Eat and be merry

You need not lay off the mithai altogether, but do go easy and learn how to mix and match your food.

It's that time of the year again. There's a definite nip in the air and the festive season's almost here, bringing with it the prospects of much feasting and merry-making in convivial company. But as with everything good in life, there's a price to pay. All those rich mithais full of ghee and dry fruits, not to speak of the elaborate meals and the little tit-bits that you nibble at the homes of friends and relations ""they can set back weeks and months of the most rigorous of fitness regimes. And for those with health problems, especially diabetes and blood pressure, they can cause real damage. Is there anything one can do to forestall or lessen the ill-effects?

Yes "" keep well away from all that greasy stuff. But since that won't do, the next best thing is to be sensible about how you eat it. Neetu Mishra, who is a dietician at the Max Balaji Hospital in Delhi, has a few sensible tips.

"First and most important, it's necessary to make changes in the activity pattern to accommodate the higher intake of these high-calorie food stuff. This is also the time of season change, and I advise patients to eat light, keep off fried foods if they do not want to feel sluggish. Also, it isn't any use opting for the low-cal, low-sugar varieties that are available these days, since instead of sugar these contain chemicals, which are not good in the long run."

"But you needn't lay off sweets and savouries completely," Mishra continues. "The trick is to have them in moderate quantities and to be extra careful, go light on the next meal, have salads, perhaps, and lots of fluids."

Mishra has more practical advice for those who can't say no to sweets - don't have them at night. "Having high-calorie foods for dinner, just before going to bed when the body's metabolism rate slows down, is wrong because then the fat is stored that much faster. Have the mithais during the daytime, when the calories are burnt off by all the activity after the meal."