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.”
Speaking of weight loss, Rose says it’s all about how you eat. Getting yourself on a specific schedule makes all the difference because eating all over the place certainly doesn’t help.
“Eat breakfast at a certain time. Eat lunch at a certain time. Eat your snack at a certain time and dinner at a certain time. The reason I say that is because a lot of us tend to graze throughout the day, and then we don’t realize we’re just taking in a lot of calories,” she says. “We’re just eating mindlessly. It’s about mindful eating. Second thing is, make sure that half of your plate is some type of protein. The right amount of fiber is the way to go in order to lose weight.”
When it comes to culturally beloved rice dishes, Rose says 1/4 cup is the sweet spot, instead of carelessly pouring it onto your plate.
“When you have your plate in front of you, divide it in your mind’s eye, and one-fourth of that plate should be the portion of your rice,” she says. “One-fourth. I know people tell me, ‘Kim, I’m going to get hungry.’ You’re going to get hungry if you don’t have enough fiber and you don’t have protein. So what I like to tell people is if you’re going to lose weight, you need to increase the fiber. You need to increase the protein.”
In the effort to lose weight, it’s also important not to compare your journey, your progress, or your success to anyone else’s. While those around us may shed pounds in what looks like the easiest and quickest manner, no one will have success, especially in the long term, without also regulating stress.
“Everybody’s body is different. Just because you may have seen a celebrity, you may have seen your friend, you may have seen someone at your church or wherever, lose weight and look good, everybody’s body is different. So I want you to take your time on your journey,” she says. “Realize if you lose weight too quickly, you can gain it back too quickly. Healthy weight loss is one to two pounds a week. So definitely make sure that you’re eating the healthy plate method.”
“And also realize food is not the end all, be all,” Rose adds. “If you are stressed out the wazoo, if you are not sleeping adequately at night, if you are not hydrating yourself during these hot summer months, your body can put on a little excess weight. So especially with sleep and stress, I tell people all the time, you can be vegetarian, but if you’re not sleeping and you’re not moderating your stress by going to a mental health counselor or finding an avenue to get all of that stress out, your body enters into a fight or flight response. Hormones are released that will keep that weight on you.”
