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Food gives our bodies the energy we need to function. For many people, changing eating habits is very hard. You may have had certain eating habits for so long that you do not realize they are unhealthy. Or, your habits have become part of your daily life, so you don’t think much about them.

IGIHE talked to Kigali Waka Fitness to find out how a person can change his/her diet and Eating Habits to develop new eating patterns that lead to a healthier lifestyle.

Waka Fitness provides different services ranging from Physical training services, sauna and diet consultation among other Services

IGIHE: What is dietary counseling?

Waka Fitness: Dietary counseling is advice on how to change someone’s diet and eating habits in order to improve their overall health and well-being.

IGIHE: Can you walk us through your nutritional services at Waka Fitness?

Waka Fitness: We offer dietary advice upon an analysis of the person’s current diet, which looks into what needs to be changed to reach the individual’s goals. In order to successfully implement the changes, the dietary advice will always be individual, goal oriented, flexible, sustainable and effective.

IGIHE: What is proper nutrition and what are the benefits?

Waka Fitness: Nutrition is the process of taking in and utilizing food substances. Food generates energy and supplies materials used in body tissues and processes. Calories are supplied by carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Other nutrients include minerals, vitamins, and dietary fiber.

Different amounts of these nutrients exist in different foods and therefore proper nutrition requires inclusion of all food groups in order to provide all essential nutrients an individual’s body needs for normal body function.

Essential nutrients, omega 3 fatty acids for instance, cannot be synthesized by the body, thus we must get it from dietary sources. Some vitamins, minerals and certain amino acids, for example, are all essential nutrients we need to obtain from our diet. Which nutrients and the amount needed depends on the individual’s lifestyle and health.

When you do diet consultations, is it a one on one? Or do you also have group diet consultations?

We offer one-on-one sessions mainly, however partner counseling or even group sessions are possible. For best results one-on-one sessions are recommended as it enables us to look into the individual’s specific areas of improvement and target the areas that need to change.

What aspects of a person’s health are improved through building better nutritional habits?

A balanced and healthy diet is a foundation of good health. Too much or too little of certain nutrients can contribute to health problems. Making bad choices of foods, eating too much sugar for instance, can result in weight gain and thereby increase the risk of developing health issues including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Eating healthy is one thing you can do to prevent these lifestyle diseases.

How long will it take to see and feel results if you change and improve your diet?

How long it takes to realize improvements in health depends on the change that has been made, how well the person incorporated the change into the lifestyle and the current health status. Most people see improvements within the first week, often expressed as feeling more energized, feeling lighter or decreased numbers on the scale.

What kind of diet do you usually recommend people to manage their weight?

We do not take the approach of counting and restricting calories as this has been shown over and over again to not be sustainable. We promote healthy, whole and unprocessed foods but no particular diet.

Overall, we recommended avoiding certain foods and emphasizing others, which when it comes to weight loss corresponds to avoiding sugar, which is easily turned into body fat and doesn’t contain any essential nutrients, and refined carbohydrates such as white bread. Foods to emphasize are whole protein sources such as egg, fish and legumes, vegetables and healthy fats including avocado and olive oil.

Does diet advice differ from one member to another? Are there common pieces of advice you give to most people?

As the dietary consultations are based on the individual, one consultation will differ from others. However, many members often have weight loss goals, and typically have the same problems in their eating habits (for example, portion size, skipping meals and over-consumption of processed foods) in which case dietary advice will be similar.

Who are the ideal clients for a diet consultation?

Anyone, who wants to change their diet and eating habits to become healthier, leaner, stronger or just wants to know more about nutrition. However, the most common problem we see are people who struggle to shed the extra pounds, they are the “ideal” clients as they are the ones who need support and guidance to successfully change the way they eat for better health and body composition.

What are the most common misconceptions that people have in relation to having a healthy diet?

Several foods are often considered healthy because of the health claims on the label such as ‘’organic’’ or ‘’natural’’, however they may not be healthy at all. For example ‘’low fat’’ (or ‘’fat free’’) products might be lower in fat, but are often full of sugar. Many people fail to understand that the diet must be high in nutrients to ensure proper function. High-fat dairy products for instance, are often better for you than low-fat alternatives as they are more nutrient dense.

Another misconception is that people focus too much on calories rather than food choice, for instance eating 500kcal of french fries versus eating 800kcal of broccoli does not mean that eating the french fries is healthier than eating the broccoli solely because of the lower calorie content.

What are the most common unhealthy eating habits that your clients have?”

Most clients often eat too many foods high in sugar, such as pastries, cookies and soda. Another unhealthy eating habit is overeating carbohydrates such as white rice, French fries and bread. In regards to overeating, meal frequency is another problem as many people often skip breakfast and indulge at lunch.

What are the main differences between the typical Kigali resident’s eating habits and those around the world?

Typically bad eating habits are similar around the world as fast food restaurants and processed foods become more available everywhere. Even though it seems that “modern” foods become more widespread, culture and tradition still have a big impact on eating habits within different countries. This means that the intake of certain traditional foods often will be greater than the inclusion of the “modern” food and this is where the diets would differ. A typical Kigali resident may eat more matoke, rice and starchy food than people in France or they might eat more fresh fruits than people in the UK.