RATING: 6 out of 10
User's comments:
Hi, I'm 1,64m tall and weigh 81,5kg. I've been on Lemicitin 100mg and Pur Bloka 40mg daily for the past 2 years, in which I have gained all this weight. (Not on the medication any longer.) Currently I'm only on aspirin daily for sticky platelet syndrome.
Advertisement
Could you please comment on the following, and let me know if this menu would help me to lose weight?
Breakfast
All-bran flakes with raisins and 2% low-fat milk; apple.
Mid-morning
Gero fat-free yoghurt (plain or fruit) with sliced banana.
Lunch
Salad made with tomato, cucumber, lettuce, peppers, mixed seeds and sunflower seeds with low-fat salad dressing and cubed cheese; 2 tablespoons flaxseed oil and 2 Provitas with fish paste.
Mid-afternoon
2 cups of air-popped popcorn; 1 fruit.
Dinner
Chicken or fish with mixed steamed vegetables, bottled beetroot or tinned beans (baked beans or plain) and 2 Provitas.
Please could you tell me how much coffee I could have in one day, and is there a certain brand that works best? Your comments on the above would be greatly appreciated.
Expert's comments:
You should be aware of the various risk factors involved in the development of cardiovascular disease. Interventions in terms of the following risk factors have shown reduced cardiovascular risk: cigarette smoking; high LDL (“bad”) cholesterol; high fat, high cholesterol diet; high blood pressure; diabetes mellitus; physical inactivity; obesity; and postmenopausal status (women).
Diet modifications can unequivocally reduce risk of cardiovascular heart disease.
Regarding your dietary intake, there are a few considerations to help achieve appropriate weight while ensuring balanced nutrition:
1. Follow an overall healthy eating pattern which includes three meals a day and healthy snacks in between if you are still hungry. The balance can be reached by including a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and cereals and fibre-rich starches, low-fat or fat-free dairy products, fish, legumes and beans, poultry and lean meats (ostrich, venison).
Avoid excess fat intake. Opt for “lower-fat” eating. In essence, limit foods high in saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol. Substitute these with unsaturated fats from vegetables, legumes, nuts and fish.
Saturated fats are found in all animal products e.g. meat, cheese, dairy, butter, cream, as well as in coconut and palm kernel oil while trans fats or hydrogenated fats (unsaturated fats which have been hardened during food processing so that they are solid at room temperature) are found in margarines (brick and tub), biscuits and cakes. Both these fats increase “bad” blood cholesterol levels and should be avoided whenever possible.
The main sources of monounsaturated fats are olive oil, olives, canola oil, avocados, nuts and peanuts. These fats contain properties which lower “bad” blood cholesterol.
Polyunsaturated fats are found in sunflower oil, soft margarines packaged in tubs, cod-liver oil, evening primrose oil and oily fish, e.g. mackerel, salmon, sardines.
Here are some helpful hints for lowering your fat intake:
Choose low-fat or fat-free milk and dairy products, e.g. yoghurt, cottage cheese, evaporated milk. These options could replace cream in recipes.
Choose soft rather than hard margarines.
Wait until toast has cooled down before spreading margarine or butter on it and always spread it thinly.
If you use fat, choose low-fat options for mayonnaise, salad dressing and margarine and use sparingly.
Never use two ‘fats’ to spread on your bread, i.e. margarine/ low-fat mayonnaise/ peanut butter/ avocado pear – spread thinly and use only one.
Remove all visible fat from meat before preparation. Avoid the skin of the chicken and ideally remove prior to cooking.
Aim to eat less red meat (2-3 times a week). Use lean meat options e.g. lean mince, lean beef or lamb, ostrich, venison or soya mince. The fattiest meat is lamb, followed by beef, pork, chicken, ostrich and venison.
Eat fish (fresh or canned) 1-2 times a week.
Avoid processed meats – sausages, polony and salami.
Limit the addition of any form of extra fat during food preparation (e.g. margarine, butter, cream, mayonnaise, oil and cheese).
Use low-fat cooking methods: boil, steam, grill, braai over coals, bake in the oven, poach, stir-fry. Do not fry food. If you do need to fry food, use very little oil (canola or olive oil) or try to prepare with no oil at all.
Limit the amount of gravies and sauces.
Read food labels to assess fat content. A product is low fat if it contains <3g fat/ 100 g and fat free has < 0,5g fat/ 100 g. Practically, choose foods that contain fat between 3% to 10% and try to stick to about 10 - 13g fat/ meal. This can be achieved by adding only 1 fat to a meal and following the above-mentioned cooking methods.
2. Your eating plan seems to be lacking in carbohydrates/ starches. Be very careful to cut carbohydrates completely from your eating plan as these are the body’s first and most important source of fuel for everyday living and exercise.
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.
Interestingly, 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.
3. Remember there should be no ‘forbidden foods’. Depriving yourself of anything could result in binging on the specific forbidden food. Everything has its place in varying quantities. “Treats” such as sweets, chocolates, chips/ crisps, cake, ice cream, alcohol etc. are eaten for taste and pleasure and should only be eaten to treat yourself occasionally. Make sure you savour and enjoy them and limit yourself to small portions.
4. Check your portions of each food group. Balance and moderation are key – you need to eat enough for your body and activity levels without feeling overfull. Dish up as much as you think will satisfy you, but remember that your eyes may be larger than your stomach – rather underestimate than overestimate your needs. Enjoy meal times and the plate that is dished for you. Listen to your body’s hunger and satiety cues and try to avoid going for second helpings.
I suggest you follow the simple guide below to help you visualise portion sizes of the various food groups without having to measure any of the food:
CARBOHYDRATES/ STARCH: Approximately the size of your fist; a tennis ball; 1 slice bread.
PROTEIN: The palm 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 low-fat milk; 1 small tub low-fat/ fat-free yoghurt; matchbox block of cheese; 250-300ml drinking yoghurt.
FAT: 1-2 level teaspoons of oil (canola/ olive), ‘lite’ margarine, butter, peanut butter, regular mayonnaise; 1 tablespoon reduced oil/ ‘lite’ mayonnaise and salad dressing; ¼ medium avocado; any spreads ‘thinly’ on breads/ crackers; 1 small handful of nuts or seeds.
5. Limit excessive salt and alcohol consumption. As a rule, don’t add salt when cooking in the kitchen if you add it at the table and vice versa.
6. Drink at least 6-8 glasses of clean water daily. This may be more in summer if you are exercising regularly.
You currently have a BMI (body mass index) of 30kg/ m² which classifies you as overweight/ mildly obese so now is definitely the right time to be addressing the problem. Although BMI is a useful tool for evaluating healthy weight, you should also measure your percentage body fat and your waist circumference (less than 88cm for females) for disease risk and to assess any improvement in your body composition. Losing centimetres rather than kilograms tends to be a better reflection of losing fat mass.
In reaching your goal weight, remember that attaining optimal health and not just weight loss should be your overall goal. Try to set yourself realistic and attainable short-term and long-term goals for weight loss.
Remember you should never aim to reduce your weight by more than 2 BMI points (or 5-10% of your current weight) at any one time. In your case, this would be to lose 4 - 8kg at first.
Once you have reduced your weight by 2 BMI points and have been able to maintain the new weight for at least 6 months, you may try to lose another 2 BMI points. Avoid weighing yourself more than once a week as the scale should not be your measure of good health and wellbeing. Your aim should be to reduce your waist circumference, build muscle mass, lose fat mass and to achieve a BMI of 25 kg/ m², which would mean a weight of 67kg for your length.
To lose 15kg at an acceptable rate (about 0,5 - 1kg per week), using both moderately restricted energy intake and increased physical activity, means you need to remain on a weight reduction programme for at least 15 weeks (3,5 - 4 months) without failing.
To motivate yourself, collect small successes to achieve your goal of being healthy, which have nothing to do with what the scale tells you, e.g. walking with a friend 4-5 times a week, not frying food at home, doing something creative and practical such as sewing, gardening etc.
It is unclear whether you exercise or not. Dietary changes, although essential in the steps to a new and healthy lifestyle, must be made in combination with behavioural changes and regular exercise for weight loss and maintenance.
Exercise is a great ‘de-stresser’ after a long day at work or looking after the kids. Many people find the gym quite intimidating and often off-putting, resulting in less frequent physical activity. Brisk walking is still considered one of the best exercises. Try to find a friend to exercise with you. This will help to motivate you on the days when you feel a bit flat.
You should strive to exercise at least 4 - 5 times a week for 45 - 60 minutes at a time.
Consistent dietary changes and physical activity should ensure that you are burning adequate energy compared to intake, increase your metabolism and muscle mass (metabolically active tissue) and reduce fat.
Try to also be more active on a day-to-day basis by climbing the stairs vs. lifts, walking to the shops, parking far away from the entrance to the shopping mall, doing chores around the house, doing gardening etc.
If you struggle to find a whole hour a day, the same benefit can be obtained from breaking your allocated exercise time up throughout the day, e.g. 3 sessions of 20 minutes instead of 1 session of 60 minutes.
Regarding your question on coffee, there are very few studies that have associated moderate caffeine use with any health risks. There has been mixed results from research on the effects of coffee on blood lipid levels with boiled coffee having a greater effect than filter coffee on increasing total, LDL and HDL cholesterol.
In general, most experts encourage people to use caffeine only moderately – between 250 and 350mg per day. Whether regular or decaffeinated coffee is consumed, a moderate amount of one or two cups a day does not seem to pose threat or harm.
Remember that long-term changes need to be sustained in terms of dietary intake and exercise in order to see permanent health benefits. You certainly are on the right track – good luck!
Bookmark with:
What are social bookmarks?