Festival days can seem like the bane of your life if you’re on a diet. It’s made worse when it’s a couple of festivals lined up. The special Indian sweets, the fried goodies, the sheer variety of dishes, and all those calories disguised as delicious desserts – Dahi Handi and Ganesh Chaturthi, especially, seem like a conspiration to get you off your diet. But! There are ways to stay on track even during the festivals. Here’s some of the small steps to follow:

Start the day right – Exercise/Yoga

Start your day right. Keeping the body active naturally makes you crave for the more wholesome of foods instead of oily dishes and junk food.

High-fibre breakfast

An invigorating breakfast with high-fibre content gives you energy throughout the day. It keeps your stomach full for longer, which in turn keeps you away from the yummy mithai for a longer while.

Use jaggery or honey instead of sugar

Sweets are an essential part of celebrating Janmashtami and Ganesh Chaturthi. If you’re making your own desserts at home, opt for the healthier sweetening ingredients like jaggery or honey instead of sugar. If you’re getting your sweetmeats from elsewhere, opt for the sugar-free treats.

Go nuts

Nuts are the healthiest of snacks, and this comes to your rescue during festivals. Include more cashews, almonds, walnuts, dates, pista, raisins, and even seeds like sesame, melon and sunflower. Nuts and seeds add rich content and a yummy crunch to your dishes while keeping them wholesome.

Binge on fruits

Get some special fruits for the special day. Make your festival, well, festive by getting some out-of-the-ordinary fruits like kiwi, plums, peaches, cherries, lychees, strawberries, dragon fruit, rambutan, blueberries, etc. all of which taste great and make your festival extra special.

Use the right flour

Fried food, same as sweets, are a symbol of great Mumbai festivities. While we’d ask you to avoid fried food altogether, the temptation is understandably hard to resist. Substitute the maida with whole wheat flour, jowar flour, rajgira flour, or the flour that suits your diet the best.

Stay hydrated

With all the yummy food around, it’s easy to go off-track on your hydrating habits. Keep reminders to regularly have water, tender coconuts, fresh fruit juice, buttermilk and the like.

Balance what you eat

Throughout the day, balance your intake of food. Watch what you eat and how much, and keep an eye on the ingredients in the dishes that you’re consuming. Don’t overindulge – it’s as simple as that; festive foods in moderation is perfectly healthy!

Having said all this, remember an occasional celebratory snack with friends and family is good for you! Eat well, but eat healthy.

Have a great festival season. Best wishes from Calorie Care! Use our coupon code UTSAV for yummy deals.