Weight Loss Tip: Spread Out Your Carbohydrate Intake During the Day

One of the first things I tell my clients (after I explain what carbohydrate is and where it comes from)  is to spread out their carbohydrate intake as evenly as possible throughout the day. Instead of 2-3 large servings of carbohydrate, aiming to eat every 2-4 hours and including a small amount of unprocessed / minimally processed carbohydrate is preferred. Why is this better? For a number of reasons all great for weight loss. Let me explain...

What Vegetables Are Starchy?

When we think about eating for weight control we rarely consider vegetables as a potential pitfall. The public health message about vegetables in my opinion is far to vague. If you simply follow the general recommendation of 'going for 5' everyday with no other considerations you may end up with far more carbohydrate on your plate then you need. Starch is a carbohydrate, and as the name suggests, starchy vegetables have a lot of it.  Let's take a closer look at which vegetables are starchy, how much carbohydrate they contain and how much we really should be having. 

5 Easy Steps For Calculating Energy Requirements & Adjusting For Weight Loss

If you are a calorie counter you will love this! I don't like getting too caught up with the 'mathematics' of energy in and energy out but for those of you who do here are 5 easy steps to calculate your daily energy requirements and adjust to achieve a weight loss of 0.5 - 1kg per week. Don't read any further without your calculator!

Are You Meeting Your Protein Requirements?

Meeting your protein requirements is absolutely necessary for growth and repair of all body tissues. Inadequate intake will prevent or delay recovery from exercise, limit the recovery, growth and maintenance of muscle mass, reduce energy levels, inhibit training and sport performance and increase the risk of injury from over training. Are you meeting your protein requirements? Find out how much protein you need & what foods are high in protein...

Nuts: Why eat them? Which is the best? How many?

Nuts are an easy snack that taste great and best of all they are good for us. They contain protein, healthy fats (mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated) and a variety of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants making them an important part of a healthy diet. Read on to discover the health benefits of including nuts in your diet, which nuts are best and how much you should eat.

How alcohol increases body fat? Answered in less than 100 words

Drinking alcohol often or in excess is associated with weight gain. This is not simply due to the energy content of alcohol but also due to the affect it has on metabolism. Let me explain quickly in less than 100 words...

Sports drinks VS water: what's recommended

Staying hydrated during exercise is important for your health and training performance but the fluids you choose could actually be working against your weight loss efforts. Unlike soft drink which is an obvious poor choice, sports drinks such as gatorade and powerade introduce an interesting problem for those of you exercising for weight loss. When are sports drinks required or are they are necessary at all? Could sports drinks be preventing you from reaching your weight loss goals? Let's take a look..

Kilojoules & calories: how to convert between them? Answered in 100 words or less

Kilojoules (kj) & calories (cal) are both used to measure the amount of energy in foods and drinks, the same as kilometres and miles are both used to measure distance.

In Australia kj is preferred however US TV shows (such as the biggest loser) and cardio equipment made overseas (such as treadmills) make it difficult to let go of cal completely. For this reason it's useful to be able to quickly convert between them if necessary.

1cal = 4.2kj. You can do a rough calculation of 'cal x 4 = kj', which will be close enough for most purposes.

5 step plan for smart snacking

We all know (and dread) the feeling, the rumble in the tummy that signals 'snack time' and the unfortunate end to a perfect day of eating (so far). Those little cravings between meals have the power to turn an otherwise perfect diet into a weight loss nightmare if you are not prepared to deal with them. Smart snacking for effective weight loss and weight control requires an action plan. Cakes and biscuits in the staff lunch room, the left overs in the kid's lunch box and the chocolate you have stashed away are just a few of the potential pitfalls that threaten your weight loss goal. Here is an easy to understand 5 step plan for smart snacking to help you avoid the dangers of 'snack time'. 

What is BMR? In 100 words or less.

BMR (basal metabolic rate) is the amount of energy the body expends at rest - the energy required to sustain vital physiological functions. BMR can be thought of like the 'body's furnace' which burns energy fairly consistently all day, everyday. BMR is the greatest contributor to total daily energy expenditure representing 60-75% for most people and is therefore an important consideration for weight loss. Increasing BMR will increase the total daily energy expenditure and contribute to the energy deficit required for weight loss. Greater the negative difference between energy in and energy out, greater the fat burning / weight loss results. 


Related Reading

• 5 steps to fix your slow metabolism

Weight loss myths: exercising on an empty stomach burns more fat

Eat or don't eat before training - what is more effective for maximising fat burning during exercise, or does it even matter? We've all heard it before, "exercise burns more fat if you do it on an empty stomach". Is there any truth to this or is it just another weight loss myth?

5 steps to fix your slow metabolism

A slow metabolism is often blamed for failed weight loss attempts. If you fear that your slow metabolism is interfering with your weight loss goals here are 5 steps to fix your slow metabolism and maximise your body's fat burning capacity. 

What time should you STOP eating carbohydrates?

After 9pm? After 6pm? After lunch? When should you really stop eating carbohydrates if you are trying to  burn body fat? Before I started writing this I had a bit of a GOOGLE out of interest. After opening most of the websites on the top 2 pages of search results I had read recommendations from 12noon to 9pm and almost every hour in-between. If you're confused about when to 'cut off the carbs' I'm not surprised. I started web searching out of interest already knowing the answer and I was confused by the time I finished. Despite all the different recommendations out there this is a fairly easy one to explain and I'm going to do it in 100 words or less. Here we go.

Fibre: why do we need it and where do we get it?

With so much nutrition information out there fibre is often overlooked as a dietary priority. Here are some reasons why you shouldn't overlook it any longer!

Weight loss & weight control
Dietary Fibre can assist weight loss and weight control by: (1) lowering fat absorption from the gut which reduces total energy absorbed, (2) creating a feeling of fullness sooner and for longer which controls appetite and reduces total energy consumed and (3) slowing the absorption of carbohydrate and sugar from the gut which stabilises blood glucose and insulin levels and reduces fat storage.

Decreased risk of developing diabetes & cardiovascular disease
Dietary fibre can help improve a number of risk factors for developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It reduces these risks by: (1) reducing cholesterol absorption from the gut which lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol, (2) stabilising blood glucose and insulin levels and increasing insulin sensitivity and (3) lowering body weight / body fat by the mechanisms discussed above.

Bowel health
Dietary fibre helps to soften and bulk stools and promote regular bowel movements. This reduces constipation and may be protective against colorectal cancer.

So which foods contain fibre and how much do I need? How about some practical easy to follow guidelines for achieving adequate fibre intake? I hear you...

Serving sizes summarised

large big mac value meal -
how many serves in this?

How much is a serve? How much is enough? Our perspective of appropriate portion sizes has been distorted by the quantities served up in fast food combos and on restaurant plates. When you actually look at how much food equals a single serve you may be shocked! Eating appropriate serving sizes requires 2 things,  (1) you know what a single serving size equals and (2) you have the self discipline to eat only an appropriate number of servings. After reading this only the 2nd one can be used as an excuse.

Identifying 'good' carbohydrates

Most of you know that I'm not a fan of very low carbohydrate diets. I eat, and recommend others eat, regular small-moderate servings of carbohydrate food sources. I don't just recommend this to the people I train for fitness, strength or sport development, I recommend this to everyone including those training for weight loss! Carbohydrates are an essential component of all well balanced diets however poor carbohydrate food choices increase the risk of weight gain and development of heart disease, diabetes and other chronic disease. Being able to identify the 'good' carbohydrates from the 'bad' is the difference between weight control, improved energy levels and optimal training performance and weight gain, fluctuating energy levels and poor health. Read on to find out the simplest way to make the right carbohydrate choices!

Fat % of foods - you may be surprised

avocado

Dietary fat is a major contributor to daily energy intake and weight gain and a lot of it goes unnoticed. Fat provides 37kj per 1 gram which is significant when compared to carbohydrate and protein that provide 16kj and 17kj per 1 gram respectively. If you are looking to loose or control your body weight it's not only important that you can identify foods that contain fat but you are also aware to what extent. I have listed foods and their approximate fat % to help put the fat % of foods in perspective - you might find a few surprises!

Energy in alcohol revealed: 7 tips to lower energy intake while drinking

We all know that alcohol contributes to dietary energy intake, but to what extent? Let's put the other health consequences of excess alcohol consumption aside for just one moment and focus on the affect that alcohol intake has on energy balance and weight control. It's a fairly simple equation, more energy coming in than energy going out results in a positive energy balance, a positive energy balance results in weight gain. Foods and drinks that are high in energy and low in nutrition provide what is known as 'empty energy' and are detrimental to weight control - this describes the energy in alcohol. If abstaining is not an option looking for ways to lower energy intake from alcohol is the next best thing. Let's take a closer look at how and why.

10 tips for surviving the Christmas party season

Surviving the Christmas and New Years period with no or minimal damage to the waistline is near impossible. With high energy food options available in plenty and a social relaxed atmosphere that encourages drinking and over eating, the 'Christmas and New Years Party' is a dieters worst nightmare. Now, I'm not suggesting that you cancel all Christmas parties but there are some easy tips that may help damage control during the party season.

10 easy hydration tips

You could argue that water is the most important nutrient of all. It is essential for so many physiological functions including regulating body temperature, maintaining blood volume, muscle contractions, lubricating joints and removing waste products from the body. Without adequate water intake dehydration can occur. Symptoms of dehydration can be uncomfortable and tiring, interfere with work productivity, decrease training and sport performance and be a potential serious health threat if left untreated. 10 easy hydration tips are identified in this article to help prevent dehydration and its associated symptoms.