Don't Say You're on a Diet

"Health requires healthy food." - Roger Williams

A diet alone won't help you lose weight. It may even make things worse for you. People who diet for a certain period of time, only to revert to their former eating habits once the diet is over, will put on even more weight than they've lost. Restricting your food intake slows your metabolism. As you deprive your body of calories and nutrients, it goes into starvation mode. You're setting yourself up for more weight gain: this is the 'rebound' effect. 

A diet should not be a temporary thing, something you do to lose a few kilograms or pounds, over a period of time. Much better and more effecting is a change of lifestyle. The word 'diet' actually means 'way of life'. It encompasses every aspect of eating, exercising, sleeping, as well as smoking and drinking. To have a healthy body within the normal weight range, you need to nourish it with healthy food. You are what you eat, so choose wisely what you decide to put into your body. If you eat junk food, you will become junk!

Exercise regularly, but don't do anything that you can't stick with long term. Choose a form of exercise that is moderate and that you find enjoyable. Your new habit needs to be sustainable. If you know you won't be able to go to the gym five days a week, then don't fool yourself into believing that you will do it. Be realistic about what you can do. It's better to walk for half an hour a day at your own pace, rather than pushing yourself too hard, and put yourself off exercising altogether.

A lifestyle is something you do for the rest of your life. An easy and sensible easy way to improve your diet is to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables. Drink eight to twelve glasses of filtered water a day. Sleep at for at least seven to eight hours a night. If you don't sleep enough, your metabolism will become sluggish. You will be moody, volatile and less likely to resist temptation. 

Have a wholesome breakfast that includes complex carbohydrates, protein and fruit. Oat porridge with banana, nuts and seeds for instance, or poached eggs with tomato and parsley on wholemeal toast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, because it kickstarts your metabolism. Instead of three big meals a day, make it a habit to have five or six smaller ones. This will stabilise your blood sugar levels and give you sustained energy until bedtime. 

Avoid refined sugar and anything with hidden sugar in it, like muesli bars or even fruit juice. Sugar comes in a lot of disguises and has many different names. Just because you choose honey doesn't mean you don't eat sugar! It's the same thing. Honey may be more natural, but it is still sugar. Fructose and high fructose corn syrup are just as bad. Watch for names that end in 'ose' like maltose or dextrose: they all mean sugar.

Change can be frightening, so implement changes progressively. It works better to do things step by step, rather than trying to stick with drastic changes overnight. It took you a long time to develop unhealthy habits, so it will take you a while to undo them and replace them with healthy ones. But does it really matter? As long as you actually make these changes, there is no rush. 

This is your body, your health, your journey. Only you decide how you will do it, and how long it will take you to transform yourself. Start with one little thing, like eating an apple instead of an ice-cream. This will lead to the next thing and to the next, until you replace all your negative habits with positive ones!

With love,

Bella

Painting: 'Red Bell with Vase' by Debra Sisson

Tune into Your Body

It's amazing how preoccupied we can be with our body, while at the same time, being out of touch with it. This obsession is mostly about looks and it usually focuses on the negative aspects of our body, rather than the positive ones. 

When you grew up, you were probably insecure and as you compared yourself to others who in your opinion, were better looking and therefore deserving of more admiration and respect. As you became older and more mature, you stopped comparing yourself to others, but this basic insecurity remained with you. Most adults feel that there are too fat, too short, too tall, too ugly, as if there was some model of perfection they need to measure up to. Magazines emphasise this concept as they project an ideal that is out of reach for the average human. 

It's time to love your body, this marvellous machine, and accepting it as it is, instead of wishing it were different. Your body can walk, sit down and reach for things. It can run, jump and climb. It knows how to digest food and makes your heart beat without your intervention. It will even breathe for you, without you having to do it consciously. Your body can feel things and taste food and experience all sort of sensations. You may take it for granted until something happens to it, and you lose any of these abilities due to an accident or illness. Then you yearn for them and wish you could have them back and be like you were before. Imagine what it would be like if you were paralysed, wheelchair bound and at the mercy of other people's kindness and assistance. This is a quick way to stop being complacent.

An effective exercise to get in touch with your body and tune into is the 'body scan'. You can do it while comfortably seated or lying down. It consists in relaxing your muscles one by one while travelling through your body, beginning with your feet and ending at the top of your head. Begin with the toes of your left foot, then move up your leg to your pelvis, and start again with your foot and leg. Consciously breathe in and out. While you're breathing out, imagine tension and toxins leaving your body. Once you reach the pelvis again, move to your abdomen, lower back, chest and upper back. Then to your arms one by one, starting with your fingertips. Next your shoulders and your neck, then your face, the back of your head and finally the top of your head. Imagine a whole on top of your head: you're breathing through it as if it were a blowhole. Visualise your breath flowing from your feet to the top of your head, while entering every region of your body and relaxing, rejuvenating them. 

Do this body scan every day if you can, or whenever you have a few minutes to yourself. Notice how your body feels different every time you're doing it, and how your aches and pains begin to disappear. When you do this regularly, you will feel your body relaxing and becoming your friend, your ally, instead of your enemy. You will develop appreciation and respect for everything it can do, and how well it serves you. You've ignored your body so far, but now you're paying attention to it, and you feel a new sense of empowerment that comes from knowing your body and being in tune with it.

With love,

Bella

Painting: "Relaxing on the Beach" by Robert Anderson.

What does "Eating Clean" mean?

Eating clean is the most sensible way to eat. More than a diet, it is a way of life. Follow seven simple principles, and you will live a long, healthy and productive life. If you're overweight or obese, you will lose weight. You will maintain your ideal body shape and stop being a yo-yo dieter once and for all.

1. Whole, natural foods, preferably fruit and vegetables should constitute the bulk of your diet, while you seek to eliminate or keep processed foods to a minimum.

Make it a priority for yourself and your family to eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. They are full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fibre and other healthy compounds. Buy organic if you can afford it. If your budget doesn’t allow it, don’t feel bad and above all, don't use it as an excuse. It’s better to eat non-organic fruit and vegetables than none at all! They will have a positive impact on your health no matter what. If you can grow your own veggies at home, go for it. Nothing tastes better than your own lettuce, tomatoes and herbs. If you don’t have a big back yard, there are ways to grow almost anything hydroponically. 

Processed foods are anything in a box, bag, can, or package, and although there are always a few exceptions to the rule (like a bag of fresh green beans), the majority of your foods should be fresh. “If it doesn’t grow, don’t eat it” is a good rule to go by. If you decide to have treats like cookies, cakes or ice-cream, make them yourself using wholesome ingredients. There are plenty of ideas and recipes on the internet.

2. Choose unrefined, whole grain foods instead of refined foods items.

Stick to whole grains whenever possible. Go for whole meal breads and pasta, brown rice and other whole grains like millet, amaranth and quinoa. The combination of carbohydrates and fibre in whole grains stabilises your blood sugar levels and gives you sustained energy. Include legumes in your diet, as they are full of important nutrients and fibre. Stay away from all forms of sugar, including honey, maple syrup, concentrated apple juice or cane juice. They aren't better than ordinary sugar. The only healthy sugar alternative is stevia, and it’s the only one to be recommended if you crave the sweet taste. All other artificial sweeteners have dangerous potential side effects, and aren't worth putting your health at risk.

3. Have some protein, carbohydrates and fat with every meal.

A healthy diet is a balanced diet. Any weight loss programme that cuts out a food group like carbohydrates or fat is likely to be deficient in nutrients. It usually doesn’t work in the long run, as it is unsustainable and too difficult to adhere to. Protein, carbs and fat are all necessary for the normal functioning of your body. You don’t necessarily need to obtain protein from animal sources, as vegetable protein is just as good, and in no way inferior to animal protein. Lentils, soy products and nuts for instance are packed with protein. Make sure to include protein with every meal, especially breakfast: it will keep you feeling full longer, and prevent a mid-morning energy crash, typical if you’ve had a donut or sugary cereal for breakfast. Oats, fruit, nuts and seeds are ideal for breakfast. A porridge with berries and chia seeds will help you start the day and give you sustained energy that lasts all morning. Have a mid-morning healthy snack (e.g. and apple or a banana, or a tub of plain yoghourt). 

4. Avoid trans-fats, salt and sugar. 

Contrary to popular belief, fat is actually good for you, and it is not advisable to cut it down too low. We need fat to be healthy and to feel full. Low-fat diets have been blamed for the obesity epidemic, as people don’t feel satiated after a meal that is low in fat. Avoid cooking in fat or frying though, as the chemical composition of fat is altered and can be damaging to your body cells. The healthiest way is to cook without fat: steam or broil your food, then ad butter or drizzle virgin olive oil over your dishes, as a finishing touch. If you need to fry anything like a steak or piece of chicken, the only fat considered safe to use is unprocessed, virgin coconut oil, as it is very stable. Avoid processed foods as they are full of trans-fats, which according to science are harmful and contribute to high cholesterol, heart attacks, strokes and cancer. Anything in a package is suspicious, and so are take aways, as you don’t really know what’s in them. 

5. Eat six small meals instead of three big ones.

The tradition to eat three big meals tends to stick with us, but it’s not the best way to eat. Eating six small meals makes more sense as it stimulates your metabolism and keeps hunger at bay, while giving you a constant supply of energy. Big meals are followed by a surge of insulin, which can be followed by a drop, especially mid-afternoon or towards the evening. By the time you come home after a day’s work, you feel ravenous and are likely to eat much more than you intended. A big dinner, especially when followed by processed TV snacks, is the best way to put on weight or to sabotage your weight loss efforts. Don’t save all your calories for the end of the day, as it will backfire, and you'll end up putting on more weight instead of losing it.

6. Stay away from sugary drinks. 

Avoid all sugary drinks (coffee or tea with sugar, fruit juices, sodas, cordials, soft drinks). These beverages are calorie bombs in disguise, and the high sugar content will make you crave more sweets later down the track, due to a sharp surge in insulin, followed by a rapid drop. You feel worn out and irritable, craving more sugar and junk food. Always stick to plain water, it is a wonderful way to keep hydrated, while detoxing and keeping your kidneys and liver healthy. 

Don’t fall into the artificial sweetener trap. “Diet” drinks are possibly just as bad as the real thing, with all the added salt and chemicals. They don’t quench your thirst and research has shown that even though they don’t contain refined sugar, they make the body produce more insulin, which causes hunger feelings and cravings. No one has ever lost weight by drinking diet Coke or Pepsi.

7. Get physically active.

Exercise is good for your body and soul. It keeps your muscles and joints healthy. Our bodies were designed to move, and if we neglect this basic need, we end up sick and depressed. Moderate exercise stimulates your metabolism, encouraging your body to burn more fat, even at rest. It cleanses your liver, kidneys and activates your digestive system. It keeps your heart and lungs in good condition, and strengthens your bones, while boosting your immune system. You’re in a better mood, more optimistic and have more energy. You think more clearly and your memory improves, because your brain receives more oxygen. You sleep better and tend to be more motivated to stick to a healthy diet. Don’t neglect this important part of your daily routine: treat it like a doctor’s prescription!

with love and lots of encouragement,

Bella