This blog is written by our prolific fitness blogger Pritam as a sequel to his previous blog of “Myths vs Reality : Exercise”. His quirky style of writing is appreciated by our readers. So on reader’s demand we bring his new enlightening personal anecdote on diet.
One of the shortest and the most meaningful anecdote must be: “Diet or Die-eating” – Two extreme conditions!
Channing Pollock Quotes. “No man in the world has more courage than the man who can stop after eating one peanut.”
Dieting is the most underrated skill one possesses! So, believe me; dieting is as challenging as lifting those heavy weights in the gym. It is not easy!
Murphy's law: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."
It surely went wrong when ‘the nature’ decided a broccoli will be less tasty than an ice cream and a burger will be tastier than carrots! Life would have been much simpler if healthy stuff tasted nicer than the so-called unhealthy ones! Alas, but life is a continuous struggle and we have to cope with it!
In my previous article on “Myths v/s Reality about Exercise” (https://www.fittq.com/fittq-blog/myths-vs-reality-exercise), I mentioned that ‘diet’ has 70% contribution in achieving your health-related goals. I am not a dietician and also there is ample material available on the internet about healthy eating habits, foods to avoid, when to eat what and so on. But I am sure this blog will at least guide you towards right eating habits.
But let us unequivocally accept one thing before we go into detailing of healthy diet, a good diet plan does wonders to your health, both physical and mental, it really does! So, as there is no alternative to regular work out, there is no alternative to a good and healthy diet plan. It is a big myth that eating less would make you weak!
I can tell you from personal experience.
I was on 3 months work related trip to Malaysia – Truly Asia.
Eating out every day and at times irregular meals added a lot of flab around my waist. I was feeling terrible about myself, my confidence was all time low and I had no control on my feelings. I became short tempered and basically everything around me looked gloomy and dull.
Immediately after returning home, I decided to do something about it. The first thing I did was joining a reputed gym with a good personal trainer and first time in my life I hired a ‘dietitian’!
Yes, a paid diet plan to go along with my hectic workout schedule. It is 360 degrees shift when you pay to starve rather than pay to eat unhealthily!
A good dietitian who understands your physical and mental condition, your metabolism and your existing eating pattern, will surely do wonders to your plan slightly altering your diet routine. Opting for a good dietitian is as important as finding a good personal trainer. Fortunately I came across FittQ.com and got quickly fascinated by the kind of offerings it has.
Luckily my dietitian at FittQ.com also believed in eating small meals 5 to 6 times a day rather than eating 2 meals of 10-12 hours apart. [Note by Team FittQ : The diet defers per individual.]
My day started with a spoon of fenugreek seeds soaked in a glass of water, previous night with my favorite dry fruits viz. dates, almond and some walnuts.
I was asked to reduce one chapati from my breakfast (from 3 to 2) and was asked to avoid yolk from my egg omelette. I am addicted to tea so a cup of tea without sugar was allowed in breakfast.
A small fruit would be my mid-morning snack.
Basic idea of eating 5-6 times a day is that you should never feel “full” after every meal and still feel hungry before your next meal.
The best thing about my diet plan is eating only one type of carbohydrate in each meal (which I never believed can make a huge difference to your metabolism). I used to eat chapatis with vegetables followed by rice with lentils! It sounds too much in one meal now after either rice or chapati is replaced with a big bowl of salad. Myth busted – You do NOT need a 3 courses meal nor do you need “panch pakwanne” in your plate!
It helps me to feel fresh after my lunch or dinner and I do not feel “full”. Even if you eat 80% of your total capacity in each meal, you will start feeling fresh and energetic rather than lazy and heavy.
A glass of butter milk or a cup of green tea would help calm you down a bit at around 3 pm!
Pre-work out snack can be the unhealthiest snack (this is not mandatory though) of the day! You can eat something that you love and you would burn it out with heavy work-out! A small sweet or tea with sugar maybe, if you really cannot resist or change your habits immediately.
Make sure you pump iron with more rigor remembering that you had eaten a sweet just an hour back ;)
Post work out feast would be a protein shake and some white eggs (vegetarians read – soya milk)
Last meal of the day could be repeat of lunch with a chapati less and compensating it again with good bowl of salad.
In four months, I had reduced a considerable weight rather excess fats and had started feeling fresh and ever so confident!
Eat as much as green vegetables as possible. Say no to processed food. Accept that too much sugar and deep-fried food is not good for you! Also, it is very important to be very happy when you eat, eat slowly, chew your food nicely and respect the food on the table.
It would be almost criminal to not mention about the ‘cheat day’! Yes, on your cheat day there is no harm in eating and extra chapati or couple of spoons of gajar ka halwa but of course never over-do it.
As mentioned in the beginning, if you want revolutionary changes in your physical and mental health, 70% weightage or contribution is of a good diet plan and 3 to 4 times a week work out is a must and then Bob is your uncle!
(The views on diet are personal views of the author and FittQ doesn’t endorse them. As per the diet science there can not be fixed diet for all and at FittQ our Diet experts give diet as per the body type and fitness requirements of an individual. Visit our site: https://www.fittq.com/ or Call: 9892866356 for a detailed diet plan.)
This blog is written by Pritam Sarnobat, Engineer & MBA by education and Accidental Salesman by profession. Globe traveller, Squash challenger, Sports enthusiast and free spirited fitness blogger.
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