Eating Out of Whack ?
Life is anything but normal for all at this minute. With the recent pandemic outbreak, our day-to-day routines have gone topsy-turvy causing a lot of consequential changes in our daily lives. The mental and emotional strain of the ongoing state of affairs is turning many of us towards bingeing or emotional eating for the simple reasons, it’s comforting and elevates the restless mood, although temporarily.
Being cooped up at home 24*7, feel-good foods maybe tempting enough to ease out from the emotional turmoil we are undergoing, but it can have an adverse effect on our physical and psychological well-being. So it becomes all the more important to stay healthy by eating healthy.
How to eat healthy ?
Eating healthy in parallel to other stresses of the current situation can be a daunting task. But developing a strong immune system is the need of the moment. Hence maintaining a healthy diet plays a pivotal role especially now and acts as a backbone of good health and energy.
There are a number of proven, dynamic measures we all can adopt to give our best shot at eating the healthy way while braving this pandemic:
1. Practice mindful eating
Now that we are all practicing social distancing and cooped up in our homes, we need to bring into play mindfulness in our eating habits, a befitting concept for the present lockdown situation. Tips on how to be mindful –
- First things first, be watchful of emotional eating. Prioritise clean eating to honour our body and to keep all systems functioning.
- Eat small portions as our body doesn’t need large quantities to fill us up. If we don’t feel satisfied at the end of the meal, top it off with a fruit or salad instead of going for a second helping or some junk.
- Try to eat maximum meals with family members as eating alone can stimulate mindless eating. Since we’ll have people around, we’ll be conscious of our eating habits.
- Take your time in finishing off your meal as it will help focus on the physical cues and consuming the right amount of food.
2. Structured and timely meals
When to eat? What to eat? How much to eat? Structure and routine can go haywire when we spend a lot of time at home. It is essential to structure our day by planning meal times and portions with filling ingredients to curtail unnecessary grazing. This will create a sense of normality and will keep us and our family from reaching for unwanted junk.
3. Pantry full of healthy snacks
Stock up your pantries with healthy munchies as part of healthy eating. This will ensure that we don’t head straight for our favorite bag of chips at the slightest hunger pang. Opt for healthier options like dried fruits, nuts, fox nuts, roasted grams, yoghurt, and eggs rather than sweet and salty snacks. These foods are filling, nutritious and help build healthy eating habits.
4. Fruits and vegetables intake
Buying and cooking fresh produce can be a challenge during lockdown but that doesn’t mean we should keep away from healthy eating completely. It is extremely essential to include fruits and vegetables in our daily diet, so freeze the fresh produce for later use. There is evidence that frozen fruits and vegetables can be just as beneficial as fresh ones.
It is very important to be kind to ourselves right now by eating well and staying healthy.
