Weight Management
Weight management refers to behaviours,
techniques, and physiological processes that
contribute to a person's ability to attain and maintain
a healthy weight.
Most weight management techniques encompass
long-term lifestyle strategies that promote
healthy eating and daily physical activity
Weight management strategies most often focus on
achieving healthy weights through slow but steady
weight loss, followed by maintenance of an
ideal body weight.
Healthy eating
A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the
body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as
vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy.
Portion Control
Portion size is defined as the amount of food
that one puts on his or her plate for a single
sitting or meal. Quite often, we serve ourselves
quantities perceivably equivalent to a single
portion, when in reality they may be composed
of multiple portions.
Portion control - allows you to have a tight
handle on how many calories you are
presumably consuming. This way, you eat what
your body needs, instead of mindlessly
overindulging.
Serving Size
A serving size represents a standard quantity of a
given food. It’s designed to help you compare
items and choose foods based on nutrition label
information. In other words, a serving size is not
meant as a recommendation of how much you
should consume.
Estimating Portion Sizes
•A baseball or an average-sized fist
• Measures about 1 cup
• An appropriate portion size for raw or cooked vegetables, whole fruit or
100% fruit juice
•A tennis ball or small, scooped handful
• Measures about ½ cup
• Equal to 1-ounce equivalent for grains, such as pasta, rice and
oatmeal
•A deck of cards or the palm of the hand
• Measures about 3 ounce-equivalents
• An appropriate portion size for fish, chicken, beef and other meats
•The size of the thumb
• Measures about 1 tablespoon
• An appropriate portion size for peanut butter or other nut spreads such
as almond butter
Impact of food on Mental Health
• An inadequate diet can lead to fatigue, impaired
decision-making, and can slow down reaction
time. In fact, a poor diet can actually aggravate,
and may even lead to, stress and depression.
• Biggest health impairments is society’s reliance on
processed foods. These foods are high in flours and
sugar and train the brain to crave more of them,
rather than nutrient-rich foods such as fruits and
vegetables.
• A lot of the processed foods we eat are highly
addictive and stimulate the dopamine centers in
our brain, which are associated with pleasure
and reward. In order to stop craving unhealthy
foods, you’ve got to stop eating those foods. You
actually start to change the physiology in the
brain when you pull added sugars and refined
carbohydrates from your diet.
Stress and Depression
Sugar and processed foods can lead to
inflammation throughout the body and
brain, which may contribute to mood
disorders, including anxiety and
depression. When we’re feeling stressed or
depressed, it’s often processed foods we
reach for in search of a quick pick-me-up.
During busy or difficult periods, a cup of
coffee stands in for a complete breakfast
and fresh fruits and vegetables are
replaced with high-fat, high-calorie fast
food. When feeling down, a pint of ice
cream becomes dinner (or you skip dinner
altogether).
To boost your mental health, focus on eating
plenty of fruits and vegetables along with foods
rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon. Dark
green leafy vegetables in particular are brain
protective. Nuts, seeds and legumes, such as
beans and lentils, are also excellent brain foods.
A Healthy Gut
Our guts and brain are physically linked via the
vagus nerve, and the two are able to send
messages to one another. While the gut is able to
influence emotional behaviour in the brain, the
brain can also alter the type of bacteria living in
the gut.
According to the American Psychological
Association, gut bacteria produce an array of
neurochemicals that the brain uses for the
regulation of physiological and mental processes,
including mood. It’s believed 95 percent of the
body's supply of serotonin, a mood stabilizer, is
produced by gut bacteria. Stress is thought to
suppress beneficial gut bacteria.
Brain Food
Your brain and nervous system depend on
nutrition to build new proteins, cells and
tissues. In order to function effectively, your
body requires a variety of carbohydrates,
proteins and minerals. To get all the
nutrients that improve mental functioning,
nutritionists suggest eating meals and
snacks that include a variety of foods,
instead of eating the same meals each day.
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