The Nation Newspaper

Tag: weight

  • BIMBO THOMAS SHEDS WEIGHT

    BIMBO THOMAS SHEDS WEIGHT

    NOLLYWOOD actress, Bimbo Thomas, who used to be on the big side, is presently carrying a new look.

    The actress, according to information, might have taken time off her busy schedule to visit the gym in order to trim down. In a recent interview, she noted that she was trying to watch her weight, citing it as one of the reasons she is yet to start making babies. Having kids, she said, might make her bigger.

    Flaunting a slimmer look, she recently posted her latest photographs, looking slimmer and some say, more sexy.

    Bimbo Thomas who has been in the movie industry for quite a while, shot into the limelight when she appeared in Funke Akindele’s popular movie, Omo Ghetto, as Nikky. The actress, as reported, started acting during her undergraduate days at the University of Lagos where she was studying Creative Arts.

  • I want to reduce my weight to save my marriage

    Hello Harriet, I am really impressed with your column in The Nation. Please, I need you to counsel me on what to do. I am 45 years old and married with children. Here is my case: My relationship with my husband is deteriorating by the day  because of my weight which he makes clear to me. I have been for a very long time consoling myself with one excuse or the other. Now, I really want to do something about my weight. Honesty ,I love my marriage and I want to keep it. Kindly advise me. Thanks. Uju, Lekki,Lagos.

    The issue of weight can be very sensitive. Some people take it and do something about it. Others do not want it mention at all.  The fact that you are aware of it and you have made up your mind to do something about your weight is a good step. I must commend you on that. You are very lucky to   have a husband who is sincere about what he wants in his wife because some men will not discuss it. Instead, they will start acting in different ways. Others go as far as picking up quarrels, even when there is nothing to quarrel about. Don’t forget one man’s meat is another man’s poison. Some men like their wives big, while some like theirs slim.

    However, healthy living is the solution to the problem. Henceforth, your diet has to change not for a period of time, but for life. You need to see this process as a change of lifestyle. Healthy diet doesn’t seem to make as much impact on us as the habits we’ve grown up with. For example, how many of us ate yoghurt when we were children? Probably the only spaghetti most of us ate in the past tends to come out of a tin. A meal wasn’t a meal, if it didn’t have a piece of meat followed by chilled drinks. We have broadened our taste buds in the last few years. The next step should be to make further changes to our eating habit in order to change the proportions of different nutrients, giving us healthier balance. Healthy eating should not be difficult to achieve, especially as there are now varieties of nutritious meals to choose from. There are some helpful guidelines you can follow with confidence:

    Set realistic targets. Let your targets be what you can achieve at the end of the day. Remember you did not gain the weight in one day, so it’s going to take a while for you to shed off the weight.

    Major overhauls to your meals which involve drastic cutbacks or punishing regimes don’t work. You are more likely to stick to smaller, gradual changes.  Frankly, highly restricted diets which involve going without certain groups of foods can even be harmful, unless you do so under the supervision of a professional.

    Moreover, stick to two or three moderately sized meals each day, rather than semi-starving yourself for much of the day and having one mega-sized meal to compensate. This is because your digestive system works better on a regular supply of food.

    Snacking in between meals is fine, provided you do in a healthy way. For example, a piece of fruit or raw vegetable which provides proportionate vitamins, minerals and fibre will do.

    Furthermore, increase your intake of unrefined cereals (whole meal bread, pasta and rice).

    Don’t forget to reduce your intake of saturated fats (the fats mainly found in animal-origin products).

    Aim to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables each day.

    Your programme is incomplete, if you don’t add exercise to it. One of the best ways to keep healthy and keep your weight down is to get regular exercise. You need activity to make it work. Remember, you don’t have to do anything too difficult. A lot of things you do for fun are great exercise, like dancing, swimming or going for brisk walks.  Short periods of exercise several times a week will do you better than a fortnight’s inactivity punctuated by a single exhausting afternoon. Aim to get to the stage where you miss exercising, if you’re prevented from doing it for more than a few days. You can actually exercise on your own or register with a gym. If it helps, have a fix time and date mark in your diary. Good luck, as you turn to a healthy lifestyle for yourself and for your marriage.

    Harriet Ogbobine is a counsellor and  motivational speaker. Send in your questions and suggestions to her on bineharriet@gmail.com. You can also follow her on twitter@bineharrietj or txt messages only to 08023058805.

  • Nigerian artistes who pulled their weight in 2014

    Nigerian artistes who pulled their weight in 2014

    As a pointer to the fact that Nigerian music artistes ruled their game and dominated the global music scene last year, the organisers of the prestigious Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards announced 10 nominees in its Best African Act, five of which were Nigerians.

    Like every other industry, music in Nigeria is getting more competitive by the day and after all the dust has settled, it ends up as a win-some-lose-some situation. But by their very nature, artistes come and go and while some lived up to the expectations of their fans, others fell short by not a few points.

    While some argue that receiving awards is not a confirmation of an artiste’s talent, one cannot deny the fact that it not only serves as an acknowledgement of success, it also recognises an artiste’s other qualities which include ability, struggle for excellence and reputation. Below are some of Nigeria’s biggest artistes who stood out among their peers in 2014.

    DAVIDO: “I’m only 21 years old and I’m living my dream.” With those words Nigerian hip hop artiste, Davido received his Mtv Africa Music Awards (MAMA). Going by the number of sold out shows he embarked on in the European, African and American capital towns, attracting millions of spectators during his shows; it is safe to say that David Adeleke, aka Davido won the admiration of his fans last year.

    His cache of awards last year brimmed over earning him, not just respect but also envy in some quarters.

    Some of the awards received (which he says numbers 22) include; Best International Act Africa (BET); Best Male Artiste in West Africa, Artiste of the Year’ and Song of the Year (AFRIMA); Song of the Year and Artiste of the Year (Headies); Artist of the Year, Best Male (MAMA); Artiste of the Year, Song of the Year (HiphopTv Awards); African Artiste of the Year (Ghana Music Award) among numerous others.

    To add to his achievements, his song, Aye ranks with Say Yes by the trio of Beyonce, Kelly Rowland and William, former Destiny Child, as the most viewed video on YouTube with more than 8 million views.

    Tiwa Savage

    With the year almost marred by tales of a failed marriage that is barely a year old, Mavin’s First Lady Tiwa Savage also reaped a bountiful harvest of awards. She draws her strength on the fact that some of her biggest nominations were international awards. That includes MOBO which she eventually didn’t receive.

    Like her counterpart, Davido, she took home the Best Female award at this year’s edition of MAMA. She also registered her presence at the Chanel O Music Video Award, clinching the Most Gifted Female at the ceremony.

    She dedicated her MAMA award to her husband, stating; “I just want to thank God, fans, 323 Entertainment, my label, Mavin my producer and boss, Don Jazzy and finally, I want to say thank you to the most handsome and amazing husband in the whole wide world, TeeBillz who has put so much to make our story a success thank you and I love you very much.”

    In her kitty also are the R&B Artiste of the Year and Female Artist of the year awards (Nigeria Entertainment Award) and Artiste of the Year Female Award (City People Awards) among others.

     Oritse Femi

    By all standards, his hit-song, Double Wahala can be called the anthem of the year. Gigs were not complete without Oritse Femi’s presence, whether to entertain or just as a guest. This artiste can best be described as one of the wonders from the entertainment scene this year. Though he is yet to prove to his fans that his’ is a case of a one-hit-wonder, the artiste is still basking on the success and recognition the song, Double Wahala has and is still garnering him.

    Among his list of awards this year are Best Music of the Year Award (City People Awards); Best Street-Hop Artiste (Hip-hop TV awards); Best Afrobeat Video (NMVA) as well as Hottest Song of the Year and Best Indigenous Artiste of the Year (NEA).

     Flavour

    Gradually, as a highlife artiste, Flavour N’abania has come to establish himself as a darling of music lovers, especially since the release of the video of his wedding themed song, Ada Ada. To his credit, the artiste has been pulling his weight in the Nigerian music scene.

    He was the biggest winner of this year’s edition of the Nigerian Music Video Awards carting home four categories; best Indigenous Concept, Best use of Costumes, Best Highlife Video and the overall, Video of the Year.

    He also won the Best Video of the Year 2014- Flavour, the Best Traditional Artist 2014 at this year’s African Music Magazine Awards (AFRIMMA) as well as the Best Live Act (MAMA) last year. These are among other awards he bagged in the course of the year.

    Kcee

    His’ can best be described as a story of resilience. After going under, following the split of his group, Kcee Presh, Kingsley Okonkwo buoyed back to life last year with the song, Limpopo. Limpopo was a huge success but to prove that it was no fluke, he quickly followed it with other hits like Pull Over, Ogadinma among others.

    His award pool this year shows that his stay in the music scene is far from over. With his song, Pull Over tying the Hottest Single of the Year category with Davido’s Aye at this year’s NEA, Kcee can be said to have had a good year. He also bagged the Song of the Year 2014 (AFRIMMA) and Hip Hop World Revelation (Hip Hop TV awards). Kcee also won the Most Gifted Duo for his song, Pull Over which features one of Nigeria’s best-selling artists, Wizkid.

  • What can be done about obesity?

    All too often, obesity prompts a strenuous diet in the hopes of reaching the “ideal body weight.” Some amount of weight loss may be accomplished, but the lost weight usually quickly returns. More than 95 per cent of the people who lose weight regain the weight within five years. It is clear that a more effective, long-lasting treatment for obesity must be found.

    We need to learn more about the causes of obesity, and then we need to change the ways we treat it. When obesity is accepted as a chronic disease, it will be treated like other chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure. The treatment of obesity cannot be a short-term “fix” but has to be an ongoing lifelong process.

    Obesity treatment must acknowledge that even modest weight loss can be beneficial. For example, a modest weight loss of five per cent-10 per cent of the initial weight, and long-term maintenance of that weight loss can bring significant health gains, including

    • lowered blood pressure;

    •reduced blood levels of cholesterol;

    • reduced risk of type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes (In the Nurses Health Study, women who lost 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of weight reduced their risk of diabetes by 50 per cent or more.);

    • decreased chance of stroke;

    • decreased complications of heart disease;

    • decreased overall mortality.

  • I’m getting married soon, what can I do to gain weight?

    My name is Jenny from Calabar. I am 25 years old. I wasjust going through a magazine and I saw people talk to you about their problem. Here is mine – I am having a problems adding up weight. I have tried taking something but it’s not working. Please what do you think I should do because I will be getting married soon so I need to be full in my attire? Please help me.

    I was so happy when I read your concern. While most brides would do all crazy things to lose weight before their wedding day, you actually want to look round and healthy. Good. You must look great in the dress and in the photos because hundreds of guests would have their eyes on you and you don’t want to look hungry and too thin. We want to see those curves and not make people worry about whether you would be able to get pregnant fast. Some people are just born naturally skinny, but if you’re looking to put on a little healthy weight, there are many simple tricks you can do.

    1. Don’t go for “empty” calories. While chips and cookies look like the easiest way to put on weight, you want to put on HEALTHY weight. Go for snacks that have a fair amount of calories, but also a lot of nutritional value. Peanut butter is great for this. Mix it with carrots, crackers, apples, or anything and you have a delicious, healthy snack.

    2. Exercise. Yes, you need to exercise to gain weight. Yes! Lifting and weight training help your body gain muscle weight, which is the best kind of weight for your body to put on. Start off slowly if you aren’t used to doing this kind of training. Increase weight and decrease reps as you go along.

    Make sure to fill up on protein directly after a workout. This will help build muscle. Protein shakes are a great way to do this, and there are many different brands and flavors to try.

    3. Make sure all of your food groups are present in every meal.