Tag Archive for: keto

Bringing in the New Year with Auld Lang Syne and Real Foods

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By Bridget Surtees (RD)

 

Its 2020. A New Year and a New Decade. For those of us in the Southern Hemisphere, January also brings with it long lazy summer days. It is the perfect opportunity to pack a picnic and head to the beach, mountain or nearest park. Not sure what to pack? Real Food Dietitians have your picnic hamper ideas covered. Try some of these quick and easy snack ideas below

 

Eggs:

The perfect Protein. Add some salt or mayonnaise to make it extra tasty

  • Rich in protein and fats to keep that appetite in check

 

Veggies:

Choose a selection of your favourite vegetables and cut into sticks (baby tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers, peppers, celery sticks, carrots). Dip them to keep it interesting -try nut butter, cream cheese, hummus, guacamole or Tzatziki,

  • Rich in antioxidants and fiber

 

Nuts:

If you are trying to keep your carbohydrate intake low, choose the lower carb nuts such as macadamias, pecans, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts and almonds. Be sure to stick to a handful even though it can be tempting to eat more!

  • Rich in protein, healthy fats and fibre

 

Avocado:

The low carb fruit with the healthy fats! Add some salt or balsamic vinegar

  • Rich in healthy fats

 

Full-fat plain yoghurt:

Have it on its own or add in some fruit and seeds for more flavour and crunch!

  • Rich in protein, healthy fats and calcium

 

Fruit:

Berries, plums, kiwi fruit, clementines, melon, peaches – to name a few. If you are trying to keep your carbohydrates low and your nutrients high, berries are the best. Avoid the highest sugar fruits: bananas and grapes, as well as dried fruit and fruit juice.

 

  • Rich in fibre, vitamins, antioxidants

 

Cold Meats:

Keep the leftovers from last night’s dinner, such as chicken or steak slices; or simply take the easy route when at the shops with salami, carpaccio or prosciutto ham.

  • Rich in protein

 

Biltong

When the salt craving strikes, grab a stick of biltong or droerwors

  • Rich in protein

 

Join Real Food Dietitians’ Online 6-Week Low Carb Healthy Weight Challenge for a comprehensive guide to a New Healthier You this New Year – including personalised diet plans, menus and shopping lists, as well as LIVE Q&As, 24-7 access to our dietitians on a closed Facebook group, support, goal setting and in depth training on how to make a Low Carb diet a lifestyle.

Addictive eating

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By Tamzyn Murphy RD, MSc (Dist.)

 

Food addiction is real. Cravings and ‘food addiction’ appear to be present in around 15 – 20 % of overweight and obese individuals [1, 2]. But not all foods are created equal when it comes to triggering addictive eating. Food addiction or addictive food behaviours are specifically linked to foods high sugar or both fat and sugar (particularly processed foods) [1] – think chocolates, ice cream, cookies/biscuits and crisps. These foods are excluded from a low carbohydrate high healthy fat diet (LCHF) diet, but generally included in limited quantities in conventional diets. Therefore, in individuals prone to food addiction, LCHF eating may improve adherence and success compared to conventional diets.

 

Are you a food addict?

Take the Yale Food Addiction Test to find out. You can download the test and the scoring system here. If you’re a food addict don’t lose hope, read on to find out some ways to combat your addictive eating and get control of your weight and health.

 

Action plan to overcome addictive eating

If addictive eating and cravings are something you struggle with, you need to have a plan in place to succeed. So, write your plan down and follow through. Here are a few tips that may help you:

 

  1. Adopt a LCHF or ketogenic whole/real food diet, low in processed food. This will set your physiology up for success. The next steps with help your psychology overcome your addictive eating behaviours.
  2. List the pros and cons of continuing to indulge in your addictive eating practices and decide whether it’s worth the effort to change. If you decide that it is then…
  3. List your addictive foods of choice and decide to eliminate them completely from your diet (just as an alcoholic must abstain from alcohol). It helps to get them out of your home completely.
  4. List your trigger situations, people, events, or psychological states, so that you’re conscious of them when the craving strikes. And write down ways to avoid them if possible.
  5. Write down the feelings associated with the cravings. Do you get a rumbly tummy, raised heart rate or panicky feeling when the craving strikes? Recognising these signs, also help you increase your consciousness about what you’re going through as you’re going through it, so as to have more control over it.
  6. Preparing a shocking thought that can interfere with the thoughts of the gratifying experience of indulging the craving can help. This thought needs to be consciously imagined at the time of the craving. For example, this could involve imagining the taste, texture, and feeling of eating ice-cream (if that’s your addictive food of choice). Then imagining your dog vomited in it and an equally vivid image of how the experience of eating that would be. This shock-tactic re-programming often works to retrain the brain from thinking of the addictive food as the solution to the stimulus that initiated the craving in the first place.
  7. List alternative activities or course(s) of action you will take when the craving strikes (e.g. going for a walk or a gym session, playing with your kids, writing in your journal or doing some other hobby that gives you a sense of happiness, and/or phoning a friend).
  8. Look for support and accountability. It can help to have a spouse or friend on call for when the craving strikes. They can help talk you through it and support you out of it.

 

If these tips and resources are not enough you may need to join a program or group to help with this specifically, such as overeaters anonymous (OEA) or Food Addicts Anonymous, or get the help of a psychologist with experience in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

 

References

  1. Criscitelli, K. and N.M. Avena, 5 Sugar and Fat Addiction. Processed Food Addiction: Foundations, Assessment, and Recovery, 2017.
  2. Eichen, D.M., et al., Exploration of “food addiction” in overweight and obese treatment-seeking adults. Appetite, 2013. 67: p. 22-24.
  3. Yale Food Addiction Scale. FastLab: Food and addiction science treatment lab. Department of Psychology. University of Michigan. 2019
  4. Overeaters anonymous (OEA)
  5. Food Addicts Anonymous