The Calorie Burning Fairy Tale

courtesy of Favim

Even those of us who only have a cursory understanding of weight loss know that increasing the amount of calories we burn on any given day will help shed unwanted kilos, but it is important to be realistic about just how many we are burning. Many figures we are quoted are tall tales of embellishment and fallacy rather than anything to do with real energy outputs. The fitness world likes to toss about 'general' figures but unfortunately there is no one size fits all amount when it comes to calories burned. You are unique and so it your energy expenditure. There are zillions of aps, tables and guidelines that will give you approximate figures for calories burned on any given exercise. There are nifty little devices on the gym equipment too. Many of these give you a figure you think you can take to the bank when you really should have taken it to the bin along with that donut you think you can have because of the 20 minutes you just did on the treadmill.

Women especially, yeah sister I'm talking to you, are led up the proverbial garden path because many of the quoted figures are based on men with much larger muscle mass.

For example yesterday I went for a walk. Nothing strenuous. I walked for 1 hour and 16 minutes and Runkeeper told me I burned 471 calories - yay for me. The heart rate monitor I was wearing concluded that in fact it was much less - just 330 calories. That is quite a difference!  It could be the difference between you looking good in your bra and knickers or not. Are you picking up what I am putting down? Because what I am putting down is that you may have been misled, lied to, fed a load of rubbish. I once had a spin class teacher tell me I had definitely burned 900 calories in the 45 minute class. I'm very short and small and I've worn heart rate monitors to Spin classes on occasions and I had barely managed half of that. It's a little bit like clothing sizes - there is no regulation, no pinpointing the unique things about your body that put you outside of forementioned size or range. 
For a better idea a heart rate monitor will help you understand your body's unique energy expenditures but unfortunately they aren't cheap. At the very least be mindful of the possibility that the number being handed to you at the end of your workout (whether from human or electronic source) may be staggeringly off the mark.

If you want to be better understand your unique energy needs go here.

Just Do It! ANYWAY!

Back in the eighties, global footwear powerhouse, Nike, kicked off the spectacularly successful 'just do it' campaign. A campaign which has seen the footwear giant stamp its superiority over its competitors. 3 simple little words that  anyone donning a pair of sneakers and starting down the track of fitness, weight loss and sporting success well know. Whether it is walking around the park or taking centre court at Flushing Meadows, the crux of one's success is to just do it.

We seem to have a habit of complicating motivational messages. We seek a deeper meaning as to why we struggle to embark on activities we know will make us stronger, fitter, better, faster and hotter. We comb magazines, self-help books and websites for answers to our lack of motivation. We blame external factors like the weather, the kids or time for our failures. But it isn't complicated. We need to hear the message that Nike have been hitting us over the head with for over 20 years: Just Do It!

But why haven't we heard the message or more correctly, why hasn't it sunk in? It's not like it isn't everywhere now is it? Perhaps our slow grasp of the 3 little words is because in order for it to pack the marketing punch it did, it was over simplified  just a smidge. I can't help but wonder if the famous slogan needs another little word to help us truly understand the sentiment.


I'm sick!
Just do it anyway

I'm tired!
Just do it anyway

I'm scared!
Just do it anyway


I had a really hard day at work!
Just do it anyway


I would really much prefer this glass of wine!
Just do it anyway

Because there will never be a time when you feel like it. There will never be a time when it is easy. There is no book, meme or Instagram picture that will suddenly transform you from serial exercise avoider to running devotee, yoga enthusiast or amazingly, buffed hot chick. You won't feel like it, you won't want to, you will grumble whine and generally be all annoying about it. Whatever excuse you have, whatever it is you think is holding you back, whatever reason you think is justified in avoiding the tough stuff I have three four words for you.

JUST DO IT! ANYWAY!

The Hormone That May Be Sabotaging Your Weight Loss Efforts!

Because I am world renowned illustrator I have quickly drawn this materpiece to demonstrate Cortisol

ME: Let’s talk about Cortisol!


YOU: What is Cortisol?

ME: Hey, I’m really glad you asked! Cortisol is known as the stress hormone. It is made by the adrenal glands in the kidneys and primarily helps to maintain blood pressure, immune function and the body’s anti-inflammatory response. When you get stressed Cortisol shows up to increase your blood sugar levels so you can deal with the situation. If a big bear tried to eat you then Cortisol would ensure you had the energy to either fight the big bear or run away: the fight or flight response.

YOU: That sounds interesting but why do I need to know about it?

ME: Well do you have many incidences with large bears? You see most of our stresses are from problems at home, the boss from hell or if we are going to get that assignment submitted on time. None of these things really require much in the way of extra energy. I’m really sure dudes like Superman benefit from Cortisol’s quick action but the rest of us just receive a blood sugar spike when we are not doing anything but sitting around feeling anxious. Cortisol also shows up when our body is under physical stress.
Cortisol rises when we have aggressive swings in blood sugar levels, go too long without food, lack of sleep or long bouts of exercise. If any of these situations occur for a long period of time then Cortisol is still hard at work raising your blood sugar and possibly sending hunger messages. So if you don’t burn off the extra energy what happens to it? It gets redeposited and usually around your tummy! I don’t know about you but none of this sounds very good to me.

YOU: Hmmm are you saying I’m fat Golightly? AND if you are are you saying I got like this because of stress?

ME: Whoa steady on. Not saying your fat girlfriend. But, let’s say for instance, you wanted to drop a few KGS so you look more like Jessica Alba then you already do, then it is important consideration. Of course if you just added the Domino’s delivery boy as a friend on Facebook then there are probably other reasons…but I have brought Cortisol to your attention because long-term stress is a well-known saboteur of the girl who wants to look shit hot and feel all kinds of awesome. I’m assuming this is you? If you think you are under stress then talk to your doctor. There are loads of activities and techniques you can use to deal with stress so it doesn’t end up as a spare tyre around your middle: meditation, exercise, counselling. Also when you aren’t stressed large portions of KFC chips are less likely to make it in to your little hands so go see about your stress levels hey?


YOU: Ok! Thanks this has been very informative and can I just say that picture is genius.

ME: Awww thanks.

Let's Calculate Your BMR....You Might Be Spectacularly Suprised By The Results!

While Base Metabolic Rate (BMR) is not a perfect measurement is a the closest one you can do at home with your calculator and is at the very least a yardstick to keep you in check if your wanting to shed a few or a shittonne of pesky kilos.

If you are lazy you could just google BMR calculator and plug in some numbers and while I fully understand this is more tempting than impromptu maths, I really urge you to actually use your noggin and do the calculations below.

NOTE: many of the free calculators don’t give you the basic rate but a rate slightly higher to allow for activity levels.

Fun huh?

BMR FORMULA

Note: do the calculations inside the brackets first. See maths does come in handy later in life? Your Maths teacher was telling the truth!


Note: 1 inch = 2.54cm, 1 kilogram = 2.2lbs


For Women
BMR = 655 + (9.6 x wt in kg) + (1.8x ht in cm) – (4.7 x age in years)

For Men
BMR = 66+ (13.7 x wt in kg) + (5 x ht in cm) – (6.8 x age in years)


Ok so now you have a base figure you can go forth and multiply by the appropriate activity levels below.


Activity LevelSedentary = BMR x 1.2
Lightly Active = BMR x 1.375
Moderately Active = BMR x 1.55
Very Active = BMR x 1.725Extremely Active = BMR x 1.9

SO how did you go? Interesting stuff isn't it.

To really understand this test and also so you will think to yourself - wow, I’m so grateful for stumbling onto this terrific blog that has, in just a few short minutes, markedly changed the way I see the world - I would like you to also look up the calorie/kilojoule content of a few of the foods you regularly eat. This will help you understand, so it is all nice and crystal-like, how the energy (calories) you need and the energy (calories) you consume might just be a touch out of wack!

I remember when I did this test, it changed how I saw weight loss forever. For the first time I realised that it wasn't my hormones, genetics or a slow metabolism that was keeping me from my goals -  I ate too much food for my energy needs.

How about you? Are you going over and  above your energy needs?

Quitting Sugar

A while back I wrote about whether or not sugar really is the culprit for so many of the health problems and diseases prevalent today. You can read my thoughts here.

Since then the debate has really hotted up. Like a day at the Australian Tennis Open there has been much lobbing back and forth, shrieking and screaming! Well maybe not screaming but  definatley some spirited debate.

Sarah Wilson, the I Quit Sugar guru, has been called into question over the fact she eats fruit which contains fructose which is a form of sugar.

The story on A current Affair which raises the questions can be viewed here.

Sarah’s response can be viewed here.

Social media and forums have weighed in and it seems that sugar has its supporters. Don’t get excited though, nobody has come out with any evidence giving us the greenlight to gorge ourselves on Skittles and birthday cake. But Gillespie and Wilson definitely have their opposition.

The point has been raised that neither Gillespie or Wilson has any credentials in nutrition or dietetics and you wouldn't call a dietician to fix your plumbing so why call a lawyer (Gillespie) or a journo (Wilson) to give you advice on diet? It is fair argument. The opposition goes further to suggest that no health professional is championing sugar. In fact, the advice from all health organisations is to cut your sugar intake and to claim sugar is sigularly responsible for so many health problems is incorrect and naieve.

For example the Australian Heart Foundation sets out some guidelines for sugar intake on their website you can view here but states that the NHMRC (National Health and Medical Research Council) recently reviewed all available evidence and is the concensus that sugar does not cause heart disease.

And it goes on. There are dozens of studies that raise concerns about sugar including one where rats given high quantities of sugar experienced withdrawals that had the same impact on the body that heroin withdrawal has. In Wilson's books she makes the point that sugar is natural but so too is formaldehyde. It is also probably important to consider that throughout history we are guilty of forging on with risky consumption even when the evidence suggests it is time to stop, e.g. cigerettes.

I will make the point too that just because science can not definitively explain our bodies experiences does not mean they are not occuring. History tells us that the science has gotten wrong before. In the early nineties we wrongly accused fat and subsequently a smorgasboard of fat-free products were made available. And this brings me to an important point I would like to leave you on. When we get all excited and smell a rat we get very vocal, and the food companies are listening. They see the dollar signs. If we focus on sugar as being at the centre of all food-related illness and disease, do we not open up the flood-gates for a bunch of unhealthy products, that cut sugar but include alternatives that in twenty years we will back here debating over their safety?

We all want to find a solution to our health problems but perhaps the issue does not lie with fat, sugar or any other food. Perhaps the problem lies with us. Because until we find a way to bring balance and responsibility to our diets we will continue to swing from one health trend to another creating more issues and solving none.

Juice Boost Protein Balls

Before you go adding Juice Boost's protein balls to your diet thinking they are the convenient answer to your clean eating diet...STOP!!
As with so many things that seem too good to be true the latest snack offering from Juice Boost promises so much but doesn't deliver at least not if you are trying to avoid sugar and eat cleanly.

Boost Choc Protein Balls – RRP $1.50
Ingredient list:
Almonds, coconut, sesame seed, Sunflower seed, Oats, Honey, Whey Protein Concentrate (75% protein), Milk Minerals (Calcium), Vitamin D3)Sugar, Butter, Milk Solids, Cocoa, Sugar, Vegetable Oil, Wheat Flour, Lecathin, Salt.
The Allergen statement contains:
Nuts, Gluten, Soy, Dairy, Added Milk Minerals (calcium).
NUTRITION INFORMATION
Serving Size: 36g
Avg Avg
Qty per Qty per
Serving 100 g
Energy 749kJ 2081kJ
Protein 5.63g 15.64g
Fat, total 13.66g 37.94g
- saturated 6.69g 18.58g
Carbohydrate 10.66g 29.6g - sugars 3.96g 11g
Sodium 56.59 mg 157.19 mg
Dietary Fibre 1.2g 3.1g
Vitamin A 0.06 mcg 0.17 mcg
Vitamin C 0.04 mg 0.11 mg
Calcium 23.70 mg 57.42 mg
Iron 0.36 mg 1 mg

If you want to be healthier, slimmer and hotter you need to get educated about food labels!

It would be great if food that was bad for us just wasn't sold. But let's deal with reality.

Not all products are created equal - there are many ways to manufacture products and there are many ingredients used to make up any one of the products on your supermarket shelf. But the good news is there are also some pretty strict rules about the information we must be provided with. If you understand this, where to find it, and how to interpret it, you have a pretty good shot of consuming food rich in nutrients and free of all the additives. Education! Education! Education!

Let’s go!


There is a government regulation that states that all foods sold in this country must state the ingredients used. Most ingredients list are pretty easy to find and are helpfully titled, ‘ingredients.’ The ingredients list must be in order of volume. So basically if gram for gram there is more flour it will appear first then in descending order the rest of ingredients will follow. Manufacturers aren’t silly, they have heard about you and all your dieting health-conscious friends and they know that being creative with this ingredients list might be the difference between you adding their product to your shopping trolley or not. So they got out their thesaurus and came up with alternative names for ingredients that might not send off alarm bells in your head.
 
Sugar can be found under the following list of names: fructose, lactose, glucose, xylitol, malt/malt extract, dextrose, sorbitol, corn starch, corn syrup surcrose, mannose, mannitol, modified carbohydrate, maltose, raw sugar, brown sugar, golden syrup, honey, white sugar and rice syrup.

Those zany kids writing up the ingredients lists like to be creative and it makes it tough for us less sugar-savvy dieters to know what we are consuming. But make no mistakes these are all sugars and a sugar by any other name will taste as sweet (and have the same negative impact on your poor body).

Here are some more…

 Fat
Beef fat, butter, coconut oil, cocoa butter, copha, diglycerides, dripping, hydrogenated vegetable oil, lard, milk solids, monglycerides, oven baked, palm oil, shortening, tallow

Salt
Celery salt, chicken salt, MSG, rock salt, sea salt, sodium, table salt, vegetable salt

The nutritional panel is also a must on packaging. Nutritional panels list energy per serving and usually per 100g or mls. When comparing one product to another compare the 100g panel. Serving size varies from product to product so you need to watch that.
A nutritional panel will provide information on energy in the form of calories or kilojoules, protein, fat, carbohydrates and sodium. Carbohydrates will be broken down further to indicate how much of the carbohydrates are derived from sugar.

Just like ingredients lists manufacturers will present the information in a way that positively presents their product as well as they can under the regulations.  Fair play, but if we know what we are looking for there is no fooling us.

For more on standards and guides to packaging go here.

what in the heck is Inulin?

Insulin? No, no. Inulin. What is Inulin? No idea? You aren’t alone.

Inulin is a group of naturally occurring polysaccharides. Oh right why didn’t you say so? Polysaccharides, of course! Sorry! Inulin is the stuff found naturally, mostly in root vegetables, which has been turning up on ingredients lists of late and it is high time you knew about it. Inulin is basically a carbohydrate, belonging to a class of compounds known as fructans.It is considered to be a fibre because it is not absorbed via the intestinal tract. It has a bland to sweet taste and feels creamy in the mouth.

There are some health benefits: Fibre - self-explanatory. Pre-biotic - helps with good bacteria in the colon. Cholesterol - lowers cholesterol in the blood.

But why on earth is it being added to my food?

As far a carbohydrates go inulin is low in calories, it also doesn’t create an insulin spike like other carbs and it adds fibre. If we are in the business of making products low in carbs we would do well to add inulin. If we are in the business of making products low in carbs that taste good inulin is a no-brainer. It’s slightly sweet taste and creamy texture in the mouth, mimic the fat and sugar us dieters like to avoid.

Is inulin all that bad? Apart from the fact that some people do have a hard time ingesting the stuff, not really, but if it is naturally occurring in root vegetables how is it being turned into something which winds up in your nutritionally-packed health bar? I think we might need to investigate…..

can chia seeds bring world peace?



I’m going to go ahead and say no but I would forgive you for thinking Chia seeds had magical powers with the carry on about them in fitness and diet circles at the moment. So what’s all the fuss about? It’s hard to believe these tiny little things can pack such a nutritional punch but Chia seeds it seems are the champions everyone is claiming them to be. Rich in omega fats and anti-oxidants they are also a good source of fibre and the benefits don’t stop there. Chia is a complete protein meaning it has all the amino acids – rare for plant based proteins. Chia seeds are estrogen free but also rich in linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid the body cannot produce. All round stars really!

They come from the mint family and are native to Central and Southern Mexico and Guatemala but we do grow our own here in Oz. Aussie farmers can boast superior sanitation procedures making them the better choice than the native crops.

So what do you do with them? Well this is where they really do shine. They are endlessly versatile. Add them to smoothies, cereal, baking or salads. You are limited only by your imagination. Oh and there is no difference between the black and white ones!

Is Stevia Safe?

What is stevia?

If you are a regular reader of health magazines, you know what is going on in the dieting world, or truth be told even if you have just visited a supermarket recently you have probably heard of Stevia. The latest (and greatest) no-cal sweetener to save us from fat while enjoying all that sweet has to offer. But in a zippy and unexpected twist the new sweetener has no cals and is (gasp!) all NATURAL. Unlike aspartame, matidol and others, the only choice we have had when it comes to no-calorie sweeteners, Stevia isn’t manufactured in a lab by some smart dude. Stevia is a plant!

But is it Safe?

The short answer is yes. Stevia is now available in most countries and recent research shows that Stevia is safe for consumption however it was a rocky road for our sweet little plant. In the 1980’s animal studies linked Stevia to the adverse effects on fertility and reproductive development and possible genetic mutations. (Wowsers!)  Hence the ban in the USA. But then in 2008 after new evidence was submitted to the Food and Drug Administration and the ban on Stevia was withdrawn. The interesting part is that the new evidence was submitted by Truvia and PureVia companies which were looking to commercialise Stevia. Further controversy was that normally the FDA would require to studies to be submitted to review evidence but on this occasion there was only one.

Hmmmm

Over in Japan Stevia has been used for centuries and was commercialised in 1971. To date there are no adverse side effects recorded.

There are preliminary human studies suggest stevia can help reduce hypertension, although another study has shown no effects whatsoever on hypertension.

Another study found Stevia to have a mutagen effect but there is a swarm of criticism of this experiment involving rats. With evidence suggesting that the conditions were poor and so the results couldn’t possibly be used to prove anything.

So….

What we can get excited about is that there is an alternative to the cocktail of artificial sweeteners which have long been the centre of controversy and worry. What is probably most important to note is that the effects of stevia in large amounts remains untested and like all good ideas in the food industry Stevia is in danger of being exploited. Recently PepsiCo released a soft drink sweetened with stevia and it is likely others will follow. The choice is yours and I can’t argue with the Japanese but just remember they are NOT spooning it on to their cornflakes every morning….

is sugar bad ass?

If you follow health trends you may have noticed that momentum is gaining on the argument that it is sugar, not fat, that makes us fat. Sugar has also found itself the villain in the story of inflammation. If you are not across current affairs, inflammation, is being attributed with everything from cardiovascular to auto-immune disease.

So is sugar really a diabolical, evil enemy or wrongly accused?

Certainly there is no council for the promotion of the inclusion of sugar, no organisation campaigning on its behalf (children under the age of 12 do not count). The Australian heart foundation and the Cancer council have both raised concerns over effects of high dosages of sugar in our diets and there is compelling evidence that sugar in all its forms has contributed to the high number of cases of Type 2 diabetes. It seems everyone agrees (again children excluded) that limiting sugar consumption is good for your health but does any of that make it supremely evil?

It is hard to believe that pretty cupcakes, whipped delights and confections are entirely responsible for us being fat, tired and diseased but just because it masquerades as something so sweet doesn't stop it from being everything but.

Just ask David Gillespie.

Gillespie an obese lawyer was sick of being obese, tired and missing out on life so he began to research and found sugar may be responsible.  His first book offering on the subject of sugar's evil properties was appropriately titled, "Sweet Poison." You can find out more here. He found that sugar was indeed the culprit and subsequently cut it from his diet with what seems like extraordinary results - dropping a whopping 40 kilos and never gaining it back.  His health improved and so too did his mood. Gillespie provides some pretty damning evidence against sugar in his books. He believes the answer is to cut sugar completely from our diets and he isn’t alone.

Sarah Wilson, former editor of cosmopolitan magazine is one such story. Wilson has the auto-immune disease, Hashimoto’s disease, and so she began to investigate her food choices. Wilson's experiences on how sugar has affected her body can be read on her blog here. Most recently she has penned an e-book - an 8 week program on how to quit the stuff.

Before there was Gillespie there was Aitkin’s and while he went one step further and suggested cutting other carbs too he believed strongly that sugar was bad, bad, bad. Dr Nicholas Perricone promotes a diet that will free you from inflammation but try finding sugar in any plan he suggests? You won’t.  There is the South Beach diet, Australia’s own Body Trim and these are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head…

It is hard for me to go past my own experience with sugar when deciding whether I think sugar should go directly to jail., not pass go and not collect $200. Sugar gives me headaches. A glass of juice will give me a headache within fifteen minutes. Lollies will do it under five. If I spend a few days eating foods that contain sugar I can end up with a serious headache for days. And yet I have no disease and do not suffer from any allergies or sensitivities that come under any official sounding name that tells me I am not alone. I just know because my body reacts and has done since was a child.

If I am superman then sugar is my kryptonite and it seems it is David Gillespie’s, Sarah Wilson’s and probably many followers who found success on Aitkin’s, Body Trim and South Beach. So even if we can’t try and convict sugar on the whole list of charges, make no mistake, for some of us sugar is guilty in the first degree.

If you do suffer from any health issues I strongly urge you to experiment with cutting sugar out to see if it has a positive effect on your body and I will say that having read the program by Sarah Wilson it is probably the simplest and easiest one to follow if you are interested.