Expert nutrition rules, breathing for health

Health expert LYNDA POPE says eating well is often far simpler than we make it. Here’s how...

Rule # 1 Love your liver

“I’m not about promoting one particular diet, because if you want to lose weight it’s really about looking after your liver,” says nutritionist and fitness coach Lynda Pope. “It’s in charge of a host of important jobs including metabolising fat and getting toxins out of the body. You can start by helping it to function optimally by eating vegetables high in antioxidants like tomatoes, beetroot, broccoli and kid kidney beans.”

Rule # 2 Reduce your alcohol intake

“When you excessively drink alcohol, instead of breaking down fat, the liver breaks down alcohol. The fat then accumulates in the body and the liver develops fatty liver disease. And since alcohol is made up of sugar, every time you drink, it’s like having an extra meal. So you’re consuming excess calories that don don’t t haveha any nutritional value.”

Rule # 3 S Stop filling up on starchy carbs

“This is one of the biggest problems we face. We tend to use starchy carbs as a tummy filler. Instead, we should be filling up on fibre that contains vitamins and minerals to keep us healthy, as well as full. Switch up your carb source and eat more fibrous vegetables such as tomatoes, spinach, cauliflower, brussels sprouts and beetroot. You can still eat bread just ma make sure it’s a dark gra grain type that has m more nutritional v value.”

Rule # 4 Make mindful food choices

“Ditch packaged foods that are high in fats, salt and sugar. Think mindfully about your food choices. Ask yourself every time you prepare a meal, ‘Does it contain enoughe nutrients?’”

Rule # 5 Add vegies to every meal

“Include vegetables with every meal, including breakfast. It’s going to push all the bad and low-nutrient food off your plate. But it’s also going to fill you up on healthy foods and nd prevent you from snacking badly. Struggling to do thiss at brekkie time? Think k eggs and spinach, or r ppumpkinpumpkinp porridge.”

Rule # 6 Don’t eat perfectly at every meal

“I follow the 80/20 rule,” says Lynda. “The 20 per cent can be unhealthy food – I like to think of it as celebratory foods – and the rest should be good foods. And yes, you can eat chocolate, but the dark kind. It’s actually full of antioxidants. I make my own so I know exactly what’s going into it. It’s a combo of coconut oil, cocoa and a flavour like pepp peppermint oil.”

Rule # 7 Stop focusing on portion sizes

“There are so many different views on portion sizes. Some diets say eat more protein, some say eat more fats. I used to be in that world, but now I take a holistic approach. I’ve moved away from the percentages and towards e eating better.”

Rule # 8 E Exercise for fitness

“The key to weight loss is 90 per cent diet and 10 per cent exercise. You can bust your gut in the gym but if you’re not doing the right exercise or eating the right foods, you won’t lose weight. What exercise does is help speed up your metabolism, especially weight-based training. It helps to increase your muscle mass, which accelerat accelerates weight loss.” oss.”

Rule 9 E Eat morere # cruci cruciferous veg

“A cruciferous vegetable is anything that contains a lot of fibre. They’re great at helping your liver eliminate toxins through your digestive system. This type of vegie is a prebiotic [which feeds the good bacteria] to keep your gut balanced. If your gut is in good condition then it’s easier to lose weight.”