Some quick fitness tips

All of us are busy in our lives. Commuting, working, surfing etc may not leave us with much time for working out. Add to it our bad food habits and all you get is Fat cocktail of yourself. So, what to do in such a situation to slow down the fattening process, if not stay lean. All this without losing much of the fun of eating. Here are the quick tips for the busy bees.

1. NEVER miss your breakfast. Its the first and most important meal of the day. Remember the saying - "Breakfast like a king; lunch like a noble man and dinner like a beggar." However, if you are too busy, grab fruit or milk or a couple of slices of brown bread. If you want to eat something sinful too, breakfast is the meal to have it.
2. Stop eating white breads as they contain Maida (refined flour). Have whole wheat breads instead. Apart from being healthier, they are much tastier. A word of caution, do not have Brown Bread. Many companies just add a brown colour and sell it as healthy brown bread. Avoid it. Specifically ask whole wheat bread. Similarly, try and replace butter and cheese with peanut butter / fruit jam.
3. Have something at every 2-3 hours. Sounds ridiculous and impractical. It is. However, still try to grab something to whatever extent possible. Our body is as clever as our mind. When you don't eat for more than 2-3 hours, body goes from anabolic to catabolic state (to say it crudely, from fat burning to fat storage stage). You have to cheat your body by eating something at regular intervals to keep it into anabolic state. Best options are almonds, nuts, fruits, biscuits. Avoid eating wafers, sweets and fried items.
4. Try and have as much fibre as possible. It not only helps in digestion, it doesn't add a bit to calorie intake. Have lots of cucumber, tomato, carrot, cabbage. Even fruits like papaya, guava, apple, and orange are high in fibre.
   
5. HAVE LOTS OF WATER. There is no substitute to water. Keep your water bottle filled whenever you are working long hours. Regular intake of water not only keeps the metabolic rate high, it is good for eyes when working long hours or watching a movie. Have more water whenever you have coffee or alcohol, as these cause dehydration.
6. If you've had a heavy or fatty meal and are feeling guilty about it, do not miss your next meal to cover your guilt. Two wrongs do not make a right. Overeating takes your body to catabolic state and then no eating keeps it in catabolic state. So, have something light to bring body back to anabolic state.
7. There is a saying - "No carbs after 6". However that is utterly impractical and impossible for us to follow. However, avoid fatty food, carbonated drinks and sugar in dinner. If you have a sweet tooth, and you cant resist the temptation to have dessert, here is a tip. Do not have dessert that have both sugar and saturated fatty acids (deep fried). So avoid Gulab-jamun, jalebi etc. Instead, have fruits with ice-cream, chikki, nuts chocolates (small measures).

These are just some basic tips which do not mess much with the fun part of eating. Moreover, diet constitutes only one of the components of fitness. Other aspects are exercise and rest. Any questions are welcome. Lets stay fit :)