• If you think your life seems empty without the promise of dessert at the end of your meal, then swap fruits for your donut, or try a low-cal version of your favourite treat-cum candy.
Just don’t let yourself feel like you’re giving up on something when avoiding sweets. Instead, feel like you’re going to gain a higher quality of life and a fitter lifestyle!
• If you do have a treat, factor in the calories into your daily routine. That means if you want to have a 100-calorie serving of rasgulla/ gulab jamun/ kulfi/ halwa, you need to cut out 100 calories from another meal during the day.
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Let’s suppose you are taking 1 bowl of dal, 1 bowl of rice, 2-3 chapattis and some amount of salad in your meal. After that if you are willing to go for some treat, then cut down your rice content and substitute it with 1 small portion of sweet.
• Besides watching your caloric intake, keep an eye on how much saturated fat you consume in a day. Saturated fats are fats which are solid in room temperature like animal fats (ghee), cheese , butter and dalda. In general, you should limit your saturated fat intake to less than 15 grams a day, which will be hard if you’re eating a lot of junk food.
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So by all means enjoy your ice cream, just limit your consumption to two servings a week.
• Preferred sweets you can consume: When facing any sort of food cravings it is better to go for milk based steamed sweet dish, for example ras malai, saundesh, rabri, rasgulla, chhena payasam etc.
Sweets like gulab jamun, jalebi and others made of refined flour and processed through deep frying are loaded with lots of calories.
Q&A Courtesy Bipasha Das, a certified health coach and nutritionist. She runs a diet and wellness clinic ‘Sugati’. She has been awarded Most Recommended Nutritionist of the Year 2018-19 by Brands Impact. She has worked with top hospitals, and is a life member of the Indian Dietetic Association and on the panels of renowned corporate houses like Ericsson, GE Power. Bipasha is working with Municipal Corporation of Delhi - Public Health Department( South Zone) as a consultant, and creating awareness programmes on Women and Children Health, Health for Public Health Workers, Office Sedentary Workers etc.
*Answers are based on general queries. Please contact a professional for any personal treatment.
Share your queries - sugati.dietandwellness@gmail.com and poshanguru@outlookindia.com
