A Focus on five areas of self-care
There is a common myth that it is selfish to love yourself. As a result, most of us consciously or unconsciously give almost all of ourselves to others as forfeiting our needs is usually the default step when faced with challenges e.g., job pressures/loss, divorce, financial crises or the current Covid-pandemic. This leads to burnout, resentment, frustration, anger anxiety, depression, and physical illnesses. This affects our spiritual, emotional, mental, behavioural, and physical well-being. As a result, we function from a place of deficiency instead of fullness. However, we at Afrofusion Lifestyle believe that it is pivotal to love oneself through self-care because “you can’t give what you do not have! Selfcare increases happiness, physical & mental health and energises and enables you to selflessly love others better. In this month of love, we focus on five ways through which you can do self-love.
Self-care is never a selfish act- it’s simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer others.”
Parker Palmer
Five Areas of Self Care
Spiritual Self-care
Although Spirituality means different things to different people, it can be the foundation of self-care. For many, its where they find their identity and truth. If you believe in God, you can take care of yourself spiritually by making time to find out and lean into the truths about Who He is and cultivate a solid relationship with Him. When you look to God to meet your deep longings of self-worth, significance, and security, you will find acceptance and love. Part of spiritual love is to spend time knowing and loving who you are and whose you are and what you represent. This self-awareness is a symbol of self-love that leads to a discovery of how unique we are and to seeking and respecting the uniqueness in others.
“Allow yourself to experience the full weight of your feelings…without censoring them. Then you can reflect and thoughtfully decide what to do with them”
Peter Scazzero
Emotional Self-care
Emotions play a huge part in our everyday life. Our past and present experiences and relationships can impact our emotions negatively or positively. Our emotions in turn affect our thoughts and actions. Instead of suppressing or repressing these emotions we should learn to recognize, process, and manage emotions such as guilt, anger, anxiety and grief as part of self- care. Self – talk / inner dialogue is a good place to start. This will help us to become more self-aware, better control our impulses, mitigate stressful feelings and change behaviour. Also, tapping into healthy emotions of joy, forgiveness and gratitude will help us love self and others better.
Mental Self-care
The mind is as powerful as the thoughts developed within it. Unhelpful beliefs and thoughts have origins in our experiences, culture, and circumstances are common causes of the unhelpful thoughts and beliefs we often have such as:
- “Something is fundamentally wrong with me”
- “ I do not deserve positive outcomes”
- “ I cannot maintain a healthy eating habit and integrate exercise into my lifestyle”
We are our worse inner judges and see ourselves as flawed. However, being mindful of the origin of these thoughts patterns and belief systems that underpin our personality and choices is vital for self-care. This will help us wake up from this trance of self-judgement We can achieve this by intentionally practising mindfulness and self-compassion. There are several techniques, but we recommend the practical technique by Tara Brach called “RAIN: A Practice of Radical Compassion” Rain is an acronym for Recognize, Allow, Investigate and Nurture.
1. R= Recognize what is happening: awaken from the trance instead of avoiding with keeping busy, proving yourself to others, letting fear paralyze you or resorting to addictive behaviour e.g. shopping, excessive social media or even addictive substances. These unhealthy coping strategies can lead to either defensive or aggressive behaviour with others, or unhealthy attachment.
2. A= Allow the experience to be there, just as it is; We allow by letting the thoughts, emotions, feelings, or sensations we have recognized to simply be there instead of our typical reaction. For example, after we recognised that once again, instead of correcting our child gently to help them learn from their mistake i.e. a teachable moment, we have taken out our anger and lashed out destructively. Then instead of just allowing the sinking, shameful feeling sit, we blame the child or our partner or focus on something completely different e.g., get engrossed on WhatsApp messages. We basically do this to fight the rawness and horribleness of the feeling by withdrawing from the moment. The RAIN advocates that:
- We simply allow by pausing to relax our resistance allowing the experience just as it is
- By allowing our thoughts, emotions, or bodily sensations to be, does not imply that we agree that we are a bad parent
- Instead, we are honestly acknowledging the presence of judgment, and the painful feelings underneath
- We can then silently offer an encouraging word/phrase to ourselves
You might notice hollowness or shakiness, then discover a sense of unworthiness and shame masked by those feelings. Unless you bring these into awareness, your unconscious beliefs and emotions will control your experience and make align make you identify these feelings as your limited, deficient self.
Tara Brach describes how a client by “allowing “ and then pausing during an urge to mindlessly binge on her favourite snack after she recognised the cues, allowed herself to feel the tension in her body and her racing heart and the craving. She soon contacted the emotional sense of loneliness buried underneath her anxiety and found that when she stayed with the loneliness whilst being gentle with herself, the craving passed.
“Between the stimulus and the response there is a space, and in this space lies our power and our freedom.”
Victor Frankel
I = Investigate
The next step is to investigate your experience on a deeper level
with an attitude of gentleness, sense of curiosity, openness, humour, levity and non-judgment towards yourself. You can ask yourself questions such as “what thoughts are going through my mind right now as I notice this anxiety?” , “What am I feeling on a physical level, in my body?” . You might be feeling things like tension, your heart racing, or a slight shortness of breath. Also, ask “What am I doing in response to what I’m noticing?” This refers to the thoughts and actions that follow your emotional and physical sensations.
Like an animal lashing out because it is caught in a trap, we behave in hurtful, reactive ways, when in pain. once we investigate and recognise the source of our suffering, instead of burying it away, we develop a compassionate heart toward ourselves and others.
Basically, by investigating with compassion you bring healing and transformation.
4.) N = non-Identification
Non-identification is essence what Buddhists refer to as: “don’t take anything personally.” This means recognising that the situation does not define you and that everyone experiences fear, anger and restlessness and “no situation is permanent”. Its remembering that below the surface of agitation on the ocean, the water is more still and peaceful. Therefore, try to detach yourself and not taking things so personally. Remember that many others on the planet have also contended with these situations. Often this process of recognizing that you’re not the only one could change the discomforting experience to one of comfort.
Basically, practicing R-A-I-N creates space around the cause of your conflict and enables you to change your perspective even if your circumstances remain the same. Once you have investigated and connected with your suffering, respond by offering care to your own heart. When the intention to awaken self-love and compassion is sincere, the smallest gesture—even if, initially, it feels awkward will serve you well. Most people find healing by gently placing a hand on the heart or cheek, others, in a whispered message of care. If you embrace this new outlook, you will get more calm and peace and your actions will safeguard you or others.
Filter your thoughts
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he
Proverb 23;7
Behavioural Self-care
Our emotions and beliefs shape our choices and actions= behaviour and vice-versa. Our actions and behaviour always follow the goals we set for ourselves. Behind most problems is an unrecognised or recognized wrong goal. Part of self-care is first of all engaging in self talk to recognize and process any hidden goals we have that negatively affect our choices. Then, making the right goals that lead to the right choices and behaviour. Do you have a vision board? What goals have you put in place? Why? Are the reasons underpinning your goals profound and the right ones? Are they S.M.A.R.T.E.R goals? Your spiritual emotional and mental wellbeing will lead to correct choices about actions that will impact you and the overflow will bless others effortlessly.
“Love yourself first and everything else falls in line and you will get anything done in this World”
Lucille Ball
Physical Self-care
It is generally understood and accepted that what and how we eat, physical activity or inactivity, sleep and rest can affect both our thinking and behavioural capabilities as well as impact our emotions. So, taking care of our Physical body is an important and most obvious aspect of self-care. We would recommend that you get a yearly check-up, increase your food and nutritional intelligence, keep physically active, challenging but listening to your body, aim to get 8hrs of sleep daily and some do nothing at all time daily- just sit with yourself and cease striving – rest!
Self -love/care is taking care of all our five areas of functioning and it’s worth recognising that they are interconnected and impact each other. So, it is imperative that we love and care for our whole- self first before reaching out towards others. And just like one part of our body impacts the other, our actions and decisions as part of the family or community where we have been planted impacts those around us. So, if we love who we are enough to take care of every area of our lives, others will not only benefit from this but will most likely respond with love and gratitude towards us. Self-care is not about indulging in goods and services for example expensive spas /holidays /shopping sprees. Real self-care is intentional, purposeful and costs nothing but time and starts from inside with your thoughts and your experience of moments and is aimed to build your sense of self, peace and calm to make you more resilient. Remember that you cannot give what you have not got – so fill up so you can pour out effortlessly!
5 STEPS TO SELF-CARE THE AFROFUSION WAY!
- Schedule 15 minutes of “me “time every day: no screen – just a book (preferably spiritual) or your thoughts!
- Schedule one screen/social media free day a month and increase to one every week
- Eat a meal around a table with your family once a week and increase to one a day
- Start a gratitude journal and enter 2 things you are grateful for at the end of each day
- Reflect on whether you ate healthily, exercised, drank enough water, and had 8 hours of sleep & resolve to improve the next day
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Do you believe in making New Year’s resolutions? Have you made any this year? If you are like me, you probably have not. The reason is likely because resolutions did not work in the past. However, I am certain you either wish you could make a resolution or have resolved to reset/realign to a healthier lifestyle. You know “What” change you should/must make but are probably wondering; “Where do I start?”. As Lao- tzu reminds us “ The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”!
We at Afrofusion Lifestyle can recommend the right step! Make a Vision Board, visualize it daily and watch your dreams and goals for 2022 become a reality!!! We advocate Vision Boards not just because Oprah, Michelle Obama and Steve Harvey recommend it, but because it has worked for us!!! I completed by 3rd Vision Board yesterday because 80% of the goals on my Vision Boards for 2020 and 2021 happened. Making a Vision board is the 1st step in our program and we got you! This blog will support you to articulate and capture SMART goals on your vision board and use this to achieve the changes you desire in all areas of your life.
WHAT IS A VISION BOARD?
A vision board is basically a collection of pictures, words and phrases representing your dreams and goals aimed at inspiring you to achieve them, by helping you visualize and manifest them. Creating the board helps you to get clarity and then maintain concentration and focus on the articulated goals. Although most people use a cork or poster board for their vision board increasingly more and more people are using digital vision boards. You can choose whichever works for you – there is no right or wrong. I did a hybrid this year – designed 6 slides one each for each of the 7 areas of my life: Faith, Family, Friends, Finance, Fitness, Food & Field on PowerPoint. I used a collage of them digitally as screen savers on both my work computer and laptop. I also printed and mounted them on a cardboard display in my bedroom.
DO VISION BOARDS WORK?
YES, Vision boards do work! The logic behind them makes simple sense; by visualising your goals and affirmative quotes on your vision board daily, you get visual stimulation that makes you more emotionally connected to the goals and your subconscious becomes activated to work to find ways to make them happen. The vision board tells your subconscious what your focus should be in what the Law of Attraction calls Visualization. This is essentially attracting what you are focusing on, into your life. Visualization is said to be one of the most powerful techniques you can utilize to manifest what you desire and attain your goals. Vision boards also work because unlike goals that we write on paper and lose and forget, a vision board remains in full view keeping your goals in front of your mind every day and invoking positive emotions as you look at the pictures and motivational quotes.
WHAT SHOULD YOU PUT ON YOUR VISION BOARD & HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT IT?
Step 1: Clarify your “what”
The 1st and most crucial step is to get clarity about the kind of life you dream for yourself, what your personal vision and mission are, what changes you need to make, or steps you need to take to get to that vision. To get to the bottom of your “What”, dedicate time to pray and reflect and answer the questions below and what actions you need to take to achieve them. You will need a notebook and pen: Write down your answers as this is the 1st draft of your goals!
Questions for your “What”
- What is my personal mission and vision: What are my strengths and how can I use them to contribute to society in a way that it aligns with my values?
- How do I want to feel when I am living my ideal life?
- What makes me feel like myself?
- How long do I want to live?
- What activities do I want to enjoy with my family and friends i.e., what is my bucket list?
- What would an ideal day in my life look like?
- What is my definition of success?
- Reflecting on 2021, what went well last year and what did I do to achieve it, and do I want to repeat it?
- Reflecting on what went well in 2021 – do I want to build on it? e.g. “I went from 3000 steps a day to 10,000 and would like to increase to 12,000 or add one day of core exercises e.g., yoga?
- Reflecting on 2021, what did not go well? Why was that? Is it still important to me? If so, is there anything I could do this year to make it happen?
- Reflecting on the above, what could be the barriers and what steps can I take to tackle them. Examples of barriers could be:
- Culture i.e., “what everyone in my community does” or Tradition which is “how it’s always done”, example being adding excessive oil to dishes
- Too many health myths to navigate e.g., “fruit juice is same as eating the fruit hence drinking 4 glasses of fruit juice is eating 4 portions of your 5 portions of fruits and vegetables”
- Insufficient knowledge or ignorance e.g., my aunt’s favourite “because red wine is good for my heart as was shown in France, the more I drink of it, the healthier I will be “
Step 2: Clarify the “Why” of your goals and complete a shortlist
Now proceed to understand your “why” This is important because if your why is profound and long-term and not shallow and short term, you would be more likely to prioritise it and feel more motivated and happier about making it happen.
Example of a profound “Why”
“I would like to live long and healthy to be able to spend as much time as possible time with my children and to enjoy the activities we have worked hard to save for which are listed on our bucket lists, with my husband”
Example of a frivolous “Why”
“I would like to lose weight to fit into that green outfit to look better than XXX”
Example 1 invokes positive emotions whilst example 2 invokes negative feelings and emotions that are not healthy. Therefore, dig deep and find positive “Whys”
Be mindful as you do this that very often, what you might think you want is not what you want, and spending time to get this clarity on why you want something helps you really flush out the goals that are not your real goals but are the result of societal pressure, parental expectations, or other external factors.
Review your draft goals and for each reflect further and write down a rating for
- How important you rate the “What”? (10 = extremely important, 1 = not important)
- How confident are you that you will achieve the “What?” (10 = extremely confident, 1 = not confident)
From these
- discard any goal with an importance of less than 7
- highlight goals with a confidence level of less than 5 but do not discard because we will recommend actions to get the confidence level up
Step 3: Group your shortlisted goals
Review the draft list of goals you have so far and split them into sections. The sections I am using this year inspired by my daughter’s amazing tutor (thank you auntie Shola) are what I am calling my “Fundamental Fs for 2022”
- Family
- Faith
- Finance
- Fitness
- Food
- Friends
- Field
I loved the fact that they rhyme and are like the areas I had in previous years though I referred to them then as relationships (family/friends/spouse), home, finances, career/work, and health etc. For your vision board use different sections and call them something else that speaks to your spirit or tickles your fancy.
Step 4: Translate your goals to inspirational words and images
Translating your goals into words and images that describe the feelings and emotions your goals evoke is important because these feelings and emotions will be generated every time you look at the board. The idea is that these would then inspire and motivate you subconsciously to get there.
To complete this step:
- Review each draft goal and choose a positive feeling/ emotion, word or image that it evokes. It could be an image of yourself or of someone else or something. The only rule is that it should give you positive vibes.
- Write down the word(s) and print out the images.
I encourage you to draw on your spiritual source of inspiration to inspire you to find the most befitting emotions, words and images to represent your goals. I love my Faith section on my board because I used my favourite scriptures and quotes from Mother Teresa that remind me that reading my bible is important as it is spending time with God and thus learning to love like him so I can love my neighbour. One of the verses inspired by Father Blessed (I listen to his Catholic Meditation daily) is
“In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God!”
Some of the Mother Teresa quotes I included are:
- “I want you to be concerned about your next-door neighbour. Do you know your next-door neighbour?”
- “Work without love is slavery.”
Step 5 Select and articulate S.M.A.R.T.E.R goals
After completing the four steps above, you should now have a list of preselected goals and aspirations and words and images that represent them. However, you need to prioritise them further and choose the ones that should be added to your vision board.
From the list that you have created, create the final list by
- Choosing two or three changes from each category that you would find the easiest to make because success will breed success
- Making these chosen goals S.M.A.R.T.E.R.
What are S.M.A.R.T.E.R Goals?
- Specific: Stating exactly what you want to start doing e.g., instead of “increase my steps “to “increase my steps to minimum 10,000”
- Measurable: Ensure you can know when you have achieved the goal. The above goal for example would be measured with a “Fitbit “or Smart watch
- Achievable: Make sure the goal is achievable because achieving it gives you the confidence to tackle the next goal. Certainly 30,000 steps a day for 5 days a week is very unlikely to be achievable
- Realistic and relevant: The goal should be realistic and relevant. A relevant goal would be to drink 2 liters of water daily whilst an irrelevant (or bad goal) goal would be to drink 2 litres of juice daily.
- Time -specific: Deadlines are important motivators top achieve goals. Choose a realistic timeline especially for new goals
- Evaluation: Plan time to regular evaluate your goal and preferably with an accountability partner
- Reinforcement: Think of how you will celebrate successful achievement of your goal to encourage you to continue. Do not go overboard –just a simple gesture even literally clapping for yourself or dancing round a room.
Now you should have a list and can proceed to the enjoyable and fun part of finally making your vision board!
FIND QUOTES AND AFFIRMATIONS
Find quotes and affirmations that will motivate and inspire you
HOW DO YOU CREATE A VISION BOARD?
A) Creating a Traditional cut and paste vision board
You should have the following. Simply order from amazon if you can
- Scissors, glue stick, pins
- A board, piece of cardboard, corkboard, or vintage wood
- List of your SMARTER goals
- Power words which represent your goals or values e.g health, love, happiness, joy, peace, community
- Cut outs of visuals which include images, pictures, symbols, quotes and affirmations that align with your vision and goals to inspire and energize you
Organise these on your board designing as you see fit! You can mix it all up or keep separated in themes. Just remember not to glue or pin anything until you have laid out all the words and images and are happy with how your vision board makes you feel. You might need to rearrange a few times- that is ok. My board health and fitness last year – I did different ones for different areas of life.
Creating a Digital Vision
Start by completing steps 1 to 5 above. Then use a digital application as the next step e.g. Canva or PicMonkey if you are very skilled. Or simply use the tried and trusted PowerPoint.
To use these applications
- I. Find or upload phrases, quotes or photos that represent your goals and dreams
- II. Add them to your design
- III. Add text typing in your positive words, quotes, or affirmations. Use the text effects to make your board pop.
- IV. Once you finalize your digital vision board, download it to your computer and save as a background, or print it out and hang up or both as I did
- My digitally created vision board for this year is a masterpiece that I will share in the Masterclass recording.
6) WHERE DO YOU PUT UP YOUR VISION BOARD?
You should ideally put up your vision board in a location where you will see it daily. This will ensure that the crucial visual reminders are very visible to ensure that your visions and dreams are transmitted to your subconscious. This way it remains in your mind and your subconscious is inspired to keep at work to make it happen!
7) WHAT DO YOU DO ONCE YOUR VISION BOARD IS DISPLAYED?
After getting clarity and SMARTER goals and creating your vision board, our suggestion is to plan a daily routine to visualize and review your goals and imagine life after you achieve them. Look and reflect on it at least once daily spending time visualizing your goals. This will activate your subconscious to keep busy even as you rest.
We recommend these steps:
- Spend 1 minute sitting and looking at your vision board reflecting on your goals.
- Then close your eyes for 2 minutes and visualise yourself in the future living a life where these goals are a reality- paint pictures in your mind’s eyes
- Speak out your goals with conviction so you hear them as this is thought to make them feel more attainable. It is like putting it out in the universe and making them reality.
- Write down 2 or 3 simple things you are grateful for that already support your vision. It could be just being alive and having the 3 minutes to spend with your goals.
If you do this daily, your goals are kept in sight considering “ out of sight is out of mind” With your goals in your mind, the power of visualization will proceed with creative thinking and results happen.
8) ROBUST PLANNING TO HELP BREAK OLD HABITS
As you know most New year resolutions are broken. This is because we are creatures of habit and change is usually challenging. It is therefore crucial to think of ways to mitigate against the barrier that your old habit will pose!
This requires intentionality, preparation, and planning. Making a successful change is dependent on. Think of the area of focus and plan for it. Focusing on health and fitness, these are some pointers to include
Goals, Vision & Visualization
Schedule time to spend with your vision board daily
Knowledge
- Have information such as nutrient list handy to check macros
- Buy Afrofusion book
- Attend Afrofusion Masterclasses
- Read our blogs
Nutrition
- Schedule a regular shopping day so you do your shopping to ensure you have the right ingredients for meals
- Do meal prepping so you always have ready-made meals and ingredients to put together a meal quickly to reduce temptations when you are hungry.
- Drink water if you feel hungry as thirst is often confused with hunger or food cravings
- Eat more protein. eating more protein may reduce your appetite and keep you from overeating
- Do not stock unhealthy snacks or snacks you crave
- Plan your meals & stock healthier alternatives, boiled eggs, veg smoothies
- Avoid getting extremely hungry
- Plan for vacation and social occasions
Selfcare
- Use Mindfulness techniques to be present and aware to reduce stress. For example, Journaling to check in with yourself and focus on what you’re thinking, feeling, and writing about, deep breathing, body scan, stretch and narration. These are described in detail under selfcare later.
- Get enough sleep
- Schedule your spiritual and social activities to ensure they happen as planned
Fitness
- Have a realistic schedule
- Measure outcomes to stay motivated e.g., steps on Fitbit
- Choose activities you enjoy
- Have your equipment handy e.g., trainers in the trunk of your car
- Have accountability partners
9) ACCOUNTABILITY SUPPORT
Now you have your vision board mounted and you are visualizing daily what next? Remaining consistent in achieving the goals and maintaining your vision is more likely to happen if you can rely on support from an accountability partner or group. You might ask why you need accountability? It is simple – research shows that people with accountability partners are 75-85% more effective.
How can you stay accountable for your health goals?
Reflect on all the times you’ve decided, choice or New Year’s resolution to help you achieve your health goals. Maybe you signed up for a gym membership planning to attend a class twice a week. How many times have you started making the change and simply decided, “I will give today a miss”?
In such situations when you know exactly what you need to do, why you need to, how to do it, and when to do it, but it still is not working according to plan, accountability is often the last piece of the puzzle that will support you get to the finish line. There are two types of accountabilities.
Internal Accountability
This is being accountable to oneself even when no one is around to witness or acknowledge your actions. It is that motivation that gets you out of your cosy bed. However, although some people are naturally good at this, others struggle.
- Write Down Your Health and Wellness Goals
- Ensure step by step planning
- Do an honest route cause analysis when you do not meet goals
- Knowledge is power so get the Knowledge required
External Accountability
External accountability is remaining accountable to others who are checking in with you, supporting you, and keen to hear about your progress. This makes you feel a sense of obligation to achieve these goals from them. Team sports is a pertinent example where you feel obliged to show up for practice because your team and coach are expecting you.
- Share Your Goals
- Be Honest
- Use Available Apps
- Social Media
- Challenges
Which of the two types of accountabilities do you feel would work best for you?
A combination of the two would allow you to stay accountable and attain your health and fitness goals. I use personally use both: I weigh myself weekly, try to do 10,000 steps five days a week and 2 core sessions twice a week. However, I do find that external accountability motivates me further.
Festive Season Survival Tips & Low Carb/Low GI Recipes
December 2021 BLOG
For most of us, the holiday season which started as early as November for those who celebrated Thanksgiving, is synonymous with endless social gatherings and family feasts overflowing with scrumptious treats. These get-togethers encourage overeating. Furthermore, we would be celebrating the end of the 2nd Covid-19 pandemic fraught year 2021 and might be especially tempted to overindulge. Our December excesses will be followed by guilt, weight gain and regrets in January 2022.
To help prevent/reduce these, we at Afrofusion Lifestyle are inviting to take two actions to support you stay on track with your fitness goals this season
`Action 1:
Sign up for our ongoing New You challenge if you have not yet by simply clicking https://bit.ly/DecemberChallenge2021
Action 2
Read on for our tips and low calorie & low carb recipes to enable you make healthier choices. You do better when you know better!! Arm yourself with the knowledge to make great choices for the rest of the festive season.
We start by debunking 4 Myths
Myth 1:
It is the festive season so I can eat as much as I want and detox later after all it’s important to fast periodically and detox one’s body for good health.
Truth 1:
There is actually no such thing as “detoxing” in medical terms. The recommended route to achieve or maintain a healthy weight is ultimately a nutritive diet and exercise.
Myth #2:
Liquid calories will not count if I cut back on my carbohydrate consumption
Truth 2
Actually, alcoholic drinks or mocktails can contribute to a significant amount of sugar and empty calories which could increase weight gain. It is counterproductive to fast and then overindulge.
Myth #3:
All carbs make you fat so stick to a keto diet and snacks
Truth 3
Most keto snacks are very calorific because the carbohydrate is often substituted for fatty alternatives and 1g fat has double the calories in 1g carbs. If you consume more than approx. 35g net carbs on a keto diet in 24 hours, you will not achieve ketosis, the calories will contribute to calorie excess and thus weight gain.
Also, complex carbohydrates, like whole grains, are not fattening if consumed moderately. What leads to weight gain is the high glycaemic index carbs in large quantities i.e. both quality and quantity of carbs matter
Myth #4:
You can swap/ditch your exercise steps/workout for shopping steps in the mall
Truth 4:
Whilst rushing around could burn calories, the lack of fresh air and stressing worrying about choices and money increase stress levels which hinder weight loss.
I know that most of us will “ let our hair down” healthy eating wise on the festive days, be it Qatar national day, Kwanzaa, Christmas or New Year’s Eve. Dr Michael Mosley, creator of the Fast 800 Plan which inspired the Afrofusion Weightloss plan, estimates that we easily consume up to 4,000 calories on Christmas Day. For most West Africans, this would be more originating from generous portions of vegetables cooked with a lot of oil and meat, high GI carbohydrate sides, deep fried snacks such as Chinchin and Puffpuff alongside chocolates and drinks. This is more than double the calories an average size individual needs. Furthermore, the alcohol will increase our appetite whilst hindering fat burn.
Although we usually plan to make amends, we could reduce the pain and effort by following the tips (and recipes) below to eat wise and live well during the 2020 festive season
Tip Number 1
DON’T OVEREAT NOW TO DETOX LATER INSTEAD SWAP CALORIE RESTRICTION FOR INTERMITTENT FASTING
Understandably, you might find it difficult to adhere to the calorie restriction on some days during the festive season. You should thus
- deviate from plans to eat indiscriminately and later get detox products from health food stores, claiming to rid your body of its toxins. This is most often marketing ploys and these “cleanse-detox products” commonly contain natural diuretics e.g. dandelion root or apple cider vinegar,” that simply makes you lose water
- stick to your intermittent fasting when possible
- Consider a 5/2 keto plan whereby you reduce your net carb intake to < 35g per day for 2 days of the week if you overindulged e.g. over the weekend.
Tip Number 2
MAKE A FEW HEALTHY FESTIVE MEAL SWAPS
“It’s extremely difficult to stick to a healthy diet over the festive season but by substituting cleverly and healthily, you can win little battles” You should
- Swap large amounts of roast Irish potatoes with a mix of 2/3 roasted vegetables such as parsnips, carrots and steamed broccoli, brussels sprouts and peas with 1/3 sweet potatoes or plantains.
- Swap deep fried snacks for healthier options
- Choose one of the low -calorie desert options below and even bring them along to social gatherings
- Use the healthy eating plate and swap refined carbohydrates e.g. white breads, pasta, chips, crackers, which contain no fibre and excess calories and sugars for protein and good fats. Remember that low GI refined carbohydrates lead to insulin spikes and make you crave more sugar and carbs.
Tip number 3
WHEN YOU ARE AT THE BUFFET TABLES, CHOOSE HEALTHIER OPTIONS AND PORTIONS
It is important to be reminded that West African pastry snacks contain a lot of fat, salt and carbohydrates as you dig in eat these indiscriminately at social gatherings.
The table below details some of the relevant macros and time it will take you to burn the calories off with exercise
| One serving | Calories | Net carbs | Time in minutes in takes to burn the calories by walking |
| Chinchin (¼ cup = 34g serving) | 140 | 17.75 | 31 |
| Puffpuff (serving size 6) | 355 | 63.2 | 78 |
| Meat pie (1-piece 124g) | 375 | 29.8 | 83 |
| Fish roll(1piece) | 151 | 17.3 | 33 |
| Honey roasted Peanuts 28g | 162 | 8.5 | 35 |
| Roasted peanut 28g | 161 | 2.2 | 35 |
| Roasted or boiled corn on cob (1 corn) | 123 | 24.1 | 27 |
A trick I often use is to eat the healthy snacks first, if these are available.
| One serving | Calories | Net carbs/g | Time in minutes in takes to burn the calories by walking |
| Cherry tomatoes 4 | 12 | 1.8 | 2.6 |
| Cucumber 1/3 | 10 | 28 | 2.2 |
| Carrot 1 medium | 25 | 5.9 | 5 |
| Broccoli (1 cup chopped ,91g) | 30 | 3.7 | 5.5 |
| Strawberries (8 medium, 100g) | 50 | 8.7 | 11 |
| Blueberries (half a cup, 73g) | 63 | 9 | 13.95 |
| Apple (1 medium) | 94.6 | 20.8 | 21 |
| Guava (1 medium) | 45 | 6 | 9.9 |
Tip Number 4
IF POSSIBLE, ASK FRIENDS AND FAMILY NOT TO GIVE YOU CHOCOLATES OR REGIFT THEM!
- Let family and friends know that you are trying to lose weight and they should thus not offer you large boxes of chocolates or unhealthy snacks for Christmas this year.
- If they do, consider regifting or avoiding
Tip Number 5
MAINTAIN/INCREASE YOUR EXERCISE REGIME
Exercise will reduce the stress brought about by making choices and financial worries of shopping and guilt of overeating. Therefore,
- avoid the temptation to settle on your favourite spot on the sofa and watch Netflix, after a large festive meal.
- instead stand up and dance (Jerusalema J or Afrobeats ) with your friends and families and compete to see who gets the most steps!!
- schedule walks with family and friends and use the time to catch up, review last years events and discuss plans for next year
Tip Number 6
PLAN YOUR MEALS FOR THE DAY AND AVOID MIDNIGHT PARTIES
- Try to have late moderate brunch at midday
- Exercise daily
- Have early dinners at e.g. 4pm
- Have a light snack (e.g. soup, salad or fruit all approx. 250 Cals maximum) no later than 10pm. This way you maintain your 16 hours fast.
Tip Number 7
IF YOU’VE GAINED A FEW KILOS, DO NOT DELAY GETTING RID!!!
- Monitor your weight and take actions if any gains because it is easy to overeat and gain weight.
- However, it is also easy to repair the damage with a few days of restricting calories, intermittent fasting and a couple of keto days
- It is always best to lose the weight soon after you put it on. Try any of the Afrofusion smoothies as meal replacement short term
Tip Number 8
DON’T DRINK YOUR CALORIES
“Yes of course you have to hang out with friends and gist and be festive!! You just have to be mindful and intentional” eat a healthy snack and hydrate before you go your holiday party in order to make good choices and limit your intake of alcoholic drinks.
- Remember that alcohol is quite calorific – a smallish glass of wine is approx. 170 calories and cocktails have double as do fizzy drinks.
- alcohol, soda, and other calorie-rich beverages can lead to an increased appetite and possible weight gain.
- Choose other options like low-carb, low-calorie beers and low-calorie mixers, but you need to watch your portions.
- Restrict your portions if possible, to one drink per day for women and two drinks for men e.g. by interchanging drinking a glass of alcohol with a glass of water. Give the wine spritzer recipe below a try.
| Type of Fizzy drink | Serving size | Calories | Net Carb content |
| 7 up | 250ml glass | 117 | 29.25 |
| Coke | 1 cup (240 ml) | 108 | 27 |
| Fanta | 250ml glass | 105 | 30 |
| lemonade | 250ml glass | 105 | 27.3 |
| Orange juice | 250ml glass | 118 | 26.75 grams |
| Apple juice | 250ml glass | 123 | 30.31 grams |
| Piña colada juice | 250ml glass | 165 | 35 grams |
| Ginger ale | 250ml glass | 88 | 22.1grams |
| Diet coke/Fanta or Sprite | 250ml glass | 0 | 0 |
| Type of alcohol | Serving size | Calories | Carb content |
| Regular beer | 12-oz (355-ml) can | 142 | 12 grams |
| Margarita | 1 cup (240 ml) | 633 | 13 grams |
| Bloody Mary | 1 cup (240 ml) | 220 | 10 grams |
| mimosa | 8 oz(240-ml) bottle | 150 | 34 grams |
| Daiquiri | 6.8-oz (200-ml) can | 274 | 33 grams |
| Whiskey sour | 3.5 fl oz (104 ml) | 135 | 14 grams |
| Piña colada | 4.5 fl oz (133 ml) | 349 | 32 grams |
| Tequila sunrise | 6.8-oz (200-ml) can | 232 | 24 grams |
Pure spirits and wine have less carbs as detailed below and could be consumed.
| Type of alcohol | Serving size | Carb content | calories |
| Light beer | 12 fl oz (355 ml) | 3 grams | 43 |
| Red wine | 5 fl oz (148 ml) | 3–4 grams | 125 |
| White wine | 5 fl oz (148 ml) | 3–4 grams | 123 |
| Rum(Daiquiri, mojito) | 1.5 fl oz (44 ml) | 0 grams | 102 |
| Whiskey | 1.5 fl oz (44 ml) | 0 grams | 110 |
| Gin | 1.5 fl oz (44 ml) | 0 grams | 116 |
| Vodka | 1.5 fl oz (44 ml) | 0 grams | 102 |