Diet Direction

The auspicious festival of Navratri is here. Navratri is dedicated to the different forms of Maa Durga. The devotees worship nine avatars of the goddess during this festival. Fasting is a part of this festival. Here are some do’s and don’ts for healthy eating during Navratri:

• Keep yourself well hydrated all day specially if you are fasting. Drink other fluids like various soups, buttermilk, fruit infused water or herb infused water other than just plain water.
• Control the portions of your meals. Avoid overeating of anything as portion control is key of good health
• Avoid eating fried or junk or heavy sweets. Just because you are doing fasting that does not mean you can eat lot of sweets or fried items. Always remember portion control is key.
• Opt for healthier cooking methods of healthy substitutes like eat grilled or boiled or sautéed food items. Use jaggery in your kheer instead of sugar.
• During fasting we may get lot of hunger pangs. During such time snack healthy food options like roasted Chana or peanuts,sprouts,makhana.jowarflakes chivada,mix seeds or nuts.
• Avoid starving.Starving may cause acidity hence eat small meals. Eat fruits or drink fluids whenever you feel hungry.
• Include fiber rich foods in diet daily.fibre helps you keep full hence avoid bad hunger pangs or bad cravings.All fruits and vegetables when taken in raw form gives us fiber.
• Break your fast with healthy light food items like fruits or buttermilk dates etc.

Eating right and staying well hydrated helps you maintain your energy levels, avoids unwanted fat gain and helps to detoxify your body.

# Day2

Rice is very common in our day to day diet. We add rice in variety of dishes. But when it comes to weight loss the first thing which we do is stop eating rice. So today i am writing about our very common staple food "RICE".

Following are the benefits of rice :

1)Rice is easy to digest and hence preferred food during indigestion.

2)Rice is instant energy source.

3)If eaten with moderation and with needed combination you don't need to avoid rice during weight loss process.

4)Rice kanji(Fermented) is natural probiotic source which helps maintain gut health.

5)Rice water helps improve skin tone.

6)It is good source of B vitamins like thiamin,riboflavin.

Remember portion control is the key. Hence eat rice without fear but avoid bigger portions.

#

Every year the nutrition week is celebrated from 1st sep to 7 sep to make people aware about the nutrition. Healthy and balanced eating pattern helps us maintain good immunity,keeps us away from various diseases,helps maintain healthy fat in our body and maintains good energy. Hence it is important to eat right. Following are some good and healthy habits you can start working on to take first step towards eating right

1)Start your day with a glass of water warm or plain.

2)Eat any seasonal fruit daily once.

3)Include variety of pulses and legumes in diet.

4)Include raw salads and vegetables in your diet to get enough fibre.

5)Watch the portions of all your meals.Portion control is the key for good health.

6)Stay away from junk food

Obesity is major health issue which is increasing day by day. Obesity means excessive unwanted body fat which increases the risk of various health issues. Establishing the cause of obesity is very important to help us modify lifestyle and bad eating habits. Let us see what all habits cause obesity:

1) Insufficient water intake:

Now a days, lots of people have very poor water intake as for maximum time of the day we are in AC surroundings. Hence, we don't feel thirsty much and then end up drinking very less amount of water. I have seen people with intake of just 800 ml of water per day. Water is like natural detoxifying agent for our body which helps remove toxins from our body. Also, water is essential for saliva formation. Both these factors help maintain good digestion, and if due to lack of water our digestion is affecting then we cannot expect proper nutrient absorption which results into unwanted fat gain.

2) Sedentary Lifestyle:

All our jobs now a days require long sitting hours most of times in front of computer which means very less movements. Very less or no movements at all for all day causes obesity. We can try and keep our day active with the help of small habit changes like
a) Stretch your hands and legs after every 1 hour.
b) Try to take stairs instead of lifts
c)Go for normal walk after big meal
d)Try to walk while talking over a phone

3) Poor Sleep Quality / Very less hours of sleep:
Poor quality/quantity sleep is very common problem. I have seen more disturbed sleeping pattern after lock down as every one is busy with either work or Netflix or social media. Every body will have different reason for not sleeping on time but most of the people are sleeping late. This affects our metabolism a lot. Less sleep means less energy. Good sleep helps us to eat better, to feel better and helps manage good hormonal balance.

4) Poor Eating Habits:
Unhealthy eating habits is very common thing now a days. Poor eating habits include untimely meals, night time snacking, intake of fried and processed meals more, emotional eating, overeating, fast eating etc. If you have any one habit from above then you need to act on that habits as soon as possible. Even one wrong habit can slow down your metabolism which in turn affects weight loss process. Diet or food is bit tricky thing. If you eat anything in large quantity whether it is healthy or unhealthy that is going to cause some or other issue ultimately affecting your metabolism.

Hence our aim should be to find out the cause of our obesity or weight gain so as to work on lifestyle changes for long term results and healthy way of losing weight. Making short goals for yourself and working on them one by one will be less stressful too.

All of us are in lock down for 21 days to stop the spread of the COVID-19. The first thing we need to work on currently is to improve our immunity. As immunity means nothing but our body’s fight system to keep our body away from various infections.
Here are some ways to improve our immunity:
1)Drink enough water:
Water acts as a natural detoxifying agent hence removing toxins from our body. Hence it helps improve our immunity. Also, dehydration disturbs our electrolytes which affects our immunity.
2)Get enough sleep:
During our night sleep our body heals from inside. Hence quality sleep is very important to maintain good immunity. Sleep for at least 7-8 hours.
3)Avoid drinking alcohol or smoking:
Alcohol or smoking affects our immunity very badly. Hence it is very important to keep our self away from drinking and smoking.
4)Avoid eating junk or spicy or fried foods during this quarantine:
Heavy meals can disturb our digestion affecting our gut health. Hence avoid eating these too often or very bigger portion.
5) Maintain Good Hygiene:
• Wash your hand often
• Keep your surrounding clean
• Cover while coughing or sneezing

Simple homemade concoction recipe:
Tulsi leaves: 10-15
Cinnamon stick: 1 inch
Star anise: 1
Pepper :3-5
Cloves: 3-4
Turmeric: 2 tsp
Add all these ingredients in 500-700 ml water boil it. Keep it for 5-7 minutes post boiling .
Honey: As per taste

Following are some pointers to maintain good physical and mental health:
1)Maintain Routine:
Disturbed routine makes us dizzy, irritated and stressed. Hence maintain good routine during this period. Avoid getting up very late or sleeping very late. Reduce your screen time. Make a schedule of your routine and try to stick to it.

2)Be active:
As most of us are working from home, our sitting hours might increase which can lead to weight gain. Hence try to get up after every 2-3 hours for some stretching or short walk in home itself. Make some exercise routine for yourself and do it for at least 30-40 minutes per day.

3)Indulge in hobbies:
As you have got an opportunity to get some extra time invest this in your me time. Indulge in some hobbies you could not pursue due to your hectic routine. This can act as amazing stress buster.
4)Meditate:
Meditation or deep breathing helps to keep ourselves calm. Regular deep breathing helps to improve our nutrient absorption and also reduces stress. If meditation is not an easy task for you please do a deep breathing for 3-5 times a day (30 sec every time).
And last but not least spend some quality time with your family.
Stay home, stay healthy, stay safe.

Poor diet is one of the major contributions to the various chronic illness.Unbalanced intake of foods commits to various problems like obesity,blood pressure,cardiac problems,diabetes,gastric issues etc.Healthy eating habits along with regular physical activities are key to healthy life.
Eating healthy can be very simple,the rise in various fad diets and different trends causes lot of confusion.In any diet portion controlling is the key .Because any thing extra we consumes creates some problems.Let us discuss some points here which can help understand what all things can help us lead healthy life

1) Portion Control :
Measure portion sizes of all your meals instead of counting calories.Think about various aspects of meal like color,variety and freshness of your meal.The more home cooked foods you will eat more benefits you will get.

2)Eat your food slowly :
The speed of eating influences the quantity of food you eat.Eating slowly is linked to more thorough chewing which means better nutrient absorption,good digestion hence helps in weight maintenance.

3)Chose whole foods over refined :
Whole foods means natural and unprocessed foods.Whole foods are more nutrient dense and have lower energy density.This means fewer calories and more nutrients than processed foods.

4)Say NO to sugary foods and junk :
Consuming lot of junk and sugars increases risk of various diseases like diabetes,obesity,anxiety,liver damages.Hence avoiding them is the best thing to do.

5)Include more of fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet :
Fruits and vegetables have various vitamins and mineral which is needed for our body.Also they are good source of fiber which helps remove toxins from our body.Detoxification helps improve our digestion and better immunity which keeps us away from various infections.

6)Add sufficient proteins in daily diet :
Proteins are often missing in our day to day diet.Proteins has ability to affects your hunger and satiety hormones as they take longer time to digest.Also proteins are needed for daily wear and tear of tissues.Aim to add source of proteins to each mean and snacks.It helps you feel fuller for longer time hence curbs cravings.

7)Drink enough water :
Water acts as a natural detoxifying agent.Removal of toxins helps us improve our immunity,digestion hence help for weight loss and weight maintenance.

8)Add probiotics :
Probiotics are helpful to improve healthy gut bacteria which is responsible for healthy gut.And maximum diseases starts in our gut.

Start slow and make changes to your eating habits over time.Trying to change everything overnight is not realistic. Make small aims,achieve them and move forward.Also remember every small change you make matters.You do not have to be perfect every time. More important thing after cheating is how sooner you come back on your healthy eating regime