The ideal size of fufu for a meal should be 300g. When fufu size is too big, you accumulate unwanted calories in your body.
Use very little oil (2 table spoons) when cooking if you must use any oil at all. Oil is very high in calories, it could also clug up your blood veins.
Drink warm water with your meals. Cold water will solidify the oil in the food and slow down digestion.
Instead of frying your meat, after boiling it, put it in an oven try and dry it in the oven for 15 minutes at 220 degrees centigrade.
Do not kill your vegetables! I mean, do not over cook them. Vegetables should maintain their bright colours after cooking. Dull looking vegetables have lost the nutrients in them.
Avoid or reduce the fatty meat. Eat chicken without the skin.
No heavy meals at night. You are not engaging in any activity to burn it off during the night.
Reduce your carbohydrate intake.
Take more fruits and vegetables
Avoid alcohol like a plague!
Reduce fizzy drinks or stop drinking them all together.
Reduce the amount of salt and processed spice in meals
Always eat breakfast
Add spicy peppers to meals
Be more active. Take a walk. Go jogging. Take 30 minute exercise daily
Short, concise, and straight to the point. I’d already known most items on the list. The problem is actually following the recommendations. In our society, access to fast food poses a big problem. It’s handy and cheap.
Losing weight and keeping it off requires we change our mindset. And any diet has to be sustainable in the long run. Otherwise, we’re doomed to fail.
What a comprehensive list! Your article is clear and because of its precision it leaves very little to question as to how to lose weight and stay in maintenance mode after.
I have one question. What is fufu? I am Senegalese and am unfamiliar with that term.
Thank you Nhyira,
Fufu is an African food that has an appearance similar to mashed potatoes. It is usually made of flour from various foods like yam, plantain, cassava, gari, cocoyam, wheat, sweet potato, rice and oats. That’s why we have meals we call plantain fufu, cassava fufu, oat fufu and so on. Fufu can also be made from a combination of 2 or more of these foods.
I had not heard of the African Diet until I stumbled across this article whilst I was searching out ways to lose weight. I actually had to do some research as to what fufu really is! How odd is that. It was worth the research, however, for a better understanding leads to better results. Some of the tips you post as to how to lose weight I have already implemented, some others I find difficult to do, quite frankly. I do like the thought of reducing the fat in my meals by oven drying the food after boiling. Does the flavor need adjusting when putting the food into the oven? More spices, perhaps?
Although the contents are informative, it does not seem to invite you in, perhaps show the ingredients as an image. One thing I have notice, what is meant by clug, should be clog. You could also explain what fufu is or put an image of it. I have never heard of it, you do not want people having to keep looking up the ingredients for a recipe to see what they are.
Thank you for these great tips – they are so simple and straightforward! I love that so many of them are just good tips for eating well and living a healthier lifestyle in general. I already implement many of these in my life, even though I am not on any particular diet.
Amazing! Your suggestions will not only help to lose weight. They are also healthy!
There are many diet tips that can help reduce weight. But you have to struggle. You have to weaken the body following some diets. Your tips are just essential for developing healthier eating habits! I will definitely try your tips. Thanks!
These are great tips to lose weight. I never eat that big every meal but I crave for food before I sleep. I usually eat a bread or vegetable literally before sleeping because I cannot sleep when my stomach crumbles. Sometimes I tried and can see the difference. When I eat before sleeping, I noticed that my belly tends to get bigger which I think is due to the calories I ate that you pointed out in your article.
I place top priority on having a healthy lifestyle and I have a personal belief that to do that, one must eat good and nutritious meals. However, I must say that I haven’t tried any African diet. This post as been very insightful as it’s helped broaden my knowledge greatly. The tips will prove most helpful as I will put them to good use.
Thanks for sharing information about healthy eating. The world certainly needs to eat healthy. Is this similar to an African Heritage diet? I avoid alcohol, sugars and cooking oil and it helps me a lot. I am not sure what Fufu is? It would be helpful to explain a little about that. thanks for sharing
Thank you for these great tips. You can’t spread enough of these around these days. We need to be more health conscience than ever these days. I already follow about half of these already and now I can work on the others. I do have a question: “add spicy peppers to meals.” Does spicy peppers burn more calories?
Very interesting post. I had no idea what the African diet was. I think the tips you suggested are very good and can apply to most diets as well. They are general rules for healthy eating. I never knew about the effects of cold water! Thanks for sharing:)
Thanks for these specific diet tips and they are very helpful. I have implemented several already, but not nearly enough. You have mentioned several which require my immediate attention. I need to spend a little more time on food preparation, combining, and selection. Otherwise, I have some good habits in other areas especially exercise. There is always more we can learn and apply.
I am pretty much following all your point to stay healthy. I didn’t know that it is called African diet. Good to know. I do not use oil as much in my cooking. I found my new love with air fryer for cooking these days. Little or no oil required with air fryer. I agree with you on eating breakfast everyday. Healthy breakfast is my favourite meal of the day and I usually eat salad for lunch. Thank you so much for the great tips.
Forgive my ignorance but this is the first time I have heard of the African Diet. I thank you for sharing this post. I had to look up what, “Fufu” was. I see it is considered an essential food in most of West Africa. Avoiding alcohol, and fizzy drinks like the plague. Thank you for this warning. I also see drinking warm water after meals is far better than a cold glass of water, due to solidifying oil, that causes problems with digestion. There are times I just do not have time for breakfast, and I know this is not very good. As far as eating spicy peppers I am all for it. I like my food spicy.
Wow, it’s actually called the African Diet. I’m sure this is incredibly effective when you’re trying to lose weight.
I was on the military diet for a while and although it was incredibly hard to commit to, it paid off greatly after a few months of enduring what seemed to be a living hell :p thanks for your post and all the best!
Juliet, great website and a very informative article.
We are in total agreement on the majority of your 15 points, but there are a couple where I don’t.
I don’t cook with any oil, I only use Ghee.
I don’t believe that eating breakfast is right or important for everybody. I’m up at 6 AM and seldom eat anything before Noon.
I eat meat only about four times a month and as long as it’s grass-fed and farm-raised I don’t care if it’s chicken, pork or beef, and the fat and skin doesn’t bother me.
I hope you’ll visit my website and give me your opinion over there.
Thanks Phil,
For reading my post in detail. My points are good for every diet and especially African diet. Most African meals are cooked with or in oil. It is very important to hammer on reduction of oil intake. It’s rude to serve a meal without meat in Africa.
We seem to agree on a lot of things I’m definitely coming over to view your site. Thanks for coming by.
Juliet, so it would be rude in all of Africa to be a “vegetarian” or a “vegan”? BTW, I’m neither, since I do eat meat. I consider myself to be a “Nutritarian” a term coined by Dr. Joel Fuhrman as somebody that eats with the purpose of getting the most nutrition per calorie of food consumed.
Oh no Phil, Africans will understand if someone does not want meat. It’s just that an ideal African meal is not complete without meat. Like you I eat healthy and my site aims to put healthy twists to African recipes and highlight Healthy benefits in African food.
These are very good tips for weight loss and just generally being healthy.
I don’t see the African diet as being all that unhealthy compared to how many other countries eat.
I found this article very helpful though and have learnt a few new things I will put into practice when I cook dinner tonight. I didn’t know cold drinks with food was bad for digestion, maybe that’s why I tend to get a bad belly after eating a heavy meal.
Thanks very much for the interesting read.
Hannah.
This was a pretty comprehensive list. We would do so much better in our health if we walked more and ate food in sensible portions and strived to make it all as healthy as possible. I especially liked the part about making sure to keep the veggies as nutritious as possible. If you over cook them, they can lose all of their qualities, though there are some veggies that are more nutritious for the body when they are cooked. This would be a great list to remember when deciding how to lose weight in a healthy way. I’m going to keep thinking about this.
Very informative website. Some of your suggestions and advice I am currently doing but there are several that I am not and wasn’t aware of. I have also read that drinking a glass of water with lemon in the morning will jump start your metabolism. Thanks for the tips and advice. I will implement these in the future.
Short, concise, and straight to the point. I’d already known most items on the list. The problem is actually following the recommendations. In our society, access to fast food poses a big problem. It’s handy and cheap.
Losing weight and keeping it off requires we change our mindset. And any diet has to be sustainable in the long run. Otherwise, we’re doomed to fail.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Enrique.
What a comprehensive list! Your article is clear and because of its precision it leaves very little to question as to how to lose weight and stay in maintenance mode after.
I have one question. What is fufu? I am Senegalese and am unfamiliar with that term.
Thank you for your well written expose.
Hi Amy, Fufu is made from Yam, Plantain or Gari into something like mashed potato. Africans can call it potato Fufu.
Fufu is made from plantain and cassava or both together and sometimes cocoyam depending
Am a Ghanaian.
Thank you Nhyira,
Fufu is an African food that has an appearance similar to mashed potatoes. It is usually made of flour from various foods like yam, plantain, cassava, gari, cocoyam, wheat, sweet potato, rice and oats. That’s why we have meals we call plantain fufu, cassava fufu, oat fufu and so on. Fufu can also be made from a combination of 2 or more of these foods.
I had not heard of the African Diet until I stumbled across this article whilst I was searching out ways to lose weight. I actually had to do some research as to what fufu really is! How odd is that. It was worth the research, however, for a better understanding leads to better results. Some of the tips you post as to how to lose weight I have already implemented, some others I find difficult to do, quite frankly. I do like the thought of reducing the fat in my meals by oven drying the food after boiling. Does the flavor need adjusting when putting the food into the oven? More spices, perhaps?
Hi Leona, drying food after boiling only enhances the flavour. Try it with chicken.
Although the contents are informative, it does not seem to invite you in, perhaps show the ingredients as an image. One thing I have notice, what is meant by clug, should be clog. You could also explain what fufu is or put an image of it. I have never heard of it, you do not want people having to keep looking up the ingredients for a recipe to see what they are.
Very constructive comment Phill, points taken thank you.
Hi Juliette
Thank you for these great tips – they are so simple and straightforward! I love that so many of them are just good tips for eating well and living a healthier lifestyle in general. I already implement many of these in my life, even though I am not on any particular diet.
Thanks for your comment
Amazing! Your suggestions will not only help to lose weight. They are also healthy!
There are many diet tips that can help reduce weight. But you have to struggle. You have to weaken the body following some diets. Your tips are just essential for developing healthier eating habits! I will definitely try your tips. Thanks!
Thanks David
These are great tips to lose weight. I never eat that big every meal but I crave for food before I sleep. I usually eat a bread or vegetable literally before sleeping because I cannot sleep when my stomach crumbles. Sometimes I tried and can see the difference. When I eat before sleeping, I noticed that my belly tends to get bigger which I think is due to the calories I ate that you pointed out in your article.
Thanks Dan.
I place top priority on having a healthy lifestyle and I have a personal belief that to do that, one must eat good and nutritious meals. However, I must say that I haven’t tried any African diet. This post as been very insightful as it’s helped broaden my knowledge greatly. The tips will prove most helpful as I will put them to good use.
Thank you Carol
Thanks for sharing information about healthy eating. The world certainly needs to eat healthy. Is this similar to an African Heritage diet? I avoid alcohol, sugars and cooking oil and it helps me a lot. I am not sure what Fufu is? It would be helpful to explain a little about that. thanks for sharing
Thanks Brian, fufu is like mashed potato. In Africa it can be called potato Fufu.
Thank you for these great tips. You can’t spread enough of these around these days. We need to be more health conscience than ever these days. I already follow about half of these already and now I can work on the others. I do have a question: “add spicy peppers to meals.” Does spicy peppers burn more calories?
Thanks Nathaniel, for coming by. Yes, spicy peppers burn some calories but not as effectively as exercise.
Very interesting post. I had no idea what the African diet was. I think the tips you suggested are very good and can apply to most diets as well. They are general rules for healthy eating. I never knew about the effects of cold water! Thanks for sharing:)
What is a fufu?
Thanks for the post!
Hi Cynthia, Fufu is similar to mashed potato. It is made from carbohydrates such as oats, yam, Gary and plantain.
Thanks for these specific diet tips and they are very helpful. I have implemented several already, but not nearly enough. You have mentioned several which require my immediate attention. I need to spend a little more time on food preparation, combining, and selection. Otherwise, I have some good habits in other areas especially exercise. There is always more we can learn and apply.
Thanks Joseph, I agree with you we keep learning every day.
I am pretty much following all your point to stay healthy. I didn’t know that it is called African diet. Good to know. I do not use oil as much in my cooking. I found my new love with air fryer for cooking these days. Little or no oil required with air fryer. I agree with you on eating breakfast everyday. Healthy breakfast is my favourite meal of the day and I usually eat salad for lunch. Thank you so much for the great tips.
Thanks Pranail, I have heard about the air fryer but I prefer to use the saladmaster.
Hi Juliet,
Forgive my ignorance but this is the first time I have heard of the African Diet. I thank you for sharing this post. I had to look up what, “Fufu” was. I see it is considered an essential food in most of West Africa. Avoiding alcohol, and fizzy drinks like the plague. Thank you for this warning. I also see drinking warm water after meals is far better than a cold glass of water, due to solidifying oil, that causes problems with digestion. There are times I just do not have time for breakfast, and I know this is not very good. As far as eating spicy peppers I am all for it. I like my food spicy.
All the best,
Michael
Thanks for coming by Michael and for you nice comment.
Thanks for all you say. I have started to implement l
Thanks for stopping by I’ll be posting some more info about African food please come back soon
Hey there!
Wow, it’s actually called the African Diet. I’m sure this is incredibly effective when you’re trying to lose weight.
I was on the military diet for a while and although it was incredibly hard to commit to, it paid off greatly after a few months of enduring what seemed to be a living hell :p thanks for your post and all the best!
Juliet, great website and a very informative article.
We are in total agreement on the majority of your 15 points, but there are a couple where I don’t.
I don’t cook with any oil, I only use Ghee.
I don’t believe that eating breakfast is right or important for everybody. I’m up at 6 AM and seldom eat anything before Noon.
I eat meat only about four times a month and as long as it’s grass-fed and farm-raised I don’t care if it’s chicken, pork or beef, and the fat and skin doesn’t bother me.
I hope you’ll visit my website and give me your opinion over there.
Keep up the great work. I will be back.
Phil
Thanks Phil,
For reading my post in detail. My points are good for every diet and especially African diet. Most African meals are cooked with or in oil. It is very important to hammer on reduction of oil intake. It’s rude to serve a meal without meat in Africa.
We seem to agree on a lot of things I’m definitely coming over to view your site. Thanks for coming by.
Juliet, so it would be rude in all of Africa to be a “vegetarian” or a “vegan”? BTW, I’m neither, since I do eat meat. I consider myself to be a “Nutritarian” a term coined by Dr. Joel Fuhrman as somebody that eats with the purpose of getting the most nutrition per calorie of food consumed.
Oh no Phil, Africans will understand if someone does not want meat. It’s just that an ideal African meal is not complete without meat. Like you I eat healthy and my site aims to put healthy twists to African recipes and highlight Healthy benefits in African food.
These are very good tips for weight loss and just generally being healthy.
I don’t see the African diet as being all that unhealthy compared to how many other countries eat.
I found this article very helpful though and have learnt a few new things I will put into practice when I cook dinner tonight. I didn’t know cold drinks with food was bad for digestion, maybe that’s why I tend to get a bad belly after eating a heavy meal.
Thanks very much for the interesting read.
Hannah.
Thanks Hannah,
I’m happy you found the information in my blog useful. Thanks for coming by.
This was a pretty comprehensive list. We would do so much better in our health if we walked more and ate food in sensible portions and strived to make it all as healthy as possible. I especially liked the part about making sure to keep the veggies as nutritious as possible. If you over cook them, they can lose all of their qualities, though there are some veggies that are more nutritious for the body when they are cooked. This would be a great list to remember when deciding how to lose weight in a healthy way. I’m going to keep thinking about this.
Thanks for your comment, veggies are more appetising when they maintain their bright colours aren’t they?
Very informative website. Some of your suggestions and advice I am currently doing but there are several that I am not and wasn’t aware of. I have also read that drinking a glass of water with lemon in the morning will jump start your metabolism. Thanks for the tips and advice. I will implement these in the future.
Thanks Bryan,
I have heard a lot about the lemon drink. I should be writing about my lemon drink soon. Please come around soon again to read about it