fitness guidlines by Rujuta Diwekar- part 3

Hello! This blog is specially belonging to the ones who really want to change their lifestyle into a happy lifestyle! Happiness comes from health. So, here are few guidelines to lead fitness. Those are not myths and maths; scientific study says it. This blog is the summary of leading dietitian and fitness trainer of India, Rujuta Diwekar’s fitness project 2018.

Chapter Food

Summer drinks for different time of a day

One of the things we would traditionally do is changing what we eat or drink as per the season. As we now enter the summer season, you will notice that you either get lethargic, sick or fully acidic during this time. But the good news is that it doesn’t have to be like this. So, here comes, summer drinks for different times of the day.

Benefits of these traditional summer drinks - - Help reduce acidity and get rid of bloating. - Promote growth of healthy bacteria and nurture intestinal mucosa - Give a smooth, flawless complexion - Prevent UTI and fevers - Relief from chronic body aches and pains.

Following are the options –

1. Nariyal pani – mid morning. Preferably before noon. Helps keep the acidity and acne down. And if you get enlarged pores at this time of the year, add a small tsp. of sabja seeds to your nariyal pani.

2. Chaas – Just after lunch. Other than being a good source of B12, this coolant will ensure that you are not bloated in the second half of the day.

3. Nimbu sherbet– with early evening snack. Add salt, sugar, jeera and black pepper to your nimbu pani. There are many alternatives also - kesudo, vaala, kokum, variyali, bel sherbet. Body’s natural AC, these micro-nutrient rich sherbets won’t let you drop on your electrolytes or water soluble vitamins, especially important if you are a BP patient

4. Kulith (horsegram) – at dinner. If you feel you have lost your appetite or feel low on energy or are simply feeling too gassy, this is what you need. Either make a dal out of it and eat it with rice, or turn it into a pithla (like a soup) with dahi and just have that for dinner instead (every culture has a recipe for that). You will not just sleep better but also wake up with your skin feeling fresher and tummy flatter. Blame it on the folic acid and mineral rich Kulith, the super pulse of India. Also, very good option for those with diabetes or weak digestion.

Bring back the fats

Why? Essential fat is required for both the body and the functioning of the brain. Without adequate fat in our diet –

• We won’t be able to assimilate vitamins like Vitamin D, minerals and other essential nutrients from our diet.

• We won’t produce the right hormones and may suffer from poor joints and nerves. This role that fat plays is especially critical for children.

• The blood sugars will stay unregulated and there will be cravings for sweets after a meal.

• Skin can age prematurely due to lack of nourishment from food.

Bring back these 3 fats in your daily diet –

1. Tadka in kacchi ghaani oils-  Use oils native to your region – mustard for north and north east India, groundnut or teel for central and western and coconut for Kerala. Our native recipes are fine tuned to the fatty acid and nutrient composition of our oils and to make the best out of what we eat, we have to follow it in totality. Avoid oil free or fat free at all costs. And kacchi ghani (cold pressed) because then it means that oil is extracted at a lower temperature and therefore fatty acids, vitamins and other nutrients are intact

2. Coconut as garnishing- chutney, etc. From supporting gut health to helping you calm your nerves to soothing digestion, there isn’t one thing that it can’t do. The fact that its anti-bacterial, anti-viral is an added bonus. If you are the type that gets UTI every summer, don’t forget the coconut. So garnish your food with it, turn it into laddoos and barfis, make chutneys out of it, have the coconut malai and even the dry coconut with jaggery or just peanuts.

3. Cashews as mid-meal or with milk before sleeping- other than the good fat, its rich in minerals, amino acids and vitamins.

Chapter Exercise

Practice Suryanamaskar daily.

There are multiple benefits of suryanamaskar. It makes your back strong. It helps you calm the mind. Get you an ageless radiate skin. It is a hormonally balancing exercise

Basics of a Suryanamaskar practice –

• Choose a fixed place at home, preferably a well-ventilated one

• Fix a time to do it daily - sunrise or sunset are good times or you can even fix your time as pre breakfast or post bath, whatever works best

• Breathe normally and take your time to learn the correct posture, no rush

• One on right, one on left together make one round

Gradually increase suryanamaskar. Be consistent. Don’t take break even on Sunday.

Chapter Lifestyle

Kitchen rules 

Any conversation about fitness actually begins from our kitchen. That’s exactly the place from where health, harmony and happiness originate.

1. Reduce plastic - It releases estrogenic chemicals in our body and disturbs the ratio between our male and female hormones. Especially important if you have PCOD, adult acne or are a young girl at puberty.

Some quick places that you can start from –a

Use cloth bag instead of plastic bags to shop for vegetables and fruits.

 Avoid buying veggies and fruits that come individually packed in plastic or thermocol.

Use steel dabbas and malmal cloth for wrapping rotis, etc. - Use steel or copper water bottles for drinking water when traveling and not plastic bottles (including mineral water bottles).

 2. Bring back the iron kadhai -The iron kadhai is an important and undervalued source of iron in your diet. Cook your poha, upma and sabzis in it. Don’t forget to add the ghee or oil and spices and i bet you will never fall short of iron ever again.

Also, let go off the aluminum vessels and foils too. You can use stainless steel, pital and other varieties.

3. Heat, don’t microwave- First of all, if you are microwaving, that means you are just overcooking and then overeating, followed by overstoring and again overeating. So stop this vicious cycle and if you have to heat food, simply heat slowly on a flame.

Microwaving is harmful for the micro nutrients in the food as it quickly heats them at extremely high temperatures where their bonds break and they get oxidized and become toxic for your body. 
Also watch the video created from this blog on-
https://youtu.be/2-toxMg7T2E

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- Sayali Darakh Rathi