The sun is shining!

How good is daylight savings and this warmer weather? Not so good if you're feeling uncomfortable with your weight. It's not too late though! Help can be achieved right now with Dynamic Nutrition's online eating plans - you don't even have to leave your house/office for individualised nutrition advice and a weekly eating plan! You also get ongoing support and the option to submit your food diary weekly.

Research has proven that the key to lasting weight loss is ongoing support - either face to face, over the phone, or via email. So don't go at it alone when you can have the help you need with the click of a link. How easy is that?

http://www.dynamicnutrition.com.au/home/online_eating_plans

Meat Free Monday

Why is it a good idea to have a vegetarian meal at least once a week?

Vegetables are low in kilojoules, so if you are watching your weight, they can help you feel full, minus the fat or sugar.

Vegetables contain essential nutrients, like B vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin C, magnesium and fibre!

Vegetables don't contain any cholesterol. In fact, no plant food source contain cholesterol, so great for those trying to keep their hearts healthy!

Here's a lovely frittata recipe to try, that is quick an easy for a weeknight dinner

http://www.dynamicnutrition.com.au/home/recipe_of_the_week

Keeping Your Insides Healthy

It’s a bit of an uncomfortable topic for some people, but gut and bowel health is not often spoken about. I was shocked to learn that one Australian dies every 2 hours from bowel cancer. If detected early enough, bowel cancer is treatable. There are lots of ways to reduce your risk of suffering from bowel cancer, and other gastrointestinal conditions for that matter.

Bowel cancer generally refers to a malignant growth in the lining of the colon or rectum. The condition can develop from polyps – tiny growths in the gastrointestinal tract. If cancer is detected before it spreads, survival rate after 5 years is 90%, so early detection is crucial. Symptoms to look out for include:

• A recent, persistent change in bowel habit to looser, more diarrhoea-like motions, going to the toilet more often, or trying to go (ie. irregularity in someone whose bowels have previously been regular)
• Blood (either bright red or very dark) in the stool
• Diarrhoea, constipation, or feeling that the bowel does not empty completely
• Frequent gas pains, bloating, fullness or cramps
• Stools that are narrower than usual
• A lump or mass in your tummy
• Weight loss for no known reason
• Persistent, severe abdominal pain, which has come on recently for the first time
(especially in an older age group)
• Feeling very tired
• Vomiting

Be aware of changes to your bowel habits and you should see your doctor if you are noticing significant changes or suffering from any of the mentioned symptoms. The scary thing is that bowel cancer is being diagnosed in younger patients, so no longer is it considered a condition for the older community. This is possibly due to a diet low in fibre, fruit and vegetables in Western countries.

As always, prevention is better than a cure! There are lots of things you can do to keep your digestive system healthy and reduce your cancer risk, like eating lots of whole foods – fresh fruit and vegetables, wholegrains and nuts/seeds. A high fibre diet is proven to reduce the risk of bowel cancer, but what exactly is fibre?

Fibre comes from plant materials, therefore animal products, like meat, dairy and eggs, do not contain any fibre. It is a material that our bodies cannot breakdown or absorb. Most people do not consume enough fibre in their diets, as it is recommended we consume about 30g of fibre daily to keep our bodies, and digestive system especially, working properly. This doesn’t necessarily mean we all need to start the day with a huge bowl of All Bran! A balanced diet will provide you with plenty of fibre to keep your body happy.


A diet rich in wholegrains, fresh fruits and vegetables will allow you to reach this recommended daily amount quite easily. Incorporating 2 cups of steamed mixed vegetables into your dinner will provide you with almost half of the daily recommended amount. Fibre is also quite abundant in breakfast cereals, which is why breakfast is so important! So go for fresh fruit and veg, and choose wholegrain products to keep you digestive system healthy.

Brand New Website

The Dynamic Nutrition website is up and running! Have a look!

http://www.dynamicnutrition.com.au

The online eating plans are really exciting, as there are no services as individualised in Australia. Email contactus@dynamicnutrition.com.au for more information or for initial forms!

Stay healthy!

Spring Cleaning!

Well it's nearly that time of year, and with a couple of warm days last week, I am getting excited for Spring! So I think it's time for a detox. And none of this lemon detox rubbish!

I am embarking on a 4 week gut and liver cleanse for a few reasons. It is a good idea to give your gut a rest every now and then. There are lots of different foods that can cause bloating and abdominal discomfort, and the more stress we put on our digestive system, the less effective it will be - so your food won't be breaking down and nutrients won't get absorbed!

Giving your digestive system a rest from any potential allergens will improve gut function - better digestion and no bloating! Sounds good! So what's to avoid? Well, the list includes gluten, dairy, caffeine, sugar, alcohol, additives, and anything artificial. So you can eat lots of wholefoods, fruits, vegetables and proteins. I am inviting my clients to join me too! If you can dedicate a month to improve your health, energy levels, sleep patterns, skin and liver function, then let me know!

kirsty@dynamicnutrition.com.au

I'll keep you up to date with my progress too!

Making healthy choices ALWAYS!

I recently found myself in an Airport with lots of time to kill and no food. After getting up at 4.30am, flying to Sydney for a seminar and not being able to take food with me, I found the task of buying a healthy meal quite daunting! So I decided to go with the following:

Vegetable and Lentil soup: Soups are the best way to get as many vegies as possible into your belly, lots of vitamins and minerals for energy production and a high water content, as flying can be dehydrating. Lentils provide protein and fibre - two elements to keep you feeling fuller for longer, as they take a while to digest.

Pumpkin and beetroot salad: Dark green leafies for B vitamins and magnesium, which both help with energy production. Low GI vegetables will fill you up, with chickpeas an added bonus for fibre. Warm salads are easy to find in Airports/food courts, and are worth paying a few extra dollars for.

Vitamin Water: Dehydration is common when flying and water is always the best option to rehydrate, but when you have been up early and drinking water all day, it can get a bit boring. Try to avoid caffeine too, it won't contribute to your hydration, so a low kilojoule drink with added vitamins could be a good choice for you. This one only had about 300kJ, so not a bad choice for a pick me up.

Do you need some motivation?

It's the middle of Winter, and a lot of people might be lacking motivation to eat well and exercise. Sitting on your butt with a glass of wine and a big bowl of pasta often seems like a much better idea. I have touched on this information before, but it is so important for you to understand the basics.

Let’s say you go to the gym 4 times a week, for an hour each time, working at a reasonable intensity. There are 168 hours in a week. So take away those 4 hours and we are left with 164 hours. Let’s also assume you get 7 hours of sleep a night, which brings us down to 115 waking hours in your week.

Not surprisingly, it’s what people do in these 115 hours away from the gym, that is ultimately going to determine whether or not your goals will be reached. If you’re on the treadmill for 30 minutes jogging on level 9, followed by an intense 30 minute cycle, you’ll burn about 2000kJ (or about 500cal). So if you then decide to treat yourself to a latte and a muffin (2500kJ) you’ve really wasted your hard work. Most people think the food they eat is great, but they may be eating too much, not enough, making poor snack choices, or gaining extra kilojoules from other bad habits.

Make today the day you make a change for the better. You don't have to wait until Monday! Making small changes that you can sustain will be positive changes for the future. I often advise clients to make one change a week when they are working towards maintaining a healthy diet. With just one thing to focus on, you are more likely to succeed, rather than trying to change everything at once. Some simple suggestions you could try include:
- drinking an extra cup of water a day
- having fruit after dinner instead of chocolate, biscuits, ice cream, etc
- bringing lunches to work from home
- having a serve of vegetables to nibble on before dinner
- eating a nutritious breakfast
- limiting coffee intake to 2 per day
- only eating wholegrain carbohydrates

Now, even though you might think these changes are small, imagine if you took on one each week, and kept up the changes! You would have a pretty good diet, without making huge sacrifices! Give it a go, it is absolutely the best way to promote lasting changes in your diet, and staying healthy in your 115 waking hours.

What a quote!

"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest her or his patients in the care of the human frame, in a proper diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease" Thomas Edison (1847 - 1931)

Thanks Mr Anton Pilli, what an inspirational quote!

Do things really need to be so complicated?

My healthy food attitude here at Dynamic Nutrition involves eating unprocessed foods, as close to natural state as possible. Fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables, wholegrains, nuts and lean proteins. These are every day foods! Not sometimes foods. So it doesn't surprise me research is showing that diets high in processed, poor quality carbohydrates can lead to lifestyle diseases.

Have a read of the below link:

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/high-carbohydrate-diet-tied-to-cancer-20110616-1g4o9.html

Good fats and protein are crucial for a healthy, balanced diet!

My Bikram Experience...

For a while now, a friend and I had discussed going to Bikram "Hot" Yoga. For those who have never heard of this, basically you spend 90 minutes in a room heated at about 40 degrees,and practice yoga. Why would a sane person do such a thing?

In a bid to tick off weekly challenges from my 'things to do before I hit 25' list, I plucked up the courage to go along to a class. Nervous and excited, I felt more than prepared. I had about 4 litres of water throughout the day, and a light meal a couple of hours before the class commenced. Physically - I was set! My mind, however, told me to get the hell out when I walked into the studio from a chilly 8 degrees outside. No point backing out now. I registered and got changed and entered the sauna that was the yoga room. Not as smelly as I thought! But very, very warm.

I have never done yoga before. I have a fairly short attention span, so the idea of doing nothing for an extended period of time freaks me out. But instantly my focus shifted to how hot it was, and on how I was to survive 90 minutes of yoga in a sauna. The instructor entered the room and we did some breathing exercises. As strange as it sounds, it is actually quite refreshing to take in a huge breath of hot air, and then expelling it. We got into the poses and pleasingly, I am not as uncoordinated as I imagined, and I have some core strength. Great! So I didn't struggle as much as I thought I would. The heat was intense, and you sweat from everywhere. There were sweat beads dripping down my legs at one stage! I wouldn't say it was easy, probably one of the most mentally challenging things I have done. But I was able to focus on myself, my mind and body, and nothing else. That was incredible. As was the feeling driving home - like I had had a whole body massage!

A few people I know asbsolutely hated their Bikram experiences, so I guess it is up to the individual and what that wish to gain from it. For me, I was able to turn off from the outside world for 90 minutes, focus on myself and have no sense of stress or worry. Give it a go. Physically, anyone can take part, the challenge will be telling yourself mentally that you can survive the class.

Let me know if you give it a try!

Skinny Fat - Myth Busting

I'm not overweight, so why should I watch what I eat?

Do you often choose the deep fried, high energy or high sugar foods because your weight has never been an issue? If so, it might be surprising to learn that body weight is not always a distinguishing factor between being healthy or unhealthy. What you see on the outside is not always a reflection of what is going on inside your body. Can someone appear to be overweight, but still be healthy?

Your body composition - what your body is made up of – is one of the best measures of health. BMI and scale weight can have their limitations. A skinny individual can have a higher fat percentage than someone who looks overweight. The biggest problem with this is the lack of lean muscle mass. Muscle is metabolically active, it burns lots of kilojoules. Fat mass unfortunately does not. Muscle tissue also improves insulin resistance – decreasing your chance of getting diabetes! This condition is no longer limited to the overweight and obese. Children are now getting diabetes because of their lifestyles, as are skinny adults.

So what does this mean?

We know through years of research that where an individual carries their fat can influence their health and predispose them to various lifestyle diseases, like cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. We also know that skinny people aren’t always healthy. The attitude of those that don’t put on weight eating unhealthy foods needs to change. An unhealthy diet full of sugar, saturated fats and processed food leads to a very unhealthy body – and plenty of negative health effects too! Parents with the attitude that their kids can eat whatever they want because they are skinny or will burn it off also need to change their ways. The eating habits your children have will last a lifetime. Focus on healthy, nutritious foods, and as soon as children can chew/swallow solids, everyone should be eating the same meals!

Take care of your body, feed yourself nutritious foods, and best of all, reduce your risk of chronic diseases – no matter what you weigh. Being healthy on the inside is more important than what is on the outside.

Australia's Biggest Morning Tea

Dynamic Nutrition is hosting its first Morning Tea! Cancer rates in Australia have increased dramatically in the last decade, and we know that a healthy lifestyle can prevent illness. Cancer research is so important, so we can start to find ways to prevent and cure different types of cancer.

On Thursday May 26th 2011, I will be hosting my morning tea, serving healthy, nutritious and delicious foods. Each item will require a $1.00 donation. Alternatively, I have set up and online donation account at:

http://vic.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=332983&langPref=en-CA

All money will be donated to the Victorian Cancer Council. So if you can't attend on the day, please generously donate to a very important cause.

Thank you so much.

The Great Carbohydrate Debate

“I don’t eat carbs after lunch because they are bad and they make you put on weight.”


This is the most common misconception I hear with clients and when delivering seminars. And it is also my most hated misconception! When looking at weight gain, it all comes down to consuming more energy than what we are burning. On the other hand, if we want to lose weight, we have to expend more energy than what we consume. There are 4 sources of energy (kilojoules or calories) we can obtainfrom our diets and these include:
• Protein (16kJ per gram)
• Carbohydrates (17kJ per gram)
• Alcohol (29kJ per gram)
• Fat (37kJ per gram)

Carbohydrates are the body’s preferred source of energy as they are stored and broken down efficiently for tasks when they are needed. Carbohydrates are converted into glucose to use as energy, and are the major fuel the brain uses to function. Without a sufficient carbohydrate intake, individuals can suffer from light-headedness, lack of concentration, mental confusion and headaches. Carbohydrates are also necessary for maintaining health of the nervous system, fuelling our muscles and bowel health. A diet low in carbohydrates can also promote sugar cravings. So you can see that carbohydrates perform a wide variety of roles in the body.

By cutting carbohydrates out of the diet, you are reducing your intake of a large group of nutrients. Wholegrains, fruits and vegetables are all carbohydrates and by reducing these foods, you will be at risk of becoming deficient in:
Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Biotin, Vitamin B5, Folate, Vitamin E, Fibre, Potassium, Magnesium, Zinc, Iodine, Selenium, Manganese and Chromium. That's a lot of nutrients!


Individuals often avoid pasta, rice and potato at dinner time, because they have heard they will put on weight. You could essentially eat pasta all day and still lose weight if you are consuming less kJ than what you are burning.

As mentioned above, a positive energy balance (too much energy to be used up) is going to lead to weight gain and a negative energy balance will promote weight loss. The composition of your diet is not that important for losing weight, it is important for health though. A diet should always contain a range of nutrients and all foods in moderation. It’s all about balance, and every meal or snack should contain a good source of carbohydrate. So keep this in mind next time you feel like having some spaghetti bolognaise.

Beware of the Easter Bunny

Easter and chocolate go hand in hand, but be careful of the treats you consume! The following shows how much activity you will need to do, based on a 65kg female, to burn of your chocolate!

Cadbury Cream egg – 718kJ
= 1 hour 12 minutes of ironing

Cadbury hollow egg (~100g) – 2343kJ
= 1 hour 6 minutes of singles tennis

1 bag Crunchie mini eggs – 2943kJ
=49 minutes running on treadmill @ level 9

10 Red Tulip caramel mini eggs – 1980kJ
= 1 hour 13 minutes weight training

Large Red Tulip bunny – 5375kJ
= 3 hours 12 minutes moderate cycling

Lindt Pack 1 large egg and 6 mini eggs – 3866kJ
=2 hours 45 minutes of Pilates

Twitter Time!

Dynamic Nutrition is now on Twitter! Just click the link below, and follow, for updates on good nutrition, tips and healthy food ideas! http://twitter.com/nutritionist2u

Winter Breakfast Idea

If you're not a traditional porridge fan, give this a go. Be Natural have created a Vanilla and Almond porridge, in individual serving sizes, that are low kilojoule and full of flavour. For a delicious breakfast high in fibre, put sachet in bowl with half a cup of water and microwave as per directions. Serve with some natural yoghurt and berries for a nutrient boost. Yum!

No Nonsense Nutrition

When it comes to weight management, there are no major secrets - eat less and move more. It's science! Too often people choose the quick fix, which puts them in a worse position then where they started. Healthy eating shouldn't be a chore, it should be your life! So I have broken it down for you.


The following foods are going to provide you with the most benefit, for the lowest amount of kilojoules, so they are almost ‘free’ foods, and you can enjoy them with every meal or snack.

- Lots of vegetables! All green vegetables, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, mushrooms and pumpkin.
- Fresh fruits like melon, berries, citrus, stone fruit, pears and apples

Next, I have put together a list of healthy food options for you to eat every day, along with your fresh fruits and vegetables. These can be kept in mind when you are travelling too!

- Low fat dairy products – yoghurt, milk and cheese. Skim dairy has low amounts of saturated fat and protein to keep you feeling fuel and satisfied
- Wholegrains – wholegrain bread and wraps, brown rice, wholemeal pasta, and quinoa are great sources of fibre and protein, as well as important vitamins and minerals
- Vegetarian proteins – tofu, lentils, kidney beans, chick peas, 4 bean mix are all good low kilojoule options
- Lean meats and fish – between the size of your palm and whole hand

And here are the ones to stay away from! The following foods should not even be in your house, let alone be put into your body!

- Soft drinks – no nutritional benefit whatsoever! Even diet soft drink should be kept to a minimum due to the amount of artificial rubbish in them.
- Lollies, chocolates and sweet biscuits – again, nothing but empty calories and the sugar will give you energy for about an hour, then make you crave more!
- Chips – just 100g of potato chips has 2130kJ! That is more energy than a main meal should have! This will also provide you with over half of your days sodium requirement
- Salted, toasted nuts – like potato chips, but an even more concentrated source of energy. Half a cup of toasted peanuts will provide you with 1580kJ. That’s only a handful! As a comparison (but certainly not recommended!) a McDonalds cheeseburger has 1190kJ.

You know what you should be doing, so what is stopping you?

Snack Smart

2 Tim Tams may taste good, but contain 812kJ and over 10 grams of fat.

Instead, you could have a 95g tin of flavoured tuna in springwater, a medium nectarine, and a carrot cut into sticks with 50g of lite tzatziki for 819kJ with the additional benefits of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and omega 3 fatty acids!

Indigestion

Most of us have experienced the uncomfortable feeling known as heartburn, indigestion or gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) but for some people, it is part of everyday life. It is described as a vague feeling of abdominal discomfort, which may or way not include belching, feeling of fullness, bloating and nausea. It occurs when the esophageal sphincter (entrance from the oesophagus to the stomach) becomes relaxed and the contents of the gut rise upwards.

There are numerous causes of this condition including:
• Overeating
• Eating too fast
• Having too much caffeine
• Eating fatty or greasy foods
• Drinking too much alcohol
• Consuming peppermint, spearmint, some citrus juices, and tomato products
• Tobacco use
• Consuming chocolate in large amounts
• Eating spicy foods
• Nervousness
• Antibiotics

This condition can also be triggered by poor digestion in the stomach, which then produces more gas and travels into the oesophagus, leaving the individual with the feeling of heartburn. By limiting the above foods are improving digestion, feelings of indigestion can be reduced, if not avoided.

Below are some tips for indigestion and reflux sufferers.
• Eating 5-6 small meals per day can improve digestion. Avoid overeating and filling the stomach to its maximum
• Your last meal for the day should be 3-4 hours before bed so you don’t go to bed with a full stomach
• Avoid laying down after eating meals
• Sleep with your head elevated to decrease the acid exposure in the oesophagus during sleep periods

Indigestion needs to be treated and triggers avoided to avoid long term health problems.

Dynamic News!

The Dynamic Nutrition newsletter has had lots of positive feedback, many thanks for the lovely comments and emails. If you are not yet subscribed to Dynamic News, send an email to kirsty@dynamicnutrition.com.au, with newsletter subscription as the subject! Easy as that, and you will be kept up to date with the latest and greatest in the world of nutrition!

Summer treats not so sweet...

Sugar is found in abundance in many foods, and I like for my clients to understand just how much sugar is in the food they are eating. A great tool to get a visual understanding of the sugar in food products, is to convert the grams of sugar into teaspoons.

4g of sugar is equivalent to 1 teaspoon

A 600ml chocolate Big M has a whopping 15 teaspoons of sugar! Yuck!

Although sugar is a quick source of energy, it doesn't have many other uses in the body. Sugar provides us with empty kilojoules. Too much sugar in the diet can lead to obesity, dental issues, problems with blood sugar regulation and interference with certain hormones.

The reason I thought this information might be handy this time of the year is due to the increased consumption of ice creams and icy poles. A Frosty Fruit icy pole contains 4.5 teaspoons of sugar, a huge amount for such a little treat. Being made with fruit, gives people the idea that it is a healthy option! A better alternative would be a Splice ice cream, with only 3 teaspoons of sugar due to the dairy component, and with 50 kilojoules less than the Frosty Fruit!

Be smart with your food choices!