Elizabeth Pattalis Nutritionist

SUSTAINABLE WEIGHT LOSS & INTUITIVE EATING NUTRITIONIST

Control Sugar Crashes for Better Mental Health and Weight Management.

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Can poor blood sugar regulation impact your mood, cause you to want to eat more and cause weight gain? Absolutely!

Let me explain a little about the brain first up. 

Consider your brain has a high brain region (the part that can make smart decisions) and a primitive brain section (the reactive limbic part). 

Sensory input goes to your high brain when no adrenaline is in the brain. You’ll likely use reason and logic to guide your behaviour and make decisions.

But, if there is adrenaline coming in, sensory input goes to the primitive area, and here you go into fight or flight or even react to past behaviours. There’s a sense of urgency and panic in this region. Your digestion system also slows down. It’s great if you’re running from a lion, but not for minor day-to-day activities. 

What can trigger a surge of adrenaline in the body? A few things, but what I’m focusing on is food, low blood sugar levels, and not eating, which can cause a rise in adrenaline. 

So you can see from what I’ve explained that your mood is going to be impacted since you begin to operate in the primitive brain mode. Your digestion has slowed, which negatively ultimately can impact your weight. 

Hypoglycemia, i.e., low blood sugar, can trigger several symptoms including:

– irritability

– shaking

– headaches

– heart palpitations 

– sweating

– moodiness

– nervousness

– cold/clammy skin

What causes hypoglycemia? 

Hypoglycemia is where the sugar (glucose) level in your blood drops too low.

The leading cause is that your body releases too much insulin after eating (reactive hypoglycaemia or postprandial hypoglycaemia) or not eating at all. Insulin’s main job is to move glucose from the bloodstream into the body’s cells to make energy.

If you have a high-carb meal, e.g. fruit loops cereal, the glucose will drop 1.5 – 2 hours later. This is because insulin is putting the glucose away. Adrenaline will be realised as the body senses glucose has fallen rapidly, and the brain needs glucose to function well. (The adrenaline stimulates the liver to get more fuel to the brain, but that’s another topic). 

What’s the solution?

For some people, it’s eating every 2 hours. But is there a better way?

Ideally, you want to eat more protein. Eating more protein keeps the brain happy and satisfied for 3-4 hours. 

I encourage you to read food labels when picking out snacks. Snacks are often the culprit to sugar crashes. 

Here’s an example of how to pick better snacks: Let’s pretend I have a muesli bar.

It contains 20 grams of carbs, 4 grams of fibre and 4 grams of protein.

Subtract the fibre from the carbs to get 16 grams. This 16 grams is the number we are interested in. 

Now look at the ratio of the revised carbs number to the protein.

It’s 16:4 or 4:1.

Under 3:1 is good. 

4:1 is okay.

5:1 is a dessert.

Anything more significant than that is trouble.

So this bar is okay. But there would be better eating options if that were your daily snack choice. 

Do you suffer from sugar crashes or constantly battle to ‘be good’ and not binge on the sweet stuff? 

Book in a 1 on 1 consultation and receive dietary, lifestyle and supplement recommendations to combat your health concerns.

Alternatively, check out the signature program A COURSE IN NORMAL EATING. Here you’ll learn the foundation principles of nutrition and break the never ending circuit of binge eating. Find food freedom today and live a better future.

Basic Nutrition – Protein 101

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Protein’s primary function is building, maintaining and repairing muscle. It is however involved in other processes such as immunity, hormone production and it’s needed to make brain neurotransmitters such as serotonin. We often forget, but protein is at the start of the chain when it comes to making brain neurotransmitters, so with mental illness on the rise, don’t forget it starts with the protein you eat.

Protein is one of the three macronutrients (carbs, fat, protein). It’s made up of 20 types of amino acids that bind together in various ways to create different kinds of protein.

The body can make 11 of the 20 amino acids. But for you to function optimally, you need to get the other nine amino acids from food (each amino acid has different functions).

Depending on what amino acids are in each protein, they can be considered complete or incomplete. Complete proteins contain all of the essential amino acids. In contrast, incomplete proteins do not.

As a general rule – complete proteins come from an animal source with the exceptions of a few plant-based sources such as quinoa, buckwheat, soy, hemp and chia seeds.

Types of Protein:

Complete Proteins:

•   Animal protein: meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy.

•   Plant proteins: tofu, tempeh, soy milk, edamame, quinoa, buckwheat, hemp seeds, chia seeds.

Incomplete Proteins:

•   Plant proteins: beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, grains (oats, rice, wheat, bulgur.)

Knowing some foods are complete or incomplete proteins is important as it helps understand why variety in the diet is important. Otherwise, you can end up in a deficiency in amino acids if you were to keep eating the same incomplete ones on repeat.

When planning a meal,  aim for about ¼ of your plate to be a protein source. 

If you were following a recipe on a meal plan that I have designed and it said use tuna, you could substitute with another protein from the above list such as eggs. 

Protein tends to help you feel fuller for longer as it takes more energy to digest in comparison to carbs. For this reason, it is useful if you are trying to lose weight to make it a priority to include protein at each meal.

How Much Protein Do You Need?

Guidelines suggest between 0.8 grams to 1.2 grams per kilo of body weight (1).

To calculate quickly, if you weighed 50 kg, then you need about 50 grams of protein.

Generally, people don’t have a problem ensuring they are eating enough protein unless they are on a muscle-building program. In this case, you are ramping up the protein to about 1.8 grams to 2 grams per kilo of body weight.

Example, if you weighed 100kg, and you wanted to put on muscle, you are then aiming at 200 grams of protein. An egg has 6 grams of protein in it. Therefore you can see the challenge. Now, imagine you are vegan, ½ a cup of beans if about 6 grams of protein and your choices are going to be limited when consuming protein. I encourage eating real foods first, but protein powders do have their places, in particular, where you have a goal to meet with muscle building.

Protein Content Of Common Foods:

Content of protein, in grams (2):

  • ½ cup edamame beans: 8
  • 1 egg: 6
  • ½ cup lentils: 9
  • ½ cup cannellini beans: 8
  • 2 tbsp peanut butter: 7
  • ¼ cup nuts: 4 to 6
  • ½ cup bran: 6
  • 100g cod: 21
  • 100g can salmon: 20
  • 120g sirlon cooked: 24
  • 100g chicken cooked: 28
  • 100g tempeh: 19
  • 200g natural low fat yogurt: 5
  • 1 cup milk: 10

For most of us who just want to be healthy, you don’t need to count your protein each day. Keep it simple: ¼ of your plate protein and rotate the type of proteins you are using.

For more information on the amino acid Lysine, read the post here. Lysine is typically one of the amino acids often deficient in vegan and vegetarian diets.

If you would like a personalised meal plan to ensure it meets your nutritional requirements, orders can be made here.

The Body’s Natural Cycle – The Moon & Menstrual Cycle

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menstrual cycle lunar phases
 
A women’s menstrual cycle is about the same length as a lunar cycle, around 28 – 29 days. In being in sync with the moon, the light of the full moon triggers ovulation and women would bleed at a new moon.
 
However in the western world today, we have somewhat lost our connection as women to both nature and the moon. We live in a man’s world.
 
Traditionally in many cultures, the moon holds sacred significance to the goddess and the female. Going back into time people lived in the open, amongst the trees, the stars, and the ocean. Today’s culture has become detached from this natural way of living, it has become very much artificial and at a cost to our health.

 

Menstrual Cycle

A woman’s cycle can be thoughts of as two phases:
  • The follicular phase – day 1 (first day of bleeding) to day 14 (ovulation).
  • The luteal phase – day 15 to day 28 (until next bleed).
If we track a woman’s mood, it can be further broken down, into four phases. If we work with these four phases, we can move with the cycles of the moon.
 

Moving With The Moon Phases

  • Phase 1 – dark moon or no moon – menstrual phase:
    • With no moon and the shedding of the uterus, ie, the bleeding, energy is low. It is natural to want to retreat and stay indoors. It represents winter. The body wants more sleep at this time.
    • This is the time to reflect, to go within. Reflect on the last month and let go of what isn’t serving you.
    • It is about physically cleansing, bleeding, and purging emotionally.
    • To honor this time, spend time alone, don’t plan any events to fall at this time, rest. You may ask your partner to take care of some of the chores, and de-load your workload at this time.
  • Phase 2 – waxing moon – pre-ovulation phase:
    • This is after menstruation has finished and is the lead up to ovulation, spring.  Energy is building up as hormones are rising.
    • The focus now is outward, you are driven, productive and focused.
    • This time is a good period to get onto any challenging work, the ‘big tasks’.
    • With exercise, you may want to go a bit harder, aim for the personal bests at this time.
  • Phase 3 – full moon – ovulation:
    • This is when a woman is fertile. With the full moon, it is summer, energy is high, and it is bright.
    • Energy is still outward but there are more nurturing elements. The time to do any big cleans may be now.
    • This time is about connecting to others, developing relationships and nurturing current relationships. It’s a great time to make a date, or treat yourself to something indulgent like a massage.
  • Phase 4 – waning moon – premenstrual phase:
    • This is when physical and emotional energy starts to decline, the autumn. Energy starts to shift inwards again as the moonlight becomes dark and empty.
    • Creativity can be higher as well as intuition. Perhaps if you have been sitting on the fence on something, now is the time to tune into what you need to do.
    • This is the time for less logical work and more creativity. It’s a time for self-care, to relax, let emotions calm, read a book and have a long bath.
    • With exercise, you may want to opt for gentle yoga practices and leave the high-intensity training to the led up to ovulation.
If you start to become aware of the phases, you can work with it rather than against it. There are positives to every phase.
 
Being in sync with nature is healing to both the body and mind. It is hard today as we do live in a world where a woman is on the go every day. Life seems to support a man in many ways. But it isn’t to say it isn’t possible to make it work for you. Tell your partner what the phases are so then he won’t go planning his boys night on day 1 and expect you to prepare the food. If you have a personal trainer, tell them too, they can plan your harder sessions at ovulation and de-load you at menstruation or the lead-up. If you are doing a diet where you need to take a break, to break a plateau, then have that break at phase 4 when willpower is lowest.
 
If you are having difficulties with a regular cycle and not sure where to start, you may find this article useful on seed cycling. It can help restore a cycle. Alternatively please get in touch for a consultation. 
 
Trust the body’s wisdom. It knows everything you need to know.

 

The Best Way To Detox – A Nutritionists Approach

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Needing to detox is a thing!
 
Sometimes people can have negative connotations with the idea of a detox diet.
 
But it’s not all nonsense. Studies have revealed that exposure to and accumulation of toxins play a significant role in cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. In addition one’s dietary intake and environmental influences may have large bearing on the incidence of chronic disease. Therefore it would make sense that a protocol to reduce toxins whilst using food and supplements are used to enhance detoxification in the body (1).
 
However, just like other systems in the body, it sometimes needs some extra love and care.
 
Factors like genetics, chronic stress, unhealthy habits, certain health conditions physical inactivity and a diet high in refined sugars or processed foods contribute to increased production of toxins within the body and a poorer clearance of toxins.
 
Toxins come from everywhere. The body produces them like lactic acid and wastes are made by gut microbes. There are the toxins we ingest such as medication, pesticides, mercury in fish, alcohol or air pollution. Regardless, whatever the toxin, it needs to be processed or a person will get sick.
 
A poor detox program is one that is difficult to implement, low calories, few nutrients and teaches a person nothing. But they are not all like that.

What is a good detox program?

  • It recommends removing highly processed foods and foods which are more likely to cause negative reactions in the body such as dairy, gluten and red meat.
  • It encourages eating foods that help the organs involved in detoxification such as broccoli and cabbage for the liver, or fibre foods for the bowels.
  • It will help reduce the likelihood of a leaky gut and improve the gut microbiome.
  • It will further encourage the eating of foods that are high in antioxidants. This helps reduce oxidative stress and inflammation.
  • It may recommend specific nutrients known to boost liver or kidney function.
  • It will go beyond diet and address lifestyle. Lifestyle choices can support detoxification, the most obvious being exercise or they can hinder it such as poor sleep habits.
  • It will teach the person how to avoid and minimise toxins. For example, in reducing your toxic exposure you would want to be avoiding Teflon nonstick pans and instead opt for stainless steel or glass.

A good program isn’t a program that is focused on deprivation, it is about adding to your health in conjunction with educating.

Elizabeth’s 6-week detox program involves all of the above. It identifies the foods to avoid, and the foods to eat more of. It is simple but effective in enhancing detoxification within the body. It is a health reset.
Best of all, unlike other detox diets, this kind of cleanse won’t drain your energy levels or leave you feeling worn down. Instead, it offers a boost of energy and vitality, restored motivation and an overall improvement in wellbeing.
 
This program is for the person interested in health care, not a quick fix ‘depriving diet’, for an overnight change in body weight.
 
Get access to this online 6-week detox program today.
 
This is the ultimate health reset, it’s your body’s vacation time to restore. It is 6 weeks – enough time to create new healthy habits and give your body the care it needs for increased vitality.
Online Detox
 

Why Detox – And How To Do It

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why detox - beetroot

Research over the last several decades indicates that the pathology of almost all age-related or chronic diseases is caused by multifactorial elements such as diet, exposure to environmental agents (toxins), and genetic risks. The data suggests that nutrition, as well as lifestyle changes, can modify the pathologies of chronic diseases including those associated with toxic build-up (1).

Toxins come from everywhere – air pollution, plastic packaging, canned goods, pesticides, in our food supply such as mercury in fish, cosmetics, medications, toys, flame retardants, and the list goes on. Some people would argue that levels of individual toxins found in our food and environment are not significant enough to cause harm. Evidence is suggesting otherwise, low doses of toxicity are a concern as are compounded effects of multiple exposures which is the greatest concern.

Toxins like to be stored in fat cells. A person who is overweight potentially will carry high loads of toxins. The body in an attempt to rid of them becomes depleted in antioxidants and this is a contribution to inflammatory states (cardiovascular disease, IBS, arthritic conditions, mental health disorders, etc).

The toxins disrupt the bodies endocrine function i.e. hormone function. They can mimic naturally occurring hormones in the body like estrogen’s, androgens and thyroid hormones. The body ultimately suffers from altered metabolism and hormone imbalances (2).

It isn’t just the liver and kidneys that assist in detoxification. The gut is a major player as well. It is estimated about 25% of detoxification processes are within the gut. A lot of the toxins that enter the body comes from food and if a person has a “leaky gut”, ” these toxins aren’t being detoxified in the gut. Instead, they are entering the body’s bloodstream and potentially produce unwanted symptoms.

Furthermore, if a person has too many of the undesirable microbes in the gut, they will also produce more toxins. Healing the gut, therefore is important, maintaining the integrity of the gut lining and ensuring there is the right balance of good and bad gut bacteria.

If wastes build up in the body, a person gets sick. Toxicity is linked to almost every disease thus it is imperative detoxification is working well.

The key to detox can be summarised into three areas:

  1. Enhance the body’s capacity to detoxify.
  2. Get rid of the wastes effectively
  3. Reduce exposure to toxins.

In enhancing the body’s detox capacity, nutritional intervention has been shown to result in demonstrable improvements in health by lowering the toxicant burden of people (3).

Following some guidelines, a person can improve their bodies detoxification capabilities to help eliminate toxins, wastes and reduce inflammation.

Fantastic foods for detoxification include:

  • Brussel sprouts: Brussel sprouts contain good fibre to promote elimination and they boost liver detoxification increasing enzyme activity (4).
  • Beetroot: Beetroot contains an array for vitamins and minerals for enhanced detoxification. It boosts the key enzyme in the liver and reduces cell damage (5)
  • Chia seeds: Chia seeds are loaded in fibre allowing wastes to be excreted from the body easier. They also are high in antioxidants helping protect the liver.
  • Nuts: Nuts are a nutritionally dense food with an array of nutrients. Particularly rich in antioxidants and fibre they help fight free radicals and keep you regular (6)
  • Green tea: Green tea has numerous demonstrated health effects, including antioxidant functions and enhancement of the detoxification liver enzymes (7)

Eating in a way that supports your body’s detoxification pathways every day is the best way to ensure optimal health. However, no one is perfect all the time. Modern-day life also makes it difficult, toxins cannot be avoided completely. Genetics is another issue. If a person has gene variations in the ones relating to detoxification, they need to be more careful than others.

If you feel you need extra detox support check out Elizabeth’s Detox 6 Week Program,

it is your health reset, the foundation to better health. 

Alternatively, if you’d like to read more on detoxification read the post here. on the signs of poor liver detoxification. 

7 Signs You Need To Detox

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Do you consider yourself healthy but experience moodiness, dull skin, constant tiredness, brain fog, body pains, bloating and/or maybe headaches? These types of ailments are common enough and considered ‘normal’ even, so we don’t tend to make a trip to the doctor about it. An all too often remark is ‘it’s called getting old’. But it can have nothing to do with age.
 
The good news is you don’t have to live with it. Wouldn’t it be better to be vibrant and have clarity of mind?
They all may be symptoms of too many toxins in your body. Let’s dig deeper into some of the signs and symptoms of a body that is experiencing too many toxins.

 

Stubborn body fat.

Plastics contain what are called xenoestrogens. These mimic real estrogens and unfortunately, this means fat for the body as we can start to have ‘estrogen dominance’. The detoxification pathways excrete our hormones but if the body is overworked or not functioning optimally (poor diet, alcohol, genes, stress, medication, etc), then we may end up with a build-up of estrogen and a build-up of toxins. Another key point to remember is that toxins love fat. The toxins prefer to accumulate in the fat cells rather than the bloodstream. Therefore it only makes sense the body may hang onto your excess fat because to lose it, would mean the toxins then get released into the body. It serves as a protective mechanism as well.

Fatigue and lack of focus.

If you can’t get out of bed in the morning and feeling ‘foggy’ this is a classic symptom of toxicity. Your body is exhausted from the toxic overload, probably in body and also in mind.

Toxins increase inflammation and our brains get inflamed too, “leaky brain syndrome”. In addition to brain fog, lack of concentration it can impact our moods. Sometimes conditions such as depression and anxiety are due to brain inflammation.

You smell.

A nutritionist will always ask what is going on in the mouth. Bad breath and unusual patterns on the tongue can be strong indicators of toxic overload. Undesirable bacteria in the gut produce toxins and gas. The gas has to go somewhere, that may be in the form of bad breath. It’s worth remember kidneys are one of the organs that participate in detoxification. If the kidneys aren’t working well enough the breathe may smell like sulfur or you may smell an ammonia scent in your sweat or urine. 

Constipation.

The bowels get rid of a lot of toxins every day of our lives. When we’re constipated, we’re storing up all those toxins, allowing them to negatively affect our bodies. Bowel movements should be happening every day, any less and you’re building up toxins and may have further gut issues as well such as bloating, and wind.

Muscle aches and pains.

If you are constantly sore, stiff, and achy for no real reason, it’s a big red flag for inflammation. The toxins in your life are working away at your muscles and joints. Headaches can present themselves as well.

Skin reactions.

The skin plays a role in detoxification. It is one of the ways toxins can leave the body by sweat. Acne, rashes, and other skin problems may signal a toxic overload.

Your Hormones Are Out Of Whack.

Hormones are made in the body and they are also eliminated by the body. PMS, heavy periods, hot flushes, migraines, anxiety, blood sugar problems, stomach fat, and infertility, are all conditions associated with hormone imbalance issues. When we have a hormonal issue we need to ask ourselves why? If your detoxifications pathways aren’t working as well as they should for whatever reason your hormones aren’t going to play nice.
Maintaining a clean diet isn’t always enough. Toxic overload can happen to us all and is.
 
Detoxification can be a simple process. If you answered yes to any of these points you need to up your detox game. Instead of doing some crash detox, try a detox that is more sustainable and make your lifestyle cleansing.
 
For some detoxification tips on what food to eat please check out this post here.
 

The Role Of Leptin In Fat Loss

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Fat Loss Nutritionist Sydney

The reality is at some point a weight loss diet will stop working. This is when people just give up, when they shouldn’t,  it is part of the process and it can be overcome.

The body defends against weight loss.

Leptin is a signaller hormone for body fat. It is in proportion to how much body fat you have. The more body fat you have, the more leptin circulating in your blood.

If you drop body fat, your brain will hear it through leptin, and the brain doesn’t like that and will trigger a starvation response. It acts to maintain homeostasis in the body, think of leptin as a regulatory system of the body. Your body’s fat thermostat.

Subsequently, if your brain hears leptin has dropped then you start getting hungry, you start thinking about food more, food tastes and looks better and your metabolic rate may drop to preserve energy to replace the depleted stores.

This regulatory mechanism can malfunction, it can be reset to maintain a higher level. In industrialised countries this is happening, obesity is on the increase. People are gaining weight and it is difficult to lose that weight due to this leptin.

Leptin also does respond to recent food intake if you eat too much. If you eat a really big meal or overeat for days, your leptin will increase.

In obesity, it is frequent to see what is called leptin resistance.

The National Institutes of Health described leptin resistance as, “The failure of endogenous or exogenous leptin to promote anticipated salutary metabolic outcomes in states of over-nutrition or obesity.” (1). In other words, this is where you desensitise the leptin circuits and make them adapt to a higher requirement of leptin. Essentially the body requires more leptin to feel satisfied that you have enough body fat.

It important to note as well, this doesn’t happen so much if you are eating a healthy diet. It is something about high calories, processed, unnatural foods that has a greater impact on the leptin regulatory system.

Therefore in leptin resistance, where weight loss should see a  decreased levels of leptin, this is not happening and this contributes to a vicious cycle of weight gain. A leptin resistance person requires more food than necessary to feel satisfied. In this person the brain not receiving the message that enough food has already been eaten.

When trying to lose body fat, do not give up once you plateau. Plateaus or to gain weight is very normal (most people will get this in weeks 6 to 8). Your diet may not be necessarily wrong for you. It is just that your body is now fighting really hard to get your thermostat body fat up again. Too many people give up right before the miracle happens, in many areas of life.

As a nutritionist, Elizabeth uses the latest research into the set point theory and leptin resistance when developing fat loss plans. This is why you don’t see strict weight loss diets from day one. This approach would send the body into starvation mode and cause havoc. It is not suitable if you want long term results. Do your research and think about the consequences before embarking on any diet ‘challenge’ you find online or developed as part of a weight loss competition. Your health is not a competition. 

For more information on the effects of starvation and set point please read the article on the Minnesota Starvation Experiment.

To book in for a fat loss consultation please get in touch, bookings can be made online or contact Elizabeth directly.

Ditch The All Or Nothing Diet Approach

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Do you keep falling off the bandwagon?

Do you go from being really good to really bad?

Are you either strictly eating or are you junk food overloading?

Do you mess up so figure you may as well go all in?

If you answered yes to any of those, it is a tiring and unhealthy place to be. Eating is something we are born to do naturally without learning to survive. Yet we have turned it into an industry. This industry is killing us.

SWAP INTENSITY FOR CONSISTENCY

This is the key point here. Something done regularly even if it isn’t perfect gets you ahead.

It is far better to do one gym session a week than to do 1 every day but only make it two months before you stop going.

It is far better to eat well most the day except the chocolate bar at night post-dinner than do eat strict healthy for one month straight but follow it with a week-long binge.

Something is good enough. If you can only walk 2 lots of 15-minute sessions a day, do that! 

Give up the shoulds and food rules. There is a point to eating a healthy dinner even if you ate maccas for lunch. 

AIM FOR HEALTHY NOT PERFECTION

Healthy is knowing if you do have some cake that you’re body internally knows what to do with the extra calories. Healthy is trusting your body to know what foods it needs for nourishment. 

Healthy is going to pilates because you like the feeling it gives you. Healthy is knowing that once a week is enough if that’s all you want to do.

Quit trying to look like someone you’re not. Eating to control your weight ends up making things worse. Eat for health. You can’t eat to look like Cindy Crawford. You can eat all the calcium-rich foods you like your legs aren’t going to grow longer! Accept the shape you are and work with it. Be the best you, you’re not competing with anyone. 

THE LITTLE THINGS TO ADD UP

If you stop having sugar with your coffee this time next year that will have made a big difference to your health. And it wasn’t something that was hard. A slight tweak here or there is what you need. Swap your mocha to a flat white. Swap your Sunday afternoon wine catch up with friends with a game of tennis instead. Walk to the corner shop each day instead of driving. Yes in one day you’re not going to see a result, but how about in a year? How about in 5 years?

LIVE A LIFESTYLE YOU CAN MAINTAIN

You can do the keto diet for a month just to lose weight. There are lots of diets you can do. But can you sustain it? There are circumstances where it can be suitable to diet, but for most of us, there isn’t a need.  Eating well isn’t about discipline. It’s what you should naturally want to do without too much effort. If it is an effort and you’re going back and forth, if you can’t say no to the dessert, then you need to address this. Free your mind so you can live life fully. 

TRY A DIFFERENT APPROACH

If you want to quit the cycle that gets you nowhere but usually backward if anything, then sign up to the 5 DAY FREE INTUITIVE EATING CHALLENGE.  It starts on April 1, sign up today.

Break free from the diet mentality and learn how to listen to your own body.

  • Learn to understand why dieting doesn’t work
  • Why mindful eating is important
  • Discover how to tap into your hunger cues
  • Why nutrients matter and what foods you need to be eating

JOIN HERE

Why Am I Gaining Weight On A Diet?

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Gaining weight on a diet is not uncommon, in fact, most people will experience this despite their best effects.

Have you ever lost a few kilos while being sick? Then once you were better your weight returns back to normal?

Or maybe you over ate too much on holidays returning back a little heavier? Yet effortless once you returned back to routine your weight bounced back?

This adaption is what we call set point theory, a theory developed in 1982 by William Bennet and Joel Gurin. The theory states that every human being has a ”setpoint”. The setpoint is a predetermined amount of body weight that indirectly balances how much food is eaten with how much energy is expended through physical activity and body metabolism (1). Some people will have higher set points than others and will have more body fat. It helps explains why people who go on diets rarely have long term success in achieving weight loss results, people tend to put the weight on plus a little extra.

Setpoint theory does explain why dieters sometimes lose weight fast initially but then plateau. The dieter begins to feel increasingly hungrier leading and eventually caves into the cravings. Subsequently, then the dieter returns back to normal eating. Dieters not only tend to put the weight back on, but they also put on extra weight. A study published in the journal Obesity studied 14 contestants of The Biggest Loser 6 years after the end of the show. Only 1 participant managed to keep the weight off. In addition to this finding, the weight regain did not come with a rebound in Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). Therefore the contestants must eat fewer calories each day to maintain their weight than previous to the show (2). The body reacts to dieting similar to famine. It gives you extra weight as an ‘insurance’  and lowers your metabolism just in case famine strikes again.

If you think that is not bad enough, it gets worse. Neuroendocrine signaling and gut hormones adapt to changes after dieting. Leptin is a satiety signal that tells us when we are full. It may decrease when we are on a diet. Studies have shown that while leptin levels decrease there is also increased brain activity in areas of the brain involved in emotional and sensory control of food intake (3). Now the dieter has food always on the brain, it is no wonder why some dieters feel food obsessed.

So frustrating for the dieter! Losing weight is incredibly complex. You can now begin to appreciate why dieting is not simply about will power nor eating less.  Now, this is not to say it will happen to everyone. However, it is one of the factors which explains why for some people they feel like they need to eat less and less to maintain their weight.

Before starting a diet it is important to consider the set point theory. There is no test to find out what your set point weight is. You can guess your setting weight is the weight you normally maintain, give or take a kilo when you’re not thinking about it.

It is possible to get around your set point and lose weight, it requires a systematic approach to ensure your BMR stays at a reasonable rate for long term weight loss success. The best approach is to lose weight slowly, eating a balanced diet in combination with exercise (4).

Seek advice from a nutritionist who specialises in the field of fat loss. A nutritionist uses the latest scientific research and tools to develop programs specific to the individual. If you’d like to find out if Elizabeth can help you, please contact her or book online.

FREE 5 DAY – INTUITIVE EATING CHALLENGE – STARTS APRIL 1

The Challenge is a 5 Day program moving you from chronic dieting behaviour towards having a normal, carefree relationship with food.

Register HERE.

Why Restrictive Eating Is Never A Good Idea: The Minnesota Starvation Experiment.

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[Trigger Warning: This blog contains calorie counts which may be triggering for eating disorder sufferers].

 The Minnesota Starvation Experiment is a well-known study which illustrates the negative health effects caused by diets.  The study began during World War II with the purpose of understanding human starvation to in order to help the famine relief efforts after the war.

The Minnesota Experiment

36 men were chosen. During the 12 month control period, the men received 3200 calories of food. This was followed by 6 months of semi-starvation in which they received about 1570 calories per day. The last three months was a nutritional rehabilitation period in which they were gradually refed, 2000 – 3000 calories per day.

During the study, the men were expected to live as they normally would and to walk 35 km a week and burn 3000 calories per day.

In the 6 month semi-starvation period, the men lost about 25% of their body weight. By the end of this 6 months and by the end of the rehabilitation period, the men experienced dramatic physical, social and mental changes. 

Food Obsession

One participant described the eating rituals men developed. Some people diluted their food in water to make it seem like more. Others would put a little food in their mouth and hold it in their mouth for a long time to savor it. Some meals could take two hours to consume when normally it would have been over in a matter of minutes. Chewing gum, coffee and tea consumption increased dramatically in the experiment as well. Many of the men started collecting cookbooks and one reported to owning nearly 100 by the time the experiment was over.

Food became the main topic of conversation and day time dreams. Concentration on other activities non-food related became difficult as food preoccupied their thoughts instead. One man interviewed in 2003 commenting on the food obsession said, “if you went to a movie, you weren’t particularly interested in the love scenes, but you noticed every time they ate and what they ate”.

The obsession was so great that three of the men ended up changing careers becoming professional chefs after the experiment.

Binge Eating

During the refed period many men started binge eating. They could no longer control their appetites and were more or less eating continuously. 

3 months post refeed period some men were consuming 6000 calories on most days and on the weekends close to 10000 calories per day. 5 months later some still reported to no longer being able to feel satisfied eating despite eating abnormally large amounts of food.

One man reported that after the starvation period it was “no better”, “partially because there was not a noticeable relief from feelings of hunger”. Another man described the next year as a “year-long cavity” that needed to be filled. Another after the experiment had to be taken to hospital due to get his stomach pumped because “he overdid it”. 

Not all men completed the study.  Two volunteers broke diet; one stopped at various shops for sundaes and malted later stole food and another admitted to chewing excessive amounts of food and eating food scraps from garbage cans.  Both also suffered severe psychological distress during the semistarvation period, resulting in brief stays in a psychiatric ward.

Psychological and Neurological Changes

During the experiment, the men reported anger outbursts, depression, anxiety and mood swings, and. They experienced fatigue, dizziness and lack of coordination, They lost interest in sex and their relationships began suffering. They also withdrew from social interaction preferring to be alone.

Physically the men looked gaunt, lost strength and lost stamina. They lost hair and experienced muscle soreness. Internal physiological changes were also apparent with lower body temperature, decreased heart rate, decreased respiration rate and the metabolic rate dropped 40% than prior to the experiment. 

The Lessons

Food restriction can be incredibly damaging. Eating disorders often stem from having been on restrictive diets. When a person deprives themselves of food, they become fixated on food, the drive for food and survival goes into full swing. Binge eating can be the consequence of being undernourished for too long, it is not due to lack of will power. Other effects from prolonged dieting include digestive issues, hormonal imbalances and mood disturbances.

If you want to lose weight there is a right and wrong way to do it. As you can see from the experiment, the participants consumed 1570 calories. Many people are following diet online plans which contain less calories than this.

I help people eat intuitively, healthily without the restrictions, consistently. Lifestyle recommendations are part of the plan. Working with a nutritionist gives you the support to keep going and make adjustments so that you keep losing weight (assuming you need too). To book please use the contact page.

You may also download your free guide to help you find food freedom and break from binge eating.

References:

Baker, D., Keramidas, N. (2013). The psychology of hunger. Monitor on Psychology, 44(9), 66-66.

Kalm, L. M., & Semba, R. D. (2005). They starved so that others could be fed: Remembering Ancel Keys and the Minnesota Experiment. Journal of Nutrition, 135, 1347-1352.