Healthy Eating Tips during Festival and Holidays

Naturally, it's hard to maintain weight in these fun times! Starting from the eastern Durga puja to Dussehra to Diwali then Christmas and Lohri, it is a good four months of indulgence. Not to mention weddings, as the winters are considered an auspicious time to marry. With all the celebrations, comes a truckload of fried food and sweets. A lot of these foods are hard to resist and one just can’t help but eat. Excessive indulgence brings with it tons of guilt and to pacify the guilt, you tell yourself it’s the festive season after all and everyone indulges. This makes you indulge even more and you postpone eating healthfully to the first of January. As a result of this, the pounds just pile on and bring with it more guilt.
Indian sweets are loaded with milk, milk products and dry fruits...and calories!. With all the extra calories, it’s not surprising that this is when people put on the most weight. With the festive season, any diet caution goes for a toss. Add to this the social gatherings, all the alcohol, the late-night snacking, etc.
The solution lies not in giving up food totally, but in changing the way you eat during this season. Read on for some guilt-free and slimming tips through the festive season…Reports say that majority of the Diwali celebrating communities undergo a nearly 20 per cent weight gain during this festival. But you don't need to give up those savouries, altogether, but change the way you eat during this season.
Be picky- Don’t eat because you’re being offered. Friends and family will try to force-feed you, but be firm with them. If you must for courtesy, then eat a small portion.
Indulge in the healthy sweets- We have the guide to the healthiest Indian sweets. Sandesh is a healthy option- since it is dairy-based and is steamed. There are many low sugar desserts also available. For instance, try a range of sweets that are sugar-free and made up of chenna (cottage cheese) or gur (jaggery), so that they don't play havoc with your blood sugar.
· Have halwas and fried sweets in moderation or just for taste. Rather switch to mithais (sweets) made from chenna, which is rich in protein. Try sweets such as rosogulla, chenna murki, chum chum as these are low in fat and high in proteins.
· Go for jaggery-based mithais over the refined sugar-based ones as the nutritional value of jaggery is higher than sugar. Jaggery also contains carotene, Vitamin-B, iron and magnesium.
· While making gajar ka halwa, make sure you avoid butter and ghee/mawa/khoa completely. It should be made completely from toned milk.
· Eat dry roasted nuts and dry fruits in their natural form instead of the fried, salted or sugared version.
· Use skimmed milk to prepare dishes like shrikhand, rice puddings like kheer, phrini, Bengali sweets, fruit custards, etc.
· Make salted munchies such as mathris, shakarpalis, chaklis, kachoris, etc, using high-fibre flour such as finger millet or bajra, ragi or soya flour along with wheat flour. Add green leafy vegetables such as methi (fenugreek), palak (spinach), kothmir (coriander) or mint to salted snacks.
· Baking is healthier than fried snacks.

When does food become fat?

Your weight will increase after eating or drinking, but this isn't permanent weight gain. It's related to the actual weight of the food or liquid you just consumed. It's not related to the calories or fat content of the meal itself.

One pound of body fat is equal to 3,500 calories. / 1Kg = 7000 calories. That means you have to create a 3,500-calorie deficit through diet and exercise to lose one pound of body fat. To gain a pound, you'd have to consume 3,500 calories more than your body can use.

Nutriion for special situations

A Job Interview

Yogurt – because it helps bring about proper nerve impulses
Amla/lemon juice –
Rich in vitamin C that can reduce levels of stress hormones while strengthening the immune system. Blood pressure and cortisol levels returned to normal more quickly by taking 3,000 milligrams of vitamin C before a stressful task.
Green banana 

–
It contains tryptophan that is a precursor of serotonin. This is an excellent antidepressant.
Black tea –
Black tea can help you recover from stressful events more quickly


The Big Meeting/Presentation
Blueberries -
A daily blueberry fix can help you do away with those shaky-cue-card hands, report researchers at the UK's University of Reading. In another study, aged animals fed the blue gems for 12 weeks saw a 26 per cent increase in memory performance.
Walnuts/flax seeds –
These foods are rich Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are a major component of the grey matter of the brain and can improve brain activity.

Boiled Potato / boiled sweet potato / banana / grape juice / glucose powder –
The key ingredient is glucose, which boosts people's cognitive performance. Glucose fuels the brain and makes the brain always ready to learn more.
Almond –
It improves memory and strengthens it many folds.


Before You Hit The Gym
45 minutes before exercise à
Chapati / whole wheat bread / rolled oats –
Source of complex carbohydrates.
A slow-release carbohydrate with low to moderate Glycemic Index.
Maintain blood glucose and steady insulin levels throughout the weight training session.

Skimmed cow’s milk / Whole egg –
Supply amino acids for energy use during weight training to spare the breakdown of muscle protein for obtaining the same amino acids throughout the workout.

Milk, egg yolk, green leafy vegetables, legumes / B complex capsule –
To optimize energy production and release.

Coloured vegetable juice –
Rich in antioxidants that help in fighting stress inducing free radicals.