Eat Healthy to beat Festive Calories Blues

Festive season just passed and you may have compromised on your diet during festivities. Even a handful of palatable festive sweets and snacks whether homemade or from the market put your diet plans at risk and promote unwanted weight gain. So, how can you get back on track when it comes to having a healthy diet and a fit lifestyle? Let’s discuss the same below.

 

 

Eat a variety of foods

To attain desired health, you need to have more than 40 various nutrients which you can’t find in any single food. So, go for a variety of food from meat, vegetables and fruits to have a balanced diet. You can have a high-fat lunch, however make sure your dinner is low on fat.

Go for unsaturated fat

Fats offer amazing health benefits and also help in proper functioning of the body. But, having too much fat in your food may affect your weight and cardiovascular health. Various fats offer different health effects, read below to learn how you can have fat in the right way:

    • Limit consumption of total and saturated fat (which often comes from foods of animal origin) and avoid trans-fats completely. Reading products’ labels is the key to identify the ingredients.
  • To have right intake of unsaturated fat, eat fish 2-3 times a week. At least one serving of it must be oily fish.
  • While cooking, you should boil, steam or bake, instead of frying. You should also remove fatty part of meat and must use vegetable oils.

Fruits & Vegetables promote health

Vitamins, minerals and fibre aid health well. Vegetables and fruits offer you them all. To boost your health, you should try to have at least 5 servings per day. For example, have one glass fresh fruit juice in breakfast, an apple and two bananas as snacks and enjoy a good portion of various vegetables in every meal.

Avoid junk food & try dry fruits

Junk and traditional food consumption is all-time high during festive season. You may have craving for traditional and junk food in the normal days as well post Diwali which may mar your health. Hence, calm your traditional and junk food cravings with healthy dry fruits and nuts. Cashews, pistachios, walnuts, almonds, raisins, figs, etc. are healthier alternatives to traditional & junk food. Also, you can’t claim dry fruits and nuts not being tasty. But beware! Don’t eat too much of nuts and dry fruits as they may upset your stomach and skin.

    • Stay Hydrated

Secret to stay healthy whole year is as simple as drinking water. Yes! Make sure to drink 10-12 glasses of water every day. It will help you in flushing out toxins from the body and will prevent overeating.

    • Don’t forget to Exercise

Finding time to exercise may seem an uphill task to you while working or studying. However, you must prioritize exercising to avoid any guilt of weight gain later. So, wake up early in the morning, do a quick high-intensity workout for 20 minutes or go for a 30-minutes walk to shed those extra calories.

    • Stay away from Aerated Drinks & Alcohol

Your friends or colleagues may offer you aerated drinks and alcohol at social gatherings. Don’t buckle under peer pressure to drink – just politely say “No”. If you drink, simply limit your consumption or if you can, just abstain from it completely. Instead, go for water or fresh juice to quench your thirst and boost your health.

    • Fool your Cravings

If you can’t seem to curb your cravings for sweets and snacks at parties, then try to fool your taste buds and stomach by drinking water before eating & enjoying traditional food in smaller plates. This way you will be able to enjoy any food keeping health worries aside and may feel more joyful.

Content Reviewed by – Asian Hospital Medical Editors
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