What happens to our metabolism when we yo-yo diet

Over half the population of adult women will be on a diet at any given time. And for seventy percent of these women, this will not be their first diet.

It might surprise you to hear that approximately 95% of dieters regain their lost weight after between 1 and 5 years. If you are a yo–yo dieter ie. someone who loses weight and regains it in a never-ending cycle, it is likely that this will be taking its toll on your body; not only physically but emotionally and psychologically too.

It might feel like dieting is the only way you can be happy and healthy, feel good about yourself and enjoy your life; but have you ever weighed up the cost of doing so?

WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR METABOLISM?

Most people eventually end up the same weight or heavier than when they started the diet. This is because the body typically reduces the amount of energy it uses when weight is lost to preserve it, whilst at the same time, hunger increases. Hunger hormones, including ghrelin rises with weight loss and satiety hormones decrease.

And there is the ‘set-point’ theory to consider. This proposes that the body uses a natural mechanism to maintain its natural weight, rather like a ‘fat thermostat’ so that it will always go back to its ideal weight range, after restriction or over exercise. This can fluctuate during our life-time and thought to be regulated by mechanisms of our metabolism and thyroid hormones.

MUSCLE VERSUS FAT

Another complication of weight cycling (as it’s known in scientific literature) is that it’s likely to lead to a less healthy body composition. When breaking down the body into its core components – fat mass and lean body mass (organs, skin, bones, body water and muscle mass) we can have a far better understanding of the physiological changes in the body.

During weight loss, fat mass tends to reduce more than lean mass. However, when weight is regained, the proportion of fat in the body increases more than that of muscle and bones etc.

METABOLIC CHANGE AND YO-YO DIETING?

There is some evidence to indicate that weight cycling may lead to the development of conditions such as insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease and hypertension (high blood pressure). Although more research is needed in this area as some studies have been found to refute this.

HOW IT MAKES US FEEL

I witness the emotional impact that yo-yo dieting has on my clients – and the literature back’s this up too; Poor body image, a preoccupation with how they look, feelings of failure and shame, as well as higher risk of depression and anxiety. Bingeing behaviour stems from restriction and the feeling of deprivation that dieting brings.

The diet industry would have you believe that the only way to be truly healthy is if you are slim and that the only way to enjoy life, be happy and like yourself is if you diet. My mission is to help debunk this myth and help women build a happy relationship with food and their body. It is possible to accept your body whether you are carrying excess weight or not, without dieting. It is possible to eat in a balanced way AND take joy from your food.

If you are you struggling with your eating and your relationship with food + your body, head over to The Food Freedom Collective free group, for daily support and weekly live videos to tackle your challenges

If any of these resonate then this community is for you :

💠You are on and off diets all the time

💠You find yourself binge eating

💠You are an ‘emotional eater’

💠You restrict food in order to lose weight

💠 You can’t stop thinking about your weight, appearance or food

💠 You feel overwhelmed and confused no longer knowing what you ‘should’ eat

What would you give up to be the ‘perfect’ body size?

Almost 50% of women of all shapes and sizes said they would trade a year of their life rather than be over-weight when asked in a survey. And up to 30% said they would give up their partner, having children or become an alcoholic for the perfect body size. These alarming stats tell us how deeply ingrained weight stigma has rooted itself in our society.

How is it that for many women their body size, weight or shape has become the predominant means of measuring what they are worth? Why is it that the number on the scales has been prioritised by women over their mental, physical and emotional health?

But it’s the constant preoccupation of these thoughts and the resulting stress response in the body, that may actually be leading to weight gain in addition to an unhealthy relationship with food. This cycle will then just continue throughout their entire life.

I sometimes ask my clients to think about how they would want to be remembered, what their legacy will be. Would they be happy with ‘She managed to stay thin’ on their gravestone? Morbid I know, but it certainly makes them think.

 If you are a chronic dieter, have battles with binge eating or restrict your food, do you want to be thinking the same harmful thoughts in 20, 40 or 60 years’ time?

 Or are you ready to reclaim your life from the misery and struggle that this mindset brings?

 If you need some support with this don’t battle with it alone. It is possible to find food freedom and create balance in your mind and your life.

This is the last chance to join my Undiet your Mind 21 day course. So for the cost of a just few takeaways, you can learn a new approach to eating so you can develop sustainable habits with confidence and let go of dieting for good.

 It’s starting tomorrow and enrolment ends tonight! Check out all the course info + enrol HERE

Alternatively Book in a complimentary call HERE to find out how I can help you with my signature one to one programmes.

Are you ready to Un-diet your mind?

I understand that taking the decision to move away from a life of dieting is hard. There is a great deal of fear that if you step away from dieting - you will gain weight, loose control or perhaps be judged by others.

So I wanted to create a course with a clear roadmap to take you on this journey. You won’t need to commit to anything that feels overwhelming but you will get results, gain clarity and feel more balanced around food.

FIND OUT ABOUT IT HERE

Un-diet your Mind is my new coaching course where you will unlearn your old food patterns & make new confident choices in 21 days. I will be with you every step of the way, so you feel supported and motivated to begin the process of long lasting change.

The course is just £89 and only £69 to the first 15 people who enrol

****It's starting on Monday 1st November - so mark your calendar!

Un-diet your Mind is the perfect place to start if you.....

~ feel overwhelmed when making food choices, you have no idea what to eat anymore

~ feel confused and frustrated thinking-‘Why have I lost weight on diets I did before and they don’t work now?’

~ turn to food when you’re not hungry

~ can be overcome by sugar cravings which lead to emotional eating or bingeing

~ You feel obsessed with 24/7 thoughts about food, diets and your weight

~ You don’t know how to stop dieting- it feels like too big a step for you

The first 15 people who join the course will receive a special founding participant's discount – Join my VIP wait list to be one of the first to be notified when the course goes live!

September’s top picks; delicious quick seasonal recipe, how to do organic + more!

And just like that….. we’re in September - here are my top picks for this month

What I’m working on

Has perpetual dieting left you in a muddle about food and eating?

Do you feel overwhelmed anxious and confused about what, how much and when to eat? If so, I would love to hear from you.

What are your main challenges? What would you love to know and learn? Where do you need support? How would you like to feel?

I have worked with hundreds of clients who have found themselves fighting this daily battle and I’m working on an exciting new short programme to help you transition to a calm, balanced and joyous approach to eating. Your input will help me tailor the programme to your exact needs – just hit reply and let me know :)

What I’m eating – plus how to cook it!

Heard of cavolo nero? It’s Tuscan kale and it’s in season this month. Often used in Italian dishes - You’ll likely have seen it in minestrone soup. The great news is that it’s packed with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, but also has a delicate, slightly bitter, flavour with a sweet aftertaste.

I’m loving eating it this way at the moment; the recipe goes well with meat or fish, veggie protein sources as well as casseroles and stews.

Ingredients

·         2 tbsp olive oil

·         1 clove garlic, finely chopped

·         400g cavolo nero 

·         ¼ teaspoon sea salt

·         75ml cup water

·         Zest of half a lemon

Method

Rinse the leaves and pat dry with kitchen paper. Cut away the tough central stalk. Place the two sides of the remaining leaf on top of each other and slice into strips about ½ cm wide.

Add oil and garlic and cook on a low heat until the garlic softens.

Add the cavolo nero, salt and water. Turn heat to medium and cover with a lid, stirring occasionally (add a little more water if required).

Cook until the cavolo nero is tender and the liquid has evaporated, remove from the heat and stir through the lemon zest.

TIP: Save the stalks and freeze to use later in a smoothie or soup.

Organic September and how to buy wisely

Organic September’s aim is to raise awareness of the advantages of organic food and farming. Farming organically helps to combat climate change, support animal welfare and the biodiversity of wildlife. Eating organic produce helps to reduce our exposure to pesticides used in conventional farming.

Purchasing organic food can be more expensive and not always easy to access, so I would recommend looking at the UK Dirty Dozen list which will help you decide which to prioritise when buying organic.

P.S. Would you love to make peace with your body and build a happy relationship with food?

Come and join us in the FOOD FREEDOM COLLECTIVE, Facebook community- a safe place where you can question, share, learn + feel supported without judgement, comparison and shame. I will be sharing tips, simple recipe, meal, and snack ideas along with strategies, motivation and supportive practices and its free to join!

It’s time to release yourself from the shackles of diet culture + empower yourself to create positive change in your life.

Super summer lunch recipe + how to grow your own in 3 simple steps

Summer is up and running now, and there’s nothing better than having fresh salad leaves to add to your meal. You’ll have no excuses for running out if you grow your own and the flavours are far superior from anything you’ll buy from the supermarket.

The most common crop is lettuce but there are a host of other salad leaves: chicory, endive, sorrel, spinach, mizuna, mibuna, rocket and mustard. They’re called cut-and-come-again. Simply keep cutting immature leaves and more re-grow!

HERE'S HOW TO GROW YOUR OWN SALAD

1. Grow salad leaves in full sun, making sure the soil is well-drained.
   They are particularly well suited to growing in containers or growbags. Ensure whatever you use has drainage holes at the bottom to prevent the soil getting flooded. You can also sow salad leaves in the garden straight into the beds.

2. Sow outdoors from mid-spring to late summer, putting the different types of salad seed in rows. Sow thinly at 1cm (½in) deep. (You could also sprinkle a mixture of seed (most garden centres will sell packets of salad leaf mixes) lightly on the top of soil surface, then cover with about 1cm (½in) of compost.)

3. Start to thin out some seedlings as the seed grows by removing with your thumb and forefinger to give more room for the plants to develop. Don’t let the thinned-out seedlings go to waste – eat them now in salads!

You will usually be able to cut the salad leaves three or four times. This means that the secret to having salad leaves all summer long is to sow several times about a fortnight apart. Once you finish with one crop, you can start on the next.

Even as we head into autumn, it’s worth knowing you can grow salad leaves on a windowsill all year round. Try mixing different leaves in seed trays. Oriental varieties are best for winter use. Grow in September and they’ll last you till March.

You can download this super -simple lunch idea HERE – perfect for the warm weather and the ideal excuse to use your home grown salad leaves!

P.S. Are you stuck in a cycle of emotional eating, bingeing or yo-yo dieting and need to make peace with your body and build a happy relationship with food?

Come and join us in the FOOD FREEDOM COLLECTIVE, Facebook community- a safe place where you can question, share, learn + feel supported without judgement, comparison and shame. I share tips, simple recipe, meal, and snack ideas along with strategies, motivation and supportive practices within the group and its FREE to join!

Emotional eating: 5 simple steps to manage your triggers

Most people emotionally eat from time to time but difficulties can occur when this becomes your habitual default. Using food as a coping mechanism, perhaps to numb your feelings or provide some comfort is likely to impact your mental and physical wellbeing in the long term. Often the initial feeling of relief, comfort or pleasure that you receive from the reward centre in your brain, turns quite quickly to feelings of guilt and shame. This affects how you feel about yourself, your confidence and self-worth. Keeping you stuck in a never-ending cycle.

Triggers develop as part of our survival response. However, when we are emotionally triggered and don’t recognise it, we can engage in many unhelpful behaviours that just keep us stuck in a relentless pattern. A difficult conversation or situation, seeing a particular person or being in a specific place may all be potential triggers.

If for example, you are always triggered by a family member (perhaps because of the way they always speak to you) and it makes you feel anxious, angry or upset. At this point you feel the urge to eat chocolate because you have trained your brain to react in this way. You have accessed memories from the past and your automatic reaction maybe I can’t deal with this – I need to eat the chocolate.

Helping people to overcome emotional eating is my mission and is the foundation of the work that I do with clients. I feel it’s important to share this 5-step process that can be used for ANY emotional trigger that leads to emotional eating.

5 STEPS TO MANAGING EMOTIONAL EATING TRIGGERS:

1)      Notice that you are being triggered and pause –and connect with your body take some deep breaths. Notice that when you breath into your belly properly it will expand and will then contract as you breath out.

2)      Recognise you are having an emotional reaction. Become aware of the physical sensations that this reaction brings to your body. Perhaps you notice tension in your tummy, your heart is beating faster, or you might be holding your breath. When you notice your common physical reaction, this can help you to respond in a different way.

3)      Give yourself time to observe what is going on in your brain and your body. Ask yourself ‘What am I really feeling? Avoid judging your emotions as good or bad and allow yourself to feel the emotion even if it is uncomfortable.

4)      Question what story are you telling yourself - is it true really? Notice the thoughts causing these feelings. This may not come straight away – perhaps leave the room or even go for a walk.

5)      Decide how you want to respond. By now you will have observed the trigger that led to your emotional response. You may have come to realise that your reaction was out of proportion or you have created a story that wasn’t even true. Now is the time to claim the power and chose your story with your rational thinking brain. You can choose to think of the situation differently. What will you tell yourself that will be more helpful?

If the emotional trigger is something that cannot be avoided, you will be able to put a plan into place before you next encounter it. With practice, your old automatic reaction will subside and you will find it easier to choose how to respond. The key to this is repetition.

If you stuck in a cycle of emotional eating, bingeing or yo-yo dieting and need to make peace with your body and build a happy relationship with food, come and join us in the FOOD FREEDOM COLLECTIVE, Facebook community. This is a safe place where you can question, share, learn + feel supported without judgement, comparison and shame. I share tips, simple recipe, meal, and snack ideas along with strategies, motivation and supportive practices within the group and its FREE to join!

It’s time to release yourself from the shackles of diet culture + empower yourself to create positive change in your life.

How to ditch all-or-nothing thinking around food and exercise

Do you often have thoughts like these:

“I’ve had one, so I may as well finish the pack.”

“I didn’t do my work out today so I may as well just keep eating the chocolate today and start again tomorrow.”

Or perhaps last supper thoughts like these “I’m going on a diet tomorrow so I’m having one final blowout today.”

Most of my clients struggle with these inner thoughts (also known as black and white thinking) before they start working with me. If you are someone who thinks like this much of the time, you will always be at risk of awakening your ‘inner rebel’ and beginning the detrimental cycle again.

So you’re stuck in this cycle what can you do about it?

1. If you tell yourself you cannot have a specific food, it will undoubtedly lead to extreme deprivation feelings resulting in excessive cravings and more than likely, binging. Avoid restricting food intake to ‘make up for previous binges’ or ‘keeping going’ with the same unhelpful eating behaviour for the rest of the day.

2. Give yourself permission to eat something you feel like without judgement. If you do choose to eat something previously on your forbidden list then eat it slowly, mindfully, calmly. This way you will savour the flavour and take real joy from your food.

3. Avoid referring to foods as good or bad, forbidden or allowed. If you need to label them then helpful and less helpful are the best phrases to use. Helpful foods are those that support our physiology so that we crave less, feel satiated after a meal and provide countless other well-being benefits. Accept that all foods eaten in moderation can be part of a balanced and healthy diet.

Many of my clients tell me that rewiring these thoughts is a revelation for them, they feel liberated from the never-ending thoughts that have prevailed around food and dieting.

Are you ready to make peace with your body and build a happy relationship with food? Come and join me in the FOOD FREEDOM COLLECTIVE, Facebook community- a safe place where you can question, share, learn + feel supported without judgement, comparison and shame. I will be sharing tips, simple recipe, meal, and snack ideas along with strategies, motivation and supportive practices and its free to join!

It’s time to release yourself from the shackles of diet culture + empower yourself to create positive change in your life 

Struggle with compulsive eating? What you need to know about hyper-palatable foods

Ever tried to eat a crisp and stop at one? Like many processed foods, crisps contain a combination of carbohydrates, unhealthy fats, salt and often sugar that affect our brain-reward circuitry. They overpower our appetite signals that tell us when we’re full. These foods have been coined hyper-palatable foods, by researchers studying their powerful effects.

Most processed foods commonly consumed in Europe and the US, meet the hyper-palatable food criteria. This was defined and accepted in 2019 by researcher’s who came up with specific quantities and proportions within processed foods that have the ability to affect our brain chemistry in this way.

Professor Fazzino and his team conducted a study that found that food companies have well designed formulas for foods to increase the amount we eat. The scientists believe they can activate our brain neuro-circuits in a similar way to cocaine. The researchers also discovered that these foods may have the ability to overcome our satiety and fullness signals that tell us when to stop eating.

I would forgive you for thinking foods labelled low or reduced sugar, fat or salt would not qualify in this rather special food category. However, the same study found that 49% of such foods also met the criteria. Understandably it feels almost impossible for most to navigate the food isles and avoid these brain hacking food products.

Most people I work with to overcome compulsive and emotional eating feel guilty and blame themselves, they feel society blames them for having no will power, failing at diets and not being ‘good’ enough. However, the battle is so much more complex than having will power. The addictive nature of these foods is one of the many components making it so hard.

If this is your struggle, I want you to know you are not alone. I work with people just like you, who need a new approach to gaining balance and moderation in their life. I will help you to take back control without feeling deprived or hungry.

I developed The Food Freedom Method online coaching programme, after working with hundreds of women who shared your pain. It looks at how, what and why you eat, incorporating nutritional therapy, coaching and the psychology of emotional eating.

My proven 8 step method will coach you through the process giving you all the tools you need to finally overcome the cycle of overeating and dieting. It will help you shed the layers of shame and guilt and be able to accept yourself. You will discover how to make sense of what your brain and body are going through, feel supported and empowered.

If you are ready to transform your life, join the waiting list to gain access to the special, one-time only launch price and find out more

The 5 things you need to know about summer holiday eating

Summer holidays ....in the past they have been the chance to break free from the normal routine of frantic dashes between the school gates and work. Perhaps summer holidays won’t feel so different for you now, in the new worlds of living with the pandemic.

Many of my clients have struggled with emotional eating during the lock down and equally find holiday eating (and drinking) a challenge. When it comes to managing these situations the strategies for coping with both are pretty similar.

The key is to have a plan and to be really clear on what matters to you most. Here’s my take on how to survive the summer and indeed the post lock down months without getting in to an emotional eating cycle.

1. Balance your plate

Ideally, you’ll want about half of your plate to be vegetable and leafy salad action and about a quarter to be some kind of protein (chicken, meat, fish, lentils, chickpeas/ hummus, halloumi etc). If you’re at home, get the BBQ out or grill some fresh fish or kebabs. The starchy slow releasing carbs such as sweet potato, quinoa and  brown rice ideally take up no more than a quarter of your plate. Eating like this will help to prevent cravings and keep you feeling satiated.

2. Eat a little snack before you go out/ crack open the booze

Alcohol is essentially sugar, which spikes your blood sugar, leading to weight gain and cravings. It is, however, arguably a holiday essential. The key to not letting alcohol send you in a to a cravings frenzy, is to have a little something with protein before you go out or crack open the bottle!

Try something like a little cottage cheese or unsweetened nut butter on an oatcake (if you can find them) or even a small handful of nuts. The protein will help offset the sugar in the alcohol.

3. Which booze to choose?

Most alcoholic drinks are full of sugar, making it a sure-fire way to unbalance your blood sugar levels, which may in turn lead to cravings and unhelpful eating episodes. But summer holidays are summer holidays, and many associate this with drinks in the evening. 

If the drinks are going to happen anyway, it’s worth looking at how to mitigate the situation. The best drinks are those containing the least amount of sugar – dry white wine, dry champagne or other sparkling wines like prosecco. If you’re a fan of gin or vodka and tonic, try having a less sweet version by using soda water or sparkling water and a dash of fresh lime. Sweet cocktails made with fruit juice or sugar, and spirits with sugary mixers are best avoided. Making a deal with yourself about how much you will have before you go out, can be surprisingly helpful.

4. Ice cream time?

If you’re going to have an ice cream (and, let’s face it, whoever heard of a holiday without one), it’s best to have one after your lunch, when the good you’ve done with the protein-based salad can help offset the sugar in the ice cream.

Think of it as a see-saw. Ice cream on its own means blood sugar shoots up. Ice cream as your pudding has less of an effect. The protein you eat with your at lunch or dinner can help bring the see-saw horizontal again.

 If you’re at home it’s easy to throw together a healthy ice cream from frozen banana, nut butter and natural yogurt  (pop in a blender and then eat it straight away)

5. Don’t forget your self care

Looking after your emotional wellbeing by doing fun things you genuinely enjoy will help you feel happier and more able to deal with life generally. When you are happier, it is easier to focus on what is important to you and on your ultimate goal of feeling fabulous. Try to find 3 things to do every day just for you and, importantly, just because they make you feel happy in the moment. Having the discipline to start this routine during the holidays can give you an insight into how it might work for you when you return to life as we now know it!

NB. I will be sharing my top alcohol free summer drink recipes you in my next blog

I hope you find these tips useful. Please hit reply and let me know what might work for you – I would love to hear your thoughts.

If you are unable to break free from the endless cycle of yo-yo dieting, binge eating or chronic overeating, you are not alone. I work with people just like you who need a new approach to gaining balance and moderation in their life. Contact me to  find out about my signature Food Freedom one to one programme (in addition to The Food Freedom Method on line programme launching soon)

You can book in a free call to see how I can help HERE