Is there a perfect diet?

Is there a perfect diet?

Clients are endlessly searching for the perfect diet that will help them lose weight, feel great, and improve their health, and they want me, to help them find it. While I need to work within their health and fitness parameters, these five guiding principles can help clients refine their food intake and reach their desired goals.

Does the Perfect Diet Exist?

What is the ideal diet? There are numerous books that will try to convince the reader that one diet is superior to another. Unfortunately, no one diet is right for every client. Nutritional needs depend on someone’s age, activity level, health status, genetic makeup, goals, and many other factors. Additionally, as those variables change, so too should their intake. Thus, the perfect diet is one that is in constant flux and meets the current needs of the client. While it may be easier to follow a pre-programmed meal plan, that may not be ideal in the long run. Below are some guiding principles to help clients improve their nutritional intake.

Fresh is Best

Whole, fresh foods are superior to foods that are processed. The nutrition content is higher and there are no added ingredients, preservatives or chemicals, especially if the food is organic.

Processed foods provide sensory overload and nutritional deprivation. These foods contain sugar, salt, preservatives, and other ingredients that do not provide much nutritional value but may stimulate overconsumption of them.

Avoid Demonizing Foods

While fresh foods are a better choice, most clients will still want to consume some of their favourite foods, While these foods do not support optimal health or losing weight, making something off limits can make clients want it more. As the saying goes, we want what we can't have. In fact, telling a someone that they cannot eat a particular food may actually have them consume it more than they otherwise would have.

Encourage consuming more foods that are in line with their goals and less foods that are not. Establish how frequently to include less nutritious foods in their diet and appropriate portion sizes. This will allow people to meet their goals while still enjoying an occasional treat.

Include a Variety of Foods Each Week

Too often, people get caught up in consuming the same foods every day. While this may make it easier to plan and stay consistent, consuming a variety of foods can:

Help avoid developing food intolerances

Provide a wider variety of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients

Lower inflammation in the body

Encourage a diverse gut microbiome, which is associated with better immune functioning.

Encourage yourself to rotate the foods you eat, so you are not consuming the same fruits, vegetables, proteins and fats every day. Many use a four-day rotation diet, in which the same foods are eaten only every four days. This allows you to have some continuity and regularity with your meal planning while also keeping food choices varied. Eating foods in season also assists with variety.

Limit Variety within Each Meal

While variety within an overall nutrition plan is important, keeping meals simple may be better than having too many ingredients at a single setting. Some research has shown that people will consume more when there is a variety of food to choose from. In one study, participants consumed 23% more yogurt when offered three different flavours, rather than just one.

Having yourself focus on eating fresh foods and keeping the options at each meal limited helps keep:

Nutrient density high

Calorie density moderate

Quantity of food consumed reasonable

Eat Local and In Season

With the ability to get almost any food at any time of year, it makes it easy for you to eat the same foods every day. Encourage yourself to eat locally and purchase foods from a farmer’s market. Not only are you supporting your local farmers directly, but you are also buying foods that are in season and are picked at, or close to, their peak ripened state. Foods purchased from other countries are often picked in an unripe state and then chemically gassed to artificially ripen them.

Summing it All Up

There is no such thing as a perfect diet. There is no one plan that will magically help clients meet all of their goals. However, implementing these five guiding principles can help your clients make better food choices and improve the quality of their overall diet. This gives them the freedom to choose foods they enjoy, adjust their food consumption to their bodies’ current needs, and reach their health and fitness goals.

The five principles are:

Fresh is best.

Avoid demonizing foods.

Include a variety of foods each week.

Limit variety within each meal.

Eat local and in season.

C.R.A.P FOODS

Limit your CRAP intake

• Carbonated drinks. These are high in fructose, a type of sugar that is produced by the lover as a toxin when your muscles don't use it and then stored as fat. It is thought that one of the main causes of today's obesity epidemic is the high consumption of soft drinks and fruit juices, including natural orange juice.

• Refined sugar. There is a saying “The whiter the bread, the fatter you get” This category includes white flour, white sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. All of these are often combined in pastries, cakes, cookies and some cereals.

• Artificial colours and flavourings. These are anti-nutrients which are often included in confectionery products, soft drinks, party foods and snacks such as crisps. “A” also stands for Alcohol, which is processed by the liver as a toxin and promotes fat storage.

• Processed foods. Heavily processed foods such as party foods, sausages, hames and deli or smoked meats are more likely to contain all of the the above, plus trans fats, which cause weight gain and are considered a danger to health.

Why we can't resist C.R.A.P foods. So why don't people just stop eating high fat and sugar if they know they cause physical problems?

• Scientists are still researching for the answers, but it appears that our brains have been wired to encourage the consumption of calorie-rich foods, even at the expense of good health, simply put, these foods bring us pleasure.

• One recent study revealed that an area of the brain related to addiction and reward, the nucleus accumbens, lights up when a participant is shown calorie rich, fatty food compared to healthy food.

• Another area of the brain associated with pleased tastes and rewards, orbitofrontal cortex, is activated when we eat fatty foods.

• People are increasingly being exposed to food but living more sedentary lifestyles and therefore burning fewer calories.

• In fact some argue that the rise in obesity is a result of our bodies inability to adapt to the changing environment. (Which is the side I fall on)

10 Rules For Fat Loss

The following 10 rules are the starting point for an effective weight loss programme:

Drink at least 2 litres of fluids daily – water, zero-calorie flavoured water, herbal or fruit teas.

Fill up your stomach with large amounts of dark green, leafy, or root vegetables first, such as broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, green beans, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, peas, bell peppers, courgettes, aubergines, watercress, onions, carrots, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes.

Minimise the consumption of refined carbohydrates such as white bread, white rice, and pasta.

Instead, include beans, lentils, quinoa, and whole-grains (brown rice, millet, rye, oat, whole-wheat).

Each day, eat at least 2 servings of fresh fruit such as apples, berries, pears, or citrus fruit.
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Avoid sugary drinks, orange juice, natural or concentrated fruit juices and adding sugar to drinks.

Avoid sugar, sweets, cakes, biscuits, desserts, and pastries.

Avoid fried, burnt or browned food, hydrogenated fat, and excess animal fat.

Minimise the consumption of processed meats (sausages, ham, deli meats, and smoked meats) and party foods with chemical additives or artificial colours and flavours.

Limit alcohol intake to one alcoholic drink a week.

I hope these simple rules are of some use.

Gary

Men’s Belly Fat

If you're carrying a few extra pounds, you're not alone. But this is one case where following the crowd isn't a good idea. Carrying extra weight — especially belly fat — can be risky.

Michael D. Jensen, M.D., an endocrinology specialist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., answers common questions about belly fat in men.
The trouble with belly fat is that it's not limited to the extra layer of padding located just below the skin (subcutaneous fat). It also includes visceral fat — which lies deep inside your abdomen, surrounding your internal organs.
Regardless of your overall weight, having a large amount of belly fat increases your risk of:

• Cardiovascular disease

• Type 2 diabetes

• Colorectal cancer

• Sleep apnea

Your weight is largely determined by how you balance the calories you eat with the energy you burn. If you eat too much and exercise too little, you're likely to pack on excess pounds — including belly fat.

However, aging plays a role. As you age, you lose muscle — especially if you're not physically active. Loss of muscle mass decreases the rate at which your body uses calories, which can make it more challenging to maintain a healthy weight. In addition, in some men fat cells in the arms and legs lose the ability to store fat, which causes any excess fat to go to the abdomen.

Your genes also can affect your chances of being overweight or obese, as well as play a role in where you store fat.
Drinking excess alcohol can cause you to gain belly fat — the "beer belly." However, beer alone isn't to blame. Drinking too much alcohol of any kind can increase belly fat, although some research suggests wine might be an exception.

If you drink alcohol, do so only in moderation. The less you drink, the fewer calories you'll consume and the less likely you'll be to gain belly fat.
So how do you know if you have too much belly fat? Simply measure your waist:

• Stand and place a tape measure around your bare stomach, just above your hipbone. If your belly droops, lie down to take the measurement.

• Pull the tape measure until it fits snugly around you, but doesn't push into your skin.

• Make sure the tape measure is level all the way around.

• Relax, exhale and measure your waist, resisting the urge to suck in your stomach.

For men, a waist measurement of more than 40 inches (102 centimetres) indicates an unhealthy concentration of belly fat and a greater risk of health problems.

You can tone abdominal muscles with crunches or other targeted abdominal exercises, but just doing these exercises won't get rid of belly fat. However, visceral fat does respond to the same diet and exercise strategies that can help you shed excess pounds and lower your total body fat.

To battle the bulge:

• Eat a healthy diet. Emphasize plant-based foods, such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and choose lean sources of protein and low-fat dairy products. Limit saturated fat, found in meat and high-fat dairy products, such as cheese and butter. Choose moderate amounts of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats — found in fish, nuts and certain vegetable oils — instead.

• Keep portion sizes in check. Even when you're making healthy choices, calories add up. At home, slim down your portion sizes. In restaurants, share meals — or eat half your meal and take the rest home for another day.

• Include physical activity in your daily routine. For most healthy adults, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends moderate aerobic activity, such as brisk walking, for at least 150 minutes a week or vigorous aerobic activity, such as jogging, for at least 75 minutes a week. In addition, strength training exercises are recommended at least twice a week. If you want to lose weight or meet specific fitness goals, you might need to exercise more.

To lose excess fat and keep it from coming back, aim for slow and steady weight loss — up to 2 pounds (1 kilogram) a week. Consult your doctor for help getting started and staying on track.
Remember, you can lose belly fat — it just takes effort and patience. In fact, shedding even a few extra pounds can help you feel better and lower your risk of health problems.