Healthy Habits with Clare Keating
Combining a healthy lifestyle and Onda CoolWaves Body Sculpting is the best way to achieve effective, long-term results. We spoke to Nutritionist Clare Keating about improving your relationship with food. Forget the latest fad, forget trying to be “clean”, “paleo” or “sugar free”, Clare recommends adding more to your diet. “Instead of cutting everything out, add more vegetables, fruit and whole-grains” Keating says.
1. There are many ‘fad’ diets (vegan diet, paleo diet, keto diet) people revert to when trying to lose weight. Is there such a thing as ‘the best diet for losing weight’?
Unfortunately, there is no best diet for weight loss as different approaches are suited to different people.
For example, low carb diets would not be good for people who do a lot of exercise or who love carbs as they would have minimal energy, feel heavily restricted and be miserable. Intermittent fasting would not be suitable for people who exercise in the mornings or have busy jobs as they wouldn’t have enough energy in the mornings and end up feeling tired and lethargic.
I am also not really a fan of these FAD diets as they generally cut out whole food groups which is not great for our health!
Let’s use the low carb option again. Carbs are whole-grains and vegetables, which are arguably the most nutritious foods on the plant! We need carbs, they are extremely beneficial for us.
2. What are your tips for maintaining a healthy eating lifestyle?
My top tip would be to ADD things to your diet. Instead of cutting everything out, add more vegetables, fruit and whole grains. When you increase your consumption of these foods you will naturally eat less of the processed discretionary foods that may be holding you back from achieving a healthier lifestyle.
I like to encourage my clients to first fill half their plates with vegetables or salad and then add their normal foods e.g. carbs and protein to the remaining half. This is a great place to start and a good habit to get into!
3. Body sculpting will help to tighten and tone the skin but this alone won’t change what you see on the scale. Do you have any advice for someone who is considering body sculpting?
To see maximal results from the body sculpting I would focus on your diet. Make sure your health and nutrition is a priority. You will never regret putting energy and focus into your health, especially when you start feeling better and having more energy to do the things that you love!
4. What is a BMI and does it matter?
BMI stands for Body Mass Index. It is a tool used to measure someone’s weight status based on their height and weight. I personally don’t use it with my clients as it is not always an accurate depiction of health or weight status. For example, you may be 5 ft 10 and have a lot of muscle but weigh the same as someone else who is 5 ft 10 and has a lot of adipose tissue. In this scenario both people would have the same BMI even though 1 is ‘healthier’ than the other.
However, BMI can be useful when combined with other measurement tools like waist circumference, blood tests, and body fat percentages etc.
5. Why is it harder to lose weight when we become older?
It varies from person to person, but one reason is genetics. A factor that we unfortunately cannot change. Another factor is a reduction in metabolism and a change in hormones, especially for menopausal women. Lifestyle factors play a role as well. Older men and women may be more stressed and less physically able to exercise the way they used to when they were younger.
6. What is the craziest myth you have heard about dieting?
That you need to eat 1200kcal or your BMR! Please please please never do this.
7. What is a BMR?
It is your Basal Metabolic Rate which essentially is how much energy your body needs to function without doing anything e.g. if you laid in bed all day. If you only eat the amount of energy that your body needs to lay in bed all day you won’t have enough energy to do anything else! You will be severely under eating and compromising your health.
Clare Keating
Accredited Nutritionist (BNutrSc)
Website: https://www.dietitianclare.com/
Instagram: @dietitianclare
