White Rice, limited eating options while traveling

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bowlingforpastabear
bowlingforpastabear Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello!

I am currently living in Costa Rica and I have been strugglng with weight gain. I live with a house family who cook all of my meals and so I have limited control over what I am eating. Pretty much everyday I have white rice twice a day and I was wondering if folks could tell me a bit about how healthy-not healthy that is for me. I also eat a lot of beans and stirfried meats.

The snack food here is full of processed sugar and flour, but because I am traveling and on a tight budget I feel like my options are pretty limited and I end up eating junk food. I never eat that kind of food at home and my body is not use to it. I was eating oatmeal every morning but then a friend told me that oatmeal is healthy, but it will make it hard for me to loose weight. Their advice for me was to eat one or two eggs every morning.

Any advice or info would be much appriciated!! Thank you

Replies

  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    White rice is less nutritious than brown rice but many cultures don't consider a meal right if there's no rice -- and that usually means white rice.

    Rice is not inherently bad but it is both calorie and carbohydrate dense so you want to limit your portions to fit within your dietary goals.

    As to snacks. Costa Rica is known for its wide variety of fruits. Avoid the snack foods and eat the fruits.

    Oatmeal is very good for you. It is fiber-rich grain food.

    What makes you gain or lose weight is no particular food but rather how many calories are in the food you consume in total.
  • konerusp
    konerusp Posts: 247 Member
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    I come from a culture where rice is primary source of food.I eat breakfast and lunch with them,for dinner i skip the rice and just eat the curry and vegetable and skip the rice.I wont usually have many calories left till dinner,lunch and breakfast are pretty heavy with carbohydrates.I do eat eggs and oatmeal for breakfast most days.watch your portions.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    White rice is less nutritious than brown rice but many cultures don't consider a meal right if there's no rice -- and that usually means white rice.

    Not exactly. White rice has less fiber than brown rice. The extra nutrients in brown rice are contined in the fiber and therefore not bioreadily available to humans.
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
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    There is nothing unhealthy about eating white rice twice per day....as long as you are within your calorie goal range and you are meeting your nutritional needs from the rest of your diet. If eating the rice puts you over your calorie goal reduce the amount you are eating and/or exercise more to make up the difference.

    The nutrition difference between white and brown rice is pretty small and even smaller after it is actually digested. Your white rice may even have some vitamins and minerals added to it.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    White rice and oatmeal are very good foods. Use portion control with the rice-- common sense like with any other food. Costa Rica has lots of varieties of squash. Also you probably have peppers, onions, and other great veggie options.
    Mangos and other tropical fruits are available you.
    Eat limited sweets and keep portions low. Stay active and all that and you will be fine.

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