Healthy Eating Tips for Diwali 2018

Festivals are carefree times. These are the occasions when you want to let go of all the limitations that were self-imposed for a better living. This inevitably includes restrictions on our regular diet in terms of no fat, less salt, more fibre etc. However, when the festival happens to be Diwali, there really is no holding back on food, sweets and the calorie-loaded goodies. At the end of the festivities, when life goes back to normal, it is time to revert back to the food restrictions along with hitting the gym a lot harder, to shed the extra kg.

These post-Diwali efforts can be cut down to a minimum if we follow a few tips to stay on track with what and how we eat during the celebrations.

Here are a few tips to help you eat right through this Diwali. Stick to these tips to help you enjoy Diwali, without the constant worry of putting on extra flab.

1) Find Alternatives:

Sweets, snacks and feasts are the norms for Diwali celebrations. Most of the sweets made for Diwali are sugar syrup based or have sugar as an integral part of their recipes. It is not so feasible to replace all the sugar content with jaggery or natural sweeteners like Stevie leaves or sugar-free sweeteners for healthy eating. However, it would be a good idea to make bigger batches of sweets and snacks made for diabetic people in the family, so that most of these snacks get consumed. This will automatically take care of curtailing the excessive sugar intake.

Alternatively, try baking some of the sweets and snacks like chakli, sankarpali, karanji, the potatoes for aloo tikki, baked samosas etc. Healthy eating is an individual choice.

2) Keep yourself hydrated:

A lot of sweet and salty snacks will eventually dehydrate your body. Especially during Diwali, most of us are so busy binging on the goodies, that we completely ignore the everyday water intake portion, recommended for healthy living. Keep your water intake high. If needed, set the phone reminder to help you track your day’s water intake at regular intervals.Unsweetened juices are also a good way of keeping the fluid intake on the higher side.

Drinking an adequate amount of water also curbs the urge to eat and gorge on the irresistible snacks and the goodies. This will not only help you eat less but also save you the extra efforts, that you will need to put in post-Diwali, to neutralise the Diwali feasting affects.

3) Relearn Portion control:

Most of us today, in urban India are calorie conscious. Hence portion control is a practice of everyday life. However, when it comes to Diwali, most of this control gives way. Hence with the festivities in full swing and mouth-watering delicacies spread out, it is time to relearn portion control in Diwali.

Portion control is not always easy. Here are a few tips to help you achieve the same:

• Help yourself to smaller plates ;
• Smaller plates will help you serve yourself portions;
• Avoid second helpings;
• Choose food that is low on calorie

4) Plan your meals:

Diwali is synonymous with happy get-together of friends and family over sumptuous foods and snacks. Eating out, indulgence in food and lavish meals for guests and families are the most usual ways of spending these holidays together with the loved ones. Unlike a usual day, Diwali meals inclusive of breakfast, lunch and dinner are rich in fat, sugar, salt and flour. If the temptations are too much to resist and you end up eating for the better part of the day, restrict your dinner intake. Or if you have a friend’s Diwali dinner party to attend, plan your meals for the day. Keep lunch and breakfast small and light. If it is a lunch you are attending, plan your dinners.

5) Make a choice to eat salads:

Salads provide our body with fibre. A nutritionist would advise salads to be eaten every day since it is the right way to eat. During Diwali especially, when we eat so much oil and ghee based food, cleansing the system becomes a necessity. This Diwali, make a conscious choice to include a lot of fibre in your food. When you have guests over for a Diwali feast, serve salads as well.

6) Cut down on your salt intake:

Salt intake is often restricted for weight loss. Salt makes it easy for the body to retain water, leading to swelling and weight gain. During the Diwali feasting, our body takes in a lot of both salt and sugar. This needs to be restricted. If you have a Diwali party planned up, keep yourself sugar and salt-free for the better part of the day.

7) Prepare Beforehand:

This is more about getting your system all cleaned up before the big celebration. Start eating healthy, lessen the intake of salt, hydrate yourself and load yourself up with fibres. A cleaned system from inside is a well a prepared system for the Diwali onslaught of sweets and snacks.