Cathy Soraghan is a specialist in weight loss and motivation who has worked with high-profile clients. She created a successful low-glycemic index weight loss program incorporating nutrition, strength training, and short bursts of aerobic exercise. She also created a line of prepared low-GI meals called "Food on the Move". Her presentation covered topics like managing energy levels through food diaries and smart planning, the dangers of excess salt, sugar, and saturated fat intake, stress management, and lowering cholesterol through diet. The overall message was making informed choices about nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle can help manage weight and prevent health issues.

1. Food on the Move
Work Time Nutrition and Energy
Presented by Cathy Soraghan
womenontherun.ie

2. About Cathy
● Specialist in weight loss and motivation.
● Have trained very high end in the market working
with clients ranging from the owner of Ryanair to
Daniel Day-lewis and his wife Rebecca Miller to
TV presenters, authors and corporate companies
such as Bank of Ireland, RABO Direct, Lucent
Technology and more recently, EU Certification.

3. More about Cathy
● I have created a very successful weight loss
programme with thousands of successes under my
belt.
● I incorporate the low GI system of eating with
strength and flexibility training. With less emphasis
on cardio training, prescribing short sharp bursts of
aerobic exercise instead of long duration.
● I then furthered my programme by creating ready
made low GI meals called 'Food on the Move'.
These are all low GI and portion controlled.

4. Your Expectations
Why did you come here today?
What are you hoping to achieve from the talk?
Would anyone like to volunteer how they feel about
their own energy levels?
Have you ever embarked on a change in your eating
habits? Did you succeed?
What were the obstacles that caused you to fail?

5. Content of Presentation
● Globesity
● Managing your energy
● Food diaries and smart food planning
● Good snacks vs Bad snacks
● Benefits of drinking water
● Marketing hype on food
● Alcohol
● Cholesterol – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
● Managing Stress and Sleep

6. Globesity

7. The Cure
● Regular exercise.
● Good Nutrition.
● Making informed choices.
● Low GI (food plans) All foods have a Glycemic
Index ranking.Ranging from 0-100.
● Low GI foods range from 0-50.
● Medium GI foods from 50-70.
● High GI foods from 70-100.

8. Better Energy
● Obvious signs of a bad diet include feeling tired
mid-afternoon, craving sugary snacks and large
quantities of coffee and also mood swings.
● Choose foods from the lower GI groups e.g. Leaves,
salads, raw vegetables, pumpkin and sesame seeds,
avocado, eggs, beans, pulses, turkey, fish and very
lean red meat.
● Reduce your carbohydrate intake.
● Drink plenty of water.

9. Keeping a Food Diary
● It has been proved that people who keep a food
diary are more likely to eat better and have better
management of their weight.
● The food sequence should be as follows:
● Breakfast
● Mid-morning snack
● Lunch
● Mid-afternoon snack
● Evening meal
● This helps to keep your blood sugars regulated and
avoids dips in energy.

10. Breakfasts on the Run

11. Breakfasts on the Run
● Fruit smoothies – avoid high sugary fruit juices in
these. Use cloudy apple juice or extract your own
juice from vegetables. Add greek yogurt or natural
yogurt to provide protein. Fruits, berries (can be
frozen) and chia seeds, flaxseed etc.
● Porridge with milk and cinnamon to add flavour.
● Eggs of any decription with baked beans and a slice
of granary toast.
● Fresh fruit salad with natural yogurt and a tbsp.
Granola.

12. Lunch on the Run

13. Lunch on the Run
● Avoid the sterotypical sandwich.
● Instead, pack your lunchbox with lots of leaves and
tomatoes and chopped red onion. Add chicken or
cottage cheese and avocado or sea food (smoked
salmon, prawns etc.) accompanied by 2-3 oatcakes.
● Soup. Very nutritious. Butternut squash, mexican 3
bean, broccoli and blue cheese, tomato and basil
etc.
● Use wholemeal or wheat-free wraps with a filling of
your choice.

14. Dinner

15. Dinner
● Avoid ready-made supermarket meals and take-
aways.
● Try and cook fresh. Make it a family occasion. Get
the young children to help prepare the food. Only 1
in 4 families eat a meal together once a fortnight.
● Use sweet potato vs ordinary potato. Basmati rice or
wholegrain rice, or wholegrain pasta to accompany
the mains. 50g for males, 40g for females.
● Add lots of vegetables and use spices and herbs to
liven up the dishes and lots of leaves.

16. Is there a Need for Snacks?

17. Is there a Need for Snacks?
● It has been proven that snacks are essential in
stabilising your blood sugars and keeping your
seratonin levels on even keel.
● Chromium is a supplement that also helps keep your
blood sugars stable. Combining both is the key to
stabilising your weight.
● In Ireland we are one of the highest consumers of
salty snacks and chocolate treats in Europe.
● Advertising plays a huge role in this, making it sexy
to eat salty and sugary snacks which plays a
massive part in contributing to type 2 diabetes.

18. The Frightening Facts of Salty Snack
Foods

19. The Frightening facts of Salty Snack
Foods
● Frito-Layhas a research team of nearly 500
scientists dedicated to fine-tuning their snacks for
maximum deliciousness and addictive power.
● They even used a $40,000 chewing simiulation
device to achieve the ideal 'crunch' for their chips.
● Studies show that salt is addictive in some of the
same ways as cigarettes or hard drugs, and food
companies pack it into their products in astonishing
amounts.

20. More about Salt
● Doritos have more than 3 times as much sodium as
crisps. A 380mg serving (4 handfuls of chips) will
max out your daily sodium recommendation.
● The vacuum packed ham (Galtee etc.) contain more
than half a days recommended intake.
● The V8 vegetable juice has 420mg of sodium per
portion or 20% of your daily recommended intake
as opposed to consuming fresh veg which has 0mg
of sodium per portion.

21. Recommended Daily Salt Intake
● The average salt intake for adults in Ireland is 10g
vs the recommended daily intake for salt is 4g.
● 1g of sodium = 2.54g of salt. Which is why most
food producers use sodium in the ingredients
instead of salt.
● Eating one packet of crisps a day is the equivalent
of drinking 5 litres of oil a year.

23. The Not So Sweet Facts about Sugar
Sugar contributes to 35 million deaths a year

24. The Not So Sweet Facts about Sugar
● Many products are sweetened with pure fructose
which is different to table sugar. It decomposes
much more slowly which extends the shelf life of
baked goods.
● Fructose is much more sweeter tasting than sucrose
or glucose which means manufacturers can use less
of it (and claim health benefits) while maintaining
the same level of sweetness.

25. The Not So Sweet Facts about Sugar
● But for the record, regular sugar and high fructose
corn syrup are basically the same. Chemically,
they're both half glucose half fructose. And they're
equally bad for you. Manufacturers tend to use the
syrup as it is cheap and convenient.
● Humans are genetically predisposed to love sugar.
This is why food companies put it in foods you
wouldn't even expect.

26. Be Aware
● There is as much sugar in a half a cup of bottled
ready made tomato sauce for bolognese as there is
in 3 oreos.
● 'Fruit' drinks are some of the worst for you e.g.
Capri Sun has 28% more sugar per ounce than
Coca-cola does.
● 1 tsp of granulated sugar = 4g.
● The RDA for sugar is 120g for males and 90g for
females.
● Special K red berry cereal contains 23g.

27. Marketing Hype on Food

28. Artificial Sweeteners
Disadvantages of using diet drinks:
● The sweeteners mess with your metabolism,
creating metabolic syndrome.
● They cause the body to crave more sugar, leading to
obesity.
● Can cause cell damage including mild irritants to
the skin and eyes.
● Rotting teeth. Diet drinks are very acidic (pH of
3.2).

29. The Facts about Fat

30. The Facts about Fat
1 DiGiorno cheese stuffed crust pizza has more than 2
days worth of saturated fat (42g).

31. The Facts about Fat
● Eating a diet high in saturated fat can cause the
level of cholesterol in your blood to build up over
time. This increases your risk of heart disease.
● Eating unsaturated fats can help lower blood
cholesterol. These include omega 3 essential fatty
acids which are found in oily fish e.g. Salmon, nuts
and seeds, avocados, sunflower and olive oils.

32. More on Fat
● High in fat is 17.5g per 100g, low in fat is 3g of fat
or less per 100g.
● Just because food packaging says 'contains low fat'
or 'reduced fat', doesn't mean it is a healthy choice.
● In these foods the fat is usually replaced with sugar
and the food may end up the same or with an even
higher energy content.
● The recommended daily allowance of fat is 30g for
males and 20g for females.

33. Low Fat vs Normal Fat
● In the states they discovered, after they introduced
low fat foods, people adopted the philosophy that
they can have as much of this food group as they
want.
● It is now being discovered that eating normal fat is
better for us. E.g. Olive oil, butter, full fat greek
yogurt etc. Is better for us than low fat margarines
(full of trans fats).
● All low fat products contain sugars which are very
toxic and can cause carcinogenics in the body.

34. Good Snacks vs Bad Snacks

35. Good Snacks vs Bad Snacks
● Carrot (or any raw veg) and hummus, berries with
unsalted cashew nuts, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds,
popcorn made with chilli powder, oatcakes with
peanut butter or cream cheese, a square of dark
chocolate. Natural yogurt with fresh fruit, cup of
homemade soup, smoothie.
● Bad snacks include salty peanuts, crisps, tortillas,
chocolate, candy, ice-cream, biscuits, sugary drinks
(all of these attack your blood sugars causing
slumps in energy levels).

36. Increasing your Water Intake

37. Remember Water...
● Helps metabolize stored fat.
● Increases energy and relieves fatigue.

38. The Weekly Shop

39. The Weekly Shop
● Very important part of the plan to become healthy.
● What we put into the shopping trolley ends up in the
press, larder and fridge.
● Therefore planning in advance is essential. It has
been proven that people who shop online are at far
less risk of buying foods that are high in calories
and fat.
● You can make it a family occasion by getting
everyone in the house involved in what they want to
eat.

40. The Weekly Shop
● Try and buy fresh food only. Preferably only every
2-3 days. Prepare a shopping list.
● Loading up on fruit and veg., rye breads or granary
bread. Sweet potatoes vs normal. Seeds vs nuts.
Berries vs bananas. Avocado's vs watermelon. Oat
cakes vs biscuits. Peanut butter vs margarines. Red
wine vs white wine.
● Limiting alcohol to a treat once a week (1-2 glasses,
preferably red wine).
● Fresh fish, turkey, chicken and limited red meat.

41. Fridge Prep
● Prepare your leaves for
your lunchbox. Chop
tomatoes and onions etc.
● Soak your fruit in water
and vinegar for a few
minutes to ensure it lasts
for over a week.

42. Fridge/Freezer Prep
● Use your weekends constructively by preparing
food for the following week.
● Prepare soups and freeze. Store as individual pots
rather than 1 big batch.
● Prepare ready made meals such as shepards pie with
sweet potatoe, kormas - made with creme fraiche
(chicken or prawn or veg). Make a pot of stew or
fish pie with sweet potatoe etc. Store these in
individual portions.
● Leave plenty of raw vegetables in your fridge,
chopped and ready to accompany any main.

43. Alcohol

44. What is a GMO?
● A GMO is a Genetically Modified Organism, which
is a living organisim whose genetic material has
been artificially manipulated in a lab through
genetic engineering.
● They create dangerous side effects.
● They are very unhealthy.

45. Effects of Alcohol
● Excessive alcohol intake affects your liver, leaving
fat deposits.
● This causes the liver to malfunction, disenabling it
from processing toxins in your body. Long term
abuse of alcohol will affect your brain and your
ability to make decisions.
● Heavy drinking also heavily depletes your vitamin
B12 store which affects your nerve endings.
● It increases body fat and contributes to weight gain.

46. How Many Units?
● How many units of alcohol do you consume per
week?
● The recommended weekly allowance for males is
17 standard drinks or fewer with 2 alcohol-free
days. For women it is 11 standard drinks with 2
alcohol-free days.
● Anything more than the above can lead to lack of
energy, depression/stress, insomnia, impotence, risk
of injury and high blood pressure.

47. What Should I Drink?
● Spirits – a standard measure of spirits is equal to 2
units of alcohol. Vodka is the purest spirit on the
market. However all spirits if drunk in excess, will
cause a greater risk of cirrhosis of the liver.
● Beer – a pint or large can is the equivalent of 2
units. Overuse of beer can also affect the bowel due
to the wheat in it and it can cause the bowel to
ferment.
● Wine – red wine is better for us than white due to
less sugar and as a result contains less
carcinogenics.

48. Stress

49. Stress
● The symptoms of stress include anxiety,
irritability,inability to concentrate, anger, weight
gain and inability to sleep.
● Dependency on alcohol and cigarettes or
prescription drugs.
● The importance of sleep in weight loss is critical.
Scientists have proven that people who don't have a
good sleeping pattern tend to gain weight as they
crave carbohydrates and caffeine when they hit the
afternoon 'slump'.

50. Managing Stress

51. Managing Stress
● There are several regimes that specifically target
stress management. We have listed below the ones
we find very successful.
● Practice deep breathing and meditation.
● Tai chi.
● Doing yoga and pilates style exercises.
● Getting out in the fresh air everyday and taking a
brisk walk even for 20 minutes.
● Practice the art of going to bed early with all
electronic equipment removed from the bedroom.

52. Calming Foods

53. Calming Foods
● Avoid more than 2 cups of coffee or tea a day.
● Chromium regulates your blood sugars and keeps
you on an even keel.
● Chia seeds and cinnamon are uplifting.
● Broccoli / lettuce contains antioxidants to help your
body manage stress.
● Bell Peppers are a good anti-stress food due to their
high vitamin C content.
● Pumpkin seeds contain zinc which helps manage
stress.

54. Reducing Cholesterol

55. What is Cholesterol?
● Cholesterol is a fatty substance that is made in your
liver from certain fats in your diet.
● Good cholesterol (High Density Lipoprotein) stays
in your bloodstream and helps to carry bad
cholesterol back to the liver for processing.
● Bad cholesterol (Low Density Lipoprotein) lines
your artery walls and increases your risk of
coronary heart disease.
● Being overweight, a bad diet and lack of exercise
contribute to raising cholesterol levels.

56. Lowering Cholesterol by Diet

57. Lowering Cholesterol by Diet
● Fish – omega-3 fatty acids thin the blood and stop
abnormal heart rhythms.
● Porridge – attaches itself to the bad cholesterol in
your body and is therefore good at removing the
LDL cholesterol.
● Fruit and veg – reduces blood pressure due to
antioxidants.

58. Lowering Cholesterol by Diet
● Garlic – 2 or 3 cloves a day lowers cholesterol,
reduces high blood pressure and makes the arteries
more elastic.
● Dark chocolate – 100g/one small bar a day can
lower blood pressure due to the rich source of
antioxidants.
● Almonds – a handful a day lowers total cholesterol
levels.

59. Goal Setting
Think about your goal and complete the following:
● Why I want to realise this goal?
● What am I prepared to do to get there?
● What could get in my way?
● How can I deal with these situations?
● What will be my reward for reaching this goal?
● When will I start making change?