Hello to my dear clients, friends, subscribers and colleagues
I was flabbergasted when I realised how long it is since I wrote my last newsletter! I can’t believe how time flies! It has been a wonderful year of weddings, studies, travel and more! Here is a quick update!
- Marriage! I got married in December of 2014 at Tintswalo Atlantic in Cape Town! I was also blessed to have an ex-client as my wedding photographer which made the day all the more special.
- Study! I am back studying at ETH (The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, also known as the MIT of Europe). I am doing Master courses in Nutrition Science, Performance Nutrition and Nutrigenomics! It is wonderful to have so much data from scientific studies to fall back on now as well as having a greater knowledge of the importance of a balanced lifestyle and supplementation.
- Website! My new website is up and running! Check it out here: weight-masters.com! It is modern, and easier to read. You can still check back on all my old articles and can now do searches for relevant information too.
- Travel! I am coming back to South Africa twice yearly and I am still seeing clients when I am in Cape Town. Many of my clients then continue sessions on skype, email and/or use personalised MP3 recordings in their own home.
- DNA testing! This is the new buzz word in nutrition! It is an excellent way to approach personalised health, weight loss, exercise and nutrition from a scientific perspective. I started with DNAlysis in Johannesburg almost three years ago and I have been thrilled with the information and results from the tests so far. You can look at my website, or contact me for more details.
- Reading! One of my recommended reads at University was a super book by Dr Brian Wansink who is considered an expert (and scientist) on human behaviours with regards to eating – Mindless Eating (Why we eat more than we think).
Here are some of Dr Wansink’s tips as well as a few of my own:
Planning
- Number 1 tip! Decrease your eating/drinking in many small ways so you don’t really notice you are eating/drinking less. Your eyes will not notice if you have 10% less on your plate or in your glass and yet, you are still reducing your calorie intake. This stops a feeling of deprivation from creeping in and is a sustainable change.
- Be proactive. The best way to avoid constant temptation is to avoid buying the temptations in the first place! Spring clean your pantry and get rid of all unhealthy temptations. Fill your cupboards with healthy snacks instead. Think of alternatives to your normal cravings – fruit instead of chocolate, frozen berries and yoghurt instead of ice cream. Protein powder with a little coconut milk or almond milk instead of a calorie laden dessert. The internet is full of clever snack ideas. I often find wonderful ideas on pinterest.
- Keep healthy alternative snacks at work like yoghurt, fruit, biltong/beef jerkey, tuna, sardines, boiled eggs, raw nuts.
- Hydration: Make fresh cold water easily accessible to you (e.g. water filters, sport bottles) and drink plenty of water throughout the day. Water is essential to good health. It helps the body function more efficiently, flush out toxins, and it is a safe appetite suppressant. Best of all, it is calorie free!
- Follow the 80/20 rule. Eat healthily most of the time however allow yourself those special treats, splurges or enjoying special occasions.
- Preplate your food in the kitchen and don’t bring serving dishes to the table. We are all tempted to eat more when there is more food in front of us.
- Use smaller plates and tall/slim glasses. This fools the mind into thinking you are eating/drinking more than you are!
- Keep variety to a minimum – the more variety you have to eat at a meal, the more you will eat.
- Adopt the half/half plate rule: 50% vegetables and salads with the other 50% being starch and protein.
- Only eat at a table. No wolfing down food in front of the fridge or standing over the sink!
- Remember to add those hidden calories in drinks to your daily total. This applies to soft drinks, milk, lattes, cappuccinos and alcoholic beverages.
- Get a calorie counter app on your phone. We tend to underestimate how many calories we have by a whopping 26% on average!!
- Put an inspirational picture of yourself or a message to yourself on the refrigerator door or bathroom mirror. Visual reminders are a great way to stay on track!
- Get support from friends and family.
Distractions
- Chewing gum is a good distraction. Just make sure it is sugar free else your teeth will suffer!
- If you have a family member who insists on eating your out-of-bounds snacks, keep those snacks in another drawer, cupboard or tin that you never need to open. Out of sight is often out of mind!
Eating out
- When it comes to restaurants – choose only two of the following three: starter, drink or dessert. Else share your starter and dessert with someone. I generally have no carbs when eating out and start with a salad if I have a starter.
- Ask the waiter to remove the bread basket. If it is not there, you won’t eat it!
- Try pace the slowest eater at the table. This may help you be more mindful of how full you are getting long before you overeat.
- Eat your favourite food earlier rather than leaving it to last as last is a guaranteed way to overeat.
- Fill up on low-calorie foods/drinks (e.g., salad, water) before attending a party or event where a lot of high-calorie food/drinks will be served. On that note, keep away from the snack table too! The further you have to walk to fill up your plate, the less likely you will be to overindulge.
Looking after you!
- Are you your priority? Practise loving kindness with yourself. Ironically by demonstrating self-love, in the long run, you will be far happier & healthier, and therefore more present with those you love.
- Give yourself time!!!! Remember that you didn’t put on that weight/get so stressed/become unfit overnight, so don’t expect to lose all that weight/become fit and be stress free in a few days of effort. When it comes to weight, take body measurements and have a test pants to try on as well as looking at the scale.
- Be proud of leaving food on your plate. No matter what we were told when we were children; finishing every morsel on our plates is not helping starving children elsewhere in the world!!! Rather order less, and donate the monetary difference to a worthwhile charity.
- Mindfullness is the antidote to mindless eating and self defeating behaviours around food. It puts you on the path to permanent weight loss.
- Find easy ways to increase your physical activity that won’t feel like “exercise.” Park the car a few more blocks away; Take the stairs, etc.
- Learn to meet your needs with other things besides food. Practise self care by pampering yourself on a regular basis.
- Choose to stop making excuses today! Start to live in the solution, not in the problem. Declare yourself a no-whine zoneJ!!
- Negative thinking is a bad habit and can be shifted with practise. An attitude of gratitudeis one of the quickest ways to shift from negativity to positivity. Take a moment and look around you, and then give thanks for what already exists in your life (the big and the small things). Do this daily and in no time at all, you will generally feel remarkably better!
- Put your focus on your strengths and talents, not on what you perceive is missing.
- Have a treat or two now and then (but remember the 80/20 rule at the same timeJ!!). Too much denial leads to feelings of punishment.
- Keep your hands busy (preferably doing something that is fun).
- Wear clothes that fit and flatter you. We all feel better about ourselves when we like what we are wearing!
- Walk – any chance you get. Move your Butt!!
- Stop comparing yourself to others and rather focus on being the best you can be!
The last word!
- And last but not least, keep reminding yourself that every little change counts as in time, they all add up! To quote Steve Maraboli: “incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.”
On another note: I am still making personalised MP3 hypnosis recordings for my clients. Each MP3 includes a skype or telephonic session so we can include all your motivators/ or limiting behaviours/beliefs that you want to change. Please email me for further details.
Dates for Cape Town in December: I am available on and off from 26th November – 1st December, and 14th December until 12th January.
Just be the best you can be, each moment you can!
Warm regards
Lesley Wood
Mobiles: +41788859789, +27823782782
Skype: Lesley_juliet
Email: info@weight-masters.com
Website: www.weight-masters.com