Eating while cheating

Practically speaking, no one can and no one likes to lead a fully disciplined life. There come some moments in life, when one intends to deviate from the line, as no one can live under restrictions and instructions all the time.  Same is the case with eating habits. What we need to understand is how to keep a balance between various choices at such times. We may not control our cravings for sweet or some spicy food at some point of time. But what we need to understand is how or what portion of that particular tempting food we should eat. Therefore, at such juncture, we need to look for:

Make a wise choice

At such moments, our choice of food should be such that we should not have guilt feeling later on. There are times when we are on some outings and on seeing some tempting foods, we do not think twice before consuming it. Therefore, the main habit, which needs to be inculcated is to ask yourself a few questions before making any choices that what we are going to consume is only to fill up our intestines or is it going to give us some nutritional benefits also. Only then we can make a wiser choice of food like non-fried over fried ones or heavily sugar-laden over the lesser ones. Yes, this simple habit is the key trick and will definitely make us guilt free.

Avoid high G.I. foods

Food with high glycemic index such as white sugar, white flour, processed foods etc are the main culprits to spoil our diet plans if consumed in excess. Foods with high glycemic index release glucose rapidly as compared to the foods with low glycemic index. Foods with low G.I also help to keep us full for longer time and thus become instrumental in weight loss.

Measure your alcohol intake

Alcohol is generally considered as a hindrance in losing weight. Although as a dietician, I cannot recommend its consumption on a daily basis, yet in case of its craving at occasions, its consumption should be kept as bare minimum. Alcohol intake stimulates the appetite and there is a tendency of consuming wrong kinds of food with it. Many a time, fried or caloric foods are obvious companions of alcohol. Further calories in alcohol lack the requisite nutrients and additionally hasten the fat storage in our body. Which further slows down our metabolism.

Stay away from aerated drinks

Aerated drinks interfere with calcium, magnesium and other trace elements absorption. Cutting out these drinks leads to balancing of hormones in women leading to reduction in migraines and depressions. The worst combination is of junk food and aerated drinks which further raise our insulin levels. Such foods keep us full without giving any nutritional benefits. Therefore, healthy options like lemon water, jaljeera, tamarind water and buttermilk should be consumed.

Smoking does not help

There is a misconception that smoking helps in losing weight as it suppresses appetite and thus the smokers justify their action. But such kind of weight reduction with suppressed appetite and keeping ourselves starved for a longer time is not at all appreciable.

 (Renupreet Kaur is a Mohali-based dietician)