Nutritional Blog

with Caroline Masters Nutritional Therapist (specialising in weight loss & nutrition advice)

At Whelehan’s Nutrition we are excited to inform you that we are expanding our excellent nutrition service to include more professional services such as food intolerance checks, heart checks (eg. Cholesterol, BP, diabetes, haemoglobin checks) as well as our great results focused nutrition advice.

Click into article to read more about Caroline's background and personal story

What is different about Whelehans newly expanded Nutrition Clinic?

There are many weight loss clubs around these days, however these are mostly group centred and not tailored to individual needs.  The clinic at Whelehans is a private space where we will meet weekly, one to one to discuss your individual needs and make a plan for a healthier you.  You will be educated, motivated and monitored.  It is a friendly, affordable, flexible service suitable for men, women and children.

How does the clinic work?

• Initial full consultation – 1 hour €40  - we will discuss your daily routine and an individual personalised plan will be put in place

Body analysis assessed, BMI and BMR calculated, blood pressure and blood glucose checked and waist measurement taken at this time 

• Weekly follow up consultation for six week programme €20 per week when we will cover topics relevant to each individual such as calories, snacks, sugar, fats, food labelling, portion size, digestive system and conditions

 Weekly monitoring takes place thereafter for 15 minutes costing €10 per week

Once you have reached a healthier weight you can check in with me once a month for further weight management maintenance advice.

Additional Services

Whelehans Nutrition Service will offer its clients affordable additional health checks such a food intolerance checks, cholesterol checks, haemoglobin checks and much more

For further information on our programme, call/text Caroline on 086-3994615 or email  nutrition@whelehans.ie  or contact Whelehans Pharmacy on 044 9334591

Calories are everywhere

Restaurants are now displaying calorie and other nutritional information on their menus, this makes selecting your meals a little easier and calories are displayed as per portion or per meal.

All the information is provided to us about calorie content of foods it’s up to us to ensure we read labels, don’t over consume high calorific foods and keep our diet relatively balanced. The calorie information is provided to us on food and in restaurants we need to be more vigilant when it comes to what we eat.

Burning calories

How many calories you burn in a day depends on a number of factors including your age, height, weight, activity level the more active you are the more calories you burn off. Weight gain is due to eating or drinking more calories than you burn off.Calorie in vs calorie expenditure

The most important part of any healthy nutrition plan is knowing your calorie intake and how much extra fat you may be consuming. Over consumption of calories is the biggest reason for weight gain.  If your calorie intake coming from your macronutrients (protein, fat, carbohydrates) is at its optimal percentage, meaning you are eating the right calories in the day. You will lose fat and/or build muscle (with exercise) this is why knowing the calories content of your Macronutrients is vital.

Calories in: All food and drink contain calories (except water) and contribute to our daily calorie intake. As these calories are consumed they are referred to “calories in”.

Calories out: Like previously explained calories are a form of energy and can never disappear or be destroyed instead they change form. Our bodies convert calories to heat energy, electrical energy, sound energy, and kinetic (movement) energy. If calories are not burned they are stored in your body as glycogen or fat to use at a later time. These compounds get stored in your liver, muscles and fat cells.  This is known as “calories out” the more activity you do contribute to your “calories out”.

Whelehan’s Nutrition we are excited to inform you that we are expanding our excellent nutrition service to include more professional services such as food intolerance checks, heart checks (eg. Cholesterol, BP, diabetes, haemoglobin checks) as well as our great results focused nutrition advice.

Leading our new enhanced service is nutritionist Caroline Masters Nutritional Therapist (specialising in weight loss & nutrition advice)

http://www.whelehans.net/pages/dietry-advice-service

Call 0449334591 to Book your initial Consultation for our expanded Nutrition Clinic

Making up school lunches for your kids be a challenging thing…..trying to get your kids to eat healthy foods, making sure they are not hungry and ensuring they have the right foods to keep their concentration level up throughout their school day.

Why is what you put in the lunchbox so important?

• Childhood obesity is on the rise! Irish children as young as 7 are wearing adult sized uniforms to school and it has come to light that 1 in 5 children are classified as obese. Obesity related diseases like type 2 diabetes are on the rise.
• Children need to know the difference between healthy food and unhealthy food. What is a “treat food” and what foods are vital for health. By avoiding unhealthy foods in lunch boxes we are sending the message that foods like fruit, vegetables, brown bread and yoghurts are better for you than chocolate bars and crisps.
• Deficiencies are avoided by including a range of different foods in your child’s lunch box, from fish, to vegetables, whole grain, fruit and dairy.

Click to read more 

I will be giving lunch box tips instore on Aug 25^th Come along to get tips and tricks to help:

• Combat fussy / picky eating Nutrition information to help you make better choices
• Walk away with two weeks of healthy, nutritious lunchbox menu choices
• Lots of healthy food for your kids to try

This event is FREE OF CHARGE, however with numbers limited; book early to avoid disappointment. Call Whelehans at 04493 34591 to book your free place.

 part 1

Tips for meal planning

1. Get organised –I recommend making a little calendar; this will make it easier for you to see what meals you need to bring on the go or to cook at home. You can make a weekly calendar or a monthly one. Leave notes on it for recipe ideas or groceries that need to be purchased.

2. Shopping day – I recommend picking a day in the week to do all the grocery shopping and bring your list this will reduce the chances of forgetting certain foods. If you shop every day you may be more inclined to pick up foods you don’t want or won’t eat (junk food that is on special offer e.g. BOGOF, 2 for 1). Obviously special offers are brilliant but if it’s on a packet of biscuits or crisps then it’s not going to benefit your waist line.

3. Variety is the spice of life – Try making all your meals different; for example, if you had fish at lunch then perhaps chicken might be more appealing at dinner time. There is no issue with having the same meal for lunch five days in a row as long as its balanced and keeps you full.

4. Make a plan for the leftovers – Leftovers can be a very convenient way to plan for the next day’s meals. Perhaps you make an extra portion of stir-fry so you can have it for lunch the next day. This will reduce cooking and save you some time at your next meal.

Part 2 

4 more Tips for meal planning Click int article to read more 

Many of us know the disappointment of stepping on the scales and seeing a number we didn’t want to see. Unfortunately weight fluctuations happen and it can be frustrating especially if you have been working hard following a healthy meal plan. Some people have known to increase anywhere from 1lb – 5lbs in a day, this may seem a lot for one day but can occur, it can cause you to lose hope in losing weight but it’s important not to.  If you know why the fluctuations happen then you can just take them in your stride.

Why Weight Fluctuations Happen

Weight fluctuations are perfectly normal and can happen to everybody. There are numerous reasons why these fluctuations occur. The amount of food you have consumed, excess salt intake, water retention, constipation and hormonal change all contribute to weight fluctuations. The extra weight on the scales may not be fat; if your diet is balanced and healthy it’s more than likely to be due to excess fluid, waste products or other substances that are temporarily in the body. I always recommend to my clients not to give in to the temptation to weigh yourself every day.  Due to regular weighing an individual can lose faith in their weight loss plan.

How much can you fluctuate?

How much your weight fluctuates depends on the person and their digestive system. It’s important to remember that it takes some time for food, salt, and fluids to properly digest and for our bodies to process it. These substances that are being processed can be a contributing factor to your weight, for example if you had a large dinner the night before then chances are your weight will still be up in the morning if you have not had a bowel movement. Even if you have eaten more than you should, true weight gain will occur over a longer period of time.

Whelehans Nutrition Service

Whelehans nutritional service is a private one to one advice service with our nutritionist Aisling Murray. Aisling’s areas of interest include weight loss management, nutrition education and food intolerance. Our nutrition service offers you the chance to change your life in a positive way by focusing on your overall wellbeing as well as the chance to follow up on your progress.

To be continued.... next week

Aisling Murray has a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and offers a one to one specialist nutrition service at Whelehans Pharmacy. Call Whelehans at 04493 34591 for an appointment. Aisling’s Nutriton Clinic costs only €10 per week.