The Diwali- A festival of lights, joy and togetherness is around the corner. During Diwali things like cleaning and decorating the house, shopping, gifting sweets, making snacks and desserts etc become the top priority.  On Diwali, one cannot resist himself to eat sweets & snacks and the availability of varieties of colorful tempting and sumptuous sweets make it even harder. This is the time when people put on extra weight which may become the cause of ill health. But if it is a festival, I recommend you should not pull yourself to the lure of this festival feeling. Rather you should plan accordingly to make a correct balance between health fun and joy. If you follow the following tips then this Diwali may become safe and healthy:

Home cook your sweets

Make it a habit to cook your sweet at home instead of buying it from the market. In this way you will not only avoid unhealthy and infectious food but also consume fresh and organic sweets which will be beneficial for your good health. Don’t worry about the recipes they are widely available these days.

Choose healthy alternatives

Substitute the unhealthy ingredients with the healthy one. Make ghee your best friend instead of oil or unsaturated fats. Swap refined powdered sugar with organic jiggery or honey. Add lots of nuts like raisins, almonds, walnuts, dry apricots etc.You can also include healthy superfoods like Chia seeds, flexi seeds, sesame and sunflower. Laddoos made from such ingredients are in vogue.

Keep your portion size small

Whatever you eat always eat in small portions. Enjoy and relish the taste not the number. Keep a control over calories. Eat sweets and desserts for taste and joy not for stomach. The more calories you consume, the more stress you put on your health. So keep your plate small as well.

Stay hydrated throughout the day

The more diluted blood will have lesser concentration of sugar level. So you need to keep your blood sugar level controlled. To keep yourself hydrated throughout the day, drink as much as liquid you can. Consume low calorie smoothies, juices, coconut water and drinking water more frequently.

Choose what you booze

This Diwali, avoid drinking more than two medium drinks of alcohol, even one medium drink for woman. Prefer dry wine over sweet wine. Avoid cocktails and hefty beers. Don’t consume more than one handful of nuts and salads. Dilute your drinks if possible.

Use brain while gifting and motivate others for the same

Diwali is the festival of togetherness. This Diwali we should promise ourselves to choose gifts for our loved ones mindfully. Prefer a gift hamper of almonds, raisins, apricots, chia seed laddoo, Sasme barfi, Pine nuts etc. We should motivate our friends and relatives for the same so that everyone can get benefits out of this.

Follow Post Diwali Tip

Once the Diwali season is over, try to balance out the extra calories taken during Diwali by opting detox diet for 3-4 days. Have raw veggies, fruit juices, fruits, detox tea and detox water. Include more Vitamin C in your diet. Make this Diwali special for yourself, family and friends. Have a Healthy Diwali Author Details Mr Rakesh Sharma, Academic Coordinator, MMICT & BM (Hotel Management), Maharishi Markandeshwar Deemed To Be University, Mullana