Hello everyone and welcome back!
I hope you’re enjoying this series on my blog. My first series in a feature many, about nutrition and health and how to become healthier in a simple, fail safe way. Now, continuing on from my previous post we will begin by talking about BMI (or body mass index).
BMI is very simply calculated by either:
Dividing your weight (in kilograms) by the square of your height (in metres).
Divide your weight (in pounds) by the square of your height (in inches), and then multiply by 703. In my opinion the first option is a lot easier to use, but whichever way is as equally effective so utilise whichever method as you please.
It’s so simple to calculate you could do it right now as your on your phone or laptop, give it a go.
Now once you have obtained a number you can have a lot at the following statements below to decipher under which category you fall, weight wise.
If your BMI is less than 18.5 then you are underweight, you may need to gain weight
If your BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9 you are an ideal weight.
If your BMI is between 25 and 29.9 you are classed as overweight and should take measures to lose weight.
If your BMI is over 30 then you are classed as obese. You should lose weight by changing your diet and/or increasing exercise.
BMR is the basal metabolic rate is number of calories your organs need to function while you perform no activity whatsoever. You can think of it as the amount of energy you’d burn if you stayed in bed all day.
Since your basal metabolic rate is based largely on involuntary functions like breathing and pumping blood,
Increasing muscle mass does increase BMR, because muscle is metabolically “hungry” and it takes more energy to maintain more muscle. This means that when you have a lot of muscle mass, you’ll burn more calories at rest.
which is why we should all exercise because all forms of exercise increase your muscle strength even running and cardio as you require muscles to contract quickly and thus you’ll be able to eat more yay!
But yes there are loads of sites online that allow you to calculate your daily calorie needs
some people just eat till their full and this is good because your body can be very intuitive and smart particularly if your filling it with healthy foods however if you need to or are looking to lose or gain weight try a few of these sites and find out how much you should be eating to lose the weight you need in a healthy manner not too quickly as this is neither sustainable or healthy and can really damage your hormones. it puts a lot of stress on your body increasing cortisol levels and can affect your reproductive hormones and for women can even cause you to lose your period temporarily.
And now you know all this it would probably be helpful to kana what types of things to eat. Firstly, the most important thing is for those looking to lose weight please forget diets.
Its honestly so much simpler. those who sell you particular diets and ways to eat are just trying to capitalise on your struggle but its not sustainable to eat a food eliminating diet because what happens when you reach your goal or when you are going out with friends or a wedding it’s not sustainable and then you lose motivation and believe you’ve failed and abandon any healthy habits you may have developed. This should be a lifestyle, it’s the only way you’re going to change your life, have long term affects results, improve your life and impact the future generations. Aesthetics is probably a lot of peoples goal because its tangible but focus on your health and how you feel because that has the biggest impact because material and superficial objectives may temporarily make you happier but long term no. And it’s just like anything you’ll get to one goal, be able to afford one object and then they’ll release the newest version and you’ll be back to square 1. Or losing weight on a scale yes weight and BMI has a correlation with health but like I said it doesn’t include muscle and there’s the issue of when to stop you may reach the BMI of healthy. But there is a spectrum with the healthy bracket. We must also remember that each and every one of us has a different body type in terms of genetics resulting in a different, physical build in terms of fat and muscle distribution limb length, height and metabolism. Thus, even though you may weigh the same as someone or have the same BMI as someone you wont necessarily look the same. Therefore, the entire take away from this talk should be, aspire to be the best version of yourself not to look like someone, or to eat like someone you look up to.
Make healthy eating and this lifestyle a challenge for yourself to push your own limits and
compare yourself to how you were a month ago, three months ago or a year ago. Compare how much fruit and veg you eat now compared to the previous month or year, how better you feel, your mood, how much your digestion, mental health and energy levels are.
So here are some examples of healthy meals and the kind of foods you should be aiming to eat.Plates of foods
An example of a healthier breakfast could be Porridge with fruit toping nuts and honey
toast with homemade jam so actual fruit not pure sugar flavouring and jelly
Toast with nut butter
or a boiled egg and a slice of brown toast and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice not shop bought unless fresh
or simply some fruit and a handful of nuts all washed down with a glass f green tea with some milk, even red tea or coffee but green tea is the healthiest of all
Half of your plate should be greens and salad then a quarter starches
and the other quarter protein
Lunch
Salad with a form of protein
a portion of carbohydrates such as brown or white rice, bulgar, beans and a side of vegetables
Dinner
Chicken with a carbohydrate of choice or a healthy source of fat as part of a salad or even as a wrap or sandwich.
These are just a few ideas but there are thousands of ideas and recipes online some very easy some more complex, but have a look experiment with it and find the type of things you enjoy eating because in order for it to be sustainable you have to enjoy it. You shouldn’t just look to what your neighbour is eating or what I’m eating because I for example don’t like red meat so choose not to eat whilst others love meat and would feel highly restricted if they couldn’t eat it or none of their meals at all incorporated this substance.
Even just making simple swaps on the foods you usually eat for example foods high in fat
can be adapted to be healthier by for example steaming or boiling instead of frying when cooking them.
One could replace butter, lard and ghee with oils rich in polyunsaturated fats, such as sunflower, corn oil, safflower soybean, canola (rapeseed).
Eating reduced-fat dairy foods such as yoghurts (but please try and opt for unsweetened options as the flavoured versions contain copious amount of sugar to compensate for reduced sugar. Cook with lean meats.
Limiting the consumption fried foods, and pre-packaged snacks and foods (e.g. doughnuts, cakes, pies, cookies, biscuits and wafers) that contain industrially-produced trans-fats instead for a treat emphasis on treat try and make them yourselves then at least you have control over what goes in them you can you use high quality fats that are natural maybe plant based and thus less heart damaging. As well as being able to control the amount of sugar they contain.
In terms of fruit and veg one should aim for at least 400 g (i.e. five portions) of fruit and vegetables per day always including vegetables in meals, eating fresh fruit and raw vegetables as snacks aim to eat a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables that are in season.
Salt intake, a very important factor to consider in terms of heart health should and can be reduced by limiting the amount of salt and high-sodium condiments when cooking and preparing foods by not having salt or high-sodium sauces on the table, limiting the consumption of salty snacks; and choosing products with lower sodium content.
People should be encouraged to check nutrition labels to see how much sodium is in a product before purchasing or consuming it.
Potassium can mitigate the negative effects of elevated sodium consumption on blood pressure. Intake of potassium can be increased by consuming fresh fruit and vegetables.
Sugar
both adults and children, the intake of free sugars should be reduced to less than 10% of total energy intake A reduction to less than 5% of total energy intake would provide additional health benefits.
Consuming free sugars increases the risk of dental caries (tooth decay). Excess calories from foods and drinks high in free sugars also contribute to unhealthy weight gain, which can lead to overweight and obesity.
Recent evidence also shows that free sugars influence blood pressure and serum lipids, and suggests that a reduction in free sugars intake reduces risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Sugars intake can be reduced by: limiting the consumption of foods and drinks containing high amounts of sugars, such as sugary snacks, candies and sugar-sweetened beverages (i.e. all types of beverages containing free sugars – these include carbonated or non-carbonated soft drinks, fruit or vegetable juices and drinks, energy and sports drinks, ready-to-drink tea, ready-to-drink coffee and flavoured milk drinks); and eating fresh fruit and raw vegetables as snacks instead of sugary snack
I have created a booklet of Recipes to try, these are more snacks, breakfast and dessert options but I would be more than happy to rate/ adapt recipes for lunches and dinners you could try or perhaps start a social media account, an instagram where I can post healthy dinners and lunches to try.
Speaking of which as you can probably tell we’ve got some samples for you to try.
Final thing I would like to mention which is of high importance. In terms of health and nutrition I would just like to mention that whilst adequate nutrition is key to health it is not the full story, exercise is also a very important factor which will support you in your journey to good health. As a rough figure exercise accounts for approximately 80% of your overall wellbeing and health, the other 20% is exercise and physical activity and thus it is still very important that we talk about it.
Exercise
Exercise is important for all aspects of health, mental and physical. It can not only decrease your risk of morbidities such as heart disease, diabetes and even cancer but also mental health wise and brain development. Numerous studies have shown significant impacts on the brain due to exercise. Neuroregeneration which is the formation of new cells in the brain. Prevention of shrinking of a particularly important area of the rain called the hippocampus and even regeneration of cells in this particular area of the brain. This is area of the brain being crucial to
The optimal amount of exercise as recommended by the WHO organisation is 150 mins per week. Which could translate to the 30 minutes a day.
Most people don’t do enough exercise doesn’t have to be just gym should go for walks if a store is nearby walk kids school/uni nearby walk. YouTube exercise videos in the morning we all have five minutes in the morning and the evening do one.
So, to conclude, the key take away messages I would like you to take from this talk today is although there is a lot of science behind nutrition it doesn’t have to be that difficult. Simply eat more fruit and veg when eating carbs aim for the least processed version. Try to incorporate all the food groups (and the healthiest form of each macronutrient) into each daily meal, move more and drink more water.
HealthyScientist 