Sept 20 - Weight Loss vs. Health

  Yesterday I talked about the idea of having a smaller evening meal and whether or not it would assist with weight loss.  I concluded that overall, no, but that it may have a positive effect on my blood sugar levels.  That reminded me that I wanted to discuss the ideas of weight loss vs. health and the constant confusion we all seem to have about the two related, but separate things.
  Weight loss in very basic terms is a simple mathematical equation:  If energy in (food and drink) is less than energy out (basal metabolic rate plus any activity or exercise) the result will be weight loss.  There are plenty of websites that will give you a basic formula for determining your approximate basal metabolic rate (BMR) but I used this handy-dandy calculator.  The only problem is that this one works on imperial measurements so I also needed a few other calculators to get there.
  Based on my height (161cm / 5'3), weight this morning (113.3kg / 249.78lbs), age (33) and gender (female), my BMR was calculated as 7892kJ / 1879cal.  So that is just the bare minimum calories to keep my body alive and maintained in a resting state.  That's not even counting the additional energy required to get out of bed and go to work etc.
  Your BMR naturally decreases with age, it decreases as you lose weight (which helps to explain weight loss plateaus) and it can be increased by regular exercise.  That calculator gives you a very basic estimate, there are some more complex things that affect it such as your fat to muscle ratio and even the physical size of your heart!  Increase your activity and BMR and reduce your food and drink intake and the result will be weight loss.  So that is weight loss in a nut shell... but what about health?
  Based on the principles above you could lose weight eating nothing but KFC.  This is true, you could.  Would it be healthy? No!
  Your body doesn't just need energy, it needs specific sets of nutrients, minerals, fibres, proteins and more in order to function properly.  No Vitamin C?  Scurvy!  No Vitamin B12? Nerve damage!  No Calcium? Osteoporosis!  No Potassium? Muscle cramps and abnormal heart rhythms!  No Sodium? Headache, confusion and muscle spasms!
Too much Sodium? High blood pressure!
  No food is really an enemy but there are better choices we can make.  For example, a lot of diets suggest low or no carb, but the truth is just that our bodies function better on complex carbohydrates than on simplified ones.  Things like delicious grainy seedy bread, regulate the digestive system and control the time over which the energy is released into the blood stream.  Complex carbs have a lower Glycemic Index factor so they result in lower blood sugar readings for yours truly than if I chowed down on white bread.  Complex carbs also keep your tummy feeling fuller for longer meaning you eat less of them than of their simple sugary counter-parts.
  Likewise, in healthier choices:  Kangaroo fillet over pork chop, lean lamb over sausages, salad over potatoes, steamed veggies over chips.  The list goes on.  Even with things for which there is no substitute, like chocolate, there are still healthier versions.  Chocolate sweetened without cane sugar or high-cocoa content dark chocolate.
  I guess my point is, there are plenty of other things to consider if you want to be healthy as well as lose weight.  It is easy to see how the two go hand in hand.  A diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and complex carbohydrates will not only keep you healthy, it will often lead to weight loss incidentally as those are the foods that sustain us and help our bodies to function best.
  I'm not a medical doctor or a dietitian so take my words with a grain of salt.  I am just a fat chick trying to find the thin chick within.  This is all based on what I've learned on the long road here.  There is a lot of misinformation in the world of diet and these are the things I personally have found to be true.  Don't just take my word for it; do your own research, experiment, and find what works for you.

Today's food was:

• Breakfast was a thick slice of Bertie's homemade banana bread, toasted slowly for seven minutes then served with a dollop of Jalna a2 yoghurt, a drizzle of honey, slivered almonds and pumpkin seeds.
• Lunch was a Mission Wholegrain Wrap spread with Yumi Hummus then topped with kangaroo salami, mushroom, cucumber and iceberg lettuce.  I also had a passionfruit and a kiwi fruit with skin on straight after my wrap.
• Afternoon snack was two brazil nuts, two hazelnuts, two pecan nut halves, four almonds and a dried peach half.
• Dinner was a huge boatload of sushi and sashimi and related little things!  I love the seaweed salad!  I also had a Calpis Soda.. a weird milky soft drink that I got quite fond of a few years back.  It tastes a little like these chalky lollipops I used to get at the milk bar when I was a kid.

  Had a good dinner out at Sapporo Japanese Restaurant with Jack Johnson tonight.  Nice food, pleasant atmosphere, service was a little weird.. the waitress didn't know the drinks menu and the guy taking the cash thought paying 50/50 was a little complicated but pleasant overall.  I'd go there again.
  I planned to have an exercise free day which worked well as I didn't get home till just after 9pm.  I thought my blood sugar might be high due to the white rice but it was only 7.2.  I guess about half were rice things and even those were also part seafood.  Japanese can go on the 'good' list as long as I steer clear of tonkatsu with barbecue sauce!
  Have fun and be healthy!
  Jess