7 pretty simple tricks to losing weight with Nigerian foods

Losing weight is a lot easier than you can imagine.

Although most people think losing weight involves starving yourself and probably eating most of the things you don't like to. Starving yourself might work at the time, but the result is never going to be permanent except you don't plan on eating for the rest of your life. And of course, we all know what that's going to lead to, one medical complication or the other.

Anyway, with this simple tricks, you'd be losing those unwanted kilos stuck to your body in no time and you get to eat right and not skip meals unnecessary.

1. Reduce your carbohydrate intake

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Rice, salad and steamed fish

 (Amazon Cafe)

 

Even though you need those energy-giving food for maximum productivity and effectiveness, you really don't need to consume them all the time to meet the required dose of energy per day.

Lemme explain better, a typical Nigerian meal is high in carbohydrate, for instance, say you take rice for breakfast, yam for lunch and then finish it up with a big bowl of eba for dinner and the cycle continues. In this case, you've basically consumed energy-giving food all day. The body simply takes what it needs and stores the rest as fat in your adipose tissue. Imagine a continuous repetition of that will just keep increasing your body kilos gradually. So to avoid this, cut down on your carb intake daily.

2. Eat more fibres

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Healthy Oatmeal

 (Health.com)

 

Food high in fibre content makes you full and keeps you full longer. That way, you don't go about looking for something to snack on even when it isn't necessary.

Recommendation: Take a meal high in fibre for breakfast, say oat, carbohydrate for lunch and protein for dinner. PS: Do not take dinner late at night.

3. Cut down on high-calorie and sugary snack

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Small chops

 (Vconnect)

 

You may like those chocolate bars and candies so much, but it's time to cut them off if you're really going to lose that weight.

It’s pretty much easy to consume high calories snack and ignore the calorie count because most times we underestimate the effect of small snacks and small chops on your diet. Why not just carry healthy snacks in your purse, so you are not forced to buy unhealthy street snacks when you feel the need to snack. High fibre snacks like granola bar will do.

4. Consume less oil

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Akara Beans

 (naijalife)

 

While not oven-fry or bake in place of deep frying. So, it's best to avoid using lots of oil because oils are high in calories and fat and this is definitely not helpful if you're going to lose that weight.

5. Watch your choice of drinks

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Soda

 (Skinny Ms)

 

Considering the fact that we are actually likely to pay less attention to what we drink unlike what we eat, we often consume loads of calories from drinks. Fizzy drinks and the rest should be avoided when it comes to weight loss.

Water is actually a perfect choice of drink, and you are allowed to drink as plenty as you want with no limit at all.

6. Eat spicy food

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Spicy rice

 (Kraft Recipe)

 

The trick about eating spicy/peppery food is that not only does it increases your body metabolism, it slows down your speed of eating. When you eat slowly, it gives the body enough time to figure out when it's full and then sends signals to your brain, that way you won't overeat unlike when you eat too quickly. Also, spicy foods require water; by increasing your water intake you feel full faster.

7. Exercise

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A lady exercising at home

 (Happenings)

 

Weight loss is basically about using up more energy than you consume and exercise is a good strategy to achieving that. It doesn't have to be the gym kind of exercising and all that, you could simply work out in your house. Whichever one you settle for, just be consistent. Consistency is the key to success.