How to eat RICE EVERYDAY and lose weight.

First of all, let me just say that I am no fan of rice. I can go a whole month without tasting rice. It is not one of my fave grains but as a Naija woman with a family to feed, rice features twice on our weekly plan… Sunday afternoon (you should be arrested if you don’t eat Sunday rice) and then the leftover is eaten Monday afternoon.

Oh, we also do rice and beans Friday afternoon but that is just a way to get my kids to eat beans, and sometimes we do beans and corn, not rice.
That means that I get to eat rice on some Sundays.

But some of you are HUGE rice fans and so a good number of those who sign up for my weight loss coaching would usually tell me that rice must be in the plan o as they cannot do without it. Some on the other hand just assume that to lose weight, they just have to say ‘bye bye’ to rice and are SHOCKED when they see rice in the plan.

Hmmmmm.

Knowledge is POWER.

If only people knew that rice doesn’t have to leave the plan completely. Like, you can rock the rice groove and still lose weight.

First let’s look at the calorie content…

1 cup of white rice is about 200 calories and say 220 calories in a cup of Brown rice.

Yes, brown rice has more calories but is a complex carb and not only is it better fortified with nutrients than white rice, it also doesn’t break down as fast, so what that means is it keeps you feeling full for longer.
If white rice is a bungalow, brown rice is a 4 storey building.

It pays you for your meals to not break down easily, so if a lot of the food you eat is simple and over processed, then you are eating ‘bungalows’ and it will break down fast and you are hungry again quickly.

Now navigating weight loss with rice is so easy, even if you want to eat it daily.

Here are my 3 tips…

1. Have it once a day and just for lunch.

White rice is a bad way to start your day cos your body needs to be started on the right note. So, after an awesome breakfast, you can now decide to have rice for lunch. I always cook my white rice with chicken/fish stock so even without adding stew or making it jollof or fried, it is yummy.

2. Stick to 1 or 1,5cups max.

(This is what 1 cup looks like. Just one of the mounds)

The major problem with rice is not even that it is the white or simple carb, it is just how much we consume. Imagine eating 3 to 5 cups of Jollof rice at a sitting. Bear in mind Jollof, to which oil has been added, or stew can bump up calorie content to 250 to 300 calories. Or more. You now eat 3 cups or more. That means you just swallowed 1000 calories or more in just a meal. We also haven’t added the protein and maybe dodo you added to it. No sis, if weight loss is your goal, you must watch the portions.

3. To your rice, add some veggies/salad.

Now this one for me is the most important and should be for you if you are a lover of rice. 1 or 1.5 cups of rice MAY not fill you up as expected, so what you need to fill in the gap is not 2 extra servings, it is your green leafy veggies or a salad.

In pregnancy, I paired my rice a lot with green leafy veggies cos they are just bursting with all the nutrients your pregnant (and even non-pregnant body needs).

Now that I am not pregnant, I would almost always have my rice with mixed veggies as opposed to a salad. So, what I do is dice up my cabbage (very important), carrots, green peas/peppers, spring onions and the likes. When my rice is fully cooked, I measure out a cup of rice and then add 1.5 or 2 cups of these cut up veggies and stir in for like a minute. When I dish this out, I usually have 2 to 3 cups of food on my full plate, which is probably say 350 or less calories, high in fibre and will keep me fuller, than say 3 cups of rice which would be 700 calories and will still break down as quickly as a bungalow is demolished and I am hungry again soon…

I call this Recipe CoachE’s fried rice EXTRA!!!

My sister, do this with your rice (whether Jollof or fried, Brown or white) and you can truly and really rock rice daily even while on a weight loss diet.

Remember, there is a science and art to weight loss. You can’t just cut out foods and commit to salads daily. With some knowledge from a good Coach like CoachE’, you can thoroughly enjoy your weight loss journey and most importantly, sustain it.

Let me know what you think. Or if you will or have tried it in the comment section.

Love and Light,

CoachE’

PS

If you would love a free consultation on any weightloss or health related matters, you can email me directly at coache@coachesquad.com let’s talk. We have a variety of packages all geared to help you not just lose weight but BRING HEALTHY BACK!!!