Fallen off the Wagon?

One of the most fascinating aspects of my job is the discussions I have with my nutrition management clients.  Every one of them has taught me something different about how people approach food and nutrition and weight loss.  

My aim with nutrition management is to ensure my clients achieve a healthy, sensible and sustainable physical and mental relationship with food (with the added bonus of weight loss).

It's really important that they never feel like they are on a diet or that their life is on hold.  My plan is not a six week fix and it isn't a short-term solution.  It is designed to be a life-long change of attitude and approach that brings about permanent weight loss, almost effortlessly.

Of course, even though there's no point or calorie counting, there are going to be things we have to give up.  There are things that we are going to have to say no to but the point of my approach is that it won't be difficult to do this.  Each person approaches the plan differently so that they make it fit their life uniquely and personally.

But sometimes, even with the best of intentions, everything goes belly-up.  Sometimes we fall off the wagon!

There are specific stages to changing our behaviour:

1     Denial - 
We dont believe anything needs to change - we are fine the way we are!
2     Contemplation - 
We are thinking about possibly making a change...maybe...
3     Preparation - 
We are beginning to research some of the things we could change.
4     Instigation - 
We are beginning to make a few tentative steps towards changing.
5     Action - 
We are committed to making a change and have made several significant changes
6     Reality - 
We have been comitted for some time and understand what it takes to maintain these changes.     

Relapse - 
Thngs have gone wrong but this is not a permanent state!  It doesn't have a number because it could happen at any time!

Once we have moved past the stages of umming and ahing about making a change and we are beginning to incorporate the changes into our lives in a realistic, achievable and successful way, we may find we slip into relapse.

This is normal.

This is to be expected.

We are human.

The good news is that if you hit Relapse it doesn't shunt you all the way back to Denial.  You can just slip straight back into Reality.

If you haven't reached Reality yet, then you still have some hard work to do but the hard work you have already done, in moving from denial to Contemplation, or from Contemplation to Preparation is never wasted - unless you stop moving forwards!  And why would you do that?  Why?

Basically, this means that it isn't all or nothing.  So you've fallen off the wagon - so you ate the entire contents of your kitchen in one sitting - learn from it.  Learn from it and move on.

It is vitally important that you analyse what went wrong.  That way, you can avoid repeating the mistake.  It's OK to make a mistake.  It's OK to have a bad weekend but to continually make the same mistake over and over is just a complete waste of time.  It makes you feel guilty and low.  Why force yourself into that position?  Analyse what went wrong, understand why you did what you did and then make sure you're prepared in case there's a next time.

This is where the weekly meetings I have with my clients are so important.  What triggers one person's tumble from the wagon isn't going to be a problem for someone else.  So we discuss each individual's approach to the plan and each individual's strategies for climbing back up and staying on track and seeing a way forward, with the ultimate aim of not needing me any more.

You see, diets fail because they don't teach us anything.  They make us rely on someone else's rules.  If we stray from their rules, we are lost.  But I believe in order to successfully maintain weight loss, we need to learn what makes us tick.  It's about discovering why we do what we do and finding ways to make healthy choices that we are happy to make because if we are happy to make them, we will go on making them!

The aim with my nutrition management is to enable people to become autonomous in their ability to manage their own nutrition.  It isn't about following a load of rules that are set in stone, it's about a few specific guidelines that are bent and twisted and made to fit the individual's lives.  This way each person finds a way to make it work for them.  Without needing any more diets.  And ultimately, without needing me!

My nutrition management approach enables people to pick themselves up and clamber back onto a wagon they fashioned themselves, and drive off into the future, confident and secure in the knowledge that they can sustain a healthy mental and physical relationship with food!

So, if you've fallen off a wagon recently, wherever it was headed, you don't need to stay down!  You've already done the hard work, don't let it go to waste!

Krish xx

Seasonal Fayre

Dee-licious Paleo Punkin Pie

For the pastry:

200g of ground almonds
2-3 tbs melted coconut oil
1 egg

Mix in a bowl until it forms a ball.

Press into an oiled flan tin - to get it nice and flat and avoid your fingers getting all sticky, place a sheet of cling film over the top of the pastry dough and press down with a flat tin or plate.

Prick with a fork to avoid bubbles and bake in the oven until golden.

For the pie filling:

Flesh of one average sized pumpkin, boiled for a bit.  Drain and press out the liquid.
Mix in the food processor with 2 tbsp honey, 2 eggs, half a tin of coconut cream and 1 tsp each of ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon, ground ginger and ground mixed spice.

Pour into baked pie case and bake in the oven until the topping begins to turn golden and has set.

Enjoy!

Krish x

Paleo update

Here are some unexpected results I have experienced over the last couple of months since following the paleo lifestyle strictly.  I apologise to Ben Goldacre as these results are highly unscientific and totally anecdotal

The trouble with nutrition is that it is never possible to work out how much of a benefit is simply perceived or due to lifestyle, attitude, exercise, diet, elimination of alergens or a combination of all or some of these factors.

I am quite willing to acknowledge that simply by believing I should feel healthier following a paleo diet, that I do feel healthier.  The placebo effect could be working wonders here...

Having said that, since becoming stricly paleo I really am enjoying it and feel I am benefitting from it. these are some of the things I have noticed:

1     Hugely reduced period pains.
2     Reduced mood swings prior to period
3     Reduced mood swings in general - shouting less maniacally 
       at my kids
3     Finding it easier to go for longer stretches without food - 
       less of a panicky feeling
4     Potentially a quicker recovery from hangover (don't ask!)
5     Clearer skin
6     Better condition nails
7     Possibly improved immune system - have not caught a cold 
       yet from all the snotbags around me
8     Reduced body fat %
9     No joint pain - used to have achey knees, ankles, hips and 
       fingers.  All totally 100% gone!
10   More energy - can get up earlier, easier and stay up later.


My kids have also benefitted from the paleo lifestyle.

My daughter used to complain of tummy aches and headaches all the time, these are greatly reduced, especially the tummy aches.

My youngest son was the smallest (bar one little girl) in his class, though not the youngest and was smaller than both of his siblings at the same age,  He used to (excuse me here) have rather a runny bottom, which we put down to the huge amount of fruit he eats.  Since going paleo, he has shot up!  None of his trousers fit him any more.  It's possible he has just had a growth spurt but it is also possible my son was slightly gluten intolerant and wasn't getting the nutrients from the food he was eating and that since cutting flour, this has not been an issue. Again - horribly unscientific and anecdotal, just things I have noticed about my family.

My daughter is less grouchy in the mornings - as am I, which makes for far more pleasant mornings.

My youngest son used to have to be woken up every morning for school - now he literally jumps out of bed and comes and joins me downstairs sometimes before his siblings.  Unheard of before!

My kids have been brilliant, they have really embraced the paleo way and genuinely enjoy the breakfasts of spicy prawns, lamb chops or chicken soup that we have now.  They love the paleo cakes and treats that I make and they are happy to have paleo foods in their lunch boxes at school.  They understand nutrition and from the actual physical effects of eating sugar and flour products, they know what these things do to them and how they make them feel.

Going paleo has changed my life in myriad of unexpected ways - and that of my family.  I would wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone!

What are you waiting for?

Krish x

The truth!

As a personal trainer, I sometimes get asked questions about nutrition and fitness.  Occasionally, people are genuinely interested and listen carefully to the answer.  Sometimes they even put into practise what I say.  More often than not, however, I get asked question by people who want me to wave a magic wand.

Here are the questions I am asked the most often.

1     How do I get rid of wobbly inner thighs?
 Here is the answer they want me to give:
You get rid of wobbly thighs with magic cream you can get in the local supermarket and a few rounds on the adductor machine in the gym.
 Here is the truth:
You get rid of wobbly thighs by cutting body fat by addressing your nutrition and by doing squats, lunges and deadlifts.

2     How do I drop body fat?
 Here is the answer they want me to give:
You drop body fat by eating a balanced diet (and by balanced diet I mean salads with chips and cream cake) and endless hours on the cross trainer.
 Here is the truth:
You drop body fat by cutting the crap.

3     How do I get rid of my tummy?
 Here is the answer they want me to give:
You get rid of your tummy by doing a couple of sit ups once a week and blind hope.
 Here is the truth:
You get rid of your tummy by cutting body fat by addressing your nutrition and by doing press ups.

If you're ready for the honest truth, you can make changes to your life more amazing than you thought possible.  

And that's the truth!

Krish x

Nutrition Management

Having really great results with my Nutrition Management clients so far! All are managing to find a way to make the K-Loss Nutrition 'Rules' fit in with their lives to make a permanent change without dieting or counting calories or points!

Very proud of you all! (You know who you are!)

Keep up the good work!