Receiving your meal plan is only the first step. The hard bit is to maintain the changes that we make. I often explain to patients that if the new regime becomes a battle then I can guarantee that you will lose the fight.

I remember saying to my children before an exam “ Enjoy today”. They thought I was mad. But the best guarantee of success is to enjoy what you are doing.

Another good but challenging secret to success is to plan ahead and then to make sure you keep to the plan. We need to allocate time to our wellbeing the same way we do for other commitments like making sure the laundry is done or that the bills are paid on time. However there are 3 pre-requisites to achieving life-style changes:

• Believing you can successfully make the necessary changes
• Being truthful with yourself about whether you are motivated to make changes
• Enjoying the changes so they last

The first week of 2011 is now past. Lets reflect on those New Year’s resolutions and whether we have maintained them for even one week.  Were they realistic or just pipe dreams.

Write down just two realistic goals that you are confident can be achieved. Set a date within the next two weeks to achieve goal number one.

Think about your goals for the next 24 hours. Do the above pre-requisites apply?

If not then modify your goals until the pre-requisites ring true.

Small steps rather than quantum leaps will keep us on track. Once you have achieved your first goal, the good feeling of success will keep you feeling positive about achieving your next goal.

Watch out for part 2 of this blog next week when I will provide valuable strategies for making life long changes to the way you eat and maybe even think……

I suspect most of us are saying “I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas again – where has the year flown?!” Every year we tend to follow the same old patterns whether from choice (my family love the tradition of it all) or because we don’t know any better way.

The Christmas message is over 2000 years old and my Christmas message has also changed little from last year. The same rules apply!

Christmas is often called the “Silly Season” because we go a bit daft with all the preparations and all the eating! It is often a time of over indulgence resulting in those New Year Resolutions to get back on track. But don’t despair, you can still eat healthily and try new and exciting recipes with a few helpful tips in mind.

I’m also a great believer in taking care of our emotional health and much of my time is spent helping people make necessary dietary changes rather than simply stating what needs to change!

Cooking a traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings can end up causing more stress than enjoyment for the cook, but I’ve found some useful hints from English chef Gordon McDermott who recommends starting everything days or even weeks in advance.

For example parsnips, carrots and Brussels sprouts can be prepared up to three days early.  Peel and slice the carrots and parsnips, boil for 12 minutes, drop into cold water, dry on paper towel and keep in the fridge covered in glad-wrap.

On Christmas morning whisk together a little olive oil, honey and wholegrain mustard and mix with the vegetables. Place on a preheated tray and roast for 30 minutes.

For the Brussels sprouts boil whole (no need to make little crosses on the bottom!!) for 6-8 minutes, drop into cold water, dry and cut in half. Cover with glad wrap and keep in the fridge. On Christmas day cook just before serving by stir-frying for 1-2 minutes. Add 2 table spoons of stock or water and cook 2 minutes. What makes them really delicious is to then add 200g of vacuum-packed chestnuts and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

The two most important survival rules for your waistline also involves planning ahead plus watching the quantities – keep it small! Taste everything but don’t pile up your plate.

If you have food sensitivities it is important to stay within your threshold. A small amount of foods spread out over time is often well tolerated occasionally. Plan ahead and design your meals and snacks within your limits.

If you are trying to lose weight, remember that one binge can undo a whole week’s effort.

Before eating out try to find out the options available so you can pre-decide what to choose. Only have 2 courses and have 2 entrée sized dishes instead of an entrée and a main.

If friends are coming to visit, modify your recipes to make them healthy. Try Greek yoghurt or evaporated skim milk in place of cream and sour cream, or coconut essence in-place of coconut cream. Use filo pasty with skim milk between the layers in-place of puff pastry.

Include raw vegetable sticks (try snow-peas and green beans) with cheese plates and dips and keep the dips vegetable based rather than cream based.

Remember to eat and drink SLOWLY and have a large glass of water with every alcoholic drink.

Turn your glass of wine into a spritzer with soda or mineral water, ice and lemon. Remember that fruit juice and soft drink contain lots of calories and are not a healthy option in-place of alcohol.

Below are a few recipe ideas for you to try or modify according to your personal needs, and please don’t hesitate to contact us in the New Year if you want help getting back in shape!

For extra psychological help see http://mindandbodypower.com.au

Grilled Goat’s Cheese with Caramelised Apple and Toasted Macadamia Nuts

Tuscan Pork Skewers

Tuscan Marinade:

• 1tspn fennel seeds
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2tspn Italian herbs
• 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 4 tbs extra-virgin olive oil

Cut the pork into 24 pieces and marinade for at least 2 hrs.

Soak 8 wooden skewers in water. Peel and quarter the onions and cut the capsicums into 24 chunks.

Thread pork onto skewers with onion, capsicum and mushrooms. Brush with marinade and cook on the BBQ for approx 6 minutes each side. Serve with Tomato and mint salad.

Tomato and Mint salad: Chop 4-6 medium tomatoes. Toss with 25g fresh mint leaves and 1/2 a red onion (both finely chopped). Mix together 2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil, 1 tbs white wine vinegar and freshly ground pepper to taste. Drizzle dressing over salad.

Poached strawberries in Drambuie

• 1 punnet of strawberries – halved
• 2 teaspoons of honey
• 1 generous tablespoon of Drambuie (or your favourite liqueur)

Poach all ingredients in saucepan over low heat until strawberries soft and a sauce has formed.

Allow the mixture to rest for a few minutes before serving warm with Greek yoghurt and almond biscotti.

Poor lifestyle choices which increase your risk of Metabolic Syndrome* will also increase your risk of gout.  And these poor lifestyle choices are often the result of how we spend our working day including the business lunch – or no lunch as the case can sometimes be!!!

The problems facing busy professionals will often start with simply getting out of bed! This is usually very early in the morning if they are facing a long commute to work.  Also when the day is long, our professionals will arrive home exhausted with little thought or energy for exercise or good nutrition. Often the first thing they will grab is a beer or glass of wine.  Sometimes the need to wind down before dinner will mean extra nibbles and a late evening meal.

So… Mr and Ms Brown go off to town….

Five days a week they are faced with getting out of bed and rushing out of the door whether to catch a train or fight the traffic.  Often those extra stolen minutes in bed are taken at the expense of breakfast. They may grab a coffee or cup of tea, but often have nothing until they reach work. Then if the diary is full there may not be time for a decent breakfast at all…..sometimes another coffee with a muffin if they’re lucky.

By lunchtime they may be surviving just on the caffeine hit from several cups of coffee. If really busy, lunch may be missed completely, or there may be the opportunity to order something to eat on the run – hopefully healthy!

A bigger worry is the business lunch. I once had a patient in his early 40s who ran a successful business with a partner. Every day they would entertain clients and take it in turn to stay sober!

This man was hospitalized for surgery on his toe because the gout was so bad the toe had practically “exploded”.  Every day lunch would be high saturated fat, high calorie and high alcohol.  The gout was so bad it was necessary for him to stop drinking alcohol completely.

Generally speaking there are only four types of patients I ask to stop drinking alcohol completely – those with an alcohol dependence, those with advanced liver disease or advanced pancreatic disease and the business man with GOUT.

So…. Mr. and Ms Brown come home from town….

They may not have eaten all day. They may have grabbed something on the run or they may have eaten a large lunch with clients.  Feeling tired and wound-up after a busy day it can be nice to relax with the family and share nibbles and a drink before eating (an often late) dinner.

Research tells us that people missing breakfast are more likely to gain weight. Breakfast is required to smooth start our metabolism and missing breakfast means that your body has to develop an “efficient” metabolism to keep going.  Think of your body like a car – it needs petrol for the journey, but not to sit in the garage idle.  Unlike a car, our bodies don’t conk out when low on fuel but become hyper-efficient at keeping going on little energy.  If we just eat one large meal at night our bodies will have no opportunity to burn the calories from that meal and will store them away as fat.

When the week-end comes, our busy professionals are concerned with catching up with all the chores for the week and to make sure they enjoy some relaxation. Socializing usually means eating with friends or family and often choosing comfort foods of poor nutritional quality.  It is so easy to create major damage at the week-end.

Many of my patients trying to lose weight will be very motivated all week, but come the week-end and all that effort is undone so that every Monday morning they are back at square one!

Did you know that there is really no such thing as a “beer belly”, only an “excess calorie” belly as fuel from food is not burnt when too much alcohol is consumed.

Alcohol is recognised by the body as a toxin that must be got rid of by burning as fuel before the calories from food can be used. There are twice as many calories in alcohol as there are in carbohydrate and protein foods like meat, bread and potatoes. Therefore by the time the calories from alcohol are used there is little need of the extra calories from food, so these are deposited as fat.

The risk factors from this hyper-busy life-style of little exercise and poor nutrition include:

• Stress
• Hypertension
• Hyperlipidaemia (high cholesterol and triglycerides**)
• Diabetes and Insulin Resistance
• Metabolic Syndrome
• Weight gain
• Gout

 If you would like help with planning a healthy working week, register today.   

* Metabolic Syndrome is a combination of medical disorders that increases the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes. The risk factors include obesity particularly central obesity, elevated blood fats, elevated blood sugars and/or elevated insulin levels, and elevated blood pressure

 * *Triglycerides are fats stored by the body, but influenced by the amount of alcohol and sugar consumed 

Useful Links:

Tips for a healthy heart

Healthy weight loss tips

Gout

Pregnancy and motherhood is a wonderful thing, but can also be a very challenging time! Looking after yourself can take extra effort when you are already stretched and tired, but it is crucial, not only for your health, but your baby’s health as well….

Many of my clients and patients are pregnant or new mothers concerned about what they should be eating, and what and when to feed their baby.

One particular concern at the moment is avoiding certain high risk foods such as egg, wheat, cow’s milk and peanut in an attempt to prevent your child developing food allergies.

 There is a vast amount of (sometimes conflicting!) information out there about health and nutrition, and it’s easy to get confused.

 According to Dr. John Sinn, a  neonatal specialist* and Senior Lecturer at Sydney University,  it could be that the avoidance of foods such as egg, cows milk and peanut may not  prevent allergies, and could even be related to the dramatic increase in severe food reactions.

For the general healthy population it’s currently recommended that during pregnancy and breast feeding no foods are avoided by the mother in an attempt to avoid allergy, not even high risk food groups such as cow’s milk, egg and nuts. 

BUT (there is always a “but”!), there are still certain foods need to be watched during pregnancy for other reasons like bacterial infection (Listeria/salmonella) and heavy metals in fish which can be harmful to your baby.  See my factsheet on things to watch when pregnant.

 In the 1970s it was recommended to introduce solids at about 4 months. This changed in the 1980s to 3-6 months and then in the 1990s to 4-6 months. But by the 2000s it was advised to wait until after 6 months and to avoid high risk foods for many more months and even years.

 During this time food sensitivities and allergy escalated.

According to the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology & Allergy (ASCIA –see www.allergy.org.au) there is insufficient evidence to specifically delay or avoid potentially allergenic foods.

 The latest recommendation from ASCIA is to introduce your baby to solids at 4-6 months old. 

The reasoning behind this earlier introduction to foods is that recent research has indicated there is an “Optimal Window of Tolerance” for exposure within the 4-6 month age bracket. Introducing foods to your child at this time may decrease the chances of your child developing an allergy or sensitivity to foods, including the development of coeliac disease.

All food groups, including the high risk allergy ones like wheat, egg and cow’s milk, can be introduced carefully by the age of 9-10 months. But if you have a strong family history of allergy I recommend seeking further advice from medical and dietary consultants.

By the age of one year an infant should be eating the same as the rest of the family provided the meal does not include highly spiced dishes, rich pastries, too much fibre, too much salt or too much sugar. 

However there are certain things you should avoid giving your infant, such as caffeine, or uncooked egg or honey due to the risk of bacterial infection. And for safety reasons no child should be given whole nuts under the age of 5 and even then only under supervision, as they are a notable choking hazard.  I still remember the time my own son got a corn chip stuck in his throat – very scary!

30 years ago I was a new mum and completing a research degree into infant weaning habits.  And now I have recently become a first-time grandmother so this subject is very dear to my heart

 If you would like further information on food intolerances or healthy eating for pregnancy and children sign up for a customised meal plan and unlimited email consultations.

*A neonatal specialist is a paediatrician specialising in young babies.