23/12/2025
🇿🇦 Can You Eat "Real" SA Food and Still Hit Your Goals? (Spoiler: YES!)
RealFit fam, let’s be honest. If a "diet" means giving up boerewors, braais, or your Ouma’s chicken pie forever, it’s not going to last.
We hear it all the time: "I need to eat 'clean' to lose weight." But in South Africa, "real food" isn't just steamed fish and broccoli. It’s curry and rice on a Tuesday, a toasted cheese for lunch, and dipping a rusk in your coffee.
At RealFit, we believe if your nutrition plan doesn't fit your culture and lifestyle, it won’t stick.
Here is the secret: You don’t need to change the menu; you just need to change the math.
Here’s how to enjoy our local favourites and still drop a dress size or tighten that belt. 👇
🍛 The Golden Rule: The Plate Structure
This is the biggest mistake we make in SA. We love "Starch on Starch." (Looking at you, rice, potato, AND pumpkin on the same plate! 😉).
The RealFit Fix: Choose ONE starch per meal. If you have rice, skip the potatoes. If you have pap, skip the garlic roll.
Ideally, your plate should look like the image below: ✅ 1/2 Plate: Greens/Veggies (Salad, green beans, gem squash). ✅ 1/4 Plate: Protein (Wors, chicken, steak, mince). ✅ 1/4 Plate: Starch (Mash, rice, pap, pasta).
🛑 Watch The "Hidden" Calories
A perfectly healthy piece of steak changes instantly when you drown it in creamy mushroom sauce.
Fat = Calories: Fat has more than double the calories per gram than protein or carbs. Go easy on the butter, oil, and mayo.
The Braai Trap 🍺: Alcohol is calorie-dense and offers zero nutrition. Plus, after two dops, that second helping of potato salad looks way too tempting. Count your drinks as part of your daily intake!
🖐️ Handy Portion Guide (No scales needed!)
You can eat the pie, just don't eat half the pie. Use your hands to estimate portions:
👩 For Her (Aiming for fat loss):
Protein: 1 Palm
Starch: 1 Cupped hand
Veggies: 2 Open hands (Load up here!)
Fat: 1 Thumb
👨 For Him (Aiming for fat loss):
Protein: 2 Palms
Starch: 2 Cupped hands
Veggies: As much as you want!
Fat: 2 Thumbs
👶 For the Kids: Please don't count calories for growing kids! Focus on habits: water instead of sugary drinks, and encourage them to eat their "real food" veggies first before the treats.
The Bottom Line: Eat the food you love. Just eat a little less of the heavy stuff, and fill the gap with something green. It’s about balance, not banning boerewors.
👇 TELL US BELOW: What is the one South African meal you absolutely refuse to give up?