Every day, a new weight loss trend emerges on social media. One video suggests replacing your breakfast with oats, while another recommends drinking chia seed water every morning. Additionally, there are videos about expensive smoothies, imported snacks, detox drinks, and “What I Eat in a Day” segments that portray healthy eating as something reserved for those with unlimited budgets or completely unattainable for the average person.

Many of us were told that if we truly wanted to lose weight, we had to say goodbye to our favourite Nigerian meals. Swallows, in particular, have almost been blacklisted as the enemy of weight loss, leaving many people to believe they must give up their favourite plate of abula, pounded yam or eba to achieve a healthy weight. Many people now believe losing weight means abandoning the foods they grew up eating. It doesn’t. It has become less about understanding nutrition and more about copying what we see on our screens.

We have become so focused on eating what worked for someone else that we forget to ask: Why did it work in the first place? Would it work for me too? Our bodies are different. Our ages, activity levels, health conditions, medications, sleep patterns, stress levels and daily routines all influence how we respond to food.

We Copy Meals Instead of Copying Habits

Many people struggle with weight loss because they tend to copy people’s plates instead of understanding the nutritional principles behind them. We see someone’s transformation photos and immediately ask, “What did you eat?” We note down their meal plan, buy the same ingredients and expect our bodies to respond the same way.

Meanwhile, a plate of food tells only a small part of the story. It does not show how physically active that person is. It does not show how much sleep…