How to have a holiday without putting on weight

Those of you that know me will know that cruises are my ultimate dream holiday. To me there is nothing that says holiday like a week on a cruise ship. Think sunbaking, white sand, crystal clear water, palm trees, coconuts, tropical islands and more.

Pacific Dawn

Isle of Pines, one of the most beautiful islands I have ever come across

I've gotta give a big shout out to P&O Cruises. (No one was paid for that shout out, mind you). 

I've now been on 3 P&O Cruises, and I'd jump on board a hundred more if I could. The thing that I love most about cruises is the fact that you don't have to worry about anything from the moment you board the ship. Where you are are going, how you're going to get there, what you're going to eat... these are all taken care of. You are out of mobile phone reception most of the time as well, so that means no emails on your blackberry, no facebook, no tweeting, nothing. You are forced to have a real holiday. And it starts the moment you get on board, with a sailaway cocktail :)

It was quite funny when my girlfriends and I sat down for our first ever meal on the ship. One of the of the first things that was uttered was, "Jemma don't judge me on what I eat this week!!" 

Of course being a dietitian I am used to this, as people think that I judge them by what they eat all the time. When I tell them that I really don't, they are so suprised. See my theory is this: In my personal life, I don't give out nutrition advice unless someone asks me. To me there is nothing worse than when you are on a holiday (or otherwise) and someone is in your ear saying, "Should you really be eating that??". 

I told my friends that they didn't have to worry about what they ate. Obviously as I generally tend to practice what I preach I didn't indulge quite as much. But neverless we were on a holiday and holidays are about having fun and enjoying the amazing food that there is to offer. 

Does that mean I'm giving you permission to pig out on your next holiday? Absolutely not. Enjoying & savouring food is quite different to pigging out. Read on to find out more.

Weight maintenance and holidays... an oxymoron?

Most people would say that the words 'holiday' and 'weight' tend to form sentences with the word 'gain', not 'maintain'. Certainly holidays can be a challenging time when you are watching your weight. There are so many factors that are out of your control, such as what will be offered on the menu that night, or what options for physical activity you have available to you. Rest assured, my key message for you today is that it is possible to maintain your weight on holidays. And there are plenty of ways that you can maintain control. Lots of people place healthy eating in the too hard basket when they go on a holiday, but it's actually not that hard at all.

Failing to plan = planning to fail

Have a plan before you step onto the ship. The main key to successful holiday weight maintence is to know your limits before you are faced with challenging situations. For example, if you know that every night on the cruise there is going to be 3 amazing desserts offered to you on a silver platter, before you step onto that boat, decide on whether you will indulge in a dessert each day, or whether you really don't need to eat dessert every day and maybe you'll have it once or twice over the week when your favourite dessert such as creme brulee pops up on the menu. Or maybe seeing as fruit is one of the options you'll stick to fruit on most days.

By setting your limits and thinking about what challenging situations may arise, you'll know what your plan of attack is when you're faced with them. Not having a plan is a recipe for disaster, as peer pressure and 'living in the moment' can often lead to poor decisions being made.

Holidaying is not an excuse to get on it

My number 2 rule is to keep in mind that going on holidays is not an excuse to eat more or give up all of your healthy eating habits. 

It can be so so so easy to put on weight. Your body is designed this way as it looks at putting on weight as having 'extra baggage' just in case it gets thrown into starvation mode. It's for this reason that it's so easy to gain weight and so hard to lose it. So if you go on holidays and let all your hard work go, chances are you'll put on a lot more weight than you think, even in such small periods of time. And then the time that it will take to lose that weight again will probably be several times what it took to put it on.

Don't blame the food

In today’s day and age, 9 times out of 10 there will always be healthy options available. They sometimes may not be as easily accessible, and it may take longer to find them, but rest assured they will be there. Take the cruise for example. Every day we had the opportunity to eat from an a la carte style menu or buffet for 3 meals a day. The buffet was massive. And although there were a lot of not so healthy foods in the buffet, there was always plenty of salad, vegetables and lean meats available. I think I ate enough fish to meet my omega 3 requirement for the next 6 months. 

We often dined in the a la carte restaurant for dinner, where every night we were offered bread with dips, soups, salads, entrees, mains, desserts, after dinner treats, etc. But did we have to eat every course? No. There were many days that I didn't have a bread roll and butter, simply because I didn't need it. You could also order fruit as a dessert every day if you wished to. Generally the mains were a protein based dish with vegetables, and you could order sides of vegetables as well. So the key message here is that just because you may be dining in a buffet or a la carte restaurant with so many options available, you don't have to eat the restaurant out. Choose some meals that you really enjoy, and stick to the same principles as you would at home. For example, eating plenty of vegetables with your main meal, and if you don't eat dessert at home, you don't need to eat it every day on holidays just because it's there. 

Alcohol can sometimes be like dining with the devil

At 29kJ/gram, alcohol is the second highest 'nutrient' compared to fat when it comes to its yield of kilojoules per gram. This means that it's very easy to put on weight if you drink a lot of it.

Now although I would never advise abstinence on a holiday, the key is to watch how much you drink, and what actually is mixed into that drink that you order.

If you follow my blogs you will know how anti-soft drink I am. Try to avoid drinks that contain soft drink, for example scotch and coke or alcopops. Scotch on the rocks or scotch and soda will contain much less calories and than scotch mixed with soft drink.

The other misconception is that fruit juice based drinks are less fattening than soft drink based drinks. Although fruit juice is a healthier alternative, when you compare calories there is very little difference. The key is to watch how much you drink as it's very easy to consume a lot of kilojoules when you add mixers.

Go for clear cocktails over creamy ones

When it comes to cocktails, go for the clearer kind over creamy ones. Creamy cocktails will generally contain full fat milk, coconut milk, cream or coconut cream. These are high in the saturated artery clogging fat that is linked with heart disease. And as fat yields 37kJ/gram, creamy cocktails are often higher in calories than other cocktails. 

And if you're looking for a drink that will give you less of a hangover the next day, choose clearer drinks (eg. white wine, vodka) over coloured drinks (eg. red wine, bundy rum). Pace yourself and stay hydrated by having a non-alcoholic beverage between every drink, or as I like to say, a water between every wine. The current governement recommendation for alcohol is 2 standard drinks a day and 2 alcohol free days a week.

Start the day off well and the rest of the day will follow 

Enjoying a healthy breakfast will help you to continue that trend throughout the day. Go for a higher fibre breakfast choice, such as muesli or Weet-Bix with low fat milk. If you can only see one type of milk in a jug, chances are it's full cream. Always ask if they have low fat or soy milk available, as they often do but sometimes only provide it on request.

I combined the toasted muesli and All-Bran to make a yummy cereal

No cereal options available? It doesn't mean that you have to forfeit a healthy breakfast. Hot breakfasts can be just as good for you. Go for eggs (boiled, poached or scrambled) and plenty of vegetables, such as spinach, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes or baked beans. Make sure you have some low GI toast such as multigrain or sourdough to fuel your body with plenty of energy for the day. Avoid the fried foods like bacon, hash browns and sausages, and avoid the pastries section at all costs.

Good choice, plenty of vegetables

Poor choice, pastries are high in saturated and trans fat and overall high in calories

Be active in as many ways as you can

Now although our cruise ship had a jogging track and a gym, I'll be honest and say that I never actually used them. What I did do however (dragging the girls with me at times) was walk the stairs every day. And all of these steps add up. Don't feel that you have to take on a serious exercise routine when you are on holidays, but being active in as many ways as you can really does count and will help you burn off some of those unwanted calories.

Jogging track at sunset

Taking the stairs every day meant we were out of breath by the time we reached the deck

Be realistic, have a treat once in a while

Finally, don’t overly restrict yourself. Holidays are about enjoyment and engaging in activities with friends and family, and restricting yourself to the extreme will only result in feelings of isolation and chances are you’ll give in to your favourite foods anyway. Enjoy a treat or two over the course of your holiday, just not every day. 

Pina coladas are one of my favourite cocktails, so instead of having one of these every day I choose a special day to enjoy one, and let me add, it was in the spa, looking out into the ocean with the wind in our hair. I also bought the girls one so that we could all enjoy the moment together.

Summing up...

Weight maintenance on holidays can be challenging but it is possible. Make a plan and stick to your boundaries. Indulge in a treat or two over your holiday, and don't feel guilty about doing so! I still cherish that moment when I was sitting in the spa, drinking a pina colada and looking out into the ocean. I remember saying to my girlfriends, "Now this, is the life". That memory has not faded and gets me through tough days at work. Why was it so special? Apart from being in such amazing surroundings and company, I treated myself to something that I did not allow myself to have every day.

With holidays comes lots of eating and drinking, and often we can get lost in the moment if we don't have a plan. Although it might seem like a good idea at the time, I'd hate for you to return from your holidays a few kilos heavier and grabbing at your belling wondering where that roll came from. Remember that it is so much easier to put weight on than it is to burn it off, so don't forget how hard you've worked to get where you are.

And finally, get rid of the misconception that having a good time = eating as much bad food as you can. Pigging out on buffets and eating every course of a la carte will leave you feeling sluggish, bloated and uncomfortable, let alone the feelings of guilt that will start flooding in. Eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, lean meat, low fat dairy and low GI carbs. Enjoy your food, savour the moments and create some amazing memories!

Going on holidays but not on a cruise? Check out part 2 of my series - How to have a holiday without putting on weight: Asia

Thank you P&O

The food photos in this blog were taken by myself on a P&O Cruise in January 2011. This is an true reflection of the amazing dishes on offer, although the photos do not reflect the excellent service and friendly staff that served our meals and poured our drinks. Thank you to P&O for an experience of a lifetime.

Can jelly beans make you fat?

Let me paint a picture for you.

It's Monday afternoon and you've caught an official case of Mondayitis. Where did the weekend go, you wonder. You're feeling tired, worn out, maybe even a little brain dead. Deadlines have hit you like a ton of bricks. You check the time, it's only 3pm and the clock is ticking very slowly. What do you need? A sugar fix.

You reach for the communal lolly jar, grab some jelly beans, and wait for the sugar to rush into your blood to make you feel alive again. A few minutes later, you feel better. Good? Not good. 

Because in about half an hour or so, that sugar high that you've just experienced is going to come crashing down, to a much lower level than you started on. You'll feel tired and exhausted again, although this time much more than you felt to begin with.

A little man named Insulin...

You see every time you give yourself a sugar hit, a hormone called insulin is released. Insulin's job is quite simple. As it's dangerous to have sugar in your blood for long periods of time, insulin moves this sugar from your blood and takes it out into the cells. Once it reaches the cells, it can be taken to a number of places where it can be used as energy. Insulin is like a key that unlocks a door for sugar to be moved from one place to another.

So every time you give yourself a sugar hit, mr insulin man comes running out to do his job. The problem is that the bigger the sugar hit, the more insulin men that need to come out. So those jelly beans that you use to cure your 3pm slump are actually going to mean an influx of insulin men.

If only insulin men looked like firemen...

The bigger the sugar hit, the bigger your fat stores

Now an influx of insulin men means that the body ends up burning carbohydrate stores, rather than fat stores. This is because insulin's role, other than being the key to the door to release sugar from the blood to the cells, is to put a big stop sign up against any fat burning. Yes, this means Mr Insulin trys his hardest to hold onto your body fat!

Ok so maybe mr insulin man isn't so nice after all. You can imagine what happens when 10 insulin men come out to fight the fire. The bottom line is you'll be less likely to lose weight, in fact, chances are you will gain weight.

Do you know someone that eats high sugar, high GI foods all day and never really gets satisfied? I know several. They come into work, haven't eaten breakfast, then at 10am they grab a soft drink and a doughnut. Then at 11 they need another sugar fix because their first meal wasn't nutritious or satisfying. And it goes on and on for the rest of the day.

What's happening is that their sugar levels go from rock bottom to sky high, back to rock bottom and then sky high again, and so on. Imagine how their insulin men are feeling.. very worn out I would imagine. Their insulin men would be working hard all day long, the cells would be constantly forced to use sugar as their fuel source whilst in the meantime fat stores are slowly accumulating. Fat stores can accumulate in the muscles (a sign of insulin resistance), in the blood (called high triglycerides), in the liver (fatty liver) and around the waist (ie. a pot belly). Having constantly high insulin levels is not only going to lead to weight gain, but is also closely associated with risk factors for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

And the news gets worse. As insulin resistance is occurring and fat stores are increasing, these fat stores act as a physical barrier and block insulin from doing its job properly, meaning that more and more insulin men are required in the future to process the same amounts of sugar.

You have the control

The good news is that you have control over the efficiency of your insulin men. Like humans, if you overwork them (by consuming high sugar, high GI foods on a regular basis) they will become less and less productive, until they eventually crash and burn. Heard of people injecting insulin? In type 2 diabetes, injecting insulin is common as the insulin men have crashed and burned from being overworked. The body isn't making enough insulin so they need to get it from an external source.

So how can we maintain our sugar levels without the peaks and troughs and large insulin response? Is there a diet pill you can take to cure all of your problems and send you away on a romantic getaway with your fire.. ahem I mean insulin- men? No.

But there is an answer, it's called.....drum roll......

Glycaemic Index

Carbohydrates used to be classified as simple and complex. Now, thanks to lots of research, we have good evidence to classify carbohydrates according to their Glycaemic Index, or GI. 

Very simply, the GI is a scale of 0 to 100 that ranks carbohydrates according to their effects on blood sugar levels. Low GI carbohydrates (0-55) are digested and absorbed slower in the body, meaning they produce gradual rises in blood sugar levels. Whereas high GI (70-100) carbs are rapidly digested and absorbed, meaning they result in fluctuating sugar levels, with upward and downward spikes. There are also moderate GI foods which fit in between (56-69). The example I gave earlier of the lolly jar is what happens when you eat high GI foods. You might get a quick sugar rush, but as they say, what goes up must come down.

                                       High GI                                        Low GI 

                

Source: The Low GI Diet: Lose Weight With Smart Carbs, 2006

How do you tell the difference?

A common question I get asked is how do I know which foods are high GI and which are low GI? Unfortunately there's no mathematical calculation or formula that can easily separate foods into the 3 categories.

There are however some basic principles which can lead us to understand why some foods have a low GI, while others have a high GI.

The properties that affect GI are:

1. The type of starch. For example, amylose found in kidney beans absorbs less water and thus is digested slower than the standard potato, which contains amylopectin and absorbs more water.

2. Physical barriers. Foods like wholegrain cereals that have an outside 'bran' barrier means it's harder for the body to break it down, thus the process is slower and the food has a lower GI. If you compare these to cereals like cornflakes or rice bubbles, by being highly refined they can be broken down much quicker, meaning the GI is higher.

3. Sugar type. As mentioned in my post, Is sugar the enemy? there are many different types of sugar. Some sugars such as glucose have a very high GI (100), while others such as fructose have a low GI (19). Table sugar or sucrose, is made up of glucose and fructose, giving it a GI of 60. So the type of sugar in a food can affect its GI.

4. Fat and protein content. Fat and protein slow gastric emptying, so foods containing fat or protein will have a lower GI. For example chocolate (high in fat) has a low GI. This is not to say that you should eat lots of chocolate, but simply to demonstrate how fat can affect GI.

5. Acid content. Foods containing acids will also have a lower GI as acids slow the rate of gastric emptying like fat and protein do. Adding a vinegar or lemon juice based dressing to a salad will lower its GI. This is also why sourdough bread has a lower GI than most other white breads.

6. Processing. Highly refined or processed foods generally have a higher GI as they have already been processed into a form that is easier to digest. For example, rolled oats have a low GI whilst quick oats (rolled oats that have been ground up into a more processed form) have a moderate GI.

7. Cooking. Cooking swells starch molecules and softens foods which increases the rate of digestion, increasing the GI value. This is why having al-dente spaghetti (GI 44) is better than having overcooked spaghetti (GI 64).

 

If you are wondering what the GI is of your favourite food, go to glycemicindex.com and search for your food under the GI database tab. Diabetes Australia has some excellent information on GI. You can also check out my table below to see where your favourite food sits.

Not all low GI foods are good for you

I was recently asked why Coke (GI 53) has a low GI. Going back to my comments earlier about the type of sugar and their GIs, Coke is made using cane sugar meaning it will have a lower GI than a product made with glucose. Does this make it a nutritious drink? No. It's important to keep in mind that not all food and drinks (eg. soft drink, chocolate, ice cream) with a low GI will be healthy choices.

Don't forget that quantities are also important. Whilst low GI foods will help to keep your blood sugar levels controlled, this rule goes out the window if you eat huge portions of them. So the rule is, choose healthy, low GI foods in sensible portions.

Take home message

Low GI foods have many health benefits. When it comes to main meals, aim to include a low GI carbohydrate at each meal. This will mean you will have the luxury of feeling fuller for longer, and you won't be reaching for that lolly jar at 3pm! It's perfectly normal to be feeling hungry after a couple of hours post-lunch, so if you do feel like an afternoon snack, go for something nutritious like a piece of fruit, a tub of yoghurt, low fat cheese and wholegrain crackers or a small handful of nuts.

FOOD	LOW GI (slow acting)	MODERATE GI	HIGH GI (fast acting)
BREADS	Wholegrain / Multigrain breads Holsom’s® wholemeal Burgen® breads (except Burgen Oat Bran and Honey Bread®) PerforMAX® Vogels® Honey Oat Loaf Fruit loaf / Raisin bread Soy and linseed bread Pumpernickle Sourdough rye Soy and linseed bread	Rye bread Light rye bread Pita bread Hamburger bun Crumpets Croissants Ploughmans® wholemeal (smooth milled) Burgen® Oat Bran and Honey Bread	High fibre white breads e.g. Wonderwhite® White bread Wholemeal bread Dark rye bread English muffin (white) Bagels French baguette Gluten free white bread
GRAINS AND CEREALS	Pearl Barley Cracked Wheat (Bulgur) Buckwheat Pasta e.g. Spaghetti, Macaroni, Vermicelli Noodles, Fettuccine Noodles,  Instant Noodles, Soba Noodles Note: Fresh and dried pastas have a low GI – this is not the case for canned spaghetti. Doongara (Clever) Rice Wild rice Semolina	Basmati rice (Mahatma®) Long Grain Rice Couscous Taco Shells Aborio Rice Gnocchi Cornmeal	White rice Jasmine rice Tapioca Calrose rice Brown rice
BREAKFAST CEREALS	All-Bran® All Bran Fruit and Oats® Bran Buds with Psyllium® Rolled Oats / Porridge Special K® Rice Bran Oat Bran Barley Bran Guardian® Komplete Muesli® Toasted Muesli Healthwise for Heart Health® Goodness Superfoods® cereals	Instant 1 minute Oats Just Right® Nutri-Grain® Sustain® Untoasted (Natural) Muesli Vita Brits® Weet‑Bix® / Vita brits® Sustain® Shredded Wheat Plain Mini Wheats®	Bran Flakes® Coco Pops® Corn Flakes® Puffed Wheat® Rice Bubbles® Sultana Bran® Breakfast Bars Mini Wheats® (fruit filled) Fibre Plus Breakfast Bar®
MILK AND DAIRY FOODS	Milk – Full cream, Low fat, No fat, Flavoured, Soy, Almond Yoghurt – Plain, Flavoured, Regular, Low fat, Diet, Soy Drinking Yoghurt e.g. Yakult Ice Cream – Regular, Low fat, Diet Custard – Regular, Low fat, Diet	Oat Milk Vitari®	Rice Milk
VEGETABLES	Legumes e.g. Baked beans, Lima beans, Chickpeas, Split peas, Haricot beans, Kidney beans, Lentils, Soy beans,  Green Beans Sweet corn, Sweet potato, Carrots, Taro, Parsnip Carisma potatoes	New potatoes (canned only) Broad beans Pumpkin	Potato (baked, boiled, mashed) Instant potato French fries
FRUIT	Apples Banana Cherries Grapefruit Grapes Kiwi fruit Mango Oranges Peaches (fresh/canned in juice or light syrup) Pears (fresh/ in juice) Plums Dried apricots Dried apple Unsweetened juice e.g. Apple, Grapefruit, Orange Prunes	Apricots (fresh/canned) Paw Paw Peaches (in syrup) Pineapple Rockmelon Raisins Sultanas Figs Mango	Watermelon Dates Lychee (canned)
BISCUITS AND CAKES	Arnott’s® Jatz Westons® Highland Oatmeal Rich Tea Apple Muffin Banana Cake Sponge Cake Arnott’s® Snack Right Fruit Slice Arnott’s® Snack Right Fruit Pillow Vitawheat®	Arrowroot Biscuits Arnott’s® Milk Arrowroot Arnott’s® Shredded Wheatmeal Blueberry Muffin Bran Muffin Ryvita® Breton® wheat crackers Digestive biscuits Shortbread	Cruskits® Premium® Morning Coffee® Rice Cakes Corn Thins Kavli® Vanilla Wafers Water Crackers Sao®

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Image: Michelle Meiklejohn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net