Enjoy the booze, the sloth, the endless party nibbles and still keep your health and weight in check by following these simple tips from diet and nutrition expert Dr Varun Katyal.
It's that time of year when extra calories lurk around every corner -- frosted cookies and plum cakes at home, eggnog at your friend's, boozing and snacking at a party or chocolates and candies in your stocking.
And once the feasting begins, it gets dragged on until mid-January when your jeans refuse to zip up.
So how do you indulge yet keep the kilos off?
Here are some suggestions from diet and nutrition expert Dr Varun Katyal... so you can enjoy the booze, the sloth, the endless party nibbles and still keep your health and weight in check.
Portion control
Basically, it's Christmas, it's time for celebration. So I won't say that don't have sweets, but some of the things could be that you could control your portions. In the sense that rather than eating a lot of sweets, you could probably cut down on the portions.
Eat before a party
The other thing is that before you leave for a party, you could have a bowl of salad, which kind of keeps you fill and you are not going to binge on a lot of wrong and unhealthy food.
Drink water
Since, it is winters, our water intake goes down and sometimes we don't distinguish between thirst and hunger. At times you are actually thirsty, but think it is hunger.
If you keep yourself well-hydrated by drinking a lot of water, you’ll cut down on eating unhealthy food or even eating unnecessarily.
Drink at least two and a half to three litres of water every day.
Go low cal
Replace cheese and butter with hung curd. It is tasty and very low in calories. Hung curd can be used in sandwiches; it can be used as a dip with vegetables and as a dressing for your salad.
Snack healthy
Another thing which is very helpful is to carry some roasted chana with you. That's very easily available everywhere. So, whenever you are hungry in between meals, you can use it as snacking options.
Busy people you needn't worry. Hectic schedules and full-time jobs don't have to get in the way of your weight loss plan. Here are some hacks for you to get past the roadblocks.
It is very important to drink enough water. You should drink one glass of water before every meal and one glass of water after every meal. This ensures that if you are having 3-4 meals a day, you are drinking at least 8 glasses of water because a lot of times when you are busy, you forget to drink water.
Carry some healthier eats for eg digestive Marie biscuits or oats biscuits. You can even carry roasted makhanas, so that when you are hungry you don't opt for unhealthy food.
Any diet which is balanced is effective.
There are five nutrients, which should be included in every meal to make it a complete one. They are carbs or carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals.
Any diet which tells you to cut off any of the nutrients, in my opinion, is not a sustainable one and is not really helpful in the long term.
Following a balanced, healthy, nutritional diet and losing weight slowly is more sustainable than taking a short cut.
ALSO SEE
20-minute workout to keep you from gaining weight
How to stay fit this party season
Lead image used for representational purposes only.
Photograph: liz townley/ Creative Commons
> More health and fitness features here
