Sometimes you need to take a step back to look at signs and symptoms to let you know that your diet isn’t quite up to scratch.
Here are four signs that mean you might need to assess your nutrition to make sure you’re keeping healthy and eating well.
Your weight is up and down like a yo-yo
If the scales are going up and down more regularly than the work elevator, you need to look at your food mindset. Our body weight will fluctuate naturally around 2kg but if you are going up and down 5kg or more regularly, it’s not so good. Focus on having a healthy, balanced diet, with lots of fresh vegetables and fruit. Remember that no food is forbidden, its better to let yourself have a little of your favourite food occasionally than forbidding yourself to eat it, then caving in and binging. Forget dieting and focus on developing a healthy relationship with food.
You skip breakast to save on calories
If you’re watching your weight, skipping breakfast may seem like an easy way to cut calories and speed up weight loss. So the saying goes, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Not only is it important to kick start your metabolism and give you energy to start the day, breakfast is an important source of nutrients. Breakfast cereal is a common breakfast and is often fortified with nutrients including iron, calcium and folate – all very important nutrients for women.
Skipping breakfast increases hunger later in the morning and often leads to poorer food choices which sabotage weight loss attempts. Keep a healthy breakfast as a part of a healthy diet plan.
You eat out nearly every day
For a sociable and busy NZ girl, eating out is a part of life. However if your weekly diet becomes mainly meals out or takeaways, your diet is likely to be too high in fat and too low in vegetables. Restaurant meals often have a high fat content as fat adds flavour to food. If you eat out lots, become menu savvy so you can pick the healthiest items. Healthy choices include soups and salads – but ask if the soup contains cream, and ask for your salad dressing on the side. Look out for words such as creamy, crispy and fried which more often than not translate to being high fat. And don’t be afraid to ask for extra vegetables in place of fries.
You have err... “toilet trouble”
Ok so it’s not the nicest of topics, but if you have bowel troubles it is likely to be caused your diet. The problem is normally a lack of fibre. Fibre isn’t digested so it makes your stool (ie your poo) move more easily along the digestive tract. There are two types of fibre, soluble – which helps keep your stool soft, and insoluble, which helps the stool move more quickly through the bowel. Good sources of soluble include legumes, fruit and vegetables. Good sources of insoluble fibre are in wheat bran, wholegrain breads and cereals. Keeping well hydrated is also important in keeping regular. Make sure you drink water throughout the day.
Your weight is up and down like a yo-yo
You skip breakast to save on calories
For a sociable and busy NZ girl, eating out is a part of life. However if your weekly diet becomes mainly meals out or takeaways, your diet is likely to be too high in fat and too low in vegetables. Restaurant meals often have a high fat content as fat adds flavour to food. If you eat out lots, become menu savvy so you can pick the healthiest items. Healthy choices include soups and salads – but ask if the soup contains cream, and ask for your salad dressing on the side. Look out for words such as creamy, crispy and fried which more often than not translate to being high fat. And don’t be afraid to ask for extra vegetables in place of fries. 