They Get You With the Add-Ons

We know add-ons by so many names, but what we know is that we don't want to eat our sandwich, chicken, or moi-moi alone. Pairing up foods with sides can work in our favor as it can help us balance out our nutrients, but more often than not, it actually works against us. I'll explain.

Eights & Weights Recipe: Sauteed Tofu and Wild Rice

Tofu requires great strategy to cook correctly. There are many different levels of firmness, but unless you are making soup, I always suggest you go for the Extra Firm tofu. This is because you don't want it all broken up in your meal, but solid and ready to absorb whatever it is cooked in.

Even with the extra firmness, tofu can still be pretty soft and brittle if it is not cooked properly. For this reason, some people choose to fry their tofu. However, because that usually involves a lot of oil, I choose to grill mine. That way, I keep the texture, but still keep it clean and healthy.

For this simple meal, let's take a look at what you will need (it serves 4). Please note that you need a grill (I use an indoor electric grill). If you do not have a grill, you can try broiling this in the oven.

My Diet Tips

Last night, a friend asked me about my diet, and I remember saying something like I eat normally. I woke up thinking about this, and I realized that I lied terribly. And what's worse is that I hate people that do that when they talk about food. 

FDA Changes to Nutrition Labels

The US Food and Drug Administration is proposing that nutrition labels be overhauled (the left picture above is the old way and the right is the new proposed way). For some perspective, food labels have not really changed in the last 20 years. The premise for the change is that the real information people need should be highlighted to emphasize calories and added sugars. The FDA is also trying to make sure that serving sizes reflect how people really eat or drink, not random sizes to sometimes drive the calories down like what we see today. So a full bag of chips would reflect the calories on the full bag.

Great news! The jury is still out on whether it would really change the way people eat though.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

E&W Recipe: Turkey Sausage Stew with Black Beans and Sweet Corn

It feels good to be back with some recipes! I've missed my kitchen a bit. Today, I'm cooking up a simple spicy stew with some turkey sausage.

Post-Workout Nutrition

Experts are always arguing about what and when to eat after intense exercise. One thing is clear: your body needs replenishment when you've just expended almost all the energy you have and ridiculously torn down those muscles. The question is what and when.

You’re On the Go? No Problemo!

As an avid traveler, I have come to learn a few things about staying fit while you travel. What’s the biggest thing I’ve learned? That it is not easy! Therefore, I think those who have just started working out and those who have had trouble working out while on the road will definitely benefit from this. Whether you’re staying at a hotel or squatting with friends/family, there is always an option for you. But wherever you’re travelling to, and wherever you are staying when you travel, one thing is always clear: Plan your fitness regimen BEFORE you travel. Don’t assume that you’ll figure it out when you get there because, let’s be honest, when you daily routine changes, so does your inclination to work out and eat right.

Hoteling it

Exercise: Living in hotels is hard enough when you can’t wake up in the dark and figure out what part of the room everything is in (or is that just my OCD talking?). But it is important to choose a good hotel before you travel. While you are making a choice, try to ask yourself the following questions:

• Is there a gym at the hotel? If there is a gym, your life just became a lot easier.
• If there is a gym at the hotel, is it included in the room charges?
• If there is no gym, is there a gym near the hotel? How much does it cost?
• If the hotel can’t satisfy the two options above, where is it located? Is it near a park that you can run at? Is it in a major city? Is it in a safe neighborhood where you can feel comfortable running outside?
• If you decide to work out outside, what’s the weather going to be like? 
• What kind of workout clothes would you need to pack?

Yes, it is actually a little more complicated than it seems when you do think about it. One major thing I have learned while travelling is that sometimes a ‘Marriott’ or a ‘Holiday Inn’ is better than a ‘Hilton’ because they all have good rooms, but the Hilton would usually charge you to use the gym, while the others would not.

Food: There are usually good restaurant options in or around hotels, so at least you don’t usually have to drive miles and miles to find a good place to eat. But there are also questions you can ask yourself:

• Are the restaurants within walking distance? Can I just take a quick walk?
• What kinds of restaurants are around the hotel? Fast food, generic, or fancy?
• Would I be eating alone or with friends/co-workers?

When most of your meals are determined by other people like friends and co-workers, it’s difficult to be picky about where you eat. But at least if you know what is around the hotel, you can prepare yourself to present some options. If you’re eating at Burger King every day, it is going to be extremely difficult to be strict about what you eat. But at the same time, Burger King is a chain, so you can figure out what your healthy options are and rotate what you eat based on those limited choices.

Now, if most of the restaurant options are smaller restaurants, not chains, and you have no idea what kind of food they serve, you can still make sure you ask the waiter about what is healthy. Waiters know everything on the menu so they’ll be quick to point out their healthy side or what compromises the chef can make for you.

Staying with a friend

Exercise: If you and the person you are staying with plan to lead independent lives while you are there, go back to the hoteling section because you’ll have to look around you to figure out how you can work out. But if your lives would be intertwined, consider the following:

• Does your friend work out? Staying with someone that works out makes life easier for you. You have a partner to gym with, and you just have to ask them about their exercise schedule. If he/she works out at a gym, find out which gym and research their visitor options. For example, my gym allows members to bring in guests free on Wednesdays and $15 each other time. Ordinarily, a guest would pay $25 if they come alone.
• If your friend does not work out, ask yourself the hoteling questions. What would your schedule be like? Is there a gym around his/her house? How much does it cost? Can you work out outside? What would the weather be like?

Food: Again, if you plan to lead independent lives, all the hoteling questions would apply to you. If not:

• Ask questions! Does your friend usually cook? If he/she cooks, again, you life may be easier (or harder depending on who you are staying with) but your major focus would be portion control.
• If your friend does not cook, find out where he/she usually tends to eat. And research restaurant options so when asked what you are in the mood for, you have an opinion based on what is nearby.

Hope this helped those that travel! I know how hard it can be to stay fit while on the road, but just like with anything else, don’t assume. Recognize that you’ll probably need to plan and make some changes. You can do it!

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Falling off the Bandwagon

It is a shame that most of the African teams in this World cup always seem to start a match out well, and then let the other team carry the match halfway through. Unlike the African football teams we’ve seen, we don’t have to give up all hope when we fall out of our exercise and nutrition routine and back into our old habits. There’s always the option to dust yourself off and try again.

Most people that are on a strict diet program tend to demonize food, and so when they backslide for a moment and eat that slice of birthday cake, it’s like they’ve sold their soul to the enemy. They get affected psychologically and start to think “I’ve already made a mistake, so I can go ahead and eat the whole cake and it won’t matter.” And then that one mistake leads to binge eating.

My opinion is that in order to stay healthy and fit, we need to change our relationship with food. If we treat cake as a complete no-no when we know we do love cake, do you know what happens? Our minds would constantly remain on cake. Thinking about cake 24/7 will inevitably lead to stuffing our faces with cake at some point because we feel so starved of something we enjoy. I was reading an article in SELF magazine the other day, where the True Blood actress Anna Paquin was interviewed. My love for her immediately grew when she said (and this is paraphrased), “I won’t feed you the lie most actresses do. I have to watch what I eat to stay fit. But I also believe that one dessert a week won’t kill me.” If we can have this type of relationship with food, we’d avoid the yo-yo effect caused by demonizing food and then bingeing on it.

This relationship is not only true of food. We also do the same thing with our exercise program. If we can’t make it to the gym one day, we think “I’ll make up for it tomorrow.” When we are too tired to go the next day, and the next day, we start to feel really guilty. Knowing we cannot make up for a few lost days, we turn our guilt into nonchalance and just stop going. Or as one of my readers felt this week, we may feel intense pain when we start working out, and that could drive us to wait a few days or weeks before going back to the gym. Our exercise routine could get so spaced out that our bodies don’t get used to exercising and we feel pain every time we work out. What happens then? We say “To hell with it!” and just quit.

Therefore, we also need to change our relationship with exercise. Exercise comes with pain, no doubt. But let’s not rest in the ‘now’, but the future. It will hurt for a few days or weeks, but as our bodies strengthen, we’ll see an increase in our endurance for pain, and a decrease in the pain itself. With these compounded, and as we see the effects of exercise on our bodies, we’ll be driven to do even more.

Now, let’s back up a little. We’ve talked about changing our relationship with food and exercise. But we also need to be a little softer on ourselves sometimes. Recognize that we may backslide just because that’s the way the human mind is wired. If we do backslide, how should we deal with it? We deal with it by realizing that a small mistake does not change our whole lives. So you missed one workout session? Jump back on the horse tomorrow and don’t dwell on today. You ate 5,000 calories in one meal? Oops! There’s always tomorrow. Continue controlling your portions then.

If you have a ‘falling off the bandwagon’ story, or have any questions, please leave a comment.

I’d also like to point out two things:

• The Nigerian Blog Awards group B nominations end today (May 27th). Please go and nominate Eights & Weights today before it’s over! Click on this link to nominate: Group B nominations.
• Starting next month, the Eights and Weights page will have a segment called ‘What I Want to Know Is…’ Please click here to send me a message about a question you have or a topic you’re concerned about, and it may make it to next month’s pool of questions!

Again, thanks for your support! Cheers!

                                 

The World Cup Obsession

Some of us may actually need to get fit for this World Cup. Yelling at that TV screen is not going to be easy. I was simply watching friendly matches last week on the treadmill talking to the TV screen and sweating like I was playing the match myself. Trust me, others at that gym did not find it cute. That’s when it hit me. Oh boy, this is going to be an interesting ride.

If you’re like me and all the madness around the World Cup has actually gotten to you, you need to build up your stamina and keep up your energy just to survive this season. And since football nights always involve beer, chips, popcorn, wings, and whatever else we can lay our hands on, it’s also time to build our knowledge of substitute finger food so we can stay healthy, and keep our arteries unclogged.

Wheat Crackers: Let’s throw out the chips for some whole wheat crackers this season. Wheat Thins are my favorite, but there are several other options like Kashi and Special K.

Air-popped popcorn: Popcorn is a whole grain, so as long as we don’t smother it will butter, sugar or excess salt, we can substitute it for our chips.

Nuts: Contrary to popular belief, nuts are not all bad for you, especially if you’re trying to build muscles. So this is better mixed with other items (like popcorn) because it’s rich in protein. The nuts that are highest in protein and lowest in calories are pistachio nuts, chestnuts, and palm kernel seeds.

Fruits and vegetables: So this one will be hard to pull off, but it may be fun to have some fruits and vegetables with crackers. Maybe some celery, some carrots, even some berries might be fun. People love to pick at things so if you lay out some fruits and veggies, people will definitely eat them.

Baked chicken: Rather than have that deep fried chicken or buffalo wing galore, settle for some baked chicken. Even suya (non-fatty beef without the healthy dose of oil) is a better option than fried chicken. I was once at an event where they served liver cocktails in place of shrimp cocktails and I loved it. This is just an idea, so if you hate liver, don’t shoot me.

Light beer: Well, the best thing to do is stick to water or wine. But if you must drink beer, try to stick to the low calorie stuff. There are so many beers being sold right now that are low in calories like Miller Genuine Draft (MGD) 64 or Budweiser Select. For a listing of the amount of calories in various beer brands, click on this link: Beer100. You may want to stock up before your friends come over, or when people say BYOB, actually take your own beer.  

Heck, at the end of the season, we want to actually look and feel like the footballers, right?

Just as a side note, if you are thinking of going all out and supporting your team, there are some T-shirts you may like by Allen and Fifth (go to http://www.allenandfifth.com/ for how to order). The picture below is an image of one of the shirt patterns I stole from the designer. I thought I’d get you guys a little sneak preview to the T-shirts coming out soon. They’re not on the website yet, so I’m just hooking you up ;) Although they are not meant to be solely for the World Cup, they surely satisfy my craving for team spirit! So if you see someone running in the park with these, that’s probably me…

Do you have any other healthy tips you plan to apply this World Cup season? Leave a note and tell us what it is.

Have a lovely week!

Drop Dead Diva? I Want It and I Want It Now!

We live in a time where we can get almost anything we want in the drop of a hat. The fat can be sucked right out of you for the right price; you can have food delivered to your door if you don’t want to step outside; you can even access Facebook from your cell phone if you don’t want to wait till you get home. Because of this diva mentality, it frustrates us when we can’t control our health in the drop of a hat as well. Websites, sales people, and even pharmaceutical companies have preyed on this fact abundantly. To test people’s response to the quick health fix, I Googled the words ‘how to lose weight fast’ and came up with about 22 million responses. That’s how much we are being preyed upon. I found everything from diet pills to one-week boot camps.

Amidst the weight loss panic, people forget that too much of anything is not good for you. This includes dropping weight too quickly. Shedding pounds fast is a sudden change that can be too much for your body to handle. It can leave your heart and other organs too weak to handle the dramatic change, and as we talked about in a previous post, it can make you lose muscle as well. People with more toned muscles maintain a healthy weight more easily because muscles help burn fat.

But health is not all about weight, right? Even if you successfully shed those pounds quickly, and somehow manage to not damage your body in the process, your attitude towards food might change. For example, if you are on diet pills, you may think you’re invincible and eat whatever you want. I don’t need to tell you that eating everything every time is not good for you. There are so many foods out there that can harm your body when consumed on a regular basis. Another example is that if you cut everything out, you could begin to look at food as the enemy, and not get the nourishment that you need. And the arguably most important example is that if you work out stringently and cannot maintain the routine, you would probably fall back into your old lifestyle.

So what is the crux of the matter? Let’s set our diva attitudes aside when it comes to our bodies. If we consider our overall health, not just how we look, we will begin to understand that health is a process, not a target. Just as sudden changes in our situations and environments can have an effect on our blood pressure, sudden changes in our bodies can have a negative effect on our overall health. Plus, to be brutally honest, you can change the outside, but you can’t change your inside in the drop of a hat.

Please check out my other fitness articles on 360Nobs. Leave comments and suggestions.

Till next week!

Water - The Source of All Things Good?

Yep. All humans know that water is good for you. Water is one of the greatest creations because it’s everywhere, it’s cheap, and we all need it desperately. So why do we need it, and how much do we need to stay healthy?

Benefits

Water replenishes the body and makes you less tired. Most of us know that. But there are other positive benefits that may not be so obvious. One of them is the fact that drinking adequate amounts of water may help you eat less. The thirst and hunger sensations are usually triggered together, so thirst can be easily mistaken for hunger. If you keep your body well hydrated, it may reduce the frequency of your vending machine visits.

Water also helps to lubricate the joints, and regulate body temperature, thus contributing to a better athletic performance. So if you play sports or exercise a lot, it is essential to stay hydrated to reach your maximum potential. Plus, since water gives you more energy, that can’t hurt your performance either.

As you drink more water, you’ll also notice improvement with your skin. Water keeps the skin moisturized, more elastic, and radiant. Drink tons of water to keep your skin looking younger.

Quantity

How much water should we drink to stay healthy? A rule of thumb is to drink about 8 glasses of water a day. However, I would use this as a suggestion because there are so many other factors that affect the amount of water we should be drinking. Weather is one major factor. Because we lose water when we sweat, individuals usually need more water in the hottest months of the year. On the other hand, our bodies expel water simply by breathing. And when it is really cold, our bodies expel even more water when we breathe. So we also need more water in the coldest months of the year.

Because men tend to sweat more than women, and usually have larger muscles, males usually need more water than females for better physical performance. If you exercise though, you need more water than someone who does not because you sweat much more.

Other sources of water besides water

We also get a lot of the water we need from the food we eat. But because we have begun to rely on TV dinners and other packaged foods, we may need to make an effort to eat foods that keep us hydrated. Fresh fruits are a very good source of water because most fruits are made up of more than fifty percent water. Other liquids like milk, sports drinks, and juices contain a lot of water as well. But please be cognizant of the other contents of the liquids you drink. Sports drinks are good for people who work out because they not only replace the water, they also replace the sodium you lose in your workout sweat. As for juices, they may be hurting you more than helping you if they contain more sugar than fruit. As a side note, alcohol does not help with hydration. It actually dehydrates you. I just thought I'd mention that little fact :)

This week, try to drink more water to increase your energy and your workout performance. Don’t always wait till your really thirsty!

Thanks for your support! Check out my other columns at 360Nobs and Style House!

Cheers.

For the Runner in You...

When I hear people talk about running like it I the most restful and zen thing in the world, I get confused. I start asking myself all sorts of questions about whether I'm doing it wrong or paying too much attention. You need to concentrate, you’re breathless, and you have to keep moving. How is that zen? Running is hard, especially if you’re trying to get the most out of it. But you deal with it because it makes you feel good after.

I was fishing around for running tips, and I came across a few that I thought were pretty interesting so I thought I’d share. By now, you probably know that I love lists :)

Run on the treadmill sometimes: Running outside or “pavement pounding” as I like to call it, is great because you actually feel more worked out, but the cement is so hard it can actually hurt your ankles if you do it constantly. I suggest taking a break for a couple of days a week, and running on the treadmill or in the middle of the street (if you dare). The tar is better than the cement.
Get running shoes: This is coming from someone who has had to deal with some ankle bruises from exercise. When you run in bad trainers or sneakers, you risk hurting yourself, and you may not be getting the most out of your workout. Comfy running shoes have soles that are made for the surfaces you run on, so they actually help you perform better. They also last longer. Invest in some great shoes, and you’ll notice the difference.
Don't forget to breathe: Watch your breathing when you run because how you breathe can affect your performance and your concentration. Also, don’t hold your breath. It’s funny how many of us actually forget to breathe when we run. You would think that we have lived long enough to figure out that air is good for you by now. But sometimes, we are concentrating so hard on left-right-left-right that we forget the in-out part.
Hydrate: Drink water before and after you run to stay hydrated. It is also recommended to drink water while you run, but not everyone likes to drink water while they workout. For some individuals, drinking water during the workout actually slows down their motion because they feel fuller. So try before, after, and during, and see which works best for you. But whatever way you chose, make sure you stay hydrated.
Posture: Try to stand straight while you run or hinge forward slightly if you’re going up a hill. But posture is important during running because if you always bend too far forward, you could hurt your lower back or damage your normal posture. This is especially true for those who like to hold the rails when running on a treadmill.
Lift your feet off the floor: Raise your feet so your knee is somewhere around a 90 degree angle. This way, you’re working on your bum, your legs, and your thighs.Way to multitask!

Eat: Please don't starve yourself. Starving yourself and exercising don't go hand in hand. You need energy to run like you mean it. Where do we get energy? Duh! Food!

If you have any more questions about running, please leave a comment here or on the Facebook link on the right.

Cheers!

Healthy Option Week

As I said a few weeks ago, sometimes the easiest change to make with food is to replace something you eat with a healthier option. I figured we could challenge ourselves this week to try to make the food we eat healthier. Here are a few suggestions:

• Replace the pork, goat meat or chicken thighs in your food with fish or lean beef
• Boil or roast your meat rather than fry it
• If you eat spaghetti or pasta, try to substitute it with whole wheat spaghetti or pasta
• Replace one-quarter of your usual portion with spinach, broccoli, or any other green vegetable
• Rather than eat a sugary cereal, eat some oats in the morning
• Drink water or milk rather than soda
• Eat fruits for dessert
• Replace ice cream with frozen yogurt
• Replace packs of chips with popcorn
• If you’re craving chocolate, rather than have a chocolate bar, have some low-fat chocolate milk or some dark hot chocolate
• Replace white rice for brown rice
• Replace white bread for whole wheat or whole grain bread
• Use brown sugar over white sugar
• Drink green tea instead of black tea

Try these this week, and let me know how you feel at the end of the week! After one week, you're already on your way to making more little changes that can have a big effect on your health.