April 29, 2025 • 38 mins
On today’s episode of The Nutrition Couch, we’re tackling some key topics that many of you are asking about after the Easter break. Feeling sluggish and bloated? Struggling to get back on track with your health goals? We’ve got you covered with expert insights on sustainable weight loss, including the pros and cons of weight loss medications.
Susie and Leanne dive deep into the evolving role of GLP-1 medications (such as Ozempic, Wagovi, and Monjaro) in weight loss, explaining how they work and when they might be suitable for some people—especially when diet and exercise alone aren’t enough.
The duo also talks about weight loss plateaus and how they’re a normal part of the process. They share practical tips for pushing past plateaus, including calorie tracking, resistance training, and NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis)—and why consistency is key.
Plus, don’t miss our retreat announcement for an end-of-year health reset, where you can immerse yourself in nutrition education, yoga, and Pilates at Kingscliff.
And in our product review segment, Leanne highlights a hidden gem in the frozen food aisle—B-Fit Food’s Wholemeal Beef Lasagna. A healthier frozen meal option with clean ingredients and solid nutritionals, perfect for weight loss support.
Topics Covered:
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When is weight loss medication an option for you?
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The impact of GLP-1 meds (Ozempic, Wagovi, Monjaro)
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Overcoming weight loss plateaus
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How to reset your health goals with an immersive retreat experience
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Frozen meal review: B-Fit Food’s Wholemeal Beef Lasagna
Whether you’re looking to lose weight or just maintain a healthy lifestyle, tune in to this week’s episode for tips you can apply today.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
How are you feeling after the Easter break, energized and
on track or heavy, bloated and far from your best.
The weeks after holiday periods are known for being a
big reality check when it comes to our health goals,
and on today's episode of The Nutrition Couch, we look
at the different options when it comes to sustainable weight
loss and when weight loss medication may be an option
(00:22):
for you. Hi, I'm Susie Burrell and on Lyonne Wood,
and together we bring you The Nutrition Couch, the weekly
podcast that keeps you up to date on everything you
need to know in the world of nutrition as well
as all things weight loss options. We have some interesting
new data on weight loss plateaus. I have a frozen
meal I want to share with you. And our listener
question is all about whether we should eat before training
(00:46):
or not, but before we dive in to weight loss
and specifically when weight loss medication may be an optionally.
And we wanted to officially announce our retreat dates for
the end of the year. We had a very successful
retreat up in Kingscliff in March and we were very
quickly hounded by listeners about where we would be running
(01:08):
another one and at the moment, we have a opportunity
to run one again at Kingscliff from Friday, the thirty
first of October it is Halloween, until Sunday the second
of November. Now we've come across those dates for a
range of reasons. One was availability at Kingscliff, but we
also wanted to do it before it got too busy
(01:29):
at the end of the year, and also too hot,
because we love to be near the beach so we
can run our beautiful yoga and pilates with our gorgeous
instructor to nil. But it does get pretty steamy up there,
and also just life really gets manic, we find through November.
So we do have this opportunity to take another twenty
Ladies away. I can't stress how invigorating this time is.
(01:52):
You know. Not only do you get a one on
one session with Leanne or I, which is something that
some people might not normally have the opportunity to do,
where we really give you any individualized plan for your
health and nutrition goals. We have three different symposiums where
we discuss hormones, the psychology of eating behavior, women in stress.
We give you a chance to learn all about our
(02:13):
favorite products at the supermarkets and label reading and have
open q and as. We have gourmet meals, especially prepared
by the chefs at Kingcliff who do an amazing job.
We have pilates and yoga sessions every day, we have
daily walks like it really is an opportunity to really
immerse in your nutrition. But it's also a really relaxing weekend.
Because you have a SPA pass, you can also have
(02:34):
free time as much as you like to, so come
in the rays or go into town and shop. So
to me, it's just everything that a weekend away offers.
But on top of that, you can also get exposure
to a group of like minded, motivated women to really
fast track your health goals. We've had women from all
ages and life stages. We've had a gorgeous girl on
(02:55):
her baby moon. We've had young girls preparing to have babies.
We've got retired mums and women who are just looking
to optimize their health through the lifespan. We've had groups
of friends, we've had individuals. We've had girls from the country, Queensland,
Hearth like remote all over as well as the capital
cities Tasmania. It's just something that really I promise you
(03:17):
you will get something out of it if you are
interested and know that your health could do use a
little reboot. So if you are interested, all you need
to do is send us an email at admin at
the nutritioncouch dot com and we will get the information
to you because we do need to secure those positions
in the next couple of weeks, so it's important that
(03:37):
you get onto it. Bring a friend. We don't want
you to bring husbands or children. Save that family retreat.
This is really a time for women to really focus
on self and health. And I promise you you will
not regret investing in that experience.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, one hundred percent. So the husbands and children's a band.
It's for you to take time out for yourself because
two often women are too busy, they've burnt out, they
put themselves last on the priority list. And this weekend
is all about you, you coming first, you prioritizing your health,
your wellness, and just giving your self time to learn
to immerse yourself to just feel better and leave feeling
(04:18):
infigurated and rested and just full of motivation to head
back into the busyness of life. So, as Susie said,
please don't send us a DM. We are aw forward
checking them. We're in between social media managers at the moment.
We need some help there. Definitely send us an email.
We're much more over that, so adminute the nutritioncouch dot
com and we will be looking to secure the date
(04:38):
and the space if we have enough interest and yeah,
we can't wait for you to join us, come hang out,
have an incredible weekend. And we will say that about
seventy to eighty percent of our attendees from the past
we've run two retreats now very successfully, they've come solo.
So don't feel at all awkward or weird or worried
or scared if you're coming by yourself. The majority of
(04:59):
our retreat tendies have actually come by themselves. There's only
a handful that have come. We've had mother daughter, Joe's,
we've had best friends, we've had some work colleagues, we've
had sisters, but that's fewer and Vira in between. You're absolutely,
of course welcome to bring somebody, but most of our
attendees do come by themselves. So don't at all feel
awkward or worried if you are coming solo, because I
(05:20):
promise you you will just have the best most relaxing,
knowledgeable time and you'll leave just feeling so so wonderful.
So yeah, we can't wait for you to join us.
Send us an email admin at the Nutritioncouch dot com
and we will send you some further information on our
Kingscliff October slash November retreat.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Perfect All right, Leanne, Well, we do try not to
focus too much on a weight based conversation, but when
we have surveyed our listeners, I think ninety percent or
something huge we're interested in weight. So we thought after
Easter and particularly holidays because for a lot of the
listeners you will have noticed sort of AUSTRAYA has been
on a bit of a shutdown for the last couple
(05:57):
of weeks because school holidays things really tend slow down
and all of the public holidays enrollment, a lot of
us have taken a couple of weeks off. Now, inevitably
that means that a lot of diets and lifestyle regimes
are off track. You've got children in the way, partners,
everything's a mess, lack of structure, etc. A lot of
tempting foods around, and inevitably we get a barrage of
(06:17):
inquiries about our nutrition, weight loss and coaching services around
this time. So I thought of the back of an
article that appeared in the Sunday Papers nationally last weekend
about the increasing number of medical doctors prescribing golp one
or weight loss medications like Wegovi, Ozen Peak Munjaro without support.
(06:42):
And indeed, I do see and hear this all the
time in my own nutrition practice, where I tend to
specialize in hormones and weight loss, that there is great
interest in weight loss medications, but I would argue that
up to eighty ninety percent of people have prescribed them
without any specific dietary info, which is absolutely appalling because
in a minute, I'll talk about why these weightless medications
(07:04):
are right for some people and how they work, but
without intensive diet and lifestyle information, you basically are paying
a lot of money for something that's I'm likely to
be sustainable long term. So first of all, I wanted
to give some context, Leanne and you just jump in
whenever around how I would categorize weight loss and when
I'm looking at someone who may need that help. So
(07:26):
I would firstly say that if someone's got to lose
less than ten kilos without any significant medical history, so
say you're forty two years old, your weight's crept up
from sixty kilos to even eighty kilos in the past
ten twenty years, you're starting to notice the changes of menopause, perimenopause,
You've had your kids, or just sort of in that
(07:47):
child rearing era of life. Generally speaking, I would say
that unless you are predisposed to type two diabetes or
have had gestational diabetes, I would very rarely, if ever,
encourage or need weight loss medication if someone needs to
lose less than say, twenty kilos even and is sort
(08:08):
of no significant hormonal dysfunction. So in that case, unless
you had already tried diet and intense lifestyle intervention, seen
a dietician, seen someone who's deeply experienced in weight control
like Leanna or I or Land's associates, and really given
yourself three to six months of lifestyle intervention, generally speaking,
(08:28):
you won't need medication. You should be able to successfully
achieve a calorie deficit, exercise, and be able to create
a sustainable model of lifestyle change. Now, the difference is
if someone presents who is already eating pretty well, exercising regularly,
and carrying more than fifteen twenty kilos or has a
waste measurement over one hundred centimeters with a history family
(08:52):
history of type two diabetes. That's when I will flag
that there may be a need or an option of
introducing weight loss medication to help the process. And the
reason I say that is that for people who are
carrying significant weight even though they live a relatively healthy lifestyle,
already exercising, eating fairly well, and they're still struggling to
(09:15):
lose weight, if their insulin levels are clinically high, it
will actively block fat loss. And that's the case where
we'll start a client on a calorie controlled, macronutrient balanced
meal plan. They're exercising and the scales barely move. And
that is when in the old days, going back ten
twenty years before we had this latest weight loss medication range,
(09:36):
we would use what's known as met forman, which is
an oral medication that helps the cells ability to metabolize
insulin and glucose and helps with weight loss. So in
the old days, ly end, we didn't have glps, we
didn't have ozmpeg. If people had insulin resistance, we would
put them on met form and in conjunction with a
GP or endocrinologist, and over time three six, twelve months
they would lose weight and keep it off with that medication,
(10:00):
though not as rapidly as the latest weight loss medications,
and indeed today lean If I have a client who
is intro and resistant struggling with weight loss, I will
always go to something like met Foreman, unless they're glucose
levels and insulince are so clinically high that I would
go straight to a more aggressive GLP one. So that's
the first thing. If you've only got a handful of
(10:20):
kilos to lose, less than ten, definitely even less than twenty,
and you're relatively young, you don't have a family history
of diabetes, I would be very reluctant to put you
on weight loss medication. The reason is that it's expensive
and you still have to change a diet and lifestyle.
And this is the thing. A lot of doctors are
giving the prescription out without support, and you might take it.
(10:41):
You've got impaired appetite, you don't eat much, you lose weight,
significant amount of muscle mass, which is what the evidence
is showing, and then of course as soon as you
go off it, you put it all back on. It's
just defeats the purpose. And I guarantee that that's fifty
sixty seventy percent of people using it and not using
it in the right way. Then there are those who
absolutely need it. So that would be someone who presents
(11:02):
to me with family history of type two diabetes, they
had gestational diabetes with their pregnancies. They're over one hundred kilos.
They are so tired and fatigued and hungry that they're
finding it very difficult to be diet compliant. Absolutely, I
will say, look, I'm happy to try without, but you
are a perfect candidate for something like Manjaro, which is
(11:23):
the one I tend to be erring towards in conjunction
with medical support at the moment, because it's dual acting
and sort of the latest medication. It's sort of taken
over OZ and PAK in terms of efficiency and in
conjunction with diet and exercise. Working every bit as closely
as I would with someone who's not on weight loss medication,
we will achieve that weight loss results, and then wean
them off over time. It's always my preference to not
(11:45):
continually increase the dose of these medications. My preference is
to keep it as low as possible, use it as
an aid to help reduce appetite, improve insulin action, and
in conjunction with a very prescriptive and supportive diet, which
is the kind of coaching Land and I work it.
We speak to our clients daily often to give them
those results within that supportive environment. They're getting the twenty
(12:06):
thirty forty kilos off over a six twelve month period
and then learning to control their weight either on a
low dose of medication or learning to wean off. Now,
in general, there is one group, Juniper, which is an
online program who I'm consulting to, who do offer online
support for GOLP one medication, but that's one of the
(12:26):
only ones. Most situations see people go online get the
medication prescription or see the doctor get it without any support,
which is to me just such a bad move. So
at a minimum, you need to enlest something like Juniper
and get support, and if you can or want to
commit to something like a dietician, you will get superior
results every time. I think Leanna and I are confident
(12:47):
in our skills to say that we will help you
use the medications the right way, wean off at the
right time, and learn how to eat to control the
body weight you want without this cycle of dieting that
you'll see. So I know there'll be people listening thinking
to myself, I've tried, I'm still not losing weight, I'm
not feeling great. Is it for me? But that would
(13:09):
be the categories. How much weight do you have to lose,
do you have any significant medical history? Have you really
committed to proper diet and exercise? And if you do,
decide to give them a go. At a minimum, go
for an online program like Juniper that will support you,
or even better, enlist the support of a dietician one
on one and that will help you achieve your goals.
Use the medication the right way, and then wean off
(13:31):
appropriately at the right time, rather than thinking that it's
a short term thing that you go on and off
pay hundreds of dollars for, and I promise you the
negative effects on your body composition will be far worse,
because that's what we're learning. We're learning that people that
take them sure might lose weight in the short term,
may lose ten to twenty kilos quickly, but they also
lose a significant amount of muscle mass, which ultimately compromises
(13:53):
their metabolism long term. So that's where I'm sitting at
with them at the moment. Lean and I reckon about
twenty to thirty percent of my clients are on a
weight loss medication, whether it's a Nose and pea Corman Jarro.
But as I said, I will try many different things first,
and I still often go back to met form and
it's still a really effective medication, a very effective cellular
(14:13):
health medication, and it's slower, but it does absolutely work.
And for my pery and postmenopausal women with high Waiste measurements,
often I'll be suggesting that is worth a discussion with
their doctor because there is a lot of cellular health
benefits because we're not just dealing with weight here. We're
dealing with setting your body up metabolically to be its
healthiest long term as well as lose weight. So what
(14:36):
do you think of that summation?
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yeah, yeah, I agree, And I think that the power
of actually working one on one with a dietisian is
so important because you know, people are spending hundreds hundreds
of dollars a month on these medications. Yeah, they turn
around and they go, oh, I don't want to see
a dietitian. It's like dietitians are far far cheaper than
the medications in most cases, but most people will need
both of them. So even if you're utilizing the medications
(15:01):
it's working, you don't want to use them forever, or
most people don't need them forever. So actually enlisting the
help of a dietician can be really helpful, if not initially,
then definitely as you start to win off and you
actually want to maintain that weight loss. And I guess
that probably leads us nicely into the next section. And
as you said, is we don't want to talk or
have a primary just focus on weight loss all of
(15:22):
the time, but there is a lot of questions that
we get. There is a lot of listener topics that
come through, and weight loss is always at the top
of the list for basically i'd say ninety percent of
questions that come through. So another one was really talking
about weight loss plateau. So that sort of leads us
from talking about weight loss medications into talking about weight
loss plateaus. And it is something that a lot of
my clients will sometimes say to me, Oh, I've hit
(15:44):
a plateau this week, and I say, no, no, it's
not a plateau. That's just a very very normal part
of weight loss. Because to me, a weight loss plateau
would be a good three to four week period without
any real movement on the scale. If you don't lose
weight for a week, I'm not even concerned. If my
clients on the scale they say, oh, it's the same
as last week, and I've lost so well for three
weeks in a row, I had to say, that's normal.
(16:05):
We have females, most of us, you know, have menstrual periods,
we have hormones. The scales do tend to fluctuate. So
as long as that weight is continuing to move down
every one to two to three weeks, you're still on
a good track. You're still maintaining that consistent fat loss
over time. But a plateau, to me, is really where
that weight is stalled for a good three to four
weeks in despite really being consistent with the plan. And
(16:28):
that's really the key word there, is consistent. If you've
come out through Easter and you know, you've had a
few too many Easter eggs, we've had a lot of socializing,
We've you know, probably had a few cheeky glasses of wine,
and your weight hasn't moved. That's really not a plateau.
That's just you being human like the rest of us.
We haven't been as consistent with our diet over Easter,
and obviously the weight loss is stalled. So a plateau
(16:48):
really needs to be that you're consistent with your goals,
your nutrition in a calorie deficit, your exercise, and the
scales aren't moving. So there was a recent article from
New Atlas and that did just scuss some points about
weight loss plateaus, and as I mentioned, plateaus are really
that I guess, really frustrating period in between weight loss
progression where it just basically completely stalls. So it is
(17:12):
a very natural part of the journey. Everybody will see it.
People who tend to have less weight to lose will
probably see more plateaus in between their journey than people
who have larger amounts of weight to lose. They will
probably consistently see that scale moving down most if not
all weeks, but most of us will eventually hit some
form of a plateau, some people within a few weeks,
(17:33):
other people you know, that might take six months, but
most of us will hit a plateau eventually. So this
article basically analyzed some of the data that came out
of the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet program, and from that
data set, I think the original data set had something
like over twenty thousand adults analyzed, but from this data set,
(17:54):
they took just over six thousand participants and they looked
at the individuals that had lost a significant amount of weight,
and significant being defined by at least five to ten
percent of their body weight. And they looked at those
people who experienced plateaus, who had lost a significant amount
of weight, and basically, what the article was suggesting that
plateaus were a very normal part of the weight loss
(18:16):
journey basically, and it meant that they were sort of
inferring that a weight loss plateau was the body's way
of adjusting to changes and weight and metabolism over time,
and rather than being you know, discouraged or upset by it,
people should really be encouraged by it and to view
it as a really temporary part of their journey long
(18:36):
time being. The key takeaway in a weight loss plateau
is just to push forward and maintain that consistency because
all of these people who experience that significant amount of
weight loss within this data set, and I'm talking, you know,
most of these people lost between ten to twenty kilos
and were able to maintain this after a year, so
it's a significant amount of weight they were able to
(18:57):
maintain that. The majority of these people experience regular plateaus
as part of their journey, and when you think about it,
twelve kilos is a lot of weight to lose, and
most of these participants in the Darta set had lost
that over twelve months, So that's only two kilos a month.
It doesn't sound like a lot like everybody wants to lose,
you know, five ten kilos in four six weeks, or
(19:18):
do these gym eight week challenges and lose eight kilos
in eight weeks. But really, the quicker you lose it,
generally the quicker it comes back on again. So slow
and steady often wins the race when it comes to
sustainable fat loss. But if you're talking about twelve kilos
over twelve months, you were going to have weeks and
probably even months in there where you may experience a plateau.
So plateaus are very normal. We can overcome them. And
(19:40):
I've got a couple of little tips for our listeners
today to overcome some plateaus. Before I pass over to you,
Susie but I think the most important takeaway for our
nutrition couch listeners is just to reinforce the importance of
healthy eating. Like you have to move your body regularly,
you have to eat well of regularly. It doesn't matter
if the scale isn't reflecting it. You just have to
push and keep going because plateaus are a very normal
(20:02):
part of the weight loss journey. And if you fall
off the wagon or quit every time you have a
weight loss platau, you're never ever going to actually achieve
the goals that you want to achieve long term. So
if you have found yourself in a bit of a
weight loss plateau, and as I mentioned previously, I sort
of consider that with no real movement, despite consistency with
your diet, with regular movement, after about three to four weeks,
(20:25):
what I would say is track everything, really be consistent
and ensure you actually are eating in a calorie deficit.
Track your food, track your drinks, track your weekends and
your alcohol, even if it's just for one week, to
really know how much is going in and reassess your calories.
Do you need to drop them down further? Because if
you've lost ten kilos eating x amount of calories and
(20:46):
now you've hit a weight loss platau, your body has
probably adapted down to that and you need to do
something different. Are you drop your calories further or change
up your nutrition or movement to allow that weight loss
to continue on? So reassess your calories. In some people
it may actually mean getting out of a deficit for
a little while, i e. Reverse dieting, increasing your calories,
(21:07):
giving your body time to improve itself metabolically, giving your
body a break from a calorie deficit before diving back
into that deficit again in a few weeks or months later.
So just have a reassessment of your calories. Ensure that
you're doing some resistance training, because the more muscle you have,
the better you metabolism, the better fat loss is going
(21:28):
to be. And if you are already doing some resistance training,
perhaps try something like some progressive overload. Just change up
the type of movement that you're doing. And talking about movement,
the other tip for plateaus is really to boost your NEAT.
So NEAT stands for non exercise activity thermogenesis NEAT. It's
a fancy little term that essentially means any movement that
(21:49):
isn't formal exercise. So get some more steps in, take
the stairs, get off the bus or the train, stop
early and walk that little bit further home, or walk
that little bit further into water. Any extra movement you
can do to boost your neat will kick you out
of a plateau and generally keep that fat loss happening
for you. And the last thing is just to be patient,
(22:10):
because plateaus are normal. As we mentioned, there's nothing wrong
with them. We all hit them, myself included when I
was dropping my postpart and baby weight. Plateaus are very
very normal, and sometimes it takes the body just that
little bit of extra time to recalibrate, to get used
to what the body's been doing before it decides to
drop down a little bit more weight. And sometimes a
lot of my clients will only see a weight loss
(22:32):
drop every second week, and the weeks in between are
fairly stable. Altho, they might even bounce up that little bit,
and I have zero concern for that as long as
overall the trend is we're tracking down when the goal
is basically a calorie deficit and fat loss. What do
you think, Susie, you see many weight loss plateaus as
part of your critical practice.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
I do, and it's actually funny because my clients will
often mention, am I going to platow? Am I going
to plateau? And I say, oh, it takes a while,
like I would expect you get off at LEAs five
seven killos or a sort of three four months in
before I'm expecting one. So it's certainly not something that happen.
A plato is you know, significantly down the track. You know,
it doesn't just happen a week or two in, So
that's important to clarify. I think what I found interesting
(23:13):
with this data was that the average you know, the
platos range over a year long process or two year
process for three to six months of Plashoh, like that's
pretty long. I wouldn't be that happy with that, you know,
I would try and get my clients off a plateau
after a sort of three four weeks maximum. And like you,
what I do is measure as well as way, so
as long as sort of one or the other's changing,
(23:35):
because that suggests a change in body composition. Because what
happens is you may not see a change in the
scales because of changes in water mass or hormone levels
or salt intake. But if you're noticing, say your measurements
are reducing, particularly around the waiste. That's indicative of body
fat loss. Now I don't necessarily agree with you, of course, Leanne.
I worship the ground you walk on. But one thing
(23:56):
I would say is sometimes when clients have lost, you know,
and a calorie deficit, sometimes I find they might need
a little bit more calorie or a calorie at a
specific time of day, or a little bit more carbohydrate.
So I'll certainly play with the macro balance. So yes,
on one hand, it may be having too much or
not sticking to a deficit, or sometimes the body's just
(24:16):
really become used to the same old regime, so they
might have been having the same breakfast, the same calorie,
the same macro load. So I'm just trying to constantly
mix things up as well as have what I call
light and shade, so heavier days, lighter day. So ultimately,
for metabolism and changes over time, it comes down to
changing up the routine. And often people eating a very
(24:37):
similar type of food or calorie load for long periods
of time, and it's really just time to mix things up,
and in some cases they may need a little bit
more food as well. As we've just spoken about at
some point it might be suggestive of hormone issues that
needs managing, but I think it just really reiterates to
us that a week or two out of similar weight
is not a plateau. You're really looking at months at
(24:58):
a time. So sometimes it's just a action to be
leaning in or changing things up, but that sort of
no distinct changes can take several weeks. But I wouldn't
be happy with three or six months on a plateau. No,
But the message of the research was just keep at
it and adjust things rather than get discouraged, basically, and
it's normal for the body to go through those adjustments
(25:19):
as it's recalibrating its body composition. So I think most
importantly the take home message is if you've got a
significant amount of weight to lose twenty thirty kilos, you've
got to give yourself the time. You know six months
won't be enough, you need to give yourself that year,
and if it's more than that, even two to allow
that recalibration to occur. And I think that gives people
space and time, which in busy lives is often all
(25:41):
we need. So yeah, I thought it was really interesting data.
So onto our product review segment leanne and I wanted
to talk about this. It's not a new product, but
it's really taken my eye in the sense that I
often am asked about healthy, frozen or convenient meals in supermarkets,
and I do struggle a little bit as whilst there's
a couple that aren't too bad, a lot of them
(26:03):
are heavily processed with ingredient Lisa mar Long and they're
heavy carbohydrate in nature, Whereas I wanted to highlight this
brand because I think it's actually really good product and
it's one of the few that I sort of routinely
go to with my own clients. So it's the Beefit
Food range. Now the Beefit Food range has got sort
of a yellow packet, and Kate save was on I
(26:23):
think she was a Telstra Businesswoman of the Year or
actually pitched it on Shark Tank some time ago, and
she's known in the dietetics world for doing like Keto
more approach. But I want to really emphasize that these
are not low carb meals. They're just simply lower carb.
But I really like them because I find they're the
cleanest frozen meals that you can find in supermarkets. And
(26:44):
there's about three or four different products across the supermarkets Willies,
and I think Calls too. They tend to be at
the top of the freezer section. But I'm just going
to review today the whole meal beef lasagna because I
think yes, nutritionally, they really stand out with very strong nutritionals.
So the meals are two hundred and seventy five grams,
they're not massive, and this one I've chosen that's got
(27:04):
twenty two grams of protein, seventeen grams of carbs, no
added sugar, less than five hundred milligrams of sodium, and
two hundred and fifty eight calories, so very tight nutritionals.
But most importantly land when I look at the ingredient list,
it's so incredibly clean for a frozen product. So the
ingredients of tomatoes twenty five percent beef mints, which is
incredibly high for a pre made meal, followed by broccoli onion.
(27:25):
Whole meal ares ongn your sheets. So a whole meal
option is again zucchini, carrot, tomato, rapottera, olive oil, skim milk,
palmers than garlic, stock, black pepper, mixed herbs like you
really couldn't get a cleaner ingredient list if you made
it at home, like, that's how strong it is. And
at a price point, See they're on sale. They're usually
thirteen dollars ninety per so not inexpensive, they're on sale,
(27:45):
and when I'm recording this at seven dollars, which is
much more affordable, but it just emphasizes the end that
when you're paying for better quality product, it is more expensive.
I'll just go through the nutritionals again because that's just
the call out on front of pack. So two hundred
and fifty eight calories, twenty one point nine grams of protein,
which is a good amount for a meal, ten point
(28:08):
six grams of fat perserve four gram stat traded, which
is pretty low, sixteen point sent grams of carbs, six
point six grams of sugar which is naturally occurring, and
four hundred and fifty nine milligrams of sodium. Now I know, Leam,
what you're going to say, they're too small, but I
just I just wanted to highlight them because I think
(28:28):
that when brands are making really good products, we should
support them. And nutritionally, it is a far superior frozen
meal than ninety percent of what else is there. So
even if you need to block it up with a
bit more salad. I think as a lunch meal, as
a light dinner, like, I really like them. Yes, they
(28:48):
are light, but you know, talking about weight loss medication
for people with significantly reduced appetite as well, they are
also a really good choice. So yeah, I just think
they're good for those times when you need a light
meal option or a lighter lunch, And if you had
that with a piece of fruit for lunch, it would
tick the box nutritionally, it would be filling. It's very clean,
very healthy, and I'm a really big fan of the range.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Yeah, I agree, I like them, but I wouldn't call
them billing, like I would need at least two of these.
I've tried them and they barely touched the sides for
me anyway.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
But here are six foot tall and not on a
GOLP one.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Yes exactly, but I think that for most women who
are trying to lose weight, who aren't on weight loss medications,
they're probably not enough. But I agree. I like the nutrition,
the ingredient list. It's very very wholesome. Protein is really good,
Like twenty two grams of protein for two hundred and
fifty calories is unreal, Like, that's very good protein for
very low calories. For most of my clients, I would
be definitely putting more salad le veggie bulk in there. Plus,
(29:43):
like you said, maybe a high protein yogurt or a
piece of fruit or something as well, something to buffer that,
a handful of nuts or something as well. I sort
of like my ladies more towards that four or five
hundred gram calories for active women anyway, again depending on
body size requirements, that kind of thing. But yeah, I
like them. I can't fault them. Just not very feeling
at all. So if you're an active person, it's not
(30:03):
going to touch the signs. But if you are someone
on a weight loss medication you don't really have an appetite.
This is probably a really really good range to go for,
and you're not going to find a better ingredient list
on the market when it comes to particularly something like
a beef lasagnia.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Yeah true, Okay, all right, Leanne, Well, are we allowed
to announce that you've got a special guest coming on
your Leanne Ward Nutrition podcast?
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Yeah? Yeah, we're allowed to. So.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Leanne has secured an interview with leading global physiologist doctor
Stacy Simms.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Yeah, I know. It's such of the second time she's
been on my potty. Yeah, it's five years ago since
I've had over.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
When is this dropping, Leanne? When is this breaking episode dropping?
Speaker 2 (30:43):
We hope in the next one to two weeks, so
pending when you're listening this. If you're a bit slow
to the potty uptake, it might already be here. If
you're one of our fan favorites and you're listening on
the day that it's dropping, you may have to wait
just a week or two, but hopefully in the next
few weeks. So hopefully it should be out by May,
basically May two thousand two.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Okay, so Leanne can get on to get her work
done and just hurry that up a little bit. But
if you haven't didn't know already, Leanne has another podcast,
Leanne Moore Ditriation Podcasts, which covers literaship topics in great detail.
I have been lucky to be a guest, but she
I think I've spoken about hormones before. Actually that's an
old episode, but yeah, doctor Stacy Simms is coming up
and really talking about the physiology of women and training
(31:21):
and hormones, and I know that one of the things
she heavily talks about in her work is that women
should not train fasted in the mornings. And I had
this question come through on our instagram, the Nutrition Couch
podcast Instagram to say should they be having what she suggests,
which I'm sure you'll cover with her and your talk,
(31:41):
a coffee smoothie with protein in it before she trains.
But I wanted to talk about that a little bit
because I've got some thoughts on it. But first of all,
you share your thoughts after speaking to her about whether
women should be training faster or not, and then I'll
add my two cents worthy after that.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Yeah, So I'll just go on to say that doctor
CEC Simms is one of the most affected researchers in
the female physiology and fitness space in the world. If
you are not regularly training and exercising, she probably isn't
few Like she's a high level athlete herself. She works
with some of the top athletes in the world. She's
one of the very few researchers who are just focused
(32:16):
on females and their natural physiology i e. Hormones, menstrual cycles, menopause, etc.
So she has done a lot of research in this space,
and you know, we're hearing more and more about it.
But her general I guess god or her general advice
is that most women shouldn't regularly train fasted, especially if
(32:37):
their goal is to improve their fitness, their long term health,
hormone balance, or their exercise performance overall. So, as Susie mentioned,
she breaks it down further in an episode on my
podcast Lean More Nutrition, which should be at by May
twenty five. But in summary, she basically says that because
females have a very unique physiology and hormonal profile, we
(32:59):
really shouldn't be training fast because our bodies are particularly
sensitive to what she calls energy availability. So when we
train fasted, and what that means is that there's no
food or calories going in before a workout. So if
you were training at six pm in the nighttime, I
would expect that you have eaten multiple times throughout the day,
so you are not training fasted. Faster training is generally
(33:20):
first thing in the morning. You're waking up and you're
doing a five six seven am class and you've had
nothing but maybe a couple of SIPs of black coffee
or water. That is essentially what we call training fasted.
She doesn't like, and more and more research is pointing
out that, particularly for hormonal control, that it can increase
stress hormones such as cortisol. She doesn't like people doing
it regularly, particularly when the type of training is high
(33:43):
intensity training, are you CrossFit training, sprint or interval type training,
or when you're at a certain phase in your menstrual cycle,
because it can actively negatively impact on your hormones and
your energy level and even muscle retention. So, if your
goal is to train to get fitter, faster, stronger, improve
your lifts, hit a new PB, you really shouldn't be
(34:05):
training faster. But it's not a hard no for everybody.
If you're waking up and you're going to walk the
dog at five am, do it faster. It's probably fine.
If you're doing a light yoga or a blight plate session,
it's probably fine to do faster. But when you are
lifting weights, when your goal is to get stronger, when
you're doing HIT or you're training for a performance BACE benefit,
(34:25):
you will get more out of your session, you will
basically cater to your hormones better, and you will recover
better with a small amount of fuel on board. So
her I guess big thing is what's called protein coffee.
So basically for women in their thirties plus, thirties, forties,
fifty sixties and beyond, she recommends about fifteen grams of
protein a few SIPs of coffee. The coffee just giving
(34:48):
your mental alertness and giving a bit of energy, and
the fifteen grams of protein helps to cross the blood
brain barrier and basically helps to buffer some of that
muscle mass kind of breakdown. And it also helps to
add onto the post training recovery that we want to
give in terms of protein as well. So the old
I guess school, when I went through and I did
my sports ielic training, we will always sort carbs, calves,
(35:09):
carbs for exercise, So a few bites of a banana,
a couple of madual dates, a bit of jam on
toast if you're doing a really really big session like
a big CrossFit session or something. But now she's saying
the research is more focused on protein for women with
I guess hormonal concerns, i e. Perimetapause, that sort of thing.
So she's saying fifteen grams of protein before breakfast. She
(35:29):
puts fifteen grams of protein powder into cold coffee. If
you add it into hot coffee, it tends to curdle
and lump together. It's not that nice. And then she'll
drink that down. And if you're having a bigger session,
like a CrossFit type session, or you're really going for
some big heavy lifts and you're doing a big compound
movements in between, a bit of carb as well, so
a few bites of a banana madual date on top
of that. But she's saying all women should be focused
(35:51):
on a small amount of protein to then feed it
forward and essentially help with that recovery and repair as well.
So there is more emerging evidence that training fasted probably
isn't the best approach for most women, particularly if it's
on a regular basis, and particularly if you actually want
to improve in your sessions and keep your hormones more stable.
But as always, the best approach is one that's good
(36:13):
for your body. You know, if you feel great training fasted,
if you're only doing you know, light activity, you're only
doing it occasionally because you're busy, you're running out the door,
it's probably fine. It's really what you're doing on a
regular basis overall, and it's what's going to work well
for your body and what makes you feel good, your
hormones feel good, your body feel good, and helps you
get closer to your goal's long term. But if you
(36:34):
do want to hear more about that and more of
the intricate nature of the science behind it, go and
tune into the leanne Ward Nutrition Podcast episode with doctor
Stacy Sims.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
I've got to wait a while and end of May.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
No, I said, may not end like one or two weeks.
Come on, let's get moving.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
Let's get that up there, everyone sims all right, Well,
that brings us to the end of the nutition catch
for another week.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Please, what about what are your thoughts? You're supposed to
give your thoughts?
Speaker 1 (36:58):
Well, are you at my thoughts? Oh?
Speaker 2 (37:00):
I'm with you.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
I think that unless you're going and doing any high
intensity workout, you don't need to do it like she's
like trains hard man like we're talking about you know,
and most well, everyone's different. But I've got a group
of clients who'll be up at six am and doing
forty five CrossFit. Yes, definitely, they're much better to have something.
But for a lot of my women who are just walking,
no no, no, no, no no, So I think it's just
(37:22):
different strokes for different folks. But if you're, you know,
really training at a high intensity like you do Leanne,
I think, yeah, absolutely, you do need to feel if
you're going to the gym, basically would be my argument.
All right, Oh happens to the end of another podcast episode.
Please let your friends know and if you're keen to
join us in Kingscliff at the end of October, we'd
(37:43):
love to see you in person. Just email us admin
at the Nutritioncouch dot com and we will see you
next Wednesday for our regular episode drop. Have a great week.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
Thanks for listening, guys,
How are you feeling after the Easter break, energized and
on track or heavy, bloated and far from your best.
The weeks after holiday periods are known for being a
big reality check when it comes to our health goals,
and on today's episode of The Nutrition Couch, we look
at the different options when it comes to sustainable weight
loss and when weight loss medication may be an option
(00:22):
for you. Hi, I'm Susie Burrell and on Lyonne Wood,
and together we bring you The Nutrition Couch, the weekly
podcast that keeps you up to date on everything you
need to know in the world of nutrition as well
as all things weight loss options. We have some interesting
new data on weight loss plateaus. I have a frozen
meal I want to share with you. And our listener
question is all about whether we should eat before training
(00:46):
or not, but before we dive in to weight loss
and specifically when weight loss medication may be an optionally.
And we wanted to officially announce our retreat dates for
the end of the year. We had a very successful
retreat up in Kingscliff in March and we were very
quickly hounded by listeners about where we would be running
(01:08):
another one and at the moment, we have a opportunity
to run one again at Kingscliff from Friday, the thirty
first of October it is Halloween, until Sunday the second
of November. Now we've come across those dates for a
range of reasons. One was availability at Kingscliff, but we
also wanted to do it before it got too busy
(01:29):
at the end of the year, and also too hot,
because we love to be near the beach so we
can run our beautiful yoga and pilates with our gorgeous
instructor to nil. But it does get pretty steamy up there,
and also just life really gets manic, we find through November.
So we do have this opportunity to take another twenty
Ladies away. I can't stress how invigorating this time is.
(01:52):
You know. Not only do you get a one on
one session with Leanne or I, which is something that
some people might not normally have the opportunity to do,
where we really give you any individualized plan for your
health and nutrition goals. We have three different symposiums where
we discuss hormones, the psychology of eating behavior, women in stress.
We give you a chance to learn all about our
(02:13):
favorite products at the supermarkets and label reading and have
open q and as. We have gourmet meals, especially prepared
by the chefs at Kingcliff who do an amazing job.
We have pilates and yoga sessions every day, we have
daily walks like it really is an opportunity to really
immerse in your nutrition. But it's also a really relaxing weekend.
Because you have a SPA pass, you can also have
(02:34):
free time as much as you like to, so come
in the rays or go into town and shop. So
to me, it's just everything that a weekend away offers.
But on top of that, you can also get exposure
to a group of like minded, motivated women to really
fast track your health goals. We've had women from all
ages and life stages. We've had a gorgeous girl on
(02:55):
her baby moon. We've had young girls preparing to have babies.
We've got retired mums and women who are just looking
to optimize their health through the lifespan. We've had groups
of friends, we've had individuals. We've had girls from the country, Queensland,
Hearth like remote all over as well as the capital
cities Tasmania. It's just something that really I promise you
(03:17):
you will get something out of it if you are
interested and know that your health could do use a
little reboot. So if you are interested, all you need
to do is send us an email at admin at
the nutritioncouch dot com and we will get the information
to you because we do need to secure those positions
in the next couple of weeks, so it's important that
(03:37):
you get onto it. Bring a friend. We don't want
you to bring husbands or children. Save that family retreat.
This is really a time for women to really focus
on self and health. And I promise you you will
not regret investing in that experience.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, one hundred percent. So the husbands and children's a band.
It's for you to take time out for yourself because
two often women are too busy, they've burnt out, they
put themselves last on the priority list. And this weekend
is all about you, you coming first, you prioritizing your health,
your wellness, and just giving your self time to learn
to immerse yourself to just feel better and leave feeling
(04:18):
infigurated and rested and just full of motivation to head
back into the busyness of life. So, as Susie said,
please don't send us a DM. We are aw forward
checking them. We're in between social media managers at the moment.
We need some help there. Definitely send us an email.
We're much more over that, so adminute the nutritioncouch dot
com and we will be looking to secure the date
(04:38):
and the space if we have enough interest and yeah,
we can't wait for you to join us, come hang out,
have an incredible weekend. And we will say that about
seventy to eighty percent of our attendees from the past
we've run two retreats now very successfully, they've come solo.
So don't feel at all awkward or weird or worried
or scared if you're coming by yourself. The majority of
(04:59):
our retreat tendies have actually come by themselves. There's only
a handful that have come. We've had mother daughter, Joe's,
we've had best friends, we've had some work colleagues, we've
had sisters, but that's fewer and Vira in between. You're absolutely,
of course welcome to bring somebody, but most of our
attendees do come by themselves. So don't at all feel
awkward or worried if you are coming solo, because I
(05:20):
promise you you will just have the best most relaxing,
knowledgeable time and you'll leave just feeling so so wonderful.
So yeah, we can't wait for you to join us.
Send us an email admin at the Nutritioncouch dot com
and we will send you some further information on our
Kingscliff October slash November retreat.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Perfect All right, Leanne, Well, we do try not to
focus too much on a weight based conversation, but when
we have surveyed our listeners, I think ninety percent or
something huge we're interested in weight. So we thought after
Easter and particularly holidays because for a lot of the
listeners you will have noticed sort of AUSTRAYA has been
on a bit of a shutdown for the last couple
(05:57):
of weeks because school holidays things really tend slow down
and all of the public holidays enrollment, a lot of
us have taken a couple of weeks off. Now, inevitably
that means that a lot of diets and lifestyle regimes
are off track. You've got children in the way, partners,
everything's a mess, lack of structure, etc. A lot of
tempting foods around, and inevitably we get a barrage of
(06:17):
inquiries about our nutrition, weight loss and coaching services around
this time. So I thought of the back of an
article that appeared in the Sunday Papers nationally last weekend
about the increasing number of medical doctors prescribing golp one
or weight loss medications like Wegovi, Ozen Peak Munjaro without support.
(06:42):
And indeed, I do see and hear this all the
time in my own nutrition practice, where I tend to
specialize in hormones and weight loss, that there is great
interest in weight loss medications, but I would argue that
up to eighty ninety percent of people have prescribed them
without any specific dietary info, which is absolutely appalling because
in a minute, I'll talk about why these weightless medications
(07:04):
are right for some people and how they work, but
without intensive diet and lifestyle information, you basically are paying
a lot of money for something that's I'm likely to
be sustainable long term. So first of all, I wanted
to give some context, Leanne and you just jump in
whenever around how I would categorize weight loss and when
I'm looking at someone who may need that help. So
(07:26):
I would firstly say that if someone's got to lose
less than ten kilos without any significant medical history, so
say you're forty two years old, your weight's crept up
from sixty kilos to even eighty kilos in the past
ten twenty years, you're starting to notice the changes of menopause, perimenopause,
You've had your kids, or just sort of in that
(07:47):
child rearing era of life. Generally speaking, I would say
that unless you are predisposed to type two diabetes or
have had gestational diabetes, I would very rarely, if ever,
encourage or need weight loss medication if someone needs to
lose less than say, twenty kilos even and is sort
(08:08):
of no significant hormonal dysfunction. So in that case, unless
you had already tried diet and intense lifestyle intervention, seen
a dietician, seen someone who's deeply experienced in weight control
like Leanna or I or Land's associates, and really given
yourself three to six months of lifestyle intervention, generally speaking,
(08:28):
you won't need medication. You should be able to successfully
achieve a calorie deficit, exercise, and be able to create
a sustainable model of lifestyle change. Now, the difference is
if someone presents who is already eating pretty well, exercising regularly,
and carrying more than fifteen twenty kilos or has a
waste measurement over one hundred centimeters with a history family
(08:52):
history of type two diabetes. That's when I will flag
that there may be a need or an option of
introducing weight loss medication to help the process. And the
reason I say that is that for people who are
carrying significant weight even though they live a relatively healthy lifestyle,
already exercising, eating fairly well, and they're still struggling to
(09:15):
lose weight, if their insulin levels are clinically high, it
will actively block fat loss. And that's the case where
we'll start a client on a calorie controlled, macronutrient balanced
meal plan. They're exercising and the scales barely move. And
that is when in the old days, going back ten
twenty years before we had this latest weight loss medication range,
(09:36):
we would use what's known as met forman, which is
an oral medication that helps the cells ability to metabolize
insulin and glucose and helps with weight loss. So in
the old days, ly end, we didn't have glps, we
didn't have ozmpeg. If people had insulin resistance, we would
put them on met form and in conjunction with a
GP or endocrinologist, and over time three six, twelve months
they would lose weight and keep it off with that medication,
(10:00):
though not as rapidly as the latest weight loss medications,
and indeed today lean If I have a client who
is intro and resistant struggling with weight loss, I will
always go to something like met Foreman, unless they're glucose
levels and insulince are so clinically high that I would
go straight to a more aggressive GLP one. So that's
the first thing. If you've only got a handful of
(10:20):
kilos to lose, less than ten, definitely even less than twenty,
and you're relatively young, you don't have a family history
of diabetes, I would be very reluctant to put you
on weight loss medication. The reason is that it's expensive
and you still have to change a diet and lifestyle.
And this is the thing. A lot of doctors are
giving the prescription out without support, and you might take it.
(10:41):
You've got impaired appetite, you don't eat much, you lose weight,
significant amount of muscle mass, which is what the evidence
is showing, and then of course as soon as you
go off it, you put it all back on. It's
just defeats the purpose. And I guarantee that that's fifty
sixty seventy percent of people using it and not using
it in the right way. Then there are those who
absolutely need it. So that would be someone who presents
(11:02):
to me with family history of type two diabetes, they
had gestational diabetes with their pregnancies. They're over one hundred kilos.
They are so tired and fatigued and hungry that they're
finding it very difficult to be diet compliant. Absolutely, I
will say, look, I'm happy to try without, but you
are a perfect candidate for something like Manjaro, which is
(11:23):
the one I tend to be erring towards in conjunction
with medical support at the moment, because it's dual acting
and sort of the latest medication. It's sort of taken
over OZ and PAK in terms of efficiency and in
conjunction with diet and exercise. Working every bit as closely
as I would with someone who's not on weight loss medication,
we will achieve that weight loss results, and then wean
them off over time. It's always my preference to not
(11:45):
continually increase the dose of these medications. My preference is
to keep it as low as possible, use it as
an aid to help reduce appetite, improve insulin action, and
in conjunction with a very prescriptive and supportive diet, which
is the kind of coaching Land and I work it.
We speak to our clients daily often to give them
those results within that supportive environment. They're getting the twenty
(12:06):
thirty forty kilos off over a six twelve month period
and then learning to control their weight either on a
low dose of medication or learning to wean off. Now,
in general, there is one group, Juniper, which is an
online program who I'm consulting to, who do offer online
support for GOLP one medication, but that's one of the
(12:26):
only ones. Most situations see people go online get the
medication prescription or see the doctor get it without any support,
which is to me just such a bad move. So
at a minimum, you need to enlest something like Juniper
and get support, and if you can or want to
commit to something like a dietician, you will get superior
results every time. I think Leanna and I are confident
(12:47):
in our skills to say that we will help you
use the medications the right way, wean off at the
right time, and learn how to eat to control the
body weight you want without this cycle of dieting that
you'll see. So I know there'll be people listening thinking
to myself, I've tried, I'm still not losing weight, I'm
not feeling great. Is it for me? But that would
(13:09):
be the categories. How much weight do you have to lose,
do you have any significant medical history? Have you really
committed to proper diet and exercise? And if you do,
decide to give them a go. At a minimum, go
for an online program like Juniper that will support you,
or even better, enlist the support of a dietician one
on one and that will help you achieve your goals.
Use the medication the right way, and then wean off
(13:31):
appropriately at the right time, rather than thinking that it's
a short term thing that you go on and off
pay hundreds of dollars for, and I promise you the
negative effects on your body composition will be far worse,
because that's what we're learning. We're learning that people that
take them sure might lose weight in the short term,
may lose ten to twenty kilos quickly, but they also
lose a significant amount of muscle mass, which ultimately compromises
(13:53):
their metabolism long term. So that's where I'm sitting at
with them at the moment. Lean and I reckon about
twenty to thirty percent of my clients are on a
weight loss medication, whether it's a Nose and pea Corman Jarro.
But as I said, I will try many different things first,
and I still often go back to met form and
it's still a really effective medication, a very effective cellular
(14:13):
health medication, and it's slower, but it does absolutely work.
And for my pery and postmenopausal women with high Waiste measurements,
often I'll be suggesting that is worth a discussion with
their doctor because there is a lot of cellular health
benefits because we're not just dealing with weight here. We're
dealing with setting your body up metabolically to be its
healthiest long term as well as lose weight. So what
(14:36):
do you think of that summation?
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yeah, yeah, I agree, And I think that the power
of actually working one on one with a dietisian is
so important because you know, people are spending hundreds hundreds
of dollars a month on these medications. Yeah, they turn
around and they go, oh, I don't want to see
a dietitian. It's like dietitians are far far cheaper than
the medications in most cases, but most people will need
both of them. So even if you're utilizing the medications
(15:01):
it's working, you don't want to use them forever, or
most people don't need them forever. So actually enlisting the
help of a dietician can be really helpful, if not initially,
then definitely as you start to win off and you
actually want to maintain that weight loss. And I guess
that probably leads us nicely into the next section. And
as you said, is we don't want to talk or
have a primary just focus on weight loss all of
(15:22):
the time, but there is a lot of questions that
we get. There is a lot of listener topics that
come through, and weight loss is always at the top
of the list for basically i'd say ninety percent of
questions that come through. So another one was really talking
about weight loss plateau. So that sort of leads us
from talking about weight loss medications into talking about weight
loss plateaus. And it is something that a lot of
my clients will sometimes say to me, Oh, I've hit
(15:44):
a plateau this week, and I say, no, no, it's
not a plateau. That's just a very very normal part
of weight loss. Because to me, a weight loss plateau
would be a good three to four week period without
any real movement on the scale. If you don't lose
weight for a week, I'm not even concerned. If my
clients on the scale they say, oh, it's the same
as last week, and I've lost so well for three
weeks in a row, I had to say, that's normal.
(16:05):
We have females, most of us, you know, have menstrual periods,
we have hormones. The scales do tend to fluctuate. So
as long as that weight is continuing to move down
every one to two to three weeks, you're still on
a good track. You're still maintaining that consistent fat loss
over time. But a plateau, to me, is really where
that weight is stalled for a good three to four
weeks in despite really being consistent with the plan. And
(16:28):
that's really the key word there, is consistent. If you've
come out through Easter and you know, you've had a
few too many Easter eggs, we've had a lot of socializing,
We've you know, probably had a few cheeky glasses of wine,
and your weight hasn't moved. That's really not a plateau.
That's just you being human like the rest of us.
We haven't been as consistent with our diet over Easter,
and obviously the weight loss is stalled. So a plateau
(16:48):
really needs to be that you're consistent with your goals,
your nutrition in a calorie deficit, your exercise, and the
scales aren't moving. So there was a recent article from
New Atlas and that did just scuss some points about
weight loss plateaus, and as I mentioned, plateaus are really
that I guess, really frustrating period in between weight loss
progression where it just basically completely stalls. So it is
(17:12):
a very natural part of the journey. Everybody will see it.
People who tend to have less weight to lose will
probably see more plateaus in between their journey than people
who have larger amounts of weight to lose. They will
probably consistently see that scale moving down most if not
all weeks, but most of us will eventually hit some
form of a plateau, some people within a few weeks,
(17:33):
other people you know, that might take six months, but
most of us will hit a plateau eventually. So this
article basically analyzed some of the data that came out
of the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet program, and from that
data set, I think the original data set had something
like over twenty thousand adults analyzed, but from this data set,
(17:54):
they took just over six thousand participants and they looked
at the individuals that had lost a significant amount of weight,
and significant being defined by at least five to ten
percent of their body weight. And they looked at those
people who experienced plateaus, who had lost a significant amount
of weight, and basically, what the article was suggesting that
plateaus were a very normal part of the weight loss
(18:16):
journey basically, and it meant that they were sort of
inferring that a weight loss plateau was the body's way
of adjusting to changes and weight and metabolism over time,
and rather than being you know, discouraged or upset by it,
people should really be encouraged by it and to view
it as a really temporary part of their journey long
(18:36):
time being. The key takeaway in a weight loss plateau
is just to push forward and maintain that consistency because
all of these people who experience that significant amount of
weight loss within this data set, and I'm talking, you know,
most of these people lost between ten to twenty kilos
and were able to maintain this after a year, so
it's a significant amount of weight they were able to
(18:57):
maintain that. The majority of these people experience regular plateaus
as part of their journey, and when you think about it,
twelve kilos is a lot of weight to lose, and
most of these participants in the Darta set had lost
that over twelve months, So that's only two kilos a month.
It doesn't sound like a lot like everybody wants to lose,
you know, five ten kilos in four six weeks, or
(19:18):
do these gym eight week challenges and lose eight kilos
in eight weeks. But really, the quicker you lose it,
generally the quicker it comes back on again. So slow
and steady often wins the race when it comes to
sustainable fat loss. But if you're talking about twelve kilos
over twelve months, you were going to have weeks and
probably even months in there where you may experience a plateau.
So plateaus are very normal. We can overcome them. And
(19:40):
I've got a couple of little tips for our listeners
today to overcome some plateaus. Before I pass over to you,
Susie but I think the most important takeaway for our
nutrition couch listeners is just to reinforce the importance of
healthy eating. Like you have to move your body regularly,
you have to eat well of regularly. It doesn't matter
if the scale isn't reflecting it. You just have to
push and keep going because plateaus are a very normal
(20:02):
part of the weight loss journey. And if you fall
off the wagon or quit every time you have a
weight loss platau, you're never ever going to actually achieve
the goals that you want to achieve long term. So
if you have found yourself in a bit of a
weight loss plateau, and as I mentioned previously, I sort
of consider that with no real movement, despite consistency with
your diet, with regular movement, after about three to four weeks,
(20:25):
what I would say is track everything, really be consistent
and ensure you actually are eating in a calorie deficit.
Track your food, track your drinks, track your weekends and
your alcohol, even if it's just for one week, to
really know how much is going in and reassess your calories.
Do you need to drop them down further? Because if
you've lost ten kilos eating x amount of calories and
(20:46):
now you've hit a weight loss platau, your body has
probably adapted down to that and you need to do
something different. Are you drop your calories further or change
up your nutrition or movement to allow that weight loss
to continue on? So reassess your calories. In some people
it may actually mean getting out of a deficit for
a little while, i e. Reverse dieting, increasing your calories,
(21:07):
giving your body time to improve itself metabolically, giving your
body a break from a calorie deficit before diving back
into that deficit again in a few weeks or months later.
So just have a reassessment of your calories. Ensure that
you're doing some resistance training, because the more muscle you have,
the better you metabolism, the better fat loss is going
(21:28):
to be. And if you are already doing some resistance training,
perhaps try something like some progressive overload. Just change up
the type of movement that you're doing. And talking about movement,
the other tip for plateaus is really to boost your NEAT.
So NEAT stands for non exercise activity thermogenesis NEAT. It's
a fancy little term that essentially means any movement that
(21:49):
isn't formal exercise. So get some more steps in, take
the stairs, get off the bus or the train, stop
early and walk that little bit further home, or walk
that little bit further into water. Any extra movement you
can do to boost your neat will kick you out
of a plateau and generally keep that fat loss happening
for you. And the last thing is just to be patient,
(22:10):
because plateaus are normal. As we mentioned, there's nothing wrong
with them. We all hit them, myself included when I
was dropping my postpart and baby weight. Plateaus are very
very normal, and sometimes it takes the body just that
little bit of extra time to recalibrate, to get used
to what the body's been doing before it decides to
drop down a little bit more weight. And sometimes a
lot of my clients will only see a weight loss
(22:32):
drop every second week, and the weeks in between are
fairly stable. Altho, they might even bounce up that little bit,
and I have zero concern for that as long as
overall the trend is we're tracking down when the goal
is basically a calorie deficit and fat loss. What do
you think, Susie, you see many weight loss plateaus as
part of your critical practice.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
I do, and it's actually funny because my clients will
often mention, am I going to platow? Am I going
to plateau? And I say, oh, it takes a while,
like I would expect you get off at LEAs five
seven killos or a sort of three four months in
before I'm expecting one. So it's certainly not something that happen.
A plato is you know, significantly down the track. You know,
it doesn't just happen a week or two in, So
that's important to clarify. I think what I found interesting
(23:13):
with this data was that the average you know, the
platos range over a year long process or two year
process for three to six months of Plashoh, like that's
pretty long. I wouldn't be that happy with that, you know,
I would try and get my clients off a plateau
after a sort of three four weeks maximum. And like you,
what I do is measure as well as way, so
as long as sort of one or the other's changing,
(23:35):
because that suggests a change in body composition. Because what
happens is you may not see a change in the
scales because of changes in water mass or hormone levels
or salt intake. But if you're noticing, say your measurements
are reducing, particularly around the waiste. That's indicative of body
fat loss. Now I don't necessarily agree with you, of course, Leanne.
I worship the ground you walk on. But one thing
(23:56):
I would say is sometimes when clients have lost, you know,
and a calorie deficit, sometimes I find they might need
a little bit more calorie or a calorie at a
specific time of day, or a little bit more carbohydrate.
So I'll certainly play with the macro balance. So yes,
on one hand, it may be having too much or
not sticking to a deficit, or sometimes the body's just
(24:16):
really become used to the same old regime, so they
might have been having the same breakfast, the same calorie,
the same macro load. So I'm just trying to constantly
mix things up as well as have what I call
light and shade, so heavier days, lighter day. So ultimately,
for metabolism and changes over time, it comes down to
changing up the routine. And often people eating a very
(24:37):
similar type of food or calorie load for long periods
of time, and it's really just time to mix things up,
and in some cases they may need a little bit
more food as well. As we've just spoken about at
some point it might be suggestive of hormone issues that
needs managing, but I think it just really reiterates to
us that a week or two out of similar weight
is not a plateau. You're really looking at months at
(24:58):
a time. So sometimes it's just a action to be
leaning in or changing things up, but that sort of
no distinct changes can take several weeks. But I wouldn't
be happy with three or six months on a plateau. No,
But the message of the research was just keep at
it and adjust things rather than get discouraged, basically, and
it's normal for the body to go through those adjustments
(25:19):
as it's recalibrating its body composition. So I think most
importantly the take home message is if you've got a
significant amount of weight to lose twenty thirty kilos, you've
got to give yourself the time. You know six months
won't be enough, you need to give yourself that year,
and if it's more than that, even two to allow
that recalibration to occur. And I think that gives people
space and time, which in busy lives is often all
(25:41):
we need. So yeah, I thought it was really interesting data.
So onto our product review segment leanne and I wanted
to talk about this. It's not a new product, but
it's really taken my eye in the sense that I
often am asked about healthy, frozen or convenient meals in supermarkets,
and I do struggle a little bit as whilst there's
a couple that aren't too bad, a lot of them
(26:03):
are heavily processed with ingredient Lisa mar Long and they're
heavy carbohydrate in nature, Whereas I wanted to highlight this
brand because I think it's actually really good product and
it's one of the few that I sort of routinely
go to with my own clients. So it's the Beefit
Food range. Now the Beefit Food range has got sort
of a yellow packet, and Kate save was on I
(26:23):
think she was a Telstra Businesswoman of the Year or
actually pitched it on Shark Tank some time ago, and
she's known in the dietetics world for doing like Keto
more approach. But I want to really emphasize that these
are not low carb meals. They're just simply lower carb.
But I really like them because I find they're the
cleanest frozen meals that you can find in supermarkets. And
(26:44):
there's about three or four different products across the supermarkets Willies,
and I think Calls too. They tend to be at
the top of the freezer section. But I'm just going
to review today the whole meal beef lasagna because I
think yes, nutritionally, they really stand out with very strong nutritionals.
So the meals are two hundred and seventy five grams,
they're not massive, and this one I've chosen that's got
(27:04):
twenty two grams of protein, seventeen grams of carbs, no
added sugar, less than five hundred milligrams of sodium, and
two hundred and fifty eight calories, so very tight nutritionals.
But most importantly land when I look at the ingredient list,
it's so incredibly clean for a frozen product. So the
ingredients of tomatoes twenty five percent beef mints, which is
incredibly high for a pre made meal, followed by broccoli onion.
(27:25):
Whole meal ares ongn your sheets. So a whole meal
option is again zucchini, carrot, tomato, rapottera, olive oil, skim milk,
palmers than garlic, stock, black pepper, mixed herbs like you
really couldn't get a cleaner ingredient list if you made
it at home, like, that's how strong it is. And
at a price point, See they're on sale. They're usually
thirteen dollars ninety per so not inexpensive, they're on sale,
(27:45):
and when I'm recording this at seven dollars, which is
much more affordable, but it just emphasizes the end that
when you're paying for better quality product, it is more expensive.
I'll just go through the nutritionals again because that's just
the call out on front of pack. So two hundred
and fifty eight calories, twenty one point nine grams of protein,
which is a good amount for a meal, ten point
(28:08):
six grams of fat perserve four gram stat traded, which
is pretty low, sixteen point sent grams of carbs, six
point six grams of sugar which is naturally occurring, and
four hundred and fifty nine milligrams of sodium. Now I know, Leam,
what you're going to say, they're too small, but I
just I just wanted to highlight them because I think
(28:28):
that when brands are making really good products, we should
support them. And nutritionally, it is a far superior frozen
meal than ninety percent of what else is there. So
even if you need to block it up with a
bit more salad. I think as a lunch meal, as
a light dinner, like, I really like them. Yes, they
(28:48):
are light, but you know, talking about weight loss medication
for people with significantly reduced appetite as well, they are
also a really good choice. So yeah, I just think
they're good for those times when you need a light
meal option or a lighter lunch, And if you had
that with a piece of fruit for lunch, it would
tick the box nutritionally, it would be filling. It's very clean,
very healthy, and I'm a really big fan of the range.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Yeah, I agree, I like them, but I wouldn't call
them billing, like I would need at least two of these.
I've tried them and they barely touched the sides for
me anyway.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
But here are six foot tall and not on a
GOLP one.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Yes exactly, but I think that for most women who
are trying to lose weight, who aren't on weight loss medications,
they're probably not enough. But I agree. I like the nutrition,
the ingredient list. It's very very wholesome. Protein is really good,
Like twenty two grams of protein for two hundred and
fifty calories is unreal, Like, that's very good protein for
very low calories. For most of my clients, I would
be definitely putting more salad le veggie bulk in there. Plus,
(29:43):
like you said, maybe a high protein yogurt or a
piece of fruit or something as well, something to buffer that,
a handful of nuts or something as well. I sort
of like my ladies more towards that four or five
hundred gram calories for active women anyway, again depending on
body size requirements, that kind of thing. But yeah, I
like them. I can't fault them. Just not very feeling
at all. So if you're an active person, it's not
(30:03):
going to touch the signs. But if you are someone
on a weight loss medication you don't really have an appetite.
This is probably a really really good range to go for,
and you're not going to find a better ingredient list
on the market when it comes to particularly something like
a beef lasagnia.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Yeah true, Okay, all right, Leanne, Well, are we allowed
to announce that you've got a special guest coming on
your Leanne Ward Nutrition podcast?
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Yeah? Yeah, we're allowed to. So.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Leanne has secured an interview with leading global physiologist doctor
Stacy Simms.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Yeah, I know. It's such of the second time she's
been on my potty. Yeah, it's five years ago since
I've had over.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
When is this dropping, Leanne? When is this breaking episode dropping?
Speaker 2 (30:43):
We hope in the next one to two weeks, so
pending when you're listening this. If you're a bit slow
to the potty uptake, it might already be here. If
you're one of our fan favorites and you're listening on
the day that it's dropping, you may have to wait
just a week or two, but hopefully in the next
few weeks. So hopefully it should be out by May,
basically May two thousand two.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Okay, so Leanne can get on to get her work
done and just hurry that up a little bit. But
if you haven't didn't know already, Leanne has another podcast,
Leanne Moore Ditriation Podcasts, which covers literaship topics in great detail.
I have been lucky to be a guest, but she
I think I've spoken about hormones before. Actually that's an
old episode, but yeah, doctor Stacy Simms is coming up
and really talking about the physiology of women and training
(31:21):
and hormones, and I know that one of the things
she heavily talks about in her work is that women
should not train fasted in the mornings. And I had
this question come through on our instagram, the Nutrition Couch
podcast Instagram to say should they be having what she suggests,
which I'm sure you'll cover with her and your talk,
(31:41):
a coffee smoothie with protein in it before she trains.
But I wanted to talk about that a little bit
because I've got some thoughts on it. But first of all,
you share your thoughts after speaking to her about whether
women should be training faster or not, and then I'll
add my two cents worthy after that.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Yeah, So I'll just go on to say that doctor
CEC Simms is one of the most affected researchers in
the female physiology and fitness space in the world. If
you are not regularly training and exercising, she probably isn't
few Like she's a high level athlete herself. She works
with some of the top athletes in the world. She's
one of the very few researchers who are just focused
(32:16):
on females and their natural physiology i e. Hormones, menstrual cycles, menopause, etc.
So she has done a lot of research in this space,
and you know, we're hearing more and more about it.
But her general I guess god or her general advice
is that most women shouldn't regularly train fasted, especially if
(32:37):
their goal is to improve their fitness, their long term health,
hormone balance, or their exercise performance overall. So, as Susie mentioned,
she breaks it down further in an episode on my
podcast Lean More Nutrition, which should be at by May
twenty five. But in summary, she basically says that because
females have a very unique physiology and hormonal profile, we
(32:59):
really shouldn't be training fast because our bodies are particularly
sensitive to what she calls energy availability. So when we
train fasted, and what that means is that there's no
food or calories going in before a workout. So if
you were training at six pm in the nighttime, I
would expect that you have eaten multiple times throughout the day,
so you are not training fasted. Faster training is generally
(33:20):
first thing in the morning. You're waking up and you're
doing a five six seven am class and you've had
nothing but maybe a couple of SIPs of black coffee
or water. That is essentially what we call training fasted.
She doesn't like, and more and more research is pointing
out that, particularly for hormonal control, that it can increase
stress hormones such as cortisol. She doesn't like people doing
it regularly, particularly when the type of training is high
(33:43):
intensity training, are you CrossFit training, sprint or interval type training,
or when you're at a certain phase in your menstrual cycle,
because it can actively negatively impact on your hormones and
your energy level and even muscle retention. So, if your
goal is to train to get fitter, faster, stronger, improve
your lifts, hit a new PB, you really shouldn't be
(34:05):
training faster. But it's not a hard no for everybody.
If you're waking up and you're going to walk the
dog at five am, do it faster. It's probably fine.
If you're doing a light yoga or a blight plate session,
it's probably fine to do faster. But when you are
lifting weights, when your goal is to get stronger, when
you're doing HIT or you're training for a performance BACE benefit,
(34:25):
you will get more out of your session, you will
basically cater to your hormones better, and you will recover
better with a small amount of fuel on board. So
her I guess big thing is what's called protein coffee.
So basically for women in their thirties plus, thirties, forties,
fifty sixties and beyond, she recommends about fifteen grams of
protein a few SIPs of coffee. The coffee just giving
(34:48):
your mental alertness and giving a bit of energy, and
the fifteen grams of protein helps to cross the blood
brain barrier and basically helps to buffer some of that
muscle mass kind of breakdown. And it also helps to
add onto the post training recovery that we want to
give in terms of protein as well. So the old
I guess school, when I went through and I did
my sports ielic training, we will always sort carbs, calves,
(35:09):
carbs for exercise, So a few bites of a banana,
a couple of madual dates, a bit of jam on
toast if you're doing a really really big session like
a big CrossFit session or something. But now she's saying
the research is more focused on protein for women with
I guess hormonal concerns, i e. Perimetapause, that sort of thing.
So she's saying fifteen grams of protein before breakfast. She
(35:29):
puts fifteen grams of protein powder into cold coffee. If
you add it into hot coffee, it tends to curdle
and lump together. It's not that nice. And then she'll
drink that down. And if you're having a bigger session,
like a CrossFit type session, or you're really going for
some big heavy lifts and you're doing a big compound
movements in between, a bit of carb as well, so
a few bites of a banana madual date on top
of that. But she's saying all women should be focused
(35:51):
on a small amount of protein to then feed it
forward and essentially help with that recovery and repair as well.
So there is more emerging evidence that training fasted probably
isn't the best approach for most women, particularly if it's
on a regular basis, and particularly if you actually want
to improve in your sessions and keep your hormones more stable.
But as always, the best approach is one that's good
(36:13):
for your body. You know, if you feel great training fasted,
if you're only doing you know, light activity, you're only
doing it occasionally because you're busy, you're running out the door,
it's probably fine. It's really what you're doing on a
regular basis overall, and it's what's going to work well
for your body and what makes you feel good, your
hormones feel good, your body feel good, and helps you
get closer to your goal's long term. But if you
(36:34):
do want to hear more about that and more of
the intricate nature of the science behind it, go and
tune into the leanne Ward Nutrition Podcast episode with doctor
Stacy Sims.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
I've got to wait a while and end of May.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
No, I said, may not end like one or two weeks.
Come on, let's get moving.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
Let's get that up there, everyone sims all right, Well,
that brings us to the end of the nutition catch
for another week.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Please, what about what are your thoughts? You're supposed to
give your thoughts?
Speaker 1 (36:58):
Well, are you at my thoughts? Oh?
Speaker 2 (37:00):
I'm with you.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
I think that unless you're going and doing any high
intensity workout, you don't need to do it like she's
like trains hard man like we're talking about you know,
and most well, everyone's different. But I've got a group
of clients who'll be up at six am and doing
forty five CrossFit. Yes, definitely, they're much better to have something.
But for a lot of my women who are just walking,
no no, no, no, no no, So I think it's just
(37:22):
different strokes for different folks. But if you're, you know,
really training at a high intensity like you do Leanne,
I think, yeah, absolutely, you do need to feel if
you're going to the gym, basically would be my argument.
All right, Oh happens to the end of another podcast episode.
Please let your friends know and if you're keen to
join us in Kingscliff at the end of October, we'd
(37:43):
love to see you in person. Just email us admin
at the Nutritioncouch dot com and we will see you
next Wednesday for our regular episode drop. Have a great week.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
Thanks for listening, guys,
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