a step towards a healthier lifestyle
In August I did a random blood test, mainly to see where my HB level currently was. What I found was nothing less than a shock. My hb level was low, cholesterol on the higher side, and so was the rest of the stuff which shouldn’t be. Now I don’t blame anyone except my sheer love towards pizza and icecreams and cookies. What I also found was that my oxygen saturation rate was low, which wasn’t a good thing. It's expected from someone who is in her 20s to be fit. If we go by the definition of being fit it simply says “strong and healthy”. I wasn’t very much conscious about body image but all I wanted was to be fit and yet be able to eat my favorite foods. I grew up in a family where the elders survive on medications and that’s the lifestyle I definitely don’t want to embrace.
When I started doing exercises I found I was getting dizzy, panting, and dreaded muscle cramps were all over me. These made me realize that my body being so unaccustomed to physical activities, and being undernutrition for a long time is failing to perform tasks. While I was getting slowly back into the routine of working out pujo came and I started eating out again. This book came precisely during that time.
The first line of the book says, “diet is a pattern of food consumption”. Now there can be good and bad and something in between diet (I guess), mine was on the bad side. My mother loves her ghee and oil a bit too much and is very generous with it. In the first chapter itself, the author gives us a checklist to see if we have a healthy lifestyle. (I didn’t have one!). my protein intake was low so was dietary fibers and high carbs and fats. The author didn’t just focus on our food habits, although that occupy a good 70% of the book, she talked about how important is to curate an exercise plan and set a goal beforehand before delving into fitness. She explored different modern health practices and if we need to incorporate them or not. She went ahead and explained how imperative it is to focus equally on mental and emotional wellbeing in order to embrace a healthier lifestyle. One cannot just focus on exercise or diet only and expect changes.
What I loved the most was the fact that the meal plans were shared by her. it got both the elements of Indian food and more quirky, instagrammy foods like smoothie bowls and stuff like that. She heavily focused on locally available seasonal ingredients rather than going all exotic fruits and leaves. The major problem I faced following the western dietician's advice was it wasn’t cost-effective in long run and sometimes the fruits although available are not fresh and contain preservatives. these two things got negated in the book since the author talked only about basic Indian food. I find this book quite handy on days when I don’t know what to eat and if I am eating proper nutritious food or not.
About the author
Dr. Rohini Patil is an MBBS and a nutritionist. Over the last eight years, she has passionately done intense research in the field of diet, nutrition, fitness, mental health and overall lifestyle modifications. She is the founder & CEO of Nutracy Lifestyle.
This book was sent by HarperCollins in exchange for an unbiased review.