obesity | Wellness4Life: Weight Management & Optimum Nutrition

Did you know that we make 227 food decisions each day on average and that 95% of those are sub-conscious?

That is absolutely crazy, right?

What drives our food decisions?

Of course, main reason we eat is to survive! Also, to satisfy our senses of pleasure that eating gives.

However, how comes eating for many goes beyond just feeding the body and satisfying the senses and even the healthiest of us find it difficult to resist certain foods we know are not good for us!

Me too included! And it drives me crazy when it happens!

Because I know that I should know better!

Well, as I found out, I DO know better, but that is sometimes not enough!

So, all perplexed, I dived into understanding this concept more, so I can make sense of what is happening to me as well as learning why so many of my own clients keep lapsing even when they are truly motivated and have all the tools and support to help them stay the course!

What I found is that our brain is absolutely fascinating and is influenced by myriad of things and here is what influences our food intake and how to stay in the flow:

1. Sleep Deprivation is linked with an Increased Appetite

It was only recently that the link between sleep deprivation and the way it effects brain mechanisms responsible for food choices and appetite have been discovered.

As it turns out, numerous studies confirm that sleep deprivation leads to a double whammy of your brain desiring more foot and, at the same time, your brain being completely incapable of evaluating whether you are really hungry.

Sleep deprivation has been shown to effect Cortisol, our stress hormone, that is also known as a “fat storing hormone” and an increase of cortisol increases our desire for high calorie foods.

And, as studies show – the more sleep deprived we are – the worse our choices get!

So, getting enough sleep is essential to getting a grip on our hunger and food choices. But, that is not all…

2. Your Stress Levels lead to an Increased Food Consumption

Numerous research confirms that stress has an effect on both neuronal and physiological effect when it comes to weight gain.

The results of studies show that what happens is similar with sleep deprivation because, usually higher stress is linked with sleep deprivation, which increases cortisol, so the whole cycle repeats of our desire for high fat, high sugar, high calorie foods.

Therefore, taking care of stress and sleep is important, but I wish that was all.

3. Hunger leads to more unhealthy food choices

This is a logical consequence and research also confirms it to be the case – hungry subjects consistently chose more unhealthy foods compared to those who were more satisfied.

This is what you need to make sure:

Do not skip your breakfast
Do not skip your snacks
Combine protein with healthy carbohydrates with every meal and snack
Drink enough water as thirst can be perceived as hunger!

Another important tip – do not go grocery shopping when hungry!

4. Exercise decreases our appetite

When we exercise – we burn more calories, therefore, logical thing is to think that we would be more hungry, right?

Wrong!

Research shows that staying active and moving your body makes us less motivated to eat.

So, next time you feel your are spiraling out with unhealthy choices – put your trainers on and go out for a sweat!

5. Food Marketing influences our Food Choices

Visual cues are incredibly influential when it comes to making food choices.

Food companies invest in an insane amount of money on researching on how packaging & advertising can make us consume more. Food marketing, after all, is a multi billion dollar industry.

Sad truth is that most of that marketing is concentrated on promoting unhealthy products, well, 99% of the marketing that is! This is not just packaging, but think about television advertising, especially one directed at our own children.

So, the battle for healthier food choices is real!

Research shows that TV food ads directly increase children’s preferences for those foods.

Good news is – while food advertising can motivate us to make unhealthy choices – research also shows that it can help us make healthier choices too.

Recent study shows that providing nutritional information in the form of food labels have a positive effect on our brain and motivates us towards making healthier choices.

So, educate yourself on food labels and pass it on to your children too (in the simplest possible way) because when you read the labels – health attributes trump taste!

Truly, knowledge becomes king again!

6. You are WHO You eat with!

Yes, not only what we eat that determines our health and, well, our waist size, but also, who we surround ourselves with!

Not only that, but the research shows that we are influenced by who we identify with – and that goes for both how much and how often we eat – even when we eat alone!

7. Gender Differences matter when it comes to food choices

Research on this front shows that the main reason why men seem to be more successful at sticking to weight loss plans is simply — evolution!

Women consistently chose unhealthier foods over men and explanation could be that female ancestors had an added responsibility of nourishing themselves and infants, which predispositioned them for higher food intake to lay down fat stores, which would give them an evolutionary advantage in case of future food shortages.

These are not the only factors that effect our food choices but they surely are main ones and it shows that external factors are very powerful as sometimes we have no control over them.

Here is what we can do:

Establishing a sleep routine and making sure we get 7-8 hours of sleep each night
Reducing stress will add more quality to our life not only a reduced appetite. Remembering that sleep and stress are related.
Keep active as exercise not only helps us burn calories and keeps our appetite under control, but it can also help with stress reduction.
Educate yourself about nutrition, nutritional balance of foods, what our bodies need and certainly learn to read labels as better knowledge and engagement with nutritional content of foods does lead to healthier choices.
Surround yourself with the community of fit and active people who are a positive influence on your health efforts.
Be aware of clever food marketing – awareness can help you in now falling pray to their influence.

It has helped me personally to realise how blessed I am with the community of our 4 Week Challenge and a regular 5 Day Challenge as well as my colleagues health coaches. Being more involved in our community, as much as it goes for our participants, it goes for all the coaches including me – is essential to keep health motivation high.

I have made more commitment to improve my sleep routine as well as to keep active.

I realised that periods when I lacked activity is indeed linked to more food consumption, so, I made commitment to keep and stay active as it is incredibly good for my Mental Health too!

I hope this was helpful and will help you identify areas where you need support so you can stop blaming your will power and focus on areas that can make a profound influence on your food choices.

On top of all the above, ensuring Balanced Nutrition and developing a Healthy, Active Lifestyle are essential in ensuring hormonal balance and staying on top of blood sugar control, reduced cravings and hunger control.

Free Online Wellness Test is a great place to start to evaluate how well you score!

Until next time,

Kindest Regards,

Sanela

Not sure if you heard it – it has been all over the news… The government has issued a 33 page document in an effort to tackle childhood obesity as it is one of the biggest problems that the UK and many developed countries are facing right now.

Nearly a quarter of children in England are obese or overweight by the time they start primary school aged five and this raises to one-third of children who are obese or overweight by the time they leave primary school at the age of 11.

Obese children usually turn out to be obese or overweight teenagers, which can lead them into adulthood also as obese or overweight. Not only that this puts a huge burden on the economy as, statistically, obese and overweight people need more health care (because of obesity related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer, just to name major three), but also health of our children determines their opportunities in life, their level of confidence and generally quality of life.

Every child deserves the best opportunity in life, I am sure you will agree.

So, this must be a step in the great direction, although, in my opinion, what is being proposed should be seen as just that – one little step in the right direction. See it for yourself…

Focus on calories

As overweight or obese children are consuming over 500 extra calories a day, emphasis has been put to find ways to reduce calorie consumption, which is in a form of an initiative to list calories on menus in restaurants, cafe, take aways.

This sounds good, however, if a child wants a pizza and dessert and nothing else (which, by default, always has the highest calories) – what is the parent to do? These calorie listings are, of course, not for the children, but for the adults themselves, parents, to make an informed choice and whether it will actually help a child choose a lower calorie option – is another matter.

Sugar Reduction

Reducing sugar, of course, should be at a very heart of any adult’s or child’s health efforts. Government has challenged food industry to reduce the sugar content in their foods and drinks by 20% by 2020, with a 5% target in the very first year.

If a 330ml bottle of a sugary drink has, on average, 40 grams of sugar, the plan is to reduce it to 32 grams. I am sorry, but whilst every little gram less helps – 32 grams is still way too high. The same goes for cereals and other foods and drinks frequently bought by children.

Advertising and Promotion

Of course, then we have to look at all the factors that influence our food choices. So, the proposal is to introduce 9PM watershed on TV for advertising junk food geared towards children. Problem again is – how many children do go to bed before 9PM? (Apparently over 1 million children are still watching TV after 9PM)

What is also proposed is that food companies and supermarkets will not be able to display tempting, sugary sweets at the checkout or advertise multi-buy offers. I think this is a great part of the plan as it will, at least, stop some impulse buys. Disappointing thing may be the lack of incentive to encourage deals on fresh produce as price matters to many, if not most.

Education is the Future

The above are major few take aways from the legislation that we need to know about.

But, how do we get children to naturally choose what is good for them? That, I believe, starts from home. It is parents that need an education and change in their own lifestyle before we can expect them to pass it on to their children. Obesity runs in the families only because of the same habits that members of one family adopt. And habits indeed can last a lifetime.

I remember when Jamie Oliver tried to make school dinners healthier and more balanced – how much resistance there was from the parents themselves. Because they did not know any better themselves. It shocked me every time I saw them angry whilst dropping a portion of “fish & chips” across the school fence to their child who refused to eat a healthy, balanced meal. But, I understood. They simply did not know any better. Period.

Most probably, their parents did not either. How can we expect a child to know any better then?

My children are a testament that it all starts from home. They are no strangers to a ocassional bag of crisps or a biscuit or even a fruit drink. But those are not found in our fridge or cupboard all the time. They are occasional.

Fruit is always available in the house and, being a health coach with an access to knowledge & information and nutritional solutions for a healthy, balanced breakfast and snacks – that is what they grew up with. There is no tooth decays, no sicknesses, no excess weight of anyone in our household. We speak to our boys of healthy choices. They question things themselves. “Mum, doesn’s that have sugar?”

I believe also that it will take many generations before both adults and children are conscious about their health. Perhaps, this government initiative is just a stepping stone in the right direction despite that fact that it is as flawed as it sounds. Perhaps this is the best they can do as food industry is a giant and they are not happy right now even with these minimal changes they have been asked to adhere to.

I hope it is not just to make us all quiet and content that at least something is done. I hope not. Afterall, the future of our economy depends on it as obesity has a potential to bankrupt it.

I am honoured to be in the health & nutrition industry and we need more health coaches to work in their communities making a difference.

I believe, while Government can continue with their legislations, it is our work on the ground that involves education and helping people with their health and nutrition and getting them more active that will have the most powerful ripple effect on how overall habits are changing and, with that, also our attitudes toward health and what is good for us and our children.

Until next time, wishing you a happy and healthy day!

Your partner in Health,