Michelle Bridges reveals the pro secret to losing weight, getting fit and feeling good too
The fitness guru and eastern suburbs local shares insider tips on dropping weight and boosting health once and for all.
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Michelle Bridges is laughing – hard. The sound is rich and deep and delightful, but also quite possibly laced with a teensy hint of irritation.
After all, I have just asked her whether her new book Low-Carb Solution (MacMillan) is nothing more than another weight loss fad.
“I cannot believe that’s your first question,” she says chuckling.
“Seriously. You’re starting there?”
The truth is I don’t want to start here.
In fact, I don’t want to ask this question at all. But it’s equally true that fad diets are everywhere these days and not only do they not work, they do enormous amounts of damage both physically and emotionally and to countless people.
Accordingly, I do have to ask. And so I have.
And the question makes Michelle laugh – hard. But only for a moment.
Then she composes herself and gets very, very clear with me – the eating plan her new book is based on is 100 per cent legitimate. ONE. HUNDRED. PER CENT.
This is good to hear of course. It’s also good to learn that it’s not just Michelle declaring this legitimacy either.
There is, as it turns out, plenty of research that backs up her claim that a low-carb diet such as the one detailed in her new book will not only help you shed excess weight, it will boost your energy, your mood and, perhaps more importantly, decrease your chances of developing a swag of lifestyle-related diseases including diabetes, heart disease and arthritis.
Further, thanks to Michelle’s candid conversational-style writing, Low-Carb Solution distils what is rather complex data into layman’s terms meaning everyone can understand it and also give it a whirl.
“The book does touch on the complex data-based research,” explains Michelle.
“But it breaks it down so that you can see at a glance how it works and why. What I have done is broken the data down so that everyone can get their head around it.
“People don’t want the technical information. They don’t want the dry crusty research. They just want the headlines and they want those to be easy to digest … so that’s what this book is all about.”
In a nutshell the book is a basic introduction to carbohydrates: what they provide, what they detract, which ones you need and in what quantities and those you really ought to avoid as much as possible.
It provides an eating plan, but not a restrictive one. Turns out Michelle is about healthy eating – not dieting.
“It’s more of an explanation of what to eat and why,” she says.
“It explains what carbs are, what they do for your body and why we do need them. I also explain the basics of simple and complex carbs and what happens physiologically when we digest them.”
What does happen I wonder out loud. And Michelle gives me a quick breakdown.
“When we eat sugars and digestible starches they immediately start to break them down when they reach the gut,” she says.
“They go straight into the bloodstream as glucose. They’re important for energy but many of us are eating more carbs than we need for our daily activity. That’s a one-way street to weight gain and sequential disease such as insulin resistance and type two diabetes.”
It sounds grim but this is reality says Michelle.
So how to change this?
The simplest way, says Michelle, is to take a good look at your plate.
If you’re a regular pundit (ie: not an athlete) mentally cut your plate in half. Roughly 45 per cent of your plate should be filled with salad made up of green leafy veg. Roughly 25 per cent should be filled with grains or legumes or starchy vegetables such as sweet potato and the other 25 per cent should be made up of lean meat such as fish or eggs, dairy or tofu.
The final five per cent should be made up of healthy fats such as olive oil and nuts.
Is this a restrictive diet? Absolutely not. Might it be challenging for you. Quite possibly yes.
But small, incremental steps will see you succeed in the long run, says Michelle.
“All you need to do is choose one thing to add or remove from your diet,” she stresses.
“Just one thing. I have worked with so many people over the years who want all or nothing. It’s a human trait but it’s also the fastest way to failure. I recommend making small changes. Remove the soft drink from your life. Or give up takeout dinners. Or maybe skip the eight coffees you have in the morning.
“Add a walk every second day. Add a piece of fruit to your diet. Add a litre of water. You don’t have to do all of those things. Choose one. Do that for a week or so and then make another change.
“Build yourself up gradually. Give yourself a chance.”
Here is where Michelle gets deadly serious.
“So many people want to look and feel amazing right now. But it doesn’t work like that. But if you change one thing every week … it will make a difference and a genuinely positive one.”
She goes on to stress that change should come about gradually if we want for it to stick. And she adds that none of us ought to be too hard on ourselves.
According to Michelle, it will get us nowhere and quickly too.
“You can’t change that much of yourself that quickly,” she says.
“These habits have been with you for years. You can’t unravel that in a day. And that’s okay.
It will take a while. It’s a daily practice. And you will get there. One day at a time people. One day at a time.”