Ask the average mind to mention off the top his head, five regular foods he eats, and at least four out of all five would feature rice, beans, fufu, yam, garri (cassava flour), bread, amala. It is typically a mostly carb-based diet supported with a tiny percentage of protein serves alongside as the ‘encouragement’.
The recent past featured near rigid schedules that formed hard-to-break habits like Sunday rice and Saturday Pap with Akara or moi-moi. ‘Portion Control’ was not a thing, and people heaped their heavily carb-ed and caloried diets onto their plates in the ratio one mountain of eba to one or at most 2 parts of protein. Here are 5 things you need more of to live healthy.
- MORE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: Many of us are big men and women in our own rights and we show it. The routine is to drive to work. Or take a bus and hop on a motorcycle – okada – for the rest of the way. After this, we spend more than half our day in one spot at our office desk, return home to relax after a long day and the cycle continues. Make more efforts to be more active. Opt for stairs instead of lifts. Stop at the bustop before your own and work the rest of the way. Buckle up, you can do this!
- READ MORE, LEARN MORE: There’s a lot of information and support groups available online these days. Follow and subscribe to healthy food pages, read up on new researches and discoveries. Don’t sit in a corner starving to death, rather, eat smart not less. The journey to a healthy lifestyle starts and ends with you, so be determined and hungry to know more.
- MORE OF HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES: For everything on your typical carb-based Nigerian diet, there’s a healthier alternative. Instead of chemical-preserved frozen chicken, go for fresh from farm brands. Exchange processed and refined sugars and carbohydrates for more of grains, fruits, and vegetables. Many healthy food brands are selling healthy foods like Fonio, Quinoa, coconut and tiger-nut flour, avocados, sweet potatoes and several others. Rather than plan your meals to suit cheaper options which are not healthy for you, strike a balance by replacing some of your guilty pleasure with something more beneficial. Do more of proteins, fruits, nuts and grains, than carbs.
- MO(RE)DERATION: YOUR. PORTIONS. Too much of everything is not good. This is very important. Some habits or meals are hard to break: Beans + humongous loaf of agege bread + Cold coke
Mountain of eba + vegetable soup and 2 pieces of meat
Rice + Spaghetti + meat and egg
Indomie + Egg
Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Eat healthy, but in decent and reduced quantities. It is important to note that miniscule portions do not also guarantee healthy living. Your goal should be more of eating right in decent quantities with some exercise on the side.
- MORE WATER: Sugar-free, fat free, calorie free, system-flushing. It doesn’t get any healthier than water. Stay hydrated and increase your water intake. The average man knows to take at least eight glasses of water a day, but does he do it? If water is not exciting enough, by all means, infuse it with exciting fruit flavors – lemon, lime, mint, cucumbers, watermelons, mint, ginger, orange and whatever fruits you like.
