Stay fit and fine

Healthy eating is not just about strict dietary limitations, staying unrealistically thin or depriving yourself of the food you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy and stabilising your mood. 

People often think of healthy eating, but are clueless about what to eat and how much to eat.  For any healthy diet, moderation is very important. It means eating only as much food as your body needs. 

You should feel satisfied at the end of a meal, but not stuffed.  Moderation is also about balance. We all need a ba lance of carbohydrates, protein, fat, fibre, vitamins, and minerals to sustain a healthy body. Bindiya Bhandari, a fitness expert, said, “Those who do not follow proper diet or skip their meals in order to lose weight can face a lot of issues, like low blood pressure, unstable level of insulin, menstruation cycle, ageing process, eating disorder, electrolyte imbalance, osteoporosis in women, weak muscles, etc. So, it is very important to eat in moderation. Also one should have a lot of water.” Experts advise planning a healthy diet as a number of small, manageable steps rather than one big drastic change.

“Give a gap of at least 3-4 hours between dinner and sleeping time. This will digest the food properly. One should also avoid late night eating. Add a lot of colourful veggies and fruits in the meals along with more whole grains, brown rice, beans for long lasting energy. Instead of being overly concerned with counting calories or measuring portions, people should think of their diet in terms of colour, variety, and freshness,” added Bhandari.  

​​Dr Kalpana Gupta Shekhawat, a nutritionist, added, “Take small steps, like adding a salad, which is full of different vegetables, to the diet and switch from butter to olive oil when cooking. As the small changes become a habit, one can continue to add more healthy choices to their diet.”

“Every change you make to improve your diet matters. Starving is a strict no no because it reduces the metabolism rate. And when the metabolism rate is reduced the food gets deposited which turns into unhealthy fat, hence, people put on more weight,” added Shekhawat.