Exercise - Pilates twice per week; walking twice per week (7km)
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Expert's comments:
Congratulations for making the conscious decision to achieve a healthy lifestyle by means of both dietary and physical activity changes. The combination of dietary changes as well as exercise has been shown to be the most effective way to achieve and maintain weight loss.
Exercising more than 4-5 times a week for 45-60 minutes at a time is necessary to ensure you are burning adequate energy compared to intake, to increase your metabolism, increase muscle mass (metabolically active tissue) and reduce fat.
It is important to remember that muscle mass is three times heavier than fat mass, so if you are exercising more frequently and building muscle mass, your weight may in fact decrease very slightly.
I would like to suggest that you try not to focus only on weight and weight loss per se, but rather concentrate on obtaining optimal health. Your body mass index (BMI) is a useful tool to assess your weight for height (kg/m2) and is a good guideline to assess your level of risk associated with chronic health problems such as heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol.
A normal BMI range is 22-24,5kg/m². However, it should not be used in isolation as it does not account for individual variations in build and body composition. You should also aim to measure your percentage of body fat and your waist circumference (less than 88cm) to assess any improvement in your body composition.
Losing centimetres rather than kilograms is usually a better reflection of losing fat mass. Make sure you set a realistic goal weight for your height and build. Remember that losing weight sensibly, i.e. max. 0,5 to 1,5kg per week will ensure maintenance of weight loss over the long term.
I am thrilled to see that you're not skipping meals, particularly breakfast. You are currently eating three meals a day. If you tend to be peckish mid-morning or mid-afternoon, I suggest a healthy snack in between breakfast and lunch and lunch and supper. This will help ensure constant blood sugar levels and minimise dips in energy, hunger pangs and cravings. Maintaining constant blood glucose also aids weight loss.
Ideas for healthy snacks
Fresh fruit or fruit salad. Low-fat/fat-free yoghurt and mixed seeds can be added over the fruit.
Dried fruit rolls, sticks and bars, e.g. SAD mebos sticks/bars, Woolworths cranberry & almond bar, apricot & sesame seed bar, Jungle Oats Berry or Yoghurt bars
1 small muffin (banana, carrot, date & nut or bran) and a fruit
175ml yoghurt or 300ml drinking yoghurt (low-fat/fat-free) and a fruit
Peanuts and raisins, or dried fruit and nut mix, with a fruit
A slice of wholegrain bread, rice cakes, Cornthins, Provitas or digestive biscuits with peanut butter and/or honey. Other toppings could include cottage cheese, cheese, Oxo, Bovril, Marmite, avocado pear, fish paste, jam (obviously adding tomato, lettuce and cucumber to the topping will increase the nutritional value)
Vegetable bites, e.g. tomato wedges, cucumber or carrot sticks, celery sticks, baby tomatoes (fat-free or low-fat cottage cheese will add some taste variety)
Popcorn (made with minimal oil)
Biltong (no fat – ostrich, game meat, lean beef)
Carbohydrates (starches) have unfortunately obtained a reputation of being “fattening” and the culprits for weight gain. They are in fact the body’s first and most important source of fuel for everyday living and during exercise.
Carbohydrates actually contain almost no fat. A low-carbohydrate diet will result in a general lack of energy and fatigue over the long term as well as a lack of concentration and irritability. It is also associated with water loss and muscle protein breakdown as the body will first seek energy from its protein stores, not fat stores, when insufficient energy is obtained from food (also occurs when meals are missed or during starvation).
Ultimately, there will be very little fat loss. Your body is able to utilise carbohydrates very efficiently, particularly when you are active, and will only store it as fat if consumed in excess. Ideally, fibre-rich carbohydrates (wholegrain cereals and breads, pasta, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, legumes and pulses, fruit and vegetables) combined with moderate protein and low fat will provide the best building blocks to build and maintain muscle.
Be very careful not to cut carbohydrates completely from your eating plan. The question whether something is fattening or not depends on a person’s total energy intake and the energy used (physical activity). From your description, your portions of carbohydrates (starches) and fat seem extremely small and your choice of food, although generally healthy, might be very limited.
Portion sizes are important as well as ensuring a variety of foods. In order to maintain any healthy eating pattern, one should avoid completely removing a specific food or food group.
Try to make a mental shift away from ‘good’ or ‘bad’ foods. Rather view every food as having a place, in varying quantities depending on its overall nutritional value, within a healthy lifestyle. Eating healthily should by no means be boring or meager.
Be careful that your portions are not too large, or small, for that matter. Bear in mind that you are active and in order to have any energy, you have to obtain it from somewhere: healthy food!
Portion sizes
Here is an easy and helpful guide to a few portion sizes that won’t require any measuring of food:
CARBOHYDRATES/ STARCH: Approximately the size of your fist; a tennis ball; 1 slice of bread
PROTEIN: The palm to length of your hand (no thicker than the ‘pinky joint’); 1-2 packs of cards
FRUIT: Size of your fist; a tennis ball
VEGETABLES: Unlimited
DAIRY: 1 cup of low-fat milk; 1 small tub of low-fat/fat-free yoghurt; matchbox block of cheese; 250-300ml drinking yoghurt
Well done for eating fruit and vegetables. Aim for at least five a day (two fruits and three vegetables) in order to benefit from the vitamins, minerals and fibre.
Aim to eat low fat, not fat free, limiting overall fat intake, especially those unhealthy fats obtained from animal products and hydrogenated foods (saturated fat and trans fatty acids in animal fat, hard margarine, coffee creamers, coconut). Include more healthy fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats) from plant oils (canola oil, olive oil, avocado pear, peanut butter).
Read food labels to assess fat content. A product is low fat if it contains less than 3g fat/100g and fat free if it has less than 0,5g fat/100g. Practically, one should aim for ‘lower fat eating’. Choose foods that contain fat between 3 – 10% and try to keep to about 10 – 13 g fat/meal. This can be achieved by adding only one fat to a meal and using cooking methods like boiling, steaming, grilling, braaiing over coals, baking in the oven and poaching rather than frying.
Regarding vitamin supplements, these should be viewed as just that – supplements. You should by no means attempt to replace the benefits obtained from eating a healthy, balanced variety of food.
I would suggest a good general multivitamin daily. A multivitamin (containing all the vitamins, including folate) and mineral supplement, providing 50%-150% of the recommended daily intake (DRI) per tablet is advisable.
Additional vitamin C is not harmful and if you are a smoker may be advisable as blood levels may be low. Salmon and linseed oil provide the essential omega-3 fatty acid and is a good idea if you do not eat much fish (1-2 times a week). A good supplement should provide approximately 1000mg (1g) omega-3/linolenic acid per dose.
Basic steps
For implementing a balanced eating pattern and ultimately losing weight, remember the following:
Be consistent and develop permanent healthy eating habits, including three meals spread throughout the day with small snacks between meals
Meals should consist of 50-55% carbohydrate (fibre-rich), 15-20% protein and 30% or less fat
Include a wide variety of foods from all food groups (dairy, meat, fish, poultry and eggs, starches, legumes, fruit and vegetables, and fats)
It should be practical and implementable for your individual situation and needs
Always combine with increased physical activity and behavioural changes where necessary
Practice moderation and set the tone for permanent lifestyle changes
Good luck and don’t lose sight of your goal for long-term health!
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