3’s from tin salmon, enjoying oily fish such as sardines or fresh salmon 2-3 times each week will significantly bump up your omega 3 intake.”

Are these ‘dangerous’ foods really all that bad?

Are these ‘dangerous’ foods really all that bad?

IS BACON really as bad for you as cigarettes? Are artificial sweeteners linked to tumours? Should you swear off grains?

You may be pleased to learn that many of your favourite foods are not the ticking time bomb you have been led to believe.

FEARFUL FOOD 1: BACON

We’ve all seen the recent headlines: bacon ranks alongside tobacco as cancer causing. Not just the crispy side you have with eggs, the claim goes for all ‘processed’ meats (sausages, salami, corned beef and ham) and red meat, too.

But the real dangers are not quite as worrying as the subsequent headlines would have you believe. The World Health Organisation makes it clear that the risk is in relation to how much and how often. Current national dietary guidelines recommend individuals who eat red meat limit processed varieties and consume no more than 65 to 100g of cooked lean sources of red meat, three to four times a week.

Fact: While there’s still room for the occasional slice of bacon for brekkie or a few snags at a barbecue, the latest advice should only help make Aussies more aware of the cancer risks associated with excessive intakes — which includes both red meat and processed meat.

FEARFUL FOOD 2: BUTTER

Confused about butter? Don’t blame you, because the research surrounding butter is bipolar. After decades of being told that butter — or, rather, the artery-clogging saturated fat it contains is a clear-cut no, research continues to question the supposed link between saturated fat and risk of heart attacks.

The question we should be asking is what people are eating instead of saturated fat? Replacing saturated fats with refined starch and added sugar (think low-fat yoghurt, rice crackers, processed snacks) won’t do your heart any favours, in fact will make it worse. However, replacing saturated fat with other plant-based oils and/or foods naturally low in fat, such as fruit, vegetables and wholegrains is certainly proven to reduce your risk.

Fact: Some saturated fat is not harmful, however, there is no evidence indicating it is beneficial either (and that goes for coconut oil, too). So go ahead and enjoy a little butter on your bread and occasionally in cooking, but most of the time there are far healthier fats to use including extra virgin olive oil, nut spreads or avocado.

FEARFUL FOOD 3: GLUTEN

The fear of gluten has become so widespread its existence in part fuels a booming market for a wide range of gluten-free products. Perfectly convenient for those with medically diagnosed cealiac disease, which affects approximately 1 in 70 Australians, but for the vast majority, the decision to adopt a diet devoid of this particular protein (found in grains like wheat, rye, and barley) is based on the assumption that it is a healthy thing to do.

The problem is, an increasing number of people are self-diagnosing ‘gluten intolerance’ (also known as Non-Cealiac Gluten Sensitivity) or being diagnosed without appropriate medical evaluation.

Non-Cealiac Gluten Sensitivity describes a set of symptoms people attribute to dietary gluten (abdominal pain, diarrhoea, bloating and excessive wind), however the cause and treatment is not well understood and research remains unclear as to whether gluten is the actual offender. Some studies even speculate whether sensitivity to gluten might be ‘all in the head’ — a mindset determined by diet fads or just another excuse to avoid carbs.

Fact: While the evidence concerning Non-Cealiac Gluten Sensitivity remains unsubstantiated, you should consider gluten innocent until proven guilty.

Dinner after 8pm? The best meals to eat late at night

Dinner after 8pm? The best meals to eat late at night

YOU KNOW the feeling all too well — it has been a frantic day, you have barely had time to use the bathroom let alone eat anything substantial and now it is 9pm, and you find yourself at home, tired and hungry.

As modern life places more and more demands on our time and as work days get longer and longer, it is not surprising that the evening meal is often enjoyed after 8pm each night. For our bodies, this is not good news as it means that the bulk of our calories are consumed during the second half of the day, the time that we tend to be relatively inactive as we socialise, relax or sit in front of the television. The side effect of this is often gradual weight gain, especially if our late night meal options are quick, heavy meal choices such as Thai takeaway, pasta, toast or breakfast cereal.

While it may not make a whole lot of sense that eating the same foods as you usually would, just later at night would make weight control more challenging, it comes down to the fact that the human body is programmed according to a 24-hour, circadian rhythm. This means that our metabolism and hormones are programmed to do their work in the day when humans are active, and then store, build and recover at night when we rest, sleep and regenerate. In real life terms this means that in order to keep our metabolism, or the body’s ability to burn calories at its best, ideally we will eat most of the calories we need during the day, and then allow our bodies to have 10-12 hours without food overnight. When it comes to dinner, this means ideally we should try and consume our last meal of the day by 8pm at the latest.

For many of us though, this is just not possible and as such we need strategies to achieve the right balance between a full and busy life, a social life outside of work and good food choices to keep our bodies in the best shape possible. So, here are some tips to point you in the right direction and make some better choices when you do find yourself searching for dinner after a very long day.

1) SWAP YOUR MEAL TIMES

If you regularly find yourself eating dinner after 8pm each night, it may be worth swapping your evening meal to lunchtime and then enjoying a lighter snack in the evening. Great lunchtime meal options include leftovers, a stir fry with noodles and lean protein, a large meat and salad sandwich or a hot meal from a local cafe or pub which includes vegetables and that will keep you full and satisfied for 4-5 hours.

2) KNOW YOUR BEST QUICK OPTIONS

There is a big difference between choosing a high fat curry and Pad Thai from your local Thai or ordering stir fry vegetables. It is crucial to remember that any meal you purchase away from the home will contain at least 200-300 calories more than the same meal you would prepare at home thanks to the extra oils, sauces and condiments. So, if you do find yourself relying on quick meals purchased on the go, make a concerted effort to choose lighter menu options. Grilled fish with salad, barbecue chicken with salad or plain vegetable dishes are some of the better choices.

3) PREPARE AN EXTRA MEAL AND FREEZE IT

There is nothing worse than arriving home hungry and having no decent meal options on hand. To avoid this scenario entirely make a concerted effort to prepare a soup, stir fry or baked vegetable dish that you can keep in the fridge or freezer for a quick yet healthy late night meal. Just as importantly, keep a supply of tinned soups, tins of beans, tuna or salmon and at least 1-2 salad vegetables that can be converted into a quick, yet nutritious meal in no time.

4) KEEP A COUPLE OF FROZEN OPTIONS ON HAND

Sure, we know that fresh is always best but there are a number of frozen meal options that are quite sound nutritionally and yet allow for a meal to be heated in no time. Frozen salmon fillets, chicken breasts and numerous vegetable options can literally be put in the oven and ready in less than the time it takes to shower. And nutritionally they will give you at least 200-300 calories fewer than if you had resorted to take away food options. Another great option for busy people is to order some ready to go meals from a home delivery service and keep on hand for late night dinners. While these options are more expensive, the quality is much better and often works out the same price as you would spend if you were buying all your ingredients from scratch.

5) THINK SALAD/VEGETABLES AND PROTEIN

The later you consume your final meal of the day, the lighter it needs to be. Eating heavy, carbohydrate rich meals late at night is not only related to higher body weights and a high intake of calories at night but it can also mean that you do not wake up hungry for breakfast the next day. For this reason, lighter dinner options for late night dinners include a small piece or tin of fish or eggs served with salad or vegetables. And remember, toast or breakfast cereal is not a meal.

TOP 10 LATE NIGHT DINNERS

Omelet or frittata

Vegetable stir fry

Two lamb cutlets and vegetables

Tuna or chicken salad

Salmon or tuna on crackers

Potato stuffed with tuna and coleslaw

¼ babercue chicken or chicken strips with salad

Sashimi with seaweed salad

Bowl of vegetable-based soup

Baked beans and tuna