13: Slow and Steady or Fast and Furious

If you want some motivation for healthy eating and weight loss read this;

How you behave in the first 6 weeks of diet change will determine your success at adhering to these changes in the future.  Clinical studies show that people who experience a greater weight loss in the first 6 weeks of healthy eating, were 5 times more likely to have successful weight loss at 6 and 18 months, than those who lost weight at a slow rate. Statistics showed that they were also more likely to keep the weight off, long term.

So the theory that slow and steady is the best way to lose weight has been disproved.

"Across the world, guidelines recommend gradual weight loss for the treatment of obesity, reflecting the widely held belief that fast weight loss is more quickly regained," study lead author Katrina Purcell, a dietician at the University of Melbourne in Australia, said in a journal news release. However, the new study shows that "achieving a weight loss target of 12.5 percent is more likely, and drop-out is lower, if losing weight is done quickly," Katrina Purcell. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

How much weight you need to lose weekly very much depends on your starting weight.  A very obese person may lose up to a stone per week, initially, whereas an overweight person may find it difficult to lose 2 pounds.  Please contact me if you would like some free advice on how much you should be losing initially and how long it will take you to reach your ideal weight contact me at  terri@clubmotivita.com

The 10 Rules of Healthy Eating

1. Drink at least 2 litres of water a day.
2. Eat plenty, plenty vegetables and salads, they will fill you up and are so good for you with vitamins, minerals and fibre!!
3. Try and avoid  "fast carbs" white bread, white rice, pasta
4. Eat beans, oats, barley and wholegrains for fibre, vitamins and minerals.
5. Eat at least 2 pieces of fresh fruit a day, not juiced. Your gut needs to break the fruit fibre down itself, it needs the "digestive work out".
6. Avoid sugary drinks - fruit juices and drinks containing sugar and fructose.
7. Avoid sugar, fructose, cakes, biscuits, desserts and pastry " the carbofat timebombs"
8. Avoid animal fats, hydrogenated fats - these fats leave hard deposits in your arteries.
9. Avoid processed meats - sausages, deli meats, smoked meats "Part Foods" these contain so much saturated fat, chemicals and additives and are toxic on your liver and deliver a package of fat straight to your body fat cells!
10. Alcohol, no more than 1 alcoholic drink a week, if you must.

If you need a little boost to rethinking your commitment to healthy eating, please read post 12. "Why Do You Want To Lose Weight?"  Any questions, please contact me at terri@clubmotivita.com



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12. Are You Ready To Lose Weight?

Everyone who has changed their eating habits in order to lose weight, has been right where you are today.  What are your thoughts on healthy eating?
You need to explore your thoughts and feelings about why you are going to make these changes. These changes will be for your benefit, it must be your decision to commit to a plan as you will be in ultimate control.

Ask yourself;

• How do you feel about your weight, size, shape?
• What is the most difficult thing about being this weight?
• What do you think your "healthy weight" should be?
• How are you going to change your weight?
• Are you ready for change? 

Write your answers in a journal.  Refer to them for reassurance and motivation.  Write down your goals and aspirations.

What if you're not ready for change?

You may not need to make changes to your eating habits or weight.  You will be the best judge of that.  We don't live in a blinkered world, so you will know if change is really necessary for you, sometimes we can be in denial, in which case you need to do a little soul searching from time to time, ask yourself the right questions and do what's right for you, be your own best friend.

Sometimes the changes that we adopt don't feel right.  Look at your reasons for change and maybe you might have to find a new way of helping you through this journey.  Reflection and changing of methods when previous methods failed, is a perfectly normal and necessary route to success for all of life's challenges.  All the big successful global businesses do this, you can do this for yourself using this tool;

The Reflective Cycle

Write each step down in your journal.  You may need to do this a number of times, but only through reflection and thinking of solutions that best suit you, will you find a result that you are comfortable with and that you are more likely to stick with.

1. Description: What is the difficulty?

2. Feelings: How does it make you feel and why?

3. Evaluation: Judge how important this difficulty is and it's affect on your plans.

4. Conclusion: What changes will you make?  Ask advice from others. Come up with a plan.

5. Action: Do it! Put those plans into action.  

If you action the plan and it proves that it's not the right plan for you, revisit stage 4 "conclusions" come up with an alternative plan and go to "Stage 5: Action" and give that a good go!  

We learn from our mistakes, so be prepared to be a master of this subject, before you're done!

Please contact me if you have any questions or tips that might help others, I want to hear from you.  Contact  terri@clubmotivita.com

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11. Preparing Food in Advance - Mason Jar Salad

Love this tip from Julia Mirabella "Mason Jar Salads" watch the video..

Excellent, exciting salads in a jar. Take to work, keeps in fridge for 4 days. Make life easy https://www.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTyBHUP_WiI

10. Planning Your Weight Loss Diet

We have looked at food groups and their effects on our bodies in the previous 9 pages.  With this information and the 2 tables below, you can start to plan your very own healthy eating program.
For those who have struggled with weight gain and have had difficulty in keeping to a reduction diet, now is your chance to tailor a diet specific to your needs.

If you will be making big changes to your diet, you will be doing so on the understanding that you have enough reasons to want to live with a Healthier, Lighter body and that you are motivated enough to make those changes for yourself.

Initially it won't be easy, especially if you eat a lot of Fast Carbohydrates, but almost immediately your blood sugar/insulin levels will start to stabilise and you will feel the benefits of this alone.  If your body is used to the frequent "Carbo Fix" you will get strong cravings for fast carbs, but make sure that you eat adequate Slow Carbohydrates along with a balanced diet and keep focused on your target weight loss and eventually these cravings will subside. You and your determination will ride through this bumpy patch, so hold on tight.......

Please read page 9, The 15 Props of Successful Weight Loss.  It will guide you and help prepare you for this adventure.

If you would like free support, guidance on what is the correct amount of calories for you or would like to share your journey, I would love to hear from you at  terri@clubmotivita.com

THIS DIET IS NOT INTENDED FOR PREGNANT OR LACTATING WOMEN OR DIABETICS WITH TYPE 1 OR TYPE 2 DIABETES, please seek advice from your doctor if in doubt.

THE DAILY DIET PYRAMID

Draw your own pyramid and put in each section what foods you will eat, you can refer to your pyramid for calculating the calories of the meals you prepare. Don't forget to try new foods from time to time.  This pyramid will help you with planning your meals and drawing up shopping lists.

This balanced diet is calculated at a daily allowance of approximately 1700 calories. Each section shows recommended portion amounts and 1 portion is equivalent to approximately 100 calories. Please contact me if you would like more advice or would like to share a good tip at  terri@clubmotivita.com

*Refer to the "What is a portion" list below, for calorie guidance.

Please eat as much salad leaves and non-starchy vegetables as you like, they are highly nutritious in vitamins and minerals and contain next to nothing in calories.

*WHAT IS A PORTION?

                                                                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                                                              

EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY - CLUB MOTIVITA!

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9. The Fifteen Props of Successful Weight Loss

Each of these fifteen props will help you through your weight loss plan.  Read them all and you will understand why.  Use them and you will agree with the scientists, clinicians and researchers that have shared this important information.

Good Luck, we're with you all the way!  Club Motivita


1. CREATE AN ACTION PLAN
Write down your weight loss goals and measure your success against them.  Your success in reaching your goal increases by a whopping 60%!

2.  PLAN AHEAD
Prepare your own food at home, eating out can increase your calorie intake by up to 1500 calories daily or more. Clear your kitchen of CRAP foods ( Carbonated drinks, Refined sugars, Artificial additives, Processed foods).  Write a shopping list and stick to it, plan what meals you are going to have and prepare in advance- freezing helps, bring your own lunch to work, fill your fridge and cupboards with healthy foods and don't get to the point where you are ravenously hungry.

3.  KEEP A FOOD JOURNAL
Write down your daily food and drink intake - it's the best way to keep track of your eating behaviour and will help you identify areas that need change.

4.  DECREASE THE FAT
Remove skin from poultry, trim fat from meat and use less oil in cooking spray oils are good, if you have to use any oil.  You could use a little stock in place of oil, when cooking meat.  Steer clear of processed foods as they use bad fats (saturated and trans fats) to keep food from going rancid and to improve the texture of food.

5.  EAT HEALTHY FATS
Your body needs essential fats, a daily dose. 15-20% of your daily calories should come from essential fats on a weight loss diet. Healthy fats, amongst other crucial things, assists with burning stored bad fats in cellulite.

6.  CHOOSE SLOW CARBOHYDRATES
These will keep your blood sugar and insulin levels balanced and keep you feeling full and help hold cravings at bay.  If you eat fast carbs, take a small portion and bulk the meal with protein and plenty of non-starchy vegetables or salad leaves; this will slow the absorption of the fast carbs down considerably and keep blood sugar levels stable.

7.  EAT FILLING FOODS
Choose fruits and vegetables, pulses and wholegrains as the majority of your daily calories.  They all contain fibre, so are slow to be processed by the gut, and the fibre and wholegrains absorb water, therefore making you feel more full. Remember, as well as making you feel full, these foods are nourishing your body tremendously.

8.  INCREASE THE FIBRE
Fibre slows down the absorption of carbohydrates ensuring that food is used for energy and not stored in your fat cells, it keeps blood sugar and insulin levels stable, binds with excess cholesterol, keeps your bowels functioning healthily and helps satisfy your hunger.

9.  CHOOSE A STARTER OF SOUP, SALAD OR FRUIT
Numerous studies show that a starter of a low calorie course will reduce your appetite and reduce the amount of calories you eat in your main course by approximately 20%.

10.  DO NOT SNACK
Snacking leads to over eating, weight gain and food cravings, research has shown.  Eat up to 3 meals a day. using your ideal calorie allowance in a balanced diet.

11.  EAT SLOWER - ENJOY!
Don't eat on the go, chew your food, savour the smell and texture and breathe in-between mouthfuls.  The hormone in our gut takes approximately 20 minutes to notify our brain that we are full.

12.  DRINK PLENTY OF WATER
Water suppresses our appetite and helps us to burn the fat stored in cellulite.  If you are very overweight or obese your body requires more water because the bigger the body is, the bigger the metabolic load is. An average weight person needs 2 litres of water a day with an additional glass for every 20 pounds of excess weight.

13.  HAVE A TREAT EACH WEEK
If you totally ban your favourite foods, it may lead to binge eating.  Don't think in terms of "forbidden foods" think of "treat foods" and you will be more in control of your weight loss success.

14.  WAIT WHEN YOUR BRAIN TELLS YOU "NOW!"
Research shows that we can train ourselves in delayed gratification.  When we are tempted to buy those treat foods at the supermarket or to take the "carbo bomb" sitting on the plate, remind yourself that "you have a plan and that you will not waiver.  Yes, I can have that food if it fits in with my diet, I can have a treat, but do I really need it at this moment?" Nominate a day of the week when you will eat your treat food or drink.  Look forward to it and enjoy.  Being in control will see you through moments of temptation and will empower you to control your cravings.

15.  ALCOHOL IS A DIET DISASTER
Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram, fat has 9 calories per gram.  Would you drink a glass of cooking oil without thinking about the calories and the weight gain?  Alcohol is immediately stored as abdominal fat, it is stored in the liver as fat and is added to the fat cells encasing your important abdominal organs.  Alcohol is also an appetite stimulant - not a good friend to have when you are on a diet.  Keep your consumption down to 1 glass a week.