Healthy ways to indulge in festive treats and keeping calories in check

India being an example of great diversity has many festivals around the year. There are 24 festivals that most people celebrate in different religions. It’s a natural tendency for us to be festive, eat lots of food and have a mood of holidaying. Many people celebrate, others go for trips or have different plans to relax and hibernate. I bring you this article to give you some practical ways to help yourself stay active and make conscious food choices that will help you to make a balance.With Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve just a few weeks ago, we need to start focusing on eating clean and healthy while indulging in the festive treats.
Pabitra Kumar Das, nutripreneur and founder of NPPD Lifestyle Transformation, shares tips on maintaining a good diet and eating healthy in the festive seaon:
Festivals come up with a lot of love, compassion, kindness and food. It is very helpful for our mental health to stay happy, laugh with family and share food and happiness together. You should always celebrate festivals with family to get a sense of closeness and trust.

The only problem happens when we forget the quantity and our tongue starts controlling our mind. Overeating is a major problem on festival days which makes many people have this guilt after festival days. I have mentioned some ways to control overeating and avoid that guilt.
Conscious eating

If you have any sense about food, you can easily identify food that has more oil, sugar or fats. If not, my team can educate you on this. If you compare a daily meal and a festival meal, you can see the addition of several lighter and heavy items. Things that you should control is sugary stuff like cake, sweets etc. Oily food should be controlled too. My aim is not to relieve you from the good food. But, to guide you so that you would be able to enjoy this food till you become old. So, remember this and make conscious choices.
Mindful cooking/baking
This is especially for people who cook during festivals. We should plan before making choices of oils, sugar, milk-based products etc. to avoid any hassle. There are many alternatives available and you should opt for the healthy ones according to your need and budget.

Activity with friends and family
Festivals are the best days that we remember, isn’t? I remember we used to go to our village once in a year during summer festivals and those were the most beautiful times of childhood. We should always promote festivals to our children and tell them stories of the past and explain the traditions. With this, we should also play games, form a team, do some physical activity and have fun. I get it, you are thinking about that relative who always lets you down. By staying apart from all those family members who troll or pull you down, you can enjoy your day making it healthy and fine.
Pre-planning works
No matter what the field is, no matter which year we are talking in, pre-planning does wonders. Have you felt sometimes so confused that you end up binge purchasing and eating loads of stuff? We’ve all done that! Make a plan, write down things that you need to do. Where will you be travelling to? Who are you going to meet and what are the things you need to eat and try. This will make you a lot more conscious and you will be able to brainstorm your choices.



Drink a lot of fluid
We tend to consume a lot of sugar and fats during the festive five, therefore, increasing the intake of ids is a must. Water or fibrous fluids will make it easy to digest and get you normal the next day. Even if you are a having lot of chicken, mutton, fish, it will contain a good amount of protein that will need more water. So, no matter, what festival it is and what food you are eating, make it a point to have more fluids during festivals.