I don’t think too many days would go by in my office without this scenario playing out. Long term weight loss and healthy living isn’t about being perfect, it is about perseverance.

It is about eating well most of the time and when you do have a bit of a wobble, just get back into a healthy regime ASAP. Holidays, weekends, birthdays, parties, there are plenty of occasions ready to trip us up, and they do. If you do let rip it at the social occasion you can’t change what you did, you can only affect what you do next.

If you think ‘well I’ve blown it now so I may as well keep eating’, think of this analogy. If you were driving along and you got a flat tyre, would you leap out and start slashing the other three? Would you say, “well I’ve got one flat tyre so I may as well have four”? Of course not, you’d fix the flat one and move on.

The same applies to times that don’t go the way you would have liked with your nutrition. Think back to see if you could have handled it better and learn from the experience. Don’t give up, just move on and get back to basics.

Intermittent Fasting

In last month’s newsletter I put a link to a good article about intermittent fasting.

It was a real hit with quite a few clients and some are giving IF a go, with great results. It is interesting how we assume we need to eat at certain times, when actually we don’t necessarily. Some clients now don’t have their first meal until lunchtime and are enjoying saving time in the mornings.

Science changes and there is good science to show that periods of fasting are beneficial. The 16:8 regime (eating within an 8 hour window, e.g. between midday and 8pm) is popular. You don’t have to do it every day and of course, don’t do it if it doesn’t suit you.

Vegan / Vegetarian Eating

There has been quite a bit in the media lately about plant-based eating. Eating more veggies is never a bad idea, but becoming vegan or vegetarian requires learning how to obtain a balanced diet.

I read this article, "My mother's vegetarian diet contributed to her early death. We should all learn from it.", written by an English cardiologist, last week.

His mother was a vegetarian all her life, but unfortunately she chose to eat a poor quality vegetarian diet with, ultimately, fatal results. It is an interesting read and illuminates the need to focus on quality food, whatever your diet preference is.

If you would like advice about healthy eating and what’s right for you, please get in touch, I would love to hear from you.