“Lose 20 kg in 12 weeks.” That was the advice a GP doctor gave one of her patients last week. Is it possible to do this? Yes – but you would have to go on that 4-letter word – a diet! And quite a strict one. The worst thing about ‘going on a diet’ is that you go off it. It’s far better to make small changes that, if you stick with them for a few weeks, turn into new healthy eating habits. Remember the fable of the hare and the tortoise? Slow and steady wins the race!

The ideal rate of weight loss is 0.5 – 1 kg (1.1-2.2 pounds) a week. Any more than that and you will also be losing muscle and water. Standing on the scales doesn’t tell you whether you have lost fat or muscle. That’s why some people actually gain weight when they start increasing exercise. They are building muscle which weighs more than fat. A better way to check whether you are losing fat is to check how tight your clothes feel. In winter my clothes feel as though they have shrunk but when summer arrives, thank goodness they miraculously loosen up again. It’s easier to blame the clothes than the cakes and chocolate!

Too much fat around the tummy increases the risk of all those nasty heath problems – heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. Instead of the scales grab a tape measure and check your waist circumference. For good health, women need to keep it under 90 cm (35 inches) and men under 100cm (40 inches).

I’ve just come back from a relaxing weekend at my parent’s home – walking on the beach, basking in the sun at outdoor cafes, talking a lot – and eating soup. My mum, who loves no-fuss cooking, whipped up this simple, healthy soup in 10 minutes for dinner. It’s really low in calories and full of soluble fibre from the lentils – great for weight control, diabetes and high cholesterol.

Barbara Rolls, a professor with the Department of Nutritional Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University, looked at the effect of eating soup before a pasta meal. She found that eating vegetable soup (pureed or chunky) before a meal can lower energy intake at the meal by 20%. It makes sense that eating a large volume of a food containing few calories, such as soup or salad, at the start of a meal means you are too full to eat much of the main dinner. All those vegetables are good for weight control and great for a strong immune system. The trick is to eat them before the meal.

1/2 cup red lentils

2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 leek, finely sliced

2 large  carrots, chopped

1 litre chicken stock

Boil together for 10 minutes.

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Related:

Soup nutrition by Aussie nutritionist, Catherine Saxelby

My other soup article (recipe)

This is a great visual to show how much exercise you need to do to burn off certain foods. Once you get your head around it, you’ll realise it’s a bit scary – just one cookie and a glass of wine means you have to walk for over an hour! On the positive side,  cutting out that cookie and glass of wine saves you from spending hours pounding the pavement. Some people exercise so they can eat more but this picture shows you have to do a heap of exercise to eat just a little more food!

This sensational graphic by Petra Axlund @ www.5Wgraphics.com, via Dataviz. {may need IE7+ or Firefox 3+ to view}

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How to enlarge: click small right lower rectangle above for full screen

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Found these interesting snippets surfing around the web …

The price of free choice … When National’s Tony Ryall took over as Health Minister he promised no major structural changes.  He has kept that promise. District health boards and universal subsidies for primary health care are intact. … I agree with free choice but for  many of us  ‘free choice’ does not always equate to ‘good choice’ ..c

How the food industry buried the folic acid plan … The New Zealand Government wants to defer mandatory fortification until 2012 and this week issued a public discussion document which floats that option, along with that of proceeding with the original September start, and pulling out of the rule altogether. … If you have an informed opinion on folic acid supplementation make sure you respond to this public discussion document soon – it’s on a tight time frame ..c

Keep an eye on … Viewed as the healthy children’s snack, these thin crisp rounds grab attention with claims they are 97 per cent fat- and gluten-free. The downside is they’re loaded with salt and flavour enhancers… Parents! – read this. It’s right! Have you ever smelt some of those snacks? Even a tiny pack of some of those rice snacks can stink out a car for days – and it’s definitely not a natural food smell..c

Swiss Company Promises Chocolate Revolution … Chocolate is just as much a part of Switzerland as the Alps. Now, global market leader Barry Callebaut has developed the product that competitors have been hopelessly puzzling over for 60 years — chocolate that doesn’t melt and is low in calories … Melt-proof chocolate with less calories? What will it be made of? I’d rather stick to the real stuff myself ..c

Top 10 Tips and Tricks for Better Coffee … Coffee doesn’t always make work better, but you can definitely work to get better coffee. From four-cup hotel machines to French presses, from home-roasted beans to decorative foam—we’ve got a wealth of tips for enjoying a better cup… My favourite iced coffee is the Thai style – strong black coffee mixed with sweetened condensed milk and poured over a glass of crushed ice. Delicious and naughty ..c

Hunting best buys when eating healthy costs more … WASHINGTON – Obesity experts say the lousy economy threatens to worsen Americans’ already bulging waistlines because bad-for-you food happens to be the cheapest. But there are healthy cheap eats, and new research aims to show how to eke the most … Potatoes, eggs, yoghurt and lean mince – good suggestions for healthy eating in tight times ..c