The New Normal of Fitness

For some people, it’s been an introduction to fitness while for some, it is all about enjoying and not counting calories. It is a golden opportunity to embark on a new fitness journey & regime that we otherwise could never start because of our hectic schedules and social lives. When it comes to nutrition, everybody has realized it is essential to build our immunity for that we all started having home remedies.

But is it enough? Having vitamins and minerals in the time of the pandemic is a good thing, but you cannot prepare yourself for the war during the war. The most important lesson to take away from here is that we need to keep following whatever we do even after this pandemic is over.

Few things that we failed to realize is that just by consuming immunity building foods, we will not gain anything. The preparation involves changing your lifestyle radically. There are a lot of intricate things that can change our overall health apart from the regular practices that we followed as exercising, eating healthy. Some important aspects that we never paid enough attention to are:

SLEEP– most of us have been binge-watching, binge eating at odd times during the lockdown, not realizing the effect it has on our body. Even if you are a fitness freak, it will not do you any good because it is essential to have a sound sleep and keep tension at bay.

MEAL TIMINGS– The need to eat junk is directly associated with irregular meal timings. If you eat your food every day at the same timing, you are less likely to gain unhealthy weight. The body gets organized and does not crave for unhealthy food.

JUNK FOOD – Due to the lockdown we hardly had outside food with our social groups. Sometimes we overeat because we have gone to the party. The need of the hour is to realize if our body needs too much good food or to avoid junk food. When keeping track of your body about how it feels after having simple home-cooked food. Light? Comforting? The tip here is to avoid junk food after we join our social lives back.

As a dietitian, I would suggest seeing this pandemic as an opportunity to develop a passion for fitness & it should become a lifestyle choice. We should not fall for something like a shortcut or a fad diet. Just take some time off and see where we are going wrong with our health.

What are the things we can change in our routine?
You eat the healthiest of all the foods that there is and it will not make a difference if you never focus on your gut health. It is your gut health that decides the health of your body. Eating right is not the only solution but maintaining meal gaps, starting your day with warm lemon water, and a handful of nuts, having food free from preservatives is critically essential. The pollution around us is already taking a toll on our health, so from our end, we need to be extra careful in making sure we are not eating from the box. Instant foods are instant damaging stuff. Pesticides and chemicals in food already create a lot of havoc in our gut. We have to factorize everything before making food choices.

Does it seem difficult to you?
It is simple, welcoming traditional lifestyle back is the answer. We need to put a habit in practice to start saying no to packed food, junk food, foods that are not from our habitat, food high in sugar & salt. This diet is not supposed to stop but become a part of your lifestyle. It is an adaptation. It is our fast pace lifestyle that changed the dynamic of food for us. Easy to make food, social gatherings have made us forget our core belief system of healthy home-cooked food. The tip is to actually simplify our food habits and not deprive ourselves of our traditional food habits and bring it back to our lifestyle.

For young parents, I would suggest avoiding giving them anything that comes from the market. Introduce them to all things that you have grown up eating. So, here I mention below some easy choices that you can make part of your daily diet:

• Khichdi
• Makhana
• Seasonal Fruits
• Buttermilk
• Ragi Kheer
• Moong Chaat
• A handful of nuts and seeds
• Sweet Potato
• Jaggery
• Peanut/Chestnut
• Beetroot
• Raita 

-By Dietitian Palak Kukreja