National Nutrition Week 2022: Tips to add a variety to your diet with Flexible Dieting

Flexible dieting is a dieting technique where once you fix your calories, as per your goal, you will pretty much have flexibility in every aspect of fitness. Flexible dieting is a great way to achieve your fitness goals by customising your nutrition intake as per your need.

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Bala Krishna Reddy Dabbedi, celebrity fitness expert, Co-Founder and Director of Fittr, shared, “An important aspect to consider is keeping track of your macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fat) consumption for a given day and to keep the food choices interesting, I suggest eating items that keep you satiated for a longer duration by including food items like eggs, oats, legumes, vegetables, cottage cheese, greek yoghurt etc.”

He added, “These are some classic examples of nutritious food items that allow you to be on track with your flexible diet without deviation. Remember, to reap the long-term benefits of flexible dieting, strict adherence is crucial as this form of dieting enables us to eat what we like but under the remit of our daily calorie count.”

He suggested a few things to keep in mind before trying out flexible dieting:

• Flexibility to choose macronutrients like protein, carbs or facts can be suggested as a range rather than a fixed value
• Flexibility to choose between high satiety foods on the days of an increase level of hunger and calorie-dense foods on the days of reduce level of sugars
• Flexibility is to allocate 15 to 20% of the normal diet to food like ice creams, cookies, brownies etc
• This level of flexibility will help individuals to adhere to the diet for a longer period when compared to rigid dieting method

According to Bipasha Das, Dietician and Nutritionist, “Flexibility refers to finding a diet and way of eating that you can consistently stick to and enjoy, not just for a short period, but as a sustainable way of navigating your nutrition for life.” She revealed a few tips through which you can make the most out of flexible dieting –

• The types of food you eat are critical to flexible dieting. Ensure that you make healthy choices in every meal
• You can indulge in food from your favourite sometimes but the rest of the days ensure you eat home-cooked meals.
• Add a variety to your diet to keep your tastebuds satisfied. You can do this by including veggies and fruits in varied colours. You can also try some easy homemade recipes like chilas, homemade wraps, chaats, porridge, smoothies, one-pot meals, and healthy desserts with fruits and nuts.
• There are always alternatives and healthier ways to eat. You can use nuts and seeds on top of fruits or salads, add dry fruits instead of sugar in dessert, can add multigrain flour to make dishes like roti, wraps, cakes, dosa, idli, chila etc.
• How you view food, and your relationship with it is critical to remain flexible and maintain a healthy diet. You have to become more adaptive and make healthier choices every day, like using less oil, eating non-fried parathas, using no refined oil, eating no sugar-coated pastries etc. Once you do this, you will find yourself moving on a path towards fitness.
• The goal of flexible dieting is to build an understanding of what to eat and in how much proportion. Practising flexible dieting will help you make sustainable choices, feel empowered and pull you closer to your health goals.
• Once you are used to flexible dieting, you can approach food without rigid restrictions or limiting labels that create guilt. You will be able to reduce stress, improve adherence and ultimately change how you feel about yourself, and ‘dieting’ doesn’t remain a scary word anymore.