User's comments:
"I do not have a picture of my plate but I would love to eat healthily. This morning I had red meat with pap and two fried eggs. I always crave junk food and now my weight is 86kg. I am a lady aged 24 years. I tried the gym, but when I see my body is a little bit better, I tend to quit. Please help."
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Expert's comments:
Thank you for your description.
Regarding your weight, try not to make it your only focus and measure of health. You did not give me your height, but body mass index (BMI) is a useful tool to assess your weight for height (kg/m2). This is also a good guideline to assess your level of risk associated with chronic health problems such as heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol. A normal BMI range is 22-24,5 kg/m².
BMI should not be used in isolation as it does not account for individual variations in build and body composition. Muscle is three times heavier than fat mass, so if you are exercising more frequently and building muscle mass, your weight may in fact increase very slightly.
Make sure you set a realistic goal weight for your height and build. Remember losing weight sensibly, i.e. a maximum of 0,5 to 1,5kg per week will ensure maintenance of weight loss over the long term.
You should also aim to measure percentage body fat and your waist circumference (less than 88cm) to assess any improvement in your body composition. Losing centimetres rather than kilograms is usually a better reflection of losing fat mass. Your main goal should ultimately be to obtain optimal health.
Exercise is not only an essential part of achieving and maintaining weight loss, but is an excellent way to de-stress after a long day behind a desk and computer. Many people find the gym quite daunting, intimidating and often off-putting, resulting in less frequent physical activity.
Brisk walking is still considered one of the best exercises. You should aim to be active for at least 4-5 days a week for 45-60 minutes a day. Try to also be more active on a day-to-day basis, e.g. climb the stairs instead of taking the lift, walk to the shops, do chores around the house, do gardening etc.
If you struggle to find a whole hour a day, the same benefit can be obtained from breaking your allocated exercise time up throughout the day, e.g. three sessions of 20 minutes instead of one session of 60 minutes.
General guidelines
Consistency is key when it comes to achieving and maintaining weight loss. Here are 12 easy guidelines follow:
Enjoy a variety of foods.
Eat three balanced meals per day with two healthy snacks in between meals.
Be active.
Make starchy foods the basis of most meals – try to make them fibre-rich.
Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits every day – aim for five-a-day (two fruits and three vegetables).
Eat legumes such as canned/dry beans, peas, lentils and soya regularly.
Chicken, fish, meat, milk or eggs can be eaten daily.
Eat fats sparingly.
Use salt sparingly.
Drink lots of clean, safe water – 1,5 to 2 litres a day.
If you drink alcohol, drink sensibly and in moderation.
Use foods and drinks containing sugar sparingly. Don't have these treats between meals, but rather as part of a meal or snack.
Fat is an essential component of all our cell membranes and is absolutely necessary for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids, which the body cannot produce on its own.
Regarding your fat intake, try to aim for ‘lower-fat eating’ rather than no fat – overall fat intake should be limited, but not eliminated.
Limit unhealthy fats, i.e. those fats obtained from animal products (saturated fat) and trans fatty acids (hard margarine, coffee creamers, coconut). Include more healthy fats, i.e. monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats from plant oils (canola oil, olive oil, avocado pear and peanut butter).
Here are some helpful hints for lowering your fat intake:
Choose low-fat or fat-free milk and dairy products, e.g. yoghurt, cottage cheese and evaporated milk. These options could replace cream in recipes.
Choose soft rather than hard margarines.
Wait until toast has cooled down before spreading margarine or butter on it, and try to spread it thinly.
If you use fat, choose low-fat options for mayonnaise, salad dressings and margarine, and use it sparingly.
Never put two "fats" on a slice of bread, i.e. margarine, low-fat mayonnaise, peanut butter or avocado pear. Spread these toppings thinly and use them on their own.
Remove all visible fat from meat before preparation. Avoid the skin of the chicken and ideally remove it prior to cooking.
Aim to eat less red meat (2-3 times a week). Use lean meat options, e.g. lean mince, lean beef or lamb, ostrich, venison or soy mince. The fattiest meat is lamb, followed by beef, pork, chicken, ostrich and venison.
Eat fish (fresh or canned) 1-2 times a week.
Avoid processed meats such as sausages, polony and salami.
Limit the addition of any form of extra fat during food preparation (e.g. margarine, butter, cream, mayonnaise, oil and cheese).
Use low-fat cooking methods: boil, steam, grill, braai over coals, bake in the oven, poach, stir-fry. Do not fry food.
If you do need to fry food, use very little oil (canola or olive oil) or try to prepare food using no oil at all (see tips below).
Limit the amount of gravies and sauces you consume.
Read food labels to assess fat content. A product is low in fat if it contains less than 3g fat/100g and fat free if it has less than 0,5g fat/100g. Choose foods with a fat content of between 3% and 10% fat and try to stick to about 10-13g fat per meal. This can be achieved by adding only one fat to a meal and following the above-mentioned cooking methods.
Fat-free frying
When browning meat, chicken or vegetables, stock made with water or vegetable juice can be used to add liquid.
A non-stick frying pan is useful, but not essential. There will be no difference in the flavour of the final dish although sautéing food without using oil or butter does take a little longer.
Fill half a tea cup with boiling water and add a teaspoon of stock powder. Stir until dissolved and then fill the cup to the top with red or white wine. If you don’t drink alcohol, vegetable juice or apple juice can be used instead.
Place chopped onions in a frying pan over high heat. Toss the onion with a wooden spoon as it begins to cook. When it starts to brown and stick to the pan, add a few teaspoons of the stock mixture to the pan (enough to cause a cloud of steam without making the onion simmer).
Continue tossing until the onion begins to stick again and then pour in the rest of the stock mixture, stirring until the brownish residue has lifted off the bottom of the pan.
Cover with a lid and leave for 5-10 minutes until the fluid has been reduced. The onions will be soft, brown and slightly caramelised.
Add beef goulash cubes, vegetables or chicken strips as well as any other ingredients.
Meals should contain fibre-rich carbohydrate, moderate protein and should be low in fat. Include a wide variety of foods from all food groups (dairy, meat, fish, poultry and eggs, starches, fruit and vegetables, and fats) and don’t remove foods or food groups completely from your daily intake. Control your portion sizes and avoid eating seconds.
Breakfast is an important meal and has been linked to weight loss and weight maintenance.
Examples of healthy breakfasts include:
Fibre-rich cereal or porridge (e.g. Kelloggs High-Fibre Bran, Bokomo Wholewheat and Apple Bake Pronutro, Fineform Muesli, Jungle Oat Bran, Bokomo Oats) with low-fat or fat-free milk.
Smoothies (ingredients should ideally include at least two fruits, oats/oatbran/fibre-rich cereal, low-fat dairy).
Scrambled eggs on 1-2 slices of wholewheat or low-GI toast.
175ml low-fat yoghurt, fruit cut into chunks, tropical fruit muesli.
Oatsoeasy with low-fat (2%) milk and berries.
Cereal (All-Bran Flakes, Weetbix, Pronutro or Cornflakes), low-fat (2%) milk and sliced banana (or one cup of fruit juice, diluted with water – 1:1).
Cooked porridge (Jungle Oats, Tasty Wheat, Kreemy Meel or 1-minute Maltabella), low-fat (2%) milk and sliced banana or mixed berries (or 1 cup of fruit juice, diluted with water – 1:1).
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