ARE YOU TIRED OF FEELING RESTRICTED?

              ARE YOU TIRED OF FEELING RESTRICTED?

Immediately someone says (s)he wants to loose weight or is diagnosed with diabetes, metabolic syndrome or high blood cholesterol, the first thing your health care provider or 'passer-by-doctor' would say is this

Stop eating late at night!

Stop eating garri!

Do Keto!

Avoid oily foods!

Avoid alcohol!

Go to the gym!

Stop drinking Coke!

And these tips have a way of targeting the exact thing you love or can't stop doing.

Arrgh!

The simple reason is because we eat not just because we are hungry. Food represents celebration eg party jellof rice, culture, tradition, sense of achievement( choosing to eat in a fast food  or posh restaurant rather than mamaput etc.
The way you eat is hard wired in your brain as the normal. So naturally it feels abnormal stopping all the stoppables you are being asked to do.

So what is the way out?

1. Would you like to know how to make healthy eating a habit aka lifestyle?

2. Do you hate being told what to eat and the guilt you feel when you 'disobey' all the advice?

3. Would you lie to eat what you want and still get great health numbers?

4. Are you finding it difficult to stop eating heavy food at night?

Then join me this evening 29/11/2017 by 8.30pm (Nigerian time, GMT+1). On our facebook page. Click here to tune in LIVE  Save the time now! https://web.facebook.com/dmsupportfornigerians/

I shall share with you for FREE a secret that separates those who get short term and long term results.

Some people would vex that I am sharing to you for free what they charge money for!

Okay it is not so free, you have to ensure you get data so that you don't miss this life promoting seminar online. That way you can join in from anywhere in the world, or in your bedroom!

I would also like to meet you and answer your questions!

Invite your friends too.

Please note that the video would be available for only 24 hours after which I would have to remove it.

HOW TO KNOW WHAT TO EAT(TIP 1)

It has slowly become a family tradition for my family to eat out on Sunday afternoons. Last Sunday, we decided to go to a different restaurant. As soon as I got in, the line up of pastries was simply tempting and I could hear them scream –pick me, pick me. You see I’m a sucker for cakes, meat pies and everything in between.

I had to let them pass because of this secret I am about to share with you. And it is not because I know they are unhealthy! Sometimes, many times, long throat overrides common sense.

You see those people who never gain a pound, they practice this almost unknowingly.

This skill would also help you choose foods that won’t spike your blood sugar or place a demand on your pancreas to release more insulin, remember hyperinsulinaemia (excess insulin in the blood) is the root cause of metabolic syndrome.

This simple secret is called OBEYING THE SATIETY RULE.

What does this mean:-It simply means eating those foods that you know will fill you up and make you feel like you have eaten. Read this again.

You certainly have noticed that when you eat biscuits and a soft drink, your mind would tell you, you haven’t eaten. This also applies to bread and tea or roasted corn and coconut. In your mind, you have just taken a snack and within the next 2 hours, you would feel like diving in an adult dose of swallow or rice.

Whether you call this food snacks or food, it doesn’t stop them from ensuring that your health numbers stay out of control.

The trick to choosing what to eat is CHOOSE THOSE FOODS THAT FILL YOU UP. Those foods that make you feel full and satisfied.

Oya, list them out1.2.3.4.For me, it’s sweet potatoes, beans, (moi-moi feels like snacks to me especially If I’m eating it outside), low carb swallow and okro or afang soup, garden eggs, home made sharwarma(it’s a so much more healthy version), heavily ‘vegefied’ rice( I can’t remember the last time I ate white rice and stew, it actually now looks mightily boring to me and not complete), ukwa etc

Just 2 spoons of rice was served on sliced cabbage
 and served with other vegetables.
(c) Doc Ezinne Erhirhie.

And yes, I finally settled for ukwa and kpomo in that restaurant. And I was so glad I did.

Now you have outlined the foods that make you feel satisfied after eating them, focus on eating those more.

Next week we shall look at how not to feel deprived from giving up your favorite rice, dodo, soft /malt drinks and pastries.

Other interesting reads

1. Is your blood pressure normal? Find out here.

2. For married  women only, read here

CHIA PUDDING.

Wondering how to take your chia seeds? Try this!

INGREDIENTS

1.       ¼ cup of chia seed.

2.       1 teaspoon of cocoa powder.

3.       Pinch of cinnamon

4.       A handful of nuts(cashews, walnuts, groundnuts or a mixture) of choice

5.       Dark chocolate chips(optional).

DIRECTIONS

Ø  Mix the 1^st 3 ingredient in a bowl, add clean water and stir.

Ø  Leave for about 10 minutes for the chia seeds to soften.

Ø  I prefer to leave it in the fridge and take it cold (on hot mornings). This helps to reduce the somewhat unpleasant sliminess of chia seeds.

Ø  When ready to eat, add the nuts and/or chocolate chips.

Slimy or not, chia seeds are a must try.

 

(c) Doc Ezinne Erhirhie, I added some almond milk to this!

BONUS RECIPE SUGGESTION.

Try adding a little quantity of cocoa powder in your flour when making pancakes for your kids, it takes the taste of your pancake to the next level.

HOME MADE DARK CHOCOLATE

If you buy a pack of chocolates in the supermarket and attempt to read the label you would notice 2 things:

1.       You can’t see it, the prints are so tiny, you would need a magnifying glass

2.       If you succeed in seeing it, many of the ingredients have chemical sounding names.

If you love chocolates, rather than cutting them out of your diet completely, you can make yours at home with 4 ingredients only.

The taste nko? Since getting your health numbers in check is a goal, it’s not exactly sweet, somewhat bitter-sweet but just as creamy and mood-elevating.

Another advantage is that it won’t bore holes in your teeth, because its sugar free.

INGREDIENTS

1. Cocoa powder

2. Cocoa butter

(You can buy on Amazon, via mall for Africa or ask friends staying abroad to buy for you or get some if you take a trip to the Europe or America)

3. Stevia powder.

4. Nuts of choice, chopped

DIRECTIONS.

Ø  Mix stevia powder and cocoa powder thoroughly.

Ø  Place the cocoa butter in a ceramic bowl.

Ø  Heat small quantity of water in a large pot or kettle

Ø  Put the bowl over the opening of a steaming kettle (Ensure that water does not enter the butter), stir till it melts. This takes less than 1 minute. Don’t let it simmer O!

Ø  Place your bowl on your kitchen counter or table, add the cocoa+stevia mixture and stir briskly till well incorporated.

Ø  Then fold in chopped nuts of choice or shredded coconut.

Ø  Make them into sweet like shapes using foil.

Ø  Put in freezer or coldest section of fridge to harden it.

If making for kids, add honey to the melted butter mixture to increase the sweetness.

CHOCOLATE CEREAL.

CHOCOLATE CEREAL.

This is my favourite meal post workouts. It‘s so filling and rewarding after all the sweating and hunger exercise brings on.

You can also enjoy for breakfast. Good a thing too, your kids may also like it. The major ingredient also helps to lower your cholesterol. It takes only 5 minutes to make.

INGREDIENTS.

1.       1/3-1/2 cup of dry rolled oats

2.       1 tablespoon of chia seed.

3.       1 teaspoon of cocoa powder(or less)

4.       Pinch of cinnamon(Cinnamon and cocoa are a match made in heaven)

5.       Pinch of grated nutmeg or few drops of vanilla essence.

6.       1 cup of plant based milk(optional)

7.       Recommended sweetener.

DIRECTIONS

Ø  Put oats in pot, add water , then bring to boil

Ø  Serve in your favourite bowl

Ø  Add the remaining ingredient.

Ø  Stir and eat mindfully.

If you could listen to yourself, you would hear your body’s cell sing halleluya.

HOT SPICY COCOA DRINK.

HOT SPICY COCOA DRINK.

(c) Doc Ezinne Erhirhie.

When you cut out sugar from your diet, your brain may feel deprived of the feel good effect of sugar.

Also if, you lose weight, it’s easy to gain it back because your body’s metabolic rate may plummet. The spice used in this recipe helps to fire up your metabolism.

Good news, this recipe is dairy free, low carb, and the ingredients are very affordable.

I enjoy these almost every morning and evening!. It’s so easy to make, you don’t have to disturb your spouse to make it for you.

INGREDIENTS

1.       ½ teaspoon- 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder of choice.

2.       1 teaspoon of ginger powder or grated ginger.

3.       ½ teaspoon of cinnamon.

4.       3-4 cloves*

5.       1 cup of almond milk(optional)

6.       1 cup of hot water.

DIRECTIONS

1.       Boil water

2.       Put 1^st 3 ingredients in your mug,

3.       Add water.

4.       Stir and enjoy.

5.       Take note of all the pleasant aroma and slight burn on your throat.

* For most people ginger makes them feel satiated, for others it may make them feel hungry. If it makes you feel hungry or have vaginal spotting or feel heart burn, then swap the ginger with 3-4 cloves. This ingredient is sold by those who sell zobo leaves

If it makes you feel satiated then you are in luck, as it would help curb your appetite so that you can portion control and reduce your intake of food.

4 COCOA POWDER RECIPES YOU SHOULD TRY!

Can you remember the day you were diagnosed with Diabetes ? Im so sure your doctor hammered on the fact that you need to cut out sugary and sugar laden drinks and food from your diet.

Included in that “avoid list” is most people’s favourite drink-Chocolate beverages.

You may have been told to switch to bland tasting black and /or green tea, which requires  getting used to!

Sha, no need to get deprived of chocolates. As a matter of fact, COCOA IS A SUPERFOOD!

-It naturally improves your mood,

-It is so very rich in anti-oxidants (which protect you from the harmful effect of elevated blood sugar).

-It is also so rich in Magnesium which lowers your blood pressure naturally and helps your body’s natural detox system.

-It also helps to ease post workout pain.

PS; Dairy milk has been shown to reduce the anti-oxidant levels of cocoa very significantly.

If you have switched to taking cocoa powder, here are 4 interesting ways to enjoy the rather bitter taste of cocoa. These include the recipe for making dark chocolates in the comfort of your home.

All the recipes are sugar-free, dairy-free and very low to moderately low carb.

See the recipes below:

1.       Hot spicy cocoa drink.

2.       Chocolate cereal(great post work-out)

3.       Dark chocolates.

4.       Chocolatey chia pudding

Do try them and let us know your favourite!

Next month, I shall share my award winning, home-made pizza recipe. It’s so much cheaper, yummier, less time consuming and healthier of course than the shop bought ones. And yes it’s good for you!

DEALING WITH FACTORS THAT RAISE YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE.

Your blood pressure rises when your arteries get narrow. Different factors responsible for this include (to mention a few)

•  Elevated blood fats eg cholesterol
•  Hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol
•   Drugs like NSAID examples include Ibuprofen, Feldene, Diclofenac, Ginseng, Liquorice, Cocaine,etc.
•   Caffeine in energy drinks, coffee etc
•  Chronic poor sleep pattern
•  Excessive alcohol intake.  Snoring and Apnoea
•  Tobacco smoking
•  Prolonged emotional distress/mental strain
•   Excess salt intake
•  High dietary fat intake( let me quickly explain this, if you are eating low carb and taking too much fats especially trans fat or saturated fat, vessel wall thickening may occur).
•  High blood sugar.

The anti-hypertensive drugs you take target the effect of these risk factors.

While it is better to deal with the root cause of hypertension or exacerbations of blood pressure, the first aid you can take is regularly using your medications while you implement your lifestyle changes step by step.

See my post on Facebook for this. Click here to see my posts 

Meanwhile when was the last time you did something good for someone else? Just to make the person happy, nothing else, NO STRINGS ATTACHED?…..

Have a blessed day

THE HIGH AND LOWS OF INSULIN

Do you notice that your blood sugar plunges when you eat healthy meals like salads, berries, nuts, and low carb foods, especially if you take insulin or Daonil?

If you have started modifying your diet because of your weight loss goals or simply because you want to eat healthier so that you can have more energy or better still modify your genes ( so that you may not pass on Diabetes to your kids), chances are that you may notice that your blood sugar drops very low especially if you use insulin or drugs like Daonil.

Now what happens after this scary experience is that you may find yourself taking  soft drink or juice or cake to get back to normal.

If this terrifying experience of hypoglycemia occurs  you then find yourself eating more simple sugars or more starchy carbs (aka more junk food) to stay alive.

In fact the frequent hypos may give you almost normal HbA1c when you check. Giving you and your doctor a false sense of security

This is an extremely dangerous and unhealthy cycle. I call it YO-YO blood sugar control.

 Therefore, you may find yourself eating more junk than you wish and worsening insulin resistance .

It’s a terrible vicious cycle

So at the end of the day, you are eating no vegetables, healthy fats and good protein cause of spikes and dips in blood sugar, missing out on all the healthy good stuff for you.

The effect of this is anxiety, obsession with food, weight gain and mood swings and even fear of going out, travelling etc.

So what is the solution?

Being diagnosed with Diabetes is a privilege. Yes. It makes you more motivated to live healthy. It makes you know more health stuff and makes you highly conscious of your environment. These are good things which we shall cover in subsequent posts.

While insulin is life saver, you know over-dosage can also kill you. I aint mincing words here sorry. So the simple thing to do is this. If you have decided to eat better and work out etc, you may need lower doses of your medication. You obviously know the above has far reaching advantages that is not restricted to great blood sugar control

Talk your doctor about your finding of low sugars and request for a drug adjustment. Also use your common sense. Learn to notice the effect different meals have on your blood sugar and adjust your doses appropriately.

Next week, I shall share 4 recipes you can make with Cocoa powder, so that you don’t have to drink bitter stuff again. This includes how to make yummy mood lifting chocolates at home.

HEALTHY AND NORMAL HEALTH NUMBERS

WHAT SHOULD BE YOUR TARGET HEALTH NUMBERS

So you decided to do a health check up or your doctor has sent you for your routine tests to see how well your control has been.

It is no longer recommended that you allow your doctor make all the decisions for you. You are the person responsible for your health, your doctor and other health care providers are merely guides.

Yes, you are in charge.

Now you have received your results, what should be your ideal health numbers? What are the great health numbers?

A.      BLOOD PRESSURE:

Your blood pressure should be between 90-120mmHg for the systolic blood pressure (that is the upper value), while the lower value (diastolic blood pressure) should be 60-84mmHg.

What was the value this morning?

B.      PULSE RATE;

Normal heart rate is 60-100 beats per min. If you exercise frequently, your heart rate may be closer to 60 beats per minute. You would have noticed that when your systolic blood pressure is high, your pulse rate may also be high.

C.      BLOOD SUGAR:

i.                     Fasting blood sugar should be between 3.5mmol/L (70 mg/dl) to 5.5mmol/L (100mg/dL). If you are living with diabetes, fasting blood sugar  up to 7mmol/L is not bad.

ii.                   Random blood sugar (RBS) is your blood sugar 2 hours after eating should be less than 11.1mmol/L(200mg) if not diabetic or pregnant.

 If living with diabetes, aim for no more than 10mmol/L (180mg/dl), 2 hours after meals. Lower normal values are preferable.

iii.                  In pregnancy, fasting blood sugar greater than 5.6mmol/L is considered to be diabetes- gestational diabetes mellitus(GDM)

iv.                 Glycated haemoglobin(HbA1c) should normally be less than 5.7%.

D.      LIPID PROFILE:

E.       WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE.

·         For adult males, your waist circumference should be 102cm (40inches).

·         For adult females, your ideal measurement should be 88cm (34inches)

Go ahead and commit to achieving your ideal waist circumference. It would not make your poorer or less like an African woman. I wish some days that the fat around the waist can be converted to a fat bank account or asset base.

To measure your waist, stand in front of the mirror, feel the lower margin of your ribs by your side. On the same side, feel the upper part of the hip bones. Wrap the flexible tape midway between these points and take your measurement.

See a visual illustration here

F.       BODY MASS INDEX (B.M.I.)

This can be calculated here.

 Body Mass Index is a rough guide to use to find out if you are with a healthy weight range that is least associated with diseases like Diabetes, Metabolic syndrome etc.

This may not be appropriate for people who have generalized edema or a very muscular (aka macho men).

ARE YOU ABOVE 40 YEARS OF AGE, GO AHEAD AND CHECK ALL THESE IF YOU HAVE NOT IN THE LAST 6 MONTHS.