BLOG.INGRIDLOUISE.COM

Confessions of a Carb Junkie

2011-10-07T06:08:19Z

Today I want to tell you a little secret about me. I am a Carb junkie. I have suspected this for a while and now I know. And why would you be interested to know this?

Maybe you are as well; and maybe you just cannot shift that last few kilos or hav reached a weight loss plateau

What does it mean to be a Carb Junkie? In my world it means that I eat too many Carbohydrates for my lifestyle.

Why does our body need Carbs? Carbs are the main fuel for our muscles.

What are good Carbs?

Good Carbs are unprocessed carbohydrates in the "natural" state or very close to natural state; minamally altered or treated.

Leafy Green vegetables are about the best

Fruits provide good carbs

Beans and legumes are also, generally, included on the 'good carbs' list, as are nuts and seeds.

Whole-grain cereal foods - including whole-grain breads and pastas - are considered by many to be good carb foods

How much/ how many carbs do I need? and here is some brand new information for me. I need only about 80-100 grams of carbs per day

Which carbs have how many grams of carbohydrate?

Let me give you just a few examples. If you are really interested you might like to buy a Carb Counter from the newsagent. It might be interesting for you to track your carcb intake for a few days or a couple of weeks - you might be surprised just how many carbs you eat.

100g of Yoghurt ranges from:

19g carbs for the fruit low fat varieties to

4.6g carbs for the plain low fat

a cup of brown rice cooked is about 45 g carbs

a cup of cooked white rice is about 55g carbs

an apple is about 14g carb

100grms of blueberries is about 14 g of carbs

a slice of rye bread is 14g per slice

2 slices of Turkish toast is 80g carbs - almost the whole days carb allowance

I discovered very quickly that every day I was eating way more Carbs than I was burning fuel. No wonder those couple of holiday kilos were proving stubborn to move. It is a wonder I wasn't gaining more weight.

So I now eat less carbs and mostly I eat them in the first half of the day and this is making a difference; a slow difference.

Remember carbs give us fuel for our muscles. If we are reasonably sedentary then we don't need much muscle fuel and we don't need many carbs. And of course, if you do want to eat more Carbs then then you just need to get those muscles moving.

Have a great rest of your week and here's to Healthy Wealthy You

Ingrid Louise

Get Connected; Stay Connected

If you have received this newsletter and would like to sign up for your own copy, click here

Keen to read more?

Go to our blog where you can contribute and comment

Visit our shop where we have a great range of our products and the Fix My Pelvic Floor Kindle book is available at Amazon

Like us

Creating a Healthy Wealthy World,

one Healthy Person at a time;

Creating a Different kind of Wealth

Slow time ..... allow a little slow in your day

2011-04-12T04:10:00Z

Do you ever wish you had more time to "smell the roses"?

Every day I allow myself "slow time"; even if it is only a few minutes ...

Here are some slow suggestions

1. Take nothing for granted: watch water flow, the flowers grow, the leaves
blow, your neighbor mow.

2. Remember a happy, peaceful time in your past. Rest there. Each moment
has richness that takes a lifetime to savor.

3. Set your own pace. When someone is pushing you, it's OK to tell them
they're pushing.

4. Taste your food. Practice midful eating

5. Notice the sun and the moon and the stars. They are remarkable
for their steady pattern of movement, not their speed. Every morning I see the
morning star out to the east

7. When you talk with someone, don't think about what you'll say next. Listen to what
they are saying. Thoughts will spring up naturally if you let them.

8. Talk and play with children. It will bring out the unhurried little
person inside you.

9. Create a place in your home ... at your work ... in your heart ...
where you can go for quiet and recollection. You deserve it.

10. Allow yourself time to be lazy and unproductive. Rest isn't luxury;
it's a necessity.

11. Listen to the wind blow. The sound of wind in the trees has such "voice"

12. Rest on your laurels. They bring comfort whatever their size, age, or
condition.

13. Talk slower. Talk less. Don't talk. Communication isn't measured by
words.

14. Listen to the song of a bird; the complete song. Music and nature are
gifts, but only if you are willing to receive them.

15. Take time just to think. Action is good and necessary, but it's
fruitful only if we muse, ponder, and mull; aren't these beautiful words

16. Learn to stand back and let others take their turn as leaders. There
will always be new opportunities for you to step out in front, again.

17. Divide big jobs into little jobs. Those big jobs seem daunting; make it easier for yourself

18. When you find yourself rushing and anxious, stop.
Ask yourself "WHY?" are you rushing and anxious.
The reasons may improve your self-understanding.

19. Take time to read. Thoughtful reading is enriching reading.

20. Direct your life with purposeful choices, not with speed and
efficiency. The best musician is one who plays with expression and
meaning, not the one who finishes first.

21. Take a day off alone; make a retreat. You can learn from monks and
hermits without becoming one.

22. Pet a furry friend. You will give and get the gift of now.

23. Work with your hands. It frees the mind.

24. Take time to wonder. Without wonder, life is merely existence.

25. Sit in the dark. It will teach you to see and hear, taste and smell.

26. Count your friends. If you have one, you are lucky. If you have more,
you are blessed. Bless them in return.

27. Count your blessings - one at a time and slowly.

Being Resilient; a point of difference for your business

2011-04-06T05:52:00Z

This morning I attended the St George BEC Business Breakfast to give a presentation on the topic of Resilience and how being resilient can provide a point of difference in your business.

The topic fascinates me.

Are we born resilient?

Do we develop more resilience?

Is it possible to become less resilient?

How could resilience be a point of difference for your business?

Resilience generally means "bouncing back" or "rebounding" and can be applied to science, biology, engineering, IT and more recently has significant use regarding the human ability to deal with adversity. Adversity can be any event that causes a system to stretch from its natural state; this could be any hardship, difficult, misfortune, stress, catastrophe etc

Psychology describes resilience as:

i. the positive capacity of people to cope with stress and catastrophe

ii. the ability to bounce back to homeostasis after a disruption

iii. having an adaptive system that uses exposure to stress to provide resistance to future negative events.

If we are keen to understand whether we can build resilience then this third point is where I believe the key is. Exposure to events and adversities that over time build our resilience. I think of resilience as being like a muscle and like any muscle can be developed through regular exercise and stretching as well as a good diet and rejuvenating sleep.

Think about people you know who are resilient. How have they developed their resilience? What characterises their resilience?

Think about yourself. How many of these same characteristics do you have? What contributes to you being more resilient? What depletes your resilience?

Depleteing and building resilience:

Martin Seligman wrote Authentic Happiness. In this book he identifies a number of explanatory styles - how we view the adverse events in our lives.

Permanence describes how long the adversity will impact the individual.

Pervasiveness describes how deeply the adversity will impact the individual.

Personalisation describes the extent to which an individual believes they are responsible for an event or if it was out of their control

How we choose to explain the events in our lives either builds resilience or depletes resilience.

If you live in Sydney and are interested to learn more please attend St George BEC Business breakfast on April 21 - click here for details. Otherwise stay tuned for video and / or podcast of the session

International Women's Day 2011

2011-03-08T09:03:00Z

I have been to two separate events for International Women's Day. Yesterday I had lunch with Maggie Beer and Ronni Kahn; two women involved in food from different perspectives.

Maggie commented on the Food Police and how frustrating it is to not be able to give food samples at fetes and markets.

Ronni is the CEO of OzHarvest which "recycles" food that has been "left over" from certain restaurants and supermarkets. She has lobbyed government agencies to change the rules so that this is possible.

Both commented on the fact they do not have Business Plans and at the same time they both follow what they love and believe in. "Do what you love and the money will follow"

Maggie is 66 years old and they employ 80-90 people in their local community

Inspiring to be in the presence of these great women of food.

How would you spend $15?

2011-02-23T03:13:00Z

Recently I had a week at the beach with my mum, sister and 2 1/2 year old nephew. We had a great time swimming, walking, playing in the park and lots of time for chatting and just being together.

One morning mum "desperately" needed coffee so we stopped on the way home from the beach at one of the new cafes; coffee for mum and I, half strength skim hot chocolate (I was almost embarrassed to order this) for my sister and some sort of choclate milk for Riley. This cost $14.50

The next day we were preparing lunch and thought "a glass of something Sparkling would be nice". I zoomed across the road to the bottle shop where I was able to buy 2 bottles of a good brand of Australian Sparkling for $15. I thought "that's interesting" almost the same price as yesterdays coffees.

The following day we were being indulgent again - well we were on holidays !! Having been out all day swimming and playing we decided "Icecreams would be nice" Mum, Lisa and I chose our favourites - chocolate coated with almonds etc and these 3 cost $13.50

Hhhmmm our daily treats cost about the same amount of money each day - about $15.00 for coffees, for sparkling wine and for chocolate icecreams (we did only buy 3 icecreams between 4 of us and the previous day there was no Sparling for my nephew).

The question is which is the best value ?? which brought the most pleasure?? which would you choose??
I'm still deciding between the Sparkling and the Icecream

In the moment

2011-02-07T07:29:00Z

I thought I knew what this meant, until last week. In the past when I have heard someone say “in the moment” I thought I knew what they meant. Not thinking about the past or the future and just enjoying being here and now.

Last week my mum and sister and my nephew and I spent a fantastic week at the beach. Being with a little boy who is only 2 and a half taught me the meaning of “in the moment” in a way that I have never thought about it before.

We checked in to the hotel and then headed for the beach. On the way through the lobby Riley spotted the luggage trolley, he wanted to play with that so we did for a little while. We enticed him with “let’s go to the beach”. Outside the lobby is the gardens with circular paths and steps leading up to the pool and around the gardens. Riley thought this was great; he could run around the path and down the steps and around the garden, all the time laughing and squealing with delight. He could happily have stayed there. Again we enticed him “let’s go to the beach”.

At that moment it occurred to me “that means nothing to him, he is happy right now”

Eventually we get out of the grounds of the hotel and start walking down the street. Again he is happy running ahead, investigating the phone box “can we call someone?” and anything else that took his attention.

Between us and the beach was the park. As you can imagine that was our next stop. Up and down the slippery slide, on the swing and then back to the slippery slide. Again we had to drag him away to get to the beach. He wanted to stay at the park and cried when we said “let’s go to the beach”

The beach was perfect. At this time of the afternoon the tide was out and the waves were just the right size for fun and the sun had lost some of its heat and we swam and jumped in the surf. He had a fantastic time and didn’t want to leave.

It occurred to me later that this was a perfect example of “in the moment.” At each stage Riley was in the moment; fully focused on enjoying what he was doing – when he was playing with the luggage trolley, running around the paths in the hotel, definitely happy playing in the play park.

He wasn’t really interested in “what’s next” he was having a great time right now.

I thought “this is what it means to be in the moment”; now I really understand the concept.

Tips for Making this Year Different

2011-01-18T00:00:00Z

When it comes to goal setting people pretty much fall into 2 camps – people who set goals and those who don't. Over the past couple of weeks I have been conducting my own survey; casually asking people if they had set goals as part of the start of new year. Surprising to me is the number of people who have said "Oh I don't set goals; that doesn't work."

There are ways to make goal achievement more likely to be successful. If you want to make this year different try these 5 steps:

1. Set yourself only 2 or 3 goals.

I find that if I am working on too many goals at the same time that I don’t seem to achieve as much I think I ought to be able to. Working on less goals means I have more time to devote to each goal.

Try it, set only a few goals and work on them.

When you set yourself a few goals then you have more time to devote to each one. Devoting more time will result in more progress and more progress makes you feel more motivated. When you become more motivated, you will put more effort into working on your goals. It’s a very healthy cycle of motivation and success.

2. Write them down.

Amazing how many people don’t write down their goals.

All the research shows that there is significant increase in achievement when goals are written down.

3. Choose someone who will hold you accountable.

Coaches across the world know that one of the critical ways to improve performance is to be accountable to someone. When you know you have to report to someone who will not let you off the hook or listen to excuses, performance Always improves.

Think about a person who can be your mentor/ coach/ goal buddy. Ask this person to hold you accountable. Arrange weekly “check in” where you report progress towards your goal.

4. Keep your goals front of mind.

Years ago someone told me the difference between a millionaire and a billionaire is the frequency with which they keep check of their goals. When you keep your goals front of mind then you are more likely to take actions to achieve them.

What you focus on is what turns up in your life. I truly believe that this is one of the main reasons that people don’t make progress towards achieving their goals. It is important to be thinking about them all day long.

As part of my morning “preparation for the day” ritual I read my goals early in the morning. During the day I have times where I re-focus my attention to my goals. The more I am thinking about what I want to achieve the more my energy focuses on things that help me achieve them.

5. Do something every day.

This is a variation on my “just get started” motto. Each small step you take will move you close to your goal. Taking action is what will help you to achieve your goals. There are 365 days in a year and if you do one action every day that is 365 actions working towards your goal.

These are just words on a page, or computer screen until you bring them alive. Bring your goals to life with these 5 steps and you just might find that this year is Different.

Eating Fat does not make you fat

2011-01-10T06:05:00Z

We have established in the previous e-letter that the liver has 2 important functions:

Break down fats
Filter harmful substances

Eliminating the harmful substances will always take precedence on your liver’s “job card”. If your liver is busy coping with and eliminating the harmful substances then it cannot break down fats at the same time.

So if you want to get rid of fat, it seems fairly straightforward:

Stop distracting your liver by consuming harmful substances.

Of course many people are not aware of just how harmful some foods are. I use a simple rule of thumb – if I’m reading the ingredients on the side of the packet/ jar/ box and I cannot pronounce something out loud, chance are it’s “harmful” in the liver cleansing sense.

Once you get these harmful substances under control your liver can get working on breaking down the fats. Many people think that the way to lose weight or lose fat is to stop eating fat.

Eating fat does not make you fat – fat helps your liver break down existing fat through increasing the metabolic process. What is important is to eat the Good Fats as opposed to the Bad Fats.

What are the Bad Fats?

Trans fats - which are created when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil to make it more solid
Saturated fats – which are the solid fats

If you wanted to reduce the amount of Trans fats you would avoid:

Biscuits, cakes, donuts, pastries
Pizza, fries, corn chips, potato crisps

If you wanted to reduce the amount of Saturated fats you would avoid:

Deep fried food, most take-away fast food
Chicken skin, fatty meats
Cheese, ice cream
Lard – which is often used in pasty

If you have been working on eliminating the harmful chemical substances from your diet to help your liver then you have most likely reduced the amount of these foods that you eat. Isn’t it interesting how often the same “bad” foods turn up the same “bad foods” list.

What are the Good Fats? These are the fats that you can and ought to be eating; unsaturated fats:

Olive oil
olives
Vegetable oils
Oily fish and fish oils
raw nuts; almonds, peanuts, walnuts, cashew nuts
avocados
eggs

An important take away from this is to minimise the bad fats. Studies have shown that eating as little as 5 grams of trans fats a day can increase the risk of coronary heart disease by 25%. There is good research to show that eating moderate amounts of the good fats actually reduces risks of coronary disease.

It is easy to say “Eliminate the Bad Stuff”. I would rather focus on increasing the Good Stuff. When we eat more of the Good foods we don’t feel as inclined to want to eat the bad foods.

Look after your liver

2011-01-03T23:37:00Z

Eating fat does not make you fat; looking after your liver

Another New Year and another set of “lose weight” resolutions. A popular choice of diet for many hoping to keep that New Year resolution, will be the one that instructs the dieter to “cut out fat” or “eat less fat”. People will stock up on “low-fat” items believing that by cutting out “fat” they will lose weight. There are 2 problems with this thinking:

First: It is impossible to lose fat without eating fat. Fat does not make you fat.

Second: Fat is not your enemy. There are other enemies; chemicals and other harmful substances are a major issue in fat retention.

Many of the foods being sold today are laden with a variety of chemicals and other substances. Have you read a food label lately? Many of the ingredients listed are chemical compounds. Some of the “foods” are completely constructed in a laboratory eg some of the butter substitutes are all chemical.

You may be wondering “What have the chemicals got to do with fat and weight loss?”

It is all about your liver. Your liver has 2 functions:

1. Break down fats

2. Filter harmful substances

Filtering harmful substances will always take priority because this is about survival. When you eat foods that have chemical substances it is the liver that jumps into action to extract anything it deems “harmful” and filters them out as quickly as possible. When these substances are combined together the liver is overwhelmed. What things combine to overwhelm your liver?

Any processed foods
Artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes
Alcohol keeps the liver very busy
Preservatives take a lot of filtering
High fructose corn syrup is prevalent is so many foods and is extremely hard on the workings of your liver

If we are eating foods containing chemicals and other harmful substances every day, then all your liver ever does is filter out these harmful substances. For example if you have a muffin and a “high energy” mil drink, you liver will be working on all the chemicals in the muffin and the drink. By the time the liver has treated all the chemicals chances are it is lunch time and you have a “diet” drink and maybe a frozen “low fat” pre-made frozen lunch, or one of those bowls that you just add water. Again your liver will be busy with all the chemicals. After work you might stop off for a glass of wine and maybe some chips/crisps or those other tasty bar treats. Here is more work for your liver. And then dinner ….

Can you see how your liver is busy all day countering all the chemicals and never getting a chance to break down fats. And we haven’t even added in the snack chocolate bar or biscuits during the day.

Your liver never gets a chance to get to the main job of breaking down fats.

If you want your liver to break down fats then all you have to do is minimise the amount of harmful substances you consume. Stop eating the chemicals and give your liver a chance to get onto the main job of breaking down fats. You need to eat fats to lose fat.

We will look at good fats and bad fats in the next article. In the mean time have a good look in your pantry and fridge and eliminate as many of the chemical laden foods as possible. You may even find that just by taking these substances out of your kitchen, and out of your life, you might just lose weight – many others have done just this.

Staying Hydrated in Summer; nothing competes with water.

2010-12-12T02:59:00Z

My family call me the “Water Fairy”. Years ago my aunt started it because of my attention to making sure everyone had glasses of water. I grew up in Queensland at a time when there was no air-conditioning (was there a time?). At school or when playing sport, if we ever felt a bit woozy, or complained of headache, we were told to drink a large glass of water and rest for 10 mins in the shade. (I never remember anyone “popping” painkillers.)

Water is the best way to quench thirst. Juice, soft drinks and many commercial drinks actually further dehydrate an already thirty body.

Many of us carry our own water bottles with us so we can refill and reuse over and over. The question is, are the water bottles a health issue.

Last Christmas Day we went for an early morning walk at my favourite beach. Joy of joys, for my Playmate, there was a café open for coffee. I ordered and when I returned to the table he asks “Luvvie, how long have you had this water bottle?”

“Oh, just a couple of months”

“Couldn’t be, the expiry date on the bottle says ‘best before October 2007’” (Water has an expiry date?)

Seems my bottle was actually a couple of years old, not months. How time flies.

Our discussion then turned to the health impact of the reused water bottle. I choose to carry a plastic water bottle and am happy to carry the PET bottle for a couple of reasons; size and comfort for carrying when walking/ exercising. Often the PET bottles are contoured to make for easy grip/ lift / carrying.

In the past I have looked at the non-plastic bottles specifically designed for reuse and they are too big, too heavy and too uncomfortable to carry while walking.

So, the question is: is the PET bottle safe?

The bottles made from PET are safe so long as they are washed thoroughly with detergent to remove bacteria between uses. (I choose to throw mine away and start again any time I have the slightest “germ” in my system.)

If you re-use plastic drinking bottles made from polycarbonate, you need to be aware that with repeated use and washing, the plastic monomers can sometimes start to break down and release into the water. This doesn't necessarily create a health risk, but some of us would prefer to avoid the risk, especially where young children are concerned.

Aluminium and stainless steel bottles have become increasingly popular as well, and these are generally safe. Stainless steel can corrode a little over time and while the released iron won't harm you, can add an unpleasant taste to your water. Aluminium can also corrode and release aluminium salts into the water.

If you want to err on the side of caution when it comes to plastic drinking bottles, the best way to choose safely is to look at the recycling code on the base of the bottle:

Avoid drink bottles that have the recycling codes of 3 or 7, particularly for children.
The best bottles to use and re-use are those with the recycling codes 2, 4 and 5.
2 and 4 are made from polyethylene and 5 is made from polypropylene.

Source: ABC Health & Wellbeing

This is one “race” I am happy to finish last

2010-12-06T02:48:00Z

Have you ever noticed how quickly a meal is finished? This most often happens because of how quickly most people eat. I remember being at a family lunch and one of the people at the table was putting down his knife and fork at about the same time that I was having (about) my third bite. Admittedly I am a bit of a slow eater but only when I am comparing to others; I think my eating “speed” is normal.

When I am eating I enjoy the taste of food, I enjoy identifying all the different tastes. I enjoy the texture in my mouth.

New research finds “The rate at which people eat has been suggested to be positively associated with obesity…”

If you go to this link you will find it is written in complex scientific language.

Let me put it simply.

As we eat, our stomach releases “getting full now” or “stop eating soon” hormones into the blood stream; they are referred to as the “satiety” hormones because they signal when we are satisfied with how much food we have eaten. It takes time (about 15 mins) for the gut to start releasing the hormones and if we are eating quickly, we may have eaten beyond our “satiety” point.

What the research has done is look at the correlation between speed of eating and obesity levels and found a positive correlation:

People who eat quickly are more likely to be obese, or overweight.

What can you do?

Self monitor for the next few meals. How long does it take to eat each meal? If you eat a meal in less than 15 minutes and still feel hungry, wait till at least 15 minutes has passed before eating anything else.

How can you slow down?

1. Put down your fork between mouthfuls. Set the fork on the plate and chew your food, only pick up the fork when you have finished swallowing. I have a client that did this and this is almost the only thing she did. Stella still ate chips and sweet items at the beginning and managed to lose weight in the first 2 weeks Just By Putting Down Her Fork

2. Don’t talk with food in your mouth. Now I sound like your mother or grandmother! I am astounded at how many people are so eager to talk/ make their point that they are chewing and talking and swallowing and loading up their fork for the next mouthful which they manage to shovel in mid sentence!! I some times wonder what they would think if they could see themselves? So much of our social interactions happen over meals and there is always lots of conversation; balance the conversation with the eating.

3. Half fill your fork. Put a bit less on each forkful. I see people loading up their forks as if this is the last chance to eat. Your mouth will be less full and then you will be better able to taste your food.

4. Eat foods you enjoy. When we eat foods we really enjoy we are more likely take a bit longer because we want the pleasure to last.

5. Think about what you are eating. Feel the textures, identify the individual flavours. I am a real “zealot” about this. Some meals take many hours to prepare and so we do justice by taking time to enjoy the food. Fruits and vegetables take months to grow so we honour the plants when we take our time to enjoy the taste.

With the festive season upon us we are likely to be enjoying social eating and some people will put in a lot of “love filled effort” to preparing special offerings.

Let’s honour them accordingly and at the same time maintain our good health in this time of so much focus on food.

Go Home on Time Day; November 24

2010-11-22T05:53:00Z

Wednesday, 24 November, is Go Home on Time Day , an initiative of The Australian Institute., based on recent research that confirms work is getting in the way of many people living their lives the way they want to.

The study found that because of the time spent at work:

One in two Australians are prevented from spending enough time with family
One in two Australians are prevented from doing physical exercise
One in three Australians are prevented from eating healthy meals
One in four Australians are too busy to go to the doctor when they probably should

Go Home On Time Day hopes to raise awareness about the extent of overwork in Australia. The statistics read as follows:

The typical full-time employee in Australia works 70 minutes of unpaid overtime a day.
This equates to 33 eight-hour days per year, or six and a half standard working weeks.

Put another way, Australian workers are ‘donating’ more than their annual leave entitlement back to their employers in the form of unpaid overtime.

The irony is that many people would say that they work long hours because they are providing the life they want for their family. And yet are not able to spend the time they want to with their family. “Oh, I’ll spend more time … next year … when the project is finished … when we get through this busy time … when we have a fully staffed department .... when Susan/ Peter/ John gets back from holiday/ sick leave/ parental leave …. “

All about making promises that things will be different ….. “when ….” And some people find that when “when” arrives, it’s too late.

There are a number of people who are making decisions to live their life in a different way; to resist the pressure to spend too much time at work and to make time for the tings they enjoy.

Wednesday is just one day, Go Home on Time Day . What decisions are you making every day about how you spend your time?

http://www.gohomeontimeday.org.au/

“It’s only 3 kilos ....”

2010-10-28T05:58:00Z

Yesterday the most interesting thing happened. I work with a corporate client on Wednesdays and they were having a “Safety Week” event that included information from Weight Watchers and one of the leading health funds.

As part of the health fund “station” there was a machine that measures whether you are standing evenly across both feet. I thought it would be fun to find out if I stand evenly. I had to wait my turn and while waiting I tried out this other machine that reads body weight, body fat % and BMI.

The machine looks like a set of scales and the young man tapped in my information; height, age and female. Then he said a couple of interesting things:

The first was: “Don’t worry about the BMI, that was never intended as an individual measurement - it was always intended as a measure of a community”

Personally, I have never really paid much attention to BMI because it didn’t really make sense; now I know why.

He then went on to say “Your weight is on the high end of the range for your height and age; should be between 50.4 kg and 68.1kg. It would probably be a good idea for you to be about 59-60kg so you need to lose about 3 kilos.”

“Oh,” I replied “three kilos?”

“Hey, it’s only 3 kilos, that’s nothing.” He then went on to tell me that all I needed to do was cut down on the amount of fat I eat and it would be easy. Not once did he ask me anything about what I eat, exercise, lifestyle, general health.

“It’s just 3 kilos, that’s nothing”

I said “good bye” and left. I didn’t have time to wait for the balance test.

Afterwards I thought about what he had said. I have a couple of issues. Firstly, the fact that he thought for me to lost 3 kilos would be “nothing”. I presume by “nothing” he means “effortless”. I have been this same weight for more than 10 years and I have not ever really tried to lose weight I just eat a healthy, balanced diet and do some sort of exercise every day. I wondered what it would take to lose weight and wondered about this young man’s personal experience at losing a prescribed amount of weight for him to say “3 kilos, that’s nothing”

A second issue relates to the concept of “set point”. Dr Amanda Sainsbury-Salis talks about “set point”; which is the amount of body fat that the body decides is right for a point in time. Of course “set point” is not fixed but it does take a deliberate strategy to change the body’s “set point”. I feel that my body has reached a comfortable “set point” and I would need a very deliberate strategy. My recent experience with “dry July” suggests that it might take a real “jolt” to destabilise my “set point”.

The range for my height is almost 20 kilos – he said “between 50.4 kg and 68.1kg” and my 63 kg seems OK to me. What might be important is whether this changes i.e. increases.

The real issue for me with this comment is that he asked me nothing; not one single question about my health, diet, anything. He has based his statement on a chart that he has in his head about what height and weight a woman my age “should” be. He knows nothing of my history or life style.

If I was a different person that information could have had a disheartening effect. I know clients who would be very “traumatised” by a statement like this. Women who have worked for a period of time to change exercise and eating habits and are seeing the results. A close encounter with some one like this could be quite detrimental. Many people are very quick to give power to so called “experts”.

He was representing an authority in Health Care as an “expert” and there is a responsibility to represent with integrity.

Anyway, if you find yourself at one of these opportunities for a “quick assessment” take it for what it is; a “quick assessment” based on very minimal information. There may be some usefulness in the information so it is for You to be discerning about how much power you give to their comments. Also maybe question the “expertise” of the person operating the machine.

I’m wondering if this person was a health expert or a promotional person hired for the information booth.

Teetering Along ??

2010-10-28T00:09:00Z

Are you teetering along in high heels ?? I have been working with a Corporate client and am amazed at how high the heels are around the office.

I actually wonder if these women can see themselves as they walk? Mostly their posture is quite strange. The high heels create this pivot between their bottom and their boobs - both stick out at an unnatural angle. There is one young woman who also wears a very tight skirt (at least one size too small) and complains about having a sore back and would rather pay for chiro and physio than "give up my heels".

Mostly, I wear flat shoes and on the occasional day when I wear heels, my feet and legs know about it for a couple of days.

What we do know from years of research into the effects of wearing high heels is that it does put extra pressure on the ankle, knee and hip joints. Over time this will take its toll on the joints and leave women with aches and pains and often requiring joint replacement.

While I am not advocating permanent expulsion of all shoes with heels, I am suggesting that maybe one day a week, or more often, you could wear flatter shoes; or perhaps try the "New York look" and wear your sneakers with your suit to and/ or from the office. There used to be more women opting for this.

As we approach the "party season" and with our warmer weather inviting us to show off our curvy ankles, enjoy your heels, in moderation and look for "flat shoe day" opportunities

How Much Sugar is in That ??

2010-08-15T06:09:00Z

If some one asked you"which has more sugar?" and they are holding Coca-Cola in one hand and a tub of yoghurt in the other - which would you choose?

Chances are you would choose the Coca-Cola - well you would probably be wrong. Most yoghurt contains more sugar per 100g than Coke does. And chances are you are eating the yoghurt because it says Low Fat.

Check the sugar content on the label, you may be very surprised at what you are eating.

This week I have come across a new book "The Sweet Poison Quit Plan" by David Gilespie. I have written to you previously about his earlier book "Sweet Poison".

If you haven't read David's earlier book "Sweet Poison" this "Quit Plan" book gives a good summary in the first chapter. David describes himself as a "recovering corporate lawyer, co-founder of a successful software company and consultant to the IT industry". He set out to find out why he was 40kg overweight. His research into all the latest medical findings led him to the "chilling" fact that "he needed to stop poisoning himself" - with sugar.

His books are easy to read and his website is loaded with information about sugars and how much sugar is in so many food products and what to choose as alternatives. He talks about sugar as being an addiction similar in addictive properties as heroin or cocaine and certainly as addictive as nicotine. Kicking the sugar habit is the same as kicking other extreme addictions.

www.sweetpoison.com.au

Watch one of the videos of him being interviewed - very informative about how much sugar we are consuming. He says the best thing we can do is to create a sugar free environment, for ourselves and for our children. Regarding soft drinks and fruit juice - remove them from childrens' diet; as he says "if children are not interested in water or milk, they are not thirsty"

Last month we did Dry July and my Pilates teacher was saying that because she doesn't actually drink very much alcohol maybe she would be better staying away from sugar "but I'm addicted". Maybe we need Sugar Free September for the sugar addicts.

Maybe sugar free is not for everyone - certainly made a huge difference to David and many of the people who have read the first book. Make the informed choice for yourself .....

What to do when you don’t feel like exercising?

2010-08-15T06:00:00Z

You have created your exercise goals and you have a plan for exercising, here are the tried and tested ways of staying engaged with your exercise plan. You have heard these before:

exercise with a friend
find a coach
work with a personal trainer
join a team sport
do something you really enjoy
make a date with yourself so it is always in your diary

You already know that if you implement one or all of these your chances of sticking with your plan will improve.

In addition here is what I have discovered to be true for myself; it is all about how I think. This is a 3 stage escalation. If you achieve Step 1 you won’t need step 2 or 3. If you get to Step 2 and achieve that, you won’t need Step 3. Step 3 is your last chance:

Step 1: Don’t think about it.

I just don’t think about it. I am a morning exercise person. I get out of bed and get dressed and I am out the door before I even give myself a chance to think about it; to wonder if I will exercise today, or not.

I recommend that my clients that they try this – don’t even give yourself a chance to think about it. Lay out all your clothes the night before – shorts, top, socks, shoes, water bottle keys, ipod. Make it really easy to be successful. Set the alarm, get up, get dressed and go. Whether you are working with a personal trainer or you walk, swim, run or go to the gym on your way to work – get your work clothes and breakfast ready as well. Do everything the night before.

If you are going to gym or class at lunchtime or on your way home from work, make an appointment in your Outlook calendar. Set aside the time. Have the clothes handy.

Other things that will help with “don’t think about it” - choose a gym that is convenient, attractive and clean. Work with a personal trainer who is a good fit with your needs. Find a Pilates or yoga class that is the style you enjoy. Do everything possible to ensure you are successful. This is not the time for self sabotage.

Step 2: Remember the Benefits to You

If I do find myself thinking about whether maybe today I won’t get out of bed and exercise - I immediately refer to my benefits list.

Occasionally I find myself awake in bed in the morning and I think “maybe not today”. The reality is that if I miss one day, it is not going to make much difference. The danger is that it could be the beginning of a new habit and I might be tempted to miss tomorrow as well. I immediately remind myself of my benefits – I know I always feel good once I get started, I know that I am taking care of my bones in the future, I know that when I am feeling fit and healthy I think more clearly and am more focussed etc I have my list in my head so that any early wavering is countered immediately.

My clients do this and find that the more they remind themselves of the Benefits of why this goal is important, they are less likely to skip their exercise. They also find that the Benefits more easily come to mind. Be very clear about the Benefits to You and have them committed to memory so that you can call on them any time you feel that initial wavering from your plan.

Step 3: Just do Some Thing; get started

If I am at the stage where reminding myself of the Benefits hasn’t worked (and clearly I am past the Don’t Think stage) then I have to tell myself to “Just do Some Thing; make a start”

Some mornings I might truly not feel like doing outside exercise so I will do something indoors – my own yoga sequence, or follow a Pilates dvd. Or I may not feel like a whole gym work out and decide a brisk walk around the park in the fresh air will be better for me today. Just do Some Thing. And I have an agreement with myself that this is OK sometimes, not every day, this is a sometimes strategy.

My clients who have tried this tell me that knowing they have “permission” to deviate from their schedule means that they hardly ever do. Even if we have designed our own regime we could end up feeling that it is overwhelming. People who have been long term exercise people have less difficulty staying with an intensive exercise schedule. I know a woman who runs races that are 100 kms. She says that she doesn’t think about the whole 100 kms – she starts out to run the first 10 kms, and runs the rest in stages after that. She says that there are times in the 100kms that she might think “just to that next tree”.

These three Steps can be applied beyond your exercise plans. Anything that you are trying to achieve can be mastered and completed using this methodology. The third factor “Just do Some Thing” is particularly useful for dealing with procrastination – that is a whole other article.

Changing your habits and learning how to do things differently can be challenging. Set your self up for success, create goals that stretch you and inspire you, nail those Benefits and make them so clear they spring to mind easily and readily to help keep you on track; to live Healthy, Wealthy and Happy.

What I learned from Dry July

2010-08-06T04:57:00Z

It's August, which means that Dry July is over. I engaged in Dry July this year as support for my Playmate, as he is affectionately known (partner doesn't sound right for me, or him). Dry July is a Sydney based challenge to not drink any alcohol for the month of July.

Anyway, he asked me to join him last year and I wasn't that keen; this year I took up the challenge.

I don't drink all that much but I do enjoy a good wine with my meals.

The first week was quite uncomfortable and I found myself thinking often "hhmmm a glass of wine would be nice"

By week 2, thoughts of wine became less frequent and by week 3 all but gone. We were invited to a 40th birthday party so I thought "one glass to be convivial and celebratory"and I actually had a second glass.

Here is the interesting thing - the wine didn't taste that great (it was an OK wine) and I didn't feel that great the next morning, a sort of dull feeling in my head.

The outcome for me - in the future only the very best wine will pass my lips and one glass will probably be sufficient.

Oh, and the real reason I did the whole "dry July" thing ?? partly as support - but also everyone makes such a fuss about how much weight they lose when they stop drinking - got to tell you, not a miligram nor a milimetre difference!! I do feel better and am not really missing it at all.

How to stick to my action plan to reach my goal; what I learned from Dry July:

It is important to have a really good reason for doing it as well as a really good back up reason for doing it - WIIFM - What's In It For Me.

My first reason was to be supportive to some one who is important to me (and especially when I refused last year), second to test myself if I could actually go all month without alcohol - surly not such a big deal, and third to see if this weight loss claim was true for me

Your reason/s or WIIFM can be said in just a few words and can be said often - especially when thoughts like "maybe just this one (or once)" pop into my head.

I said to myself "it's just a few days and this is a choice to be a helpful Playmate and maybe lose weight as well"

find a replacement for the old habit, especially in the first few days/ weeks; at the beginning

I drank tea at "cocktail hour" and water with meals.

focus on what you can do toady, break the big piece into little pieces.

Recently I had heard a long distance runner speaking about how she runs 100 km; she stars off thinking about a 10 km run, then she runs the next 5km and then the next 5km. At20 km she says "another 5km and I will be a quarter done" She never really thinks of the full 100km - she breaks it into chuncks/ pieces.

I thought of July as days and weeks - not the whole month.

Keeping it in positive terms and know how it fits into a larger plan or program.

It was interesting that when I went to lunch with a friend and didn't have wine and dinners with friends and didn't have wine and said "I am doing dry July" everyone just said"OK". Not once did anyone try to tempt me. I think it helps not to make a fuss and draw attention to what you are not having or not doing,rather put it in terms of what I am doing

How can you connect your goals and actions to a larger initiative?? whether for yourself or for the community?

Whatever your goal having an action plan will help you reach your goal and having tactics for staying with the plan is critical.

Happy goal planning and action implementing

Why Does my Bladder Leak?

2010-08-02T05:00:00Z

I am often asked this question. We conduct regular workshops for women who have the symptoms of and who suffer from Urinary Incontinence. Understanding the answer to this really important question “Why does my Bladder Leak?” and what each woman can do to stop that leaking, is one of the key outcomes from the workshop sessions.

We start by understanding how the bladder works. The main reason most women experience bladder leakage is physiological so they need to understand how their bladder works.

At the base of the bladder is a valve called the bladder sphincter. The bladder sphincter is a ringlike muscle that normally maintains constriction of the bladder and relaxes to allow normal physiological functioning i.e. emptying. The bladder sphincter is aided by the Pelvic Floor muscles.

The Pelvic Floor muscles are a group of muscles that create stability in the pelvis and they act as the foundation of the core of the body. They inter connect and connect all the bones of the pelvis. The Pelvic Floor muscles are some what thing like a multilayered supporting hammock. When the Pelvic Floor muscles are healthy and have strong muscle tone they support both the bladder and anal sphincters.

If the Pelvic Floor muscles are damaged or weakened they are not able to support the bladder sphincter as effectively as they would if they were strong and healthy.

Put simply, if the bladder sphincter is not held closed then urine leaks out. This is referred to as Urinary Incontinence or UI.

The next really important piece to understand is “What causes the Pelvic Floor muscles to weaken?” or “What damages the Pelvic Floor muscles?” and “What can we do about it?”

There are a number of causes of weakened or damaged Pelvic Floor muscles eg from pregnancy or childbirth, from incorrect lifting or repeatedly carrying heavy weights; a topic for future blogs. And we teach what to do about it at our workshops.

We are currently designing on-line workshops so for women who are not able to attend our face-to-face sessions.

Stay tuned for the on-line version coming soon.

To Clench or not to Clench

2010-07-25T00:50:00Z

When you are doing your pelvic floor exercises you are lifting and squeezing - No Clenching

I was at a candle party on Friday night and we were talking about what we all are working on. I mentioned that I have almost finished my pelvic floor book and that I am really pleased with how it has progressed. With that one of the women said “great reminder to clench”.

One of the things we know about pelvic floor exercises is that doing them incorrectly is worse than not doing them at all. You can actually create damage by not having the right technique.

The pelvic floor muscles need to be exercised every day with the correct technique and it is with a lifting and gentle squeezing, No Clenching.

“Your Healthy and Strong Pelvic Floor – Penny will teach you what you need to know” is almost due for release. This book includes all the information you need to know about your pelvic floor muscles and has a detailed exercise section to help you to create a daily ritual to do your pelvic floor exercises correctly – to lead to your healthy and strong pelvic floor. At any time if you are in any doubt about doing your pelvic floor exercises correctly contact a pelvic floor physiotherapist and they will be able to check your technique.

http://www.womenshealthinitiative.org/

PS: If you haven’t been to a candle party look out for one to go to or even host one yourself, they are lots of fun and all those gorgeous candles and flickering light and atmosphere. It is a party plan way of selling candles and a really lovely opportunity to get together with friends and think about different ways to decorate your home and living space.

Who would have thought that the humble Cucumber could do so much?

2010-07-13T03:19:00Z

Add a cucumber to your shopping basket, you just never know what you might need it for:

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Cucumbers are NATURAL BORN PEST KILLERS

Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

4. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won't leave streaks and won't harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!