If there is one thing I know for sure is that we are all connected and what happens here, happens everywhere else too in our global families. We are doing work that is not only for us here on the tip of Africa, but for all humanity and for future generations.
What we do and what we eat, and choose to buy to eat everyday, is something profound and that matters a great deal.
Jane Bullen,
COO The Noakes Foundation
5 Silly-Season reasons to change your life
Don’t miss this massive opportunity to be ahead of your health goals as the new decade starts.
Know Yourself
You will learn a lot about yourself when you are faced with every imaginable situation where a binge or a bender is appropriate. In other words, you will be able to compile a list of red flags or improvement areas to work on.
This person, this activity, that venue each lend themselves to excess. Now I can troubleshoot each scenario one by one.
You can never do this January because everyone’s gone back to doing their own thing, and these events are no longer available for analysis.
Know Who Matters
When you decide to do something outside of the norm, people get upset. It’s not personal. People see themselves as better than you in one way and when you do something that is “better” than them, (such as eating healthily over the holiday period) you are shattering their image of themselves.
These people will encourage you to break your goals with excuses like “You’re not living,” “You’re being extreme,” “Be kind to yourself.” What they’re actually saying is, “I feel insecure when you are successful.”
So when you declare that you’re keeping it clean, watch out for people who don’t dig that. What they’re actually telling you is that they think they are better than you. Smile and wave…..
Develop Fearlessness
Let’s say you have two work functions, four social dinners, one week holiday with family and friends, a big celebration meal and a bender on New Year. You’re looking at fifteen events that could derail you. If you get through fifteen events in quick succession, where you would have been tempted to eat filth, you would have built some serious mental strength and resolve.
The next time you would have faced that kind of temptation, is in the April holidays (in South Africa, at least). You will have the mindset of “If I can make it through the holidays, I can make it through anything.”
Have More Fun
Have you ever heard anyone say they felt really good after eating and drinking for the month of December? If you go easy on the wheat, sugar, refined carbs and dairy (for some), you will have more energy, a clearer head and you will sleep better. Fact.
More energy and better sleep will make you more tolerant of your kids, better equipped to deal with whatever family politics rear their head, but most importantly, more excited about taking the family adventure, the morning beach walk or the team hike.
Get the Unfair Advantage
In January when everyone is trying to remember their New Year’s resolutions, you won’t need one. You can just carry on as normal with less pressure and more practice under your belt.
You will come into the office, the home, the school term, or wherever you go after holidays, with a clear head and possibly a smaller pair of pants – ready to kill.
One More Thing – Break the Pattern
If you’ve been peaking and troughing in and out of healthy eating your whole life, this is an opportunity to break the pattern. A new year presents many challenges and opportunities, but your health should not be something that you swing in and out of. If you intend on being healthy for the rest of your life, you will have another holiday and those events and people are going to be there.
How long do you want to wait before developing a way to be unshakable in those situations?
If you would like to get started at once, then claim your FREE weight loss coaching call here.
Clinical proof that the keto diet is protecting me against inflammation
Ketogenic weight loss
I discovered low carbohydrate, healthy fat ketogenic weight loss in 2012 when at the age of 58 my waist line started to get fatter and I inexplicably picked up weight, even though I believed that I was making good food choices. At the time I was exercising regularly.
After about 15 weeks I had shed 8 kilograms, slimmed down by 22 centimeters overall, and my body fat had decreased by 10 % according to a skin fold test conducted by my biokineticist. As I learned more about carbohydrate restriction and also began to practice intemittent fasting, I lost a further 2 kilograms and centimeters.
Ketogenic weight loss is sustainable
That was 7 years ago and my weight and waist measurement are constant. My mood is upbeat and stable, I have heaps of energy, sleep well, and no longer need to use anti-depressants nor anti-anxiety medication.
Healthy blood readings and protection from inflammatory diseases
As clinical proof that the low carbohydrate, healthy fat keto lifestyle is healthy, I have my results from fasting blood tests on 7 November 2019
P-GLUCOSE FASTING
My result is 4.2 mmol/l
Normal result should be between 3.5 – 5.5 mmol/L
CRP ULTRASESITIVE screening for risk factors for cardiovascular disease
My result is 0.26
The low risk range is < 1mg/L
P-HOMOCYSTEINE screening for risk of atherosclerosis and blood clots
My result is 13.8
Normal range is between 5.0 – 20.0 umol/L
INSULIN FASTING
My result is 3.2
Normal result should be between 2.1 – 10.4 mIU/L
FREE 30 minute weight loss coaching session
Contact me now to book your FREE 30 minute weight loss coaching session and have your questions answered.
What are the five basic steps of weight loss? – Coffee: Healthier than we thought
REDUCE YOUR CONSUMPTION OF ADDED SUGARS
COFFEE: HEALTHIER THAN WE THOUGHT
Due to its high caffeine content, coffee is sometimes considered unhealthy. However recent research has come to the opposite conclusion, perhaps due to the fact that coffee is a major source of antioxidants, magnesium and chlorogenic acid.
Coffee protects against type 2 diabetes
Coffee, even the decaffeinated version appears to protect against type 2 diabetes. In a 2009 review, each additional daily cup of coffee lowered the risk of diabetes by 7%, even up to six cups per day. The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study estimated that drinking at least three cups of coffee or tea daily reduced the risk of diabetes by 42%.
The Singapore Chinese Health Study showed a 30% reduction in risk.
Coffee reduces total mortality
Large scale studies found that most major causes of death, including heart disease, were reduced. Coffee may guard against neurologic diseases Altzheimers, Parkinsons disease, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.
As a caution, while these correlation studies are suggestive, they are not proof of benefit. However, they suggest that coffee may not be as harmful as imagined.
Store your coffee beans well
Use an airtight container away from excessive moisture, heat and light. Flavor is lost quickly after grinding so investing in a reliable grinder is worthwhile. Grind beans immediately before brewing.
Iced coffee is easy and inexpensive to make
Simply brew a pot of regular coffee and cool it in the refrigerator overnight. You can cinnamon, coconut oil, vanilla extract, almond extract and cream to flavor your coffee without changing its healthy nature.
Avoid adding sugar or other sweeteners.
Replace addictive snacks with coffee in your weight loss diet
Dr. Robert Cywes recommends sipping on hot black coffee during your day, to avoid reaching for processed food snacks when you are Banting or on a keto diet.
REFERENCE:
The Obesity Code – Dr. Jason Fung
IMAGE CREDIT:
Mike Kenneally, Unsplash
What are the five basic steps of weight loss – Beverages: No sugar added
STEP 1: REDUCE YOUR CONSUMPTION OF ADDED SUGARS
BEVERAGES: NO SUGAR ADDED
The sugar-sweetened drink is one of the leading sources of added sugars. This includes soda pop, sugar-sweetened teas, fruit juice, fruit punch, vitamin water, smoothies, shakes, lemonade, chocolate or flavored milk, iced coffee drinks and energy drinks.
Hot drinks such as hot chocolate, mochaccino, cafe mocha and sweetened coffee and tea can also be included. Trendy alcoholic drinks add significant amounts of sugar to your diet, including such drinks as ‘hard’ lemonade, flavored wine coolers, cider beers as well as more traditional drinks such as Baileys Irish Cream, margaritas, daiquiris, pina coladas, dessert wines, ice wines, sweet sherries and liqueurs.
What about alcohol itself?
Alcohol is made from the fermentation of sugars and starches from various sources. Yeast eat the sugars and convert them to alcohol. Residual sugars result in a sweeter beverage. Sweetened dessert wines are obviously full of sugar and not recommended.
However, moderate consumption of red wine does not raise insulin or impair insulin sensitivity, and therefore may be enjoyed. Up to two glasses a day is not associated with major weight gain and may improve insulin sensitivity.
The alcohol itself, even from beer seems to have minimal effects on insulin secretion or insulin resistance. It is sometimes said that you get fat from the foods you eat when you drink alcohol, rather than the alcohol itself. There may be some truth to that although the evidence is sparse.
So what is left to drink?
The best drink really is just plain or sparkling water. Slices of lemon, orange or cucumber are a refreshing addition.
Just be sure to cut sugar out of your life once and forever, in order to succeed on your weight loss diet.
REFERENCE:
The Obesity Code – Dr Jason Fung
What are the five basic steps of weight loss – make breakfast optional
STEP 1: REDUCE YOUR CONSUMPTION OF ADDED SUGARS
MAKE BREAKFAST OPTIONAL
Breakfast is, without question, the most controversial meal of the day.
The advice to eat something, anything, as soon as you step out of bed is often heard. But breakfast needs to be downgraded from ‘most important meal of the day’ to ‘meal’.
Different nations have different breakfast traditions. The big American breakfast contrasts directly with the French ‘petit jeuner’ or ‘small lunch’. The key word here is ‘small’.
The greatest problem is, that like snacks, breakfast foods are often little more than desserts in disguise containing vast quantities of processed carbohydrates and sugar. One of the main ways to succeed with a Banting weight loss diet or a keto weight loss diet, is to forego sugar altogether.
Breakfast cereals, particularly those that target children are among the worst offenders. On average they contain 40% more sugar than those that target adults. Not surprisingly, almost all cereals for children contain sugar and ten of them contain more than 50% sugar by weight. Only 5.5 percent met the standard for ‘low sugar’. In diets of children under age eight, breakfast cereals rank only behind candy, cookies, ice cream and sugared drinks as sources of dietary sugar.
A simple rule to follow is this: Don’t eat sugared breakfast cereal.
Many breakfast items from the bakery are highly problematic: muffins, cakes, banana bread and Danishes. Not only do they contain significant amounts of refined carbohydrates, they are often sweetened with sugars and jams. Bread often contains sugar and is eaten with sugary jams and jellies. Peanut butter often contains added sugar.
Traditional and Greek yogurts are nutritional foods. However, commercial yogurts are made with large amounts of added sugar and fruit flavors.
Oatmeal is another traditional and healthy food. Whole oats and steel-cut oats are a good choice requiring long cooking periods because they contain significant amounts of fibre that requires heat and time to break down.
Avoid instant oatmeal. It is heavily processed and refined which allows for instant cooking and it contains large amounts of added sugar and flavors. Most of the nutritional value is gone.
While rolled oats and dried fruit granola attempt to disguise themselves as healthy, they are often heavily sugared and contain chocolate chips and marshmallows.
Eggs, previously shunned because of cholesterol concerns can be enjoyed in a variety of ways: scrambled, over easy, sunny side up, hard-boiled, soft-boiled, poached, etc.
Egg whites are high in protein, and the yolks contain many vitamins and minerals including choline and selenium. Eggs are particularly good sources of lutein, zeaxanthin, antioxidants that may help protect the eyes against macular degeneration and cataracts.
The cholesterol in eggs may actually help your cholesterol profile by changing the cholesterol particles to the larger, less atherogenic particles. Large epidemiologic studies have failed to link increased egg consumption with increased risk of heart disease.
Eat eggs because they are delicious, whole unprocessed foods.
Consider this: If you are not hungry, don’t eat at all.
Simplify your life.
Reference:
The Obesity Code – Dr. Jason Fung
What are the basic steps of weight loss? Just don’t snack
STEP 1: REDUCE YOUR CONSUMPTION OF ADDED SUGARS
JUST DON’T SNACK
The healthy snack is one of the greatest weight-loss deceptions.
The myth that ‘grazing is healthy’ has attained legendary status. If we were meant to ‘graze’, we would be cows.
Grazing is the direct opposite of virtually all food traditions. Even as recently as the 1960’s people only ate three meals per day.
Constant stimulation of insulin leads to insulin resistance.
The solution? Stop eating all the time.
Snacks are often little more than thinly disguised desserts.
Most contain prodigious amounts of refined flour or sugar.
These pre-packaged conveniences have taken over the supermarket shelves.
Are snacks necessary? No. Simply ask yourself this question. Are you really hungry or just bored? Keep snacks completely out of sight.
If you have a snack habit replace that habit loop with one that is less destructive to your health. Perhaps a cup of green tea in the afternoon should be your new habit and will ensure success with your weight loss keto diet.
There’s a simple answer to the question of what to eat at snack time.
Nothing. Don’t eat snacks. Simplify your life. Period.
REFERENCE:
The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung
What are the five basic steps of weight loss and what to do about desserts
STEP 1: REDUCE YOUR CONSUMPTION OF ADDED SUGARS
WHAT TO DO ABOUT DESSERTS
Most desserts are easily identified and eliminated from your diet.
Desserts are mostly sugar with complimentary flavours added.
Examples include cake, cookies, puddings, pies, mousses, ice cream, sorbets, candy and candy bars.
So, what can you do about dessert?
Follow traditional societies by:
- Have fresh, seasonal fruits, locally grown, with whipped cream
- Have a small plate of nuts and cheeses
- Dark chocolate with more than 70 percent cacao is a healthy treat
Chocolate is made from cocoa beans and does not naturally contain sugar. (However, most milk chocolate does contain large amounts of sugar.) Dark and semisweet chocolate contain less sugar than milk or white varieties.
Dark chocolate also contains significant amounts of fiber and anti-oxidants such as polyphenols and flavanols.
Studies on dark chocolate consumption indicate that it may help reduce blood pressure, insulin resistance and heart disease. Most milk chocolates are little more than candies with not enough cacao to offer benefit.
Nuts, in moderation, are another good choice for an after-dinner indulgence.
Most nuts are full of healthful, monounsaturated fats, have little or no carbohydrates and also contain fibre.
Macadamia, walnuts and cashews can all be enjoyed. Many studies show an association between increased nut consumption and better health, including reducing heart disease and diabetes.
Pistachio nuts, high in the antioxidant gamma-tocopherol and minerals such as manganese, magnesium, calcium and selenium, are widely enjoyed in the Mediterranean diet. A recent Spanish study found that adding 100 pistachio nuts to one’s daily diet, improved fasting glucose, insulin resistance and insulin levels.
Dessert is not to be taken every day and should be an occasional indulgence only.
If your goal is weight loss, your first major step is to severely restrict sugar.
REFERENCE:
The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung
What are the 5 basic steps of weight loss? Avoid added sugars
“Obesity is a hormonal disorder of fat regulation. Insulin is the major hormone that drives weight gain, so the rational therapy is to lower insulin levels.” – Dr. Jason Fung
In his comprehensive book. The Obesity Code: Unlocking The Secrets Of Weight Loss, Dr. Jason Fung identifies and explains what the 5 basic steps of LCHF, ketogenic weight loss are.
In the next several blog posts, I will lay them out for you.
STEP 1: REDUCE YOUR CONSUMPTION OF ADDED SUGARS
SUGAR STIMULATES INSULIN SECRETION , but it is far more sinister than that. It contributes directly to insulin resistance in the liver and over time insulin resistance leads to higher insulin levels.
Many natural, unprocessed whole foods contain sugar, such as fructose in fruit and lactose in milk.
Naturally occurring and added sugars are distinct from one another. The two key differences are amount and concentration. Sugars are added to food during processing or cooking .
Some pitfalls of added sugars:
- Sugars may be added in unlimited amounts.
- Also, sugar may be present in processed foods in much higher concentrations than in natural foods.
- Sugar may be ingested by itself, which may cause people to overeat sugary treats, as there is nothing else within the food to make you feel “full”.
For these reasons, we need to direct our efforts towards reducing added, rather than natural sugars in our diets.
Here is the first step to doing that:
READ ALL LABELS ON PROCESSED FOODS
Almost ubiquitous in refined and processed foods, sugar is not always labeled as such. Other names include sucrose, fructose, maltose, dextrose, glucose, molasses, hydrolyzed starch, honey, invert sugar, cane sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, brown sugar, corn sweetener, rice/corn/cane/maple/malt/golden/palm syrup and agave nectar.
These aliases attempt to conceal the large amounts of added sugar.
If it comes in a package, it probably contains sugar.
Asking how much sugar is acceptable is like asking how many cigarettes are acceptable. Ideally, no added sugar at all would be best if you want to succeed with your weight loss keto diet.
In the next post, we will look at how to deal with deserts.
REFERENCE:
The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung
9 Lower-carb alternatives to grains
“The good news is that if you’re looking to limit your carb intake, there’s plenty of options for you — especially when it comes to replacing grains.” – Business Insider
Reproduced from a Business Insider article, here are plenty of lower-carb foods to add to your plate. Not all of these will be available in your local food market, but some surely will be.
So start experimenting.
Get your konjac products at http://www.skinnypasta.co.za or at Wellness Warehouse.
Reference:
Business Insider
Glenda Van Blerk 