Why Does Your Weight Fluctuate From Day to Day? | eHow.com

Some good advice!

Why Does Your Weight Fluctuate From Day to Day? eHow.com

About Quorn

About Quorn

LOVE IT! its even great if you are a meat eater! TIP: you do need to add quite alot of spices etc, it seems to take double the amount of spices etc than any meat product, but the end result is brilliant!

Vegetarian Options!

I haven’t forgotten about the "Veggies"

The same principle applies however with regards to following the 6 meal steps of the plan, however the protein sources are obviously plant sources instead of animal sources. The food list for snacks and main meal options look like this:

Lentils
Chickpeas
Dried beans(Kidney beans, black beans etc)
Veggie Sausages
Veggie Mince...
And fish of course!

So for example a snack may be, 50g of Tuna, or 50g of chickpeas...  a Main meal maybe a Veggie Sausage Casserole, with lots of fresh vegetables - wow for breakfast you could have an open sausage sandwich!?

In the UK i used to eat a protein substitute called Quorn! Its amazing the main ingredient is actually is a type of mushroom, so is very low in fat, an excellent source of fibre, and is high in protein....AND IT is now available in Australia. click on the link and check out the amazing range now available in Coles supermarkets!  There are some awesome recipe ideas on there too!

Barbecued Fish Parcels Recipe - Taste.com.au

Yum - just bake in the oven! double up on the salad vegetables!..easy on the olives!

Barbecued Fish Parcels Recipe - Taste.com.au

Thai Beef Salad Recipe - Taste.com.au

I have attached one of my favourite recipes - a great idea for dinner and it is soooooo tasty. I didn’t have any palm sugar so i used brown sugar instead, and it was still yummy! You actually don’t need the sugar if you prefer, i suggest trying it first. Another suggestion is you could substitute the beef for chicken?


Thai Beef Salad Recipe - Taste.com.au

Food Diary

Ok been doing well.......i will be posting some meal ideas tomorrow, but for the last few days i have had the following...

Breakfast - 1 egg poached or scrambled with half a tomato and some spinach on 1 piece of burgen bread

Snack - 50g ham

Lunch - 100g Tuna with low cal dressing (about 1tbs) and loads of lettuce cucumber and a handful of cherry tomatoes

Snack - 50g turkey

Dinner - 100g chicken stir fried with bean sprouts, and fresh mixed veg. To add flavour i used some fresh grated ginger, a clove of garlic, a white onion. I added a little low salt chicken stock and a dash of soy and fish sauce.....YUMMY!

Snack - 50g turkey

I also tried oats made up with water. I then added one scoop of protein powder. It was actually ok! - I have a feeling i may start looking like a turkey very soon!

I have committed to 30 minutes of walking per day......i have set my alarm 40 minutes earlier than normal, so i get up and out, this way there are NO excuses! It also sets me up for the day, i find that if i exercise early i am likely to have a good eating day!

Wedding Challenge Day 2 and 3

My computer crashed at the weekend so i was unable to upadate.. so frustrating!!

Anyway, a very successful 3 day carb detox. I actually found in terms of hunger day 2 was the hardest, and i was a little bored with ham, but day 3 i felt really good, my energy levels and mood were up and i didnt feel bloated at all.

I think it was relatively easy to stick to as once i had my main meals of 100g of protein, i knew that my 50g snack was not far away! I noticed that i felt quite satisifed and rarely felt hungry, or craved any sugar? This was because of no insulin spikes (sugar rushes) from carbohydrate rich foods. For example when you eat a piece of bread or have breakfast cereal i dont know if you have noticed but you may still feel hungry? this is because....

CARBY FACTS

1) excessive carbohydrates increase blood levels of insulin;
2) insulin is a storage hormone, that converts those carbohydrates into stored body fat; and
3) the only way to control insulin is through controlling your carbohydrate diet,

Many people produce so much insulin that their bodies are unable to absorb it all. As a result they wind up with an excess of insulin in their bloodstream. This imbalance leads to a cycle in which they experience overpowering cravings for a carbohydrate diet such as breads, pastas, snack foods and cakes. When they eat carbohydrates, the body releases even more insulin. The result is constant hunger pangs intense and recurrent cravings for excess carbohydrates, easy weight gain, and difficulty losing weight.

So a tip i have, if you are hungry ...NEVER eat carbohydrates!...snack on protein rich foods, they level out cravings and keep you satisfied..you will see this demonstrated in stage 2..


Stage 2 - This is the weight loss phase

Basically I will be following this stage until the wedding!...well my dress fitting is on November 6th so i need 4 very good weeks!


Breakfast - Protein 100g + one starch or fruit (unlimited vegetables)

Snack - Protein 50g of yes...ham, chicken, etc

Lunch - Protein 100g + unlimited vegetables

Snack - Protein 50g

Dinner - Protein 100g + unlimited vegetables

Snack - Protein 50g


30 mins of walking per day (This must be done everyday on top of any other exercise you do during the day)

2 litres of water

Milk is also high in lactose ( a complex carbohydrate) so must not be used as a stand alone beverage, however a small amount can be used to add to tea and coffee.

Diet coke is also fine, however, herbal teas, are a better option, artificial sweetners can make you crave the real stuff!

A good starch choice would generally be whole grain bread or oats, or a whole grain cereal, and also potatoes, Pasta. It is advised, that rice, pasta, and potatoes, are avoided until you reach the "maintenance phase" so generally at the moment excellent results depend on your starch choices for breakfast being oats or bread

Now the idea is to follow the above weight loss stage for 5 days of the week. Then you are allowed one Free day per week - this is good for the metabolism. However this Free day must be followed by one carb detox day or Protein only day, as per stage 1.

Free day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now you are entitled to this one day per week - there are some rules, it is not a massive binge, but it allows freedom, a no guilt day!! And this freedom eliminates binges and falling off the wagon!

RULES

Basically you are allowed 2 free meal choices on this day!...

A free day must look something like this.....

Breakfast - Protein + starch/ unlimited veg

Snack (50g protein snack)

Lunch - Free

Snack 50g Protein snack

Dinner - Free

Snack 50g Protein Snack

You must keep protein as snacks! My advice is if you need to have chocolate, or your favourite take away, or your favourite glass or two of wine, then have it on these days, however one of the meals, must be a normal meal as in weight loss stage 1.

Food lists

(Starch)
1 Slice of grainy bread
1/2 a metric cup of oats dry (or one sachet of plain quick oats) 34g

Protein List

Lean Beef
Chicken
Turkey
Fish
Pork
1-2 eggs (make one serve of protein)1 egg would be 50g and 2 would be 100g
Ham
Kangaroo

Fruit (raw) not dried

Very high in sugar, must only be eaten at breakfast. For example you may have a fruit serve instead of your bread or oats (always eaten with your protein serve though!)

1 small apple
1 small orange
1 small banana
1 cup strawberries
1 cup blueberries
1 cup Melon
Any other berry fruits
Not tinned!

* cup = metric measuring cup (not mug from the kitchen :))

Vegetables

Carrots, Peas and corn - limited to 2 days per week only (high starch content)
Any salad veg
Brocolli
Cabbage
Asparagus
Alfalfa
Sprouts
Cauliflower
Zuchini
Red/green pepper
Most veg - exclusions are - Pumpkin, potatoes, sweed, Parsnips..again these are high in starch

The weight loss stage, is to be kept up until you reach your goals and feel good - there is a great maintenance stage, this is where servings of Carbohydrate servings are increased for long term healthy weight management...

Good luck, any questions/comments let me know! I will post some breakfast, lunch and dinner ideas, and also examples of my days food.

Wedding Challenge Day 1

The best way to eliminate any bloated or flabby feelings you are having is to unfortuantely cut down on the carbs! Did you know that for every gram of carbohydrate you eat, be it in bread, starchy vegetables or fruit, or dairy, your body retains approx 3g of water!!! So, consider 2 pieces of bread having 24 grams of carbohydrate, you will retian roughly 72grams of extra fluid!.so over the period of a day if you eat a lot of cerals, breads, pasta and potatoes, you could easily be carrying around an extra half a kilo or so of water!!..This demonstrates why over indulging in lots of stodgy winter foods will contribute to a wobbly winter belly!

So the first step of my plan is to CARB DETOX! This lasts for 3 days.
NO CARBS - NO VEG, NO CEREAL, FRUIT OR BREAD !!

Basically you need to eat 6 small meals worth of protein per day for the 3 days...This increases opportunity for the body to burn fat By eating protein only for this length of time the body is forced to use stored body fat. Another important fact here is to keep the metabolism burning, Eat 6 small meals, dont go without a meal for more than 3 hours, and drink around 2 to 3 litres of water per day!

An example of what to eat on one of these days

Breakfast- 2 egg omlette
Snack - Protein Shake or 50grams of ham, chicken or turkey
Lunch - 100g chicken, Ham, or Turkey, or Tuna
Snack - Protein Shake or any of the above (50g)
Dinner - Stir fryed beef (100g) soy and oyster sauce 1tbs
Snack - 50g Chicken or another protein shake!

Now this is not a long term diet, we all need carbohydrate for energy, however this process kick starts the weightloss program and helps to combat sugar cravings and hunger!

So here i go, i will keep you posted!

Crave Sydney Food Festival | Insect food

Taking a high protein diet too far?!

Crave Sydney Food Festival | Insect food

Wedding Challenge

Hi there!

I know i have been off line for a little while, but it is because of the above!! Yes i am getting Married in December, actually 19th December 2010!
So i have been busy, busy planning for the big day!
Now, it has been a long cold winter, with a lot of over eating, and i bet i am not the only one who is feeling a little soft around the edges??

I have set myself a challenge! I would like to feel fit and fabulous in my wedding dress, so i have set myslef a goal to lose 5kilos before about 2 weeks before the big day so lets say countdown will be until 2nd December, i think from memory that is my last dress fitting!???

I plan to keep a diary of what i am eating each day and exercise tips, so you can join me along the way if you a feeling a little unheatlhy!

Remember this is not a DIET, its about making some changes so i feel good about myself!

Wish me luck!

Favourites

Just a quick update on some feel good shows...

Trinny and Susannah - What not to wear (lifestyle you)

Trinny and Susannah - Body Shape Bible

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-488236/Trinny-Susannah-reveal-12-womens-body-types--you.html

Gok Wan - Fashion Fix (lifestyle You)

Gok Wan - How to look good Naked

Jamie does....(Channel 10)

Feeling Better

Trinny and Susanna, Gok, Jessica Simpson, are all over it, helping women to feel good about themselves, and educating them how to work with the body they have! I must confess i am addicted to all of them! 

I love these programs, these celebrities really want to make a difference, they want women to be able to look at themselves in the mirror and like what they see, they get them to accept the body shape (NOT SIZE) and show them how to dress it, how to make changes to their appearance with clothes suited to their shape.............all this ego, self confidence boosting and positive benefit without an ounce of  harsh dieting or rigorous exercise regimes.  Just helping people to like what they see in the mirror...

I was so sad to learn that in Australia alone, 51% of women suffer with an eating disorder, and according to a Cartoon network survey, one in four girls aged 7-14 wish they could change the way they looked!  I always knew it was a problem, but this is just so sad.  life is about living, not deprivation and punishment, we are here to enjoy life and be happy!

I recently watched "The price of beauty" with Jessica Simpson, who incidentally is amazing, but gets ridiculed by the press, because she has some yo yo dieting issues - anyway, she was visiting schools in America and giving  talks to  teenage girls who had very low self esteem issues.  Many of them  because they thought they fat, or not pretty enough, not perfect.  Each of the girls took turns to tell their story to Jessica, and it was just so sad that young girls with so much in front of them were feeling this way.  The overall problem was that in order to be the best they could be, and measure up to everyone's expectations they had to be thinner.  Many of them were not eating or experimenting with crash diets, or crazy excessive exercise.  How can we stop this wanting to look perfect?

In a recent article i read 'The Perfection Obsession' it talks about how we are all striving to be the perfect human specimen....we are obsessed with the way we look, and ultimately how we look is how we feel about ourselves.  ...

Body image, whether its positive or negative is not so much about what your body looks like , the shape or the size, but rather how you feel about it.  To achieve the PERFECT body image is to achieve a sense of wholeness and acceptability of what your body image is and more importantly, NOT judging your body by the shape or size..............very difficult................but starting with little steps to make you feel better, will affect in time how you feel over all!  It is unhealthy to aspire to image perfection

I think we need to think about perfectionism - why should we have do everything perfectly or look perfect way, who is keeping score for you? Who is judging the way you look?  or how thin or fat you are? What chocolate bar you ate today?...Actually i know this sounds ridiculous, but only recently i realised that the only person keeping score is you!!!!  All that pressure is placed upon yourself by you! You are your own worst critic!  A complete revelation!  I thought that everyone noticed, everyone else was judging me, but actually it was me ...i had become immobile from perfection.  To illustrate just how immobilising the constant search for body image perfection can be, i would eat the same kinds of foods, namely chicken and broccoli, fish and steamed vegetables, if i was to go out i would be too scared about ruining the diet, so i would order chicken and salad, depriving myself of the enjoyment of choosing an exotic food that i had perhaps not tried before...in the hope that the scales would go down the next week....Another example, declining social invitations, so i could avoid unplanned food and situations with alcohol.  Ultimately this behaviour was so limiting, and miserable, and for who or what?  i certainly wasn't happy, and i didn't feel good about myself? So why did i do it?  Because i wanted the perfect body! Because somehow we are lead to believe that if we have the perfect body, people will like us more, we will be prettier, happier, smarter?  But actually it never mattered what size i was, i was still me.

I have thought of some tips...some daily commitments that could help you feel better about you! 

1) Spend at least 5 minutes per day in front of the mirror.  Standing in your underwear look at your body as a whole (NOT FOCUSING ON THE BITS YOU DONT LIKE).  Take a good hard look and try to think about how you look through the eyes of someone else, what would they see?  The answer is they would see you.....you as a whole person...............NOT your wobbly tummy, not your lumpy bum, or big thighs...........these are imperfections only you see...


2) Still in the mirror....say to yourself or out loud (depending on who is around :) ) - 10 things you like about your reflection..........all your best bits...

3)Do something nice for yourself every day.........it could be taking a long bath, buying yourself some flowers, taking some time out - even if its only 10 minutes - to catch up with a friend on the phone, or read your favourite book.

4) New clothes - i don't mean go out and spend a fortune, i mean set some time aside to go through your wardrobe...dig deep! try some outfit combinations perhaps you hadn't thought of before, revamp an oldie but a goodie!  Have a look through a magazine, find a look you like, try it!  Wear a colour you haven't worn before..

5) Eat for health......don't think making healthy food choices because you MUST lose weight or a certain diet tells you to choose or eliminate certain foods.  Think about what your body actually wants, and 9 times out of 10 it actually wants the salad and not the chips...have a go, put aside any emotional ups and downs in your day and take some time to really feel what your body needs.  We actually get so caught up in routine or we eat automatically when something is put in front of us, we never pause for a moment to connect with our bodies and identify what it really needs.

6) Exercise - AGHHHHHHHH! i know, its not natural for me either........but pain, dread and hate aside, it does actually make your body feel good - you will feel better for doing something.  Devote 30 minutes per day of doing something active you like...........So - if its gym, go to the gym, walk the dog, jog to a friends house for a cuppa, do a fitness DVD in front of the TV,  go for a walk and chat with a friend, anything, just get moving!

I think once you get in touch with what makes your body feel good, your self esteem instantly improves a little, and you see yourself in a more positive light.  I think if you just stare at your reflection, and criticise what you see daily, trying to measure up to perfection you are ultimately making yourself miserable.  Get positive, focus on feeling good!

Try these things and see how you go!

Why the blog?

Well here i am, joining the thousands.....and you may ask why?  Why Nutrition, Why Food?, Why Body Image?

Well here is why.....

I can tell you exactly the day it started.  It was my 12th Birthday, 2nd year of high school, my first birthday party with my new friends...I thought a great place to have my party  would be our local Aqua Park - water slides the lot!  We all met at the park, ran in changed into our swimming costumes without a second thought.  It was really busy so we had to join the long line of people waiting for a turn...It was precisely at this moment i noticed how my friends looked their swimming suits.  I had never really bothered to take any notice of anyone else before, too busy being caught up in the excitement and anticipation of getting on the slide.  But i started to notice more, the longer i stood in that que the more i felt self conscious, and  i started to compare myself.  Questions started filling my head, "how come my legs don't have a gap at the top"? " I am sure my belly looks bigger than hers" "why didn't anyone tell me i had to be smaller to wear this costume"?...

So from this day, i began a new relationship, one of which i am still in (at 32).  A relationship with food, a love hate relationship, which lead to all sorts of eating and body image issues.  Many of which i am sure most of you reading this will be able to relate to in some way or another?

I want to share my journey, and all i have learned along the way...i want to stop this obsession with perfection and help to educate women with my knowledge and experience, to love themselves, curves and all!

Don't get me wrong, it's not easy! But i am really passionate about food and health.  I know everything there is to know about food, and i know about every DIET that doesn't work! ( i have been on it!) I can help you find exactly what works when it comes to eating to make yourself feel better, whether it be for losing a few kilos or just eating for more energy, or even eating to stop cravings! I can help you make healthy choices for life!   I know a million and one great recipes and easy meal ideas.  I train 5 to 6 days a week with my personal trainer so i have learned some excellent tips on exercises for achieving whatever results you would like your body to achieve!  ......Its all about feeling good!