Living in a country that loves to celebrate every festival throughout the year is not easy, especially when you are on a weight loss diet. This festive season, most Indian households may be stacked with an assortment of mouth-watering, rich, irresistible sweets and snacks. Even people who maintain a healthy weight tend to gain some extra pounds during this season. Here is the answer to how you keep your health, and weight on track throughout the festive season.

Here are 9 simple tips and tricks to avoid accumulating those extra pounds:

1. Smaller portion size

Small portions or sizes of fried snacks, sweets, beverages, and other fatty preparations will help you in keeping your weight under control.

2. Eat slowly

This ancient theory works best here. Instead of filling the entire plate to the brim, take small portions of fewer things. Eat them slowly and gradually.

3. Use low-fat ingredients

While preparing sweets at home, try using low-fat (skimmed) milk and other dairy products. Rather than refined sugar, If possible, substitute with natural sugar like honey, jaggery, and dates. Use whole wheat flour to make sweets and snacks. Get diet sweets and ice creams that are easily available in the market. Opt for them and feel less guilty.

Also, read: Diwali: Beat bloating during festive season with these 5 tips

4. Choice of sweets

Prefer sweets like laddoos (suji, coconut, etc), Kheer, and gajar (Carrot) halwa. They are nutritious and have lesser calories than fried sweets like Gulab jamun, Jalebi, Boondi items, etc. Try to have high-calorie foods in the first half of the day.

5. Choose dry fruits over deep fried

If you have a choice between dry fruits and sweets, always opt for dry fruits. Even if they are equally high in calories, at least they are not “empty calories”.

6. Drink water before snacking

To bring in the feeling of fullness, drink water before snacking. It will bring down your cravings and will make you eat less. You can also drink a few sips of hot water right after having sweets for better digestion.

7. Drink alcohol in moderation

Drinking by balancing alcohol with a 2:1 ratio to water is generally a good rule to follow. It is true that you’ll pee a lot but what won’t happen is too much weight gain followed by too much guilt.

Also, read: 5 skincare tips to ace your Diwali look this festive season

8. No to carbonated drinks

Try to avoid carbonated drinks as they add excessive empty calories, which will be very difficult to burn later.

9. Exercise regularly

You can continue with a regular exercise routine and motivate yourself to run the extra mile if you are lusting for sweets. It is perfectly fine to also relax during your festival vacations, you can resume working out after a little while

Takeaway

Don’t be too hard on yourself, as it is the last thing you would want. It will make things challenging. Accept your weight gain (for the moment) and focus on how you can keep it in check. Remember to have everything in moderation and do not forget to exercise