Daily diet: 10 dos and don’ts

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Are you sick of your vigorous exercise and low calorie diet? You might have lost five to six kilos but now does the needle of your weighing scale fail to budge? No need to worry. Quit few habits and see the change.

Processed cheese – It contains emulsifiers, more salt, food colouring and milk protein concentrate causing harm to the body. Eat cottage cheese, ricotta cheese or tofu instead without a guilt.

Tinned food – Fresh is always good and retains most of the nutrients. The most worrisome is the plastic coating inside the can, supposedly keep the food fresh. This plastic lining, according to studies, is poisonous.

Salt in salads – Don’t add salt to the salads. Instead squeeze a lemon or add a grind of fresh pepper.

Curries with dry fruits paste – While preparing rich gravies, avoid using pastes of cashew nuts, almonds, poppy seeds and melon seeds. They all have quite a good amount of calories. Instead add a dash of herbs and spices, roasted cumin seeds, kasuri methi or coriander leaves in these recipes when you make them with less oil. Avoid gravies in marriages and parties. Take the solid pieces, leaving the gravy.

Stuffed parathas in the breakfast – Lunching together with the family could be difficult as one spends a good time in working in office. But you can enjoy eating on the breakfast table with all. Make roti without oil. If you are making paneer paratha, eat vegetable raita with it to make up for the vegetable portion.

More cooked vegetables and less roti in lunch – The cooked vegetables have oil in them. It is better to eat half small bowl of vegetable with two chapattis rather than two small bowls of vegetable and one chapatti. Go for thin curry vegetables instead of thick gravies.

Tadka in dals during dinner time – You can eat one small bowl of dal without adding tadka with one chapatti without worrying. Add roasted cumin seed powder, red chilli powder and fresh coriander leaves to give the flavour. Avoid eating cooked vegetable as you cannot do anything to escape the oil in it. Compensate it with fresh cut salt free vegetable salad in bulk.

Fruits immediately after any calorized meal – If you are eating fruits after having a high calorie meal, you might be getting more calories than your body needs. Consuming too much calories even from healthy foods will lead to weight gain. Eat them at least an hour or two before or after meal.

Heaviest sweet dish in the parties – Don’t deprive yourself of the sweet dish in a party. Pick the lightest one and take very little quantity. Eat slowly enjoying every bite.

Normal diet in the next meal you took heavy food – After having enjoyed a rich meal, always remember to eat very light in the next meal be it lunch or dinner. May be just lots of fruits or soup and a toast with coriander chutney. It will make up for the extra calories you consumed in the meal before.

Fitness takes time, effort, strong willpower and dedication. Regularity is a must. Think constantly about your slimmer look and boost yourself with persistence. Plan your diet sensibly to reduce your weight further more. Eat small portions slowly in a small plate!