Don't lose your mind lose your weight - Rujuta Diwekar

Every time we talk about weight loss - we actually mean fat loss.
Stop worring about weight gain/loss. Manage your lifestyle - health will follow!

What diet is not:
Diet is not starvation. There is nothing like 'going on a diet'.
Compensation diet, detox diet are all bullshit.
Everything herbal is not good - Nicotine, Marijuana are herbal too!
Any diet program that discourages exercise is bullshit/worthless.
Human body is designed for continuous activity.
Avoid low fat / sugar free alternatives - they are mostly marketing tricks.
Avoid Juices - instead go for whole fruits - avoid using a knife - eat full fruits.
There is nothing like safe/ fattening food, everything that is eaten judiciously, at the right time in the right quantity is good.
Never go on diet - modify your lifestyle.

How to eat - relearn
Like our heart is size of our fist, our stomach is size of both our palms.
Fasting is a no-no. Like we cannot rest our heart - we should never rest our stomachs.
Our digestive system is at its best between 7-10am, it slows down after sunset.
Overeating is eating beyond one's capability to digest at that point in time.
Be attentive to your stomach while eating, don't overeat - know your threshold and stop just before it.
Don't eat to overcome boredom or as entertainment.
Guidelines:
*No phone, TV or computer while eating, serve small quantities and don't overeat.
*Drink a glass of water while eating, chew slowly and thoroughly.
*Don't rush off after eating, wait at table or rest for sometime.
Misunderstanding about wasting food - people think that leaving food behind is waste - answer is No. Serve the right quantity and eat right amount but if for some reason you cannot finish what you served - leave it. By over-stuffing, we are not going to help anyone - maybe we are going to do more harm than good.
5 Nutrients: Carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals
5 rules: Always eat fresh food, cook in small quantities, Eat whole vegetables/fruits, be loyal to genes, eat local produce.
5 senses: Eyes to enjoy watching the food, nose to smell fresh food, Skin to feel, Mouth to taste and ears to hear the silence/sounds of chewing.
6th rule: have a calm state of mind.
A restless mind converts most of the food into fat, restlessness seen as danger and lesser amount of digestive juices released.
Don't be bothered about how many calories a food has, how many calories a person is burning, what is weight of a person or the serving size of the dish, be sure that food has enough nutrients.

What to eat - rethink
Carbs - provide energy to our body. Brain needs carbs to think.
Glycemic index (GI) and Glycemic load (GL).
High GI Carbs get converted into glucose very quickly and hence fat.
Low GI have better chance of getting converted into energy and hence low fat.
In absence of carbs, fat cannot be utilised for energy.
Stick to low GI food, high GI only after workout or when body needs instant energy.
Type 2 diabetes is caused by consumption of high GI food, stress, obesity and lack of exercise.
High GI food like desserts will certainly get converted into fat if eaten with food, eat it a separate snack/meal it will get converted to energy.
When GI is high keep the GL very low.
Fruits - eat them early in the morning or as a snack when stomach is empty, don't eat with food - its fructose will certainly get converted into fat.
Alcohol - very high carbs, alcohol is foreign to the body and hence digestion is put on hold,while alcohol is being metabolized which leads to fat. Also alcohol is high on estrogen - the reason why some men do girly things when drunk. Alcohol puts fat around the stomach area. Avoid alcohol, but if you have to then eat something first and drink lots of water between drinks.
High GI foods - Biscuits, cakes, pizza, soft drinks, desserts, deep fired items, sugar, alcohol, all fruits, white rice, white bread.
Low GI foods - Wheat, jowar, bajra, ragi, idli, dosa items, lentils, besan, oats, barley, rawa.

Proteins- build and repair our body.
Amino acids are the building blocks our proteins.
IAA (Indispensible Amino Acids) and DAA (Dispensible Amino Acids).
IAA needs to be supplied to body via food, DAA can be manufactured by the body.
Methionine is an IAA that helps the body to increase the circulation of fat and hence converting it to energy (fat burning). It is found in fish, eggs, milk products and whey.
Glass of milk in the night helps in good sleep as it has tryptophan, which helps in relaxing the brain and inducing sleep.
Proteins help in converting exercise into an anti-aging activity.
Exercise without "Post workout meal of proteins and high GI carbs" is useless.
Feed extra protein to body - it gets converted into fat.
Feed less carbs to body - proteins get converted to energy, losing its purpose.
Balance diet is best.
Meat, Chicken, fish, egg white, banana, Milk products, soy, legumes- proteins.
Non veg high in fat and low in fiber. Avoid red meat. Soy is high on estrogen.
Protein deficiency leads to dark circles, chipped nails, hair loss, anger.
Protein supplement required when working out - try whey proteins.
Proteins are difficult to digest, a calm mind helps better digest proteins.

Fats
Stored food for bad times, survival need & process of evolution.
Eat fat to lose fat.
Anti-aging: maintain optimum weight, include healthy fats likes nuts, fish, diary fats.
Saturated fats are solid in room temperatures, animal fats are tough on body while diary fats are easy.
Unsaturated fats are liquid in room temp. EFA (Essential Fatty Acids) need to supplied via food.
MUFA (Mono Unsaturated Fatty Acid) - Olive oils, almonds, peanuts, peanut oil, rice barn oil, avocados - good for heart
PUFA (Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acid)
Omega 6 - sunflower oil, kardi oil, soy bean oils
Omega 3 - PUFA - Flax seeds, Walnuts, fish.
Trans fats - Converting unsaturated fats to saturated fat. Used in hotels and commercial food items. Avoid these as they increase LDL (Low Density Lipo-proteins) or bad cholesterol.
Fats are good for healthy heart, good looks, hair, skin. also reduces the GI of foods.
Avoid fats like - red meat, deep fried, desserts, biscuits, cakes, pizza.
Deep fried is ok as long as it home made from fresh oil (don't recycle) and once a month or so.
1 teaspoon of ghee per day per person is just fine.
Avoid using aluminium for cooking.

Vitamins & Minerals
These don't work in isolation, has to be part of food with carbs, protiens, fats and other vitamins and minerals. Coalition rules.
Vitamin A
Milk, dark leafy vegetables, orange / yellow vegetables and in liver and kidney.
Needed for immune system, eyesight, growth & development, antioxidant.
Vitamin D
Sunlight exposure produces Vit D, fish and egg yolks have Vit D.
Needed for calcium absorption, lack of which leads to bones and joint pains.
Vitamin E
PUFA sunflower oil, kardi oil, soy bean oils, Flax seeds, Walnuts, fish, asparagus, green leafy vegetables, berries, tomatoes.
Needed for protecting heart, keeps skin young, prevents nerve & muscular weakness and is powerful oxidant. Good after eating excessive fats.
Vitamin K
Green leafy vegetables, green peas, green tea, oats, whole grain
Needed for blood clotting, healthy bones, excessive bleeding during periods
Vitamin C
Fruits, vegetables
Needed for immunity,respiratory systems, powerful anti-oxidant, smokers, stressed out people
Vitamin B
Fresh fruits, whole grains, nuts, eggs, fish, cheese, curd
Needed for digestion, nerve functioning, prevents depression, FiberBrown rice, whole wheat, barley, ragi, jawar, bajra, legumes
Prevents constipation, regularize digestion, prevents over eating, zero calories.
Minerals
Calcium
Diary products, tofu, green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds.Needed for health of bones, joints, teeth, muscular contraction, blood clotting and controlling BP. Use supplements.
Iron
Meat, fish, eggs, bajra, jowar, whole grains, vegetables, fruits
Needed as it is part of hemoglobin which transports oxygen to from lungs to tissues and co2 from tissues to lungs
Selenium, zinc, chromium,magnesium, manganese, copper
Fish, egg, grains, fresh vegetables
Needed as they anti-oxidants, promote fat burning, prevents insulin insensitivity.
Zinc and chromium - good skin and hair growth, testosterone function, muscle growth
Supplements - Good for prevention of any diseases. Must for urban people.
Water
Water carries the nutrients within the body and is hence very essential.

The four principles of eating right
1. Never wake up to tea or coffee
Instead eat real food within 10-15 minutes of waking up which will increase blood sugar & energy levels which will increase metabolic rates which will burn more fat. Decrease acidity, bloating, reduces over-eating chances and less chance of getting fat.
2. Eat every 2 hours
Which will lead to a conducive environment in the body to burn fat, fewer calories converted to fat, active mind, flatter stomach.
3. Eat more when you are more active and eat less when you are less activeWhich will lead to body becoming efficient calorie burner, which will increase metabolic rate, which helps in staying energetic and lose fat.
4. Finish our last meal at least 2 hours prior to sleeping
Which leads to most of the food being digested before going to bed, sound sleep, body is free to do repair work, which will make fat burning effective.

Inculcating awareness
Information with awareness is useless, know when to eat your desserts. List all that you ate for 3 days and analyze it - 3 day diet and activity recall.

Crossing the bridge from knowing to doing
1. Wake up closer to sunrise
2. Eat within 10 minutes of waking up
3. Within an hour of meal 1,eat a nice home cooked breakfast
4. Eat every 2 hours after meal 2
5. Eat your dinner within 2 hours of sunset
6. Sleep at fixed time.

10 things to be careful about:
1. Refusing to learn from experiences
2. Believing that there is magical way to losing fat
3. Not taking care of yourself
4. Being critical of yourself
5. Eating too much at a time
6. Eating after a long gap
7. Taking a 'drink beer & laze around' holiday
8. Expecting results in first week
9. Overdoing it
10. Not realizing that there is much to life than your weight

10 things to do:
1. Cook something once a week
2. Maintain silence for sometime every day
3. Go without salt once a month
4. Wake up a little earlier than you do and sleep a little earlier too
5. Try to adopt a cross legged posture while eating
6. Squatting position in loo
7. Keep up your favorite hobby
8. Take a Himalayan holiday
9. Learn something new every year
10. Get your family and friends support you in your journey of getting fit.
Start Now!