Tips to manage your weight during isolation

Your gym workouts may have come to a halt. And even if you are training virtually, it's always important to eat well for mental and physical resilience. Of course, there is always anxiety about putting on weight when you're staying at home, but following some simple practices can put your concerns to rest.
. Start your day with a high-fibre breakfast. Fibre boosts digestion and removes toxins from the body, thereby increasing metabolism. Daily intake of fibre should be at least 25-30gms per day. One can include oatmeal, branflakes, green sandwich filled with leafy vegetables and avocado. Kids' breakfasts can include grilled vegetables mixed with beans and cilantro topped with cheese, whole wheat bagels with egg, cheese and veggies wrapped in a flour tortilla, weetabix (high fibre food) with low fat milk.

. Focus on citrus fruits and vegetables with high-water content. These foods have zero cholesterol, zero trans-fats and are low in calories, thus ideal for people looking for weight loss. Load your meals with citrus fruits, like oranges, sweet lime, strawberries, guava, blueberries, black currant, grapefruit and tomatoes. In case of vegetables, one can grab celery, iceberg lettuce, zucchini and squash.
. Modify recipes to limit calories. Opt for baking, grilling, boiling or sautéing instead of frying. Use jaggery instead of white sugar. Flavour dishes with Greek yoghurt instead of sour cream, cheese and mayo. Use brown rice or quinoa instead of polished white rice. Using flavouring agents like lime juice, vinegar, ginger and garlic in foods will help reduce intake of salt.
. Avoid unwanted sugar in your diet. Sodas, fruit juices, and sports and energy drinks often contain excess sugar, which can lead to weight gain and make it more difficult for a person to shed those unwanted kilos. Try and substitute high-calorie drinks with lemon ginger tea, green tea, laban, coconut water, fennel water, aloe vera juice and healthy smoothies.
wknd@khaleejtimes.com