Getting a grip on emotional eating
Time & time again we hear our clients talk about emotional eating - turning to food to soothe emotions related to major events & daily stress.They say things like, "But I was really stressed..." "I just felt sad..." "It calmed me down" Emotional eating is reported as one of the most common reasons our clients sabotage their weight management attempts. While occasional overeating, like letting go on Christmas Day, is not too much of a worry, doing it more often than not drags you into a destructive cycle of using food to manage your mood, cope with stress, or overcome feelings of anxiety or boredom. We are ‘psychologising’ food when we use ...
How Stress & Over-exercise Can Prevent Weight-Loss
Possibly one of the most unexpected reasons for being unable to lose weight is TOO MUCH EXERCISE. And, the culprit? Cortisol. Cortisol is the body's primary stress hormone and is secreted by the adrenal glands in response to stress. It may surprise you, but the body interprets high intensity, frequent exercise as a stress. Exercising too much, too often, & without a break, leads to consistent high cortisol levels, and can negatively affect weight loss attempts. How does this come about? Under stress, cortisol functions to help the body produce blood sugar and pour it into your bloodstream. The blood glucose provides you with the ...
To Add Years To Your Life You Need to Exercise – Here’s Why!
Get Off the Couch! Many people say time appears to be moving faster, and they feel older than they are. They complain about their knees, lower back, feet and energy levels when they are overweight. They say their bodily ailments are a constant reminder of their age! Many studies have proven a commonly held belief – to add years to your life you need to exercise! For example, researchers at the King’s College in London measured the length of telomeres – the DNA cap at the end of your chromosomes – in 2401 twins. These ‘DNA bookends’ ...
Eating Mindfully
One of the most helpful habits for managing your weight and health involves paying attention to WHAT and HOW much you eat. Below are some DietPsyche top tips for transforming yourself from a mindless eater to a MINDFUL EATER! 1. Take the Time Allocate time for your food – eating on the run, snacking at your desk, and/or rushing through a takeaway only promotes mindless eating. Eat slowly because it takes around 20 minutes after you start eating for chemicals in your stomach to travel to the satiety centre in your brain to tell you that you are "full". So, eating too quickly often ...
Does eating six small meals a day produce more weight loss than eating three meals a day?
So, does eating six small meals a day produce more weight loss than eating three meals a day? Well, the bottom line is that eating 6 meals a day does not lead to more weight loss than eating 3 meals a day. While some studies have shown that having a higher meal frequency reduces food intake because you are reportedly less hungry, and that this in turn encourages... [Read more]
Is Cutting Calories Sufficient for Weight Loss?
I just love it when we get compared to primates! A study was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald suggesting that cutting our calories in order to lose weight would only result in an automatic reduction in our exercise output, meaning that we would maintain weight. And, why did they draw that conclusion? Because that’s what happened in an experiment with... [Read more]
Our Obesogenic World
It appears the main issue impacting on health systems globally is the over-consumption of food. In the stone age and some centuries ago the ability to gain weight in times of plenty served us well during famines and wars. However, in our current times the over-consumption of food is aggravated by a sedentary lifestyle in a global environment now referred to... [Read more]
Life in the Fast Lane- Fast Food, Fast Medicine, Fast Surgery
Everyone knows that we are experiencing a global pandemic of obesity that shows no signs of abating. Some of us would like to blame ‘fast food’. And, if you were not aware, the medical conditions caused by obesity are placing a significant strain on peoples’ health and health systems. Doctors are overloaded and many are burning out, often before they leave... [Read more]
Obesity is Associated with Brain Dysfunction- Another Good Reason to Lose Weight
Well, if the headline of this blog doesn’t grab your attention, I don’t know what will! We don’t mind losing some things, like our waists and fitness level, but when it comes to potentially ‘losing our minds’, it should make us want to sit up and listen. The bad news is out and hard to ignore. Evidence is growing that links obesity and executive dysfunction... [Read more]
The Gastric Balloon – the Latest in Bariatric Procedures
Gastric Balloon surgery is a reversible, non-surgical, non-pharmaceutical intervention for the treatment of obesity. The procedure involves a soft expandable balloon being placed in the stomach via your mouth. It takes about 20-30 minutes to insert. Once inserted the balloon is filled with saline solution making it too large to pass through the sphincter of... [Read more]
Preventing Obesity in Children (& adults)
Childhood obesity is becoming a real problem across the globe. Experts believe that if we don’t do something drastic to halt the escalation of childhood obesity this latest generation of children will experience significant health problems and have a significantly reduced life expectancy. Prevention of weight gain must start with children commencing at birth.... [Read more]
