Eating right is simple. It just takes the desire to do so, a bit of will power, and a little organization. If you are more interested in your well-being than how great fast food tastes, then you have “arrived”.
Being healthy & fit will make a profound difference on anyone's life, and that should be motivation enough to start your healthy diet and get going on the Yogic diet program—and to keep it up for life.
The first step is to go on a Detox diet under the guidance & supervision of an experienced Naturopath. It could be fasting or fruits diet for a period of 5 to 7 days. (Please do not try it on your own)
Thereafter, adopt a low calorie balanced diet on the following lines:-
A balanced diet means, a meal which provides all the required nutrients in the right proportions & that can happen only if you include foods from five different food groups in every meal.
- Whole Cereals & their products to give you good amounts of right carbohydrates, B vitamins & fibre
- Legumes, nuts & seeds(pumpkin / melon / sunflower, etc) to give enough proteins, good fats & micro minerals
- Some form of milk – milk, curd or butter milk to add to proteins & give calcium along with probiotics.
- Lots of fruits(at least 3 different fruits in a day) & cooked vegetables (300 - 400g / day) along with good amounts of green leafy vegetables (100g / day) & a cup of raw vegetables (100 - 200g / day) in any form you like – slices / cubes / salad / raita to get enough vitamins, minerals, fibre antioxidants, & phytochemicals.
- Minimum amount of any traditional oil used for cooking – less than 3tsp / person / day.
- Along with this, make sure you use minimum amounts of salt (not more than 1 flat tsp/person/day if you are normal & healthy & ½ of flat tsp of salt/person/day if you are hypertensive).
- The lesser you consume table sugar, the better. Replace it with jaggery or honey where ever possible & make sure this happens in small quantities & occasionally.
- Also make sure you get enough liquids in the form of water, tender coconut water, lemon juice with small amounts of jaggery, butter milk or vegetable soups.
A beautiful Sanskrit saying sums it all, which is the secret of our ancestor’s health and fitness
“Mita Bhuk, Hita Bhuk, Ritu Bhuk” – eat moderate amounts (it also means naturally sweet food), eat which is soothing (to the body and mind-not just to the tongue), choose only seasonal foods. Of course, lots of physical activity was added to this concoction. If this simple sutra is followed, no obesity or disorder can lurk around.
Once in a way if you are not hungry & feel like skipping a meal, please do so. It is healthy. But do it completely. Do not eat junk in the name of fasting or “not really hungry”. On the other hand, for some reason if you feel hungry on some day, do eat more without guilt
- Food not junk.
This article has been contributed by Ms Gauri Rokkam who is a practising Holistic Nutritionist and who leads the Department of Food Nutrition at Ajarya Yoga Academy.
