Eat Smart and Stay Slim

Unfortunately there is no wonder cure for weight loss and am I unable to give you a license to go on an eating spree. However, I firmly believe that it is possible to lose weight and maintain it if you follow certain guidelines:

* Learn to listen to your body
* Do not eat due to emotional reasons
* Make permanent changes in your lifestyle (follow a low-GI diet and be more active)

Low-GI, low fat eating habits

From the very start it is important that you realize that this is not a diet, but a nutritional or eating plan for the rest of your life. There is no quick fix. Once you have been on the eating plan for a while, though, the positive results you see will make the small lifestyle changes worthwhile!

The good news is that your blood sugar and insulin levels will be within normal metabolic range after only a few days. After 2 weeks you will no longer be chronically hungry and constantly thinking of food.

What makes us fat?

To put it very simply: too much refined or high-GI carbohydrates, like cakes, biscuits and white bread; too much fat; not enough exercise, and eating for the wrong reasons all contribute to weight gain. Add to this that uncontrollable urge for something soft and sweet and you have a winning recipe for becoming overweight.

Low-GI, low fat meals are delicious and packed with nutritional value for the whole family. This means that you do not have to prepare your own “diet food” separately, and force it down your throat while the rest of your family is enjoying a delicious meal!

What is the Glycaemic Index (GI)?

Researchers found that not all carbohydrates are digested and absorbed at the same rate. Thus, different carbohydrates will have different effects on blood sugar and blood insulin levels.

We use the GI as a measuring tool for how fast, on a scale of 1 to 100, a carbohydrate-containing food will be digested and absorbed. This gives us an indication of the rate at which a certain carbohydrate will affect blood sugar levels after intake.

All high-GI foods are digested and absorbed very quickly, and this causes a steep incline in blood sugar levels.

If you continue to eat mostly high-GI foods without combining them with low-GI foods, you run a great risk of becoming overweight and developing pre-diabetes, diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure).

The opposite is also true: low-GI foods are digested and absorbed more slowly and progressively and cause a small increase in blood sugar levels. This also means that the body will only need a small amount of insulin to handle the increase in blood sugar levels, and therefore you stay fuller for longer.

Based on the GI of carbohydrate-rich foods, carbohydrates can be divided into 3 categories:

* Low-GI foods: Carbohydrate-containing foods with a GI-value of 55 or lower.
* Intermediate-GI foods: Carbohydrate-containing foods with a GI-value of 56-69.
* High-GI foods: All carbohydrate-containing foods with a GI-value of 70 or more.

THUS: If you eat low-GI, low fat meals you will have NO:

* Steep increases in blood sugar levels (keeping you full for longer);
* Excess insulin production (insulin stores fat);
* Lipoprotein lipase;
* Storage of fat!!!

Why follow a low fat diet?

Because fat makes fat!!!

But we can’t cut all fats from our diet: your body requires certain amounts of fat in order to utilise stored body fat more effectively as a source of fuel – thus you need a little bit of fat to burn fat! Just remember that all fats, even good fats cause weight gain and that no more than 30% of your total energy intake should come from fat!

All healthy diets must contain enough essential fatty-acids (Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids = polyunsaturated fat), due to the fact that our body cannot produce it on its own:

* Omega 6 fatty acids: Tuna, chicken, sunflower oil, margarine, low fat mayo and salad dressing, nuts and seeds. Our diets alone usually contain sufficient Omega 6 fatty acids. These help to prevent water retention, eczema, ADHD, and high cholesterol levels.
* Omega 3 fatty acids: Sardines, linseed/flax seed, canola oil, salmon. Unlike Omega 6, our diets do not naturally contain enough Omega 3s and have to be supplemented. Omega 3s help to prevent thrombosis, ADHD, high blood pressure, gout and arthritis. They can also help control insulin levels.

Mono-unsaturated fatty acids are also important. They help lower the bad cholesterol and raise the good cholesterol and are very important for insulin control. They also contain anti-oxidants.

Food sources: Olive oil, canola oil, peanuts, avocados, and olives.

Saturated fat is the bad fat. Unfortunately, it is also fat that people consume the most of. Food sources: Fat on and in meat, skin of chicken, deep fried food, butter, pork fat, cream, cheese, full cream milk, full cream yoghurt, ice cream, chips, etc.

Trans-fatty acids are also bad fats. Not only are they useless to the body, but can interfere with a wide variety of metabolic processes, do damage to your body and make you more prone to a variety of lifestyle diseases. All deep-fried foods are high in trans-fatty acids.

Recommended fat intake

Your total daily intake of fat should consist primarily of mono-unsaturated fats (canola oil, olive oil, peanuts, pecan nuts, peanut butter, olives, avocados, sardines, salmon, flax seed).

Saturated fat and sources of trans-fatty acids ought to be avoided.

Low fat foods are globally defined as foods containing 3g or less fat per 100g.

Exercise

The benefits of regular exercise:

1. Regular exercise makes it possible to eat a little bit more, even when you are on a weight loss diet. Exercise burns more energy.

2. Regular exercise can increase your BMR.

3. Exercise improves insulin sensitivity and prevents or improves insulin resistance, weight gain, diabetes, and other lifestyle diseases.

4. Physical activity is a natural appetite suppressant.

5. Physical activity releases endorphins in your body, which improve mood.

Behaviour

Do you eat only when you are hungry?

If we ignore the way our bodies are supposed to work and do things (like eating too much) which can harm us, our problems are not far behind. Weight gain and obesity are the consequences of bad habits which prevent our bodies from functioning optimally.

Eating or drinking when you are not hungry or thirsty disturbs the way the body is ‘programmed’. Unfortunately a lot of us were incorrectly programmed by our parents. Instead of consoling us with a hug or a kiss, they would offer a sweet or chocolate to ease the pain. When our teenagers suffer the inevitable heartbreak, we often present a lovely meal instead of letting them talk their hearts out.

You can also be the source of your own unhealthy eating habits. Every time you eat when you are not really hungry, you make the problem worse. A pattern of eating when you aren’t hungry can numb your hunger and satiety system to such an extent that it stops functioning as it should.

Don’t blame your parents for your “programming error”. Beginning today, ask yourself before you eat: Am I really hungry or do I have another problem? You would be amazed by the positive outcome!!

There are a variety of factors that play a role in compulsive eating behaviour:

* Emotional reasons
* Physical reasons
* Circumstances or social reasons
* Eating out of habit

Learn to leave bad eating habits behind

Circumstances or situations or activities which lead to eating

Changes you can make to break the association

The more you set your thoughts and focus on other things, the easier it will be to eat only when you are hungry.

Changes in eating patterns

Step 1: Admit that it is necessary to make changes.

Step 2: Formulate or set a goal.

Step 3: Monitor activities that can help you reach your goal.

Step 4: Reward yourself when you have reached your goal.

Don’t be fooled by the wonderful promises made by fad diets! Many of these diets cause weight loss in the form of muscle loss, which slows your metabolism, or water loss. What you want to lose is fat. Instead of teaching healthy eating habits, these diets lead to chronic dieting, and, very often, a progressive increase in weight.

*Eat Smart and Stay Slim: Liesbet Delport & Gabi Steenkamp

*For more info go to www.gifoundation.co.za