Nutrition – Level Up Your Life

The Diet After the Diet

Posted on December 14, 2021 by Roy Eastham

So your diet is over, you’ve reached your goal weight (Congrats by the way), you feel proud after X amount of time and restricting your calories, resisting temptation of your ever-growing appetite.

The suffering is finally over and you’re ready to live life again.

A month later you jump on the scale’s and slap yourself trying to awaken you from this nightmare. You suddenly realise that this is no dream. How can months of dieting and hard work be undone in a matter of weeks.

What do you do now, Why has this happened, Do you do another round of restrictive eating and hope it sticks this time?

Well getting the Body you want is only half the Battle, There’s the Battle of keeping the weight off as well which is just as Hard if not Harder.

It’s no secret that when we restrict our Calories our bodies react via Hormones such as Leptin Decreasing and Ghrelin Increasing along with other key hormones that play a role in weight management. Also as an effect of Diet-induced Weight loss our appetites get bigger but those hormones do not return back to normal after the diet has ended (1.) Resulting in constantly feeling more hungry and unconsciously consuming way more Calories than you think you’ve eaten. I’ve discussed this in greater detail & other concepts of the Metabolism in these articles here (2,3.)

So your Metabolism had a massive wrench thrown into its tracks, The wrench being Adaptive Thermogenesis (Metabolic Adaptation) Seriously read this (3.) When Adaptive Thermogenesis Kicks In Your BMR drops and you burn less Calories Throughout the day along with the increase in certain Hunger Hormones and Appetite it’s Going to be hard to burn more Calories than you Consume.

There’s only so much you can exercise and reduce Calories before your lifestyle becomes miserable and pretty impossible to maintain.

Let’s Use a female competitor weighing 140 pounds (64 kg) at 20 percent body fat who needs to get down to below 12 percent as an example (4.) Her maintenance diet looks something like this:

Calories: 2350 calories a day
Protein: 30 percent, 176 g/day
Fat: 30 percent, 78 g/day
Carbs: 40 percent. 235 g/day

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Nutrition and Mental Health

Posted on May 16, 2021May 16, 2021 by Roy Eastham

Always contact your GP if you are planning a new diet or exercise regime.

Please note that this is not a diet book. The following is for educational purposes only.

Taking antidepressants alone won’t cure Depression or Anxiety if our Nutrition and blood sugar have more ups and downs than a ship on a stormy sea, Since many antidepressants (SSRIs*) work by increasing serotonin levels in the brain (78.) A person with too high blood sugar is already getting too much Serotonin taking SSRIs is only going to make the problem worse and a person with Low Blood Sugar levels isn’t producing enough then SSRIs is probably going to help but it does not solve the underlying problem (59.)

(*Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)

As already stated Anxiety and depression are very complex topics and Blood Sugar and Neurotransmitters levels are not the only cause As we’ll discuss in part 3, However, a healthy blood sugar system will ensure the transport of the right levels of precursors for both serotonin and dopamine into the brain (59) at least giving us a fighting chance.

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Health and Fitness, Mental Health

Depression and Diet

Posted on March 6, 2021 by Roy Eastham

The diet of the general population in many western countries shows that they are often deficient in many nutrients, especially essential vitamins, minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids.

As studies show The western-style diet may be contributing to depression as people make poor food choices. Rather than depression contributing to poor food choices (I.e. The food came before the depression)

Studies have shown traditional diets like the Mediterranean diet and the Traditional Japanese diet give you a 25-35% less chance of having depression compared with The Traditional Western Diet.

The traditional Japanese and Mediterranean diets tend to be high in vegetables, fruits, unprocessed grains, and seafood, and to contain only modest amounts of lean meats and dairy.

They are also void of processed and refined foods and sugars, which are staples of the “Western” dietary pattern.

A study on the Mediterranean diet showed improvements in major depression by 35%.

The full chapter in my free ebook on your head is not an island link in bio

Health and Fitness

PCOS management.

Posted on March 5, 2021March 5, 2021 by Roy Eastham

PCOS management.

*This is not a pot about what PCOS is

Although PCOS affects the ovaries, These are just side effects, PCOS originates from the brain.

Management of PCOS is no quick fix, there is no 4-8 week plan to combat it.

The Brain and PCOS

The brain signals the Hypothamolus, Which signals the Pituitary which sends signals out to The thyroid, Adrenals, and ovaries.

Basically, the brain controls your thyroid, reproduction and stress.

There is no one single cause for PCOS and many women aren’t even aware that they have it, But something happens in the brain which then disrupts the ovaries.

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Health and Fitness

Consequences of short term weight loss

Posted on March 1, 2021 by Roy Eastham

Low energy intake and minimal body fat are perceived as indicators of energy unavailability, resulting in a homeostatic endocrine response aimed at conserving energy and promoting energy intake.

When we restrict energy (Calories) from our bodies for an extended period of time we are accompanied by a host of changes in our circulating hormones, mitochondrial efficiency, and energy expenditure

A general endocrine response to hypocaloric (Low calorie) diets are increased hunger, reductions in metabolic rate, and the maintenance of lean mass is compromised

Basically your body does not care about your vanity and when we lose weight by cutting calories, you expend less energy and don’t need to consume as many to maintain weight either this is referred to as adaptive thermogenesis

Numerous Studies involving energy restriction report decreases in leptin , insulin , testosterone, and thyroid hormones. Whilst subsequently, increasing ghrelin and cortisol.

These unfavorable changes in hormone levels persist long after desired weight has been reached making it harder for long term weight maintenance.

A study took –

50 overweight and/or obese patients without diabetes in a 10-week weight-loss program for which a very-low-energy diet was prescribed. circulating levels of hormones such as Leptin & Ghrelin, Insulin as well as other key hormones and participants rating of appetite were all measured. They were measured At baseline (before weight loss), at 10 weeks , and at 62 weeks (both after program completion.)

Findings show that One year after initial weight reduction, levels of the circulating mediators of appetite that encourage weight regain after diet-induced weight loss did not revert to the levels recorded before weight loss

In some people there is also an increase in Lipoprotein Lipase enzyme which is responible for removing Lipids from the blood and into stroage. So when normal eating resumes fat storage becomes enhanced.

Not to mention that an 8 -12 week fat loss program are going to be super restrictive and hard work after you have reached the desired goal normal response would be to binge on all the things you’ve sacrificed and you’re probaly not going to want to exercise for a while either coupled with the increase in hunger hormones

The question is are short term restrictive diets worth it?