Fitness and good health largely depend upon your eating habits.
Good habits and understanding help nurture overall health and wellbeing.
What should your meal look like?
- 1/4 portion of your meal should have any protein food source eg paneer, legumes, eggs, chicken, etc.
- 1/4 portion of your plate should have complex carbohydrates like rice, chapati, dosa, idlis, etc.
- 1/2 portion of the plate should comprise of vegetables
- Also, include one food source of probiotic
- Eat slowly, chew your food properly and take a minimum of 20 minutes to complete your meal. Eat as per your appetite and before going for the second serve, ask yourself do you desire to eat more or its just the taste. Prefer more of vegetables or protein sources for the second serve.
- Stop eating when you’re almost full.
- Start your meals with salads.
Low-calorie food options whenever you are hungry:-
- Cucumbers
- Watermelon
- Homemade buttermilk
- Lemon water with 1 tsp soaked chia seeds
- Fruits like pomegranate, cherries, Jamun, strawberries
- A bowl of mixed fruit salad
- Dahi with few nuts
- One portion of sprouts
- Boiled egg with vegetables
- Vegetable soup
- Fistful of fox nuts
Smart Snack ideas
- Do not snack on readymade biscuits, cakes, rusk, patties, namkeens or another ready to eat snack along with your tea or coffee.
- Instead, snack on homemade roasted namkeens using rice puffs (murmura), roasted chana, cashew, peanuts using spices and very less salt.
- Fox Nuts
- Homemade ladoo made with ingredients like til seeds, raisins, dry fruits, dates and ghee for binding.
- Sweet potato chaat with salad (quarter plate)
- 1 small katori steamed corn chaat
- 50 gms of paneer
- 1-2 pcs drhokla
- 1 medium oats idli with coconut chutney
Save on calories by these tips:-
- Avoid adding over the table salt and sugar to your meals.
- Measure and use oil, do not exceed more than 25 ml in a day.
- Do not have packed sweetened fruits juices and raw vegetable juices.
- Instead have coconut water, fresh mausami juice or watermelon juice with pulp, without added salt and sugar.
What to do for sweet cravings?
- Prefer having frozen fruits or freeze fresh pureed fruits in an ice tray and have it like candies. Eg frozen strawberries or mango puree or watermelon.
- Occasionally have 1-2 pieces of dark chocolate (more than 80% cocoa)
- Chilled yoghurt with some raisins or mangoes.
- Ghia halwa (half a katori)
- Suck on a small piece of jaggery.
- Homemade small dry fruit laddoo (bite-sized).
Eat well and stay healthy!