1. Decrease soft drink and other calorie containing drinks such as fruit
juices, smoothies, alcoholic drinks, thick shakes and milk coffee’s. It is a
big mistake to assume that a drink does not contain calories, often the
drinks contain more calories than the food you are eating with them; a
thick shake is more calories than regular fries. The drinks count… water is
best.
2. Don’t eat after 8.00pm or 3 hours before you go to bed. One of the
biggest and worst habits of clients that come to see me for weight loss is
eating after dinner. Often people associate eating with watching TV or
relaxing however this is a sure fire way of taking in extra calories when
you are not really hungry. If you have had a satisfactory evening meal the
chances that you are hungry 1-2 hours after dinner are low. Rethink your
reasons for eating at this time… it’s more likely to be boredom or habit
than hunger.
3. Move at every opportunity. Studies show that sedentary time is a
bigger problem that not being active. That means that the amount of time
we spend just sitting around has to be changed. Instead of sending an
intra-office email, get up and talk to the person. Stand up when you are
talking on the phone and look for opportunities to exercise – park the car
further away, use the stairs etc. Fitness is a better indicator of long life
than weight, so being fit is an important investment in your future.
4. Don’t eat snacks bigger than the size of your fist. Portion size of snacks
is as important as what type of snack you are choosing. As mentioned
above, if you are having a calorie containing drink that is your snack. If
you are reading off a food label ideally a snack should be less than 600
kilojoules per serve.
Healthy snack choices include:
> Fruit
> Yoghurt
> Veggie sticks and hummus dip
> Wholemeal or wholegrain biscuit with thin spread of margarine and topping
> Milk drink
> A handful of dried fruit and nuts
> Small bag of air popped popcorn.
5. Be accountable – don’t let your weight be unknown to you. Be aware of
subtle changes and take action. I have often spoken to people who have
said that they have avoided looking at themselves in the mirror or shop
windows and when they finally saw themselves in a photograph they
realised that they were overweight. In order to successfully maintain
weight loss you must be aware of subtle changes. If you put on 3kg over
your Christmas break you need to know that and take action to get it off
again instead of pretending it didn’t happen.
PS It doesn’t help to weigh yourself daily… once a month is fine!
As a media spokesperson for the Dietitian’s Association of Australia, Lisa is committed to presenting accurate and practical nutrition and lifestyle
information. She has been quoted in many print articles and on radio, and she has presented on Channel 9’s ‘What’s Good for You’ and ‘A Current Affair’.
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