5 Random but oh-so-true Reasons to Pack your Lunch
I know, I know, packing your lunch doesn't sound like fun at all, well, not unless it looks like the photo above. Let's skip through 5 reasons it may not be so bad after all!
1. It's a great lunch-time conversation starter, assuming your food doesn't contain locust beans (iru, the world's most sensational ingredient). If it does, you shall be sitting by yourself, my friend!
2. It's probably cheaper than buying lunch.
3. /4. You should take your lunch to work or school, well, because you are such an awesome cook and someone does have to eat it or because you are the worst cook who ever walked the face of the earth and you need to improve your cooking skills with practice! It's a win-win!
Psst! YouTube is great for learning how to make new dishes and to improve your culinary skills!
5. Taking your lunch with you is probably healthier than buying lunch-you get to control the quality and quantity *side look*.
Do you take your lunch to work or school? Do you get questions about your food from colleagues? Wait, do you get a free buffet at work? Are you guys hiring? *Grin*
Do You Practice any of these 5 Eating Habits?
Apparently, you are not only what you eat, you are also how you eat. Sometimes, i wonder what all the fuss is about with eating healthy, exercising and why my Fitbit nags me all the time. I'd like to be left alone on a raft with an endless supply of food! Then i remember my health goals for 87, which is to be a hot granny! Who is with me? Here are 5 eating habits that promote healthy lifestyles. Do you already practice any of these habits? If you do, please share below!
1. Chewing slowly
Are you the last to finish at the dinner table because you chew like a snail? Apparently, it's a great habit!
Studies show that chewing slowly has tremendous health benefits. It helps to relieve stress, to maintain a healthy weight and to maximize caloric consumption! Chewing properly also takes the pressure off your gastrointestinal tract (GIT) during digestion. This is because well-masticated food digests easier and promotes GIT health.
2. The Apple test
If you already do this, you are probably on your path to several clean bills of health!
Recently, I discovered that asking myself if I'm hungry before opening the fridge might be the key to healthier eating. Eating is a response to hunger, not a hobby (this I discovered, much to my distress, sigh. Lol). Hunger and satisfaction are regulated by a mechanism in the brain, located in the hypothalamus. Excessive eating murks up this feedback process and at a point it's hard to tell if you are hungry or satiated. To know if you are hungry, ask yourself if you'd like an apple. If the answer is No, chances are that you aren't hungry. (Healthy snacks such as nuts and fruits help to manage hunger during the day in between meals)
3. Developing healthy eating habits while young
Young. Bet you are past that category, huh? According to a study at Stanford University, the most effective diets and eating habits are diets which begin when you are young. Evidence shows that developing healthy eating habits at a young age helps to increase life expectancy! This would include eating a balanced diet complete with fibers and loads of water and reduced carbonated drinks. Also see #6. Why didn't anyone tell me this years ago? Does it still count at my age? I'm young, right? In my opinion, it's never too late to begin!
4. Savoring your food
Do you take your time with your meals, consciously acknowledging all the explosive flavors that occur in your mouth?
Savoring your meals boosts your mood and helps to regulate your food portions. When we eat, our senses come alive and savoring the experience helps the brain to store it as a memory. This stored memory helps to manage portion control and binge-eating. It's the voice that tells you, 'You just ate...20 minutes ago. Ahem.'
5. Reducing TV-dinner time combo
Watching TV while eating might be killing 2 birds with the same stone; it might also be getting you progressively unhealthy. This report from Havard, shows that being distracted while eating increases food portions, which leads to weight gain and subsequently results in obesity .
Another study shows that when the event of eating is associated with the event of TV watching, then every time you switch on the TV, your brain thinks it's time to eat! This is known as habituation, the TV becomes a stimulus to the hunger center in your brain(same as in #2), which leads to overeating, an increase in caloric intake and subsequent weight gain. This is so true, we haven't used our dining table in like 2 weeks! I also find myself planning multiple snack times in my mind once I switch on the Tv! Hehe. I definitely have to dissociate those two activities.
Do you think up multi-snack opportunities while you watch TV too? Do you already practice any of these habits?
P.s I found the remote by the way! Spring cleaning rocks!
Quinoa+Sweetcorn with Chicken, Shrimp, Broccoli Stir-fry (a million sighs)
Remember the not-everytime-jollof-rice goal i set in January, here's me living it out! My friends gave me this recipe a year ago and I became the hugest Quinoa fan out there. It's loaded with so many Superfoods it's almost illegal.
What you need:
For the Quinoa
1 cup Quinoa (feeds 3)
1 tin of Sweetcorn
For the Stir-fry
3 tbs of olive oil
1 pound of cooked chicken (cut into medium strips)
1 medium onion (sliced)
1 clove of garlic (grated)
1 red bell pepper (sliced longitudinally)
1 green bell pepper (sliced longitudinally)
2 Scotch bonnets (optional, I use 3!)
4 cups of broccoli florets
1 cup of mushrooms
3 sticks of spring onions (chopped)
A pair of bouillon cubes
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground pepper/Cayenne pepper
Salt to taste
Go!
Cook Quinoa according to directions on box, once cooked, turn off burner and add drained Sweetcorn.
Next!
Sauté the onions and crushed garlic in the olive oil
Once the onions are translucent, add the other vegetables
Add your spices and stir
Add your chicken (and shrimp)
Stir-fry for about 4 minutes
Serve with your steamy quinoa-sweetcorn and enjoy!
Let me know if you try it out!
Thank you for the recipe Demi and Ife, the original #fitfam!
Eat Your Way to Creativity: 15 Foods That Light Up Your Mind!
According to this study, your creative ability is closely linked to a little seahorse-shaped structure in the brain, known as the hippocampus! The hippocampus is that bad boy in charge of your learning, long-term memory, organizing and storage of past knowledge and experiences.
Take a moment to recall your most thrilling moment as a 7 year-old, as you buried your face into that awesome piece of birthday cake, pause, then take a moment to remember your worst memory- that silly bully on the playground with no front teeth. Remember? Yup, that's your hippocampus working. Now, mentally locate yours (it's close to the center of your brain) and thank it for a job well done. Amazingly, studies also show that this sea-horsey structure is closely related to our ingenuity and the backbone for creative thinking. In fact, this study shows people with damaged hippocampi lose their ability to imagine.
Gasp!
Imagine if all writers, painters, artists, musicians, art-enthusiasts, mums(the most creative of the lot) lost their imagination! Imagine if the writer of Game of Thrones lost his!! I honestly, I'm close to tears right now at the thought, then we'd never know what happened to Jon Snow! (Now we know *updated August 2016)
Ok, the real reason you clicked on this post: the food.
The hippocampus is a fitfam-ish kind of structure. It remains healthy as long as you feed it with foods that are high in Omega 3 fatty acids, Vitamins A, D, E, Zinc and Flavonoids. Here are 15 foods packed with all these creative juices (in no particular order):
1. Fish
High in Omega 3 fatty acids, Vitamin A, D and E. Fishes are so amazing they deserve their own post (coming up soon).
2. Flax seeds
Rich in Omega 3. Sprinkle some ground flax seeds in your smoothie before blending!
3. Green tea
High in and catechins! Don't steep with boiling water, use moderately hot water and add some lemon juice for better absorption of nutrients!
4. Liver
Rich in Vitamin A and iron! To be consumed in moderation, over consumption could lead to toxicity! Limit to 10, 000 international units daily.
5. Cocoa
Rich in flavonoids! SHOULD BE EATEN IN MODERATION. Cocoa is 50% fat and has a high sugar content.
6. Blueberries
Rich in vitamin A, C, potassium, manganese, anthocyanins and flavonoids! Divine in smoothies!
7. Mushrooms
Hold your breath for what mushrooms pack; Vitamin B, Zinc, Copper, Niacin, Phospholate, Folate, (Mushrooms aren't kidding here), Iron, Thiamin, Selenium, Panthothenic Acid. #HappyHippocampus
8. Almonds
Huge source of Vitamin E and B complexes just like mushrooms. Grab a handful a day, in between meals and chew away (I tried it with garri once, not too bad, i must say).
9. Avocados
Avocados = Super-uper food! They provide about 20 essential nutrients and are very rich in Vitamin E, Vitamin B and folic acid!
10. Spinach
Rich source of Vitamin A and C
11. Cod-liver oil
Rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, Vitamin A, D and K!
12. Dairy/ Dairy Alternatives
High in Vitamin D.
13. Broccoli
High in fiber, very high in vitamin C, potassium, B6 and vitamin A and protein!
14. Sweet Potatoes
High in Vitamin A and C!
15. Bell Peppers
Rich in Vitamin A, B, C and E!
Treat your body right as you create and change the world with your wonderful creative mind; exercise and feed that brain! It goes without saying that we have to protect the hippocampi of our creative people in the world (think Jon Snow). Send this post to as many as you know! (By the way, we all create. Being creative is not exclusive. This applies to you too! Eat your way to creativity)
Emperor of Sofa to Emperor, Fitfam
Photo credit: Me!
If you are an adopted member of #fitfam (like me) and ignoring Cold stone, Krispy Kreme and Dominos is getting pretty hard; if running 5 miles feels like a stretch and exercising in general looks like it's cut out for others and not you, well, I've got great news for you. Below are some tips on how to repudiate your reign as Emperor of sofa and assume a new position; Emperor of #fitfam. If you can't stand the term #fitfam, please skip to the last paragraph. I can't particularly give you a time frame for your transition; the main determinant is your will....fused with this post. Here goes....
1. Insta-Mentor
An insta-mentor gets you rolling out the mat and grabbing the dumbbells in no time. Mine on Instagram is @sofialevfitness. She never fails to inspire my abs. My abs love her. The part of me that hates to work out though....not so much. During those times when I don't feel like being Emperor, I just scroll fast past her 15 second videos, but then after a swift scroll, there she is again! She's one of those multiple photo/video uploaders. A fitness mentor inspires your body parts and it helps if they are really active on social media and in your face all the time.
2. Buy Gym wear (neon does it!)
I don't know if this happens to anyone else but when I wear my gym clothes, I have a Clark-Kent-like transformation. My jaw is set, I stand akimbo, staring into the sun with an imaginary red cape blowing in wind...that kind of stuff and then off I go to the gym to run less than my proposed 3 miles. Superman has his timeout days too, what can I say? Nevertheless, buying gym gear definitely helps your morale and enthusiasm in breaking a sweat. If you feel you need an arm, head, ankle, belly band, get them all, as long as they makes you feel like you were born on the thread mill and get that heart rate up.
3. Gym/Work it
Now that you have those neon beauties, i guess it's important to join a gym! It's worth every penny. A cheaper alternative would be buying work out tapes (I said tapes, I don't know why i said tapes). If you are on a budget, google some aerobic exercises or do what i do; make up a routine and work it out consistently.
4. Ignore junk food
You'd think that associating the word "junk" with "food" would turn us all into junk food snobs but no, makes us love and crave it even more. Make cooking a habit and do it quantities that last at least a week. Also snack right with healthier options; nuts, fruits, vegetables. Leftovers and healthy snacks are the key to junk-snubing.
5. Make healthy eating fun!
Try new healthy recipes and make healthy pastries. If you are a baked goods lover, bake healthy. Eat dinner early, 7pm early, and if you are above the age of 25, carby night-caps are probably not the best idea.
6. Get a pedometer!
I should get paid for this pedometer thing but seriously, get one for yourself and a loved one this Christmas. It helps to measure your daily activity. You'll very soon realize how sedentary you actually might be, which we don't want, sitting being the new smoking and all. Set a target for each day, we are supposed to take about 7000-8000 steps a day. My pedometer just whispered, "Hypocrite," which is exactly why you want one.
7. Be consistent!
#Fitfam is a lifestyle and requires a complete lifestyle turn around. It really is a conscious effort to get off the sofa, suspend Netflix 'n' chill and actually get active. Having someone who you are accountable to helps a lot as well; someone to stare you down as you open the fridge at midnight; someone to slap your wrist as you reach for that ooze-drippy caramel-ly, chocolatey desert; someone to send you this post, because they love you.
So remember; insta-mentor+ some neon+ junk snobbery+ workout tapes +dinner before 7+ nagging pedometer+ willpower= Emperor Fitfam
Now, if you hate the term #fitfam and you want absolutely nothing to do with them. Read this post again and cover the #fitfam with your pinkie. Once you've done that, buy you some neon colored gym clothes, follow a health entusiast on IG, make some healthy diet changes, buy a pedometer and share this post.