This week we'll talk about 'Staple Foods' and will also be revisiting Snacking (again, I know) but this is a very important part of healthy eating.
It's easy to give excuses especially when faced with change...
I have this friend, let's call her N. She's been frustrated because she can't lose the extra 15 pounds which seemed to appear overnight about a year ago. We've had the same discussion countless times:
N: I know what I'm going to do, I'll skip breakfast, have a salad for lunch and eat little or nothing for dinner.
A: You shouldn't do that, you need to eat little and often to keep your blood sugar levels constant and to keep cravings at bay.
N: But this *always* works for me so I'm going to do it.
A few weeks go by:
N: I've tried my usual way of losing weight and it's not working, this is so frustrating! What do you suggest I do?
A: Eat little and often. Load up all your meals with protein, eat less processed carbs & sugar, eat more vegetables...
N: But eating once a day works for me!
A: o_O Nope.
As N is my friend, I can get frustrated with her and speak my mind. I am able to say - "This will most likely work for you, it's worked for a huge load of people, there is absolutely no harm in trying! Worst case scenario, it won't work and it'll be back to the drawing board for us. Stop giving excuses!"
Most times, I'm not that lucky... I have to be professional and neutral with my responses but it's hard. Lol!
Also... 'Staples'. I'm Nigerian, I get it - we grew up eating generous portions of fried/jollof/white rice, yam pounded, boiled, fried), eba, amala, etc. <-- This isn't a reason to eat large portions. Make some changes and you will see some changes... definitely :)
Try new things:
- Halve your portion of rice and double, even triple, your portion of veggies.
- Eat more protein (it makes you feel fuller for longer and most times we eat, it's cos we're hungry).
- Boil your yam, plantain. Use less palm oil. Try brown rice (cook it in home made stock) or basmati rice.
- The list is endless, take a look at previous GT posts.
So remember:
- Snacking is essential. Some ideas in this post: http://www.adura-odesanya.co.uk/2011/06/get-trimmer-week-three-nutrition-tips.html
- You can form new habits ie you can have new 'staples' <-- I loved Miss T's comment in last week's post about this :)
- Drink more water as sometimes thirst can be mistaken for hunger as you sometimes can feel peckish when thirsty.
- More protein, more vegetables and less carbs <-- Simple ;)
As usual, post any questions here and I'll respond as soon as I can.
