5 Reasons you can't lose weight

1. You skip breakfast. - Kick-start your day with a low GI breakfast. A good breakfast will prevent the hunger pangs around 10am; boost your performance and mood for the day. If time is an issue, then prepare the night before and have on the run or when you first get to work. Try ½ cup rolled oats with some skim milk, chopped apple, nuts and cinnamon. Place in the fridge overnight and heat up and enjoy.

2. You don’t realize what kilojoules you are drinking. - Smoothies, energy drinks and soft drinks may give you a quick energy boost but are all loaded with a tonne of excess kilojoules. A typical caffeine drink (like V or red bull) may seem like a good solution to enhance your mood, but it is equivalent to a medium size fries from McDonalds. Even when you think you are buying healthy with a low fat option you can be buying a tonne of kilojoules from the sugar content. A 650ml banana buzz low fat smoothie from Boost Juice is 1995kjs. That is equivalent to over 4 Tim Tams. Cut down on excess kilojoules by watering down your juice or nectar with sparkling water.

3. You don’t know what a serving size is – Most people do not know what an average serving size is. Australian health educator and dietician Allan Borushek says “Food portion size is critical to controlling calorie intake for weight control. Super-sized food servings have become more common when eating out and in the home. This can mean a day’s worth of calories being consumed in one meal, or a snack being equivalent to a full meal.” It may not always be possible to have scales or measuring cups on hand each time you eat. Serving sizes of your protein or carbohydrate foods are no bigger than the size of the palm of your hand. Protein foods (meat, dairy, eggs etc ) Carbohydrate foods (breads, cereals, sweets etc)


4. You put food or drink into your mouth without thinking - Do you constantly nibble while you are cooking, working at your desk or reading a book or magazine? A good rule to use is to only eat from a plate to avoid over-indulging. If the average nibble is 105 kjs (25calories), then the consumption of 4 extra nibbles can mean 420kjs.

5. You blame others or make excuses why you cannot lose weight – List the excuses you have used in the past for not losing weight. Is it procrastination, your health, the weather, your job, your kids or maybe even your friends? Be honest with yourself and look for solutions to any of your excuses. Find the support in the people around you by sharing your goals with them.

©Healthy Executives 2009