Looking for some straightforward tips and expert motivation to help you get started on your journey toward a healthy lifestyle? Well, you can get started right away by listening to Kya Lifestyle Hai – a podcast by ketogenic diet specialist and celebrity nutritionist Dr Siddhant Bhargava, available on Audible for free.
Water is your Best Friend
While water significantly affects energy levels and brain functions it plays another major role in the body and mind. Talking about the relevance of water he says, “Sabse pehle agar aapko apna ye unhealthy relationship apni body ke saath todna hai, start putting more importance on water. Now, I understand water bahut hi underrated hai. Har ek jan mujhe kehta hai ki pani peeyo. Per paani agar aap peeyoge you are going to be able to trick your brain into thinking that you are not actually hungry also. Jab bhi aap khush ya dukhi hote ho there is also some sort of hunger that is stimulated because this hunger is attached to your brain thinking I need food because food makes me happy, ye again aap ki body ki cycle hai. Agar aap pani peeyoge, automatically aapka jo pet hai wo stretch hota jayega aur aapke dimag me signals milte jayenge ki aapka pet to bhara hua hai.” (First- and foremost, if you want to end this unhealthy relationship with your body, start giving more importance to water. Now I understand that water is very underrated. Everyone keeps asking you to drink water. But if you drink water then you are going to be able to trick your brain into thinking that you are not actually hungry also. Whenever you are happy or sad, there is also some sort of hunger that is stimulated because this hunger is attached to your brain thinking I need food because food makes me happy. This is again your body cycle. If you drink water, your stomach will stretch automatically, and your brain will receive signals that your stomach is already full.)
Dahi and Nuts are a MUST!
Protein plays an important role in repairing and regenerating the cells in your body. In Dr Siddhant’s opinion protein is one of the most important macronutrients which can be found in several food items. “Agar aap 12 ghante khana nahi khayenge, phir jab aap khana khana shuru karenge, what should be the one component jo khane me hona bohut zaroori hai? PROTEIN……I have been starting my meal off with eggs for the past 15 years now but if you belong to a vegetarian household jo apne typical vegetarian households hote hai, unme kya hota hai, aapne poha khaliya, upma khaliya, dosa khaliya, sandwiches khaliye, this forms your typical breakfast. Ab is pure breakfast me jo sabse zyada matra me paaya jayega is carbohydrates. Poha, upma, these are all energy giving substances per isme protein lacking hai. To aap kya kar sakte hai, to sort of compensate for this start including nuts in your breakfast. I know nuts are a source of fat but they also are a source of protein. Start including curd in your breakfast. Dahi in my opinion is also a very underrated protein source.” (If you do not eat food for 12 hours, and then when you start eating, what should be the one component that has to be in your food? PROTEIN… I have been starting my meal off with eggs for the past 15 years now but if you belong to a vegetarian household that is a typical vegetarian household, then what do they have? Say you had Poha, upma, Dosa, Sandwiches, this forms your typical breakfast. What you will find the most in this breakfast is carbohydrates. Poha, upma, these are all energy giving substances, but they lack protein. So, what you can do to sort of compensate for this is to start including nuts in your breakfast. I know nuts are a source of fat, but they also are a source of protein. Start including curd in your breakfast. Dahi in my opinion is also a very underrated protein source.)
Your home = “No Junk Zone”
Junk food can be tasty but very unhealthy. Hence, keeping junk food at bay is the only way you can adopt a healthy lifestyle. He says, “Dusri cheez aapko yaad rakhni hai ki apne ghar ko junk free zone bana do. Aapko ye baat to easily pata hai konsi cheez aapke liye buri hai aur kaunsi cheez aapke liye acchi hai. Jab aap saare un buri cheezo ko apne ghar se hata doge tab jab bhi dukhi hoge, jab bhi aap khush hoge aap itne mehnat to nahi karne wale ho na ki aap ghar se niklo, road pe jao, khana dhundo, khao, phir wapas aao, it’s too much effort. In this fast-paced generation itna effort koi nahi karta. You are just going to find something else to do (suggesting ending up eating healthy food).” (The second most important thing for you to remember is that you have to keep your house a junk free zone. You will easily realize what is bad and what is good for you. Once you remove all these bad things from your home, and then if you feel sad or happy, you will not be inclined to take the effort of actually going out of your house on the road to find food and return, it is too much effort. In this fast-paced generation no one does so much effort. You are just going to find something else to do.)
Incorporate healthy alternatives gradually
To make sure you get a solution to the previous point, he suggests “You want to keep things which are healthy because zaahir si baat hai ki agar aapko bhook lagi hai to aapko kuch to khana hai. Aap fruits rakh lo, aap vegetables rakh lo. Aap thoda sa dhyan do ki aap in vegetables ko interesting kaise bana sakte ho. Aap chana rakhlo, aap murmura rakh lo, chickpeas rakh lo, makhana rakh lo, seeds rakh lo. Itni sari cheeze hai jinme equal potential hai of stimulating your brain to feel happy.” (You want to keep things which are healthy because it is obvious that if you feel hungry then you will have something. You can keep fruits and vegetables. Pay attention to how you can make these vegetables interesting. You can keep chana, murmura, chickpeas, makhana, seeds. There are so many things that have equal potential of stimulating your brain to feel happy.)
Form a healthy relationship with Food
Be conscious of how you wish to lead a healthy lifestyle without resorting to patterns which will attract you towards food unnecessarily. Reiterating the same he says, “Aapko actively ye sochna hai, agar main bore ho raha hoon I am not going to move towards food. Instead, I am going to find another thing that can excite me. Main ek sport khelne chala jaunga, main ek video game khel lunga, ya main shayad koi si series dekh lunga OTT platform pe, per main khane ke taraf nahi jaunga (especially unhealthy food).” (You have to actively think that if I am getting bored then I am not going to move towards food. Instead, I am going to find another thing that can excite me. I will play a sport, a video game or maybe I will see a series on an OTT platform. But I won’t go towards food.)
