in love with food: October 2010

October 30, 2010

HOW TO KEEP FIT DURING DIWALI!

Eat only the foods you really enjoy.

Limit yourself to eating only those foods you really enjoy. Do not use the season as an excuse to over-indulge.

Watch out for emotional eating.

Watch out for stuffing your mouth to relieve some of that stress from arranging and attending parties and meeting friends and family.

Get enough sleep.

Believe it or not, some studies have shown that when people are short on sleep, they eat more.

Have realistic expectations.

Diwali is not the time to try and lose weight. Consider yourself successful just to maintain your weight. Don’t feel guilty either if, in spite of your best efforts, you put on a kg or two. A few kgs are easily taken care of when your schedule gets back to normal in December.

Beware the “all-or-nothing” attitude.

This time can be deadly if you have the “all-or-nothing” attitude towards food. This attitude says: “What’s the use? I over ate during the Diwali party. I might as well stop watching what I eat and go all the way”

Create lower calorie versions of high calorie favorites.

If you are talented in the kitchen, consider modifying some of your favorite recipes to make them lower in total calorie content.

Eat low-calorie at home, high-calorie when eating out.

To really enjoy all the rich food that is served at parties without putting on too much weight, eat low calorie meals at home to even out the total damage.

Modify your fitness routine.

You need exercise now more than any other time during the year to manage stress levels and to burn off all those excess calories.

Instead of not exercising at all, try modifying your usual routine by cutting down on either the frequency or the duration of your workouts. If you are used to working out daily, try cutting it down to two to three times a week. If you are used to one-hour workouts, try doing only thirty minutes. The whole point is that you should continue to do some exercise instead of none at all. Not only will this maintain your fitness till the end of year, but it will also help calm you.