Long working hours, irregular eating patterns and no time to exercise, makes you pile on the kilos before you even realise it!

Sound familiar? So, you might try dieting, only to give up mid-way, or go on a crash diet, only to see the weight come right back on.

Let's get the facts straight.

Eating good healthy foods at regular times is the ONLY way to lose weight or stay fit, coupled with exercise of course, which we will be dealing with in the next article.

Fuel your body

Think of your body as a sophisticated machine that requires regular fuelling,with the best quality of fuel, for optimum performance.

Your machine needs to be fed with fuel five times a day. Now, if you feed it just twice, it's going to hold on to that fuel so that it lasts throughout the day, making it slow down.

If you feed your machine low-quality fuel, over time it will start malfunctioning and give you problems.

Now, draw a parallel to your body. If you don't give it food five times a day, your body will slow down, storing the food as fat since you are putting it in starvation mode.

Not only will you gain weight, but you will also be low on energy, lose concentration, and your stress levels will go up.

Feeding your body with low quality foods like fast foods, processed foods etc, will result in deficiencies leading to medical problems and superficial problems like weak nails, hair and dull skin.

A healthy eating plan

While it might be difficult to follow this initially, consciously make it a point to eat your meals, and on time, no matter what.

You will be eating three meals at work. When you eat, do just that and avoid any distractions.

Concentrate on enjoying your meal so that you don't overeat and the food is well digested.

~ Breakfast

BEFORE you leave for work, eat a wholesome breakfast. This will give you energy to start off your day.

• Bowl of cereal with skimmed milk. 
• Wholegrain toast with a low fat spread of your choice. 
• Egg white, preferably boiled or poached. 
• Fruit of your choice
• Tea/Coffee/Juice

~ Mid-morning snack

Mid-morning you need to perk up your mind and body again so munch on a handful of nuts of your choice. Nuts contain essential fatty acids. These are the fats that your body needs. So go ahead and eat them without feeling guilty.
You can also have some coffee/tea.

~ Lunch

Carry from home any of the following: 

• Roti with vegetables (cooked in olive oil) and salad. 
• Wholegrain sandwich with vegetables and/or chicken/fish. No butter or fatty spreads. 
• Whole wheat pasta tossed with vegetables and/or chicken/fish, cooked in olive oil

~ Early evening snack

This snack will once again increase your energy levels. Pick a fruit or a bowl of mixed fruits with a low fat yoghurt if you like. A milkshake made with just milk and fruit (no ice cream) also makes a good filling snack.

~ Dinner

When you get home, dinner should be light and easily digestible. If you are looking to lose weight have a combination of:

• Soup
• Salad (include lots of green leafy vegetables)
• A bowl of mixed, lightly-cooked lentils
• For the non-veggies, chicken or fish (roasted/grilled/baked/lightly cooked) substitute the mixed lentils.

For those who simply want to eat healthy and not particularly lose weight, you can add some carbohydrate to the above like (choose any one): 

• Whole wheat pasta
• Brown rice
• Whole grain bread
• Roti

Water-wise

Drink plenty of it through the day.

By following an eating plan of this sort, you are nourishing your body with essential nutrients at the time of day that your body requires them. This allows for good functioning of the body and the diet being low in fats, you will not gain weight.

Once you turn healthy eating into a habit and keep your weight in check, you can go on to enjoying the odd piece of cake!

However, diet alone is not enough to make you lose weight or keep fit. The body must do some amount of physical work regularly, just like a machine. If you don't work it enough, it will not work efficiently. Look out for the next article, which shows you how to get exercise while at work!

Next week: Exercise tips for working professionals