A sports drink can contain up to 10 teaspoons of sugar
An average 600mL sports drinks contains over 600kJ and nearly 40g or 10 teaspoons of sugar. This can be useful to replace lost energy if you’re running a marathon or doing heavy exercise for over 60 minutes. If you’re not, though, it’s just adding empty kilojoules to your day. Compare it to water, which is excellent for hydration and contains… let’s see… absolutely no kilojoules or sugar at all!
Avocados and olives are full of healthy fats
Conventional wisdom says we should stay away from fat, however some fats are essential for heart health and general wellness. These are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (as opposed to saturated fats which increase risk of heart disease). Both avocados and olives are naturally packed with these healthy fats (which includes foods such as guacamole and olive oil). Just watch your serving sizes because while they are healthy fats, they are still high in kilojoules. Try some of these healthy avocado recipes.
White sugar, raw sugar, honey, golden syrup… they’re all sugar products and they all pack kilojoules
There’s a huge range of sugars and sweeteners available today including white sugar, raw sugar, honey, maple syrup, agave, coconut sugar, rice malt syrup and molasses. Certain types are often promoted in the media or by celebrities as being healthier than others. However, it doesn’t matter whether the product is touted as being raw or less refined or sugar free. The bottom line is that all of these products provide energy/kilojoules and not much else in the way of nutrients. And while artificial/intense sweeteners such as stevia, aspartame, saccharin or sucralose often found in ‘diet foods and drinks’ do not contain kilojoules, they also do not provide any nutrients. These artificial sweeteners are far sweeter than regular sugar and may lead to a reliance on a sweet taste.The best thing to do is have as little as possible of all sugars and sweeteners. Check out some of these recipes for how to keep it delicious and healthy.
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Many people find it easier to lose the first few kilograms when focusing on losing weight. It feels great. Keeping that weight off, however, now that’s the tricky part. Mostly this is because the things you do to lose those first kilograms are doable for a few weeks, but you can’t keep them up long term. If you are overweight, focus on making moderate, realistic and life-long changes to your current eating and activity patterns. To maintain any weight loss you need to focus on sticking with your new healthier eating and active lifestyle, whereby you balance the energy (kilojoules) you eat and drink with energy you use through physical activity. For help staying motivated with physical activity, try this.
Big plates are one of the common reasons people overeat
It’s such a simple thing. We tend to fill our plate to near the edge, then we tend to eat what’s on our plate. The bigger the plate, the more we put on it, the more we eat. Without even realising it! It’s known as ‘portion distortion’. In fact, research has proven that bigger plates and glasses lead us to unconsciously eat and drink more than when smaller plates and glasses are used. Luckily it’s an easy one to address with smaller plates and glasses, and taking our time to eat mindfully. Read more about mindful eating here.
Losing too many kilograms in a week is not healthy or sustainable
Many diets and weight loss programs claim to help you ‘drop a dress size in a week’ or ‘lose 5kg in two weeks’, which you may achieve but these crash diets can affect your physical and mental wellbeing. You are also more likely to put the weight back on when you revert back to normal eating habits. For weight loss to stay off, you need to create a lifestyle where the kilojoules you consume from food and drink are in balance with the kilojoules your body uses. It’s best to lose weight gradually – aim for a maximum of ½ – 1kg per week. One way to make a lasting change is to plan your meals.
