Tackling Diwali – 4

Tackling Diwali – 4In the concluding series let us touch upon a few miscellaneous points and also how to recover post Diwali.

– Drink plenty of water during the day. Most sweets and savories are devoid of water and quite dry. In order to metabolise it, water is drawn from your body. When water levels start falling, the Base Metabolism Rate is lowered by the body to conserve resources. Drinking plenty of water ( more than needed ) ensures that your BMR is ticking along at a good click. Some favour hot water more than cold water, but then I would have green tea rather than just hot water.

– Grease the Groove. This is the geeky term to keep doing workouts / exercise throughout the day. Every chance you get do some squats, push ups, ab crunches etc. Be innovative. You can do calf raises even when walking the mall. Use the bldg stairs instead of the lift. Walk rather than drive, if possible. The more you exert the more your BMR will be higher…hopefully burning off that scrumptiously delicious ghee-soaked boondi ladoo – What do you eat when you are done with stuffing yourself silly? Recognise that most sweets are stripped of all nutritional value. Plus no fiber. There are mostly only starch and simple sugars with fat. So when it comes to your meals stay away from grains, seeds and nuts. Go for pulses for the proteins. You have been exercising all day na? Take fruits in plenty for the fiber and the nutritional value. A raw salad with some Thai dressing  gives that spicy taste that we so love. Avoid more carbs in form of Rice, chappati and some new fangled pastas. A Maggi 2 minute with veggies counts as packaged foods made in a factory, if you need reminding – Weigh yourself every day. It will give you that shock that you so well deserve!!!. But do not get too alarmed. It can often register very high  gains. This is because it takes 3 times the water to store one part of glycogen in your muscles. But the feedback helps.

– Recovery post Diwali is crucial. The earlier you set about this task the better. Before they settle on those hips we referred to earlier. All exercises are created equal but when it comes to burning muscle glycogen some are more equal than others.

Go for exercises such as speed intervals, HIITs, freebodyweight routines, hill repeats and heavy weights. They will burn the muscle glycogen faster.

– Stick to your raw vegan salads, fruits and fiber diet for about a week post the festival. Your recovery from both exercises and from Diwali excesses will be better. In fact, trust me, you will be amazed.

Who knows, in fact you may end up liking this clean eating lifestyle

Proving once again, that from every bad situation some good can arise.

Be Positive and cheerful. Have a happy Diwali.

Venkat