Why is my diet not working? Fiona Kirk shares her top tips
We have all been there. With what feels like a constant effort to shift the pounds, we often become discouraged and give up before we have even given it a chance. For some, diet, weight and positive body image is a constant battle but why does it feel like so many of us are gaining weight rather than losing it?
Menopausal Women
If
ever there was a time in a woman’s life where she wants to sob into her
cornflakes with frustration over fluctuating weight issues, it is before,
during and after the menopause! Some of the lucky ones sail through the whole
thing without too much turmoil but most of us face all manner of physiological
and emotional disruptions and to make matters worse, no two days are ever the
same!
It
is little wonder that the menopause merits the change of life label as change is what we have to address. Our
hormones are changing their behaviour so we have to change our behaviour - and
our diet. We have to convince the body that all is well and whilst it prefers
to store fat to meet the hormonal havoc head on, there is a great deal we can
do nutritionally to manage the stress, thwart invasive mood swings and prevent
weight gain.
Top Tip: Eat more fats - they are your
best friends for hormone balance and fat loss!
Shift Workers
We
live in a 24/7 world, increasing numbers of us work well outside the classic nine to five day and endless studies
reveal that irregular working hours result in weight gain over time. Depressing
statistics? Yes! Irreversible statistics? No! Our circadian rhythm is geared
toward us being awake during daylight hours and asleep in the hours of darkness
so when we upset the rhythm we are likely to suffer but the body can adapt and
we can hone our nutritional skills accordingly.
Planning
is vital for shift workers. Eating foods that energise before a shift is vital,
eating foods that see workers through a shift is vital, eating foods that
encourage uninterrupted sleep is vital, regular exercise and getting the timing
right is vital. Acknowledging the weight-gaining risks and adopting nutritional
strategies that address them requires a bit of focus but once adopted, can
provide a very positive shift for shift workers!
Top Tip: Treat colas and other fizzy
drinks as the enemy no matter how low cal or energising the manufacturers tell
you they are!
Single Men and Women
What
you eat when you are with others probably has an impact on your food decisions
but few see what you eat when you are
home alone. Perhaps you reason that the tub of ice cream, the large bag of
Kettle Chips or the takeaway pizza occasionally hoovered down whilst relaxing
in the evening is justified because you work long hours, you are over-stressed
and often, way too tired to cobble together a healthy meal. But you know this
kind of behaviour isn’t waistline-friendly and when it gets a grip, you neither
like what you see in the mirror nor on the bathroom scales.
Shopping
and cooking for one can be arduous and it is all too easy to continually snack
rather than prepare and sit down to a meal but this discipline can have a huge
impact on how our appetite hormones respond - they will thank you for a good
feed but continue to nag at you if they don’t get one!
Top Tip: Get into the habit of having 2
really good meals a day and if you need to snack, make it a snack that
harnesses energy dips and really counts .
Fitness Enthusiasts
One
of the biggest frustrations many recreational fitness enthusiasts have to deal
with is that despite hours dedicated to exercise and training, some still
struggle to reach their desired body fat percentage and cart excess flab either
around their middles or in other areas of the body that makes getting the lean look they desire a battle. Could
you be nutritionally deficient or could your diet be working against you?
Regular
and strenuous exercise requires attention to detail on the nutritional front.
What and when we eat before and after exercise can make a big difference
to our performance and recovery but a diet that meets our needs for regular
strength training at the gym won’t meet our needs for regular 50 mile bike
rides and vice versa. Managing the balance of macronutrients (carbohydrates,
proteins and fats) and getting the timing and portion size right dependent on
our chosen sport or exercise programme is the secret to building and
maintaining muscle and encouraging fat loss.
Top Tip: Energy bars and drinks geared
to the sports market are not always what they seem - many simply deliver an
abundance of sugar into the blood stream and lead to fat storage rather than
encouraging fat burning!
Office Workers
Gaining
weight when you are at a desk for endless hours is easy, losing it is not. We
were born to move and whilst just breathing or shifting a computer mouse around
burns calories, they won’t compensate for the number we consume in a day. Sad
but true! Studies reveal that desk-bound jobs are amongst the worst when it
comes to packing on the pounds no matter how dedicated we may be to lowering
the calorie content of our meals and snacks. What is important is the
nutritional content of the meals and snacks rather than the number of calories.
To
keep your metabolism firing while you are sedentary depends on a diet that
keeps your metabolism firing on all cylinders and that means eating more fats
than you are probably used to consuming and a whole lot less carbohydrates than
you might imagine!
Top Tip: Get the bulk of your
carbohydrates from vegetables, eat fruit on its own, away from meals and if you
struggle with a sugar habit, consider supplements that blunt cravings.
Stressed Executives and High Flyers
Long
working hours, timetables that change from day to day, travel commitments, poor
sleeping patterns and haphazard eating habits all create stress within the body
over time and ongoing stress prompts not only an increased risk of ill health
but also fat storage so what’s the answer? Reduce the stress? Easier said than
done! How to eat to feed the stress, allowing the body to believe that it is
not under threat is the secret every stressed executive needs to know.
The
latest research into the impact diet, exercise and supplementation can have in
counteracting the damage stress can cause provides us with exciting and proven
strategies that allow us to feel good, look good and deal with the negative
aspects head on.
Top Tip: Never leave home without a few
protein and fat-rich snacks in your handbag or briefcase to ensure that you
body swerve sugars and starches between meetings or on the road that prompt the
action of the stress hormones and encourage fat storage!
Seniors
You
are over 60, you may not be as fit as you were in your 30s, you may not have
quite the same energy for partying into the night but generally-speaking, you
don’t feel too bad! But, what’s with the expanding waistline? When did that
happen and why? Some say it is inevitable as we age thanks to our metabolism
slowing down, others like to depress us by telling us that everything works
less efficiently as the years progress - digestion, circulation, repair of
bones and muscles and worse still, our mental faculties.
Not
so fast! There is a lot we can do to keep mind and body functioning well into
our senior years and that includes maintaining or regaining a waistline that
doesn’t require us to opt for baggy shirts and trousers with an elasticated
waistband. Fat around the middle is the type that increases the risk of heart
disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes but a strategic approach to diet, exercise
and possible supplementation can reverse the damage we may have already
inflicted and greatly minimise the risks.
Top Tip: Don’t believe the hype about
inevitable age-related weight gain and mental decline and make some changes
now!
Women Post Pregnancy
Breastfeeding
continues to tick the box when it comes to losing weight post pregnancy but
breastfeeding can make you ravenously hungry so you understandably need to eat
more and if you eat more of the foods that interfere with weight loss, you can
be back to square one. Choosing not to breastfeed means you have greater
control over your diet but lack of sleep which is unavoidable, often prompts
the need for foods that may not be too kind to the waistline - no matter which
route you choose, it can be a hard road to travel.
The
secret, whether you choose breast or bottle is to ensure that every snack and
meal is rich in foods that pack a nutritional punch and keep you energised,
satisfied and perhaps most importantly, positive. Whether it is your first baby
or your fourth, low mood and fatigue can easily invade the joy of welcoming a
new life into the household and when you are determined to lose post baby
weight but it doesn’t happen, it can have a frustratingly-negative effect.
Top Tip: Do regular online shops and fill
the fridge and freezer with quick to prepare foods that satisfy both brain and
body throughout the day and when the sugar monster beckons, make dark chocolate
your go to treat!
Teenagers
Could
there be a worse time in your life to be overweight than when you are in your
teens? Possibly not. You and your school or college friends appear to be
existing on a similar diet but whilst others stay slim, you are packing on the
pounds. What is going on? Is it your genes, is it your hormones, are you eating
more than them, is it a hangover from the diet you have grown up on? It could
be some or all of these but ascertaining which is where it gets tricky if you
want to be in that place where you can slide carelessly into your skinny jeans
with confidence.
When
you are in your teens, both your body and brain are still growing - fact. You
have to feed that growth with a lot of nutritional goodness - fact. Going on a
very low calorie diet will starve growth and development and reduce your
metabolic rate - fact. And a diet groaning with sugar, starch and junk food and
lacking in vital nutrients won’t feed brain and body sufficiently but will
likely encourage weight gain - fact. If ever there was a time when your body
responds in super quick time to a few improvements in your diet, it is when you
are in your teens - your body is crying out for nourishment right now and if
you get the equation right, you can get slim and stay slim for life!
Top Tip: Don’t consider a very low
calorie diet - your metabolism won’t thank you for it and weight loss will be
short lived!
Newly Weds
You
both looked and felt fabulous on your wedding day but in what seems like no
time at all one or other or both of you have gained weight and whilst you are
still blissfully happy with married life, you may not be quite so happy about
your expanding waistline so something needs to be done!
Cooking
meals that you both enjoy makes a whole lot of sense both from a time and
available cash perspective but what works for him doesn’t always work for her
and vice versa. Males have more muscle so burn fat more efficiently, females
gain weight more easily so need less sugar and starch, males are generally
bigger and taller so need more food in a day, females have monthly hormonal
activity so need more fats, both sexes need protein but portion sizes must be
managed - we don’t just look different, our nutritional needs are different!
Top Tip: Discuss your weight issues,
make a list of the fat busting foods and dishes you both enjoy and cook them
regularly, focus on portion sizes and when you are out for a meal don’t let the
bread, pasta, rice and potatoes invade the plate!
Diet Secrets Uncovered book series (£6.00 per book) See
www.fionakirk.com
for more details.
