July 2014 - Patricia Cherry Life Coach

Stress Study on Weight Gain

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Does Stress cause weight gain?

We are hearing more about the effects of stress on weight gain. But be wary of reports and do some of your own research.

One such report went like this; A group of 58 women aged 53 years, were given a high fat meal 60% fat, after being asked about the previous days stressors. They were then monitored every 7 hours for the next 24 hours for their metabolic rate, blood sugar level, triglycerides, insulin and the stress hormone, cortisol.

The meal consisted of eggs, turkey, sausage, biscuits (scones in the UK) and gravy.

The control group were made to eat random meals.

It was noticed that those who had the most stress during the previous 24 hours burned 104 fewer calories compared to the non stressed women.

The conclusion was that this would lead to 11 lbs more every year if you are stressed.

NOOOOO! Not an exact science!

The conclusion that this would lead to 11ibs weight gain per year is flawed I’m afraid, as no one eats the same every day. This is also assuming that the old argument that 3500 calories is equal to 1 lb fat, (true) and therefore if you eat 3500 you will put on a lb, or if you cut your calories by 3500 you will lose it, has never been proved.

The body is not an exact science.

However, it still shows that we are preserving fat more when we are stressed.

Another interesting result was this; “We suspected that the saturated fat would have a worse impact on metabolism in women, but in our findings, both high-fat meals consistently showed the same results in terms of how stressors could affect their energy expenditure,” said Ohio State nutritionist and co-author Professor Martha Belury.

The conclusion that I am interested in is that part of the study was to find out the results of saturated fat on stress and metabolism, but they found that both diets turned up with the same results. But again they did not say what the control group actually ate.

However it was interesting to read that stress can cause weight gain, which is something that has been studied for some time because we know that excess cortisol can raise your blood sugar, which in turn makes the body preserve its fat stores.

For further reading the study can be found here.
sciencewr.com

Is your BMI 27?

If so did you know that before 1995, you would have been classed in the safe category?

Then along came a certain Professor Philip James, a specialist in Obesity, who with his team at the International Obesity Task Force, did an analysis of Insurance data. They found that apparently people who died an early death, before the second-world war, were up in the 25 BMI category. When they did the same with data with a British Insurance firm as far back as 1974, they found the same.

My Observation is that seems like very old data to be basing this sort of findings on.

Then the World Health Organisation and the American Federal Government Agency put it on the agenda, and the safe BMI category was lowered.

Then wham! Suddenly people, especially women became worried because they were overweight.

Before this change, they felt healthy, now suddenly they were classed as unhealthy.

In fact, it put an additional 29 million people at an unhealthy weight!

So one day these people were walking around apparently content with their looks and health and the next they were panicking because they were overweight.

Jacques Peretti in his programme “The Men Who Made Us Thin” in 2013 talked to Judith Stearn an expert in Nutrition and Vice President of the American Obesity Association, and she commented that suddenly women were feeling ugly because they were now classed as fat.

This created panic among women, and a Food industry who spotted the opportunity to create diet foods, and a Gigantic Diet Industry doubling its profits from 15 billion to 30 billion in ten years.

Has it made any difference do you think?

Have people managed their weight better?

Do you think that perhaps it may have had something to do with the fact that people went on diets un-necessarily, and their bodies started to preserve all the fat they could?

Then on top of that I can remember a certain brand of biscuits and cookies coming out that claimed that they were low fat, so we could eat as many as we like. What we did not realise was that they were full of sugar. Well, that’s another story, but it happened at around the same time as the new diet foods came about.

Someone said to me the other day that they did not see the need for people to go on diets, and why did we need all this advice?

They have got a point.

Previous to 1995 there would have been a section of the population who would never have dreamt of going on a diet. 29 million of them perhaps?

Now, quite frankly we are in a mess. The advice that has been given to us is not working. Think of the eat less and do more mantra. Has that worked?

Time for us to take matters into our own hands, do our own research, be true to ourselves and decide for yourself what weight you are comfortable at, without the need to be constantly dieting and looking for the next brilliant diet to come along.

Bearing in mind that if you have an BMI of 27, you need not be classed as overweight!

Is a Healthy Diet Expensive?

Many people when looking into eating an healthy, real food diet, say that they cannot afford it.

But if you look at it more closely, you will find that you CAN afford it.

Firstly; think of all the money you will save not buying junk type snacks, take aways and soda drinks.

Secondly; Get a slow cooker, and buy the cheaper cuts of meat, and don’t buy expensive steaks and other expensive meats and fish. Buy carefully, and look at it as an adventure into a whole new way of living.

Thirdly; learn to cook!

It does not have to be difficult!

For example, when you have slow cooker, you can literally chuck your cubed stewing or caserole steak (which you bought instead of the expensive stuff) into the slow cooker, add what spices you like, garlic and onions and anything else you feel like adding, close the lid, switch it on and walk away.

8 hours later you have a delicious and economic meal.

Another idea is chicken curry, put your cubed chicken into the slow cooker, add onions, tinned coconut milk, curry paste and a little salt, and you have a Thai curry!

You may argue that chicken, especially organic is expensive, but it’s a lot cheaper that going to the takeaway, and you don’t even have to bother walking or driving up the road to get it!

And you will know where your chicken came from?

If you are thinking that vegetables and fruit are too expensive, then look again at how you can trade in the crisps and snacks in exchange for these. You don’t have to have them, they are unhealthy and a waste of money. But the veg will bring you proper nourishment.

If you google any of the sites under eating real food, you will find numerous ideas and recipes.

On a personal note, when I switched to eating real food, I immediately started to save £10 a week on my grocery bill.

Try it! And don’t let the grocery bill be your excuse.

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Gimmicks & Fad Diets. Do they work?

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Do they work?

First let’s take the dictionary meaning of each word.

Gimmick; a trick or device intended to attract attention, publicity or trade.

Fad Diet; (Wikipedia) The phrases food faddism and fad diet originally referred to idiosyncratic diets and eating patterns that promote short-term weight loss, usually with no concern for long-term weight maintenance. And enjoy temporary popularity.

What experience have you had with any of these?

In the world of weight loss and maintenance both are the same. Fad diets include; Cabbage soup diet; Acai Berry Diet; Negative Calorie Diet; Apple Cider Vinegar Diet; Hollywood Diet; Beverly Hills diet; and last but ridiculous The Tape Worm Diet!

In my opinion, these are also gimmicky.

In the last few years there have been other diets around that have been accused of being faddy, such as the Low Carb and Paleo Diets.

But hang on a minute; because these two do not fit the criteria above.

There are now millions of people who are managing their weight and are a lot healthier because they are not eating so much Carbohydrate.

The term Low Carb has been misused by its critics, because of all the bad publicity with the Atkins Diet. (This one was called a fad diet in its hay-days but it was a catalyst for many good diets that are now around)

But, Low Carb does not mean No Carb! (See my blog on this subject on my Website http:/www.patriciacherrylifecoach.com

The Paleo diet too cannot fit the criteria of a fad or gimmicky diet. Simply because it points the way to eating real food, and who can argue with that!

So let your criteria be; Does this diet involve real food? How much is it asking me to go against nature?

So the next time you consider how to lose weight, keep it off and is something that you can do for the rest of your life, remember that the diet should consist of mostly real food, not processed or refined false food.

And it is going against nature to expect you to live on mainly cabbage soup, berries, taking pills, and CERTAINLY NOT TAPE WORMS.

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Ritual For Weight Loss

Ritual is carried out at festivities such as weddings, worship, birthdays, christenings etc. It has been used by human beings since time began. There have been good ones, bad ones, memorable ones. Who can forget the wedding of William and Kate?

In the UK, we have the opening of parliament every year and the Trooping of the Colour for the Queen’s official birthday. In the USA, the swearing in of the New Presidency every four years.

A ritual is also something that is done by tradition and usually involves a serious swearing in, or even sometimes a dance! At Churches and Mosques, rituals are carried out at meetings and services, such as lighting certain candles, or certain positions for prayer.

Many of us feel secure around ritual and often when that ritual is under threat for some reason there is an outcry, this can be anything from changing the title tune on our favourite tv programme, to stopping smoking in public places.

In our everyday lives, we have rituals. Perhaps breakfast at a certain time, and what we eat. Or a favourite tv programme is watched by the family regularl Going around to Mother in Laws for lunch every Sunday, or down the pub every night.

Smokers are attached to the ritual of making the rolly or opening the packet and lighting up, as much as the actual inhalation of the smoke.

Opening a bottle of wine and listening to the sound of the wine being poured can be ritual.

Ritual can also be to your advantage or disadvantage with managing your weight. For example, you may be used to having three meals a day, whether you are hungry or not. Or you may be used to having three courses when you go out for a meal.

You can very quickly start up a ritual too; it does not have to be something that you have always done.

Have a look at how much ritual you have in your life and see which ones can be to your advantage and that you can enjoy. And the ones that may be to your disadvantage and you can change. Chances are there are some that you are so used to, that it would not have entered your head to change them. And there may be some that are holding up your weight loss.

Are there any new rituals that you can start? Such as a good helping of vegetables with your meal, or treating yourself to a healthy meal out once a week.

How much does ritual appear in your life and how can it help?

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What You Get? Weight Control

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IF YOU ALWAYS DO WHAT YOU’VE ALWAYS DONE; YOU WILL ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU’VE ALWAYS GOT!

Just a short blog and to the point today!

This quote is used by many people in the personal developement field, but also by Henry Ford!

So using it for our purpose here

If you have been struggling with your weight management and getting nowhere. Just look at what you are doing and see what you can change!

For more ideas on how to do that, read Design Your Own Diet and see my blogs on http:/www.patriciacherrylifecoach.com

How Habits Can Affect Your Weight Management

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011L100OC http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B011L100OC

We all have habits. Some good, some bad and without them we would not get through our day.

Everyday habits such as which leg you put in your pants first, making your first drink of the day, breakfast, cleaning your teeth and driving to work, are so ingrained that we often have to make an effort to remember whether we actually did them. (Hope you put your pants on though!)

Habits such as smoking or the evening drink, or a snack before we go to bed are more conscious, but nevertheless can still be so engrained that we would have to be very determined if we wanted to change them.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to sit down and think of what habits you may have that could be interfering with your weight management. It doesn’t have to be a big thing just perhaps something like having a biscuit with your coffee. (I know someone who prides themselves at not having sugar in their tea, but has to have a biscuit for something sweet!) Another habit that I have come across is having a banana at bedtime because they could not sleep without one. Or it could be picking at food while you are preparing it. Or do you find yourself opening the food cupboard while you are waiting for the kettle to boil? Eating crisps while watching tv. Buying popcorn just because you are at the cinema.

There is a thought now that with repeated action you can change your habits!

We can tackle changing one at a time, by stopping it for 21 days. At the end of that, you will have changed it. But it must be consistent and if you take it up again even once during that 21 days then you must start the 21 days again.

NASA did an experiment with astronauts on a 30 day basis. The astronauts wore special goggles for 30 days, which made the world appear upside down and the wrong way around. After day 27, they started to see everything the right way around. When they tried it a second time, half of them removed the goggles on day 25 for a day, and they then had to start the 30 days again because on day 27 they still saw everything upside down.

So choose which you want, the 21 days or the 30 days. I have heard that both work, for myself I find the 21 day works.

This plan can work for both big habits and small ones. So make a choice, and it will pay off with your weight management.

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