Balanced Diet: Key To Healthy Life

With "weight" being a topic of discussion everywhere, women today are becoming very conscious about their health and are willing to do everything possible to stay in shape. In a tete-a-tete with diet and nutrition experts, we find out the correct way to diet and watch your weight.

Nutritionist Pooja Makhija believes that in order to develop a healthy lifestyle, individuals must pay attention to their diet. "Unhealthy eating habits and a nutrient-deficient intake ruins health and productivity, thus paving the way for disease and lethargy," she says. Pooja gives tips on eating right and keep your body fit. The emphasis is on no starvation and a balanced diet which includes the correct combination of proteins, carbohydrates and fats, all important for correct nutrition and proper weight loss. The USP of Pooja's programme is the weight loss without starvation or wonder drugs. Most college girls, models and glamour professionals often starve to keep themselves in shape, leading to several serious eating disorders. However, nutritionist and weight loss consultant Dr. Simran Saini from Fortis emphasises on balanced diet and shares, "A balanced diet is one that contains different kinds of foods from different food groups in the amount required to provide the body with sufficient nutrition required for day to day activities and also overcome short period of leanness." Meanwhile, just following a balance diet only does not help in reducing the excess fat; Dr Simran also recommend some form of exercise which can be simple as brisk walking, that is suitable for people of all ages for improved level of fitness. Nutritionist Dr. Shikha Sharma believes that before suggesting diet, all diet experts should check the client's BMR, blood group and overall physical fitness. Blood group plays a crucial role while giving a diet to anyone, she says. Sharing more on this, Dr Simran adds, "Diets change with change in lifestyles. Celebrity diets are very different, like they need to nibble on easily available small snacks or mini meals to keep them going through hectic schedules with particular importance on maintaining high energy levels and mostly cleansing diets to keep them all pretty. Whereas common people concentrate on whole meals rather than small ones to keep themselves full for longer intervals. I have also seen that usually celebrities concentrate on physical activity and measures of fitness more than common people." Most people take weight loss or weight maintenance solely a tool to look good. But it should be understood that apart from weight loss, we need to concentrate on daily nutrition also. A healthy weight loss is half to one kilogram weight loss every week keeping good nutrition in mind. And weight loss thus attained will not only give us a sculpted figure but also a healthy body and mind. To attain speedy weight loss one should not resort to harmful or yo-yo diets which eliminate food groups thus causing many deficiencies in the long term. Such weight loss will bring more harm than good. Let this word of caution spread awareness among people. Giving tips for a healthy diet and to keep fit Dr. Simran suggests: - For a healthy diet, remember to eat different kind of foods, but remember that no food in excess is good for health. - Make sure to include fruits, raw vegetables as salads, and low fat milk as a regular part of your daily diet. - Remember to drink at least eight glasses of water each day and keep yourself well hydrated throughout the year. - Do not eat too much of high glycemic carbohydrates and among oils, stick to mono-saturated or poly-saturated oils such as olive oil and sunflower oil. - During winters, having a few nuts everyday is also a good practice.