Tips to Prevent Unwanted Christmas Kilos, Using Meal Replacements for Weight Loss, Road Testing Zero-Alcohol Wines and Bubbles And How to Say No to Food When It's On Offer

We take a closer look at one of the many zero alcohol wines you can now find, and our listener question is how to say no to food when it's on offer at Christmas time. But to start us off, it's our very last episode before Christmas, and we just wanted to take a few minutes to whish all of our listeners are very merry Christmas and a safe and happy holiday. Agent Williant and we.

weight game over the holiday period. And when we take a look at the research around holiday and specifically Christmas weight game, it's pretty strong research to show that the average adult will gain at least a kilo or two. And the most concerning thing about that is that we've tracked it and know that that weight is ready lost again. So it's kind of weight that is that insidious creep over time and we start another year a little bit heavier,

and it just continues to grow. And a really interesting research study that I had looked up because I was writing an article on this recently was an active intervention in the UK to help people try and prevent weight gain over the period. And one of these strategies was to weigh themselves quite regularly throughout the period, but also take some active steps around calorie consumption and exercise to help prevent weight gain. And the most significant predictor of

weight gain preventionally and was weighing yourself. Now, I know that that can be a controversial area. A lot of people, myself included, are not wayers. We don't hop on the

scales very often. But in its defense, what I would say is keeping an eye on your weight, whether it's weighing or even just measuring your waist or a belt measurement, is quite powerful in tracking because what we do know is that it's much much harder to get weight off once it's there, and the prevention is actually much more much easier to do and assimilate. So you know, keeping an eye on the scales and helping to prevent the creep is very a thing that you can do that

has an evidence based around it. But for mely and when we go into this period, for me, it's about mindset, because I think subconsciously we give ourselves permission to gain weight, and in the sense that we might skip gym sessions, or give ourselves permission not to exercise, or use the holidays as an excuse rather than an opportunity, and basically throw any kind of food rule out the window and give ourselves permission to eat vast quantities of foods we

never normally would saying because it's Christmas, Whereas I think that if you go into Christmas with the mindset that is, sure, I'm going to indulge in enjoy foods, but I'm not going to overeat and do minimal exercise. That's sort of the shift I like to see with my clients, and going into it as an opportunity sometimes to move more and take more control of your nutrition, of course, still whilst enjoying those key holiday dates. What are your main tips for your clients at this time of year.

and then it's too late. By the time we do jump on the scales or put on a you know, favorite pair of jeans in January, we're like, oh wow, these are like really tight. So I think it's just a little bit of sort of pre planning ahead. And if you know that you're someone who tends to start a new diet on January the first, or you know, be really disappointed with yourself in January because all your hard work's been undone. I think it's just a little

bit of that pre planning. And as you mentioned, Susie's about that mentality and giving up that sort of all or nothing mentality where just because it's Christmas it means that we need to overindulge. We absolutely don't. Of course, we can have some treats. Of course, we can have some delicious food and a few drinks and skip a couple of gym sessions if we want, but we absolutely need to aim for balance. Don't stop moving just because it's December, don't stop eating your salad just because it's

Christmas Day. All of these wonderful things that we do from a health perspective still matter and still count. And I think for my clients, I'm really you know, getting them to be quite mindful with social eating and particularly drinking and just watching calories from drinks just alcohol. You know, there's a lot of just juices, cordials, you know, fancy mocktails, that sort of thing around this time of year. You know, they go hand in hand with the extra socializing as well.

So I'm always wanted to say sort of try not to drink your calories because it's just not that filling. So whenever I'm at a restaurant, I'll basically just have a coffee or I'll have a glass of water. That's pretty much my ordun ninety percent of the time from a drink perspective, I would much rather sort of eat

my calories because it's a lot more fillings. So I think just doing some simple swaps this time of year can be really really helpful and not sort of putting your head in the sand and then coming out in January and being like, oh crap, now I've put on a couple of keel as. Now I have to lose it again. It's much easier to just maintain balance over December and then maintain balance over January than it is to sort of blow out in December and then have

to restart over in January. So I agree with you. I think it's more around that, just sort of thinking about what's happened to you in previous years and if you didn't feel great come January in previous years, and now is the time that we can do something about it.

as a way to compensate for that over consumption. And I know that sometimes there's a bit of resistance around promoting restrictive diets or buffering the effect of calories. But I think look, as human beings, we accept that at times we will eat too much. I think it's reasonable to expect the times we might eat lightly. And I

think that makes perfect sense. If you've had some really heavy meals with desserts and treats and cheese platters and a whole array of extras you wouldn't normally have for me, it makes sense that you would then have a day or two with light salads and fresh summer fruit and some light seafood to buffer it out. You know, we

can't just keep eating and eating and eating. And the other key thing I observe with my clients is that when I have a holiday period, I am excited because I know I'm going to have more time to exercise, whereas my clients are like, oh, who, I don't have to go and do exercise. So I think, you know, looking at the days off as as an opportunity to move more rather than an excuse to do less. Is it crucial. And it doesn't have to be flogging yourself at the gym. It can be a beach extra beach

walks or backyard cricket or that. It's definitely no excuse really to not be at least getting your steps in and it will be better for your digestion, it will be better for your sleep if you just still get those steps up and make the most of the longer days. So I think that's a really important part of it. And making the most of time with friends and family, or you might want time away from friends and family and use it is an excuse to go and walk.

So definitely it's not an excuse to do less. If anything, I would say it's time to do more.

had the speed humps and we'd like ride over them with their bikes. It was so fun when we were kids. You know, you can do your workout, or you can do some extra walking, extra steps around there while the kids are on their skateboards or their bikes. So really use it as a time that the whole family can get active. You know, the kids are stopping school soon or you know once this podcasts as long as the kids have stopped school, so you know they're generally moving less.

So instead of letting them spend hours in front of the TV or screens all that sort of thing, get them out into the fresh air and use it as a way that the whole family can get active and, as Susie said, be a little bit more active, because it's definitely the time of year that we want to start listening to our bodies and letting go of the rules. We don't have to eat breakfast just because we wake up.

If we wake up and we're not feeling hungry, honor that hunger, and you don't have to eat anything until you do feel hungry. But if you wake up and you're feeling really hungry, well then that's great. You can eat breakfast as well. I think we have a lot of too many sort of like rules or structure for sort of fifty percent of people, and the other fifty percent of people don't have enough structure within their day

and they're too flexible and they're completely off track. So I think having that little bit of structure but not being too rigid with diet rules and that sort of thing. This timing year, it's nice to find a healthy balance. So really try to tune in, listen to your body, and get the whole family involved in extra movement and activity at this time of the year. I think it is some really wonderful health focus behaviors.

see it, you'll keep eating it. So even freeze things if you can, so you've got meals for later. But definitely those more indulgent foods that really are special occasion foods and not foods we can eat every single day. The best to get it out of the house because otherwise you'll still be overeating. Come gendery, and that's where the extra kilos come from. It's not from the one off meal on Christmas Day. It's the overeating that occurs

over several weeks. So that's another big tip. Give it away, leave it at people's houses, don't take it home, get rid of it because ultimately there's probably calories that we don't need or even really want, but we will eat what's readily available.

my family. We've got dinner with David's family, and it's like Mom does like a six course meal just for lunch. I'm like, Mom, don't buy all that stuff. And as you go through Colls or wherever you do your supermarket shopping, you look into people's trolleys and they're just absolutely loaded. So we're just buying too much food at this time of year. So think about food wastage as well, guys. And I'm on board with this because my family does

it not so great at all. We always have too much food, so we don't need that much food as adultsal is what we think. We like, nobody is going to, I hope, go hungry at Christmas time. So maybe you know, if you're thinking, oh, buy this just in case, or I buy this treat just in case, probably not need it.

So if you're someone that really struggles to get rid of the leftovers and that sort of thing after Christmas, I think buying less is a great strategy to begin with because people, especially if you're having guests over rarely people come empty handed. You'll end up with so much more food than just what you buy. So I think not buying too much is a great strategy to begin with,

and I'm on board with you guys. This year, I'm going to try and minimize some food waste from my family, so I'll be That'll be a goal that I'm sort of setting for my family this year is not buying more than we actually need.

using meal replacements before surgery. It is particularly elective type procedures. So that's sort of the only area I really used them in my bass. I don't really use them in my clinic these days, but I know you had a bit of an interesting case study with a client using some meal replacements, didn't you, Susie.

and a number of those nutrients. So meal replacements can be marketed as an entire Mirr replacement, low calorie diet, which may be used before surgery as you described, where people replace three meals a day with a bar, a soup or a shake and then a little bit of salad or vegetables. Or you also see them used as a single meal replacement, perhaps as a breakfast or a dinner, as a low calorie option. Now it should be said

lely and these are a different from protein shakes. So protein shake may just have the nutrient protein in them and then you consume them with water or milk, whereas a formulated meal replacement will have a range of those different nutrients in it. They're quite different things, and so a protein shake is not a meal replacement, but a Mirr replacement could be considered a protein shake. So that's

the difference. So I have used them, as have you with surgeons pre surgery, to reduce the size of the liver.

If they are followed, they can induce keytoe, which is fat burning because the low calorie and low carbohydrate load induces ketosis in which you can lose weight relatively quickly, and as such they can be used as a prescription for people who have significant amounts of weight to lose weight quickly, and indeed there's a growing evidence space to show they're quite powerful and helping to reverse type two

diabetes if they can be followed. The issue for me, of course, with me replacement, is that it's quite a diet to be following. You know, I generally, as a dietian try and encourage my clients to eat whole foods and fresh, natural food and I would always much prefer them to be eating as opposed to swapping a meal

fresh shake. But I do use shakes, and if I have a client who wants quick weight loss or has say, you know, it is one hundred and fifty kilos and needs to lose twenty or thirty kilos very quickly, or wants to I will absolutely use them if they're open to it, or they may like it and have had great success in the past. And of course then there's always an art to returning to a normal diet and

grading up so you don't instantly regain that weight. But the client case study that I thought was quite relevant was I've had a female client who has severe insulin resistance, and she had lost using a general calorie controlled macro nutriment balance plan a good twenty I want to say, at least twenty kilos, and then she had quite a significant weight plateau, so she really was struggling. She'd hurt her ankle so was unable to do a lot of

structured activity. She was also a teacher, so I was doing marking and spending a lot of time sitting working at home, and she said to me, look, I want to I'm going to do mirror replacements for a couple of weeks just to get kick off the weight loss again.

And so she has been doing two mirror replacements a day and then one small meal, so still coming in about eight hundred two one thousand calories while she's so inactive, and you know she's continued now to lose another close to ten kilos just by having losing a kilo a week by this model. Now she I would say, Leanne is an anomaly. Most people I find have a lot of difficulty following that kind of strict regime for any

extended period of time. And hence my reluctance to commend or suggest it because I really like to try programs that people can sustain long term. But for that client, it was the right choice, and she asked about it, and I've just guided the process, and then our job will be to guide her to get her to her goal weight, but then make sure she doesn't regain the

weight once she stops using the MI replacement shakes. But yeah, I think they are absolutely a viable option, and I do use them, and I use them in both of those ways, either as a single MI replacement as a buffer, perhaps part of a fast stay if someone was doing a five hundred calorie diet once or twice a week, as a convenient meal on the go for busy people and in those extreme cases, or perhaps for people with

very high risk of type two diabetes. There is an evidence space to support their use as a total mirror replacement program. What I would say is, if you are starting the new year, and we will indeed spend a lot of time on New Year's diets in January when we come back on the nutrition couch, if you do think that you would like to try a shape program or incorporate shakes as part of your weight control plan

moving forward. You will get much better results in investing seeing a diety to guide you through the process because there is a process to it, particularly if you do full meal replacement for a period and then grade up to regular eating, and you will get much better results working with a dietitian to guide that than if you do it on your own, because there's an art to it,

as is the art of dietetics. And as I said with my client, I believe one of the reasons she's had such success is that we've worked closely together to manage hunger and strategy around that with the goal of not allowing that weight to be regained long term. So that would be my best advice. Any diet, including meal replacement or VLCD, will work, but the art to it is making sure that you adjust to normal eating again the right way to basically not undo all of your

hard work. So that's probably my take home message. Yes, they're a viable option for the right person, but you will get better results if you do it under supervision.

your surgery. So their motivation levels were really really high. But I feel like a lot of people, you know, in the general sort of public, will use them just to sort of replace one meal versus using the full two to three shakes a day as part of the

VSD program. So I really do think that if you are going to use them, as Susie said, make sure you're doing it in combination with the dietition because that such low calorie, like you're not just losing fat stores, you're also losing your muscle mass as well, so metabolically you're just going to you're not going to be great long term, and it's very very easy for that weight to come straight back on again the minute you return to a normal eating Your calories have to be slowly

increased over time, and as you start to introduce more carbohydrate favorite gram of carbohydrate, you eat, your body stores two to three grams of essentially water or fluid, so those scale is going to increase, but it might not necessarily be fat gain as you start to reintroduce some of the carbohydrates into the diet as well. But I think the biggest thing is to make sure those shakes are nutritionally complete. So, as Susie said, it's not just

a protein shake. It's not just a random product you find offline that has a bit of greens powder mixed into it in a bit of protein. It needs to be nutritionally complete, have all of our micronutrients plus our macro nutrients. So really on the box of the product, and probably the two biggest ones that come to mind, Susie are optifast and opti slim. I think Tony Ferguson does another one as well. Those three from memory are

all nutritionally complete. A lot of the other brands online or what influences promote and that sort of thing, are more just either protein shakes or quote unquote mer replacements, but they're not actually nutritionally complete, so they're lacking in

a lot of our micro nutrients as well. So I think just really as you said, Zuzie, I think the easiest option is just to go and see a dietitian or really just to do your homework and do your research and make sure that you're just at least having some baseline blood tests with you or with your doctor

as well. And anyone thinking about commencing a full VLCD program, a very low calorie diet program should absolutely one hundred percent without a doubt, either be working with a dietician or with your GP because as Zusi said, it can injuice cotosis, and there are a few medical conditions that

we would be sort of worried about as well. And you always used to always recommend baseline bloods at the hospital before anybody even started a VLCD program as well, and watching things like trago side levels and liver and that sort of thing.

and not That's what my client actually had said. She just wanted something easy to do. She didn't want to have to think about it for a while. And that is the right person. But if the whole thought of shakes is already playing with your mind, it's not for you. So you're absolutely right. It's for a very specific type of person. It can be effective for the right client, but you've got to match the diet to the person and that's the key always.

If you're going to do it for five days, then cheat for the weekend or eat some bread and you know, go out for pizza, in a couple of beers. It's not worth it, like you're just undoing all of your hard work. So unless you can be consistent with it, I would say for an absolute minimum of two weeks, if not probably four to eight weeks to at least get some proper results. If you can't be consistent for that long and mere replacements are not for you, They're just not going to work.

moving on to a different kind of drink. Chances are you have been drinking a little bit more than usual lately, or you may be one of the growing number of Stadans who are now using not to drink. And the good news for those people is there's a whole range of growing low and zero alcohol wines and beers availably. And I went to Dan Murphy's not Long ago to shoot a trolley from my Instagram, and I couldn't believe the growth in this area of low alcohol or zero

alcohol wines. Now I know that you've been indulging a little bit in these zero alcohol wines. We tried them all soosi this year, being with child, and so you have brought this brand to share with us today, which is called plus and minis. Plus and minus. I think plus and I'm just reading it. I can't read my own script. Plus and minis. I thought this extra you in there? Oh, plus and minus. Goodness, it's late in the year. Plus and minus. Then they've got a different

This is a range. I've picked the Pino Guzzio, but they've got a whole different lot, don't they? Which ones?

the zero alcohol reds, they just don't cut it. Susie, I really do think the sparklings are the better options, but some of them are just so sweet they almost taste like cordial and a lot of there's a few like you know, zero calorie fake gin mixes and that sort of thing, and I just find that they're so overwhelming from a sugar and a sweetness perspective. To me, it tastes like I'm just drinking a cup of cordial, and I'd actually just rather the drink water. So this

plus and minus brand is one of my favorites. One of my lovely Instagram followers sent it to me and she said, I've been drinking this while pregnant. Give it a go. It's one of the better brands, and I think it's probably you know, I've tried ten plus different brands and varieties and this is definitely one of my favorites.

So it is very low calorie. So even if you're not pregnant, it's a great option if you want to feel like you're having a social drink with you know, your friends or your family, but it's not water, for example. So this one, it comes in a standard one bottle, so it's seven to fifty meals. Calories per one hundred mills is twenty four. So if you were to drink that entire bottle of zero alcohol wine or all sparking, it's only about one hundred and eighty calories. So I

did that. I went to a dinner party and I probably had maybe three quarters of the bottle, just because you know, everyone else was having quite a lot of alcohol and I was sort of obviously the designated driver that day home. So I was sitting there with my you know, fake sparkling wine and it was all good

and it was quite enjoyable. I felt like I was able to, you know, partake in the social aspect of at all, but only you know, probably one hundred and fifty calories all up, and I had close to the whole bottle versus if I had drunk a whole bottle of champagne, Susie, that's close to six hundred calories, and a whole bottle of champagne or a whole bottle of wine can easily be upwards of six hundred calories, so

I think it's a great lower calorie option. It's a great option health wise as well, because we know too much alcohol is just not great for our health. And it's quite affordable, I think Dan Murphy's I bought a couple when they were on sale, and I think they were only about eleven dollars or something, and maybe full price,

perhaps maybe fifteen to twenty. So I mean it is, you know, probably quite expensive because it's not actually wine, but when they were on sale, actually thought it was quite a good option, sort of ten eleven.

actually sugar. But this in this pinnagotio, it does have not a lot, like you know, three point nine grams of sugars per hundred, so like you described, it's got about twenty eight grams of sugars in the entire bottle

if you were to polish that off. But that is significantly more than you are getting a little bit of sugar from this product, whereas when I've seen a few of the zero alcohol spirits in the cans, they're actually so low there's nothing really much in them other than a bit of flavor to the water, Whereas you do get a little bit from this. But like you described, if you're not drinking and you just want some flavor and it tastes good, it's probably sugar is well spent.

But I thought that was worth noting that it's a misconception that we actually get sugar from alcohol. It's just the alcohol that's giving us calories. And when we're drinking, the liver is so busy actually processing the alcohol content that we tend to store the food that we eat with it. So if we had a salad and a bottle of wine, we'd be fine, But because we have wedges and fried food, that tends to be stored. So that's a little bit of point of confusion around alcohol.

But yeah, so there is a little bit of sweetness in that, which perhaps is why it tastes half decent compared to the other ones exactly.

they're just happy to drink water. So I think, Marolo the story, you do you, but this is a great option if you want something that vaguely resembles wine or sparkling paid and doesn't cost you an arm and a leg to get. And I think is also an Aussie brand as well, which is nice.

And I think this is a big one, Susie, because and particularly I've had a lot of clients that have diagnosed celiac dicies. So people will go out of their way to make something like they're like I made this gooden free cake just for you, like you have to have some. I went out of my way to make it for you, and so you do you feel quite guilty, and you do feel quite rude saying no to it. But it is difficult as well. When I'm trying to teach my clients to honor their hunger, they just have

this enormous meal. They're like, I don't actually need a piece of cake, like or can I just have a really small slillet and then they cut them this enormous chunk be cause I, like I made it for you. You have to eat like a quarter of the cake.

So it is a it is a hard thing to do at this time of year, and I know a lot of other people feel quite a lot of pressure, perhaps from in laws, perhaps from family friends, perhaps from work colleagues to you know, go out and actually drink or eat the three course meal or you know, have the buffet style meals when just they'd be quite happy with a smaller type meal. So what are your tips around this time of year and saying no without offending family and friends.

way of managing it. But what I would say is accept it and then taste it, but just don't eat it, because very rarely do people really make sure you've eaten it if you think about it, So they make sure it's there and they've served you, and then when they go off, they don't often check again, so they're not

actually going to force it down your throat. So you're probably going to save yourself a lot of grief just by accepting it and either you know, giving it to somebody else or putting it on someone else's plate, or have a taste and put it back, so not put it back, but put it back on the table, or you know, when if I'm with people, I'll often put it on my husband's plate, you know, and he'll end up eating it, which isn't good for him really, But

you know, there's tricks, I think, but I think actually tackling it front on with family knowing European families, it's just all Asian families, it's just not even going to be possible. So yeah, I think sometimes accept and then get rid of as her little backdoor strategy. But I don't know if that's got no evidence space. As I said, that's just my what I find works personally.

It's much easier to make your plans known upfront when you arrived, versus when they're pouring the wine at the dinner table and you go, oh, no, no, no, for me, They're going to go, oh, just have a little bit, Just have a little bit. But if you make your plans known upfront, I promise it'll be one hundred times easier then when they're pouring the one at the dinner table. All you have to say is no, no, Remember I mentioned when I got here, I'm not going to drink.

It's just they've had time to process that. Or even with the desserts, just letting you know. I'm so excited Susie that you're having me at your dinner party today. I am just doing a little bit of juggling in terms of my health and nutrition. So I'm so excited to have the dinner party with you today, but I won't be having any dessert. I hope that's okay. So I think making your plans known upfront is a strategy

that I always use with my clients. Or the other one is just again honoring your hunger and just saying, I'm so sorry, I'm really fool that meal. It was so delicious, I'm so full. Would it be okay if I took some home with me? And that way you're not offending anyone. You're not saying I'm not having any, But it's like, can I just take some home with me? Then you can regift it to a colleague or a

neighbor or the babysitter or whatever it might be. All the other option is thank you that's so sweet of you. Oh you made that just me. That's so kind of you. I'll just have a little nibble as I'm really satisfied. The mill you created was so delicious. I'll just have a little nibble and I'll take the rest home with me. Is that okay? And again, no one can force food on you. If you're hungry like that, you know it's easy. If you're going to say, oh, I'm sorry, I'm darting,

they'll be like, no, no, have some, have some. But if you go at it from it, I'm really full, I'm trying to honor my hunger perspective. I think people will listen to that a lot more than oh, I'm trying to be healthy. I think people has an easier time trying to self sabotage you if you make it about health or weight, loss of calories. But I always find that if you say no, I'm actually really full, I couldn't possibly fit it in. Can I take it home with me? They respond a lot better to that.

There my tips and.

be people who kind of pick around it. They have a taste, they don't need a whole lot, And that's an interesting observation of people and when large amounts of food is available. And so what we want to be able to do is keep very mindful about it, and even if you accept it or are forced to accept it, whichever the circumstance, not have to eat it just because it's in front of us, and get very good at sort of tasting a little bit, putting it down, having

a little pick. Can you be surprised just that process of slowing down the eating and being mindful can reduce calorie intake bay up to thirty percent because you're not only registered that you don't even want it, you register that it doesn't taste as good as you thought that it might. You might register that you're really quite full, because you've just had a massive meal and what you're

getting pleasure from is the food mouthful or two. You don't need to eat the whole cake just because it's there. That there's certainly programming, behavioral programming where people will just keep eating just because it's in front of them. So another trick is to when it's there and you've had enough, push it away or move it to the side so that it actually comes away from your eye sight, just so you don't get into that habit of mindlessly having it.

I like the idea of making the intention known early in the piece, but I think I'm just thinking of my Italian family. If I said, if I said to Nona, I'm not going to be eating today, that wouldn't just go out. That wouldn't be happening. So you're better to take it and hope she doesn't notice that you didn't need it all later.

are you going to get some dessert with me? I'm like no, I'm so full, But how about we share something and honestly, SUSI, the dessert comes out, I might have two spoons of it and they have the other ninety percent of it, and it's like we shared, but you know, I've only had a couple of spoons. I'm really just tasting it versus is eating it. So I think that's a really important concept and definitely something you

can do at family gatherings as well. Or you know, if there's an uncle who really likes this food, have a little taste and say hey, uncle, do you want this? Or just put it down on the table, and you know, if everyone sort of walks away, no one's got to know that it was you that kind of didn't eat it, particularly if it's something that you taste and it's not that good. Like, really save those Christmas treats, you know, make those calories count and make it something that's actually

delicious and that you love. If someone's trying to force you'd eat something you don't actually like, I would push back quite hard on that and say no, that's not really my thing, but I'll happily have some you know, plum pudding later on or something like that.

new year is going to bring. We've got a plan for some very motivating and inspirational content as we move into what dieticians called diet season, which is January twenty twenty two. And especially we would like Twish, Leanne and David all the very best for the birth of their baby girl, which may have happened or maybe very imminent. I would say, we can't wait to see those photographs. So from me, Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year and healthy twenty twenty two on the way, and.