Dieting - Hits and Crashes

It is raining intermittently these days, and with the erratic weather, our food habits are changing as well. I work with several people of different age groups and one problem emerges as universal - the problem of controlling one's weight. What most people fail to understand, unfortunately, is that weight is only a number. It is the quality of weight in you that really matters.

You could be as light as a feather and still have an unhealthy disposition if all your body is made of is fat. On the contrary, if most of your weight comes from bone and muscle mass, you are sorted! While you can control a lot of your weight and figure by working out, your diet plays a large and important role in how successful you will be in your endeavour.

Crash diets mainly focus on getting you to lose weight. This weight loss, if sudden and immaturely planned, will inevitably come back soon after you are off the diet. Most fad diets eliminate a particular nutrient group from your meal. There are several low fat or low carb diets that find many takers. There are also high protein or fruit only or carb only diets. Every time you deprive your body of a nutrient, you fall prey to a disease or disorder. Your body's natural mechanism against germs reduces drastically.

What you should do instead is follow a balanced diet. Your breakfast must have complex carbohydrates such as oats or corn flakes which are harder to break down and digest, and keep you full until lunch. You must also eat generous portions of various fruits and vegetables for your daily dose of vitamins and minerals and fibre. Protein is another important nutrient which will help your body in its cell repair. And let us not forget water. Lunch and dinner should also have all nutrients in balanced proportions.

Many of us wonder how we can stay slim if we continue to eat everything. The trick is to replace poor items with nutrient rich ones. Replace your regular sugar with honey or jaggery. Honey Diet is an interesting way to keep enjoying sweet tasting items without ruining your health. You can add honey to milk, coffee, desserts, finger foods and also bitter gourd!

But don't stop at just dieting! Keep up your workout regime. A healthy body is made with good diet, good workout and also good rest. An important thing for vegetarians is to supplement their protein portions properly. Soya chunks, tofu, paneer, sprouts, broccoli, all have a lot of protein. Just make sure you add these to your meals. I am no dietician, but common sense teaches you a lot. Do not fall for fad diets. Use your own head. If you starve yourself, you will end up looking uglier and weaker. Be strong and beautiful. Eat well, jog well and sleep well!