Nutrient timing

This is an important concept that is neglected by most people with health or weight issues. It is not only important ‘how much’ and ‘what’ to eat, but also what to eat ‘when’. Our grandparents followed the nutrient timing principle without ever being conscious of it. And we are aware of some basics too. For instance, we know that breakfast is the first and most important meal of the day, but in today’s fast-paced world, we often eat anything we can lay our hands on in the morning or, worse, we skip breakfast. Then there is ‘brunch’—used as a style statement, but is actually one of the worst eating habits.

Ideally, you should be having your first meal within 60 – 90 minutes after you wake up. In the first one hour, make sure you get maximum healthy antioxidants [They are best absorbed on an empty stomach]. Because you have been starving your body of macro nutrients such as carbohydrates since the previous night’s dinner, you need to fuel your body properly in the morning. Too long a gap between waking up and breakfast will lead your body to catabolise or break down your muscles for energy.

Likewise, if the gap between breakfast and lunch is a long one, it will lead to cravings. To keep them at bay, you need to have a healthy, high-protein, low-glycaemic index, low-carbohydrate, optimum-fat and fibre-rich snack. If that seems like too many variables to take care of, don’t worry. A small bowl of sprouts with veggies and chicken/cottage cheese or a whole grain sandwich with vegetables and chicken/cottage cheese is all you need.

The best time to have your lunch is between 12:30pm and 2:30pm, but you can have it later if you adjust your day accordingly.

If you work out, you need a protein and carbohydrate-rich meal at least 30 to 45 minutes before your session. After your workout, there is period of 45 minutes called the anabolic window in which the body is most receptive to nutrient absorption. A liquid protein and carbohydrate meal, for e.g. whey protein in water is the best thing to have in that window. When it comes to dinner, keep it light and try to have a gap of at least three hours between dinner and bedtime.

Nutrient intake

We discussed the optimal times for nutrient intake. Now let us look at what foods we should be eating at those times. Once you get up in the morning, the first thing you need is not tea or fruits, as some dieticians believe, but water. And, not water with lemon or honey added, but plain water. Once you’re done washing up in the morning, have green/white/black tea or black coffee with lemon or a vitamin C tablet. The antioxidants from both will be fully absorbed on an empty stomach.

As part of your first meal, having a fruit isn’t a great idea. For that matter, any form of high-GI [glycaemic index] food isn’t good to eat first thing in the morning as your body is deprived of carbohydrates after a night’s sleep. So any form of simple carbohydrates will spike your blood sugar levels, raising your insulin levels in turn, mistakenly signalling to the brain that you’re starving, so the carbohydrates consumed then will be stored as fat instead of being used for energy. The sharp rise in blood sugar will also later lead to a crash at an equally fast rate making you feel hungry and give you cravings soon after you’ve had your meal.

A good breakfast should comprise of high protein as research has shown that proteins in a meal not only curb the sharp rise in blood sugar but also keeps you satiated for longer, thus preventing food cravings and hunger pangs. A low GI carbohydrate source such as oats, multi-grain breads and poha [flattened rice] along with protein-rich foods such as eggs, cottage cheese and milk are the best option. Add some nuts to it and you have one of the healthiest breakfasts possible.

As mentioned earlier, you can have sprouts or a multi-grain sandwich as a snack between breakfast and lunch. For lunch, have a home-cooked meal and make a habit of eating a bowl of curd or drinking a glass of buttermilk along with it. Before your workout, if you’re doing a session of weight-training or HIIT [high intensity interval training], then a fruit with black coffee and a vitamin C tablet is all you need. For dinner, avoid carbs and have lots of proteins, salads and soups.

These suggestions are for an average person and your mileage may vary. But when you follow them, you will see and feel a profound difference in your body within a very short span of time. These are not faddish recommendations but is solid advice that can be the basis of healthy eating for life.

The post When and what to eat the whole day for optimum health appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Were you always on the heavier side or did you gain weight during your show Highway On My Plate?

Rocky: I was a national level hockey and football player and I boxed as a boy. So, being healthy and fit was a part of life for me. But you could say that I gained some kilos during the show.

Mayur: We grew up very active, and back then fitness was a way of life instead of the buzzword that it is today. The air was clean, the food and water was uncontaminated and exercise involved playing out in the open at least four hours a day. I was 78kg when we started HOMP in 2007. At my peak during HOMP I was a 104kg. So yes, I suspect it’s an occupational hazard. [winks]

Tell us about your new show Get Fit

Rocky: The show takes the two of us, a bit overfed, and puts us to work. We realised, “If we could do it then anyone could do it.” Apollo hospitals was working on a great public initiative for people to take better care of themselves. So we joined hands with them to show people how we do it. The show puts us through the paces and makes people realise that fitness is a good thing. Hopefully our journey will inspire people to start their own. Each person’s journey to health is unique and here’s hoping that people find the fitness route that’s best for them in order to get fit. Physically, I felt we were slowing down. When energy levels dip in our line of work, it’s usually the end of the line. So to make sure the free food kept coming our way for longer it was important to get into a better shape—and it is helping like you would not believe.

Mayur: Get Fit is correct. It’s not just “get thin” and it’s not about binge diets and random spurts of activity. It’s about a gradual and sustainable change in lifestyle. Pruning the excess six laddoos one at a time. [laughs]

Why we’re doing it? Do the math… get fit, live longer and eat more. Five years of life extended is equal to at least 1500 meals more and if even five per cent of that is a binge then that’s 75 extra opportunities to eat jalebis. [smiles]

Can healthy food actually be tasty too, what’s been your experience so far?

Rocky: There’s a whole world of healthier options out there. Fresh produce, seasonal vegetables, millet, ragi, bajra, dals… they are all so healthy and tasty. It’s not about how much food we are eating, it’s about what kind of food. Toss up a good salad with some delicious masala vinaigrette home made dressing, grab a whole wheat toast and a glass of skimmed soy milk and join us in getting healthier and fitter.

Mayur: Yes! Fresh fruit smoothies, yoghurt based dips, multigrain bread with nuts and seeds, almonds, walnuts, organic dark chocolate… what’s not to love? Almost everything you love to eat can be had in a healthier avatar. If it can’t, then I feel there’s no harm in eating those once in a while.

When it comes to losing weight and getting fit, what’s your mantra?

Rocky: I was 42 kilos over my ideal weight. So I’m hoping this journey will start me off to my ideal weight. With so much weight, the first step for me was to lose the extra kilos and I achieved it by eating healthier. Not eating less, not dieting, but just eating healthier. Now I’ve started exercising slowly, with consultation from a doctor [and make sure you do that too when you’re starting] but initially it was only healthier eating. The journey continues and now I’m in a ‘more exercise’ phase so it’s great fun. My mantra is simple… whether you’re partying or during festivals, no matter where or when, eat healthy.

Mayur: My mantra is eat small, eat often, do 45 minutes of cardiovascular exercise daily, drink lots of water through the day and get more sleep.

What is the ultimate comfort food for Rocky and Mayur when back home?

Rocky: Spicy chicken curry, spicy bhindi, red chilli pickle, sliced onion with lime and chilly powder and a seven grain mixed roti. It has been my favourite since I was five years old. And my grandmother taught us all how to make it… it’s the best.

Mayur: Dal, roti, palak paneer with sliced onions, mint chutney and raita. Mmmm yeah!

Any fitness idols you have?

Rocky: Milkha Singh. The rock version of the song Bhag Milkha Bhag does it for me.

Mayur: My cousin Milan. He treks 30 odd days a year, cycles an average 50 km/day and plays squash twice a week. He’s not a professional athlete but at the age of 46 his resting pulse rate is in the low 60s. He also meditates everyday. Above all, he can actually touch his toes without bending his knees.

To lose weight, how much of it is about counting calories or following a dietician’s advice and how much is about instinctive eating?

Rocky: When you go to a dietician and find out what’s best for you [and YES, it’s VERY different for everybody], it’s hard for about two weeks. By the third week you start making better choices and putting your imagination to work and then it’s a lot of fun. Binge eating of unhealthy food is allowed too. I eat a mad meal once a week and then for the rest of the week it’s sensible, healthy, fun and varied eating.

Mayur: Much of it is about being sensible and listening to your own body. There are some golden rules and even those are best modified to your lifestyle, occupation, calendar and abilities. This is important as it will help you stay the course. If the calories go up then exercise a bit more.

Apart from your own book, which cook book and travel book do you recommend?

Rocky: I love books on local food from all over the world. Wherever I am, I always try and connect with a local chef. I was in Goa when I met a chef. She was a brilliant home cook, just a Goan housewife who had just started cooking one day and then gone on to become a brilliant chef. On her 60^th birthday [I think it was her 60^th] her family made a little book of her recipes which they photocopied for her friends and family. I am the proud owner of one of those homemade books. So if you love food, you will find the best for yourself. I recommend you look every time you have a chance. AND you make the chance.

Mayur: I love Bill Bryson’s books on travel. I’ll start consuming literature on food once they make edible books.

Indian cuisine is said to be one of the healthiest in the globe. Would you also vouch for that? What other cuisines are healthy?

Rocky: Yes, traditional Indian food is possibly the healthiest in the world. Fresh local produce [unfrozen] and a bunch of spices [medicinal]. A variety of items in a meal with at least one vegetable and a lentil and there’s your proof. We eat a wonderfully healthy diet across our nation and this we’ve done in every state in India since time immemorial.

Thai cuisine is another very healthy cuisine and one of my favourites just for the tastes of their food. The health aspect has only now become important to me.

Mayur: Indian food prepared right is very healthy especially as the herbs and spices we commonly use are a fount of medicinal and healing properties. Turmeric, tulsi, cinnamon, pepper, cloves are just a few examples of ingredients with phenomenal health benefits.

South East Asian cuisines with their limited use of oil and dairy are healthy in general.

Being a foodie is often used as an excuse for being unfit. You hope to change that perception?

Rocky: That’s the attempt. You and everyone reading this would know that we will NEVER stop eating the food we love. The food of India. Between us we eat everything and we are definitely “foodies” though I prefer being called the “hungries”. So that’s important and the way we can do that for many more years is by getting to a healthier place with our bodies and then enjoy things even more, without guilt.

Mayur: Being a “foodie” in my book means that the love for food is central to your existence. Giant portions of fat laden, deep fried food or food rich in preservatives and refined sugar have nothing to do with it. So stop making excuses! First step to changing anything is wanting to change. Second step is persevering and third step is celebrating each small success [though not necessarily with halwa!]

Tell us your most cherished moment from the show Jai Hind

Rocky: It was when we were shooting with the 42 Medium Regiment. A soldier, out on exercises in the desert, sang a song; it was his friend’s favourite song and he had lost his friend in action. The song was about a soldier who knew he was going to his certain death but did his duty by following orders and going still. It tells of the message he leaves behind for his comrades, his wife, his family and his nation. There was not a single dry eye in the compound when he sang this song by lamplight. The tears streamed down my face and I will never forget that emotion as long as I live.

Mayur: Seeing the surprise on the faces of the soldiers at the Commando Training School when we completed some radical elements of their obstacle course. They thought we’d never be able to manage it. Determination counts for a lot! Even when you are changing lifestyles.

You can watch Get Fit with Rocky and Mayur on NDTV Good Times every Sunday at 9:30pm. Follow their Facebook page.

The post From food fanatics to fitness freaks appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Published by: Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd

ISBN: 9789381115800

Pages: 379

Price: INR 399

Samir Nazareth is on an exploratory journey. He has quit his job and is spending months on the road; his aim—to explore as much of the coastal regions as he can, on a limited budget. The title of the book makes his primary interests evident—food, towns and people.

Food, clearly, is of great importance. Samir calls himself a ‘travelling gourmand’ delighting in local food, whether at the small thelas [carts] on the road, or in small hotels and shacks. This not just provides him with much needed nourishment at reasonable rates, but also acts as an ice-breaker for conversations. The towns he halts at are varied and interesting. He starts his journey by train from Nagpur to Bhuj; moves on to Okha at the westernmost point of India; travels down south to Rameshwaram and Kanyakumari, up the coast to Kolkata and Gangasagar; and finally heads towards the hills to Gangtok. Along the way, he stops at small and big towns, some he knows; some he has just heard of; some just end up on his itinerary according to the whims and fancies of the public transportation system.

Coming to people—they are everywhere! Unlike the towns and the bananas, there is no way he can keep a count here, but some stand out, and feature predominantly in the narrative. Whether it is the couple on the train, who is focussed on ordering food, the fishermen at Korlai, the guides at the palace museum at Trichur, or the hotel owner proudly talking of heritage at Puri—they enhance the story of his journey, reminding us of similar people we have met.

The narrative is smooth; Samir’s quaint humour coming through every page. There are hilarious bits, many relating to communication gaps due to difference in languages and dialects. His journey often takes him to ports and boat yards. We learn that he has some experience with them and naturally his knowledge in the area comes across. However, though the book is about his journey, we learn but little about him.

One thread that runs consistently through the book is the questions he is asked regarding his reasons for travel: Why does he travel? Why is he travelling alone? Why isn’t he married? But I like that he does not try to explain his actions and choices. After all, they are his reasons and his choices, relevant to him alone. Upon returning home, when he’s asked these same questions, he realises that he has come full circle.

I enjoyed reading the book, especially the sections about places that I have myself already visited. The people in this book reminded me of people I met on my trips and, as I read, I frequently had a nostalgic smile on my face.

Towards the end, Samir concludes that there is no such thing as a bad decision while travelling. I agree with him. Travelling is about the experiences; everything else is just incidental.

This was first published in the September 2015 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

The post Lessons from a traveller: 1400 Bananas, 76 Towns & 1 Million People By Samir Nazareth appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

When you eat in a mechanical way, not only do you enjoy it less, but your body is unable to extract the optimum amount of nutrition from the food, leading to problems such as indigestion, flatulence and bloating. Mindless eating also makes you vulnerable to overeating and weight gain. If you care about your health, you ought to stop eating unconsciously and learn the art of mindful eating today.

What is mindful eating?

Mindful eating is not a diet. There are no menus or recipes for it, nor does it cut out any foods from your diet.

Mindful eating simply means being aware of what you eat. It involves centering your attention on food in a non-judgemental way. When you are eating mindfully, you enjoy your food, savour it and also feel more in control. It’s the polar opposite of bingeing which is the ultimate example of mindless eating.

Here are a few tips to get you started.

1. Store food mindfully

If you can see it, you are more likely to want to eat it, even if you aren’t hungry. You may not have been craving donuts until you pass them in the lunchroom. Then, you can’t get them off your mind. Strategically placing food falls in line with the “out of sight, out of mind” principle.

In a 2006 study, researchers from Cornell University examined how many pieces of candy office workers ate when a candy dish was nearby. They found that people ate more candies when they were visible and easily accessible. Convenience leads to mindless munching and grazing. The opposite is true as well: You are more likely to eat healthy foods if they are placed within your easy reach. Keep healthy food handy instead—a fruit bowl on the kitchen counter, or a healthy snack such as nuts in your purse or bag. When you don’t have healthy food handy, you are tempted to eat anything, even if it’s unhealthy.

2. Avoid multitasking

When you eat, just eat. It’s tempting to eat while you work, talk on the phone or answer an e-mail. But according to research, multitasking can actually interfere with mindful eating, or eating enough to satisfy your hunger without going overboard.

A 2001 study by French researchers, France Bellisle and Anne-Marie Dalix, found that women who were distracted by a task versus those who just focused on their meal ate 15 per cent more [72 additional calories] and enjoyed their food less. It’s better to eat for a short amount of focused time than to do two things while you eat. So during the few moments that you eat, put down whatever else you are doing and focus on your snack.

3. Have TV-less dinners

This cannot be overemphasised! It’s tempting to turn on the TV while you eat. But, studies show that this leads to mindless eating. TV commercials stimulate hunger, and your attention is focused on the TV show and not on your food. Also, watching news or anything stressful such as action movies interferes with your digestion, causing various health issues.

4. Always sit down to eat

We often eat standing over a counter, nibble at something while walking or munching as we make dinner, never realising how much we eat. When you sit down, you tend to focus on it and pay much more attention to how much food you eat. So, sit and real whenever you eat.

5. Leave evidence

Leave a trail. Keep the candy bar wrapper on your desk. Don’t throw away the baggie once you are finished with the bag of pretzels. Keeping physical evidence or reminders helps you to be more mindful of what you eat.

6. Take mindful bites

Make each bite a mindful bite. Think of your mouth as being a magnifying glass, zooming in. Imagine that each bite is magnified a 100 times. Pay close attention to all your senses, use your tongue to feel the texture, gauge the temperature and take a whiff of the aroma. Ask yourself, “How does it really taste? What does it feel like in my mouth? Is this something I really want? Does it satisfy my taste buds? Is my mind truly present when I take a bite so that I experience it fully?”

7. Follow the ‘like it, love it’ principle

When people begin to be more mindful of what they eat, they are able to distinguish between foods they really love and enjoy, and the food that is mediocre. This helps them to cut out the foods they don’t really like. Mindful eaters don’t deliberately stay off food to lose weight, like in dieting. They just becoming choosy about what they feel is worth their time to eat, thus improving their eating experience.

8. Pay attention when you shop

Mindful eating begins with mindful shopping. If you’ve just started mindful eating, here’s a fun exercise to do. Take an old grocery receipt and circle all the items that were impulse buys and/or contributed to your mindless eating. This should help you to gauge some of your vulnerabilities at the grocery store. Many people race through the store trying to the get the task done. Instead, schedule a time when you can leisurely stroll through the store and investigate new products. For some, making a list prior to shopping helps them be more aware of the foods they ‘need’ versus the foods they ‘want’.

9. Buy the highest quality of food you can

Chocolate is a great example. Consider how you approach a cheap bag of bulk candy versus an expensive bar of high quality bar of chocolate. Many people savour an expensive bar and can make it last a week. In contrast, it is easy to munch mindlessly on inexpensive chocolate kisses. The cost of food matters—it makes us much more conscious of what we eat.

10. Soothe yourself without food

Your refrigerator is a lousy source of comfort. Using food to soothe ourselves is like taking an aspirin for a broken arm. If stress drives you to munching, it’s time you considered mindfulness as a stress-buster.

Last updated on 11^th September 2019

The post Stop! You are eating mindlessly appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Manoj Khatri [MK]: First of all, my compliments for writing such an amazing book [Don’t lose your mind, lose your weight]. I actually don’t need to lose weight, so there is no question of my losing my mind. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book very much.

Rujuta Diwekar: Thanks, I am glad you liked it.

MK: The pleasant surprise for me and my colleagues was that many of your philosophies—if I may call them so—are the ones we propagate too. Complete Wellbeing is based on a copyrighted concept of the Three chakras, the idea being that individuals are not sum of parts—we are not a mind+a body+a soul.

Rujuta Diwekar: That’s true and I think it is high time we all wake up to this truth.

MK: Absolutely! That’s basically our objective when we bring out the magazine. We too highlight the hidden interconnections and inter-dependencies between various aspects—including relationships and satisfaction at work—and how these affect our physical health. This brings me to my first question—in your opinion, what is the number one reason for people to lose their mind when they attempt to lose weight?

Rujuta Diwekar: The top reason for people to lose their minds is lack of awareness—of themselves and of the uniqueness of their bodies. This unawareness leads them to try out every fad possible in order to become the ‘ideal’ size, shape or weight. If only such individuals spend time understanding their bodies, they will begin to appreciate and love themselves exactly as they are.

Desperately wanting your body to comply with the current fashion trends is what produces frustration and anger towards it. This anger with your body makes you starve it, which is obvious—if you don’t love your body, then there is little motivation to feed your body. And, an unfed, undernourished body has a restless mind. It’s a downward spiral.

MK: So what you’re saying is that acceptance of oneself is imperative for losing weight.

Rujuta Diwekar: Yes, accept and love your body, but do so unconditionally. Do not love your body only if it loses 10kg or becomes two dress-sizes smaller.

MK: Talk of obsession about size! I know of people who weigh just right but they just want to get into the right size. Then they end up losing what we call the ‘good weight’.

Rujuta Diwekar: Again, this is mindless obsession at work. A couple of decades ago, when the fashion market in India was still under-developed, international brands introduced ready-to-wear garments, which adhered to the sizes and shapes of western natives. Soon, everyone began to hate their bodies thinking that they were the wrong size and shape. Little did they realise that they don’t fit into those western clothes because they were never meant to.

Each one of us is different: the Oriental body is different from that of an African, which again is different from an Indian. Even within India, a North Indian is different from a South Indian.

But instead of celebrating our differences, we are all trying to mould ourselves into a one-size-fits-all standard. As a country, our strength lies in our diversity. Our culture is all about celebrating the differences, which can happen only when we accept those differences in the first place.

MK: How true. Standardisation is absurd—it is almost like treating our bodies like machines.

Rujuta Diwekar: Yes, it is like treating our bodies as items—as bodies without any minds, souls, feelings, or karma.

MK: The clothes we wear are actually supposed to be made for us, but we have ended up trying to become something different for our clothes—how ironical. This discussion about Indian culture reminds me of your book—you discuss the Ayurveda philosophy that states that eating at the right time is as important as eating the right quantity/quality of food.

Rujuta Diwekar: Absolutely! I think the real challenge for all of us is to stop thinking in terms of numbers. In our career, we must give more importance to job satisfaction and less to the salary package.

In our relationships, love and compatibility must precede everything else. But look at the matrimonial ads—they are all about numbers: weight, height, salary and so on.

When it comes to food, we are paranoid about ‘number of calories’, whereas we must actually think in terms of whether the food we are eating is nourishing my body, mind and soul. Only when we begin to think about food in the right way, will we become more sensible about what we eat instead of being as frivolous about it as we are now.

MK: Surely you must be encountering many people who struggle to lose weight, give up, then label themselves as failures.

Rujuta Diwekar: Yes. But what I have realised over a period of time is that in such cases body weight is not really the issue. The real problem is a feeling of inadequacy arising out of challenges in other areas of life such as relationships, career or even personal fulfilment. It’s unfortunate that body weight has become one of the most acceptable expressions of this inadequacy.

MK: Can you give me an example of this?

Rujuta Diwekar: Sure. I know of many women, who have this distressing feeling that they have zoomed past life without doing anything meaningful. So, if you love playing the guitar and complain about not being able to play it for 20 years, you don’t find much support from those around you.

But if you say, “I really want to wear low waist jeans, but just can’t! Look at my flab,” you will be surprised to find a lot more people who empathise with you. Somehow, being obsessed about body weight is much more acceptable than being obsessed with a passion.

MK: Hmm. Perhaps they are just trying to evade the real problems by looking for fulfilment and satisfaction elsewhere. Chasing financial success, for instance.

Rujuta Diwekar: People haven’t really figured this out: there is a cost of making money. Once we figure out the cost, and we are at peace with it, then it’s OK. But sometimes, the cost is much higher than the money made and then discontent sets in.

MK: That’s a nice thought, and it’s almost counter-intuitive. In fact, so much of what you’ve written in your book, is counter-intuitive. For example, most people would find it difficult to believe that one can actually lose weight by eating more. How did you discover this approach?

Rujuta Diwekar: This approach is not new. it’s ancient. Every single religion talks about going beyond the limitations of the body. To take your body beyond limitations, you have to nourish it.

If you study the traditional Indian scriptures, you will find that there is a scientific basis for the way we consume food. We sit on the floor, for instance. Even the food is served on our plates in a certain way: certain foods go on the right side of the plate, certain on the left and a few stay in the centre.

Eating at the right time, in the right quantity, and with the right attitude is an important part of the process of nourishment. The ancient scriptures outline that we don’t eat simply to feed the body–we eat for a higher purpose. All this is deeply ingrained into our culture and is something our mothers and grandmothers have always spoken about. A lot of it is actually what I have seen being practised in our homes.

MK: I was wondering, what made you write such a book?

Rujuta Diwekar: With globalisation, we have lost our perspective a little. We’ve become intrigued with the concept of calorie-intake. It’s the result of this fascination we have for the West.

I wrote this book because, as a nutritionist, I was unable to find a good Indian book on diet and nutrition. Whichever books I picked up, discussed nutrition in a predominantly Western way—that too mostly with respect to Western dishes and cuisines. Nobody was talking about samosas, gulab jamuns, puri bhaji, srikhand, idlis and dosas that we regularly eat.

Trying foreign cuisines is fine, but ultimately, food must appeal to our taste buds. I believe that when you continue to eat against your taste, there comes a point you give up everything and come back to home-cooked food. What’s sad is this new trend where home-cooked food [roti, sabzi, dal, chawal], is not considered healthy, when in fact, it is probably the healthiest.

Then there is this new fad of eating low-calorie foods. People drink a diet-cola thinking it is calorie-free and, therefore healthy, when in reality it is not so. Advertising makes us believe that it is free of calories. But, calorie-free does not mean it is not getting converted into fat in our body. Another example is that of ghee, which was a part of our Indian household for ages. All of a sudden now, there is no ghee. We have started replacing it with olive oil!

So, in writing this book, all I did was brought back the ancient Vedantic principles into limelight in a language that was easy to understand.

MK: Can you give us an example of how this approach has helped someone?

Rujuta Diwekar: I am working with a 76-year-old man in Kerala who was put on a restricted diet because he had some disorder. Going from one dietician to another, he was eventually made to give up everything that he traditionally grew up eating. So whether it was ghee, bananas, rice or even coconut—everything was taken out from his diet. He was only eating low-fat biscuits, high-fibre chapattis, but nothing that he enjoyed or relished eating. Now, if the food you eat does not appeal to your senses, your digestive system does not secrete the right kind of enzymes essential to extract the goodness from the food. Ever since I put ghee, rice and coconut back into his diet, he is doing so much better—his lipid profiles have improved, his kidney too is functioning better. The recovery is because his system is now getting a feeling of being taken care of. Food is really the best way to take care of ourselves, of showing love to ourselves. The last time I met him, he said, “The voltage on my face is back, I’m actually glowing”. For a 76-year-old to say that is amazing. Food can indeed bring back your youth.

MK: Wow! That’s an inspiring account. But along with right eating, regular exercise too had a role to play…

Rujuta Diwekar: Of course! The human body has been designed for a lot of activity. So a villager who leads a simple life, whose only means of locomotion is walking and who lifts, carries, pushes and pulls, enjoys much better health than the city-dweller who even has his car’s door opened by a chauffeur—all he has to do is sit! Biomechanically, urbanites are leading the most unscientific life. Even if we think of just the body, it was never meant for sitting but for regular activity.

MK: I agree. Our lifestyle, especially in cities and towns, is deteriorating by the day. Where owning a car was once a luxury, today every household has two or even three cars. Sometimes it’s just a status symbol.

Rujuta Diwekar: Cars are a necessity. But viewing them to measure how well one has done in life is silly. How well you are doing has nothing to do with the number/size of the cars parked in your garage.

MK: In fact, how well you’re doing in life has got nothing to do with accumulation of wealth and status in life. It is about how happy you feel about yourself.

Rujuta Diwekar: Absolutely! And happiness has got nothing to do with age, mind—least of all, bodyweight! The idea that ‘I will really be happy if I just lose those two kilos’ is ridiculous. Once you want to be happy, you will be happy even if you are 20 kilos plus. You don’t have to lose any weight to be happy. Ironically, the only way your bodyweight will reach an optimum number is when you experience a sense of happiness, calm and peace within you. If you are not happy with yourself, your body is only going to swell.

MK: How do you deal with clients who come to you with this belief that they’ll be happy once they shed a few kilos or a few inches?

Rujuta Diwekar: I begin by making my new clients write down a three-day record—what time they wake up/sleep, what they do throughout the day, what they eat [what time, how much quantity]. Most of the times, at the end of three days, and even before the first consultation, clients themselves realise that they need to change their lifestyles.

When you come to my office, you won’t find a weighing scale. That’s because I do not measure progress by the amount of weight lost. My parameters for progress are answers to questions such as “Are you feeling more energetic than before?”, “Are you sleeping better?”, “Are you getting hunger signals?”, “Are you feeling like eating?” For me, these parameters matter. Consulting a dietician is not about losing a few kilos—it is about adopting a lifestyle change. It is only when you change how you think, what you eat and how you sleep, that you can bring about a real change.

MK: In other words, aim for “Complete Wellbeing”, not just for weight loss! Thank you for sharing such refreshing insights with our readers.

Rujuta Diwekar: Thank you for the opportunity, Manoj.

[Watch out for Rujuta’s second book titled, Women and the weight loss tamasha]

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Science tells us that human genetics have not significantly changed over the last 200 years, but our ‘lifestyles’ have.

By lifestyle we mean basic personal behaviours that influence health—diet, exercise, sleeping habits and substance use [including nicotine, alcohol], and our stress-management styles among others. Our personal choices are powerful ‘medicine’. To understand how lifestyle can influence our health, let’s examine a few common health problems.

Obesity: a gross concern

We start with obesity, since it often precedes other common medical problems.

Fit to fat

Two generations ago, most people were struggling just to get enough food to survive. They burned thousands of calories toiling for long hours in their farms or in physically demanding conditions as miners, loggers. However, the industrialisation of farming and mechanisation of industry has made food plentiful and physical labour less of a daily necessity. Now, we eat more and move less.

As a result, we continue to grow around the waist-line. Over the last 50 years, in America alone, the consumption of sugar has increased by 39 per cent, salt by 100 per cent, meat by 70 per cent, and dairy by 400 per cent for an average of 3,700 more calories per person per week. As a result, the average American is much heavier now then he was in the 1900s. And this phenomenon is not restricted to America alone; more than 1 billion people worldwide are now overweight.

Problem with fat

Now the problem with extra weight or fat is not that it sits and jiggles, but rather that it remains metabolically active. This means that fat cells—in particular belly fat or visceral fat cells—release hormones. These hormones inhibit insulin from doing its job, dramatically increasing one’s risk of Type 2 Diabetes.

The same hormones increase the risk of heart disease, strokes, erectile dysfunction and some cancers. In fact, being obese increases a person’s risk of a whole list of diseases some of which are: high blood pressure, liver disease, gallstones, acid reflux, hypothyroidism, knee osteoarthritis, gout, and sleep apnoea.

You might think a little fat on your belly can’t be that bad. Unfortunately, studies show that being overweight increases your risk of Type 2 Diabetes by 300 per cent and being obese increases your chance by 900 per cent. When it comes to heart disease, liver disease and certain cancers, the story is similar. The poorer our lifestyle habits, the more belly fat we store and the greater our risk of disease, disability and untimely death.

High blood pressure: a hyper worry

When it comes to high blood pressure the story is the same. The food we eat, the exercise we get, the emotions we manage can either elevate or reduce our blood pressure dramatically. For example, eating more than 2000 mg of salt a day has been shown to increase blood pressure, as has persistent stress, lack of exercise and increased body weight.

As you might guess, eating more whole foods rather than processed foods, staying physically active every day, losing around 7-10 per cent of your body weight [if you are overweight], spending time on stress reduction and other simple lifestyle strategies can help most people avoid medications for high blood pressure and reduce the risk of stroke, heart attacks and kidney injury.

The medicine

The threat is the same for all of the metabolic and inflammatory diseases we mentioned: Type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, strokes, obesity and all its related complications. Although their pathology is slightly different, they all respond to what we call ‘lifestyle medicine’. A healthy lifestyle can prevent, reverse or at the least dramatically improve all of these illnesses.

Health: a way of life

So what exactly is a ‘healthy lifestyle’? We believe a healthy lifestyle is a rational, moderate pattern of personal behaviours that promote health and well-being. It is not defined by extremes or expense, but rather by synchrony and purpose.

A healthy lifestyle is not about fad diets, excessive exercise or bizarre cure-alls. Instead, it is characterised by actions that target the key elements of the healthy human in moderation.

These elements include a healthy diet, adequate exercise, emotional/mental poise, good sleep patterns and the avoidance of addictive and/or toxic substances. There are many other sub-categories, which could be addressed, but these are foundational in our model of lifestyle medicine.

The food we eat

Diet is a hotly debated lifestyle modality. It’s easy to see why. Most of us eat 2 – 10 times per day. And during that time, we make hundreds of choices about our foods including what to eat, how much to eat, when to eat it, when to stop and so on.

People have a very personal connection to food on many levels including nutritional, emotional and cultural. We believe that a healthy diet can have several variations but the central theme is the same.

A large percentage of our daily calories should come from whole grains, nuts, beans, fruits and vegetables and a smaller proportion from refined flour, sugar and animal products. Studies across the globe have shown that individuals, who consume such a diet, reduce their burden of disease and improve their quality of life.

How well we sleep

Disordered sleep can play havoc with your health. During a healthy sleep cycle, our body releases hormones to accelerate healing. These include melatonin, certain steroid hormones and growth hormone. Our body also reduces inflammation, and oxidation at the cellular level while double checking any and all new cells formed during that time. The chemical and cellular shift, which occurs at night, is crucial to keeping our cells healthy.

During rest, the body is able to focus its energy on healing damaged tissue and compensating for the wear and tear of daily life. In fact, recent studies report that insufficient sleep increases the risk of several common cancers including breast cancer. So to stay healthy, a restful night of sleep is imperative.

The exercise we get

Physical activity is another key component of a healthy lifestyle. Research shows that moving our bodies regularly has all kinds of benefits; from lowering the risk of diabetes and heart disease to improving mood and enhancing libido.

Check with your doctors before starting an exercise routine. Once cleared, we recommend that you try to get 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity physical activity [such as a brisk walk] and add a couple of sessions of resistance strength training.

No one is the same, and while some people love running, going to the gym or yoga, others hate it. In recognition of the social, cultural and personal norms of each person, we encourage you to find something you enjoy doing that is feasible in your life. We believe a little activity is better than none and daily is better than weekly. It is also never too late to “get off the couch and into the game” as we say in America. Exercise has dramatic benefits for the teenager, the busy executive and the mature grandparent equally.

The stress we take

Do you feel stressed? Perhaps we should re-state that …who doesn’t feel stressed? Stress is an age-old response to perceived threat. It is tightly linked to our sympathetic nervous system, which helps trigger appropriate fear in ‘fight or flight’ situations. In the past, if a tiger was about to pounce on you, the increased heart rate, wide open eyes, chill of fear down your back, helped you move faster and possibly survive. Unfortunately, we have a similar fight or flight response to daily stress in our families, our jobs, on the roads, or in many other common experiences.

This leaves us in a chronically stimulated and stressed state, which in turn slows down digestion, disturbs metabolism, increases fat storage, promotes hyperacidity, accelerates ageing, increases cancer risk and leads to other unwanted disease patterns.

Since our world doesn’t show signs of becoming less stressed, it’s up to us to develop strategies to cope and balance the stress. Spending time developing supportive relationships, engaging in calming behaviours, and developing healthy responses and resilience to stress is key. For example, if you know you might have a long work day, you can schedule short meditation breaks instead of coffee breaks; schedule a mid-day walk, or perhaps a few minutes of laughter yoga with friends around the lunch hour. Perhaps you can learn some breathing exercises to complete at your desk, or if traffic always stresses you, can you choose a different time or route to travel? Simple, thoughtful changes can help reduce stress and promote health. Start today.

The emotions we feel

Effectively managing your stress levels is key to promoting healthy emotions. In fact, the elements of a healthy lifestyle we have discussed either support or undermine our emotional health. In turn, our emotions can influence our personal behaviours. Let’s look at some examples. When we are feeling depressed or anxious, we are more likely to reach for ‘comfort foods’ with lots of fats, sugars and excess calories.

These foods increase the release of the ‘happy hormone,’ dopamine in the brain for a short time, which encourages us to eat more unhealthy foods. If we don’t break the cycle quickly, our unhealthy habits make us feel fatigued and unhealthy. We have less energy, put on more weight and then we reach for more unhealthy foods because we feel depressed or anxious. And so the cycle continues.

Likewise, when we are emotionally unbalanced we are less likely to exercise. Yet, exercise is exactly what we need. Exercise has been shown to be as effective as anti-depressants for mild depression and anxiety, with even longer-lasting effects. Our diet is also powerful. Eating a diet rich in micronutrients, and healthy proteins provides our cells with the building blocks to make plenty of neurotransmitters including dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine, which help keep us balanced and happy.

The relationships we build

Now, very few of us can sustain great habits on our own. For this reason, surrounding ourselves with friends and family members who support our healthy behaviours is important. Healthy relationships in which we feel loved, supported, respected and appreciated are integral to our health. Get out of bad relationships and avoid negativity whenever possible. The ‘happy heart’ complements and inspires the healthy body.

We have more power in being happy than we realise. How you set up your day, negotiate your relationships, develop your habits and perceive your existence—all influence your emotions. We recommend you start by engaging your life, enabling yourself to be healthy through a framework of health-engendering behaviours.

Start slow, and don’t let the stress of change and the challenge of breaking old habits hold you back.

The ‘stuff’ we cling to

Finally, the non-food substances we eat, smoke or inject can have very powerful effect on our body and mind.

Nicotine is a potent vaso-constrictor, which means it makes blood vessels small and reduces blood flow to the skin and other important organs. By doing so, it slows healing and accelerates aging.

Most commercial nicotine products also have toxic chemicals added during processing, which cause problems of their own. Other addictive drugs such as cocaine, marijuana and heroin are even worse for your body and mind on many levels. Some drug-like substances such as alcohol and caffeine can have both good and bad effects depending on how much you use. We encourage limiting their consumption to small amounts and only occasionally, as they can easily lead to abuse anddependence.

Putting the pieces together

So how do you put all the pieces of a healthy lifestyle together? First ask yourself: Am I happy with my health today? Am I creating good health for the future? Are there ways I could be healthier? Next go through the list. Are you eating: nutrient dense/fibre-rich foods or processed, high calorie, low nutrient foods? Are you getting regular physical activity? Do you get sufficient sleep and awaken rested and restored? Do you let stress run your life or are you able to manage your stressors? Do you use any toxic substances like: nicotine, betel nuts, heroin, marijuana, cocaine, or use excess alcohol or caffeine?

Once you have determined where you can improve, then it’s time to set goals and make a plan. We encourage you to make SMART goals.

SMART stands for goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. This means your goal shouldn’t be, “I will get more exercise.” Instead, it should be “I am going to walk for 30 minutes during lunch with my co-worker on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.” With the second approach you know exactly what you are going to do, so you can monitor your progress and change your plan if it is not effective. Use the SMART approach when planning all your lifestyle changes.

You can do it!

The best part about lifestyle medicine is that anyone can apply it to his/her life, anytime and anywhere. No matter how old or how young you are, where you live or what work you do, simple intentional changes can have a dramatic effect on your health today and in the years to come. So we invite you to embrace change, advance your health, experience a healthier, happier tomorrow and lead a vibrant life!

A version of this article was first published in the January 2010 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

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