WHEN GEMLIFE PALMWOODS RESIDENT, CARESS WALTERS, WANTED HELP WITH A BALANCED DIET TO KEEP HEALTH ISSUES AT BAY, ACCREDITED PRACTICING DIETITIAN, CARLY BARLOW, WAS AT THE READY WITH SOME EXPERT TIPS.
GemLife’s lifestyle series Living Proof sees Carly design a specially tailored program for Caress in this month’s Health Check segment.
Carly based the program on Caress’s desire to get fit. She also learns how controlled eating helps improve overall health for a better-quality lifestyle – especially when there are specific health issues.
“The key to getting results from changing your diet is to get the ‘macronutrient’ proportions right. Macronutrients are the components of the foods we eat – carbohydrates, fats and protein. These foods have very different effects on our hormones,” Carly explained.
“Many people eat too many carbohydrates, not enough protein and the wrong types of fats, so lowering carbohydrates and ensuring you have enough protein is the key to sustainable weight loss as the hormone insulin is lowered. This leads to less fat storage on the body. More protein leads to increased muscle mass which is important for health as we get older.”
Caress has some health issues she’s had to deal with, so it was important to her to find out what she could do to help improve her mobility, while still being able to enjoy some sort of indulgence in life.
“I have osteoarthritis and have no thyroid, so the whole program was designed around how to keep myself physically fit, as well as controlled eating that can help on several levels,” Caress said.
Some tips and recommendations from Carly included pairing the right foods together, adjusting portion sizes, and advice on which types of alcohol to choose if you want to treat yourself while keeping your diet under control.
“If you are drinking alcoholic drinks that are high in carbohydrates you will store more body fat, so by choosing drinks that are lower in carbohydrates such as clear spirits with soda and lime or dry white wines (minus the sugary mixers including fruit juices), your body will store less fat,” she said.
Alternatives to eating carbohydrates – like replacing pasta and rice with cauliflower rice – was another great tip covered, plus the importance of food combinations in the recommended three meals a day, and what it means to check your body fat versus your body mass.
“Your body weight isn’t always the most important indicator of health. Making sure you have more lean muscle (which weighs more on the scale) and lower fat around your tummy means you will have better metabolic health and less chance of diseases such as diabetes and heart disease,” Carly said.
Caress appreciated Carly’s health advice and said that keeping up with a routine can be difficult in general, let alone when you are surrounded by friends and family, but you must make that promise to yourself and remain strong.
“It was great to learn about my muscle mass compared to my body fat and that I could improve upon that with what I’m already doing, because the whole idea of me moving to Palmwoods was to be able to stay physically fit so that I can enjoy my family, which is the most important thing to me,” Caress said.
“We do a lot of camping and activities in the great outdoors, so it’s really nice to be able to think that at least I still have another five to ten years of being active, so I really wanted tips on how to improve on what I’m trying to do already.”
“Once you start falling over, life’s over red rover, and that is enough to keep you motivated.”
About osteoporosis
Osteoarthritis is the degeneration of the underlying bone and joint cartilage. It usually occurs in later stages of life, but signs can begin as early as middle age, increasing health issues as a person gets older. This particular health issue causes stiffness of the joints and swelling around that area. Hips and knees can be especially affected, as well as the thumb and finger joints.
Source: Mayo Clinic