Slow Carb not Low Carb

Everyone has heard of the Low Carb phenomenon, but what we really should be thinking is Slow Carb, not Low Carb. Carbohydrates are an essential part of our diets - at least 55% of our energy should come from carbs. They are used as a fuel source in the muscles, liver and in the bloodstream and without a decent supply we suffer not only in physical performance, but also in mental performance.

If you restrict your carb intake you run the risk of running out of fuel. If there is not enough carb stored in your muscles you will run out while exercising, you may have heard of this being called "hitting the wall". This significantly impacts on your performance - if you have to stop your training session early you miss out on vital training adaptations and kilojoule burning. Those who limit their carb intake also run the risk of more grumpiness, lethargy and a decrease in mental function. The brain primarily uses carbs as its energy source - if this supply is limited the brain cannot function effectively - you end up feeling tired, irritable, unable to concentrate properly and with decreased reaction times. Not a nice side effect for you (or the people you interact with on a day to day basis!).

The reason that low carb diets are often associated with fast weight loss is that when you eat carbs you store them with water, if you dont eat enough the stores of carb and water are depleted (and this shows up as a loss on the scales) - you are not burning through body fat, therefore as soon as you start eating more carbs that weight will go back on as you store them + water.

What we need to do is switch from a low carb idea to a slow carb mentality. Slow carbs are those with a low glycaemic index. They digest and release sugars into the bloodstream slowly, and therefore dont have such a large insulin response. They keep us feeling fuller for longer as well (and are generally high in nutrients). Good slow carb foods are: wholegrain breads, lentils and pulses (e.g. chickpeas), kumara, basmati rice, oats, apples, yoghurt, bananas, kiwifruit and sweetcorn.

To begin now... or after Christmas?

I've been talking to a lot of people lately who, although they know they want to make some changes to their diet and lifestyle, know that Christmas is just around the corner and are torn between the decision on when to start.


Many say "well Christmas will make it difficult anyway so Ill just start after Christmas" but is this the best approach? I know that Christmas is a difficult time to make sensible choices consistently but I like to think THERE IS NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT! Many people find that they put on a couple of kgs over the Christmas period so when they do decide to make changes afterwards they have an extra couple to think about, whereas starting now you can look to lose a little before Christmas and maintain this through the period, giving you an even better starting point for the New Year.


This exercise might be helpful to make that decision:

1. What I am thinking about achieving? Try and make it specific - is it a weight focus? is it a performance focus?
2. How will I feel when I reach this goal? Think about you will feel when you dress, when you look in the mirror, what others will say to you about how you look, what your energy levels will be like, how it will feel to exercise etc
3. How would I feel if I don't achieve that goal? How will you feel? unhealthy? unenergetic? lethargic?
4. Am I ready to take the first small step towards achieving that goal?
5. What help do I need to enlist to get the support and motivation to achieve it?
6. When I am going to get started?


You may find this information helpful: http://www.sportsnutritionist.co.nz/index.php?pr=Our_Services

Surviving a birthday buffet

With my birthday this week, and my partners last week his parents took us out to a delicious dinner buffet last night and it made me realise that even with the best intentions it is hard to say no to the extras! As I wanted to enjoy it without feeling stuffed to the brim when leaving I used the following strategies to help me moderate my intake:

1. Go for the salads first - fill up your plate with plenty of colourful salads (I went for the lettuce, shaved carrot, tomatoes, greek salad, couscous and pasta salad and 1/2 a hard boiled egg). With plenty of colour it is then easy to go easy on the roast potatoes and extras!
2. Luckily we were seated the furthest you could get from the buffet - this means that you think twice before getting up from the table to get a second helping.
3. Go for the lower fat desserts to have less calories - I went for the mini pavlovas with fruit, fruit salad (although I couldn't resist a little creme caramel and tiny spon of trifle!)
4. Go easy on the alcohol - I had just one glass of wine - alcohol is high in kilojoules and can lower your self control when you are trying to watch what you eat
5. Watch your intake before you go out - I made sure that I had a perfect breakfast and lunch, with a small afternoon tea so that any extras at dinner wouldn't have so much of an effect. Having a small afternoon tea made sure that I wasnt starving by the time we sat down and I didnt need so much dinner.

De-Stress with Chocolate?

Chocolate lovers will be happy to hear that new research has shown that eating dark chocolate each day may reduce stress.

A new study by researchers in Switzerland have found that dark chocolate may help improve stress. They took 30 subjects and fed them 40g of dark chocolate a day (20g in the morning and the remaining 20g in the afternoon) and measured levels of certain stress hormones in the subjects blood and urine. They found that in the group of high stress anxiety subjects that these levels of stress hormones decreased over 2 weeks. Does this mean though that we should be eating chocolate every day?....

It's important to remember that dark chocolate may sound healthier but it still contains a significant amount of fat and sugar and can contribute to weght gain. Eating it for morning and afternoon tea may also displace other healthy foods from your diet (e.g. if you switch chocolate for your normal mid morning piece of fruit). It is also important to realise that this was a small study (only 30 subjects) and that much more research needs to be done before we can conclusively say that it is beneficial for us, so for now enjoy it in moderation (even doing that may reduce your stress levels!)

Do your weekends ruin your good eating intentions?

When you work hard during the week it can be easy to get to the weekend and relax off your nutrition and exercise strategies. When I ask clients if their week day eating habits translate through into the weekend there are usually two distinct replies, 1. No, I skip meals as Im busy, or 2. No, I eat many more treat foods. Now there is nothing wrong with being relaxed on the weekend but if you allow yourself to relax fully and do any of the following then you are really risking all of your hard work during the week

• Eating more snacks as you graze throughout the day
• Eating large amounts of treat foods e.g. bags of chippies on the couch
• Having too much alcohol (and consequently making bad food choices)
• Skipping meals as you are out of routine (especially bad for athletes and those building muscle mass)
• Not drinking as much water
• Not eating as much fruit and vege
• Eating large amounts of processed foods
• Eating larger portion sizes

Try and stick to your weekly routine as much as you can during the weekend, otherwise you might find yourself making up for it next week!

What we eat with has an impact on how much we eat

What tools we use to eat with has an impact on how much we actually eat. Imagine that you are given chopsticks to eat your normal stir fry dinner - can you eat your meal as quickly as you would normally would with a knife and fork? Chances are you can't - research shows that we slow down and eat less whe we use chopsticks - so when you are eating Asian foods at home use chopsticks instead of a fork to slow yourself down and ask for chopsticks when you are out.

Its also a well known fact that the bigger our plate is that we eat off, the more we will fill it up and eat it. Change your dinner plate to a smaller version so that you can still enjoy a balanced meal but you don't feel like you are having a smaller portion. The same with your bowls - if you eat out of a deep bowl it can be hard to judge how much food is in the bowl (and easy to fill it up so it looks like a decent sized meal) - find a shallow bowl where you can see your entire meal and use this instead.

If you are drinking out, research also shows that from a tall glass might slow us down as well. We seem to think that we are getting more from a tall glass and drink it slower than a short glass.