EAT LESS EXERCISE MORE – WEIGHT LOSS MANTRA OR MYTH

Oct 19, 2021 | Blog Posts

EAT LESS EXERCISE MORE  – WEIGHT LOSS MANTRA OR MYTH?

Do you still believe this??

Even though you know it is not really that simple (because you have tried it), do you still find yourself relying on this when you want to lose weight?

So why is it such a rubbish bit of advice??

…because there are so many other factors impacting our weight.

Why do we keep going back to trying it?

…because we don’t have enough knowledge of how our bodies work and don’t have another strategy.

So, what’s really going on?

CALORIES IN CALORIES OUT

Eat less and move more is based on the premise of less calories in, more calories out = fat loss, but it is not that straight forward.

Calories in are made up from everything we consume no matter what the source.

Calories out are made up of our BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate – the energy or calories we need to function at rest) PLUS our exercise/movement during the day. For the average person our BMR accounts for 60-80% of our energy expended. 

Therefore, focusing on our BMR and understanding what influences it is vital. Influences include our Age, Gender and Genetics, none of which we can change.  The elements we can change include:

• Body Composition – muscles require more energy to function and our physical activity and exercise can increase this.
• External Environment – factors like temperature as the body will work harder to maintain normal body temperature.
• Drugs – caffeine and nicotine can increase BMR while some medications can increase body weight regardless of what we eat and how we exercise.
• Sleep -sleep deprivation or disruption to our circadian rhythm can cause metabolic dysregulation and hormone disruption with a knock-on effect on our weight.

However, the biggest influence is what we eat (not how much we eat) because this impacts the biggest element involved in our metabolism, our HORMONES, as well as ourgut health and thermogenic effects of the food we choose.

HORMONES

There are many hormones involved in metabolism but let’s just focus on a few of the main ones:

• Thyroid hormones T3 & T4 which control our metabolism
• Insulin which controls our blood sugars balance
• Cortisol our stress hormone

ROLE OF THYROID

Our thyroid gland is the largest gland in our endocrine system the ‘Master Gland’ controlled by pituitary gland in our brain which controls the speed of our metabolism. It makes the hormones thyroxine and triiodothyronine (T3 & T4).  These hormones act on almost every kind of cell in your body to increase cellular activity or metabolism. If there is too much or too little thyroid hormone, the metabolism of your entire body is impacted. To make T3 & T4 we need to provide the body with a good supply of iodine, tyrosine and selenium. In addition, your thyroid gland plays an active role in the breakdown of fat, temperature regulation and synthesis of proteins.

• Iodine rich foods sources include seaweeds, seafood, fish, baked potato, navy beans, turkey, eggs, milk, green beans, fennel, spinach, watercress, strawberries, bananas, NB. should not be given in large quantities to individuals with autoimmune thyroid disease or those on thyroxine
• Tyrosine food sources include chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, avocados, spinach and seaweed
• Selenium rich foods sources include Brazil nuts, fish, brown rice, eggs, most meat, dairy, sunflower seeds, mushrooms, oats, spinach, lentils, banana and cashews.

Why strict calorie restriction is counter productive

Normally your thyroid gland produces much more T4 than T3, which is converted to active T3 when it reaches tissues in your body and this binds to receptors on cells to regulate your metabolism.  When you drop your calorie intake too low it puts your body under stress and raises cortisol and then less T4 is converted to T3. Instead, the inactive reverse T3 is made which stops the active T3 from doing its job so you burn less fat and carbohydrates and your metabolism slows down.

BLOOD SUGARS & INSULIN RESISTANCE

Insulin is responsible for keeping our blood sugar levels balanced. Blood sugar levels rise when we eat carbohydrates and they are metabolised into glucose which is distributed around our body in our blood. Our pancreas then produces insulin which enables our cells to take up the glucose and utilise it for energy.  If we bombard our bodies with refined carbohydrates and find ourselves on a blood sugar roller coaster, we are at higher risk of insulin resistance.  This is when our cells no longer respond as effectively to the insulin signal, this results in raised blood sugar levels, higher levels of circulating insulin and increased fat storage.  Prolonged stress and raised levels of cortisol can also increase this risk.

How can we balance blood sugar levels & increase insulin sensitivity?

So again, what we eat matters. Start by having a balanced plate and focus on the following:

• Eat protein with every meal
• Reduce or cut out refined carbohydrates like white rice, white bread, white pasta and simple sugars, sweets and cakes
• Replace refined carbohydrates with slow releasing carbohydrates like beans and pulses, and wholegrains like brown rice and quinoa.
• Eat healthy fats with each meal like oily fish, avocado, nuts and seeds
• Include foods rich in:
  1. Magnesium – dark chocolate, nuts, seeds, avocado, banana, wholegrains and pulses
  2. Zinc – seeds, meat, beans, pulses, eggs, wholegrains
  3. Chromium – broccoli, oats, shellfish, sweet potato, green beans

GUT HEALTH

This is another key area on which I will only scratch the surface of but suffice to say the microbes that live in our gut play a crucial role in how we metabolise our food, absorb the nutrients we eat, impact the foods we crave as well as synthesising key hormones including Ghrelin which tell us when we are hungry. Ghrelin also triggers receptors in the brain which control leptin which tells us when we are full and to stop eating. So…. eating to feed the good bacteria with pre-biotics in the form of fibre and probiotics to populate our gut from fermented produces with live bacteria is essential to support efficient metabolism.

THERMOGENIC FOODS

Lastly choosing food with a high thermogenic effect can help increase our metabolism.  About 10 percent of calories are burned through diet-induced thermogenesis – the amount of energy it takes to metabolise the food.  For example, 25-30% of calories from protein are expended metabolising it, 5-10% for carbohydrates and 0-3% for fats.  So protein has a high thermogenic value in comparison to fats.

Other foods that can enhance that process and increase our metabolism include:

• Chilli
• Black pepper
• Horseradish
• Mustard
• Cinnamon
• Fennel seed
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Coconut oil
• Green tea

IN CONCLUSION

Focusing on WHAT WE EAT is important for an efficient and effective metabolism and not just how much we eat! Unprocessed, nutrient dense whole foods that support our hormones, blood sugar balance and gut health is the best place to start when managing our weight.

And just to touch on the MOVE MORE …. Yes, it is important to keep active and exercise for our overall physical and mental health, find what works for you and don’t overdo it as this will increase your cortisol! WHAT WE EAT impacts our ability and efficiency to exercise too!  To learn more join me at my next in person workshop EATING FOR EXERCISE. More details can be found here……..Workshops – Time to Nourish

Nutrition: The Mind-Body Connection

Sep 15, 2021 | Blog Posts

Nutrition: The Mind-Body Connection

How what we eat, when we eat and how we eat can impact our Sleep, our Mind, our Gut, how we Exercise and how we LIVE?

Food is fuel, right?

It gives us energy to go about our daily tasks and exercise to keep us fit.

Yes, this is absolutely true, but it is so much more than that!  Research into nutritional science is forever developing our knowledge of how our bodies and the complex, interconnected systems and chemical pathways truly work! And how we feed our bodies is paramount to underpin our health. I find it fascinating.

At a basic level we know we should eat well and exercise to maintain a healthy weight and keep our bodies physically fit to reduce the risk of becoming sick. We know we need sufficient sleep and to manage our stress levels and may have even considered our gut health in our mission to optimise our health.

However, have you ever thought about the bigger picture? How all of these elements impact each other and have a knock-on effect.

Sleep, Exercise & Mood

If we don’t sleep well we feel tired and drained and this will affect our energy levels and cognitive function and lead to mental fatigue.  It will also affect our mood, not to mention our motivation to exercise and the food choices we make.

A review of the effects of mental fatigue on physical performance showed that they are intrinsically linked. Many studies indicate that mental fatigue, a psychological and biological state caused by engaging in a cognitively demanding task for an extended period of time, can impact physical performance. Interestingly, studies on mental fatigue have not shown a decrease in physical capabilities, but rather an increase in perceived effort. In other words, after a demanding cognitive task, a physical activity seems harder to perform. (Cutsem, 2017)

Studies have shown that insufficient sleep can also affect our mood including increased anxiety and stress levels, but exercise has been shown to elevate our mood and reduce anxiety and stress levels partly due to the endorphins released during and after physical exercise.

If we fuel our bodies in the right way we can exercise more effectively and sleep better and, when including the right nutrients, help support recovery and repair of muscles, so we are able to exercise more regularly.

Physical exercise is also a precursor to a good night’s sleep. When we sleep our bodies rest, recover and repair from the day physically and mentally through the glymphatic system, a recently discovered macroscopic waste cleaning system in the brain activated during deep sleep.

Mind, the mental health organisation, highlights the vicious cycle of sleep, mood and mental health.

There’s a close relationship between sleep and mental health. Living with a mental health problem can affect how well you sleep, and poor sleep can have a negative impact on your mental health. (Mind, 2020)

Sleep, Exercise, Mood, Food and the Gut

Now let’s consider the role of our gut which is not just for digesting our food for energy and producing the waste. It is an important organ in constant communication with the brain through the gut brain axis and is often referred to as ‘the second brain,’ helping to regulate vital processes.

The trillions of bacteria which live in our gut, mostly in the large intestine – our microbiome, are crucial to our health.  What we eat has a big impact on the diversity and balance of bacteria in our gut as does our environment and lifestyle including exercise, sleep and mood and vice versa; our microbiome can influence our sleep, mood, metabolism, hormone balance, inflammation and immunity, among many other things.

Our gut bacteria have a circadian rhythm too, when this is out of sync, when our sleep is disrupted, this can affect the production of the hormones leptin and ghrelin which control our appetite, leading to cravings and possible weight gain.

The connections go on and on – too many to mention here. It is like a domino effect.

Conclusion

It’s not really a conclusion but more of a round up! As this subject is a bit chicken and egg!

The mind and the body are not two separate entities, our physical health and emotional health are intimately linked.  Our chemistry and biology impact our mood and emotions, as well as thoughts and beliefs. With all of these factors combined, they play a major role in influencing our stress and physical health.

What we eat, when we eat and how we eat can impact each and every one of these elements.  To learn more and taste some delicious new recipes, join us for our New Workshop Series Nutrition: The Mind-Body Connection. The 5 workshops include:

Eat for Sleep

Eat for Exercise

Eat for your Mind

Eating for your Gut

Eat for your Life!

For more information head to my website – Workshops – Time to Nourish

References

Cutsem, J. V. (2017, August). The Effect of Mental Fatigue on Physical Performance. Retrieved from Pubmed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28044281/

Mind. (2020). How to cope with sleep problems. Retrieved from Mind : https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/sleep-problems/about-sleep-and-mental-health/

Being part of a Community can help with your Health

Apr 6, 2021 | Blog Posts

Do you try to eat more healthily but get bored or fed up and slip back into old habits? 

You are not the only one!

Do you get distracted or confused by the media and not know what is right for you?

You are in good company!

Do you wish your friends understood why you are trying to priorities your health? 

You are not alone!

Support and Guidance is Key

What you need is to be surrounded by like-minded people who are heading in the same direction; people who you can share your experiences with, ask questions, receive advice and support, encouragement and accountability.

When you have a community like this motivation to stay on track and keep reaching towards your health gaols becomes a way of life and not an upstream battle.

Over the past few years, even more during lockdown, the digital world and particularly Facebook and Instagram have become the place we share our lives with others.  Free Facebook groups can provide support, information and inspiration however I think they have lost their personal touch.

Within the digital world there are now countless different types of health and well-being groups which focus on different aspects of health, be it fitness and exercise, healthy eating and weight loss, as well as mindfulness, selfcare and other lifestyle factors but they have become an impersonal vacuum so it is easy to lose interest and focus as well as the community benefit it was set up for.

Where to find YOUR Community

Having experienced this digital saturation and inevitable separation it is time for something new.

In our Menu&Mind community we know each other, we keep in touch, we care how you are getting on and what sort of week you have had, we share the ups and downs.  We want to keep you on track and moving forward, supporting and understanding your individual situations. We are bought together by the magic of technology but pride ourselves with keeping it personal.

“You will not find anywhere that will make you feel so loved and supported. They just carry you through.” Melanie, Cookham

If you are ready to make sustainable habit change to your eating, exercise, mindset and lifestyle for the benefit of your long-term health then this is the community for YOU.  Our membership includes:

• Access to a private Facebook group
• Monthly 2 hour in person or zoom group coaching session 
• Monthly weekend zoom cook along
• Monthly zoom coffee & catch up
• Walk and Talk sessions (when Covid allows)
• Weekly zoom workout session with trained coach
• Home workout and exercise ideas
• Whole food recipe inspiration 
• Habit & motivation support 
• Discount when signing up to the 6 week foundation course

…..but more importantly it is a place for everyone to share, encourage, ask questions, have conversations and make friends.  As with any growing community it provides support and motivation to all who get involved, the more you put in the more you get out.

Menu&Mind Foundation Course

Our next 6 week foundation course starts on 21^st April and is a way to really kick start your journey.  It is a unique programme to build new healthy eating and exercise habits that will make you look, feel and think differently especially about how to achieve long-term sustainable health that works for YOU! The course includes:

• 6 x 2 hour group zoom session to set up and maintain YOUR plan
• Recipe booklet including video demonstrations
• E-coursework booklet
• Access to the private Membership Facebook Group for 1 month

Sound Good?

Anya and I would love you to get involved, be inspired, find support and feel empowered with others in our community so let’s journey to better health and well-being together! To find out more head to our website:

www.menuandmind.co.uk

or email me for a chat: info@timetonourish.co.uk

What is Healthy Balance and how do we create it?

Mar 2, 2021 | Blog Posts

If you look up the word Balance it has so many meanings and definitions it is no wonder it’s all a bit of a mystery! Even if we define it as Life Balance it will mean something different to everyone. What is for certain is that creating balance in our lives is truly important to our overall health and well-being.

What does Balance mean to you and is it achievable?

The first thing many people think about is Work/Life Balance. Balancing Work time with Life time.   As a small business owner working from home I struggle with this.  Because working from home means I’m at work everyday right?? And my work is my life, is it not??

Then when I start to think about it more deeply I realise Work/Life Balance is only the tip of the iceberg!!

How do we find a healthy balance on a day to day or week by week basis?

When it comes to our health, firstly I think we need to look at what our day or week needs to include to have balance. It may be different for you but the elements I focus on to find balance are:

• Diet
• Exercise
• Work
• Social
• Rest

Bringing some awareness to our daily habits in each of these areas is a good place to start to check we have a Healthy Balance.

Balanced Diet

We have all heard about a balanced diet but how often do we really check in with what we REALLY eat? And do we REALLY know what a balanced diet should include?  Here are some areas to consider….

• The Balanced Plate – Are you getting the right proportions of:
  • Low GL complex carbohydrates from wholegrains, root vegetables, beans and pulses
  • Quality protein from meat, fish, beans, pulses, nuts and seeds, eggs, organic minimally processed dairy.
  • Healthy Fats – Unrefined oils, avocado, oily fish, nuts and seeds, eggs, cheese, dark chocolate!

• Fluid intake – How much of the following are you really drinking?
  • water
  • coffee
  • tea
  • soft drinks
  • alcohol

• Snacking – Do you regularly eat snacks and what are they?

• Treats – How often do you have treats and could you swap them for healthier options?

• Meal time routine – Do you have a routine with your meal timings and does it benefit your health?

Balanced Exercise

We all know that exercising regularly is good for our health, but do we have the right balance?  Ask yourself…

• What type of exercise do you do and is this the best for your all round health and to achieve your health goals?
• How long do you exercise for on a daily or weekly basis?
• How consistent are you with your exercise?
• Could you increase your exercise or the variety within your routine?

Work time

We all have to do this in one form or another, whether formally working or running a household or both, how we divide our time in different areas to achieve our aims is important.  Think about how much time you spend….

• Doing your jobs
• Promoting and selling your business
• Planning what needs to be done in the short term – your task list
• Planning what you want to achieve in the long term
• Doing admin!!!!

Rest time

We wish we had more of this, and it is crucial for our Health so why do we not prioritise it more? Think about the following….

• What do you do for down time?
• What is your selfcare routine?
• What is your sleep routine and are you getting enough?

Social time

We are probably all lacking in this area over the last year! But even in lockdown it is important that we cultivate time to build and nurture relationships.  How much time do you spend doing the following and are there any you would benefit from doing more of?

• Connecting with family and friends
• Telling people you love them and giving them a hug
• Investing in your relationships
• Giving and receiving support and comfort

It may sound a lot to think about but once we have an awareness of what we are doing, finding balance is about being happy and content with the decision we make about the time we spend doing these things and this may be different from one day to the next.

Benefits of Balance for our Health

When it comes to overall health, all these elements are important, not just a balanced diet or regular exercise routine.  As we follow and develop our health path, which is ever changing, as new habits form and ember, the benefits will quickly become clear including:

• Easier weight management
• Less illness
• More Energy
• Better sleep
• Increased brain clarity
• Balanced mood

To find a Healthy Balance remember:

• It is a process of ongoing practice not a goal to be achieved
• It is being content with your priorities for today/this week/this year
• It is important to have long term and short term goals to give direction
• It is ok to reach out for support, help and knowledge when needed

To find out more about creating a healthy balance in your life, join our Menu&Mind Membership Programme which is now open to everyone or sign up for our next Foundation Course starting on the 21^st April. Click here for more information… book before the 1^st April and receive a 15% discount!