Healthy Eating Blog

My little boy has school dinners every day. I never had school dinners, growing up in Brisbane where we I took a packed lunch to school and occasionally had money for the “tuck shop”. I can’t say I’m 100% happy with the school dinners my son has, but we have decided he will stick on them for a few months.

Each day when I pick my son up from the bus stop, I ask him how his day was and what he had for lunch. It’s been playing on my mind for some time now that he never mentions that he has any fruit at school. He tends to have a baguette or wrap and a small cake and drink. The other day, I asked him why he doesn’t have any fruit at school and was told that there was no fruit on offer. Now I don’t know if that’s so or not, (8 year old faced with a small cake or fruit is a difficult one), but it certainly made me aware that I can’t rely on school dinners to be providing my own son’s fruit and vegetables for the day.

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My family seem to have been eating lots of oranges at the moment. They are “at their best” at the moment so we are making the most of them while they are in season. Everyone knows how good oranges are, especially when it comes to Vitamin C. Sure they pack a punch when it comes to the “C” but there is so much more to the orange.

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Increasing portion sizes would have to be one of the major contributors to weight gain and the obesity epidemic. Everything is supersized, “standard” portions we think are normal are far bigger than they were in the past and even our plate sizes have increased. It’s easy to lose track of what is actually the right portion size for us.
So how can we tell?

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Just a quick mention of my successfully kept resolution from the start of 2012. I was terrible for cooking too much pasta and was determined to downsize the portions and prevent food waste. I’m happy to say this one has been a success and I’ve managed to cook the right amount each time using this handy tool – my spaghetti portion measurer. I’d highly recommend using portion measures, especially for things like pasta and rice.

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Happy 2013 to you all! I’ve always loved New Years Day. I’m not sure why, but it just seems to have an exciting feel to it- like you can start afresh and all things are possible for the year ahead. I guess for a lot of people, this means resolutions. Quite often, resolutions include those around health and diet and making positive changes to lifestyles.

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Well it’s the 21st of December today and we all seem to still be here after all! Phew! A relief considering how busy it’s been here. It’s the holiday season, so I’m sorry I’ve been a bit quiet on posting articles. I’ve been working on a few projects and trying to organise the usual Christmas and New Year festivities. I would like, however, to take the time to offer my seasons greetings to all and to wish you and yours safe and happy holidays. Thanks to everyone for your kind comments and participation on the website and for all the queries and support I’ve had this year. Try not to over indulge but, of course, enjoy! I will be posting regularly very soon in the new year…please keep on using the contact form to let me know if there any particular articles you want to see for next year. Oh, and look out for some new developments in 2013….

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This year, the theme for World Diabetes Day, (November 14), is “Diabetes: protect our future”. Considering how many people both worldwide and in the United Kingdom have or are predicted to have Type 2 diabetes over the next decade, working on prevention should be a major health priority. There are 2.9 million people in the UK diagnosed with diabetes, and this could rise to 5 million people by 2025.
The Diabetes UK “state of the nation” report 2012 (England) has it in a nutshell when it says “Diabetes is big, it is growing, it is serious and it is expensive. But, it is fixable. After 10 years of knowing what to do, the time for action is now”.

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Having just eaten a small red apple for my mid-morning snack, I’m wondering why more people don’t eat apples.

Apples are plentiful here at the moment, I love seeing trees full of them and an abundance of fallen apples on footpaths and in some of the local parks here. Apples are the perfect snack, easy to throw into your bag for an emergency. They are the perfect “fast food”, contained in their own fabulously coloured packaging.

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Ok, you’ve tried the method in “are you really hungry?“ to tell if you are really hungry or not and find that yes, at certain times of the day you are just darned hungry before time! What do you do? If you are trying to cut down, it makes it very difficult to avoid eating over your requirements.

There are a few strategies to ward off hunger between meals. Firstly you need to consider if you are getting enough exercise, water and sleep as these will all have an impact on hunger. In fact, a paper recently published suggested that early morning exercise can reduce hunger cravings during the day. Sleep has a big impact on hunger and satiety hormones.

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Have you ever started on a weight loss plan to find you are so hungry that it all goes wrong? Hear people say that on their latest diet they are “never hungry”? We have all felt hunger. Hunger isn’t always bad. In fact, I actually think it’s a good thing to feel just a little bit hungry for some of the time. We have been programmed into thinking we must always feel “full”. Why so?

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This month (August), I have been in print and on the radio, commenting on similar themes. It was exciting to be asked to speak on the radio and it was a great experience.

Here’s what Ive been commenting on this month.

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I love being a Dietitian. Really I do. I can honestly say I’ve never regretted my career choice or hankered for another in the whole time I’ve been practising. Sure, there have been some good days and bad but I’d always stick to my choice to be a Dietitian.
But is it all a bed of roses? (Pull your socks up if you are thinking of the chocolates now, tut tut). Not always, there are some frustrations that Dietitians encounter most days as in any profession. If I had to list the great things about being a Dietitian, it would be a pretty long list. There are only a few bugbears about living as a Dietitian , thank goodness, and I thought I’d note them down.

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Trying to lose weight and changing dietary and exercise habits can be difficult, especially when you are doing it alone. Sometimes we “know” what we need to do to make changes but it’s just having the right support and motivation at the right time that makes the difference.

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard someone say to me “I know all this, it’s just doing it that’s hard, if only I could just have someone bring me all my meals” or “do you do meals as well, can’t you just come over and cook all my meals?”

There are a few companies around that do calorie controlled meals and deliver to the door, and some do help people in getting the results they need but as the most efficient method of weight loss, the “just bring me my meals all done” method isn’t necessarily the best.

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As part of my role as a British Dietetic Association spokesperson, I have been able to give a few quotes and comments to the media about food, nutrition and healthy eating. Today I am quoted in the Daily Mail.

Here is the article, a new “star sign” diet:

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You’ve probably gathered from the picture emblazoned across this website that I like strawberries. I love strawberries and they are at their best here where I am. The wonderful thing about strawberries is that they don’t just taste good, they are now also being called a “super food” because they are just so good for you too! Here are just a few of the benefits of the strawberry.

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