Tips to lose that festival weight

The holiday madness that started nearly a month ago is finally over. Now that it’s back to life as usual, many find that their clothes fit a little snugger than usual. If you’re feeling a bit tired and bloated yourself, here are some tips you can follow to undo all that festival damage.


Ditch the guilt and move forward

One of the biggest hurdles in the road to post-festival recovery can be the guilt we accumulate over having binged so much over the last few days. Well, what’s done is done. Sometimes, guilt can induce more heavy eating and that’s one thing you don’t want to do. Don’t mull over what happened and just move on to a healthier today and tomorrow.


Eat light

You enjoyed the holiday goodies while the good times lasted. It’s time to completely cut out all those sweets, cakes, drinks and other heavy stuff now. Rediscover fresh salads, fruits, lean meats and whole grains and allow your system to recover from the assault of the last two weeks.


High protein, low GI food

Another great diet tip is to go in for high protein foods that have a low glycaemic index. Foods that have low GI include milk, nuts, oranges, pears, urad dal, channa dal and many more

Don’t give in to your craving for 10 minutes

Here’s a tip that really works. Scientists have found that a craving for a certain food typically lasts for about 10 minutes. So if you suddenly find yourself dying to have a motichoor laddoo, just hang on for 10 minutes. Distract yourself by talking to a friend, or have some water. In 10 minutes, you’ll find that the craving has passed and you have managed to avoid consuming 150 calories. Perfect!

Take a break this weekend

Give your body and mind a break this weekend and just relax. Do something quiet and peaceful and actually sleep on time for a change. Too much partying can be exhausting and you’ll find this “me time” relaxing and rejuvenating.

Are you inviting food borne illness in your kitchen?

Food borne harmful bacteria and viruses invariably find a way of getting into our body and cause illnesses. More often than not, we do not take into account our faulty cooking practices and eating habits.


Illness caused by food is generally due to inappropriate and inept handling and treatment of food, improper cooking, and last but not the least, unsafe and unscientific storage. The following food treatment or handling practices are the leading causes of inviting food borne illness in to our kitchen:


Consuming leftovers

If the leftovers are not refrigerated promptly, chances are bacteria would grow, multiply and contaminate the food, making it highly infectious to consume. This is because bacteria multiply when food is stored at a temperature above 40 degrees.

Foods sourced from unsafe sources

If you buy food ration from sources that have not been approved from food inspector's specifications for quality control and safety then you may be inviting food borne illness at home. Such food products may contain high levels of disease causing micro-organisms such as e-coli, Giardia lamblia, Bacillus cereus etc. Marine food products bought from unauthorized sources are breeding grounds for pathogens.


When individuals act as carriers

You could be suffering from cold, jaundice, fever, or sore throat or any other illness; under such circumstances, your body is carrying pathogens. In such a condition, if you are in the kitchen, there is every chance of you contaminating cooked meal or raw food items kept in open.

Lopsided preparation

If you cook food that is going to be consumed after a few hours then you are making the meal vulnerable to contamination. Meal that is prepared well in advance and is left out in the open far too long can lead to the growth and multiplication of pathogens causing food borne illness.


Uncooked or raw food 

Most of us prefer taking some food items raw or in its uncooked form because of the health benefits they offer. But more often than not these raw food products are highly pathogenic and might lead to acute or severe gastrointestinal tract related problems. Examples of such food are raw eggs, oysters served along with their shell, sprouts, sushi, sashimi, steak tartars, improperly washed salad vegetables like carrots and cucumbers etc. These food items if taken raw, without cleaning them properly, can cause violent outbreaks of food poisoning.