Diet and Exercise

Gestational Diabetes lessons

When I was pregnant, I developed gestational diabetes. I used to have to check my blood glucose levels at least an hour after eating a meal. At first I was really annoyed with the whole process as I had to prick my finger and would worry that maybe I had eaten too much food that would endanger my unborn child.

However, a week into the process I was more enlightened on the foods that raised my blood sugar levels. There were some foods that I had thought were healthy, such as brown bread and sadza (made from maize/mealie meal) but discovered that they easily raised my blood sugar levels. I realised that our African diets need to be adjusted at some point if the lifestyle does not ensure that you use up all the calories consumed.

Adjusting one\’s diet is essential when you move to another climate.

Typical Zimbabwean Daily Menu

Considering the Zimbabwean diet on a normal day, most of the food would be laden with carbohydrates that raise the blood sugar levels instantly. Breakfast is usually white bread with butter and tea with sugar or mealie meal porridge with sugar. The lunch menu is usually carbohydrate-laden sadza , either with kale, greens or with stewed meat or natural yoghurt. Dinner/super/evening meal menu is usually the same as the lunch menu. This kind of diet would be okay if you live in areas where most work is labour-intensive thus using up the calories.

A good example is hand-washing of clothes which is labour-intensive. People in rural settings sometimes have to walk long distances to fetch the water to hand-wash the clothes, then hang them on the line to dry, before taking them off the line then ironing them. In the west, that activity only entails selecting the clothes, throwing them into the washing machine then putting them in the tumble dryer and you may not even need to iron the clothes if tumble dried properly. I found ever since we acquired a Bosch Condenser Tumble dryer, our ironing chores have gone down massively.

Therefore this diet is not ideal for the diaspora lifestyle which tends to be less labour-intensive.

I always assumed that gyms were for millionaires until I had access to the gym at work

Wearing the correct exercise gear gave me the motivation I needed to exercise consistently

Taking part in your children\’s play encourages fitness

Growing up, we ate a lot of sugar but because we used to run around and play outside all the time, sugar-intake was never an issue. As for my parents, they ate the same foods, but they never really exercised at the rate that we exercised. We had house help so they never really had to do all the chores and we also did some of the chores. Looking back I do not have a memory of my parents playing with me at all, but I have always played with my children and this has encouraged me to keep fit so that I can keep up with the children.

Growing up, our mindset was that formal exercise was reserved for school. My parents never once talked about exercise, let alone pay for any extra curriculum activities. We were only encouraged to go to play outside after doing our chores.

Formal exercise is not just for children at school

Intentionally Exercising with purpose.

Are you making time to exercise if you want to live to see your grandchildren? Are we making time to watch your diet if you want to be able to play and run around with your grandchildren without having to take medication? When I was growing up, adults always encouraged us to go outside and play and but they never joined in the play, which I believe would have improved their fitness.

I have a former colleague who is in her 70s and has been running from a very young age and continues to run. She has 4 grandchildren and continues to play with them. When my children were younger I used to take them to the park, after school. We would ride bicycles and play with them. Sometimes we would go swimming on days they did not have swimming lessons. But have I have found that as I am growing older, exercise is becoming more and more difficult and for me to keep my fitness I have to continue to push myself and not succumb to the age-related fatigue.

Adults always encouraged us to go outside and play and but they never joined in the play, which I believe would have added to their fitness.

Is school exercise enough for your children?

As a school child in Zimbabwe, after school, three to four times a week we used to have to take part in all sorts of sports including field athletics, cross-country, swimming, hockey, football, basketball, netball, volleyball and tennis. The assumption when I moved to England was that the schools would offer even more sports as this is a first world country. Lo and behold, the only schools that have outside space with all the fields required for the sports that we took part in in Zimbabwe are some secondary schools and private schools.

The education system in England has physical education included in the day-to-day timetable and but how much of that is enough for the children? When children go home after school they tend to be confined indoors and it’s difficult for them to leave the house especially if it is cold. They never really play outside unless you have to prompt them to. For my two older children we ensured that they we paid for them to attend activities such as swimming, karate, athletics etc. This minimised their idle time at home and gave them something to look forward to other than television.

Not all schools have sufficient sports facilities to ensure that your child finds the one exercise they will enjoy and carry on doing as they grow older.

So as parents we need to make arrangements for our children to have extra-curricular activities that are physically exerting for them. Not all schools have sufficient sports facilities to ensure that your child finds the one exercise they will enjoy and carry on doing as they grow older. I found that, now that my older children have grown up, they make time to exercise and even join gyms. They also engage in some internet club exercises because that is the seed I planted in them when they were younger.

So as parents we need to make arrangements for our children to take part in extra-curricular activities that are physically exerting for them.

Exercise does not have to be at the gym, there are a lot free exercise programs on YouTube.

Exercise alone is not enough.

Besides exercise, eating healthy and self-control should be also instilled in our children\’s diet.

Portion-control is essential

At meal times, as a child I remember my mum telling me to eat all the food on my plate, even after I felt full. I would soldier on and stuff my face until every mossell was eaten. Looking back, this was necessary as there was not much to snack on. However this also made me continue to eat this way even as an adult, even when it was not necessary. I also did the same with my older children and I would even tell them to eat up because there are other children who are starving in poor countries. As if stuffing their faces would make the starving children feel full if my children ate more.

Forcing food on children even after they are full

One thing to note is that a child\’s appetite is not always switched on and they do not have to stuff their faces with food just in order to finish the food on their plate. Furthermore, portion control is also very important, as some children will eat whatever you place in front of them. Also if we do not control our appetites as parents, how do we expect our children to control their appetite?

Discouraging snacking can encourage binging

I also realised that I was so afraid to keep a lot of snacks in the home. This made my children want to binge on these when we bought them. I also noticed that after school my son would want to go to his friends\’ house more often and as soon as we entered the house he would ask for sweets or chocolate. I have since realised that keeping the snacks in the home would have instilled more self-control in my children when it comes to snacking . When I started keeping snacks in the home I found that the children would binge and in the end we had to pre- share the snacks before packing them into the cupboard and clearly label them to ensure everyone had the same amounts.

Making your own snacks ensures that you know what you are feeding your body

A documentary I watched on Netflix recommended that, if you want to eat something, always make it yourself. This ensures that you are aware of what you are feeding your body. Furthermore, you can adjust ingredients like sugar. So with this in mind, I try to bake with the children and this can also be a bonding session . The other day we made butter cookies and they tasted far much better than the ones we buy from the shop.

Furthermore, snacks do not always have to be unhealthy, encourage your children to snack on fruit, nuts or yogurt.

Are there any diet and exercise challenges you have faced when settling in a new country and how have you overcome them? Please feel free to add them to the comments in the comments section. Also don\’t forget to subscribe so that you do not miss out on the next article in the future.

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