We are literally making ourselves ill through poor lifestyle choices.
About 80% of the country’s premature deaths last year could have been prevented, new research shows.
The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors study of 2019 found that Kiwis were living longer, but spending more years in poor health. That doesn’t sound very appealing to me, being alive, but not living life the way you want to because of poor health.
The study also found that non-communicable diseases caused 86% of the country’s premature deaths last year and the top five took the lives of 15,840 New Zealanders.
Blood pressure, poor diet, obesity, smoking and elevated blood sugar were factors in the deaths of 23,000 Kiwis last year. To a large extent the risk factors for these issues can be mitigated by making better lifestyle choices.
Many, many people are not aware of their increasing risk factors until one day, something goes wrong with their health. Also, many people are happy to take pills instead of changing their lifestyle, but most pharmaceuticals have some kind of side effect. I know, making changes to your lifestyle can be challenging, but isn’t it worth it in the long run if it keeps you healthy and able to participate fully in life? I have met so many people over the years who, if they could, would have turned back the clock and made better choices. It is never too late to get started.
Social situations are often where people struggle to stay in control of what they eat and drink and with summer heading our way, along with Christmas, New Year, etc, there is a lot of potential for making poor choices. You can’t change the occasion/event, but you can change your behaviour at it. I’m happy to give you some tips at your appointment.
Drinking App
Leading on from the above – if you have decided to give up drinking, then this App is for you. “I’m Done Drinking” It is very cool and once you enter the date of your last drink, it keeps a running tally of how much money you have saved, how many calories you have saved, how many drinks you haven’t had, etc. When a client showed me the stats on her app, I worked out that in 123 days she had saved the equivalent, in calories, of 88 kilos of fat! She had also saved over $2,000. Very motivational indeed.
Recipes
Now that it is BBQ season it makes life so much easier. No more casseroles, soups and heavy food that take longer to prepare.
It is great to have asparagus and strawberries back in season too and in general, the price of summer vegies has come down, meaning that making big salads is more affordable.
BBQ’d veggies
Next time you are BBQing your dinner, try making a side of veggies. You can use whatever you have to hand, add a slosh of balsamic vinegar when they are cooked and yum! Check out my recipe here.
Butterflied chicken
Cut a large, defrosted chicken down the backbone and flatten the chicken with the palm of your hand. Either marinade it in olive oil, lemon and garlic for a couple of hours, or just season the skin, brush with a bit of oil and put it on the BBQ. An extra large chicken takes about 50 minutes and it tastes so much better than roasting it in the oven.
Zucchini tortillas
Just for fun I made these now that zucchinis are a good price. They were easy to roll out and use. Check out my recipe here.
Seven more working weeks until Christmas!
Time is getting short if you are still contemplating fat loss before Xmas. It is not too late to lose between 3.5 and 5 kilos, but you can’t leave it any longer. Getting into good habits now will help you navigate the silly season. Contact me now to get started!
