Bayside Dietetics
By Sarah Smith of Bayside Dietetics
www.baysidedietetics.com.au or Facebook page Bayside Dietetics
For all the joy that coming out of isolation brings, a lot of us will also find that it triggers a desire to lose weight rapidly. For months we have had little social contact and increased stress levels, perhaps loneliness and other emotions that will be personal. Now that we are thrown into seeing others again, a lot of people are looking at how their bodies may have changed. For many, this has triggered thoughts of wanting to lose weight…and fast. In states without lockdown, the same feelings may be arising from the emergence of warm weather.
Most of us know by now that while very tempting, rapid strategies to lose weight are unsuccessful. Dieting causes weight regain in almost all cases. So what is the alternative? What can you do if you have some extra motivation for change right now?
Planning may be one of the most effective places to direct your energy. A small amount of effort into thinking ahead about your food choices often has a huge impact on the way you eat. You probably do some level of planning around food already, but if you sit back and consider it, would a little more energy put towards this area make a significant change to the way you eat? Do you notice that more planning helps you to eat more vegetables? Does it change how often you make spontaneous food purchases? It may simply give you the reassurance that a good meal is coming and snacking may reduce.
From my perspective, planning around food is often a big hurdle to initiate, but once is place is usually pretty simple and easy to maintain. Here are a whole lot of ideas, for a range of different lifestyles, that may make a healthier version of you simply much easier!
Recipe inspiration for those who like to do it all:
If you already have a great set up around meal planning and food preparation, health may simply come from some new recipe ideas to keep meals different and enjoyable. Great resources for you may be signing up to Jamie Oliver, Taste or the Heart Foundation, all of which send recipe inspiration through emails.
Recipes that are easily linked to a shopping list or online shopping:
Coles and Woolworths now make it quite easy to choose recipes then link them to a shopping list with a click. You can then use the shopping list when you visit the store where it is broken down in aisles for you, or you can link it to an online shopping order. These options are now very user friendly and it is easy to remove pantry items from the list that you have already, for example cooking oil.
IGA offer great recipes using products they stock but there isn’t the link to a shopping list or online shopping.
Meal Planning Apps:
Plug Meal Planner into the App store and you’ll come up with a range of options. There are a lot that will offer recipes then provide a nutritional analysis but for many people that information triggers poor eating so I like a simple one like FamilyWall. Along with other similar Apps, it also offers to organise the rest of your family life!
Fresh Food delivery:
For many people, simply having a supply of fresh fruit and vegetables to the door each week will increase the amount of these foods they will eat. Most companies offer a regular order of seasonal produce, you don’t need to re-order each week; it simply turns up. Services are typically local so you are best to do a Google search in your area. A lucky few will be in range for a fresh market while others may have the benefit of farm direct delivery.
Options include Provincial Produce, FarmBox Co and local markets.
Meal kit delivery:
There are many great options these days for meal kits where you choose the meal then receive an order of all the ingredients for you. You can vary the number of meals you receive each week, so a lot of clients I have will use this service just on their busiest days of the week. Think Marley Spoon, Hello Fresh, Dinnerly.
Meal delivery:
Great for busy people or those who prefer not to cook, these services provide a pre-made meal to your door. There are great fresh healthy options out there. I’d recommend to be aware of whether the meal is satisfying for you however. Some brands are aligned with dieting and thus, are quite restrictive in portion.
Brands include We Feed You, Chef Good, Dineamic, Youfoodz. Another options is to support your local café or restaurant who may have moved to provide great pre-made meal options.
Rapid weight loss may feel really tempting, but there is a much better chance that you’ll continue a change that you make if it feels sustainable. Many options around meal planning are sustainable because they are easy once established and make for some delicious eating. They may also give you bang for your buck when you analyse health benefit for effort.
That sounds worth it!
Sarah
