Carbohydrates
When you eat crackers, dry cereal, bread, or rice cakes alone, your body converts the carbs to simple sugars, and sends it directly into your blood stream. In response to the sugar rush, your body produces extra insulin, which helps your body absorb the sugar as soon as possible. The problem: You end up with low blood sugar and the same hunger that led you to carb it up in the first place still lingers. You then may be inclined to reach for sugary foods with no nutritional value to satisfy your need for instant energy.
The typical Nigeria Diet as we all know is heavily based on carbs, an average Nigerian will have Yam for breakfast, Eba/garri for lunch, somewhere in between, Noodles then Rice for dinner. The body stores these excess carbohydrate as FAT and continuous excess carbohydrate consumption result in increase weight gain. when trying to lose weight, it is extremely important to watch carbohydrate intake.
Stop drinking soda
Nigerians love minerals (soda) so much! Stop drinking minerals for goodness sake. We consume loads of excess calories from drinks, as we are more likely to pay more attention to what we eat than what we drink. Drinks are equally as important when it comes to weight loss. I do not want to mention brands but I am sure you know them, Constantly giving promos, and constantly adding inches your stomach. Some drinks that are perceived as health drinks can also contribute to excess weight gain, a typical 300ml of malt drink for example contains 48g of Carbohydrate, this is the same as 1 cup of white rice. The point isn’t that you shouldn’t consume health drinks (malts and juices), but do not neglect the calories in these drinks when it comes to your daily diet.
Leave small chops and snacks alone
The regular snacks you buy on the Nigerian street from the sausage rolls to chips to cookies to cakes contain at least 225 calories. When trying to lose weight, snacks are a diet sabotage. It’s extremely easy to consume high calories snack and ignore the calorie count. It is okay to indulge every now and again, but do not underestimate the effect of small snacks and small chops on your diet. They are bulking you up! Carry healthy snacks in your purse if possible like carrots or cucumber so you are not forced to buy unhealthy street snack.
Ditch the salt and palm oil
We often spike up boring low-calorie dishes by sprinkling them with seasoning salt. But these are loaded with sodium which increases the risk of high blood pressure. Use fresh herbs to bring out the flavours in your meal.
Hot peppers have been shown to raise your metabolism, but the real Benefit of peppery food is that they slow your eating. When you eat too fast, as many of us do, by the time your body signals it’s full, you’ve overeaten. Eating more slowly is a good weight-loss strategy, and making food spicier is an easy way to do it. Also spicy foods requires water; by increasing your water intake you feel full faster.
Leave the meat, go the Fibre way
Fibre helps you feel full sooner and stay full longer which means less snacking and binge eating. Foods that are high in fibre includes Beans and legumes. Fibre intake has to be consistent throughout the day to stave off hunger, improve digestive health, and not cause stomach upset.