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Fit 4 Life
A holistic health initiative
A 10 week health and fitness program involving nutrition, exercise classes, and mindfulness therapy to improve overall health and wellness and lose weight.
Clients are guided through the program by trained by a team of practitioners. Our team of a physiotherapist, nutritionist, fitness trainer and yoga instructor/counsellor will complete a thorough assessment of your physical condition, diet and overall wellness before designing a program to suit your individual needs, with the goal of improving health and wellbeing.
The program is free for eligible participants.
Diet
Diets and weight loss programs have been around for hundreds of years. With the rates of obesity steadily climbing to almost pandemic levels, it would appear that many approaches are either short-lived or ill-conceived in the first place. Calorie counting and exercise programs can have a significant effect but to gain a more sustainable, longer term solution, the evidence behind the concept of fasting is becoming more prominent.
Weight gain has been closely associated with a rise in insulin levels in the bloodstream. Insulin is released every time we injest food whether it be a can of soft drink, a t-bone steak or a stick of celery. Obviously some foods cause higher spikes in insulin levels but overall the most effective way to lower insulin is to deny the body any food containing calories.
The constant high levels of insulin in our bloodstream come from the constant ingestion of food: breakfast, lunch then dinner with snacks in between and then a sugary dessert at the end of all this. Do we need all this food? Obviously not.
The average healthy adult can fast for days or weeks on end with no significant adverse health outcomes. With proper hydration, basic minerals and vitamins that can be derived from herbal teas or multivitamin pills, the only adverse side effect is hunger. Controlling hunger urges, cravings or just the desire for the pleasure of eating our favorite foods can significantly lower our calorie intake and allow our insulin levels to steadily drop. Lowering our insulin over a consistent period (say 10 weeks) will produce those types of changes that can result in a more sustained outcome in terms of losing weight.
Our fasting program will commence with 24 hour fasts two to three times per week, eat the evening meal then stick to water, unsweetened tea and coffee and meat or vegetable broth for the next day until the next evening meal. In addition to the fasting, our nutritionist will design a low calorie, healthy diet for participants to follow throughout the 10 week program. Vital to this program will be the following requirements:
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1. Sugar
There is no nutritional value in sugar. Almost all the foods we eat are either broken down into sugar (such as carbohydrates found in bread, pasta, rice or potatoes) or transformed into sugars from stored protein and fat (meat, dairy, eggs).
There is no need to add sugar to anything. The eradication of all sugars and artificial sweeteners (which are worse) from our diet is fundamental to the goal of weight loss and healthy living. No sugar in tea/coffee, no sugary soft drinks, no cakes or chocolate. Sound difficult? Maybe, but your body will love it and the kilos will start disappearing.
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2. Refined Carbohydrates
The modern day processing of wheat into flour has become so highly mechanized that the end product is basically a fine powder of carbohydrate which the gut can very quickly convert into simple sugars that cause spikes in insulin levels. If you are planning a marathon or triathlon within the next 24 hours, they are invaluable, otherwise this unused sugar or glucose gets stored in the form of glycogen and eventually, fat.
Bread, bakery products and almost all breakfast cereals are composed of this refined carbohydrate which unless burnt up with vigorous exercise will only contribute to weight gain. So, it is sushi only from the bakery, rice cakes or celery sticks with a healthy dip to replace sandwiches and rolls and fruit or natural yoghurt with honey instead of cereal.
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3. Protein and Fat
Meat and dairy products have often been labelled as the culprits for increasing body weight but with all the low fat diets around, why is there still such an issue with obesity? Proteins are an essential part of the diet and although vegetarians are able to supplement their protein with legumes such as lentils or beans, meat and dairy incorporated into a balanced diet can be effective in helping lose weight.
Lean meats such as chicken (no skin), steak or pork fillets will not only give us the nutritional protein we need but also give us the feeling of satiety or being 'full'. When you consider the number of calories in a 100g chicken fillet (165) versus a can of coke (161) its easy to see which one will 'fill you up'.
Natural or dietary fat has been shown not to increase insulin or blood sugar levels. Dietary fats are found in non-refined products such as olive oil, butter, avocados, oily fish such as salmon, herring and sardines and in nuts, which are full of nutrition.
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4. Fibre and Vinegar
These two food types have been identified as having a significant reversal effect on increases in insulin levels with eating food.
High fibre diets have often been utilised with weight loss diets. Fibre is excellent for our gut health and gives us the same feeling of being 'full' without injesting large amounts of calories. Soluble fibre such as that found in berries, avocado or beans absorbs water when they are in the gut thus slowing the digestion and therefore absorbtion of sugars leading to the spikes in insulin. Look for foods made with 'whole' grains, brown rice, all types of beans, lentils, nuts and obviously fruit and vegetables.
Vinegar has long been a favourite addition to any weight loss diet. Two tablesppons of vinegar taken directly before a meal has been shown to be able to reduce blood sugars and insulin by as much as 34%. Vinegar added to sushi rice can reduce the Glycemic Index (a measure of the calorie content in food) by up to 40%. Drinking apple cider vinegar diluted in water or adding pickled foods such as olives or gherkins to a meal will help the reversal effect on blood sugar levels.
In summary:
- Reduce your consumption of added sugars.
- Reduced your consumption of refined grains.
- Moderate your protein intake.
- Increase your consumption of natural fats.
- Increase your consumption of fiber and vinegar.
Stress and sleep deprivation
Cortisol is the hormone released in times of stress. Traditionally, a stressful situation was a 'fight or flight' event, where we required extra energy to flee or defend ourselves so cortisol is released to increase the glucose available for quick energy expenditure. These days, a stressful situation at home or work will laso increase glucose, blood sugars and insulin but without an increase in physical activity, these levels will remain high leading to weight gain.
High levels of stress will lead to consistent high levels of insulin, the worse scenario for someone trying to lose weight. Sleep deprivation is one of the factors contributing to high stress levels and rises in cortisol. As such this program will include mindfulness sessions to help us become aware of our stress levels and give us mechanisms to assist with relaxation and better sleep patterns.
Exercise
The benefits of exercise have been well documented and increasing our fitness levels will have a significant effect on improving our overall health and well being. Exercise has been linked to the prevention of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure and heart disease.
In this program, we will be using various forms of exercise to not only assist in burning calories but to improve our cardiovascular fitness, strength and the vitality that this brings. Using exercise alone in the battle against weight gain is often ineffective due to the high intensity of activity required to balance the calories consumed in the modern diet.
For example, a standard meal of fish and chips contains 765 calories. To burn this off, we would be required to either walk 10 to 15kms or run or cycle for an hour. Exercising consistently helps our bodies to continually mobilize and burn off glucose but more importantly, give us those other health benefits that are essential for our physical and mental wellbeing.
Fasting
The most effective way to significantly reduce our insulin levels and associated insulin dependence is through intermittent fasting. Fasting has been a utilised for centuries as an ancient healing remedy in virtually every culture on earth.
From Hippocrates using fasting to heal body illnesses and ailments and Jesus Christ, Buddha and the prophet Mohammed utilised fasting as a cleansing or purification tool. In this program, we will use fasting as a means to control insulin and blood sugar levels and give a 'kick start' to the metabolic changes we need our bodies to develop in order to reverse the weight gain trend.
Fasting can begin with using two specific days per week where we limit our daily consumption of food until the regular evening meal. For example, after dinner on a Monday night, we will not consume any foods containing calories until 6.00pm the following day. We can drink mineral water, tea and coffee with added sugar and a prepared bone or vegetable broth.
Although many will argue that fasting may be 'dangerous' for our health, unless we are significantly compromised with a health condition there is no medical reason for us not to fast. Our only battle will be with the perception of hunger, which in modern times is only a craving for foods we enjoy eating.
Denying our bodies of calories will not only lower our insulin levels for a significant period but also start our honest appraisal of what we are eating and the question: How much food do we really need? Incorporating regular fasting into our lifestyle will be an invaluable tool in making permanent changes to our metabolism to assist in health and weight control long after the program has completed.
Fasting does not rule out our ability to enjoy traditional feasts like birthdays or Christmas celebrations, it just means we must follow these indulgent periods with another round of controlled calorie intake. This way we are constantly re-setting the equilibrium that our body is always looking for. Fasting can help re-set our calorie 'baseline'. That is what our body has adapted to receiving and either storing or burning calories. Constantly eating high calorie foods and the resultant storage into glycogen and fat raises our 'baseline'. So even after eating a big breakfast and lunch, we are still feeling hungry by 6.00pm.
Fasting will help change our releationship with food - balance out what we want and what we really need. Managing our cravings, our need for sugar or behaviours like 'comfort eating' and ignoring the constant bombardment of junk food advertising will all be managed in the mindfulness sessions to assist us in getting our diet back to basics.
Mindfulness
Our greatest asset in changing our habits and embarking on a healthy lifestyle is going to be our mental approach. Getting our mind into gear to accept the changes that our bodies may protest against is the key to getting ourselves on track and staying that way. It is completely natural for us to feel like a health program is not good for us when we have conditioned our bodies to be consuming 'tasty' and 'delicious' food and relaxing on the couch watching movies.
Once we have accepted the changes that are coming and the natural rejection or protest that may follow we can look at the cognitive skills we need to continue the journey. No-one needs any special 'mind strength' or incredible will power to move forward.
Like anything else, these changes take practice. The good news is that you can learn mindful skills to help get there. Our fasting days will be accompanied with a morning yoga and mindfulness session to get us mentally prepared for the challenge ahead. The sessions will also assist with management of stress and encourage better sleep routines to assist with the other factors detrimental to our pursuit of losing weight and improving our wellbeing.