May 20, 2025 • 33 mins
Do you find yourself saying, "This is hard" when it comes to healthy eating or staying consistent with your goals?
In this empowering episode of The Nutrition Couch, dietitians Susie Burrell and Leanne Ward dive into the uncomfortable truths behind why change feels difficult—and what to do about it.
They break down:
- Why "hard" often just means "emotionally uncomfortable"
- How to reframe your mindset to stop self-sabotaging progress
- The top five foods they wish all clients would eat more often
- A brilliant high-protein, budget-friendly lunch find in Woolworths
- Everything you need to know about protein powders: who needs them, how to use them, and why they’re not just for gym junkies
This episode is your wake-up call and reset in one. If you've hit a plateau or feel stuck in a cycle of "trying but not doing," this conversation will help you shift gears, reframe your mindset, and take action that actually sticks.
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):
Do you find healthy eating hard? Maybe you feel that
you try, but it does not seem to pay dividends,
and you end up feeling frustrated and annoyed that you
are not making progress. As dieticians, Leanne and I work
with women on a daily basis and we often hear
when our clients are finding things hard, and today we
(00:21):
thought it was time to have some tough conversations about
what really hard means versus really wanting to do something. Hi.
I'm Susy Burrows and I'm Leanne Ward, 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 hard.
We chat the top five foods each of us wish
(00:42):
our clients would eat more frequently. Leanne has found a
fab new lunch option and our listener question is all
about protein matter and who could benefit from adding it
into their diet. So Leanne I thought it had been
a while. We've spoken about excuses before on the podcasts,
and definitely diet resentment, but I had a couple of
(01:03):
examples in my work where I was chatting to different
clients and they would express that they were finding things
very hard. And you know, that's a good place psychologically
to be, because if it was easy sometimes to make
progress when it comes specifically to dietary changes, no one
would have any dietary issues. But you know, at times
(01:24):
it's not necessarily the diet changes that are difficult, but
it's changing habits because as human beings, we like to
do what is easy and what is familiar. And so
sometimes I'll have a situation where I'll be encouraging clients
to make some changes, and whilst we might have some
great momentum initially over that first two four six week period,
(01:46):
when things become a little more tricky, so for example,
they may find that they're no longer getting results, or
they've hit a plateau, or they may just be fatigued
with the process. That straightway, I will notice the almost
resistance or the frustration annoyance. I'll get text messages like
(02:07):
any ideas, this is hard, can you help, and then
often getting back to basics or challenging some of the
beliefs about what should be involved. And I think part
of it is, for whatever reason, early programming, we have
the belief that things shouldn't be hard or shouldn't be difficult.
(02:28):
So if I want to lose weight, and I perceive
that I'm trying hard, then then I should be able
to get results. And I think part of it is
we live in a society in which we're at times
relatively privileged and sometimes a little bit entitled. You know,
we think that it's not fair that we have to
work hard. It's not fair I can't eat whatever I
(02:49):
like when I want. It's not fair my friends seem
to be able to have whatever they like. It's not
fair that I have to work harder at the gym
than everybody else. It's not fair that maybe I need
to go and wait lost medication and other people don't.
And straight away, those positions are very powerful psychologically at
telling me what is going on. So at the right
time with a client, if I'm sensing, first of all,
(03:09):
they're not getting results. Number two, we've looked at the basics,
and they're getting frustrated, and in many cases, they're not
doing the stuff they're meant to be doing. They're not trying.
They're trying, but they're not doing There's a big difference
between trying to do something and actually doing it. So
my clients who are on track or getting results will
be doing it. They're not trying to do it, they're
doing it. They're getting to the gym, they're checking their
(03:31):
exercise intensity, they're planning their meals. If they're going away,
they're planning ahead. They're accepting that there are some things
they're going to have to do, even out of their
comfort zone, to take them to the next level. Whereas
when I'm at clients who haven't reached that action, openness
acceptance phase, they are frustrated, they are annoyed, they are resistant,
(03:52):
but they're also not doing often the basics, and so
I thought it was just a really nice time to
have a discussion about that. And if you're someone whostantly
tries but it's not getting results, this could be relevant
to you. So the first thing to understand is that
generally speaking, changing behavior is difficult because it's perceived it's
(04:14):
actually not hard, which is why I laugh sometimes when
I get the feedback it's hard, because you know what's hard,
climbing a mountain. Hard is going through a terrible divorce,
heart is losing a parent. These are hard things. Having
to put yourself out to go to the supermarket to
pick up food in advance is not hard. So if
you're describing it as hard, there's something in it you
don't want to do. It's difficult because you actually don't
(04:35):
want to do it, because things are only hard when
we're not enjoying the process. So it's about a reframe
as to actually what is hard versus what you don't
want to do. And then if you're not doing it
and don't want to do it, so you're not planning ahead,
you're not making good choices when you're out, you're not
getting to the gym as much as you know you
need to. The question is why you are unhappy about
(04:57):
it and self sabotaging. What is is it about what
you have to do to get to where you want
to go to that is making you angry and resistant
to doing it. Is it that you don't like it?
Is it that you don't have capacity at this time
to do that? Is it that you have a belief
it should be easier than this? Is that you don't
like exercise? And these there's no right or wrong healingand
(05:20):
these are just exploring the underlying reasons as to why
you're not getting results. But it's a common thing I
see with all different ages, all different stages. Where as
soon as they're not making progress and not doing the
basic things and then start to describe it with resistance
that they're not open to doing it, that's when these
psychological blocks come up, and it's time for me psychologically
(05:40):
to delve a lot deeper and find out really what's
going on with programming with belief systems, and ultimately also
creating a regime and a program that they enjoy, so
it isn't so perceived as difficult. But all of these
ways of describing things give great insight into our natural
psychology and things that often need to be challenged when
it comes to changing behaviors, building new habits, and basically
(06:04):
taking your health and lifestyle goals to a new level.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, I agree, and I have a lot of clients
that say the same thing, and even myself I say
the same thing all the time, because often when we
think or we say that something is hard, it's often
just code for it's making us feel emotionally uncomfortable. And
that's what as humans were really like driven to not
be uncomfortable. Like adults in particular hate being uncomfortable. We
(06:28):
will do everything within our power to make sure that
we are not uncomfortable, and so I think it is
as you mentioned, like a mindset shift and a reframe,
which is super powerful, because when things are hard, it's
often because it's new, or it makes you feel a
little bit uneasy, or it's not that we can't do
it necessarily. But the more we label it is this
(06:48):
is hard, this is hard, this is too hard, it
makes it feel much more unachievable. And you know, saying
no to a glass of wine on a Friday night
isn't physically hard. It's not going to hurt you in
any way. Sitting with a craving isn't going to kill you.
And I wouldn't say that to my clients with love
and respective cause, but I say, it's not going to
kill you. You'll be okay. It's just a craving. You can
(07:09):
eat it if you want to. But you also don't
have to give into that craving every single time. These
things aren't physically hard, like doing maybe like a hardcore
CrossFit metcorn workout that is hard. That is physically hard,
and it leaves your body physically pretty shattered afterwards. But
you know, saying no to a glass of wine or
the serving of dessert if you're full. It might be
(07:30):
socially awkward, it might potentially, depending on your background, be
a little bit emotionally triggering for you, but it's not
actually hard.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
And so I think that when our brain is.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
So wired for ease and pleasure all of the time,
and we live in this world, we're constantly seeking out
these dopamine hits multiple times throughout the day, we're just
always conditioned to take the easiest way out. And that's
why change is so difficult. That's why so many people
don't actually achieve their weight loss goals, because we make
(08:00):
the path of least resistance. We always feel like that's
the only option, or it's the easiest option. But new
habits often feel hard because we're not conditioned to them yet,
and they don't really deliver the full reward is such
yet because for a lot of us, we've got quite
a long way to go until we actually achieve that goal.
So we're not getting that quick dopamine hit that handful
(08:21):
of chips would give us, that ordering and takeout on
a Friday night would give us, that half a bottle
of wine on a Saturday night would give us. So
the next time you find yourself saying something is hard,
reframe it, because a powerful reframe is so incredibly important.
The things that I spend a long time coaching my
clients through is really that psychology behind eating. Because most
(08:41):
of us know how to eat healthy, but nutrition is
a science. Eating is a behavior. A lot of us
struggle with the behaviors behind nutrition. Most of us kind
of get what healthy is. Most of us get the
science behind nutrition, particularly our loyal listeners on the nutrition count.
But it's really that psychology behind eating, which is where
I spend a lot of time, like you, Susie, working
with our client through and reframing is one of the
(09:03):
most powerful strategies, not allowing yourself to sit in the negative,
to sit in the discomfort. Instead of saying this is hard,
I can't do it, it's too difficult, reframe it to
this is new, this is unfamiliar. It's okay to feel uncomfortable.
This is a part of change that I want, And
in order to get the change long term, I have
to do this unfamiliar, uncomfortable part right now. So these
(09:27):
tiny little language shifts, this reframing, actually helps to reduce
the resistance to change long term and then long term.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
We get it becomes easier because we do it again.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
We do it again, we start to master that habit,
We become a master at that skill. I remember the
first time I went driving, and it didn't help that
my dad was like yelling at me, like and you know,
it was a manual cast. It was like the clutch
and the gear stick, and it was so hard. Now,
if I jump in a car, I don't even think
about doing it. And that's probably the same for the
majority of our listeners because we've mastered that skill over time.
(10:00):
So what feels hard now won't feel hard forever. But
it will always feel hard if you constantly avoid the
discomfort and never actually learn to sit in that uncomfortableness.
So I reckon a challenge for our listeners this week
is to do something that feels hard for you. I
recently started some reformer pilates because after my back injury
in January, my physio suggested it to help with my
(10:22):
sort of deep inner core. And I've also started doing
the sauna afterwards, and I've challenged myself to sit on
the top step in the sauna, which is even hotter,
and it's hard. It makes me feel uncomfortable, but it's
something I push myself to do because it's not going
to feel hard forever. It's not going to feel uncomfortable forever.
So this week for our listeners, I reckon Zuzie, A
good challenge is to do something new, do something that
(10:42):
makes you feel uncomfortable, but remember that you can do
uncomfortable things in pursuit of your goals, and the only
way you're actually going to achieve your goals long term
is to learn to be uncomfortable and push through that
discomfort because it doesn't last forever.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Well said, So I agree. If you're thinking something a
little bit hard, it may be time to consider what
the definition of hard is and whether it's just a
shift in mindset. Really isn't Leanne all right? Well, on
to bigger and brighter things. I had an article come
up about key superfoods that women would ideally eat every day,
(11:18):
and I quite like this because I think there's so
many diet recommendations out there about what we should and
shouldn't be having that sometimes you sort of think I
need more fib or I need more iron, I need
less fat, I need less It's almost overwhelming just with
the volume of food that is out there, but I thought,
what I quite like to do is myself is target
(11:39):
some key superfoods of things I like to eat most days,
because then it's kind of ticking the box. So I thought,
just going in cold, some ideas of things that might
come to mind. So first of all, one of the
key things I try myself and clients to have each
day is at least one serf of leafy green veggies.
You know, we know nutritionally all vegies good for us,
(12:00):
but we know when it comes to anti cancer and
the health of our cells, it is the leafy green
vegetables which are the best for us. So I will
try and definitely have at least one, if not two,
just knowing the huge amount of nutritional benefits that come
from that. So whether it's in a salad, I love
adding frozen spinach to different meals, keeping the frozen veggies
in the mix so you've always got things like broccoli,
(12:21):
because I think when food costs are very, very high,
it can be really easy to skimp on things that
are particularly good for us because they're often quite expensive.
So that's probably the first one I really try and target.
It's a leafy green veggie at least every day myself.
I try and have a serve of seafood most days
because again of the huge number of nutritional benefits that
(12:42):
come from that kind of food. Whether it's salmon, I
just had some tin red salmon for lunch. I try
and have salmon for dinner a couple of times a
week for the amazing Amiga three benefits. But I also
use a lot of tin shellfish, things like tin muscles
and tin noisters. I find that they're really key superfood
when it comes to giving iron and zinc to the diet. Particularly.
I'm not a massive red meat eater. I eat red meat,
(13:03):
but I wouldn't have it more than once or twice
a week. We all need a bit more, so I'm
a big fan of having that in, whether it's as
a meal base or adding say some smoke to oysters as
a snack to get the protein in. So that's probably
my number two is the source of seafood. I try
and get one decent whole grain in each day. So
whether it's a really good quality cracker like a riveta
(13:24):
or a riter wheat, or it's a burgen type soiling bread,
or if I've bought a soilin sour dough on the weekend,
or like a good quality cereal, whether it's some all
brand or multi grain wheat, because I try and would
get that in most days, I have a creation. I
like creation going in each day now because we do
have our own creation. But I find each day that's
really powerful when it comes to energy. And probably my
(13:46):
last one is I try and get another source of
good fats from something like a nut spread or some
nuts or some munch snacks to get again those essential
fats going in. That's probably the one I skimp on
most because I don't try. You know, I like you
to have a lot of snacks. I tend to have
just meals, but if I am reaching for a snack
or something in the afternoon, I will try and grab
(14:08):
one of those. And actually I've got a six to
one in the day when blueberries won't seven dollars a punnet.
I used to have a punnet of blue breeze a
day because I knew they were very good for the
antioxidant benefits, very low in calories and high in fiber.
But I haven't been having that in recent years because
they're just too expensive. So yeah, they're my top five foods.
What about you? You got five that you used to
(14:28):
try and have.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Can I just say how unfer it is that you
went first, because now I have to come up with
five completely different ones.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
It's very unfair.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Well, do you have any different Now it's fair because
you probably would replicate I'm assuming you'd replicate the green vase.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
I yeah, okay, it's kidding.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Yeah, So you went with leafy greens, which I love
and I completely agree with. I'm going to say cruciferus vegetables,
So you think broccoli, broccolini, coliflower, Brussels sprouts. So caryciferous
vegetables contain sulforofane and indoles three carbonyl. Both of these
nutrients d estrogen metabolism and liver detoxification, so they really
(15:02):
key for hormone balance. If you're a woman going through
perimenopause or postmenopause, you have PCs, or you have very
bad PMS, you absolutely should be having a serve of
cruciferous vegetables every single day. And if you've got a
little bit of like a sensitive tummy or IRBs, just
cook them well, you know, in a little bit of extraversion.
Olive oil and some seasoning and some salt, and your
(15:23):
body would just break down that fiber a little bit
easier than if you were to have them raw. So
that's my first one as cruciferous vegetables. My second one
is some sort of healthy fat. So cheer seeds or
flax seeds make it appearance in my day basically daily.
So there are a great source of fiber. There are
a great source of amiga three plant based fats, and
they can help to support hormone balance and gut heals.
(15:44):
I just add a tablespoon maybe into a smoothie. Sometimes
I just have my protein powder, my creatine, my collagen
altogether and dune a bit of flax seeds or some
cheer seats in there and kind of shake that up
with a bit of milk. Might throw some berries or
something in there, and you've got a really nice light
sort of smoothie snack or a bit more of a
balance breakfast if you want to add a couple more
things to that as well. They really help in terms
of like those healthy bats for satarti for digestion as well,
(16:07):
particularly the cheer seeds. All right, next one would be
basically I have a SERVI of yogat every day, So
whether that's Greek yogurt or whether that's a probotic yogurt
such as Activia or Kaffa, which is like a fermented
type of milk. So it's really really good in terms
of gut health, immunity, it's good for bone strength because
you're getting a serve of calcium with that, particularly because
it's based on dairy, so I'm not a coconut yogurt person.
(16:30):
I have a dairy based yogurt. And if you have
something like a Greek yogat or a kafir or a
special probotic type yogat like an Activia, you're getting live
probiotics in there as well, which is of course going
to support your gut health and your immunity as well.
So a serve of basically yogurt or some sort of
fermented milk like kafa is a really really great option,
and I pretty much have that every day, and my
(16:51):
girls have that every day as well. And then, like you,
instead of seafood, I would just say a really quality
source of protein. So many of my clients regularly eat
chicken and fish each day because most of my ladies
I work with are actively trying to achieve a calorie deficit,
and they are leaner, higher quality sources of protein. But
I don't want my ladies eating chicken seven days a
(17:13):
week or fish seven days a week, because when I
think of quality protein sauces, I can't go past an egg. Right,
it's a complete protein sauce. It's got colon, it's got
beads twelve, it's got vitamin.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
D in it.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Salmon really really great, amazing healthy amiga three fats in there.
And like you said, steak if you can in your
budget affords it. I like organic grass fed steak. If
that's within your budget. You know you're getting on, you're
getting zinc, you're getting so many good quality nutrients. So
just stop with having the white meat seven days a
week and add a little variety to your diet. And
(17:44):
when it comes to quality protein sauces, a good vegetarian
or vegan based meal a few times a week. If
you're not vegan or you're not vegetarian, incorporating some plant
based meals each week is really really great from a
health perspective, but also a gut health perspective. So a
quality protein sauce would all would be your legumes. So
think you know, black beans, chickpeas, broad beans, you can
(18:04):
put them into soups that's coming into soup season. Any
sort of your white beans go really really well into
soups as well. So that would be was that number
four quality protein sauce, and then number five I would
have set a serve of fruit. But let's actually let's
go rolled oats, because there's so much controversy on social
media about oats, and given I don't eat oats every
day in summer, but in winter I kind of eat
(18:26):
them nearly every day. Like I might do an overnight
oat with a bit of our designed by dietitian protein
powder stirred through.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
I might do an oat bake, like a baked oats.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
I literally just took one out of the oven for
me and the girls and David for the next few days.
I made an apple pie oat bake, and then I
serve that with a bit of higher protein yogurt and
a bit of fresh fruit on the side. I might
add oats into a smoothie. It helps to thicken them
up because a bag of rolled oats, like I just
buy the home brand variety, like I don't buy the
expensive brand or anything like that. It's literally the same thing.
I'm pretty confident it comes out of the same factory.
(18:56):
It's like two bucks. Well, they're so good. They're a
really rich source of sol fiber. They naturally contain bitter glucken,
which helps to regulate blood sugars. It helps to lower
cholesterol levels. If you have high cholesterol, or you have
diabetes or have diabetes in your family, I would absolutely
look to include a serve of rolled oats or steel
cut oats every single day. And the soluble fiber in
(19:17):
there is really really great for your gut and your
heart health as well. So yeah, you can add them
into a smoothie, you can do them as baked oats,
you can do them as over night oats, or you
can just have a nice bowl of porridge or add
them even if you're doing a bit of a cheer
seed pudding, you can add a couple of tablespoons of
rolled oats into there as well. So that would be
my number five. Maybe not every single day, but multiple
times a week. Have a good quality rolled oat in
(19:38):
your diet, and I like the whole oat pieces, so
the rolled oat or the steel cut oat, try to
stay clear of the quick oats and the instant oats
just because the GI load is a little bit higher.
They're okay on busy days, but better quality is the
rolled oat or the steel cut oats. So that would
be my number five rounding out my list. That did
all right, didn't I something? I've always got something to.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Say, Champion land. I do have a lot of clients
who proactively avoid carbohydrates and grains in the morning. Absolutely,
you know, often seeing women having just a coffee or
even a bit of yogurt and fruit, but even not
that often am I seeing cereal, and you do really
miss out on a good quality of dietary fiber. So
it's not about avoiding carbohydrate, it's about the right type
(20:20):
and mixing it together. So you don't need to be
scared of things like oats. They're very very good for us.
And it's about the timing because so many people avoid
carves in the morning and then end up binge eating
sweet food all afternoon. You know, it defeats the purpose.
You'll find if you know sugar early, you'd be a
lot less hungry in the afternoon. So that's always something
to check if it's actually you know, there's a lot
(20:42):
of benefits to having that carbohydrate early on. Really, Anne, Well,
you found a little gem in the supermarket. I haven't
seen this before. Now I'll be interested to know which
section of the supermarket it's in. But it's in Willis
and it's called a Salmon quinoa rice with lemon and
herb box three hundred grams. Oh, you can microwave it.
(21:03):
And it's actually on sale this week when we're recording
at three dollars sixty but usually only retailing for four fifty,
so cheap. We love it. Well, let's talk about the
packaging in a second. But when we look at the
ingredient list, it's thirty nine percent salmon, eighteen percent brown rice,
a whole grain, ten percent onion, nine percent capsic and water, redkinoir,
green peas, bring onion, sumplower oil, garlic, concentrated lemon juice,
(21:26):
herbs east, extra salt, vinegar, vegetable juice concentrate, modified tabogustarch,
lemon peel, turmeric, thickner, lemon or thyme. A very clean list.
What is that percentage of veggies in there? That's ten
nineteen twenty percent veggies at least amazing and nutritionally, Yeah,
and it's offering crazy three hundred and sixty calories so
(21:49):
beautiful meals. Slight but beautiful. Twenty seven grams of protein.
Nine grams are overall fat, but only three saturated. It's
just still a low saturated fat product. Thirty nine total
grams of carbohydrate, four point five grams of sugar's pretty low,
three grams of five or six hundred milligrams of sodium.
It's really up there. It's a great product. I hope
(22:10):
people buy it because we want supermarkets to make more
of these products. Now, the only question I have for you,
Lianne is it's a microwave. It's like a if you
look at American shows and they've got those containers that
you get takeaway in. It's like one of those little boxes.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
It's like a Chinese takeaway box.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Yeah, it's cute, it's pink. But we're not supposed to microwave,
are we because of the microplastics. We kind of encourage
you to take it out and put it in a bowl.
Is that a fair call?
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Well, I think the box is like cardboard, but I
would always decandid into it, Yeah, like a ceramic bowl
or something. And yet not microwave and plastic, but it
looks cardboard to me from the photo.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
I think it has to be coded though, because it
wouldn't it would definitely take it out. So it has
to be codo, which is a shame. But I like
the idea of it. I love it, like you guys
have got to try it because it's a great lunch
on the go and so cheap four fifty. When can
you get twenty seven grams of protein for four dollars fifty?
Not often?
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Yeah, for only three sixty calories. I was blown away.
I spent about two hours in Walworth searching. I've got
one beautiful client at the moment. She travels a lot,
she's a very high power job, and she's ciliac, so
we really don't have a lot of options. And she's
saying to me a lot of times she's on the road,
she doesn't have access to it. Just heat things up.
It's good and free as well. Yeah, so I was saying,
(23:24):
I was trying to find options for her that didn't
require refrigeration, that needed some protein, and most of them
on there are like the tuna and rice options and
she's like, oh, I say anything with salmon and I
was like, not really that I've seen. Then I came
across this and I was like, oh, my goodness, So
you could eat that. I think at like room temperature,
you wouldn't have to heat it. I would say it
would probably be nice and heated with a bit of
spinnach thrown through afterwards. But I think it's so strong
(23:47):
ingredient wise, macronutrient panel wise, it's so strong. And it's
actually on sale this week. We are bulk recording in advance,
so it probably won't be on sale, I must say,
by the time this airs. But it's on sale this
week with three dollars sixty, Like three is sixty for
twenty seven grams of protein.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
But I want to know where there's heaks in them.
There's a chicken saute, but this is the only way.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Yeah, this is the best one though, brown rice. Yeah,
there's a garlic chicken. There's a veggie noodle.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
One.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
This is the strongest. Absolutely. I went through all of them.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
They're a lot higher calories, a lot higher one hundred
percent the best one.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Yeah, I have to have a look with it. I
haven't seen them either, and I'm wondering if they're in
the cool section, or if they're in the long live No.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
I think they're in the long life section, whether like
the packet rices and stuff like the microwave rice that
kind of section. Yeah, in whether like the Indian sauces
and the curries and stuff are in that section. And
they're termed meal for one. So it's this new Woorst
range where they called meals for one. So there's a
musman chicken, there's a chicken pad tie, there's a vegetable
pumpkin risotto, a vegetable Singapore noodle, stirf for a garlic
(24:46):
chicken with ginger and rice. So they're supposed to be like, yeah,
meals for one in a box. You're supposed to warm
them up and heat them up, and I think they're
in the normal shelving section of the wolves. I couldn't
find it in my local one, but I did obviously
find it online, So that's my understanding. The only other
thing is that it is made in Thailand. You know,
we'd like to support Australian food where we can, but
(25:07):
it's just one of those things. I think, you know,
not everything can tick all the boxes all the time,
and I think for busy people, particularly if you don't
have a family, it might just be year at home.
This could be a really great light lunch option on
the weekend or something, or for lunch midweek where you
don't feel like you have to spend an hour in
the kitchen cooking something just for yourself. I think it's
a really well balanced option.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Really.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Yeah, we'll give it a go and see what you
think of them, because I haven't seen them yet either,
but yeah, I rate that five stars from me. Great choice,
particularly if it tastes food. So let us know what
you think, all rightly, and we're going to rap us
up with our final segment of the day. We get
a lot of questions on our Instagram and also our
Design by Dieticians account about protein powder, what is it
(25:49):
and who should use it? So do you want to
kick us off in terms of what it is and
we can talk about who who we do use it
with with our clients.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Yeah. Sure.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
So protein powder is essentially just concentrated milk powder, and
often there's a couple of different types. You know, you
can have vegan protein powder, but for the sake of
this question, we'll talk about way based protein powder because
that is the gold standard you're going to get more
bang fearbuck, you're going to get a high protein load,
and you're going to get a lower calorie load and
better quality absorbable protein compared to a vegan based protein powder.
(26:19):
So I always preference my clients having a way protein powder,
particularly a WPI over a WPC. WPI's way protein isolate,
WPC is concentrate. Concentrate is sort of slow absorbed. A
lot of like you know, the male bodybuilders will take
it at nighttime because it absorbs slowly over night. WPI
absorbs a lot faster, So a lot of times I'm
using a WPI after a training session with my clients
(26:42):
as in their post breakfast smoothie, because it gets absorbed
really quickly by the body. So it's a very convenient
source of protein. Not everybody needs a protein powder. You
can absolutely eat enough protein in your diet, absolutely, but
a lot of us, particularly at breakfast time, just need
that little bit of a boost to get upwards of
that twenty five thirds of protein. Some of my clients
are aiming for thirty five forty grams of protein, so
(27:05):
and for reference, and egg has about six grams of protein.
So unless you're going to sit down and eat four
or five eggs at breakfast time. You're just not going
to get in that thirty thirty to forty grams of protein.
So it's a convenient food. It is what you would
call a process food. It is not an ultra processed food.
I mean, depending on the brands that you use. The
brand that Susie and I have at designed by dietitians,
(27:25):
it's very clean. The ingredients up you would consider them process,
but not ultra process. So it is it's not essentially
a whole food because it is packaged. We've added a
couple of different things in there, like a probotic, a
fiber in the prem probotic blend, some nutrients in there
for women's health, and hormones in our women's protein. My overall,
I would say it's a very convenient source of protein
that you can add to a meal or add to
(27:47):
a snack in order to boost the overall quality of
protein in your diet. So whether or not you should
use a protein basically comes down to whether or not
you're able to eat enough protein at meal times. And
often I'll have clients who don't use it routinely during
the week, but then if they travel, or they might
be going away on holidays or something, and they might get,
say a smoothie at at the local cafe and it's
(28:09):
a beautiful, you know, banana honey, I don't know, almond
smoothie or whatnot. They'll just add a scuper protein powder
into that smoothie to ensure that that smoothie has enough
protein to help stabilize their blood sugar levels and carry
them through the morning. So the risk is if you're
not eating enough protein at your meals, and for most
women it's at a minimum of twenty grams, if not
ideally thirty grams, particularly if your goal is weight loss
(28:31):
or you're going through more of those hormonal years basically
you're kind of late thirties and beyond, it is far
more ideal to have a little bit more protein in
your diet. And it's very very common that Susie and
I most women get enough protein at dinner. It's kind
of fifty to fifty that I see with my clients lunchtime,
and the majority of them are not getting in enough
protein at breakfast time, particularly if they're not sitting down
(28:52):
to like a hot cook breakfast of eggs or you know,
baked beans and a couple of slices of good quality
sort of grainy bread. You may get enough protein there,
but if you're having cereal, a smoothie, a bowl of oats,
it's very, very unlikely that you're going to get enough
twenty five thirty grams of protein in at breakfast time,
So you don't have to use it, but if you do,
you would be using it to boost the overall protein
(29:15):
content of your meal. So I never give my clients
a protein shakeers breakfast, And we've had a lot of
questions where people say to us, can I use it
as a meal replacement? No, our protein powder is not
a meal replacement. It is designed to be to add
balance to your meals and boost the overall protein content
of the meal, not replace the meal. It doesn't replace
the meal. It boosts the quality of the protein in
(29:35):
your meal. And then how do we use it. You
would just you would add it to foods basically, so
way protein powder, particularly a good quality one, doesn't cook
that well. So I'm not a huge fan of adding
it to like baking or heating it up or adding
it into hot coffee, because it does tend to kind
of curdle and it doesn't leave a nice texture to
bake goods. It makes them quite hard. It takes out
the airiness of it. It's quite hard and sticky. So
(29:57):
I like to stir it through. If I'm making a
bowl of porridge, heat the porridge up, cook the porridge,
let it cool down for a second, and then stir
it through afterwards. If you want to put it into protein,
stir it through into cold water first, or into a
cold sort of shot of coffee first, and have it
more like an iced protein latte. If you want to
do it into a smoothie, you just literally dump it
into your blender with all your other ingredients. Sometimes I
(30:18):
have clients they really like cereal in the morning, so
they'll either sprinkle the protein powder into the cereal with
the milk, or they'll just have cereal and milk normally
and a protein shake on the side to boost that
overall protein within the meal.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
How else would you use it? That's generally how I
do it.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
I stir it through porridge, I have it on the
side or sprinkled over cereal, or I dump it into
like a smoothie. Or I might just have a shake
by itself and dump all my collagen, my creatine, my magnesium.
If I want it into that, have that and then
have a few pieces of like avocado toast or peanut
butter on toast or something so sort of as a
supplement to a meal and as an addition to a meal.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
I use it as a functional ingredient. So if I've
got clients who already use protein powder is say a shake,
go keep them using that. Maybe they have it quick
and easy breakfast with milk and made into a smoothie.
But for some clients who might be prefer a plant
based approach or just struggling, I'll use it to add
to say, they might prefer regular yogat rather than protein yogat,
(31:12):
and that can give you more they might be looking
to add something in that is concentrated, because with athletes
it's just more of a convenient source of twenty thirty
grams of protein in a small amount of food. So yeah,
that's the main things you know. I do cook with
it more like you can use it for protein pancakes
or if I'm doing different slices and things for adults.
I'll use it as a functional ingredient, like in some
(31:34):
muffins or a banana bread or in like a music
bar type product, but generally it's used in shakes or
like added to a cereal bowl to bump up the
protein content. But yeah, I sort of don't. It's an option.
I usually find people use it or they don't. But
I think the most important thing that you're using a
good quality, one hundred percent way, which is what our
products are. It's a relatively expensive ingredient because milk powder
(31:56):
is expensive, and that's very clean. It's really higher quality
in terms of well absorbed protein. And yeah, just an option.
So you know, for someone if you like shakes or smoothies,
or prefer to drink things, or might you know, prefer
playing yoga or want cereal in the morning and need
more protein, you can just add it to get that
bit extra, particularly for women moving in there sort of
(32:17):
third late thirties forties who need a bit more. And
it's also calcium as well, because having shakes and things
is a great way to get a bit of extra
calcium into your diet. Now women's blend does have added calcium,
so that's a blonus true all rightly. And what that
brings us to the end of another episode in the
nutrition couch. Please keep telling your friends about us. I
think we're pretty close to five million downloads. We know
that our tips and advice help you a lot of listeners,
(32:39):
and we also are very grateful for your support because
we know when we hear from you, and we know
that it's helping you achieve your goal, so it's really
nice in general. So thanks for being part of the
community and we will see you same time next week
for our regular episode drops.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
Thank you listening.
Do you find healthy eating hard? Maybe you feel that
you try, but it does not seem to pay dividends,
and you end up feeling frustrated and annoyed that you
are not making progress. As dieticians, Leanne and I work
with women on a daily basis and we often hear
when our clients are finding things hard, and today we
(00:21):
thought it was time to have some tough conversations about
what really hard means versus really wanting to do something. Hi.
I'm Susy Burrows and I'm Leanne Ward, 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 hard.
We chat the top five foods each of us wish
(00:42):
our clients would eat more frequently. Leanne has found a
fab new lunch option and our listener question is all
about protein matter and who could benefit from adding it
into their diet. So Leanne I thought it had been
a while. We've spoken about excuses before on the podcasts,
and definitely diet resentment, but I had a couple of
(01:03):
examples in my work where I was chatting to different
clients and they would express that they were finding things
very hard. And you know, that's a good place psychologically
to be, because if it was easy sometimes to make
progress when it comes specifically to dietary changes, no one
would have any dietary issues. But you know, at times
(01:24):
it's not necessarily the diet changes that are difficult, but
it's changing habits because as human beings, we like to
do what is easy and what is familiar. And so
sometimes I'll have a situation where I'll be encouraging clients
to make some changes, and whilst we might have some
great momentum initially over that first two four six week period,
(01:46):
when things become a little more tricky, so for example,
they may find that they're no longer getting results, or
they've hit a plateau, or they may just be fatigued
with the process. That straightway, I will notice the almost
resistance or the frustration annoyance. I'll get text messages like
(02:07):
any ideas, this is hard, can you help, and then
often getting back to basics or challenging some of the
beliefs about what should be involved. And I think part
of it is, for whatever reason, early programming, we have
the belief that things shouldn't be hard or shouldn't be difficult.
(02:28):
So if I want to lose weight, and I perceive
that I'm trying hard, then then I should be able
to get results. And I think part of it is
we live in a society in which we're at times
relatively privileged and sometimes a little bit entitled. You know,
we think that it's not fair that we have to
work hard. It's not fair I can't eat whatever I
(02:49):
like when I want. It's not fair my friends seem
to be able to have whatever they like. It's not
fair that I have to work harder at the gym
than everybody else. It's not fair that maybe I need
to go and wait lost medication and other people don't.
And straight away, those positions are very powerful psychologically at
telling me what is going on. So at the right
time with a client, if I'm sensing, first of all,
(03:09):
they're not getting results. Number two, we've looked at the basics,
and they're getting frustrated, and in many cases, they're not
doing the stuff they're meant to be doing. They're not trying.
They're trying, but they're not doing There's a big difference
between trying to do something and actually doing it. So
my clients who are on track or getting results will
be doing it. They're not trying to do it, they're
doing it. They're getting to the gym, they're checking their
(03:31):
exercise intensity, they're planning their meals. If they're going away,
they're planning ahead. They're accepting that there are some things
they're going to have to do, even out of their
comfort zone, to take them to the next level. Whereas
when I'm at clients who haven't reached that action, openness
acceptance phase, they are frustrated, they are annoyed, they are resistant,
(03:52):
but they're also not doing often the basics, and so
I thought it was just a really nice time to
have a discussion about that. And if you're someone whostantly
tries but it's not getting results, this could be relevant
to you. So the first thing to understand is that
generally speaking, changing behavior is difficult because it's perceived it's
(04:14):
actually not hard, which is why I laugh sometimes when
I get the feedback it's hard, because you know what's hard,
climbing a mountain. Hard is going through a terrible divorce,
heart is losing a parent. These are hard things. Having
to put yourself out to go to the supermarket to
pick up food in advance is not hard. So if
you're describing it as hard, there's something in it you
don't want to do. It's difficult because you actually don't
(04:35):
want to do it, because things are only hard when
we're not enjoying the process. So it's about a reframe
as to actually what is hard versus what you don't
want to do. And then if you're not doing it
and don't want to do it, so you're not planning ahead,
you're not making good choices when you're out, you're not
getting to the gym as much as you know you
need to. The question is why you are unhappy about
(04:57):
it and self sabotaging. What is is it about what
you have to do to get to where you want
to go to that is making you angry and resistant
to doing it. Is it that you don't like it?
Is it that you don't have capacity at this time
to do that? Is it that you have a belief
it should be easier than this? Is that you don't
like exercise? And these there's no right or wrong healingand
(05:20):
these are just exploring the underlying reasons as to why
you're not getting results. But it's a common thing I
see with all different ages, all different stages. Where as
soon as they're not making progress and not doing the
basic things and then start to describe it with resistance
that they're not open to doing it, that's when these
psychological blocks come up, and it's time for me psychologically
(05:40):
to delve a lot deeper and find out really what's
going on with programming with belief systems, and ultimately also
creating a regime and a program that they enjoy, so
it isn't so perceived as difficult. But all of these
ways of describing things give great insight into our natural
psychology and things that often need to be challenged when
it comes to changing behaviors, building new habits, and basically
(06:04):
taking your health and lifestyle goals to a new level.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, I agree, and I have a lot of clients
that say the same thing, and even myself I say
the same thing all the time, because often when we
think or we say that something is hard, it's often
just code for it's making us feel emotionally uncomfortable. And
that's what as humans were really like driven to not
be uncomfortable. Like adults in particular hate being uncomfortable. We
(06:28):
will do everything within our power to make sure that
we are not uncomfortable, and so I think it is
as you mentioned, like a mindset shift and a reframe,
which is super powerful, because when things are hard, it's
often because it's new, or it makes you feel a
little bit uneasy, or it's not that we can't do
it necessarily. But the more we label it is this
(06:48):
is hard, this is hard, this is too hard, it
makes it feel much more unachievable. And you know, saying
no to a glass of wine on a Friday night
isn't physically hard. It's not going to hurt you in
any way. Sitting with a craving isn't going to kill you.
And I wouldn't say that to my clients with love
and respective cause, but I say, it's not going to
kill you. You'll be okay. It's just a craving. You can
(07:09):
eat it if you want to. But you also don't
have to give into that craving every single time. These
things aren't physically hard, like doing maybe like a hardcore
CrossFit metcorn workout that is hard. That is physically hard,
and it leaves your body physically pretty shattered afterwards. But
you know, saying no to a glass of wine or
the serving of dessert if you're full. It might be
(07:30):
socially awkward, it might potentially, depending on your background, be
a little bit emotionally triggering for you, but it's not
actually hard.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
And so I think that when our brain is.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
So wired for ease and pleasure all of the time,
and we live in this world, we're constantly seeking out
these dopamine hits multiple times throughout the day, we're just
always conditioned to take the easiest way out. And that's
why change is so difficult. That's why so many people
don't actually achieve their weight loss goals, because we make
(08:00):
the path of least resistance. We always feel like that's
the only option, or it's the easiest option. But new
habits often feel hard because we're not conditioned to them yet,
and they don't really deliver the full reward is such
yet because for a lot of us, we've got quite
a long way to go until we actually achieve that goal.
So we're not getting that quick dopamine hit that handful
(08:21):
of chips would give us, that ordering and takeout on
a Friday night would give us, that half a bottle
of wine on a Saturday night would give us. So
the next time you find yourself saying something is hard,
reframe it, because a powerful reframe is so incredibly important.
The things that I spend a long time coaching my
clients through is really that psychology behind eating. Because most
(08:41):
of us know how to eat healthy, but nutrition is
a science. Eating is a behavior. A lot of us
struggle with the behaviors behind nutrition. Most of us kind
of get what healthy is. Most of us get the
science behind nutrition, particularly our loyal listeners on the nutrition count.
But it's really that psychology behind eating, which is where
I spend a lot of time, like you, Susie, working
with our client through and reframing is one of the
(09:03):
most powerful strategies, not allowing yourself to sit in the negative,
to sit in the discomfort. Instead of saying this is hard,
I can't do it, it's too difficult, reframe it to
this is new, this is unfamiliar. It's okay to feel uncomfortable.
This is a part of change that I want, And
in order to get the change long term, I have
to do this unfamiliar, uncomfortable part right now. So these
(09:27):
tiny little language shifts, this reframing, actually helps to reduce
the resistance to change long term and then long term.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
We get it becomes easier because we do it again.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
We do it again, we start to master that habit,
We become a master at that skill. I remember the
first time I went driving, and it didn't help that
my dad was like yelling at me, like and you know,
it was a manual cast. It was like the clutch
and the gear stick, and it was so hard. Now,
if I jump in a car, I don't even think
about doing it. And that's probably the same for the
majority of our listeners because we've mastered that skill over time.
(10:00):
So what feels hard now won't feel hard forever. But
it will always feel hard if you constantly avoid the
discomfort and never actually learn to sit in that uncomfortableness.
So I reckon a challenge for our listeners this week
is to do something that feels hard for you. I
recently started some reformer pilates because after my back injury
in January, my physio suggested it to help with my
(10:22):
sort of deep inner core. And I've also started doing
the sauna afterwards, and I've challenged myself to sit on
the top step in the sauna, which is even hotter,
and it's hard. It makes me feel uncomfortable, but it's
something I push myself to do because it's not going
to feel hard forever. It's not going to feel uncomfortable forever.
So this week for our listeners, I reckon Zuzie, A
good challenge is to do something new, do something that
(10:42):
makes you feel uncomfortable, but remember that you can do
uncomfortable things in pursuit of your goals, and the only
way you're actually going to achieve your goals long term
is to learn to be uncomfortable and push through that
discomfort because it doesn't last forever.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Well said, So I agree. If you're thinking something a
little bit hard, it may be time to consider what
the definition of hard is and whether it's just a
shift in mindset. Really isn't Leanne all right? Well, on
to bigger and brighter things. I had an article come
up about key superfoods that women would ideally eat every day,
(11:18):
and I quite like this because I think there's so
many diet recommendations out there about what we should and
shouldn't be having that sometimes you sort of think I
need more fib or I need more iron, I need
less fat, I need less It's almost overwhelming just with
the volume of food that is out there, but I thought,
what I quite like to do is myself is target
(11:39):
some key superfoods of things I like to eat most days,
because then it's kind of ticking the box. So I thought,
just going in cold, some ideas of things that might
come to mind. So first of all, one of the
key things I try myself and clients to have each
day is at least one serf of leafy green veggies.
You know, we know nutritionally all vegies good for us,
(12:00):
but we know when it comes to anti cancer and
the health of our cells, it is the leafy green
vegetables which are the best for us. So I will
try and definitely have at least one, if not two,
just knowing the huge amount of nutritional benefits that come
from that. So whether it's in a salad, I love
adding frozen spinach to different meals, keeping the frozen veggies
in the mix so you've always got things like broccoli,
(12:21):
because I think when food costs are very, very high,
it can be really easy to skimp on things that
are particularly good for us because they're often quite expensive.
So that's probably the first one I really try and target.
It's a leafy green veggie at least every day myself.
I try and have a serve of seafood most days
because again of the huge number of nutritional benefits that
(12:42):
come from that kind of food. Whether it's salmon, I
just had some tin red salmon for lunch. I try
and have salmon for dinner a couple of times a
week for the amazing Amiga three benefits. But I also
use a lot of tin shellfish, things like tin muscles
and tin noisters. I find that they're really key superfood
when it comes to giving iron and zinc to the diet. Particularly.
I'm not a massive red meat eater. I eat red meat,
(13:03):
but I wouldn't have it more than once or twice
a week. We all need a bit more, so I'm
a big fan of having that in, whether it's as
a meal base or adding say some smoke to oysters as
a snack to get the protein in. So that's probably
my number two is the source of seafood. I try
and get one decent whole grain in each day. So
whether it's a really good quality cracker like a riveta
(13:24):
or a riter wheat, or it's a burgen type soiling bread,
or if I've bought a soilin sour dough on the weekend,
or like a good quality cereal, whether it's some all
brand or multi grain wheat, because I try and would
get that in most days, I have a creation. I
like creation going in each day now because we do
have our own creation. But I find each day that's
really powerful when it comes to energy. And probably my
(13:46):
last one is I try and get another source of
good fats from something like a nut spread or some
nuts or some munch snacks to get again those essential
fats going in. That's probably the one I skimp on
most because I don't try. You know, I like you
to have a lot of snacks. I tend to have
just meals, but if I am reaching for a snack
or something in the afternoon, I will try and grab
(14:08):
one of those. And actually I've got a six to
one in the day when blueberries won't seven dollars a punnet.
I used to have a punnet of blue breeze a
day because I knew they were very good for the
antioxidant benefits, very low in calories and high in fiber.
But I haven't been having that in recent years because
they're just too expensive. So yeah, they're my top five foods.
What about you? You got five that you used to
(14:28):
try and have.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Can I just say how unfer it is that you
went first, because now I have to come up with
five completely different ones.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
It's very unfair.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Well, do you have any different Now it's fair because
you probably would replicate I'm assuming you'd replicate the green vase.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
I yeah, okay, it's kidding.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Yeah, So you went with leafy greens, which I love
and I completely agree with. I'm going to say cruciferus vegetables,
So you think broccoli, broccolini, coliflower, Brussels sprouts. So caryciferous
vegetables contain sulforofane and indoles three carbonyl. Both of these
nutrients d estrogen metabolism and liver detoxification, so they really
(15:02):
key for hormone balance. If you're a woman going through
perimenopause or postmenopause, you have PCs, or you have very
bad PMS, you absolutely should be having a serve of
cruciferous vegetables every single day. And if you've got a
little bit of like a sensitive tummy or IRBs, just
cook them well, you know, in a little bit of extraversion.
Olive oil and some seasoning and some salt, and your
(15:23):
body would just break down that fiber a little bit
easier than if you were to have them raw. So
that's my first one as cruciferous vegetables. My second one
is some sort of healthy fat. So cheer seeds or
flax seeds make it appearance in my day basically daily.
So there are a great source of fiber. There are
a great source of amiga three plant based fats, and
they can help to support hormone balance and gut heals.
(15:44):
I just add a tablespoon maybe into a smoothie. Sometimes
I just have my protein powder, my creatine, my collagen
altogether and dune a bit of flax seeds or some
cheer seats in there and kind of shake that up
with a bit of milk. Might throw some berries or
something in there, and you've got a really nice light
sort of smoothie snack or a bit more of a
balance breakfast if you want to add a couple more
things to that as well. They really help in terms
of like those healthy bats for satarti for digestion as well,
(16:07):
particularly the cheer seeds. All right, next one would be
basically I have a SERVI of yogat every day, So
whether that's Greek yogurt or whether that's a probotic yogurt
such as Activia or Kaffa, which is like a fermented
type of milk. So it's really really good in terms
of gut health, immunity, it's good for bone strength because
you're getting a serve of calcium with that, particularly because
it's based on dairy, so I'm not a coconut yogurt person.
(16:30):
I have a dairy based yogurt. And if you have
something like a Greek yogat or a kafir or a
special probotic type yogat like an Activia, you're getting live
probiotics in there as well, which is of course going
to support your gut health and your immunity as well.
So a serve of basically yogurt or some sort of
fermented milk like kafa is a really really great option,
and I pretty much have that every day, and my
(16:51):
girls have that every day as well. And then, like you,
instead of seafood, I would just say a really quality
source of protein. So many of my clients regularly eat
chicken and fish each day because most of my ladies
I work with are actively trying to achieve a calorie deficit,
and they are leaner, higher quality sources of protein. But
I don't want my ladies eating chicken seven days a
(17:13):
week or fish seven days a week, because when I
think of quality protein sauces, I can't go past an egg. Right,
it's a complete protein sauce. It's got colon, it's got
beads twelve, it's got vitamin.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
D in it.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Salmon really really great, amazing healthy amiga three fats in there.
And like you said, steak if you can in your
budget affords it. I like organic grass fed steak. If
that's within your budget. You know you're getting on, you're
getting zinc, you're getting so many good quality nutrients. So
just stop with having the white meat seven days a
week and add a little variety to your diet. And
(17:44):
when it comes to quality protein sauces, a good vegetarian
or vegan based meal a few times a week. If
you're not vegan or you're not vegetarian, incorporating some plant
based meals each week is really really great from a
health perspective, but also a gut health perspective. So a
quality protein sauce would all would be your legumes. So
think you know, black beans, chickpeas, broad beans, you can
(18:04):
put them into soups that's coming into soup season. Any
sort of your white beans go really really well into
soups as well. So that would be was that number
four quality protein sauce, and then number five I would
have set a serve of fruit. But let's actually let's
go rolled oats, because there's so much controversy on social
media about oats, and given I don't eat oats every
day in summer, but in winter I kind of eat
(18:26):
them nearly every day. Like I might do an overnight
oat with a bit of our designed by dietitian protein
powder stirred through.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
I might do an oat bake, like a baked oats.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
I literally just took one out of the oven for
me and the girls and David for the next few days.
I made an apple pie oat bake, and then I
serve that with a bit of higher protein yogurt and
a bit of fresh fruit on the side. I might
add oats into a smoothie. It helps to thicken them
up because a bag of rolled oats, like I just
buy the home brand variety, like I don't buy the
expensive brand or anything like that. It's literally the same thing.
I'm pretty confident it comes out of the same factory.
(18:56):
It's like two bucks. Well, they're so good. They're a
really rich source of sol fiber. They naturally contain bitter glucken,
which helps to regulate blood sugars. It helps to lower
cholesterol levels. If you have high cholesterol, or you have
diabetes or have diabetes in your family, I would absolutely
look to include a serve of rolled oats or steel
cut oats every single day. And the soluble fiber in
(19:17):
there is really really great for your gut and your
heart health as well. So yeah, you can add them
into a smoothie, you can do them as baked oats,
you can do them as over night oats, or you
can just have a nice bowl of porridge or add
them even if you're doing a bit of a cheer
seed pudding, you can add a couple of tablespoons of
rolled oats into there as well. So that would be
my number five. Maybe not every single day, but multiple
times a week. Have a good quality rolled oat in
(19:38):
your diet, and I like the whole oat pieces, so
the rolled oat or the steel cut oat, try to
stay clear of the quick oats and the instant oats
just because the GI load is a little bit higher.
They're okay on busy days, but better quality is the
rolled oat or the steel cut oats. So that would
be my number five rounding out my list. That did
all right, didn't I something? I've always got something to.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Say, Champion land. I do have a lot of clients
who proactively avoid carbohydrates and grains in the morning. Absolutely,
you know, often seeing women having just a coffee or
even a bit of yogurt and fruit, but even not
that often am I seeing cereal, and you do really
miss out on a good quality of dietary fiber. So
it's not about avoiding carbohydrate, it's about the right type
(20:20):
and mixing it together. So you don't need to be
scared of things like oats. They're very very good for us.
And it's about the timing because so many people avoid
carves in the morning and then end up binge eating
sweet food all afternoon. You know, it defeats the purpose.
You'll find if you know sugar early, you'd be a
lot less hungry in the afternoon. So that's always something
to check if it's actually you know, there's a lot
(20:42):
of benefits to having that carbohydrate early on. Really, Anne, Well,
you found a little gem in the supermarket. I haven't
seen this before. Now I'll be interested to know which
section of the supermarket it's in. But it's in Willis
and it's called a Salmon quinoa rice with lemon and
herb box three hundred grams. Oh, you can microwave it.
(21:03):
And it's actually on sale this week when we're recording
at three dollars sixty but usually only retailing for four fifty,
so cheap. We love it. Well, let's talk about the
packaging in a second. But when we look at the
ingredient list, it's thirty nine percent salmon, eighteen percent brown rice,
a whole grain, ten percent onion, nine percent capsic and water, redkinoir,
green peas, bring onion, sumplower oil, garlic, concentrated lemon juice,
(21:26):
herbs east, extra salt, vinegar, vegetable juice concentrate, modified tabogustarch,
lemon peel, turmeric, thickner, lemon or thyme. A very clean list.
What is that percentage of veggies in there? That's ten
nineteen twenty percent veggies at least amazing and nutritionally, Yeah,
and it's offering crazy three hundred and sixty calories so
(21:49):
beautiful meals. Slight but beautiful. Twenty seven grams of protein.
Nine grams are overall fat, but only three saturated. It's
just still a low saturated fat product. Thirty nine total
grams of carbohydrate, four point five grams of sugar's pretty low,
three grams of five or six hundred milligrams of sodium.
It's really up there. It's a great product. I hope
(22:10):
people buy it because we want supermarkets to make more
of these products. Now, the only question I have for you,
Lianne is it's a microwave. It's like a if you
look at American shows and they've got those containers that
you get takeaway in. It's like one of those little boxes.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
It's like a Chinese takeaway box.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Yeah, it's cute, it's pink. But we're not supposed to microwave,
are we because of the microplastics. We kind of encourage
you to take it out and put it in a bowl.
Is that a fair call?
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Well, I think the box is like cardboard, but I
would always decandid into it, Yeah, like a ceramic bowl
or something. And yet not microwave and plastic, but it
looks cardboard to me from the photo.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
I think it has to be coded though, because it
wouldn't it would definitely take it out. So it has
to be codo, which is a shame. But I like
the idea of it. I love it, like you guys
have got to try it because it's a great lunch
on the go and so cheap four fifty. When can
you get twenty seven grams of protein for four dollars fifty?
Not often?
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Yeah, for only three sixty calories. I was blown away.
I spent about two hours in Walworth searching. I've got
one beautiful client at the moment. She travels a lot,
she's a very high power job, and she's ciliac, so
we really don't have a lot of options. And she's
saying to me a lot of times she's on the road,
she doesn't have access to it. Just heat things up.
It's good and free as well. Yeah, so I was saying,
(23:24):
I was trying to find options for her that didn't
require refrigeration, that needed some protein, and most of them
on there are like the tuna and rice options and
she's like, oh, I say anything with salmon and I
was like, not really that I've seen. Then I came
across this and I was like, oh, my goodness, So
you could eat that. I think at like room temperature,
you wouldn't have to heat it. I would say it
would probably be nice and heated with a bit of
spinnach thrown through afterwards. But I think it's so strong
(23:47):
ingredient wise, macronutrient panel wise, it's so strong. And it's
actually on sale this week. We are bulk recording in advance,
so it probably won't be on sale, I must say,
by the time this airs. But it's on sale this
week with three dollars sixty, Like three is sixty for
twenty seven grams of protein.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
But I want to know where there's heaks in them.
There's a chicken saute, but this is the only way.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Yeah, this is the best one though, brown rice. Yeah,
there's a garlic chicken. There's a veggie noodle.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
One.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
This is the strongest. Absolutely. I went through all of them.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
They're a lot higher calories, a lot higher one hundred
percent the best one.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Yeah, I have to have a look with it. I
haven't seen them either, and I'm wondering if they're in
the cool section, or if they're in the long live No.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
I think they're in the long life section, whether like
the packet rices and stuff like the microwave rice that
kind of section. Yeah, in whether like the Indian sauces
and the curries and stuff are in that section. And
they're termed meal for one. So it's this new Woorst
range where they called meals for one. So there's a
musman chicken, there's a chicken pad tie, there's a vegetable
pumpkin risotto, a vegetable Singapore noodle, stirf for a garlic
(24:46):
chicken with ginger and rice. So they're supposed to be like, yeah,
meals for one in a box. You're supposed to warm
them up and heat them up, and I think they're
in the normal shelving section of the wolves. I couldn't
find it in my local one, but I did obviously
find it online, So that's my understanding. The only other
thing is that it is made in Thailand. You know,
we'd like to support Australian food where we can, but
(25:07):
it's just one of those things. I think, you know,
not everything can tick all the boxes all the time,
and I think for busy people, particularly if you don't
have a family, it might just be year at home.
This could be a really great light lunch option on
the weekend or something, or for lunch midweek where you
don't feel like you have to spend an hour in
the kitchen cooking something just for yourself. I think it's
a really well balanced option.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Really.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Yeah, we'll give it a go and see what you
think of them, because I haven't seen them yet either,
but yeah, I rate that five stars from me. Great choice,
particularly if it tastes food. So let us know what
you think, all rightly, and we're going to rap us
up with our final segment of the day. We get
a lot of questions on our Instagram and also our
Design by Dieticians account about protein powder, what is it
(25:49):
and who should use it? So do you want to
kick us off in terms of what it is and
we can talk about who who we do use it
with with our clients.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Yeah. Sure.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
So protein powder is essentially just concentrated milk powder, and
often there's a couple of different types. You know, you
can have vegan protein powder, but for the sake of
this question, we'll talk about way based protein powder because
that is the gold standard you're going to get more
bang fearbuck, you're going to get a high protein load,
and you're going to get a lower calorie load and
better quality absorbable protein compared to a vegan based protein powder.
(26:19):
So I always preference my clients having a way protein powder,
particularly a WPI over a WPC. WPI's way protein isolate,
WPC is concentrate. Concentrate is sort of slow absorbed. A
lot of like you know, the male bodybuilders will take
it at nighttime because it absorbs slowly over night. WPI
absorbs a lot faster, So a lot of times I'm
using a WPI after a training session with my clients
(26:42):
as in their post breakfast smoothie, because it gets absorbed
really quickly by the body. So it's a very convenient
source of protein. Not everybody needs a protein powder. You
can absolutely eat enough protein in your diet, absolutely, but
a lot of us, particularly at breakfast time, just need
that little bit of a boost to get upwards of
that twenty five thirds of protein. Some of my clients
are aiming for thirty five forty grams of protein, so
(27:05):
and for reference, and egg has about six grams of protein.
So unless you're going to sit down and eat four
or five eggs at breakfast time. You're just not going
to get in that thirty thirty to forty grams of protein.
So it's a convenient food. It is what you would
call a process food. It is not an ultra processed food.
I mean, depending on the brands that you use. The
brand that Susie and I have at designed by dietitians,
(27:25):
it's very clean. The ingredients up you would consider them process,
but not ultra process. So it is it's not essentially
a whole food because it is packaged. We've added a
couple of different things in there, like a probotic, a
fiber in the prem probotic blend, some nutrients in there
for women's health, and hormones in our women's protein. My overall,
I would say it's a very convenient source of protein
that you can add to a meal or add to
(27:47):
a snack in order to boost the overall quality of
protein in your diet. So whether or not you should
use a protein basically comes down to whether or not
you're able to eat enough protein at meal times. And
often I'll have clients who don't use it routinely during
the week, but then if they travel, or they might
be going away on holidays or something, and they might get,
say a smoothie at at the local cafe and it's
(28:09):
a beautiful, you know, banana honey, I don't know, almond
smoothie or whatnot. They'll just add a scuper protein powder
into that smoothie to ensure that that smoothie has enough
protein to help stabilize their blood sugar levels and carry
them through the morning. So the risk is if you're
not eating enough protein at your meals, and for most
women it's at a minimum of twenty grams, if not
ideally thirty grams, particularly if your goal is weight loss
(28:31):
or you're going through more of those hormonal years basically
you're kind of late thirties and beyond, it is far
more ideal to have a little bit more protein in
your diet. And it's very very common that Susie and
I most women get enough protein at dinner. It's kind
of fifty to fifty that I see with my clients lunchtime,
and the majority of them are not getting in enough
protein at breakfast time, particularly if they're not sitting down
(28:52):
to like a hot cook breakfast of eggs or you know,
baked beans and a couple of slices of good quality
sort of grainy bread. You may get enough protein there,
but if you're having cereal, a smoothie, a bowl of oats,
it's very, very unlikely that you're going to get enough
twenty five thirty grams of protein in at breakfast time,
So you don't have to use it, but if you do,
you would be using it to boost the overall protein
(29:15):
content of your meal. So I never give my clients
a protein shakeers breakfast, And we've had a lot of
questions where people say to us, can I use it
as a meal replacement? No, our protein powder is not
a meal replacement. It is designed to be to add
balance to your meals and boost the overall protein content
of the meal, not replace the meal. It doesn't replace
the meal. It boosts the quality of the protein in
(29:35):
your meal. And then how do we use it. You
would just you would add it to foods basically, so
way protein powder, particularly a good quality one, doesn't cook
that well. So I'm not a huge fan of adding
it to like baking or heating it up or adding
it into hot coffee, because it does tend to kind
of curdle and it doesn't leave a nice texture to
bake goods. It makes them quite hard. It takes out
the airiness of it. It's quite hard and sticky. So
(29:57):
I like to stir it through. If I'm making a
bowl of porridge, heat the porridge up, cook the porridge,
let it cool down for a second, and then stir
it through afterwards. If you want to put it into protein,
stir it through into cold water first, or into a
cold sort of shot of coffee first, and have it
more like an iced protein latte. If you want to
do it into a smoothie, you just literally dump it
into your blender with all your other ingredients. Sometimes I
(30:18):
have clients they really like cereal in the morning, so
they'll either sprinkle the protein powder into the cereal with
the milk, or they'll just have cereal and milk normally
and a protein shake on the side to boost that
overall protein within the meal.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
How else would you use it? That's generally how I
do it.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
I stir it through porridge, I have it on the
side or sprinkled over cereal, or I dump it into
like a smoothie. Or I might just have a shake
by itself and dump all my collagen, my creatine, my magnesium.
If I want it into that, have that and then
have a few pieces of like avocado toast or peanut
butter on toast or something so sort of as a
supplement to a meal and as an addition to a meal.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
I use it as a functional ingredient. So if I've
got clients who already use protein powder is say a shake,
go keep them using that. Maybe they have it quick
and easy breakfast with milk and made into a smoothie.
But for some clients who might be prefer a plant
based approach or just struggling, I'll use it to add
to say, they might prefer regular yogat rather than protein yogat,
(31:12):
and that can give you more they might be looking
to add something in that is concentrated, because with athletes
it's just more of a convenient source of twenty thirty
grams of protein in a small amount of food. So yeah,
that's the main things you know. I do cook with
it more like you can use it for protein pancakes
or if I'm doing different slices and things for adults.
I'll use it as a functional ingredient, like in some
(31:34):
muffins or a banana bread or in like a music
bar type product, but generally it's used in shakes or
like added to a cereal bowl to bump up the
protein content. But yeah, I sort of don't. It's an option.
I usually find people use it or they don't. But
I think the most important thing that you're using a
good quality, one hundred percent way, which is what our
products are. It's a relatively expensive ingredient because milk powder
(31:56):
is expensive, and that's very clean. It's really higher quality
in terms of well absorbed protein. And yeah, just an option.
So you know, for someone if you like shakes or smoothies,
or prefer to drink things, or might you know, prefer
playing yoga or want cereal in the morning and need
more protein, you can just add it to get that
bit extra, particularly for women moving in there sort of
(32:17):
third late thirties forties who need a bit more. And
it's also calcium as well, because having shakes and things
is a great way to get a bit of extra
calcium into your diet. Now women's blend does have added calcium,
so that's a blonus true all rightly. And what that
brings us to the end of another episode in the
nutrition couch. Please keep telling your friends about us. I
think we're pretty close to five million downloads. We know
that our tips and advice help you a lot of listeners,
(32:39):
and we also are very grateful for your support because
we know when we hear from you, and we know
that it's helping you achieve your goal, so it's really
nice in general. So thanks for being part of the
community and we will see you same time next week
for our regular episode drops.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
Thank you listening.
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