10 WEIGHT LOSS TIPS FOR NIGERIAN FOOD LOVERS

Losing weight with Nigerian food is something that most people, even Nigerians say is 

pepper soup, whether fish, chicken or any other Nigerian pepper soups as a meal. The Nigerian pepper soup can actually aid weight loss in no time.

It is full of nutrients and leaves out the carbs. For Nigerian food lovers like me, here are 10 weight loss tips that are working:

1. Drink lots of water.

   During this weight loss journey I’m still on, I find that drinking water helps a lot. Because I eat early dinner, most nights I feel hunger before bed time and I find myself craving for even the kids snacks in the refrigerator.

   What I do? I fill myself up with water and a piece of vegetable like cucumber, carrot or garden eggs.
   Water keeps me dehydrated and helps a lot with digestion while I lay snoring away in the night. Water is number when you embark on a weight loss journey.

   Even when we fast, water is still recommended to keep the body hydrated and help fight constipation

   Drinking water helps the body burn some calories and lose weight.

2. Eggs. Eat eggs

   and see how they help with weight loss. Eating eggs especially for breakfast has been helpful. You can serve yourself some boiled eggs with an avocado, some vegetables, some salad and kick off the day feeling light and lively.

   An egg-based breakfast helps us eat fewer calories. Imagine eating boiled eggs with an avocado or vegetable salad compared to eating boiled yam with egg sauce for breakfast. The later is full of calories that might even exceed our daily need to remain healthy and fit.

3. Cook with palm oil or coconut oil

   instead of refined vegetable oils.
   I go for soya oils when I can’t find coconut oil because I know at least that this is compressed from soya beans.
   It is very healthy unlike the ones they just name vegetable oil and at the end of the day, it is refined palm oil with all the nutrients and colour destroyed.

   Palm oil is known to reduce appetite and to help one eat fewer calories. Instead of cooking with refined fats, palm oil is a great choice of cooking oils for weight loss. Even Nigerian stews and jollof can be cooked with palm oil.

4. Drink green tea instead of the normal Nigerian bread and tea in the morning. Bread and beverage should be great for kids’ breakfast because they need this energy and are so active that they burn all that sweating during playtime.

   Adults do not need that bread and beverage, It leads to weight gain. Green tea is full of antioxidants that help fight aging symptoms, helps us look younger and fresher.

   I am not a tea fan especially with Nigerian hot weather but do drink it to aid my weight loss journey. Green tea should be taken unsweetened if the aim is to lose weight.

   Just infuse the tea bag in boiling water and drink off with sugars and other sweeteners. If you cannot tolerate the taste that way, maybe a little honey should do.

5. Eat less carbohydrates.

   These are found in our yams, plantain especially ripe ones, garri, bread, cereals and so on.
   To eat less carbohydrates, you can drink your Nigerian soups with a spoon instead of serving yourself with some swallow.

   If you must swallow, go the cabbage swallow way or take just a fist sized eba, pounded yam, amala etc. To reduce your carb intake, your swallow fufu must not be bigger than your fist, it should be smaller.

   Instead of bread and beans for breakfast, eat boiled eggs with just a slice of bread, even scrambled eggs can be eaten with just one slice of bread and nothing more.

   If you must eat beans porridge, after cooking, measure just one cup from the porridge and eat and that’s it. Eating less carbs helps the body use up all that stored carbs that make us grow bigger and phat.

   Eating less carbs make then body begin to burn the stored energy and thereby lose weight.

6. Serve your food in smaller plates

   than you used to. Eat more vegetables, eat more proteins, drastically cut down on sugary drinks and sweet fruits. Avoid sugary drinks completely and eat vegetables more than you eat fruits. In all this smaller portions are the best.

7. Cut your food portions in half.

   If you used to eat4 scoops of rice, now that you want to get into weight loss, begin to scoop half that quantity which is 2 scoops.

   Portion control is key. You cannot take away portion control. Nothing good comes easy so, we must endure a little bit of hunger because the body needs time to adjust to eating smaller portions of food.

8. Exercise is paramount in weight loss.

   You can exercise at the gym or at home. It doesn’t have to be a 2 hour, 1 hour exercise routine. You can exercise 5 to 10 minutes a day and you are good to go.

   Exercising at least 3 times a week is great for weight loss. Exercise helps keep the body toned, keep our joints flexible and keep us fit.

   Exercise can be done even on the go. You do not need to go out jogging in the streets, if you can jog on the spot while cooking, that’s great.

   You can do squats even while busy at other activities, exercise doesn’t have to be complicated. Some mornings I do just planks repeatedly until it completes 5 minutes routine and I’m good to go.

   Going up and down the staircase is also a form of exercise. Sweeping with broom and parker, doing a spring clean of the whole house is a form of exercise.

   While lying in bed, you can exercise with leg raises. Boxing the cushion at home is also a form of exercise.
   Running round the dining table 10 times in the morning is enough to get you sweating and losing weight.

   Doing squats while watching TV alone in the sitting room helps lose weight. Tuning to musical channels on TV or RADIO STATIONS AND DANCING TILL YOU SWEAT is a wonderful, invigorating form of exercise, that leaves you in a great mood while losing weight.

   It doesn’t have to be at the gym all the time, anyone can exercise effectively at home and lose weight.

   Dieting and eating less can cause muscle loss. We need to exercise and lift weights to help the muscles because we need them, you don’t want to develop flabby hands just because you want to lose weight.

9. Eat peppery food.

   Thankfully nigerians are known for spicy foods. Pepper is very good for  our metabolism. Because I have kids, these days I dish out my food into a different small pot and add more pepper sauce kept in the fridge.

   Pepper makes you drink more water and eat less. It controls appetite and helps digestion.

10. SLEEP and rest more. Sleep deprivation and stress can cause weight gain.

    To effectively lose weight, sleep more.

    Because I eat early dinner, going to bed early actually helps as I’m not awake to crave for food late at night. Sleeping more helps you eat less and sleeping less makes you more hungry and cranky and this is not good for weight loss.