Eating pawpaw for good heart and digestive health

Pawpaw

Everybody loves pawpaw. Either for its sweetness, bright color, beautiful seeds or butter-like consistency, or for no apparent reason.

I am yet to come across anybody that has an aversion for it. The worst I have seen is people with preferences. Some people prefer the soft ones to the hard ones or vice versa. But I have not seen anybody that says they do not consume pawpaw at all.

What makes pawpaw a widely accepted fruit?

It is one of nature’s gifts that comes to us in a complete package. It is packed with full health benefits from promoting good eyesight to promoting good digestive health.

In this post, I will discuss its benefits for good heart health and good digestive process.

papaya-771145_640For good heart health

Pawpaw takes the lead among other organic fruits When it comes to prevention of heart diseases.

It contains vitamin C and A which are very good in preventing oxidation of cholesterol.

Oxidized cholesterol in the body builds up in blood vessels and then form dangerous plaques that cause heart attack.

The vitamin A nutrient in pawpaw is concentrated with carotenes and the Vitamin C nutrient is associated with paraoxonase. These nutrients come together to inhibit cholesterol oxidation.

Other vitamins that help promote good cardiovascular health include flavonoids, B vitamins, potassium, copper, magnesium and fibre.

For good digestive process

Papain, also called papaya proteinase is an enzyme that is found in pawpaw. It aids the digestive process by breaking down tough protein fibres.

Even though it is generally not recommended to eat fruits after a meal, ripe pawpaw is exempted from this recommendation. You can eat it after meals especially if your meal contains meat, if you ate a large serving or if you rushed your meal. These situations can put great strain on your digestive system and enzyme producing pancreas.

Eating ripe pawpaw after a rushed meal goes a long way to prevent flatulence and other serious health issues that are associated with poor digestion.

It also helps to reduce the risk of having colon cancer. Its fibre represses the toxins that cause cancer in the colon and keeps them away from the healthy colon cells.

Other nutrients that help prevent colon cancer include papaya’s folate, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and beta-carotene.

Some other health benefits you can get from eating pawpaw include high immunity, protection against arthritis, stress reduction, good hair growth, good eye health, and prevention of prostate cancer.

Lastly, if you are on the weightloss train, add pawpaw to your diet. It is full of dietary fibre that gives a filling effect. Also, one medium size of pawpaw contains between 118 – 120 calories. It is a good substitute for unhealthy snacks whenever you are on the go and you feel hungry.

Now that you know the health benefits of pawpaw, how do you plan to incorporate it to your diet?

References
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Get fit with soy milk

Soy milk popularly known as ‘Soya Milk’ in Nigerian parlance is derived from soy beans.

It is a great alternative over dairy milk because it has a high level of protein, essential fatty acid, vitamins and minerals with exception to the cholesterol and extra saturated fat that is synonymous with dairy milk.

The content of sugar and calories in it is reduced, the lactose level is lower in soy milk than dairy milk because dairy milk has about 12g of sugar per cup as opposed to 7g. It also has high dietary fibre. A cup of soy milk is equivalent to 3 grams of fibre which gives you 12% of your dietary fibre need. It is highly recommended by doctors for diabetic patients.

Fibre is a vital part of our diet and it helps to speed up the transit of food through the body system and also suppresses your appetite making you feel full for a longer time.

Soy milk is the go-to drink for people who have high blood pressure and other heart related diseases because it helps to improve the lipid profile of the blood.

Soy milk fat is unsaturated with zero cholesterol. The mono and poly unsaturated fatty acid in the beans helps to inhibit the transport of fat into the blood unlike dairy milk which is high in saturated fat and cholesterol.

Research has shown that regular consumption of soy milk can reduce the blood concentration of triglycerides and increase the level of high density lipoprotein (HDL).

Do you know that soy milk has some fat burning vitamins? Riboflavin and Vitamin B12. These vitamins are involved in energy production and are important for the metabolism of fatty acids.

Mono unsaturated fatty acid in soy milk also inhibits the intestinal fats and absorption of cholesterol which is a plus for losing weight. Increased daily intake of this milk lowers your exposure to dietary fat.

Soy milk is a key source of protein which helps in development of the body and provides all-round nutrition for all your functional systems.

It also maintains a healthy amount of body muscle which contributes to weight maintenance and nourishes the bones with calcium and phosphorus.

Also regular intake of soy milk plus regular exercise can lead to reduced body fat and higher percentage of lean muscles.

It is beneficial to the men because of phytoestrogen, a unique plant hormone which inhibits the production of testosterone in men.

When the level of testosterone is reduced, the risk of having prostate cancer is minimal and this makes it the best dietary option for the prevention of prostate cancer.

Soy milk is also a great diet supplement because it has a high concentration of isoflavones which promotes bone health and helps to fight against osteoporosis.

Do you need expert help on how to incorporate soy milk into your diet? Contact us for assistance.

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Six ways to organically detox your body

Detox

Why do we even need to detox?

Toxin are harmful agents which are dangerous to the body and it is important for us to detox –  the cleansing of our body systems to get rid of these harmful agents by making more healthy choices.

Here are six ways you can detox without using artificial substances, thereby really getting rid of harmful substances from our body.

Go with green tea

For ye coffee lovers to activate the detox mode, your coffee may have to take the back seat for the green light. Green tea is full of antioxidants which hydrates the body and reduces your chances of overeating or eating the wrong things because it fills you up. The caffeine content in green tea is different and milder on the body system compared to that of the coffee.

Sweat it out

Aside helping to lose weight, exercise helps to reduce friction, lubricate joints, and it is also an effective way of cleansing the body of toxins. Sweating during any exercise routine helps to pull toxins out of the body. It is therefore advisable to hit the gym regularly and sweat out any toxins left in your body.

If you also love to hangout in the sauna, you can use it as another effective way of kicking those bad guys out of your system. To make it more fun, why don’t you invite some of your friends over.

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Double your water intake

Like we always say to our readers, there is no such thing as too much water. If you want a faster detox process, then drink more water. Switch over from soft drinks to at least eight glasses of water daily.

Drinking water constantly is a self detoxifying regimen which helps to cleanse and boosts your body metabolism. To make this process more effective, add a slice of lemon to a glass of water and drink it every morning. Lemons help to hydrate the body which in turn promotes the out flow of waste.

Try organic fasting

We are all familiar with fasting because of our various religious backgrounds. However, organic fasting is quite different, as it involves going off your regular diet for some few days and replacing it with fruits, salads, smoothies and other natural foods.

You can’t imagine the type of massive effect this organic routine will have on your body, it will give your organs a break from sugar loading and help it to rejuvenate faster.

Massage and exfoliate your skin

Your guess is as good as mine, how does massaging detoxify the body? I thought it was just for relaxing after a long day at work. But you won’t believe it, massaging is also as effective exercising because it focuses on the pressure points on the body coupled with essential oil involved, it cleanses the body naturally.

Dry skin brushing and exfoliating also helps to refresh circulation and remove toxins from the skin. It improves the appearance of your skin and helps to regenerate a new skin.

Take a deep breathe

Deep breathing is a key component of body detox, because oxygen is essential to the body’s absorption of nutrients and vitamins. It amplifies the lymphatic system by increasing its oxygen’s level which naturally leads to detoxification of body.

If you are looking to detox and you need some group or individual encouragement, do not hesitate to contact us for some gentle nudge.

What is your favorite way of detoxing?

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Eight foodie tips for staying fit

Fit

Do you just love good food and can’t help it with your cravings but you are scared of adding some pounds in the wrong place? Here are some tips to help you with your foodie lifestyle and help you stay fit.

Water it down

The water therapy offers the easiest and simplest way to cut down your weight gain. It is the go-to choice for healthy living because it hydrates you without adding any extra calories to your daily consumption. According to research, drinking water before you eat helps to boost your metabolism by 24 -30% and reduces the quantity of food that you tend to consume.

Do not skip breakfast

Are you in the habit of skipping breakfast? Then you need to stop because weight gain is the end result of skipping breakfast. When you don’t eat breakfast, it leads to a drop in your metabolism and increases your hunger. This causes you to eat more than expected which adds up to more calories in your body.

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Go on a beef fast

Do you feel your meals are not balanced without a chunky piece of meat? You are not alone. However, different research studies in the UK and United States have confirmed that people on plant based diet tend to have a significantly lesser body weight and lower body mass index (BMI).

So for people who love their beef why don’t you try a beef fast? Strike off a day of the week, you decide go vegetarian. Is it possible? Yes you can.

Exercise portion control

Have you ever thought about using smaller bowls when you want to eat? It helps you to pay attention to the size of your daily intake. This may not be easy at first but you can take baby steps by reducing your food portions by 10 – 20%. Cutting your servings to half with fruits and vegetables can also help to trigger the desired weight loss.

Eat more fruits and vegetables

This combo is rich in fibre and helps to control blood sugar and cholesterol level. Switch up your diet with fruits and veggies to replace other foods that are high in sugar, fat and salt. You will be surprised at how delicious some vegetables taste. Making this transition will allow you to reduce the risk of obesity related diseases and diet-related problems. Why not try a combination of three to four fruits daily.

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Get your fitness groove up

Many of us do not like the sound of exercise or workout but the keyword here is consistency. Do not be restrictive with your exercise routine. Even during work hours, instead of taking the elevator, you can take the stairs.

Walking comes in as a thoughtless way of keeping the body moving and alert. You can also get an accountability partner to keep you focused on your fitness goals.

Snack wisely

We all love to relax after work, munching on something maybe in front of the laptop or television. But snacking can be done in a healthy way with substitutes such as nuts, whole grain cereals and even fruits instead of candy and pastries.

There you have it. Eat your cake and have it, the drink is on us.

Images: Pixabay

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How to consume slimming tea for best results

There is so much buzz about slimming tea, thanks to our celebrities who post pictures of #Postbabybod, everyone is in the rat race for a slimmer waistline and hourglass figure. It has become the latest diet fad among women to lose weight fast without going through any strenuous exercise.

Slimming tea contains herbs which burn fat by acting as a fat blocker which cleans out the colon and gives you a trim and slim body figure. It also improves metabolism by lowering calorie intake and prevents the conversion of carbohydrates and sugar into fats.

It contains antioxidants and amino acids which helps to slow down aging by fighting free radicals.

The catechins present in it reduce the formation and growth of tumors, thereby inhibiting the risk of cancer.

Slimming tea also has some dental benefits by killing bacteria that cause bad breadth, tooth decay and bleeding gums. It helps to keep your heart in a healthy condition through polyphenols which blocks the absorption of fat and cholesterol by over 50% to prevent stroke and heart attack.

As much as there are many benefits of taking slimming tea, when it is abused it can be dangerous to the body.

A major component of slimming tea is Senna which is laxative in nature. It is a natural medicine that contains sennosides which irritates the lining of the bowel thereby causing a laxative effect.

Senna has been used in alternative medicine to aid constipation but if overused, it can lead to problems in the gastrointestinal tract and severe diarrhea.

Here are some helpful tips on the consumption of slimming tea:

Choose a slimming tea product based on its effectiveness and find ways to create a healthy tea drinking habit. Substitute tea for morning coffee and chill it for iced tea on hot days.

Drink your tea without adding anything to it, cream and sugar will reduce the weight-loss benefits earned by the tea.

Drink slimming tea only in moderation because it may contain laxative element. Experts warn against drinking too much because it can lead to vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, abdominal cramps dehydration and even fainting.

Always read the content labels, if it has sugar or sweetener put it back on the shelf. To get the best result, balance your tea intake with a healthy diet. Team it with fruits, vegetables and protein.

Know the right time to have your tea. Some experts believe that some teas should be consumed at different times of the day to get the maximum weight loss results.

To get your metabolism going, drink green tea in the mornings while white tea can be taken before lunch to block absorption of fats.

If you need expert help on your meal planning or you are finding it difficult to maintain a healthy diet, contact me for assistance.

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Four foods you should consume for longevity

Longevity

Have you ever heard of the blue zones? This is a concept for demographics of the world where people live measurably longer and healthier.

Gianni Pres and Michel Poulain identified Sardinia’s Nuoro province (Italy) as having the highest concentration of male centenarians. Other regions in the blue zones include Okinawa (Japan), Nicoya (Costa Rica), Icaria (Greece), and the Seventh day Adventist population of Loma Linda (California).

What makes the difference between these demographics and the rest of us?

They have long standing traditions of plant based diets which is never complete without nuts, seeds and legumes. And as one would have thought, evidence proving that plant based diets reduce the risks of mid-life and old age health concerns, which include heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, etc., has increased over the years.

So, all it takes to have better health and longer life is a meal of fresh fruits and vegetables. Yes, just one meal for today. You will build your recipes over time.

One plant based meal today and the rule is evolution not revolution. Start introducing foods of plant source that you like into your meal and blend it with your existing diet. Days later, take it a notch higher by replacing unhealthy red meat and other animal produce with plant alternatives.

It is a journey, and you could hope to have healthy plant based recipes that you find enjoyable in the future.

Do not forget the nuts, seeds and legumes. Can you tell them apart? It is a bit tricky and most people cannot, because while walnuts and hazelnuts are true tree nuts with seeds surrounded by dry fruit and encased in a hard shell, peanut is not.

In fact, peanuts are legumes, which are edible seeds from pods that you can split in half. So, you cannot necessarily tell by the name.

Almond is another example of nuts, while beans in all its varieties (soybeans, lima, black, chickenpea etc.) are legumes.

What do you think of a handful of nuts on yogurt or oatmeal for breakfast? You could use legumes as meal enhancers, for instance, a handful of cooked beans on salad. That can be very filling. However, portioning is important in these meals, because nuts are rich in vegetable oil, so you could end up with overload of calories when you take too much of them.

Legumes have a higher level of carbohydrates than nuts, but both have similar protein content.

Start improving your diets today with plant based diets, nuts, seeds and legumes, and you will be making an investment towards long life and better health.

You do not have to make the change overnight, as included in the post, take it one step at a time till you find what works best for you and you can stick to it. After all, we are talking about longevity, who needs to worry about making a huge diet change 😉

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Five best ways to lose weight with tea

Lose weight

Studies have shown that dieters who have tea included in their weight loss diets have shown better compliance that those who did not. This has been traced to the presence of catechins, most especially epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).

EGCG has been a major focus of diet and health researches which has been identified to have multiple health benefits, among which being anticancer is one. It also improves metabolic and cardiovascular health. As an antioxidant, EGCG also helps the body in detoxifying, that is, it rids the body of toxins.

Of the different types of tea, green tea has the highest content of EGCG, to be followed by white tea, while the black tea only bears a trace. This knowledge should help you in your choice of tea.

But how does EGCG help in weight loss? It suppresses appetite by killing the hunger pangs, and that explains why tea drinking dieters showed better compliance to their diet regime than the non-tea-drinking dieters.

How can you get the best of tea drinking?

Create a tea drinking habit

The easiest way to form a habit of tea drinking is to make it a social activity. Get your family to participate in a late night cup of tea. This could be served while you watch the favorite family show. Or you could make it a ritual in your book or scrabble clubs.

You should ensure that you choose a tea that you each find tastiest, this is for compliance reasons; if you find it tasty, you are more likely to stick with the habit. You should also learn to take your tea plain, without sugar or milk; that is how you reap the real benefits of tea drinking.

Substitute tea for your morning coffee

Tea contains caffeine and will give you the same advantage of drinking coffee, and this comes with the other benefits of tea drinking described earlier. Since the caffeine content of tea is not as much as that of coffee, the risk of caffeine consumption is also reduced.

Take ice tea, not soda, with your lunch and dinner

Cold sodas, or soft drinks, as they are sometimes called, can be tempting, but ice tea is a healthier choice. Take it with your lunch and dinner, and you will not miss a bit.

You could also first take a cup of tea before your dinner. This not only suppresses your appetite, but also fills up part of the stomach, so that you do not need to over stuff yourself with high calories.

Take a warm cup of tea to kill boredom induced hunger

Those lonely afternoons and nights, when a second serve of food is a desired solace, take tea instead. This helps fill the moment with sweat memories, while still keeping the calories down.

Take a cup of herbal decaf tea before bed

This relaxes your body and helps you have a good night sleep. And this (a good night sleep) is important to shedding weight. The tea must be decaf, so you do not suffer insomnia, and you should also not keep it close to bedtime, especially if you are pregnant or have incontinence issues. This would help you avoid sleep interrupting trips to the bathroom.

In all this, keep an eye on your caffeine level, especially if you are caffeine sensitive. While tea may not contain a high level of caffeine like coffee, every intake adds up. So, it is necessary to verify with your doctor, what limit is healthy for you, or you can simply stick to decaf herbal tea.

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Three side effects of consuming junk foods

Junk foods

Many times, cravings for extremely delicious, less stressful food or pastries envelope man, this has been further propelled by different affordable eateries that spring up on a daily basis.

The changing labor laws have also not helped the emerging situation, as hectic work schedules have consumed the ‘kitchen’ time of most families.

However, what may be hidden from most people is the fact that most of these delicious quick calorie-embedded pastries and food, contribute more harm than good to the body system.

Obesity, various health conditions among other terrible conditions affect individuals that indulge in this habit.

Work with me on planning the best meal for your healthy diet

Filling our belly with lots of junks results in different problems in our body on the long run. Health problems are rapidly on the increase all over the world, and most of these are caused by the ’delicious but dangerous’ junks.

Here are some of the negative effects of eating junks.

Tooth decay

This is an increasingly common phenomenon that occurs when the enamel, the protective coating on your teeth, starts to break down.

Junks containing high sugar content, such as soda and candy, coat your mouth, gums, tongue and teeth with sugar. This sugar coating attacks the enamel and leads to tooth decay.

A common trend among youth is that they constantly visit the dentist due to the love for junks. A preventive measure can be brushing the teeth before going to bed.

Cancer risk

Cancer is one of the diseases that is so tough to treat. Junks generally do contain fibre which is the main reason junk food consumption is linked to an increased risk of cancers of the digestive system, commonly called ‘gastrointestinal cancer’.

Excessive weight gain

Majority of the junks that fill our belly are calorie-embedded. For example, it has been proven by research that consuming 500 calories from junk food each day can lead to 1 pound of weight gain in just a week.

If you find yourself unimaginably attached to that eatery three times a day to get breakfast, lunch and dinner, you may be doing yourself more harm than good, one that may cause an increase in weight, which may in turn lead to obesity.

Instead of excessive consumption of junks, a better option may be opting for fruits and vegetables. Dump the junks for healthier food.

We shall discuss more on how to cut down on eating processed foods in future posts.

Meanwhile, what’s for dinner?

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How to track your weightloss progress

Progress

A lot of people depend on the weighing scale to measure their weight loss. They are doing everything right , eating right, working out and yet the numbers on the scale are not changing, they get disappointed and frustrated.

Relying on the weighing scale alone to measure one’s progress is not the best. This is because the scale measures water, muscles and fat in your body. Also, food and hydration makes your weight fluctuate.

There are several other accurate ways to track your weight loss progress.

Strength

Your ability to do a lot of things which ordinarily was tasking for you to do before due to the fact that your energy level has increased. It could also mean how long you are able to exercise, than before or the fact that you can now do those ones that seemed hard for you before.

Flexibility

Your muscles have gained flexibility and they can do more

Body measurement using measurement tapes

This is done by measuring body parts with a measuring tapes. The body parts to be measured are;

– Bust

– Chest, under your nipples

– Waist, the narrowest part in your stomach

– Abdominals, on top of your belly button

– Hands, both right and left

– Hips, widest part of your hips

– Thighs, the biggest part of both thighs

– Calves , both legs

Do these once every month. This tells you easily when there are changes. Measure in front of the mirror to be sure you are placing the measuring tape correctly.

How your clothes fit

This is measuring changes in how easily you get into your clothes. If a cloth that has been getting tight for you now seems easy for you to wear, then you know you have lost inches. Or if your clothes no longer fit, then you know you are losing weight.

Compliments from family and friends

If your friends and family start making comments such as “Oh! You have lost weight!”, then know that indeed you have lost weight. Especially if they haven’t seen you in months.

Do not measure your weight everyday or every week. If you use any of these other methods to track your progress, you will find out that there are indeed a lot of changes.

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Seven secrets to weight loss

Weight

Losing weight  is as simple as 1,2,3. You probably think I am bluffing. I am sure what is going through your mind is “how come it’s been so hard for me to lose weight all this while?” Really it is not as difficult as you think. Just practice these secrets and it’s bye-bye to obesity forever.

(1) Think about your eating & exercise habits and write them down on a piece of paper. Your stress level and the primary forces behind your stress.

Also write down your rest and sleep schedule, your mindset and thoughts on how you see yourself and your lifestyle. Change your lifestyle through systems.

If you have a proven and successful system, you will be successful at whatever you’re trying to accomplish. For example, your first lifestyle change can be to stop eating ALL carbohydrate foods after 5pm.

(2) Drink 8-10 glasses of water each day. If you don’t drink enough water you will continually get fatter. Human body is made up of 70% water. Of this: Muscles and Heart has 75%, Brain and Kidneys ~ 83%, Lungs ~86%, Eyes ~95%, Bones ~22%, Blood ~ 90%. If you don’t get enough water, you’ll get fat. Mild dehydration slows metabolism as much as 3%. If you don’t drink enough water, you eat too much.

(3) Exercise 15 – 30mins at  4 – 5 times a week. Start with those with less intensity. Then increase gradually. Know when to stop. If you are doing anything and you start feeling headaches please stop. There are so many exercises on Youtube. Just Google cardio and strength training exercises.

(4) Do not starve yourself. To efficiently lose fat, a 70kg woman needs to eat at least 1500cal/day.

(5) Eat 5 – 6 small meals a day. Never stuff yourself in one sitting.

There are foods that:

Burn fat: They help keep insulin levels low which allows for the release of fatty acids. They are high in protein. Most foods beneficial to weight loss contain protein. This is because protein is thermogenic, produces heat when digested. These foods are fish, beans, nuts, eggs, broccoli. We should consume more of these foods.

Also there are foods that:

Turn to fat: the list is endless with most of them being fatty foods. These foods are high in bad cholesterol and should be avoided. These are; High fat dairy products (whole milk, ice cream, potato chips, cheese, full fat yoghurt,) high fat meat (sausages, bacon,) high fat oils (palm kernel , coconut oil) fast foods generally.

Finally there are foods that:

Melt fat: Taking daily servings of these foods is sure to make you stay full and prevent hunger pangs:

– Proteins (as above)

– Grains (whole meal bread {don’t take more than 2 slices}, oats, brown rice)

– Vegetables (tomato, green peas, cabbage, Broccoli, pumpkin, spinach, tofu)

– Fruits (apples, plums, grapefruit, orange, grapes, banana, pineapple chunks, watermelon, strawberry)

-Low fat diary (skimmed milk, low fat yoghurt, low fat cottage cheese) Olive oil

(6) Surround yourself with positive people. If you think you can, you can and you will. If you think you can’t, you can’t and you won’t.

(7) Get a coach or a mentor. If you want to be successful in a particular endeavour look for people who are a success in same and then copy them.

Go here to get tailored weightloss support.

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Eating right: take charge of your health and life

Right

Eating right. What does it mean? It means different things to different people. The nutritionist will tell us it means consuming the right quantities of foods from all food groups in order to lead a healthy life.

The food groups as we all know are Carbohydrate, Protein, fat, Fruits and Vegetables, Diary, fiber etc.

Thus, when we combine all these in our meals we say we have taken a balanced diet.

But I say eating right is all about YOU. It’s about you and your goals.

When you eat right, you feel good about yourself and your food choices. You eat a variety of foods that provide the nutrients you need to be fit and in shape. You are investing in your body and your future by not overeating or taking in more calories that your body needs.

The World Health Organisation (W.H.O) gave 5 recommendations concerning Healthy eating:

  • We should aim for an energy balance and a healthy body weight
  • We should limit our energy consumption from total fats. We should aim for more unsaturated fats and not saturated fats.
  • We should up our consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts.
  • We should consume as little simple sugars as possible.
  • We should limit our Salt/sodium consumption.

As simple as all these appear, how many of us really practice these. When we eat our foods matters as much as what we eat.

Let’s take the normal day scenario of the Working Mom:

She wakes up early and starts getting ready for the day. She gets the kids prepared for school, if she is lucky she prepares their lunch, if not she branches at the fast food joint on her way for their lunch. The kids may or may not take any breakfast. If they do, maybe cereal or a slice of bread and a cup of beverage. Meanwhile, mom didn’t take anything hoping to take a cup of tea at work.

She drops the kids at school then hurries to work. She gets to work and she gets neck deep into the day’s activities. At around 11a.m, she starts feeling hunger pangs and she remembers “oh! I’ve not had anything”! The next thing she sends someone to buy a drink, a coke or a pepsi, and a pie and she eats! She doesn’t have time to eat a proper meal.

By the time she gets home, she balances to a large bowl of Eba and assorted meats. Because she is very hungry. She has not had any meal all day. And guess what time this is? It’s 9.30pm in the night.

As eating healthy is a nutritional lifestyle that promotes good health, another part to this is regular physical activity. To most of us, we say we are very active. But I bet this is not true.

We sit in air-conditioned car to the office, at the office, we sit all day till close of work. No form of exercise whatsoever. We believe there is no time to waste all in the name of exercise. For some people, they go to the gym, but right there after their workouts they are already consuming their regular drinks.

Regular exercises of 10-15mins, 3-4 times a week will go a long way to keep you fit and in shape.

In all of these, what should your goals be this year? They should be:

  • Better health and abundant happiness
  • Being a healthy, strong and fabulous mom
  • Being a fit, vibrant and confident wife, sister, daughter and professional.

So how can you achieve these?

  • By establishing a lasting lifestyle modification and creating changes in your diet and exercise routines
  • Staying away from unhealthy habits. Plan your day, from your breakfast, which is an important meal of the day to the apple for snacks rather than that chocolate or cake. Planning is very key in the achievement of goals. Also you might want to have water handy so that it will be easier to take rather than that fizzy drink whenever you feel thirsty. Yes make good old water your drink of choice always.
  • Making regular exercise part of your life. It doesn’t take the whole day to exercise. Wake up earlier than you used to. You can Jog on the spot, jump rope (skipping), take a walk. Just make it regular. Even in the office, you can decide to take the stairs rather than taking the elevator. Walk up to discuss with your colleague rather than using the intercom.

Healthy living is all about YOU. We have time for others but we don’t have time for ourselves. Start slowly. Get the whole family involved. Take that walk with your spouse, or daughter or your son. Get support. Surround yourself with positive thinkers. People who will encourage, inspire and motivate you.

The trick to lasting good health lies in mastering positive fitness and nutrition habits. Be that healthy, strong, fit and fabulous mom.

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