Yo yo diets can’t promise health

Leena Mogre, fitness guru to the stars, shares her expertise for a safer workout and clears the air off the myths related to fitness methods

If you were to ask celebrity fitness expert Leena Mogre for advice on the best way to get into shape, she would definitely recommend “substituting good food for bad food and combining that with appropriate physical activity”. After all, diet might help you drop the kilos but you will definitely have a tough time keeping them off.

I don't like the word ‘diet’. I'd rather people say that they are substituting good food for bad food, that they are trying to change their lifestyle. Good nutrition and the right food are important for a healthy lifestyle. Combined with physical activity, your diet can help you to reach and maintain a healthy weight and promote overall health.

One of the best ways to do that is to have a dietician in your life - someone who is there with you every step of the way and why you need to make that change. There are no shortcuts to weight loss or muscle gain. It has to be a constant effort. You have to consult the dietician for even seemingly small things, even inform where you are going to eat that day.

So if you are going to eat Mughlai food in a restaurant, he or she will tell you what you should and should not eat there. The best thing is to make small changes in your lifestyle that you can manage. It may take a little while to reach the fitness level you want, but it will give you lifelong and long-life results. Normally, I never tell my clients about diet first. I want them to start with workouts because jumping into both at the same time will be too much, and they will just drop out.

Changing your diet should be enjoyable. You should want to eat good food, love the food you eat and be disciplined to eat in moderation. I love sweets and ice creams, so I understand how difficult it is to say ‘no’. Starving yourself so much that you just binge when you see food you love, is a very bad idea. The word ‘no’ only tempts a person further. You have to learn to have a good relationship with food and relish it.

Whenever you eat any food, make sure it has many colours. Your food should be attractive and appealing. Red, green and orange food will make you want to eat it. Step one is to start being active. It is very easy to tell someone to climb the stairs and not take the lift.But even this is not easy for some people. And if you are late for a meeting, you are going to forget the stairs and hop into the lift.

When you start exercising, you will realise on your own that you need to change your food habits. When you start working out, start recording your food intake for the first three days, even if it is as insignificant as a biscuit. You will realise how many mistakes you are making. And when you are ready to make that lifestyle change, it is an easy road from there.

Why Yo-Yo diets never help
Many people who need to lose weight try crash dieting, which is a short-term solution that will increase your body fat levels in the long term. Continual cycles of dieting, weight loss and weight gain are called yo-yo dieting. Yo-yo dieting does not help you to maintain a healthy body weight. Your body responds to these periods of semi-starvation by lowering its metabolic rate.

When you lose weight too quickly, you lose fat and muscle. Muscle burns calories, but fat does not. So, when you then stop dieting and eat normally again, your body will burn even fewer calories than before because the relative amount of muscle in your body has decreased and your metabolic rate is slower.

This is not the best way to take care of oneself. People who give up on diets after a week or a month have not fully understood why they need to make a change. Unless that mental shift happens, the best diet in the world will be of no help.

Good Fad Bad Fad
The rules are simple. There are things you can eat and others you must avoid. If you follow these points, you will always be healthy.

Things to avoid:

• Fried food
• Red meat
  
• Gravies--choose grilled instead
  
• Sweetened yoghurt
  
• Alcohol
  
• Cigarettes
  
• Large portions of desserts
  
• Yo-yo diets
  
• Skipping breakfast
  
• Eating a heavy dinner late at night
  

The good foods:

• Leafy, green vegetables
• Sprouts and salads
  
• Fruits - eat them raw, avoid juices
  
• Egg whites
  
• Tofu
  
• Olive oil
  
• Sesame and flax seeds
  
• Skimmed-milk products
  
• Multivitamin supplements if required
  
• Chilled yoghurt with fresh fruits
  

Never forget to exercise

• Weight loss only through diet also puts the focus on the lack of food, instead of the growth and increase in strength and endurance that comes with exercise.