Why The Road To Health Is Paved With, Often Unrealised, Good Intentions

I'm heartened to continue to find support for the approach that I've been taking with clients for the past eight years.  An article recently published (the condensed version of which is below) talks about how to close the gap between good intentions and healthy eating behaviour.  Success is achieved by using planning, coping/control and monitoring strategies.  

Translated this means:

• set goals and plan ahead, 
• actively work to change the use of food to control mood and 
• keep an eye on how your weigh-normalising journey is going.  Progress creates enthusiasm for continued effort.  

"We regularly hear how the best of intentions do not translate into action. This is nowhere more apparent than in the case of healthy eating, where many fall through the gap between intention and action. 


People who plan ahead are more likely to successfully carry out their good intentions compared to those who do not form plans. "Furthermore, individuals need to appraise and monitor their goal striving activities in order to realise their good intentions. This has a feedback mechanism with behaviour. Control and coping mechanisms are essential to maintain effort and good behaviour when faced with obstacles and temptation. These observations reinforce the view that maintaining healthy weight in an obesogenic environment requires more than instinct, it also requires a conscious effort," says Dr McCarthy. " 


The findings from this research are in keeping with evidence presented within the research literature and one can conclude that planning, monitoring activities, and coping/self-control are three important features in the transitional space between behavioural intention and behavioural action. A deep understanding of these concepts is undoubtedly important when attempting to facilitate health behaviour change efforts."


(Extracted from TResearch, Winter 2010, Vol 5, No. 4 p.18-19.  www.teagasc.ie)




  

Words of Wisdom

I just came across something I sent to a client a long time ago.  I hope these thoughts/statements are of use.
Mind

• I accept that my eating and weight concerns are creating emotional distress, discomfort, and suffering in my life.
• I choose to accept my body and weight as they are at this moment.
  Committing to accept myself is a choice only I can make.

Body

• I accept that my genetic inheritance strongly influences my body shape and weight.
• I accept how important it is for me to eat mindfully in order to live a healthy life.

Thoughts

• To accept my body and weight does not mean that I am judging them to be perfect
• Acceptance only comes from within myself. I don’t seek it from the outside.

Feelings

• I accept that my worth is not reflected by my weight and shape, but, rather, my worth is determined by who I am as a whole person.
• Acceptance includes rejecting the cultural and social messages I receive about weight.

  I hope your Sunday allows you some time for reflection and planning.

The World's Healthiest Foods

I've just stumbled upon an interesting website.  Its created by a not-for-profit organisation and they have measured the nutritional density of foods and rated those that are the most dense.  The main criteria used for inclusion is that a food is:

Nutritionally Dense,

Whole, not Processed,

Familiar,

Readily Available,

Affordable,

and

Taste Good.

When you click on an item of food, it will take you to the nutritional breakdown that they have tested for.  There are also plenty of recipes that are accessible and show the nutritional breakdown of the whole dish, which I haven't seen elsewhere.

This site and its information struck me as interesting, informative, reliable and a source of ideas.  

And here's the address:  http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php

Think about what a sparkle we'd have in our eye, and a spring in our step, if we ate mainly from this list.

So go sparkle and spring!

And if you needed any more encouragement...

Vegetables Reduce Breast Cancer Risk

Women consuming more vegetables have a decreased risk of breast cancer, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Researchers followed the diets of 51,928 participants in the Black Women’s Health Study. Participants who ate two or more servings of vegetables per day had a 43 percent decreased breast cancer risk, compared with those who ate less than four servings per week. Cruciferous vegetables (e.g., broccoli, cauliflower, and kale) and carrots had the largest impact on breast cancer risk. 

So get chopping, slicing, dicing and chewing!

The Definitive Serve

We all know (I hope) that lots of fruit and vegetables in the diet are not only good for energy but help with maintaining a healthy weight, good concentration and even quality sleep.  The standard recommendation is two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables per day.  And most Australians eat only half of that recommendation.

But I've never really been clear on what a "serve" means.  I've always just guessed as to what a serve of fruit or vegetables is.  Well the Australian Government has a definitive answer to this.  And I thought it was worth posting, just in case you worried that five serves a day was five cabbages or five pumpkins!  You can get some clarity right now!

What is a serve?

One serve of fruit is 150g of fresh fruit, e.g.

  1 medium sized piece of fruit (e.g. apple)

  2 smaller pieces (e.g. apricots)

  1 cup canned or chopped fruit

  1 1/2 tablespoons dried fruit (e.g. sultanas)

  4 dried apricot halves

One serve of vegetables is 75 grams, e.g.

  1/2 cup cooked vegetables

  1 cup salad vegetables

  1/2 cup cooked legumes (dried beans, peas or lentils)

So there you have it - the true size of a serve.  Now go straight to the fridge and serve yourself a serve!

Is McDonalds the Devil?

I.M.H.O. no.  Nor do I believe that The Sunshine and Light Health Cafe is God.

Go and look at this interesting research by Brian Wansink who is the uber-guru of food psychology.  When they put the same food in either a Subway or McDonald's wrapper, people estimated it had 21% less calories when it was in the Subway wrapper.  

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/204136.php 

CONSCIOUS eating is the new black.  Knowledge is power.  Don't assume. Read labels.  

Bikinis and bulges

There's a survey attached to an article in todays Age online.

http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/beauty/blogs/beauty-beat/comfortably-tummied/20100928-15um7.html#poll  Should overweight people wear bikinis or keep their fleshy bits covered up?  

There are two sides to this "coin", I think.

Firstly, fat acceptance is important.  People are discriminated against due to their weight and the more people allow themselves to make their own clothing choices based on their preference and not society's, the better.

On the other hand, people are discriminated against due to their weight and when an overweight person feels extremely self conscious they may want to soothe those feelings with food - causing more of a problem weight-wise.  So it may be better to wear something flattering and concealing, than let it all hang out. 

Here's one posted comment "Fat is not something you should inflict on others"

and another "People should wear whatever they feel comfortable in and never be concerned about the rampant wankery of those obsessed with "style" and "trends"."

What do you think?  (By the way, the survey was 66% against bikinis on overweight people, 34% for)