Meatless Mondays in a book
Dr Malebogo Eluya, better known as Dr. Lebo and meatless Mondays' crusader, is slated to launch her maiden book this coming week. Titled The Mindful Eater, in this book, Dr Lebo is as candid as she has ever been. Sharing an inspiring story of struggles with her weight as well as various key topics that are crucial to the hot topic of dieting and eating right, the book will be launched on June 30th at the UB Conference Centre. Dr Lebo’s message is very simple, if we are quick to give our cars clean fuel and oil without compromise, the same logic must apply to what we consume.
With this book, she hopes that her story, and the life lessons that she shares will inspire all of us to adopt the mindset of a Mindful Eater, and have a healthy relationship with our food. BG Style recently caught up with her to hear how she came up with her maiden book. She starts off by explaining that this journey was inspired by her social media presence. Dr Lebo opened her social media page in 2020 as a way to keep herself busy at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. She is a Nutrition consultant and holds a PhD in Nutrition and based at Gaborone Private Hospital and heads the Afiya Health and Diabetics Consultants. Today, she has about 80 000 followers on Facebook, where she educates the public and shares nutritional advice.
Initially hesitant to take the book route, she eventually decided to give it a try. The book is published by Afro shapers. Sharing how this book came about, she explains that the idea came from her followers, during her interaction with them. “I gave it a thought, and what made it easy is that one of the publishers initiated that conversation. He gave highlights on what it takes to be an author. Initially, I was hesitant but he convinced me that he can mentor me through that journey,” she explains.
She points out that it was difficult to write in the beginning, the whole step of thinking about various factors such as topics, and what to write about was challenging. She also says that one thing that she was sure of was that this was not going to be a technical book. “My voice was not to other professionals but the general public. So, I had to make it as easy as I could possibly do,” she says. They settled on the name, The Mindful Eater through the questions that the publisher was posing to her, and also what he was picking from social media on her posts. Dr Lebo explains that presently there is a lot of information floating around regarding diets, and weight loss. There is a lot of influence from the media, she says. Most people, she says who get this information, just absorb it as it is, and do what she refers to as cut and paste. “Eventually they lose the weight, but that is not sustainable. They regain it back because they do not have the knowledge and the skills to survive after losing the weight or achieving certain health status.
They are not taught to survive outside that cut and paste information,” she shares. She says that The Mindful Eater is also her journey. Even as she is a dietician and so many years in her field, she says that she has dealt with her personal weaknesses and had to struggle with weight issue all of her life. “So someone can have the knowledge, but implementation can be difficult,” she explains, adding that once she went through her journey she realised that what made her maintain a desirable and good eating habits was to be mindful of what she eats, and not to allow food to be the enemy.
Sometimes, she says that the public is told not to touch certain foods, and that this can be overwhelming and can lead to people developing an unhealthy relationship with food. She says that would then feel bad in the event that one cheats and take a bite, even just once. “This can be discouraging especially emotionally and can take a toll on someone's emotional well being as they will repeat the circle. They might feel they have failed and there is nothing they can do. Being mindful means that every decision that you make regarding food is very pleasant.
You concentrate on enjoying the food, rather than the food becoming an enemy,” she explains. She further says that when one enjoys certain foods, it does not mean they should not eat that food. Enjoying the food does not mean eating that food every day, but being mindful of the portions. “If you like meat, it does not mean that you have to eat two portions of meat. Why can’t you have one, does it mean you have to eat meat every day,” she explains. She further says that she tried to look at the positive side of food and equip the reader in a non-intimidating manner, and says she is a Dietician with more than twenty years of experience but she is also human and goes through experiences that the public goes through. She further says that as a medical practitioner, she knows that sometimes their message might seem intimidating or harsh, and might seem like a strong instruction.
“I tried to tone it down, and shared a message that can be well received by the reader. And I love this book because I also touch on things that you would not ordinarily observe as a person, such as if someone cooks your food, do they really know what you are supposed to eat instead of leaving it to chance,” she points out.