THE DIET DILEMMA

(AND 6 ACTIONABLE THINGS TO DO INSTEAD!)

The Atkins Diet. The Paleo Diet. Ketogenic. 3-day Chemical. 7-day Bikini Body. Cabbage Soup and Tears of Hopelessness. 

Okay, the last one’s made up. But other than that, if you live in a (fairly) cosmopolitan town or city, with access to global trends in fashion, lifestyle and wellness, chances are the above names sound familiar to you. 

Our social environment, both digital and physical, has made it such that we are constantly bombarded with different diets, endorsed by different celebrities, all of whom earnestly swear by the positive results of their respective money makers. After all, the business of beauty runs in billions of dollars, so why stop until every conceivable ideology, no matter how ridiculous, is shared with the masses?

The good news is that gen-now is changing ideas that have been harboured for decades. It’s a long road and a slippery slope but more of us are now turning to healthy over skinny, strong muscles and bones over visible collarbones; and are more concerned about the wage gap than the thigh gap!

So in the spirit of promoting great health and adapting seamlessly to a wellness-led lifestyle over a diet-driven one, here are our top tips that you can weave into everyday life, barely notice a difference in effort, yet an incredible one in overall fitness and happiness levels!

1. Follow the Intuitive Diet

  - yes, I know we just harped on about not following diets, but bear with us on this! All you have to do here is eat and drink what nourishes our bodies, minds and souls; what “feels good”, not for the few minutes on the tastebuds, but in energy levels, gut health and mental state. This needs to be decided by what our bodies tell us, and not be a dictate of a supermodel or actor whose livelihood revolves around telling us what works and what doesn’t. But the trick here is to really listen, feed that occasional craving in a healthy and sustainable way without – and this is super important – any guilt at all! Practice this mindfully over time and there’s no way it won’t yield results that are better and longer-lasting than fad diets.

2. Belly Breathing

– an incredibly vital aspect of great health and ironically, most of us don’t even know how to do it right! Do this everyday – sit with your back straight, put your hand on your belly and deep inhale till you feel your belly rise to its maximum capacity. Let the oxygen spread through your body for about 10 seconds before you release. Repeat 5-6 times and do this multiple times over the course of the day. A great way to eat mindfully is also to belly breath for 6 repetitions before beginning. Breathing correctly not just stimulates the breakdown of fat from food we eat, but also helps us feeling more satiated from meals.

3. Add Raw Food to Each Meal

- Cooked food with oils, salt, and other additives tends to deplete the nutritional value of most of our meals. Counter this by adding a generous dose of raw food along with your cooked ones. If you like, you can remain raw till lunch and eat fresh fruits (which should ideally be consumed by themselves and not paired with other heavy foods). Salad, raw vegetables, sprouts, nuts and seeds are a great way to get in your daily dosage of raw ingredients. Try starting off with 30% of your daily meals including raw foods, and then work your way up to 50% if you find it working for you.

4. Add These to Your Diet and Lifestyle

Fermented foods for great gut health; raw cold pressed oils instead of refined ones; 500 ml room temperature water shots with lemon juice through the day (except for 30 minutes before and after meals); raw potato juice on an empty stomach; oil pulling with coconut or sesame oil every morning.

5. Portion Control 

Yes, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing! Often we perceive “healthy” as a free pass to eat however much we want, and in turn it becomes our kryptonite. So, its super that you’re reaching for those nuts and seeds instead of sugar-laden biscuits with your evening chai; but be aware of the quantity you consume.
A great hack for this is to opt for the Nutty Gritties mini packs which are designed keeping exactly this in mind.

6. Smart Snacking

When you crave foods that are excessively sugar, salt or preservative-laden, chances are your body is signaling its hunger for some real vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. All of which can be found in Nutty Gritties dried fruit and roasted nuts - yes even the flavoured ones! Without a single drop of oil and an ingredient list that doesn’t read like a chemistry-experiment for a change, Nutty Gritties are chock-full of everything that your body’s craving and will thank you for. So whether you feel your stomach rumbling around midnight; or you need a 4 PM pick-me-up; or something to boost your workout, a Nutty Gritties mini pack is your answer to snacking that’s light, nutritious, durable and yet so delicious (hence the need to create mini packs! 

Here’s the thing, life is more than a dress size or getting a bikini body. And it's so heartening to see that more of us are finally embracing our long-standing enemies – our own bodies! So we need to keep being kind to it, listen to it and feed it exactly what it needs.

See, the end goal is to feel healthy, happy and fulfilled whilst simultaneously achieving our wellness goals. If we can do this, with a fair share of fun, wine, chocolate and positivity on our journey, then safe to say, there’s no looking back!