nzgirl Nutritionist Vicki has answers for your healthy eating questions this week...

Low Calorie Diets
I have read some of your answers to other questions about when you go on a low calorie diet to lose weight quickly that it will come back again just as easily. So I am just wondering how the Sure Slim programme works without causing this to happen. I have a friend who is currently on the programme. She was over 100kg and has lost about 22kg in approx 3 months. Her eating regime is really strict with small portions and only three meals a day. I understand she is eating well - protein, veggies, fruit but very few carbs. But how can this not cause her to gain it all back again if it is not healthy to lose this much weight so quickly? She is doing so well! Is it worth it for her to be working so hard if it won’t stay off?

I do not know how the Sure Slim program works, but there will definitely be a concern that all that weight could go back on if she is not learning new healthy eating and exercising routines. However, if she is learning healthy habits such as low fat cooking and food preparation, how to shop for the right foods, healthy snacking and regular exercise habits, then this will go a long way to keeping this weight from going on again and prevent the old habits which put the weight on in the first place to start up again.

On the other hand, a strict regime with little or no carbohydrate will eventually take a toll on her body's healthy balance if it is kept up for too long as carbohydrates account for about a third of our essential nutrients. Without these eventually her health will suffer in a variety of ways - energy, blood sugar level balance, immunity etc. The Heart Foundation recommends losing one to two kilos per month as this rate prevents the return of the weight, and also prevents health imbalances occurring.

Sweet Tooth
Is it okay to have something sweet (chocolate/biscuits/cake or candy) every day or once a week or what would you recommend? I have a really sweet tooth but eat well 90% of the time. I just feel really really guilty if I eat anything bad, even cashew nuts make me feel guilty because I know they're high in fat. Which raises another question, how many nuts in a week? I sound like a bit of a nut now!

Firstly guilt and food do not go together. Eating is not about your morals, it is about nutrition, so eating certain foods doesn't make you bad, a sinner, a terrible person, weak minded, or any other names that you may care to call yourself. Food is just food, and feeling guilty tends to set up an anxiety within you which causes bingeing and snacking, weight gain, and potential eating disorders. If you need to have sugary foods every day it means you may not be having enough protein. Check on the time that you crave sugar, and look at the meal eaten just before this time.

If it is breakfast - then add extra protein (e.g. yoghurt, eggs, and cottage cheese); if it is lunch then add extra meat, chicken, eggs, tuna, or cheese; if it is dinner then add extra meat, chicken, or fish. This strategy seems to fix the problem most of the time. If you are only having sugary foods once or twice a week then don't worry, you aren't going to cause any major health problems with this amount of sugar.

Since when are cashew nuts bad? Cashew nuts are very high in essential fatty acids which are vital for healthy hair, skin, nails, regular pain free menstrual periods, and a healthy heart. Just make sure they are salt free and unroasted and I suggest you work on a rule of thumb of a tablespoon of nuts per day - that will generally give you an idea of how much of these valuable essential fatty acids we need. If you end up having several tablespoons in one day - well then you have done your dash for the week, nothing more. Calories tell you nothing about the excellent nutritional values of foods.

Eating Regular Meals
I'm on holiday now after finishing my exams and I've always found that in the holidays I just don't get hungry. During the term I eat good breakfast, lunch, dinners, usually morning tea as well. But during the holidays I usually only eat dinner and when I'm hungry. Any suggestions as to what I could eat during the day or for breakfast to keep me going?

Sometimes when we aren't working and are on holiday with no stress or structure to our day, we don't necessarily need to keep to the three meals a day habit.
However, it is important to keep eating the right foods to make sure your health doesn't suffer. Keep these healthy foods in the pantry and fridge and try to have one or two of these snacks around the regular mealtimes:

An apple with a slice of edam cheese

Healthy Food on the Run
Can you give me some ideas of healthy food on the run, I work 9-4 with little time to eat in between and so squeeze bananas and muesli bars in where I can but it’s getting a bit boring, any suggestions?

I presume you are having a good breakfast including wholegrains, protein such as eggs, yoghurt or cottage cheese, and fruit. A balanced lunch then is all you need to fit in.

The main food groups to choose from - which will prevent you from falling into a nutritional imbalance, are:
 

Brown rice with tiny tin of tuna, with tomato, and capsicum slices

Finally, I would thoroughly recommend buying a rice cooker. Brown rice is very high in nutrients, and when made the day before it makes a filling and easy to organise meal by just adding tuna, chicken, ham, or tofu, topped with salad or vegetables.

Cross Training
I run around six days a week, in the morning, for at least thirty minutes. I read somewhere once that in order to see best results, it is best to run on alternate days in order to let the muscles repair themselves. Is this true and if so, should I not run each day?

If you are only running for about 30 minutes, this type of break is unnecessary. If you were training for a triathlon or marathon then it is definitely is recommended. You may also want to consider what is called cross training. This means doing a different type of exercise on alternate days. e.g. Run, then yoga the next day, run, and then swim the next day, etc. Cross training means that a variety of muscles are worked on at different times without some being overused and others underused. Carry on with your good habit.

Vegetarian Diet
I want to become at least semi-vegetarian for health benefits rather than moral issues. However, I don't like tofu and don't like the idea of deep frying falafel. I found a product called Nutmeat at the supermarket but it's made from peanuts, are there any more meat alternatives, which is the best?

The best is soya bean tofu. Revisit this food; you will learn to like it if you start using it regularly. Most people don't like it initially. However check out some websites with tofu recipes and experiment more. More than half of Asia exists on tofu and it has excellent health benefits being high in complete protein, high in calcium, and high in iron. It is also a wonderfully convenient food to prepare and eat and can be eaten 'raw' after marinating, or very quickly heated in a matter of minutes. Tofu is very versatile to cook with as it takes on any flavour that you care to cook with e.g. soy sauce, peanut sauce, tomato and pesto sauces.

You could have soy in different ways - as soya beans (these take awhile to cook but you can buy them tinned), or tempeh - this is fermented soy bean block - a nice tangy flavour but requires about 10 minutes cooking - steaming or stir-frying. Soy can also be found in a chub luncheon type roll, also as sausages.

The nutmeat is a good idea, but you will get bored of it if it is your sole source of vegetarian protein. Brown lentils, or chickpeas, or any type of dried beans combined with brown rice will also give you a complete protein but these two food groups must be combined together every time otherwise you will run the risk of nutritional deficiency. White rice is not an option, use only brown rice.

Binge Eating
I usually eat really healthy but about once a week I find that I binge until I'm extremely full. I'm usually not even very hungry. My weight doesn’t ever change much - I'm about 56 kg - but I don't like the guilt afterwards. Do you have any tips on stopping this from happening?

Have a think about when this happens. If you find it happens when you have had a feeling of low self esteem, such as stress at work, problems with boyfriends, friends, or family, or if you have occasional feelings of depression, then you have the key. Sometimes without being aware of it we give ourselves a hard time about not being as good as we could be, and this results in an inner part of ourselves feeling very unhappy. When this happens for some people food is then a source of comfort, and we tend to eat lots of it to block out feelings of unhappiness.

Feeling guilty afterwards is just the perfectionist part of us telling the unhappy part off. Sounds a bit mean doesn't it - why not try and be kind to yourself, and let yourself have a treat once a week. My experience is that this problem often disappears when you stop making yourself feel guilty.

Vicki Martin ND. Nutritionist, Naturopath

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