Eat healthy, don’t diet

Why you shouldn’t go on a diet

I cringe when friends tell me they are on a diet because I know what this means – they are going to stop drinking alcohol, deprive themselves of carbs for a month and then go back to “eating normally” and wonder why a little while later they have put all the weight back on. Diet implies something you do for a while, but if you really want to keep to a healthy weight and feel well, you need make sustainable changes that you can maintain in the long term. You need to eat healthy, not diet.

Does it have to be really complex?

There is a whole diet and fitness industry built off telling people, women in particular, that maintaining or losing weight is very complex. It doesn’t have to be.

If you live by some simple rules, you’ll be most of the way there:

• eat as big a variety of foods as you can or simply, eat the rainbow. The more different kinds of foods you include in your diet the more chance you are going to get all the vitamins and nutrients you need and the less chance you’ll over eat any one food.
• try to eat foods as close to their natural state as possible. If it doesn’t look like it grew, flew, walked or swum try to limit it. Processed foods not only have a lot of chemicals which aren’t great for you they are often full of added sugars, fats and a lot of salt.
• as often as you can, make sure your meal is 1/2 vegetables or legumes, 1/4 protein and 1/4 carbs.
• watch your portion sizes. As a guide the amount of protein should fit into the palm of your hand.

I want more details

Below are the Australian Dietary Guidelines for what women 19-50 should eat each day.

How many serves a day?

• 5-6 serves of vegetables, legumes, beans
• 2 serves of fruit
• 6 serves of breads, cereals, rice, pasta, oats, couscous, quinoa, barley
• 2 1/2 serves of lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts, seeds, legumes
• 2 1/ 2 serves of milk, cheese, yoghurt

How much is a serve?

• 1 cup of leafy greens or salad, 1/2 cup of beans, peas, carrots or pumpkin, 1/2 medium sized potato or sweet potato
• 1/4 cup muesli, 1/2 cup wheat flakes, 1 slice of bread, 1/2 medium sized bread roll, 1 English muffin, 1/2 cup cooked pasta, rice, noodles or oats
• 65g red meat, 80g chicken or turkey, 100g fish, 2 eaggs, 1 cup of legumes, 30g of nuts or seeds
• 1 medium banana, apple, peach, pear or orange, 1 cup of diced fruit, 30g dried fruit
• 1 cup milk, 2 slices of hard cheese, 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese or 3/4 cup of yoghurt

What type?

• a variety of different coloured fruit and vegetables
• mostly wholegrain or high fibre grains
• at least 2 serves of fish a week and limit intake of red meat to 455g per week
• mostly reduced or low fat dairy

What else?

The guidelines also advise:

• Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.
• Limit intake of “discretionary” foods containing saturated fat such as biscuits, cakes, pastries, pies, processed meats, commercial burgers, pizza, fried foods, potato chips, crisps and other savoury snacks and replace butter, cream, cooking margarine, coconut and palm oil with foods which contain predominantly polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats such as oils, spreads, nut butters / pastes and avocado.
• Limit intake of foods and drinks containing added sugars such as confectionary, sugar-sweetened soft drinks and cordials, fruit drinks, vitamin waters, energy and sports drinks.
• If you choose to drink alcohol, limit intake. 
• Try to choose fruits and vegetables which are in season as these will be less costly, better quality and more nutritious. 

What about as I get older?

As you get older, you need more Vitamin D and calcium to maintain bone health and avoid osteoporosis and so for women over 50, the recommended dairy increases to 4 serves per day. The recommended amount of lean meats drops down to 2 serves per day, but this is on the assumption that you are less active, so if you are still doing the same amount of exercise, don’t reduce your protein intake.