Have a glass of water between every drink.
Eat some carbohydrates one hour before you start drinking.
Avoid eating fried, high salt, sugary, baked snacks along with the drinks, suggests Khushboo Jain Tibrewala, nutritionist and founder of The Health Pantry.
As we enter December, our schedule suddenly gets packed with weddings, parties, dinners and vacation plans.
With all this merriment comes the underlying stress of gaining weight, glucose levels going haywire, muscle loss and your gut going out of whack.
Interestingly, this is also the time when most nutritionists find themselves having the 'getting through December conversation' with their clients.
While December can be intimidating for every health enthusiast, you power through with just a few easy guidelines.
The aim is to:
- Maintain gut health
- Prevent fat gain
- Curb muscle loss
- Maintain overall health
Here at 10 simple rules that will keep you healthy through the festive season:
1. Start your day with one litre of hot water.
2. Drink a shot of celery, lime and ginger 30 minutes before breakfast.
3. Stick to gluten-free meals as often as possible. This means you steer clear of bread, roti, random snacks, bready dishes like pizza (unless it is sourdough), crackers, etc.
If staying gluten-free at parties is tough, try and stay off it at home without fail.
4. Make one meal of the day a combination of cooked and raw vegetables, nuts and seeds and some protein.
This can be a simple salad with lettuce, roasted vegetables, cucumber, bell peppers, chopped almonds and boiled chickpeas or hummus.
This could also be a simple dal and veggie broth with pumpkin seeds in it. This will ensure you get your quota of dietary fibre, thus, maintaining your gut.
5. On days when the party or wedding was crazier than usual, it’s a great idea to have a simple vegetable khichdi with ghee the next day for lunch. This will help your body recover.
6. Be smart with alcohol.
- Try and avoid sugary beverages and cocktails. Use kombucha if you need the fizzy and sweet flavour.
- Have a glass of water between every drink.
- Eat some carbohydrates one hour before you start drinking
- Avoid eating fried, high salt, sugary, baked snacks along with the drinks. Tandoori vegetables, hummus with veggie sticks, dimsums, edamame kind of snacks are perfect.
7. Spend 30 minutes doing stretches or yoga that is asana heavy.
8. Hydrate hydrate hydrate! Drinking 3 to 4 litres of water through the day is crucial to prevent unnecessary binges and to maintain gut health.
9. Carry some nuts with you when you are out and about through the day. A fistful of pistachios or peanuts here and there is perfect to keep you full and give you good fat that will keep you satiated and your blood glucose levels stable.
10. Add one tbsp of flaxseed power in hot water and drink at bedtime.
These 10 simple rules will ensure that you power through December like a champion!
Khushboo Jain Tibrewala is a nutritionist and a diabetics educator.
She holds a BSc in applied nutrition, a post graduate diploma in sports science and fitness nutrition along with certifications in gut microbiomics, certified by the National Diabetes Educator Program.
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