by
Janea Ifill, Registered Nutritionist
As Barbadians we always wait until the night before the hurricane to stock up. We suffer the exhausted lines in the supermarket and mini-marts to purchase our canned goods and water.
Why are we such a reactive society?
Being proactive with our health means we take responsibility, and actively become our healthiest self. We are currently in a volatile time, where we watch the local and international COVID-19 statistics continue to rise. Every action we take matters, as it can affect our health status.
Barbados is swarmed with persons living with diabetes, high blood pressure and other non- communicable diseases. Our people are generally overweight or obese, especially our women. A large contributor to this is our culture’s highfat, high-calorie, low-fibre diets.
This already affects our quality of life and our people are dying younger. Now to add to the flame: COVID-19. Good health is especially important now that our immune system might need to fight back.
We need to change, and this change starts today! We need to build habits which support healthy bodies for our entire population.
A lifestyle change starts with changing small habits. These habits can be small but gradual. Slight changes may include swapping white rice for brown rice or including peas; white pasta for whole wheat pasta; swap to a whole grain cereal; incorporate your beans and peas; add fruits and vegetables to each meal and ensure you are well hydrated with water.
What habits are you going to change to build your new healthy lifestyle? Setting realistic and attainable goals will be one of the most important aspects of your success. Goal setting allows you to feel a sense of ownership over your plan and work towards a visible goal.
Grab a notebook and let’s get started together.
Making changes to eat healthier and lose weight can be overwhelming and stressful. You may feel as though you want or need to make several changes, and you may struggle with narrowing down where to start.
To start, make a list of your daily habits and eating patterns, and identify areas that may be hindering your health goals. Is it your breakfast? Maybe you are skipping this important meal. Or maybe you find yourself snacking while working (especially if you are working from home).
Problematic areas on your list may include eating candy every afternoon or skipping lunch. After writing down this list, use a clean page to draw circles and fill each one with a word that represents an area of improvement. The circles represent your options, or the areas that you can choose to focus on to begin eating healthier or increasing your exercise.
Now you have an idea of areas you need to work on, it is time to make a plan. Start with 1-3 habits to avoid overwhelming yourself. Make sure these plans are attainable and realistic for you! You know what you are capable of. Be specific in your goal so you can monitor if you are on the right track.
For example, instead of writing, ‘I want to lower my cholesterol’, your goal might be to eat more fibre to help lower your cholesterol. So, a goal you can write is ‘I will eat oats twice a week for breakfast’ or ‘I will have a serving of beans or peas at each lunch’. These goals are specific, and easy to remember.
Reflect deeply on this exercise and come up with plan. Find a friend or partner to help you stick to your plan.
Some other ideas are: If you want to eat more fruit: “I will eat one piece of fruit at breakfast three times this week.”
If you are just starting to eat more fruits and vegetables: “I will eat one fruit or vegetable from the green, orange, and red groups this week.” (Variety is important) It you are trying to eat out less often: “I will pack my lunch two times this week instead of eating out.”
If you trying to drink more water: “I will drink eight ounces of water before each meal.”
So, stock up Barbados! Let us not wait until the hurricane comes to rush to the store.
