Food substitutes to help you lose weight

Jun 26, 2022 News

Fit-Nest

By Davina Bagot

Kaieteur News – A weight loss journey, even to shed a few light pounds can be awfully frustrating when you feel like you’re exercising and gaining rather than losing! These results can often make one lose hope, especially if you aren’t exactly sure how to balance your diet.

Sweet potatoes are a great substitute that can be used to replace rice in your diet

Chickpeas, popularly known as ‘Channa’ in the Caribbean is packed with nutrients to help keep you satisfied throughout the day, helping you achieve your weight loss goals

In Guyana, our staple food is rice. What this basically means is that it takes the larger portion on our plates and this is mostly due to the fact that it’s an easy, fast and affordable option. However, rice has been proven to help spike blood sugar levels. Too high sugar levels in your body can result in additional weight gain and for those trying to lose a few pounds; I’ll give you a few other delicious options that will help you see results in a week’s time.
Sweet potatoes
Sweet potatoes are a great alternative for brown rice. It is loaded with fibre which means it helps to promote healthy digestion and weight management in individuals. Research also shows that while there is no clear evidence that suggests a causal relationship between high-carbohydrate diets and cancer, sweet potatoes do contain carotenoids such as beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, and lutein. These antioxidants help protect cells from free radical damage that can lead to DNA damage and mutations leading to cell death.
You can try boiling and crushing your sweet potatoes to go along with your vegetables, or simply incorporate it into a Guyanese ‘boil and fry’.
Chickpeas
Just before you skip this option thinking ‘I don’t know what chickpea is,’ let me just say that this is what Caribbean people call channa. Chickpea is an excellent source of protein and is also packed with other nutrients that can help you along your weight loss journey.
According to Healthline the protein and fibre content in this mega food works together to slow digestion. This means that the body stays fuller for longer. In addition, protein may increase levels of appetite-reducing hormones in your body.
It even said that in one study, those who ate chickpeas regularly were 53 percent less likely to have a body mass index (BMI) over 30 and more likely to have a lower waist circumference than those who didn’t eat chickpeas.
Channa can be used as a substitute to replace rice in your diet. You can pair it with some vegetables and still enjoy a fulfilling meal.
Chicken breast
Besides our staple, including a good source of protein is equally important to help you reach your weight goals. Protein is a critical nutrient for the body that helps you recover after exercise or an injury and also aids in maintaining a healthy body weight. Importantly, protein helps to curb hunger.
It is an outright myth that you need to drop protein and meat sources from your diet if you want to shed a few pounds. I’ve spoken to people who sound amazed when I told them they simply did not need to neglect chicken in order to lose weight.
If you are a chicken lover and just can’t leave your meat alone, it is advisable that you make use of the chicken breast only.
According to Healthline, the chicken breast is lean and has the most protein by weight, making it ideal for people who want to lose weight, maintain muscle mass and improve recovery. Fattier cuts like the thigh, drumstick and wings have more calories, which make them better for people wanting to build muscle or gain weight.
Another website ‘Eatright’ explains that both chicken thighs and breasts are good sources of lean protein. However, they differ in the amount of calories, fat and saturated fat. For example, a 3-ounce skinless, chicken breast provides about 140 calories, 3 grams of total fat and just 1 gram of saturated fat.
The same amount of dark chicken meat without the skin would provide three times the amount of fat for a total of 9 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat and 170 calories. This difference may not seem like much, but depending on the portion size it can add up.
Water not juice!
Fruit juices today, unless you blend them yourself, are packed with sugar. It is recommended that you substitute fruit juices with water for this reason, if you are trying to lose weight.
A Kent Health Care blog states even if you drink fresh juices, it can’t replace the benefits of drinking water throughout the day. Water replenishes the fluids that you lose when working out and other types of physical activities.
Drinking water is of great help if you want to lose weight. It also helps remove toxins from your body and keeps you energised throughout the day. Importantly, water also plays an important role in keeping your skin healthy and glowing. According to the blog “When you drink enough water, your body locks in the moisture for a longer period of time. This, in turn, improves your skin texture and helps you get a glowing skin. Though fruit juices also provide you with the essential nutrients, juices contain a large amount of naturally occurring sugar which is harmful to your skin.”