Despite being confined indoors during the COVID-19 outbreak, there are still lots of things you can do to protect your health and wellbeing.
Given below are a few tips to prevent, or at least reduce the chances of weight gain during this period of restricted activity.
- Remove animal products from you diet
This is an easy one. You know which foods they are, just don’t eat them. Animal products contain enormous amounts of fat, as compared to the very low fat margin existing in fruit and vegetables, which are the foods humans are biologically adapted to eat.
- Eliminate oil or drastically reduce consumption.
Oil, even the finest olive oil, is 100% fat, calorically-dense and nutrient-poor. Oil injures the endothelium, the innermost lining of the artery, and that injury is the gateway to vascular disease.
For those with known heart disease, even adding a little oil can have a negative impact on heart health.
Additional fats should come from whole foods such as: fresh nuts, seeds, avocados, or young coconut flesh. Those foods, eaten sparingly, provide some useful nutrition and are not automatically detrimental to your health.
One of the easiest ways to stop eating processed foods is to mentalize yourself that you only buy food from greengrocers – with the exception obviously of supermarkets and other outlets where fresh fruits and vegetables are being sold.
Even the so called “healthy” stores, like Holland & Barrett’s in the UK, sells mostly junk and you should avoid them.
- Limit fatty fruits like nuts and avocados
These foods are perfect eaten in small quantities.
Dried foods work great at times when you want something sweet after a meal, though you should not make a habit of eating them in large quantities.
Because dried fruit is sweet, energy-dense processed food, it is easy to eat large amounts at a time, which can result in excess calorie intake, bloating, constipation, too much gas, abdominal cramping, and damage to your teeth.
Juicing removes all the fiber from the fruits or vegetables you’re putting through your extractor.
This can offer some benefit for those with compromised digestion, because fresh juices retain most of their nutrients, and yet are highly absorbable and easily digestible.
The downside is that fresh juices containing a lot of sugar (carrot or fruit juices) are liquid calories without fiber.
This means that consuming calorie-rich juices can make you gain weight, or can upset your blood sugar.
If you’re going to juice a lot, stay away from carrot and fruit juices.
You can use one carrot or one apple to sweeten a green juice, but don’t make it the base of your juice.
Green juices are an excellent way to obtain quality minerals, antioxidants, and improve your nutrition with one tall glass a day.
A hint of sweetness is permitted, but keep it green!
- Don’t drink too much alcohol or best avoid it altogether
Alcohol is made through the process of fermentation of starch, and traditionally has been classified as having 7.1 calories per gram, which is nearly twice the number of calories as do carbohydrates (4 calories per gram) and proteins (4.2 calories per gram).
The body cannot store alcohol however and once ingested, it must be burnt immediately, taking precedence over any foods we eat with it, or even consume over the course of a day.
Given alcohol’s high energy density, what food we do eat will count as surplus to our daily requirements. This surplus will be then turned into fat by the body.
- Cut out soda, sports drinks, energy drinks, and other fizzy drinks
A can of coke seems like a refreshing sweet treat on a hot summer day, but the short-lived tickle on your taste buds may not be worth the long-term consequences of regularly indulging.
Just one 12-ounce can of coke contain 9.75 teaspoons of sugar, which equates to 39 grams of sugar and similar measures applies to other fizzy drinks.
If you get in the right habit of eating plenty of sweet fresh fruit while reducing the salt and processed foods in your diet, you’ll find out you will not want to drink soda as much, if at all.
We usually turn to food for comfort, stress relief, or as a reward; but sadly, emotional eating doesn’t fix your emotional problems, in fact, it usually makes them worse.
Afterward, not only does the original emotional issue remain, but you also feel guilty for eating appallingly bad food choices.
I found out that the most effective way to deal with emotional eating is by fasting!
Through fasting, our minds become clearer and one’s ability to think and solve intricate problems is enhanced.
Fasting will empower you and help you lose weight while restoring your overall health.
- Limit grain consumption, especially refined flours
If you do have to consume grains, do not eat more than two small pieces of wholegrain toast per day. If you can avoid grains altogether, you should.
If you need guidance in planning your meals, our 30 Day “Health For Life” Meal Planner can help.
We’ve painstakingly put together the most delicious low fat and oil-free raw food recipes, which are both easy to prepare and use ingredients you can easily find.
Stay safe!
Ariel Belloso
The Plant Strong Club 