Don’t wait until you’re the perfect weight to love your body – do it now!
Don’t wait until you’re the perfect weight to love your body – do it now!
A Portuguese study has found that women who worked on improving their body image at regular group sessions made better food choices and lost more weight than those who just read up on general health and nutrition.
To improve your body image, Kaz Cooke, author of Women’s Stuff suggests:
1. Make a vow not to say negative things about yourself anymore. You can talk positively about lifestyle changes if you want to, but no self-loathing.
2. Write a list of the good things about your body, such as “my body breathes for me”; “these legs have carried me for many years”; “I love my curves”; “as long as my body is healthy, I feel grateful for it”.
3. Instead of turning sideways in the mirror every day and frowning, look dead on before you leave the house and say, “Not bad!”. Instead of covering up with baggy clothes at the next social event, buy a flattering top, stand up straight and smile.
For your eyes only…
To reduce the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, up your intake of these nutrients.
Zinc: Oysters, red meat, poultry, shellfish, nuts, legumes and wholegrains.
Beta-carotene: Yellow, orange and green leafy vegetables and fruit.
Omega-3s: Salmon, mackerel, sardines, tuna and herring, flaxseed oil, walnuts, pumpkin seeds.
Lutein and zeaxanthin: Corn, polenta, egg yolks, green leafy vegetables.
Did You Know?
A lack of sleep can play havoc with fat cells. US researchers found that sleeping 4.5 hours a night for four nights in a row reduced the way fat cells responded to insulin by 30 per cent, possibly leading to weight gain and diabetes over time.
Strong bones
Snack on prunes for strong bones if you don’t like dairy products. Research in the British Journal of Nutrition shows women who ate 100 g of prunes a day had significantly higher bone density gains than a controlled group of those who didn’t. They also had reduced bone breakdown proving that prunes both prevent and reverse bone loss. It is recommended that you eat eight to 10 prunes a day to maintain healthy bones.
84% of vegetarians go back to eating meat, a US study says. Ex-vegetarians say a strict diet can be too difficult to maintain. Thinking of going meat-free? Try taking a gradual approach.
Egg-cellent News
As well as containing protein, iodine, B vitamins, selenium and vitamin D, eggs have antioxidant powers, say US experts. They discovered that egg yolks contain the amino acids tryptophan and tyrosine, which have potent antioxidant properties.
