GetFit.com.au

Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper, and studies suggest you could lose weight, says Terry Robson.

Each week, a new diet offers you the ultimate weight loss miracle. But, finally, one that is achievable has arrived. Having a big breakfast every day is the way to lose weight and keep it off.

If you can live off clear vegetable soup (or gruel for that matter) for three meals per day, every day, then you will lose weight. The question is how long can you eat that way?

The answer is probably not too long. Harsh, denial-based diets are a dime a dozen and, in the long run, they actually make you gain weight. Repeated episodes of denial train your body to hold onto fat, as its best energy source, and never let go.

That is why the "big breakfast" diet is so encouraging and revolutionary: it works, it is pleasant and it makes common sense.

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond in the US recently revealed results of a study in which they compared a diet based on eating a big breakfast with conventional low-carbohydrate dieting.

"Low-carb" diets are still popular despite the fact that, while they cause short-term weight loss, there is usually a quick rebound to original weight. This is because the low-carb regime creates sugar cravings and slows metabolism.

So these researchers wanted to find a healthier weight-loss alternative and turned to a "big breakfast" based diet to achieve it.

People on the big breakfast diet ate about 5200 kilojoules daily compared with 4550 kilojoules consumed by the low-carb dieters. Both groups tried to keep carbohydrates down throughout the day, but the big difference was at breakfast.

The "big breakfast" group ate 49% of their daily kilojoules at breakfast, 32% at lunch and 19% at dinner. Breakfast for this group included carbohydrates, protein and some fat. So fruit, whole grains, eggs and even lean bacon could be included.

The "low-carb" group consumed only 27% of their daily energy intake at breakfast.

After four months the low-carb dieters had lost an average of 12.8kg, compared with 10.5kg for the big breakfasters. However, after eight months the low-carb dieters regained an average of 8.2kg while the big breakfast group had shed an additional 7.5kg on average. These results are not unusual.

A study in the journal Paediatrics earlier this year showed that teenagers who eat breakfast have a lower body mass index than those who skip it.

It make sense when you think that eating your big meal at the beginning of the day allows you to burn off the energy that you consume during the day. Best of all, it is achievable for the long term.

It may cause a few social ripples but when friends ask you out to dinner, just order the salad or an entree and suggest that next time you could all "do breakfast".

As the saying goes, "breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper". Eat big at breakfast, cut back at dinner and your waistline and your health will be the better for it.

smh.com.au

Dean Piazza Online Personal Trainer Comment :

This is a very good article and so true !
Breakfast is essential if you are wanting to lose weight or just stay healthy and energised for the day.
It prevents that mid morning binge on muffins or cake when suddenly your body craves food.
If you are not hungry in the morning you may be eating too much in the evening as you should be waking up hungry.
Being hungry in the morning is the sign of a good metabolism.

Dean Piazza
Your Online Personal Trainer
www.getfit.com.au

Posted by Dean at 09:05 AM | Permalink

Everybody needs inspiration and who better to inspire and motivate you during winter than our Olympic athletes.

These athletes are world class and have been aiming for this goal for at least 4 years so take a leaf out of their book and learn to apply yourself over the long term to be the be a champion in whatever you would like to do.

There are no medals for losing weight but we can all learn from their discipline, goal setting, motivation and the way they think .

Being successful at anything you do requires you to think like an Olympian and be positive and focussed.
Check out our Aussie Olympians below and the stories behind their journey.

http://www.olympics.com.au/

Do you need Motivation ? Support ? Direction ? Plan of Attack ?

Complete the form here to get the ball rolling

https://www.getfit.com.au/registration.html

Stay Strong
Dean Piazza
www.getfit.com.au

Posted by Dean at 10:36 AM | Permalink

IF BOOK sales are anything to go by, Professor Jennie Brand-Miller's GI revolution is here. "At one time there was only one book ahead of us on The New York Times bestseller list, and that was Harry Potter," she says. "So I'm pretty pleased with that."

Based on the glycaemic index and co-authored by Kaye Foster-Powell, a nutritionist, and Professor Stephen Colagiuri, Brand-Miller's books have sold 3.5 million copies worldwide. A fourth edition of two of the most popular titles in the "glucose revolution" series was published this month.

It is a sign of how far the humble system of ranking carbohydrates based on their effect on blood sugar has come. First introduced in 1996, it was initially considered of benefit to those with diabetes. But with 570 mentions of glycaemic index in the American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition last year alone, Brand-Miller says new research highlights its potential benefits for those interested in brain function and weight control.

Which is to say, most of us.

"People love it or they hate it, but there are more people who love it than hate it," Brand-Miller says.

The idea is simple: carbohydrates that break down slowly release glucose, the body's energy source, more gradually into the bloodstream. This results in a more sustained energy supply to the brain throughout the day, while leaving a person feeling full for longer.

But due to the body's balancing act between glucose and the hormone insulin - and its effect on metabolism and other bodily functions - GI researchers are now examining areas further afield, including dementia, eyesight and even acne. "And there are lots of applications coming up, perhaps cancer prevention. There's things like babies' birth weight, there's mental performance, there's physical performance. And you might ask: Why would blood sugars be directly connected to so many different things? I think part of the reason it's so controversial … is because it's being shown to be so relevant to so many different things." Brand-Miller says that although glucose is the preferred energy source of the body, if levels in the blood are too high or take too long to return to a base level, it can cause inflammation within certain cells and lead to scarring and impaired function.

She cites a four-year University of California study of nearly 2000 post-menopausal women. Those with elevated blood sugar levels of 7 per cent or higher in the brain were four times more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment or dementia. "People who get dementia usually have risk factors for other things as well, including diabetes and heart disease."

These dangerous peaks are limited by keeping an eye on diet, the thinking goes. But Brand-Miller says the body's undesirable response to higher levels of glucose, that is, insulin resistance or higher insulin levels, can also be tackled with low GI foods.

A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that after a 12-week diet-controlled program, lesion counts on adolescent boys with acne were reduced by 25 per cent when they were placed on a low GI, higher protein diet compared with a control group. They also lost on average three kilograms. "[Insulin] seems to stimulate oil production, stimulate some of the androgenic hormones, testosterone and other hormones that are associated with acne."

While both diets were otherwise low-fat and nutritious, Brand-Miller believes insulin levels - in turn, the low-glycaemic load of the food - were key to the results. "We're doing a study at the moment, and we're seeing the same effect in adolescent boys who haven't lost any weight."

But while she remains a firm believer in the idea that all carbs (like fats or proteins) are not created equal, Brand-Miller is wary of labelling the glycaemic index a magic bullet for all nutrition-related health problems.

"I would be the first to say that you should not use the glycaemic index in isolation. So a low GI claim on chocolate would be inappropriate. A low GI claim on cola would be inappropriate. But it is appropriate on foods that are nutritious in their own right, as well as being low GI."

The Low GI Diet and The Low GI Handbook are published by Hachette Australia.

smh.com.au

Posted by Dean at 07:03 PM | Permalink

Where do you go for help if overeating has become a habit that's hard to control?
Overeaters Anonymous www.oasydney.org with its 12 Steps approach is one option, but now there's another.
SMART Recovery, a free self help group program established in Sydney three years ago by St Vincent's Hospital Drug and Alcohol Service, is now open, not just to people wanting to overcome problems with alcohol and other drugs, but also to overeaters and those with other addictive behaviours. SMART (it stands for Self Management and Recovery Training) has meetings in a number of locations in Sydney and NSW, and began its first Melbourne program this month at Turning Point, the drug and alcohol service based in Fitzroy.

Does this mean there's now a formal diagnosis of food addiction? Not quite. There's some emerging evidence from the US to suggest food has similar effects on the brain to some addictive drugs - one study found that Naltrexone, a drug that reduces cravings for alcohol and heroin, for instance, also helped reduce binge eating. But so far the jury's still out on whether food addiction really exists. What is clear, though is that overeating and dependence on alcohol and other drugs do share similar patterns of behaviour and thinking, says Josette Freeman, co-ordinator of SMART Recovery.

"Some people use food and alcohol for the same reason - it numbs the pain. But food can also be self destructive in the same way. People don't binge on healthy food - the food that's overeaten can often contribute to health problems," she says. "The thinking is also similar. 'I'm only going to have one biscuit' when you know that one biscuit can set you off eating a whole packet is similar to a problem drinker who says 'I'm only going to have one drink."

Guilt is another common denominator - at a recent SMART meeting in Sydney, one woman described going from shop to shop to buy chocolate to disguise the fact that she ate so much of it - some problem drinkers do the same, Freeman says.

But the good news is that the same strategies that can help people overcome drug and alcohol problems can also help people curb overeating.

SMART Recovery, a non-profit charity, sees dependence on alcohol or other drugs - or food - not as a 'disease' but more like a problem behaviour that can be overcome. SMART takes a practical rather than spiritual approach, using techniques from Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) which helps people change irrational thinking and is widely used in the treatment of addiction and depression. These techniques can help people cope with cravings, stay motivated to avoid drugs, alcohol or overeating, to problem solve and help them put more balance back into their lives. For anyone who can't get to face to face meetings, meetings are also available online.

How do you know if you've got a problem with overeating - or with alcohol and other drugs? When the habit is starting to affect your life in a negative way, says Freeman. With overeating that could mean you have problem with weight or with your health, you feel you have to eat secretly, or you feel guilty. For people who are dependent on alcohol or drugs, the negative effects can be problems with relationships, problems at work and financial problems.

For more information about SMART Recovery or for details of meetings, go to
www.smartrecoveryaustralia.com.au

smh.com.au

Posted by Dean at 09:50 AM | Permalink