Are Bad Sleep Habits Keeping You From Losing Weight?
At ESSENCE Festival of Culture‘s Wellness House activation, pods are spread out throughout the space, filled with shades of purple and soft melon, to provide guests with expert insight into everything that will get them feeling their best and living their best lives. One topic that is covered is weight loss and nutrition. Over at The Weight It All booth, Kim Rose, RDN (registered dietitian nutritionist), was there first thing Friday morning, schooling festivalgoers on how to eat right to get some extra meat off of their bones. And by “right,” there’s not one perfect plate of food, but rather, a practice people should follow when it comes to how they set up that plate.
“If you want to do some type of beef, make sure that you’re getting the lean kind. You still get the same flavor but less fat,” Rose shares as an example. “I tell people, it’s not about cutting out; it’s actually about what you can add in. Add fruit, add more vegetables, add more low-fat protein options instead of thinking that you can’t enjoy the food that you love, your cultural food.”
For those who might think fruit is not the best option due to their sugar makeup, Rose says it’s all about how much fruit you’re consuming with your meals. “Fruits actually have fiber in them. They actually have vitamins in them. And you’re right, they do have sugar in the form of carbohydrates. But let me tell you why that’s important. The reason why fruits are really good is because fiber helps to break down our blood sugar. So no, it’s not going to cause your blood sugar to be really, really sky-high unless you’re eating a whole bunch of fruit,” she says. “On top of that, the fiber also helps to moderate people’s weight. I know in our community, we’re always talking about weight loss, weight loss, weight loss, and it does help to moderate our weight. It also has vitamins and minerals.”
Excerpted from Essence
