Dr. Neomee Shah, the founder of Dr. Neomee Shah’s Forever Wellness, an Award-Winning Lifestyle Nutritionist, and her daughter, Ms. Divija Shah, a fitness enthusiast join us to answer queries on Lock-down weight loss tips.
1. During the pandemic work from home, the situation has led to odd working hours and eating and sleep cycle, according to you how can one control food cravings and maintain weight during the current scenario.
First of all, we must remember that we all are in it together. And in these testing times, the least we can do is take responsibility of our own self.
Maintaining weight, staying fit and boosting immunity are the need of the time. And one can’t let loose on these by messing up their lifestyle. Hence, one must set a routine and stick to it to the D. Remember the rule.
Get up. Dress up. Show up and never give up. Allot a specific time for your daily course. Keep fixed time for sleeping, waking up, eating office work, Netflix, social media, working out, cooking family, kids, housework and so on. Make a proper time table and organize your days well in advance.
When your day is well planned, you will not tend to overeat, which generally happens when there is a lot of free time or when you are in a holiday mood. Just take three major simple home cooked meals. Do not stock up on any unhealthy, processed, packaged foods at home for snacking as out of sight, out of mind. Instead you may stock up on fruits, fresh fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, eggs as healthy snack options.
Additionally, you may also practice intermittent fasting or make the most of this time to align your body to its natural circadian rhythm just by following these simple guidelines. You will surely be able to maintain weight even in this lock-down.
2. What according to you is an ideal lock-down diet?
A diet comprising of seven essential nutrients carbohydrates, proteins, fats, dietary fibre, minerals, vitamins and water, along with adequate amount of probiotics, is the best kind of diet to follow in this lock down.
A balanced diet is very important because our organs and tissues need proper nutrition to work, effectively fight infections and boost immunity. Without good nutrition, our body is more prone to infections, fatigue and poor performance.
Here is sample diet planned for you
- For breakfast you can have Oats or upma or Idli along with a bowl of curd or you can have eggs and toast.
- For lunch you can have one plate of raw salad along with that. You can have either a bajri, nachini, jowar or wheat, roti plus dal or fish curry plus green vegetables. Or vegetable Kichidi followed by a glass of buttermilk.
- For snack you can have hummus with carrots and celery sticks or makana behl or fruit plate, nuts and seeds.
- For dinner you can have a bowl of vegetable soup , along with sprouts or moong dal cheela or chicken or quinoa khichdi. So this is the plan for the entire day. And note that the quantity will differ from person to person.
3. Your daughter, Divija Shah recently ventured into the field of nutrition and fitness, what advice would you like to give her and other budding nutritionists and dietitians. Please share your daughter’s area of specialization.
Divija Shah is an 18 year old fitness enthusiast studying in 12th grade of the Dirubhai Ambani International School. In school, she has pursued sports science and currently she has also taken up a fitness coach certification program from the American College of Sports and Medicine. Meanwhile, she has started her research on nutrition and has also taken up various short courses on the subject.
Recently, she also went to the Johns Hopkins University to learn about nutrition and bio-hacking. Her drive for nutrition and fitness kick started her Instagram page – Step up with the fitness .She specializes in fitness for teenagers. She designs fun and result oriented workouts, which encourages teenagers to exercise regularly.
She, herself, being a teenager, understands the psychology of her peers and can help them become the best version of themselves. Her motto is #Fitteen Fit India.
My advice to her and all the other budding nutritionists and fitness enthusiasts is just that. Be unique, just be yourself and don’t try to copy others when you follow your passion. By retaining your own unique self-miracles happen and success is inevitable. Only those who are fully in spirit can be torch bearers of health and wellness and pioneers of the future.
4. 5 Tips for the New Generation who look around for Quick Fix Diets to lose and maintain weight? Divija’s and your say on the same.
Nutrition tips by Dr Neomee Shah.
Number one, most of the people try to eat clean during the week, but then on a weekend they go all out and they’re bingeing and cheating, which defeats their entire weight loss goal. My advice would be to have two cheat meals per week and not to have cheat days
Number two, most people confuse thirst for hunger, often mistaking the former for the latter. My approach to cure would be to be mindful and avoid overeating by consuming ample water.
Number three have well balanced meals comprising of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fibre, vitamins, minerals and water. My PRO TIP would be not to cut out on any essential nutrients drastically and be deficient in it. Instead, you can play around with the proportion in each meal and exercise portion control.
Workout Tips By Divija.
Quick 25 minute HIIT cardio workout. This is a high-intensity interval training workout that engages your full body. They include alternating periods of intense, cardio exercises with very sharp, less intense recovery periods. Along with being a quick workout that can be fit into anyone’s daily routine. It also burns a lot of calories in a short period of time that’s being effective for weight loss.
Daily twelve sets of Surya Namaskar, any type of yoga helps tone your muscles and also improves your blood circulation. This, as a result, helps in improving your digestive system, relaxes your muscles, and farms you down mentally. Surya Namaskar, in specific, has one extra added benefit of losing weight and improving the metabolism as at a faster pace. It can be considered as a cardio exercise.
5. What according to you & Divija are the challenges to follow a healthy diet for teenagers & college students? With PMS becoming a common health issue, suggest lifestyle tips to manage it?
According to Divija and I there are a couple of factors that can pose as challenges for teenagers and college students to follow a healthy diet.
Number one, the most common factor, this stress, anxiety cut throat competition and to cope up with all these emotions they resort to emotional eating and depend upon junk, sugary foods.
Second, teenagers are at an age where they go through a lot of hormonal changes. They are exploring themselves, understanding the changes around them. And college students are at a stage where they may have a heart breaks. They have to make career choices or financial problems where their main focus is to eat something that pampers their emotions. Hence, they resort to emotional eating, not knowing that this is a vicious cycle which will in turn adversely affect their emotional state.
The third, the trend nowadays is to socialize over food with the rise of restaurants and a variety of cuisines the youngsters want to go out and eat with their friends. And these restaurants serve unhealthy but very tasty food. And hence they opt for the taste over health. Sometimes healthy food is sold at a premium rate and students who are living on a budget find it easier to source junk and a pocket friendly food which is found in abundance all around
Fourth also, we live in a world where every celebration, be it a birthday or wedding or graduation. Everything calls for, junk, sugary and unhealthy food like cakes, pasteries, fried, colas etc. There is a culture of associating eating junk food with celebrations and happiness. And for youngsters, every day is an occasion so the whole problem is because of the system, lack of correct education and knowledge about the right kind of food.
Hence, I feel that if they can be guided by a professional at a very young age, then they would be able to make better food choices and live a healthy life. Creating awareness and showing them the right path is the key to all the problems.
6. Share three 5 minute healthy recipes to try on the go?
Recipe one: Besan Cheela high in complex carbohydrates and protein. Add one cup of Gram Flour in one bowl. Add a little water to it and make the Chela Batter. Then add an onion, tomato. Capsicum, salt, turmeric powder, ginger, coriander leaves to it. Mix all the ingredients. Now heat the pan and add one teaspoon of mustard oil to it. Put the batter on the pan and spread it evenly. Let it cook till it becomes nice and crispy when ready. Serve it with green chutney. It’s healthy, tasty and filling.
Recipe number two: Ragi Malt recipe mixed three to four tablespoons of Ragi with some water and make a paste out of it Then take a pan add some water, some rock salt and Ragi paste to it then cook for two to three minutes and let it cool. Then add it two to three tablespoons of curd. Do it and mix it will add your gluten free high fibre, vitamins, and minerals. Indian smoothie is ready.
Recipe 3: Overnight Oats. This is no cook method of making oatmeal, soak raw oats with some coconut milk and some honey and rested in the refrigerator for at least six hours overnight. The next morning you have ready to eat a delicious, creamy bowl of oatmeal topped up with some seeds, nuts, dried fruits or fruits and enjoy this delicious power packed breakfast.
7. A day in Neomee Shah life during lock-down
I have made a time table and set a purposeful routine for myself which I follow everyday during the lock-down. I think it’s very important to allot a specific time for everything in order to fulfill one’s aims & goals.
- I wake up by 8 am and begin my day with a short prayer while still in bed.
- Then I drink a glass of warm water with some cinnamon powder and lemon followed by fresh amla-haldi juice or my immunity booster tea.
- Then I give myself a short massage with coconut oil which is followed by some stretching exercises or yoga for 30 minutes.
After that I shower with my signature Chakra cleaning scrub, get ready and do diya, aarti & meditation in my house temple. - Later, I join my family for breakfast. This includes seasonal fruits and a handful of overnight watersoaked nuts & seeds. Sometimes it’s just a big bowl of curd or homemade guacamole dip with carrot & celery sticks.This time is very important to me as we all have breakfast together, fill each other in and get ready for the day ahead.
- After this, it’s a roller-coaster of work. Before lock-down, I used to meet my clients in person but now, I connect with them on video call. We strategically plan the entire week’s diet and I monitor them closely everday too. So my working hours are 12 to 5 pm. I just take a short lunch break between that.
- My lunch includes a wholesome bowl of salad along with vegetable khichdi or a vegetable & paneer roll. In addition to that, I always have a small glass of buttermilk or kaanji post my meal.
- After wrapping up work at 5 pm, I enjoy a light snack like a small portion of dried fruits, homemade protein balls or a fruit and peanut butter as my pre workout snack.
- I usually workout for an hour to an hour and a half.
- Post workout, I have a cold water shower which is excellent for anti-aging and then I sit for my dinner. This could be either a moong daal chilla or a hot quinoa salad, hummus and gluten free crackers or sprouts chaat.
- So basically I eat clean & wholesome meals throughout the week with the exception of 2 cheat meals which are generally on a Thursday and a Sunday.
- Post dinner, I sit in Vajrasan pose for 10 minutes to facilitate digestion and absorption of nutrients.
Then, my daughter and I perform a thanksgiving ritual and fill in our jar of gratitude. This is also the time where we discuss our day, work and plan our short term and long term goals. We keep a check on each other and this keeps us motivated. Also, we have set this habit of learning something new everyday, so we share that knowledge with each other as well.
After this, I reply to all the queries of my clients and then unwind by either watching a Netflix show, talking to friends or relatives on video call, reading or anything that makes me happy.
Lastly, to end my day on a good note, I have a glass of warm water with some haldi & pepper, conduct a short prayer, program my subconscious mind and then sleep off by midnight.
Thus, I segregate my time well to reap the benefits of a life well lived. Stay healthy, stay happy!
Women Fitness is grateful to them for this enlightening interaction.
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