- Remember to realise that you cannot eat all cheat meals during all the meals of the day 🙂
- Never compromise on your water intake. The thirst centre and hunger centre in the brain are very close, sometimes you may feel hungry when in fact you may simply be thirsty. So make sure you are hydrated. Note that tea, coffee and aerated drinks are DEHYDRATING drinks and interfere with iron absorption from the food.
- Continue with your regular fitness regime. Do not think that you can make up for sinning by working out “10 minutes extra” that is never going to happen.
- Make sure to eat a home-cooked healthy regular breakfast.Â
- Â Poha, upma, idli, dosa, oats, thepla with curd, eggs on whole-wheat toast – all these are your friends.
- Mid-morning have fruit / buttermilk with flaxseed powder / salad / vegetable raita / nuts. This is also the time to eat a piece of mithai that has been lying in front of you on your table. But remember this is a meal in itself and its important to restrict the quantity to 1 to 2 small pieces and not eat up half the box.
- Lunch should be wholesome and hopefully home-cooked – dal, veggies, roti or pulav or chicken/fish curry with rice or roti. Again remember starting your meal with a filling salad or soup will help you to feel full and by the time you reach the main course, you should be half full.
- Evening snacks could be fruit or any breakfast option or dry fruit or nuts. Again watch your portion sizes.
- Dinner should be similar to lunch.
- If you are going out for lunch or dinner make sure you eat something from home and go so you are not very hungry and make sensible choices.
- Small, bite-sized portions of everything is ok. Avoid deep-fried food. If you must choose something like that take 1 piece and stop there. Fruit juices, mocktails, aerated drinks should be avoided. If you must drink alcohol have a plain glass of water with lime squeezed between each drink slowly and you will end up drinking half the alcohol you would have otherwise had.
- Avoid maida based food like pasta, noodles , naan etc and opt for whole wheat options instead if possible.
- Having “sugar-free” mithai is more harmful than regular mithai because most often sugar substitutes are added which are detrimental to health. One ends up eating a lot more thinking its “sugar-free”. Opt for mithai with dates, figs and nuts and where jaggery has been used instead of sugar or artificial sugar substitutes. And if you are dying to eat that sinful mithai eat 1 piece as a meal.
- Please share what you have with less privileged people. And share it when it is fresh not when it got stale.
This article is written by Sonam Rayani, founder of Jatropha Wellness, who is a Nutrition and Diet Consultant since last 11 years. She is also a Nutrigenetic Consultant and socially runs True Love Project that aims to bridge the gap between the haves and the have nots.
