Plain yogurt - the staple super food to always have in your fridge

Before this food programme, I rarely ate yogurt - let alone plain yogurt. Yecccchhh! It just tasted sour, runny and way too good for me - talk about diet food!

Somehow over the years, yogurt has infiltrated my fridge and my life to become an absolute staple. I have literally had yogurt at breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert on some days. And it tasted different and delicious each time. The yogurt I am talking about is low-fat, plain and unsweetened.

I have come to realise that yogurt is a super food; it is full of calcium and protein and low in fat. Yogurt is almost magical in its properties. Here is an excellent explanation from the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon:

"Fermentation of milk breaks down casein, or milk protein, one of the most difficult proteins to digest. Culturing restores many of the enzymes destroyed during pasteurization including lactase, which helps digest lactose or milk sugar and numerous enzymes which help the body absorb calcium and other minerals. Lactase produced during the culturing process allows many people who are sensitive to fresh milk to tolerate fermented milk products. Both vitamin B and vitamin C content of milk increase during fermentation.

"Research has shown that regular consumption of cultured dairy products lowers cholesterol and protects against bone loss. In addition, cultured dairy products provide beneficial bacteria and lactic acid to the digestive tract. These friendly creatures and their by-products keep pathogens a bay, guard against infectious illness and aid in the fullest possible digestion of all food we consume. Perhaps this is why so many traditional societies value fermented milk products for their health-promoting properties and insist on giving them to the sick, the aged and nursing mothers."

Unless there is an allergy to dairy, I would urge anyone to incorporate this versatile, healthy food into their diet.

I think what I love most about yogurt is that it is a blank slate of creaminess ready to be married with sweet or savoury foods.

I also love that it is low in fat, so I can use it liberally on this programme - 100g of my plain, reduced fat Easiyo yogurt contains only 1.7g of fat. Woo hoo! (Be sure to check fat content, my son's Greek style yogurt has a whopping four times the amount of fat of my low-fat type - he needs the fat, I don't!)

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Breakfast:

• Plain yogurt, sprinkled with Stevia powder (my sweet tooth doesn't like 'tart' in the morning!), oats made into porridge and a sliced banana. Delicious and filling!
• Or try yogurt & a banana in the blender to make a creamy smoothie (this my son's favourite at the moment).
  

Lunch:

• Chop up cucumber and a bit of garlic, mix with yogurt and it is a tasty salad dressing - goes great with tomatoes and sauerkraut.

Snacks:

• Drain 1 litre of yogurt overnight through cheesecloth and you've got a delicious yogurt cream cheese to spread on crackers or dip with carrot and celery sticks.

Dinner:

• Dollop on top of taco salad instead of sour cream.
• Stir through hearty beef stew to create a stroganoff flavour.

Dessert:

• Yogurt with fresh or frozen berries - yum! (don't forget the Stevia if you want it sweet)
• Yogurt mixed with 2 teaspoons of Milo - an interesting, tangy 'chocolate' fix!

10 small changes to make when you're not seeing weight loss

Are you eating the right foods and exercising regularly but just not seeing any weight-loss reflected on the scale or in your measurements? Something needs tweaking.

Over the years on this nutrition programme, I've had several stints at losing weight and it hasn't all been plain sailing. There were times when I should have been seeing fat loss but it just wasn't happening. Thankfully, I had my nutritionist to guide me through. Now I can pass on what I have learned.

Here are 10 small changes that can make a big difference:

1. Drink plenty of water - you're not drinking enough water if you're not peeing clear. The kidneys require extra help from the liver when you are not consuming enough water, and it is the liver that burns fat as fuel. So, while the liver is assisting the kidneys, it is not burning fat. Also, if the body has identified a shortage of water, it will retain as much as it can and store it between cells. This shows up as weight retention or even weight gain on the scale.

2. Check your food for any hidden fats - salad dressing has caught me out with this one in the past. I changed to a new brand of 'lite' dressing, but it was not light in fat! I was pouring it over my salad every day at lunch time without realising I was adding about 10 grams of fat to my meal. Checking in with my nutritionist and seeing my fat loss had stalled, she was soon able to pin-point the culprit by observing my food diary. If you're consuming any processed foods as part of your programme, be sure to read the labels and check for fat content.

3. Up your exercise - this point is a reality check (and I have to say I am guilty of this!). Are you really excercising enough? You need to be exercising 4-5 times per week for at least 40-60 minutes. You don't have to run or even power-walk. If 10 is your maximum effort, then you should be exercising at about a 7. This is fat burning mode.

4. Don't overdo the exercise (or get your nutrition checked) - this is an interesting one ... are you actually excercising too much or too intensely? This is what brought me to the nutritionist in the first place. I was following a triathlon training programme which entailed vigorous and extended periods of exercising. But I was not losing an ounce. My nutrition was not supporting this effort. If you are training for an an event or you just like hard, intense exercise it may be wise to visit a dietician or nutritionist to ensure you are feeding your body correctly.

5. Are you having too many calories - it seems obvious, but perhaps your food programme contains too much energy. My nutritionist has me on approximately 1300 calories per day (not including my free meal day of which there are no calorie restrictions). There are guidelines on the internet as to how many calories are required according to your weight, height, age, and sex. I used this one and it said I needed 1430 calories per day to lose 1 pound per week without exercise. This is probably fairly accurate, although I prefer my nutritionist's recommendation of fewer calories per day and then a free meal to keep the metabolism burning fat rather than plateauing.

6. Are you having too few calories - maybe you think you'll lose weight faster if you really cut back those calories. It doesn't work. If you don't get enough calories or energy for your body to maintain all of its functions, it will simply see the lack as a threat and go into storage mode. I have never intentionally done this - I like eating too much! However, when I was training for triathlons, my nutrition was not supporting all the activity, and I wasn't lose weight.

7. Ensure your food is balanced - eating balanced meals and snacks is essential to a nutrition programme that is going to support fat loss. A balanced meal in my terminology is always having protein with carbohydrate. My non-science, simplistic understanding of the importance of this is that if you eat carbohydrates on their own, the body sends out a surge of insulin to move the carb glucose from the blood into the muscles and fat cells for storage. Protein slows down the release of insulin, thus reducing/negating the carb glucose being stored as fat. And in super-simplistic terms - eating protein with carbs will keep you satisfied for three-plus hours whereas carbs on their own will have you craving for food in a short period of time.

8. Eat within 2 hours of rising in the morning - your body has been burning fat while you sleep and will continue to do so in the morning. However, if you wait too long to eat breakfast, your body sees this as a threat, stops burning fat and goes into storage mode. Never skip breakfast.

9. Eating often enough - you need to be eating every three to three-and-a-half hours for your body to maintain its fat-burning mode. If you skip a meal, forget to eat or wait too long for your next meal or snack your body goes into storage mode and the fat-burning stops.

10. Are you adding in small treats - I put on weight doing this. It is amazing what you can convince yourself as being 'ok' when you want treat food! Every few days I was having a 'healthy' biscuit - all organic and wheat free - after lunch. Well, I did that for a few weeks, and I put on a kilogram of fat. My nutritionist told me that if you are adding in small treats of extra calories your body doesn't burn the calories off, they are simply stored.

Staying motivated - is your weight-loss programme working?

Once I had committed a weight-loss programme, I found the best way to stay motivated was to actually be losing weight!

I remember being about two months into this nutrition programme and putting on a skirt I hadn't worn for a while. I put my feet through it, hiked it up to my waist, zipped it up at the back - and it was so loose I was able to turn it completely around my body in a single movement. At first I was a bit shocked. Had I really lost all that weight? Then it sunk in. Yes! Woo hoo! Sure, I'd seen the numbers dropping on the scale, but putting on that skirt and seeing the huge gap between my body and the material was fantastic! My motivation went through the roof, and I had no problem sticking with my programme - and still maintaining to this day.

The proverb (or cliche'): 'Nothing succeeds like success' ... is apt with regard to weight-loss. Success with weight-loss does breed further success. When you start getting the very results you are after, you keep doing what is working.

I think the top reason people lose motivation when they are trying to shed fat is because the programme or diet they are following doesn't work for them. Over the years I have tried countless diets (which I posted in detail about here) and got little or no results. There are only so many weeks or months you can carry on eating a particular way when you are not seeing the results you'd been expecting.

Here are three ways to find out if your weight-loss programme is working:

1. Weigh yourself on a weekly basis. You may not see a loss every week, but you should see a regular downward trend over three to four weeks. On average you should losing 500g of fat each week. The only problem I have with scales is that they often do not show the true picture of what is happening with your body. There may be weeks when the scale actually shows weight gain -but that doesn't mean you've gained fat - it could just be fluid retention. The scale does not show that you could be losing muscle instead of fat. Both scenarios have happened to me, and my nutritionist was able to tweak my programme to assist with getting my body back into fat-burning mode. Still, there is merit in seeing the numbers on the scale.

2. Your clothes start to feel looser. I know, this is pretty obvious. But I have to say, there were times when I could convince myself that I was losing weight, and the reason my jeans were so tight was because they'd just come out of the dryer. Choose an item of clothing you can use as a benchmark - keep it in the closet and use it just to check if your body is indeed shrinking.

3. Keep track of your measurements. Measure your bust, waist, hips, thigh and upper arm with a tailor's tape. These are the areas where you are most likely to store fat - so most likely place for the fat to come off. Measure on a weekly basis and write it down. Stay consistent with the tautness of the tape each time you take your measurements - having it loose one week and tight the next is not going to help you track your results accurately.

If you are not seeing consistent weight loss over a three to four week period using the above ways to track your progress, your programme needs tweaking. I will cover possible problem areas and what might need tweaking in next week's post.

Serious about losing weight? Follow this 5-point checklist

I remember when I wanted to lose weight. I just wanted to lose weight. I was tired of squeezing into my jeans and despairing at the flabby reflection in the mirror. I wanted the fat to be gone. But at that stage, I wasn't willing to make the changes losing weight required. I had no intention of giving up easy dinners of pizza and hamburgers. If my husband was going to have a slice of cake after lunch, then I wanted to enjoy one too. If friends invited us over for dinner I was hardly going to refuse a rich and delicious meal. If I stayed up late at night, then my goodness, I really needed to get my rest the next day - forget exercising.

I was not serious about losing weight.

Years - and many failed diets - later, I got serious. Something clicked. This time I was ready to make all of the lifestyle changes that would support losing weight - and staying slim, fit and healthy. When I look back, I can see clearly what was required to make this happen. Here is my 5-point check-list. Rate yourself - are these statements true for you?

You're serious about losing weight if you:

1. Have a definite, numerical weight-loss goal. If your goal is to fit back into the jeans you wore when you were 16 (or 21 or before the baby!), that's not good enough. You need a number - actually two numbers. First, the number you want to see on the scale when you have lost all the fat you need to lose. Second, the number of pounds or kilograms you need to drop to see the first number on the scale. Both numbers are very important. The first number is your goal weight and the weight that you will maintain. The second number should be divided by 1 pound or 500 grams (which is a healthy, weekly fat-loss average) to give you the number of weeks it is going to take you to reach your goal weight. For example, my goal was to lose 22 pounds. Ideally I would be losing 1 pound a week - so I knew it would take me 22 weeks to lose the weight. That's about five months. By by identifying and writing down these two numbers you can track how your weight-loss is progressing each week and make any changes required. You also get perspective - while you really want to fit back into those jeans, you now know it is going to take you five months.

2. Have someone you're accountable to. If you've done Weight Watchers before (or if you're doing it now!), you can appreciate the importance of the weekly weigh-ins. You have to front up, get weighed and be accountable to your supervisor and the others in the group. What a great system! Enlist yourself with a nutritionist or dietician who can track your progress each week and give you the right nutrition advice. Being accountable to someone other than yourself is a solid way to stay on-track every day. You know you're going to have explain any indescretion - it's much easier to just stick with a clean programme.

3. Have a definitive food plan and keep a food diary. Just planning to 'eat healthy' or 'cut out junk food' will not work. Why? Because our brains are too clever! They find ways of justifying any delicious morsel. You need to spell out exactly what foods you are going to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks that are going to support your weight-loss goals. Anything not on that list cannot be eaten. Simple as that. Keep a food diary - write down exactly what you eat every day. I keep my food diary in a handy place so that I can write down what I eat after each meal or snack. Sounds a bit over-the-top, but when you weigh yourself each week and you're not seeing a loss, the food diary becomes a handy reference. It also makes you accountable - I can't tell you how much it pains me to have to write down something that is not on my food programme. The food diary has kept me from 'cheating' a fair few times!

4. Are committed to a clearly-defined exercise programme. Set out exactly when, where, what and how long you are going to exercise for. My exercise goals have changed over the years but here's my current clearly-defined exercise programme: Monday through Friday, walk briskly for 40 minutes in on my neighbourhood streets starting at 6:45 in the morning. I know myself too well, if I just set the goal to 'walk in the morning', I would justify this as having been accomplished if I only walked two mornings in a week at a slow pace.

5. Tell people what you are doing. I don't mean emailing your entire contact list about the weight-loss journey you've set out on. I'm talking about those social situations that often cause people to cave in on their weight-loss commitments such as Friday night drinks after work, morning tea shouts, lunch or dinner with friends. If people ask why you are not indulging in all the food and drinks, just tell them. Don't say that you are 'trying to lose weight' or that you are 'on a diet'. That seems to be an open invitation for people to tell you how you don't need to lose weight or 'just have a little'. The best line I've come up with if people ask is: "I only have treat food once a week and this isn't it." Amazing how this works.

If all of these statements are true for you, congratulations, you are on the road to weight-loss!

My 6 sure-fire tips for weight-loss plus 1!

I notice a lot of my posts are centered around weight maintenance, probably because that is where I am at. This post is a reminder to myself about what it took to lose the weight in the first place. If you have a goal to lose fat, here are my six sure-fire tips (plus 1!) to fat-burning (you'll notice they are very nutrition-based because losing weight is 80% nutrition!):

1. Cut out the fat. Let me be the first to say that fat is extremely important in a healthy diet. However, if you're trying to kick-start your body into burning stored fat - you can't be eating any. That means no butter on toast, no oil in salad dressings, trim milk in tea or coffee, low-fat cottage cheese and yogurt, and lean meats. This isn't forever ... it is just for the first 4-6 weeks to get your metabolism up and running. Then you'll be having fat in a weekly free-meal and you can introduce 1 tablespoon of food fat (I use flaxseed oil) each day.

2. Eat every three to three-and-a-half hours. The body needs regular re-fueling to ensure it does not go into 'starvation and storage' mode.

3. Eat protein and carbohydrates together at meals and snacks. Protein keeps the blood sugar stable while the carbs give you the energy. I'm not an expert on the science but it works! You won't be starving an hour after eating.

4. Do not eat heavy carbohydrates at your evening meal. Carbs such as bread, potatoes, rice and pasta get stored as fat if you have them during your evening meal. Unless you are an athlete, you don't need these carbs at dinner.

5. Drink lots of water. You need to be peeing clear.

6. Exercise. I am not talking about training for a marathon - or even slogging it out for an hour at the gym. Just walking 40-60 minutes 4-5 days a week at a moderately brisk pace is all it takes for the body to burn fat.

And here's my extra tip which is the best!

7. Eat a free meal each week. After you've been following the above for approximately four weeks (on average you should be losing 500g or a pound a week) ... add in a free meal. Pig out - anything goes. You need it. It will stop your weight-loss from plateauing. Read more about the coveted free meal.

Sound simple? It is! Truly. I highly recommend visiting a nutritionist/dietician to get your food programme spot-on. However, if you just want an idea of what I ate to lose weight and keep it off, I wrote a post about it here.

Eggplant - here are the top 2 ways to mouth-watering perfection!

If you have eaten eggplant in the past and not enjoyed it (join the ranks of my husband), this post may or not be for you. I must say this right now though - how eggplant is cooked makes or breaks it. I will give you my two best cooking methods.

I LOVE eggplant. It is my absolute, number one favourite vegetable. I think it is perfect. I could eat them every day and not get tired of their creamy texture and subtle flavour. What's even better is that eggplant is ideal for my nutrition programme - it is low-carb and fat-free. And to top it all off, they are supremely filling. I slap half an eggplant on my plate at dinner with a side of steak, and I am so full, there is no hankering for any dessert afterwards!

My husband loathes 'aubergine' as he calls them and then performs an eloquent gagging noise. Apparently he was put off them before my time. So, he will happily cook them up to perfection on the barbecue for me but won't ingest them for love nor money. More recently, my three-year-old son has taken a liking to them and, as much as it pains me, I have to hand over a few slices whenever he sees them on my dinner plate.

So, what's the secret to mouth-watering, addictive eggplant??

Here are my top two methods for cooking: (there is no need to salt & rinse eggplant these days - the bitterness has been bred out):

1. Sizzled on the barbecue: Cut eggplant into 1 cm slices - do not remove the skin (any thinner and they will dry up, any thicker and they won't get cooked through before the outside is burnt). Brush lightly with olive oil. Heat barbecue plate to medium heat and cook eggplant slices until they are lightly browned on both sides (turning only once) and squidgy in the middle. Sprinkle with your favourite salt - eat immediately.

2. Baked in the oven: Pre-heat oven to 180 deg Celcius. Cut eggplant in half long-ways. Brush both cut-side halves lightly & thoroughly with olive oil. Place a piece of baking paper on a baking tray, lay eggplant skin-side down (cut-side up). Bake for approximately 35-45 mins depending on the size of the eggplant. It should be quite brown on top and squidgy in the middle. Sprinkle with your favourite salt - eat immediately.

Please try some soon!

Coffee - the alternative to sweets after lunch

The simplest way to put it is: I have a sweet tooth. Maybe there's more to it on the physiological and psychological levels. But really, I love to eat sweet foods - especially cookies, cakes and chocolate. Oh, and then there are slices, pastries and scones. I love them all. I especially enjoy having something sweet after lunch. Before I was on this nutrition programme, the sweet treat after lunch was actually the best part of lunch!! The slice of chocolate cake just seemed to finish it all off.

To lose weight and keep it off, I had to change this habit. I had to reign in my sweet tooth. And I have succeeded - with a replacement. I now finish off my lunch with a satisfying cup of plunger coffee. My favourite brand is Hummingbird coffee, it is fair trade and organic. I make it strong with plenty of trim milk and no sugar. It tastes wonderful!

The coffee really signals the end of the meal for me. It is warming, filling and seems to cut through any lingering peckish-ness for something sweet. It still feels like a treat with its heady aroma and strong flavour. Once I've had the last delicious slurp, I am full and have completely forgotten about trying to sneak in some chocolate-laden morsel.

recipe: meatloaf - no-carb, reduced fat

I use minced beef quite a lot - mainly because it is quick, easy and inexpensive. Mince doesn't have to be fatty. It is simple to brown mince, drain off the fat & rinse under hot water to expel the rest of the fat.

To make this meatloaf no-carb and reduced fat, I omit the breadcrumbs (which just absorb all the fat anyway) and at the end of the baking time, I remove the loaf and immediately drain off all the liquid fat.

500g lean minced beef

1 onion chopped super fine (I use the food processor)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon rosemary

1 tablespoon sage

1 tablespoon oregano

1 teaspoon salt

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celcius. In a large mixing bowl combine meat and all other ingredients. Mix with a fork until well combined. Place mixture in a glass loaf dish. Press down firmly with a fork. Bake for approximately 50 minutes and the mince is cooked through. Remove from oven and immediately drain off the liquid fat. Serve with your favourite sauce such as ketchup, chutney or minted plain yogurt. Serves 2 with leftovers for 1 lunch.

Premeditated pig-out

I wouldn't be writing this blog if I didn't have issues with food. I like to eat. I have to be extremely unwell to not eat or god forbid forget to eat. I never forget to eat. My husband does it all the time. He'll come home and say, "I am so hungry!" as he rummages through the fridge looking for a snack. I say, "What did you have for lunch?" thinking it obviously wasn't filling enough. There will be a pause, then: "Lunch?"

But I digress. Suffice to say - I like to eat. I enjoy it - much, much more than your average 'slim' person. From the outside I look like just another slim person walking around. But on the inside, food is still a struggle for me. Even though I follow this nutrition programme, and I have kept my weight pretty much at a 20+ loss, there are still plenty of times when I am feeling tired or stressed and I pig out.

While the pig-out is still the same (I can consume quite a few calories in one sitting!), the thought process around pig-outs is different. I actually think about what I am going to do before I start instead of just mindlessly or defiantly raiding the cupboard and stuffing my face. This is what goes through my mind:

"Hmmm, I really feel like eating potato chips (or chocolate or ice cream or cake). So, if I eat this today that means on Saturday (my regular free meal day) I won't be having my free meal. Hmmm. Do I want still want to do this?" I have to say, 95% of the time when I am feeling like this the answer is YES! There are the times when that upcoming Saturday might be a party or event that I am looking forward to and there will be delicious food involved. I can actually reel myself in and think - no, I can wait and really enjoy my free meal then.

It is clear to me that this is emotional eating. I am trying to solve how I feel with food because it brings me enjoyment. It lifts my mood. I don't think it is a great solution - at all! But it is where I am at right now.

Thankfully, I understand the principles of my nutrition programme to know that one pig-out every so often is not going to saddle me with an extra five pounds. In the past, I would have pigged-out and got depressed about what a failure I was at sticking to a healthy diet. Then I would think, "Well, what the heck. I've wrecked it now, I might as well eat all the stuff I've been wanting." It was the slippery slope of packing on pounds. The premeditated pig-out is definitely an improvement!

How I enjoy holiday eating - and not gain weight

I love Christmas and New Year's and all the delicious treats that go with the holidays. Bring on the mince tarts, Christmas cakes, chocolate, turkey with stuffing, potatoes and gravy, pavlova and cream! The holidays are times for treats, special occasions with special food - lovingly prepared and thoroughly enjoyed.

In the past, Christmas and the ensuing weeks of being in holiday mode meant weight gain for me. When the first Christmas goodies started arriving - usually in the form of end-of-year parties, morning teas, and gift hampers - I would indulge. It's Christmas, after-all! Well, technically Christmas was probably at least two weeks away, but by golly, I was not going to miss out on all the delicious foods on offer. So, I would be munching my way through thousands of calories for days on end (but who was counting? Not me!). Christmas day would come, and I would still be feasting. Then there were all the leftovers and more foodie gifts to keep me going well into New Year's.

By the middle of January all my clothes would be tight and uncomfortable. I would have put on 10 pounds! The New Year's resolution was always: lose 20 pounds.

I am so glad those days are behind me. I don't gain weight over the holidays any more. But I still enjoy my holiday treat foods. Here's how I do it - and surprisingly it doesn't take much willpower to make it work:

I choose one day of the two holiday weeks - it's usually Christmas Day and New Year's Eve - and during the one day I thoroughly enjoy a sumptious array of holiday foods. I eat, drink and am very merry!

The next day, I am back on my regular nutrition programme, eating my normal healthy food. I don't pick at the leftovers in the fridge, I don't nibble at scorched almonds and I don't have 'just a little piece' of fruit cake after my lunch. It's like turning off a switch for me. I can see all the treat foods there but (amazingly) I've trained myself to just see them as being completely off-limits. I will admit sometimes I get annoyed that I can't have them, but really it's just an annoyance because I feel so much better being back on a clean, healthy programme; and I also love having my clothes fit!

My best wishes to everyone for a safe, happy and treat-filled Christmas!

Eat Fat Lose Fat ... maybe not

I haven't posted in quite some time (as I was reminded by a friend: "Posts for November. Zero!"). It has everything to do with this book: Eat Fat Lose Fat. It is co-written by one of the same authors as Nourishing Traditions which I have found to be an extremely informative and useful book.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same for Eat Fat Lose Fat. But first, this post isn't intended as a book review. Not at all. What happened was this ... I read Nourishing Traditions and thought it was great. I found that Sally Fallon co-authored EFLF and was very excited about the prospect of getting to eat LOTS OF FAT!!! Butter on toast? Ya, babeee! Cream on my porridge? Bring it on! Fat with breakfast, lunch and dinner? Yes, please! To some people that probably sounds disgusting, but to me it sounds delicious.

So, here's what happened. I read the book. I drooled. I couldn't wait to get started. But I was scared. Here was a book saying (with heaps of testimonials I read on different websites) you could add a lot of fat (mainly butter, coconut oil, cream, and olive oil) into your diet and actually have fat loss. This was a direct contradiction to my nutrition programme - I had to cut out fat to lose fat. It would be remiss of me not to mention that the EFLF nutrition guidelines are all about eating real foods - wholesome, organic foods that humans are designed to eat - get rid of the white flour, sugar and processed foods. This is my philosophy too.

Despite my fear of eating loads of fat ... I had a go at the programme anyway. (Even as I type this I am thinking: why, why, why did I ever think this was going to work for me when I have been successfully maintaining my weight on a low-fat diet for the past 5 years? Calories in/calories out - eat more than you burn and you're gonna gain weight. I'm either stupid or a chow hound. I'm a stupid chow-hound. Ha!)

However, my first stumbling block with EFLF is they recommend only eating 3 meals per day (I eat every 3 hours!). The idea is that your meals are loaded with enough fat to satiate you until the next meal and you actually eat less calories (than what, I don't know) by not having snacks in between meals. On the first morning I drank a cup of warm water with a tablespoon of coconut oil dissolved in it. The coconut oil is known to initiate fat loss. My first meal on EFLF consisted of oatmeal porridge with low fat yogurt and about one tablespoon of butter. It was tasty, I enjoyed it and felt full - like really full. I was feeling quite smug. Here it was 8am, I'm really, really full and I won't need to eat again for hours - realistically I needed to last until 1pm. By 11am I was starving. Hmmm, that's not how it's supposed to work. The fear set in again. I went back to eating my normal low-fat fare for the rest of the day.

On day two, had the coconut water again then breakfast which was oatmeal porridge, FULL fat yogurt and three tablespoons of butter. That should do it - I figured my problem the previous day was I had low-fat yogurt and not enough butter - just not enough fat to satiate me. Three hours later I was hungry. Nooooooo! This was so not working for me. How was I ever going to manage on just three meals per day when I was hungry every three hours?? I'd be having dinner by 2pm!

On day three I repeated the breakfast regime of day two with sinking hopes. Maybe something would be different on this day. Nope. Three hours later - hungry. My husband said perhaps it is because my body is just too well-trained with my three-hourly eating. Or perhaps this programme just doesn't work for every body.

In reality, I didn't give EFLF a true trial - I couldn't even stick to it past breakfast. But that sums up the fact it just wasn't working for me. I wasn't even trying to lose weight, I was just hoping to maintain my weight - and get to eat lots of fat in the process.

So, after this bizarre diversion from my successful nutrition programme and some soul-searching questions such as: 'what was I thinking???', I'm truly convinced I'm on the right track with my nutrition programme and keeping my fat rolls in check.

Nourishing Traditions

I haven't been motivated to post lately as I have been trying to get my head around some contradictory nutritional information (contradictory to my eating programme!) I have been reading up on lately. Why would I bother reading and even considering this information when my programme works sooooo well for me?

All I can say is - it rings of truth for me. It all started when my son was diagnosed with a gluten and dairy intolerance a few months ago. Not all dairy though - yogurt is ok, even good for him - because it is a fermented milk product and thus easy to digest. My homeopath recommended a booked called, Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, which dedicates an entire chapter to fermented dairy products and why these are so beneficial to us - plus how to make them. I checked the book out of the library and read that section, and I started making some of the foods for my son. He liked them a lot, and his intolerance symptoms of diarrhea and exczema diasappeared.

But then I started reading the rest of the book - and let me tell you, it is a big book! Here's what it's about as outlined on Fallon's publishing website:

'Topics include the health benefits of traditional fats and oils (including butter and coconut oil); dangers of vegetarianism; problems with modern soy foods; health benefits of sauces and gravies; proper preparation of whole grain products; pros and cons of milk consumption; easy-to-prepare enzyme enriched condiments and beverages; and appropriate diets for babies and children."

This book is a combination of science-based explanation of why particular foods are good for us, factual anecdotes about traditional cultures that have eaten these foods for countless generations and detailed food preparation techniques and recipes. To me, it seems a complete handbook to how we should eat - it makes sense to me because these aren't 'new fangled' foods. They are foods that exist in nature for the consumption of human beings.

And how does this contradict my eating programme? Well, the biggest difference is with regard to FAT - the type of fat and the amount of fat recommended. I eat a very low fat diet but I still eat some good fats found in certain foods (even according to Nourishing Traditions) such as almonds, salmon and olive oil. But butter and coconut oil??? Those are pretty much swear-words in my eating programme. I will admit though ... I have added 1 tablespoon of organic coconut oil to my food each day. I am starting with that to see what it does to my weight over the next 4 weeks.

I will be making many more changes to what we eat in our household as per Nourishing Traditions. However, for me, I need to tread carefully with the fat. It is a dense form of energy and will still require metabolic effort on my part to burn it off - as I certainly don't want to be storing it!

Recipe: baked fish with pesto & lemon

Serve this with pile of steamed vegetables and you've got a quick and easy low-fat, low/no carb dinner!

150 - 200g white firm fish fillets per person (I use tarakihi)

2 teaspoons basil pesto

1 lemon sliced

50-60cm baking paper

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees. On a baking tray, lay out the baking paper, there will be excess on the sides. Lay each serving of fish on the tray, spread a teaspoon of pesto thinly across each portion. Layer lemon slices on top of fish. Fold up the paper around the fish, tucking the paper under the fish to make a parcel. If it's easier you can make separate parcels for each serving. Bake for 10-15 minutes, check for done-ness by carefully pulling back the paper and slicing the fish with a knife. When it comes away easily from the knife it is done.

Serves 2.

Back in maintenance mode - yeee haaa!

Ah yes, so I am indeed back in maintenance mode. For me that means I've got back down to my I-feel-good-at-this-weight weight. My jeans are comfortable and I feel leaner. It also means that to maintain this weight I stick to a clean programme every day except Saturdays ... those are my 'free days'. I can eat whatever I want. This works for me.

It works on the physical level - I maintain this weight. And the food that forms the bulk of my diet is tasty, satisfying and nourishing to my body.

This maintenance mode also works for me on a psychological level - I know that come Saturday I can enjoy all the treat foods without guilt. I like to plan ahead ... if we're going to be at home I think about what new recipe I could try cooking. Or if we're going to be out, what restaurant fare sounds appealing. There is also plenty of leeway if we're invited to friends' place for say a barbecue. I get to partake in all the delicious foods on offer and enjoy the great company of friends! Can't get much better than that.

I guess what I really want to say is that I need this 'system' (for want of a better word) to maintain my weight. If I didn't follow this system I would be 20 pounds or more overweight. I am not naturally thin, I am not naturally inclined to eat healthy and really, I have to make myself exercise. I know in my heart that eating healthy and exercise is good for me, but it still requires effort and consistency.

Recipe: beef, mushroom & spinach 'stroganoff'

This is a low-fat, low/no-carb recipe I created to use some lean beef schnitzel I had on hand (it came in my trial order from the winners of the 2009 Steak of Origin Competition). This recipe is sort-of like a stroganoff but without the fattening gravy base.

300g lean steak or schnitzel, sliced thin and into large bite-sized pieces

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce

1/4 cup red wine

1 1/2 cups water

3 heaped teaspoons cornflour

2 cups chopped spinach

low fat plain yogurt

In large saucepan, heat oil on medium heat. Saute onion, garlic and mushrooms until soft. In a separate bowl, mix tamari, wine, water and corn flour together. Add liquid mixture to saucepan and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, heat a cast iron or non-stick pan on medium-high and sear beef so it is brown on both sides but not cooked through or well-done. Cook in batches to avoid the beef stewing in its own juices. Set beef aside. Once the sauce has thickened up in the saucepan, stir in chopped spinach and let simmer on low for a few minutes until spinach is soft. Add in beef and stir through. Serve immediately. Ladle into bowls and top with a large dollop of yogurt. Serves two.

This is also great as leftovers for lunch, reheated and served over brown rice.

I've got the 'last two kilos' blues

About six weeks ago, I headed off for a check-up with Ginny. I posted about it here, but just to recap ... my jeans were feeling tight and my 'fat-roll-ometer' was registering "warning! warning!" (if that fat roll came with a red light, it would have been flashing). The outcome of that visit was that I needed to take off 3.5kg of fat that had slowly crept up on me while gleefully enjoying free meals and ignoring the fact that my exercise was, well, lacking.

After that Ginny visit, I cleaned up my act; I got back into a regular exercise routine and, as per Ginny's recommendation, cut back my free meals to just one a week rather than an entire weekend of free-wheelin' free meals. And then I went to see her again a couple weeks ago.

My weigh-in and caliper measurements registered a mere 1kg of fat loss; we were expecting about 2.4kg of loss. Sigh. I had been sick and missed about a week of exercise thus slowing down my metabolism - our bodies are designed to hang on to fat during such emergencies. "Plus," Ginny explained, "you only have about 2kg left to lose, that is not much at all and your body is hanging on to that last bit." My body is trying to outsmart me!

So, right now I've got the 'last two kilos blues'. It's like, I am so close to going back to maintenance mode (which will mean a whole day of free meals) that I can almost taste the butter and cherry jam on my toast, mayo on my roast beef sandwich and the last of the lemon slice that I stowed away in the freezer. I have to admit, this morning I stole a bite of my son's crunchy rice toast on which I'd spread butter and Marmite. It just smelled sooooo good, so savoury and irresistible. I was feeling weak and defiant; I was feeling the 'last two kilos blues'. I am just going to have that bite, I thought. So I did.

But if I really want my jeans to be comfortable again and get that mid-section fat roll under control, I need to buckle down and stay on my programme. And, most importantly and somewhat ironically, if I just stay on the programme I *will* get that free day once again!

That was my pep talk to myself to banish these 'last two kilo blues'.

Addicted to the 'sugar rush'

On the weekend, I had the opportunity to read the September '09 issue of North & South magazine. The cover story is about 'pioneering New Zealand science reveals there's much more to getting fat than laziness and lack of willpower'.

The headline of the article refers to 'gene switches' within our DNA - how they are activated before birth causing the baby to develop in a certain way. According to their research, mothers can predestine their children to obesity by what the mother eats during pregnancy and even before conception. This article, written by Joanna Wane, is very interesting and covers a number of different aspects regarding weight gain and loss.

One particular part of the article which grabbed my attention was an interview with Dr Simon Thornley, an assistant research fellow at the University of Auckland. According to Thornley, 'heavily processed carbohydrates create a "sugar rush" that stimulates the same areas of the brain associated with drug dependency. And like any addicts who develop tolerance to their drug of choice, they need more of it to get the same fix - which might explain why overweight people need to constantly upsize their portions.'

To me, this also explains why having just a small portion of some sugary, sweet food is a trigger for me to want to eat much, much more as per my previous post on triggers.

The article went on to say that Thornley 'suspects mood swings and physical discomfort caused by cutting out high-GI foods and sugar are key factors in sabotaging long-term weight loss'.

That certainly has been the truth for me in the past ... I can recall many a late evening run to the petrol station or grocery store for an ice cream and chocolate fix (better throw in a few bags of chips too) after a 'good' day of dieting.

I think the only real way out of this vicious circle is to fuel the body correctly with the right amount of slow-release carbs, high quality protein and plenty of fruit and fibrous vegetables.

The trigger effect of sweet foods

This afternoon I made one of my favourite free-meal treats to enjoy on the weekend: lemon slice (I'll post the recipe here, it is too delicious not to try!) and I was oh-so-tempted to lick the spatula after pouring the batter into the cake tin. The fresh lemon zest mingled with the aroma of the sugary base already baking in the oven smelled delicious. But I resisted. I knew once the licking started, I wouldn't be able to stop. This has happened to me before - many times. I would have cleaned that mixing bowl the way my cats clean up canned tuna water in their dish - not a speck would be left.

If I were just counting calories maybe cleaning up the bowl wouldn't be too damaging to the ol' waistline. But a few slurps of that batter would not be the end. I'm not talking about cravings here, which I posted about recently. I am talking about triggers. Even one lick of that batter would be a trigger for me. I would want more sweet foods - lots more. It actually reminds me of one of my son's books titled, "If you give a moose a muffin". The first few lines go something like this, "If you give a moose a muffin, he'll want another. And another. And another. And when they are all gone, he'll ask you to make more."

I wonder, is the moose really hungry or are those sweet muffins (he did ask for blackberry jam to go with them, by the way) triggering his need for even more muffins. Maybe he was just hungry. For me, however, sugary-sweet foods act as triggers to eat more sweet foods. This is not psychological, it is physical.

Every Wednesday my son and I go to our 'coffee group'. It is a group of other mom's who have the same aged kids who live in the neighbourhood. We get to have a chatty catch-up over a coffee, and the kids get to play. There is also fabulous home-baking involved. For some reason we all enjoy baking! I rarely eat the treats on offer. If I don't want the rest of my day to turn into an eat-fest, I have to stick with my own snacks. My friends understand I watch what I eat, and they respect my choices. Most of the time they don't even bother offering me a piece of cake or a cookie off the serving tray - they know my answer! But I am not sure they really get the fact that it's not just their one lovely cookie, which I would like to try (!) ... it would be the entire cupboard cleaned out once I got home.

So, I just have to be mindful of the triggering effect of sweet foods - it has saved me from many binge-eating sessions.

Recipe: lemon slice

This is one of my favourite free-meal treats ... a simple and delicious use of organic lemons and free-range eggs. I found this recipe in Taste magazine a few years ago.

Ingredients

Base

1½ cups flour

¾ cup caster sugar

150g butter, cubed

Topping

4 eggs

1¾ cups caster sugar

zest 3 lemons

• 2/3 cup lemon juice
  1/3 cup plain flour
• Method

For the base, preheat oven to 180ºC. Pulse flour, sugar and butter in a food processor until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Press into the base of a lined 20 x 35cm tin. Bake for 15 minutes until golden.

For the topping, whisk eggs, sugar and zest together until quite thick; the more the eggs are beaten the more meringue-like the topping. Stir in lemon juice and flour.

Pour topping over base and bake for 40 minutes, or until the centre is set when tested with a skewer. If it browns too quickly, cover with baking paper. Cool, slice and sprinkle with icing sugar to serve.

Taking the 'kaizen' approach to eating healthy

Wikipedia defines kaizen as: 'a Japanese philosophy that focuses on continuous improvement throughout all aspects of life'. Often this improvement is by making small but regular changes. When I look back over the past ten years, I can see I've taken the 'kaizen' approach to eating healthy (and having a healthy lifestyle overall).

This certainly wasn't intentional. In fact, I operated in exactly the opposite way! I remember a time when I saw an article on television about the health benefits of garlic. So, I started incorporating more garlic into our foods. But instead of making just a small adjustment with garlic, I put it in every meal I prepared, whether it called for it or not! My husband does not do well with garlic (it gives him headaches), and he finally had to voice his complaints when he found entire cloves floating in his vegetable soup one evening.

That is just one example of my 'more is better' attitude when it comes to dietary improvement. So, how does this qualify as a 'kaizen' approach? Well, even though I would throw myself into making radical changes to eating (or exercising), only some of it would really stick. The stuff that 'stuck' were things made me feel better and were sustainable. Garlic in every meal did not make my husband feel better and thus was not sustainable - for either of us. :-)

I'm not sure if it is delusion or optimism, but I always think I've found the magic bullet of health or weight-loss so I throw myself into whatever it is whole-heartedly. I can see so many of the 'small changes' I've incorporated into my diet and lifestyle over the years started out as massive undertakings (check out my post on doing triathlons!).

What I have finally realized is that the most sustainable way to eating healthy and living a healthy lifestyle is to make gradual changes - and build on them. Make the changes when you feel ready, when the time is right for you.

If I add up all these little changes I've made in the past ten years, I can see how my diet and lifestyle have become more healthy. Some of these changes were harder than others. In fact, most of them were not that easy for me. But they felt right to do, and I've managed to incorporate them into my everyday life. Now they are second-nature. Here are some of them:

• Exercise regularly four to five times each week
• Stop eating foods that list numbers as ingredients (I call them fake foods)
• Eat foods such as cake, ice cream, cookies, pies, potato chips, french fries, burgers (I could go on for a while here!) only as treats - for me that means only at a free meal
• Use skim milk in my tea or coffee instead of full fat milk
• Eat organic fruit, vegetables, grains and dairy whenever possible
• Eat only free-range eggs
• Drink at least 8 tall glasses of water every day
• Grow some of our own vegies (save money on those organics!)
• Replace wheat-based carbohydrates with more variety such as brown rice, oats and kumara
• Eat fish at least once a week
• Eat red meat at dinner only three times a week
• Make our own ice cream (my, there are some strange ingredients in supermarket ice creams!)
• Eat nitrate-laden deli meats such as salami, ham or corned beef only rarely
• Zero consumption of fizzy, soda pop drinks
• Always read labels (recently I was stunned to find MSG - flavour enhancer 621 - listed in the ingredients of my favourite 'Italian herbs' cottage cheese)

And that's not the end! I know there will be more changes in the future. I get to junctures where I think: I can't do it this way anymore. And then I need to change it.