Welcome to your Spring 2022 HWFL Graduate Newsletter!
This month, your HWFL team want to provide you with some helpful health resources as the weather gets warmer and flowers start to bloom.
Our HWFL members often ask us for quick recipes and tips to make meal prepping more convenient (particularly as we come out of our winter slumber and our schedules get busier). In this edition, we share a really useful website to add to your toolkit to help address this. We also highlight 5 practical steps to lower cholesterol naturally and improve your overall heart health.
Don't forget - we will send out a follow-up newsletter shortly with more announcements, tips and info to support your ongoing health journey so please keep your eyes peeled!
Best wishes,
Your Healthy Weight For Life team
Announcements
HWFL Graduate Online Store Special
15%* DISCOUNT & FREE POSTAGE on ALL KicStart™ VLCD Shake & Soup Orders
*15% off the current RRP of $3.10 = approx. $2.64 per sachet.
Valid until 5pm AEDST Friday 30th September 2022.
NEW MIXED FLAVOUR BULK BOX VALUE PACK
New Special Offer: 150 Mixed KicStart Shakes Bulk Buy Value Pack at a special price.
Your member graduate discount applies a FURTHER discount.
No need for login to your HWFL portal, just start shopping:
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Simply select your KicStart™ flavour options and click ‘Add to Cart’ then ‘View Cart’.
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Enter your special discount code HWFLGRADUATE and click on ‘Apply Coupon’
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Proceed to checkout and payment.
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The rest is in our hands – your HWFL Team will pack and deliver the order to you shortly!
No Money No Time (NMNT)
No Money No Time (NMNT) is a website created by Professor Clare Collins and her team of nutrition researchers at the University of Newcastle. It aims to motivate and support people to adopt healthy eating habits to help improve health and wellbeing.
NMNT includes the evidence-based and popular dietary assessment tool - The Healthy Eating Quiz - that provides personalised feedback and suggestions about how to improve your score. The NMNT website has lots of quick, cheap and easy recipes and meal ideas, hacks and advice, eBooks, meal plans and more!
No Money No Time also has a growing social community on Facebook where people connect to share healthy recipes and ideas with the NMNT team.
Helping people achieve and maintain better health is in our DNA!
The following heart health feature article on cholesterol was written for the HWFL graduates by one of our expert HWFL dietitians, Karina Chen.
The question “How to lower cholesterol?” is one of Google’s top health searches and it’s no surprise!
Being told by the doctor that you have high cholesterol is scary and it’s even scarier to think that it can lead to heart disease or stroke. But what can you do about it? The good news is that by following these 5 steps, you’ll be able to make changes to your diet and lifestyle that will really help even if you have already been prescribed cholesterol lowering medication.
Step 1. Understand What Cholesterol Is
Before you jump the gun and think that you need to reduce ALL cholesterol, you should know that cholesterol is actually an important fat found in the bloodstream that is needed for our body to function properly. There are different types of cholesterol – HDL and LDL. An easy trick to distinguish between them is by remembering that ‘H’ is for healthy. HDL cholesterol (or high-density lipoprotein) is protective of the heart and it carries the extra cholesterol out of the arteries. On the other hand, LDL cholesterol (or low-density lipoprotein) is the not-so-healthy type that leads to the build-up of fat in artery walls.
Step 2. Stick To Heart-Healthy Fats
Just like there are different types of cholesterol found in our blood, there are also different types of fat found in our food. Saturated fats and trans fats are the type you want to avoid because they increase unhealthy LDL cholesterol. They are found in fatty meats, full cream dairy products, butter, deep-fried takeaway foods and processed baked goods (like pastries, donuts and cakes). Unsaturated fats are the type that can help boost your healthy HDL cholesterol levels and lower your LDL levels. Get more unsaturated fats in your diet by snacking on nuts and seeds (note: Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend 30g/1 handful nuts daily), using vegetable oils (e.g. olive, canola, sunflower), spreading avocado on your toast or incorporating fish in more dishes throughout the week.
Step 3. Focus On Fibre
You’ve heard how great fibre is for your gut health, but did you know that fibre can help lower cholesterol too? Soluble fibre is a type of fibre found in plant foods that binds to the unhealthy LDL cholesterol in the intestine and removes it from the body. So, to farewell the “bad” cholesterol, make sure to have two serves of fruit, five serves of veg and remember to opt for wholegrain breads and cereals!
A great way to turbo boost your daily fibre is to add 3 teaspoons of 100% psyllium husk (available at your local supermarket) to your morning KicStart shake. The psyllium makes the texture of your shake thicker than usual and once you get used to it you will find it an easy and enjoyable way to increase your fibre! Remember to drink plenty of water when increasing fibre in your diet.
Step 4. Maintain A Healthy Weight
If you are above a healthy weight, losing just 10% of your body weight can help to control your cholesterol levels. This shouldn’t be done in a drastic or rapid way by going on restrictive fad diets. It should involve eating a balanced diet and doing at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity every day (think brisk walking, dancing, or even gardening!).
Your Healthy Weight For Life program and resources are perfect for helping you achieve and maintain a healthier weight.
Step 5. Include Plant Sterols
Plant sterols are natural chemicals found in all plants. Research has showed that eating enough plant sterols (2-3g per day), can lower LDL cholesterol by up to 10-15%. As they are only found in small amounts naturally, some foods in Australia are fortified with plant sterols. Getting a sufficient amount would mean having 2 teaspoons of fortified margarine, 1 glass of fortified milk or 1 serve of fortified breakfast cereal (e.g. 2 biscuits of cholesterol lowering Weet-bix). However, keep in mind that these products can be quite pricey, so speak to a dietitian if you need to figure out whether you really need them or whether your cholesterol can be controlled just through the other steps mentioned.
All Graduates are warmly invited to join the Graduates Facebook Group.
How to Login to your Online Member Hub
On your PC, mobile or tablet:
- Go to HealthyWeightForLife.com.au
- Scroll down to your specific program:
Osteoarthritis, Heart, Type 2 Diabetes, Essentials or Healthy@Heart
(If you have forgotten which program you completed, please contact the team) - Click on the “Login (already enrolled)” button for your program
- Enter your username and password
If you have forgotten your username and/or password, click on “Forgot your password?” and enter the email address you supplied when you registered. Click “Recover Password” and you will receive an email containing your username and password details!
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