Eat right, look fab

Mona

Picture this; 9 am: Egg whites and green tea, 1pm: Kale avocado salad, 6 pm: Chicken and veggies, 11pm: Maggi and a tub of ice-cream... such diet fumbles are the order of the day! Then there are those who follow every trending diet pattern diligently. Check out a few of them here.

The Ketogenic diet

If you don’t live under the rock, by now you must have known about this ‘low carb high fat’ diet’s miraculous results. Originally designed for epilepsy patients, the trick is to turn fat into the burning fuel! A very low-carb diet (daily intake less than 20gm of total calories), it has adequate protein (20-25 per cent of total daily calories) and high fat (65-70 per cent of total daily calories), which puts the body in ketosis, forcing it to burn fats.

Be watchful: Recently it has come under radar for spiking sugar, funky breath, foggy head and being exhaustive. 

Low carb-high carb diet

Popular with body-builders, this ‘carb cycling’ diet follows surplus carbs one day followed by low carb the next and so on. If your calorie requirement is 2,000 a day, you take 3,000 cals from carbs on day one and reduce it to a 1,000 the next. Aids in weight loss and gain lean muscle! 

Be watchful: An extreme diet, with tricky measurements; it’s not everyone’s cup of tea

Scandinavian diet

Called the ‘simplest’ diet in the world, this one weighs everything in handfuls. Divided in four portions – one handful of carb and protein, two of vegetables, plus a spoon of fat makes this slightly sustainable diet.

Be watchful: One might fight the feeling of not being full!

Intermittent fasting

Long periods of fasting, followed by calories’ overload is ‘intermittent fasting’! This one creates 12-18 hour fast followed by consuming calories for remaining hours of the day. Fast and feasting method spikes metabolism. 

Be watchful: Periods of fasting difficult to maintain.

Mono diet

Done in a three-day cycle, this goes: Day 1: only fruit, Day 2: only vegetables, Day 3: only liquids. And, by Day 4 one is supposed to have lost 1.5-2 kgs. With the same type of food through the day, one ends up eating way less. Popular with those aiming at bikini body, this is one quick fix.

Be watchful: Can cause major nutrient deficiency.

(Inputs from dietician Pooja Verma and clinical nutritionist Neena Luthra)

---

Expert advice

Intermittent fasting has worked for me fabulously well; I gained the body I wanted in a 30-day cycle. Low Carb High Carb for a week has also helped me, but I strongly recommend one should do it under supervision. 

— Kunal Sharma, Body By Creation, ACE certified trainer  

Look wise

I bank on Keto. Extremely low-calorie, its rigid water intake to look your best for the shoot is a professional hazard that I have started enjoying now. — Shubham Sharma, Fitness Model

Maintain balance

Being in the glamour industry, I have to at times give into harsh diets to look a certain way for a role. But that’s very time-specific. In routine, balanced diet is the right approach to look and feel fit. — Tamana Sodi, Actor