Worryingly, way too many Aussies and Kiwis are either dying from or developing life affecting diseases and conditions which, in many cases, may have been prevented by making changes to lifestyle and nutrition.
When I was in Australia recently I was shocked to read the results of a study that concluded that 88% of Australian men and 76% of Australian women had unhealthy levels of visceral fat.
You don’t have to be hugely overweight to have too much of the dangerous visceral fat around your organs, in fact many people who appear to be slim on the outside can be ‘fat on the inside’. In the MRI images below you can see the large amount of fat in the woman on the left's internal cavity, squashing her organs. (17 stone = 108 kilos)
What factors contribute to visceral fat?
- Physical inactivity
- Nutrient poor diet
- Processed or high sugar foods
- High alcohol intake
- Stress
- Lack of sleep
- Obesity
These same factors may also contribute to other health issues such as cancers, high blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks, diabetes, etc and most of them are modifiable.
Stroke Riskometer
I came across a free app that you may like to download, to check out your risk of stroke.
It is called Stroke Riskometer which has been developed by the research team at the National Institute of Stroke and Applied Neurosciences based at Auckland University of Technology.
It only takes a few minutes to complete and at the end gives you your absolute 5 year risk of having a stroke.
The Weight Creep!
While it may seem fairly innocuous to gain a kilo or two this year, if you keep doing that for the next five years, hello, there is another 5-10 kilos of extra fat.
It is never easy facing the fact that it’s time to do something about stopping the weight gain and reducing excess fat. The reality is that it won’t go away of its own accord.
Just making small changes will, over time, add up, such as:
- Eating smaller portions,
- Adding more vegetables to your meals,
- Committing to regular exercise
These aren’t hugely difficult things to do, but they will make a difference.
Well I’ve eaten that so I might as well eat that too!
Okay hands up who hasn’t had that thought! You know how it is, you start off on Monday being very virtuous and by Wednesday, maybe even Thursday, you let rip at the morning tea shout. Then, feeling like the whole day/week/month was wrecked, you carried on hoovering anything in sight that you wanted.
You are not alone.
But, I love the analogy that if you had a flat tyre, would you get out of the car and think “well I’ve got one flat tyre so I might as well slash the other three.” It wouldn’t happen would it? If things don’t go to plan, then the best thing you can do is to make the next meal or snack a healthy one and move on. You can’t change what happened.
If you have any concerns about your nutrition, please get in touch and let me help you to get on track.
