01-1-2009 - supermommyfittastic entry number 2!

My mood while writing this blog: slightly hungover!

now its time for some hints and tips to get you motivated! (You trainers and nutritionists out there please correct me if I am wrong! or give us tips if you have any!! lol)

about the food....

so here are some things I have seen people do over the years that lead them to a healthier them!

1. while you eat focus on it. don't watch tv, don't wolf it down in a hurry (or at least try not to!) focus on the flavours, texture, how it makes you feel during and afterwards. you are trying to reprogram your eating habits this way by making sure that you know exactly what you are putting into your body and why. (this is a method I tried and it worked really well!)

2. Slow down!! it takes a few minutes for your brain and stomach to communicate so the slower you eat the more likely your brain will tell you that you are full when you really are full! you should not feel bloated or ill after a meal! try putting your cutlery down between every bite, and taking a drink of water often.

here is something you can do for fun! (for anyone who is concerned about portion sizes):

Day 1: make a meal (like a full english breakfast or a full dinner) measure exactly what you have put on the plate and note it down. then sit down as normal and eat away! yumyumyum! do whatever it is you normally do in your routine. when you have finished take a picture or measure what is left. (an empty plate, some bits you picked out? a 1/3 a 1/2 etc)

Day 2: make the same meal (use the measurements of what you made the previous day) now sit down in front of the meal and blindfold yourself. now eat until you are full (you may need an assistant..lol) when you are full take off your blindfold and see what is left. is there a difference between your first meal and this one? have you eaten less? more? same?

this is an exercise to help you discover when your body is full. alot of societies eating problems stem from "cleaning the plate" now that is a fine saying if your plate has been perfectly portioned for you but in todays society we tend to over fill our plates and then still clean it off! I did this exercise and then realised that I was eating the whole plate because of the flavours I then was able to reprogram my brain into remembering that I would have this meal again. that I could save the rest of it and eat it for lunch etc.

3. keep a food diary. I know it sounds tedious! but it does help! Especially if you are eating emotionally, not eating the right foods, or are counting your calories etc.

your food diary should track:

the amount of water you have drunk that day

what you ate

what times you ate

how you felt after you ate

what your mood of the day was

and then other notes that can effect your eating like were you running around? were you so busy you forgot to eat, were you bored out of your mind etc etc.

this will simply help you track what it is that you are taking into your body, it will also map out clearly why you are eating. for example I woke up this morning (the first day of my get back into shape regime!) and I am supposed to be avoiding gluten...so I ate a piece of chocolate cake. why did I do that? i have put it on my spread sheet so I am totally aware that I did not start healthy and I did not avoid gluten...and now I have to really think about the why..I don't feel good about it. am I self distructive? hmmm well its there now and I feel like being sick because of it (the gluten and dairy will do that to me) so I don't think I will do that again! and the next time I am tempted I can physically see that the last time I did it I felt crap!

How to eat?

diets? I don't believe in crash diets as your body needs to have stability or else it will just bounce right back to where it was like yo-yoing between weights. the best method is to lose 1-2 pounds per week as this means you are losing healthily and are not depriving your body of what it needs. yes I know it ill take longer but it will mean you won't gain it back as fast and it is easier to maintain!

for example say you decide that you are not going to eat breakfast as you are trying to cut calories somewhere. so you don't have breakfast and you go about your day...your body will think hmmm no nutrients today huh?...ok I'll just take that from somewhere else...what looks nice and juicy? not your fat! your body will take what it needs from your muscles! so starving yourself is not a good idea! you will end up tired and weak and malnurished! and even if you see weight loss alot of those numbers would have been the muscles that have now been turned to fat. (muscle is heavier than fat)

there are loads of ways to eat...3 meals a day, 6 meals, snacks and then mains, the thing is finding what works best for you and your body and your schedule.

my favourite is small amounts often. i always have a good breakfast and then a healthy dinner (protein and veg) and then the rest of the day I have been known to eat a load of little fun things so I forage around and might have a couple handfulls of blueberries, and maybe a yoghurt, and then later I might have a carrot and some humous, or a couple of bites of tuna...or I might just eat a whole juicy yellow pepper like an apple. for me I find this method of eating makes me feel better, I have more energy as I am always feeding my nutrients, I never get the full/bloated feeling and it was easier as I tended to work through my lunches so I could just pile all my snacks on my desk and forage away!

but as I said above you need to find whats best for you! remember the golden rules

slow releasing energy foods - oatmeal, wholegrains (wholegrain pasta/rice), protein, veg, fruits are great!

high sugar low nutrient foods - sweets, cakes, white breads etc will fill the hole but not for long!

and its always a good idea to have a look at the glycemic index. this is what is encouraged for diabetics but its a good way of seeing how your foods will effect you!

do a bit of research and find out whats best for you!

theres alot more on this topic! and I could blabber on all day! but I need to go and get on a walk as that chocolate cake is now sitting in my gut turning into naughty sugars and fat in my body! lol