Easy ways to lose weight , gain health

1. Say no to packaged foods, market goodies or restaurant dishes. Simplify food and switch to fresh Indian , light and healthy meals every time possible.

2. Remove sugar from diet - take natural sugar from fruits, dry fruits etc. and avoid white sugar every-time possible. If you take tea/coffee, replace sugar with 'saunf', honey or 'jaggery' as an alternative, in the same order of preference. Reduce sweets intake to small quantity and frequency e.g. a small portion taken once a week. Please, check this post too.

3. Chew well, each time you take in food, chew until it becomes liquid in your mouth. When you take in liquids, have them in mouth for few seconds, before gulping, so that the saliva mixes well. The more the food is chewed, good part of digestion is immediately accomplished and the less possible it is to gain weight.

4. Add sufficient fruits, raw vegetables to diet. Have a meal of raw food only, once a day. You may add sprouts, a juice but avoid adding sugar/salt,/grains,/oil to raw-food meals, to keep them light & simple, for digestive process.

5. Do fasting once every 1 or 2 weeks.
One way to do these fasts is: 

a. Take juices, fruits and raw vegetable salad during the day and have 1 light, vegetarian meal at the end of day. 

b. Another way of fasting is to take only liquids e.g. juices (no tea/coffee/milk/salt/sugar/grains/oil) during the day and in the evening, take a fruit first, followed by a light meal.

c. Intermediate fasting of  around 14 hours daily, for example might work good to control weight at a steady pace. This is preferred by some people.

These are just examples and there can be different ways of planning fasting diet.
One can plan her own variation of fasting, depending on which health benefit she / he is seeking.

6. As a well known fact , add some physical work , yoga, pranayama, walking and sports to schedule regularly, as possible.

7. Carbs and Fats, do increase weight, when taken in excess (more than required for metabolism and  day-to-day processes of body/mind system). Keeping them reduced in diet, is suggested, (for short time-period,) while trying to lose weight. 

Reduce sugar, at a comfortable pace

If one can reduce sugar intake - that's a definite way to improve health in multiple ways.

Following suggestions have been seen to work good:

1. Have a dish or drink without sugar, whenever possible e.g. Fruit juices or herbal tea, without sugar

2. If needed please replace with natural sugar - raisins or 'kishmish', fennel seeds or 'saunf', dates, honey etc. 

For e.g.  a. If taking porridge add small quantity of organic honey or dates, 

b. Use natural 'saunf' instead of sweet mouth freshner.

3. If above are not possible , you may add little jaggery (organic) or 'mishri':
For e.g. while making sweet dish like 'kesari bhath' or 'halwa' (pudding), you may want to add few raisins or dry dates in the mix. For sugary taste, some 'gud' or rock sugar are better instead of regular processed sugar, that we generally use in kitchen.

The idea is to keep checking on better, healthier, more natural possibilities, every time, as possible. 

4. If one still needs to take sugar sometimes - Brown sugar or organic sugar without sulphur are better alternatives to white sugar
e.g. With milk, you may want to add little mishri or organic sugar if needed instead of jaggery. 
Avoid white sugar at all times, when possible.

5. Please , avoid sweets from market, to protect your health, whenever possible. You can eat home made sweets, in small quantity.

If on some event or party, you do end-up taking sweets from market or homemade delicacies, please limit the quantity to a piece or two, only.


6. Sweets made with ingredients which contain Carbohydrates, fiber and/or good fat (like 'deshi' ghee or pure, cold-pressed oil), take more time to digest and thus should not cause blood sugar spike, generally. Such Ayurvedic or grannies cooking recipes may be a better choice, as compared to making fast food or just sugary items.

Sweet dishes lacking healthy ingredients like good fat, nourishing Carbs & protein are better avoided.


7. Fruits like Jamun (black plums) , oranges, apples, grapes, pears, strawberries, peaches, lemons have low Glycemic index and Glycemic load values. 

E.g. Lemon juice, when consumed along with a food with a high GI, can slow the conversion of starch to sugar, thus lowering the food's GI. 

If less sweet fruits with low GL, are consumed along-with or as next meal (after the sweet), they can help to balance, extra sugar intake.

8. Avoid sweets with chemical ingredients: Most manufactured products like cookies, cakes, confectionery candies etc. have chemicals added for taste, color, shelf-life etc. These might have their harmful effect on health, additionally. Please, be careful.

Above suggestions  can help to reduce sugar comfortably and prevent or control Diabetes , while still enjoying tasty dishes, occasionally.

One piece of sweet at a frequency of once in a few days, can be allowed for most people, generally. This helps manage any cravings of taste and may be necessary for mental-emotional satisfaction, too.

Take Charge of Sugar intake 👍