Want to tip the weighing scale in your favour and keep it that way? Here’s how you can do it.

We’ve all read stories and watched shows of people who’ve lost tons of weight in a short span of time. But what happens to them after the story ends or the show is over? Losing weight is comparatively easy, but keeping the weight off is a different ball-game altogether. The more you diverge from what your body is accustomed to, the higher the likelihood of failure. Wouldn’t it be great then to do something that would complement your regular lifestyle so that you don’t just lose weight but also keep it off? If I’ve got your attention here, read on to know more about lifestyle management.

An Italian spin on a Greek staple – Pizza Hummus

A lot of times I get asked, “How do you manage to eat healthy? don’t you get tempted to gorge on unhealthy foods?” Well, the answer really is very simple. I innovate. If I don’t like the taste of a certain food, no matter how healthy it is, I try to tweak the recipe to make it taste better without compromising on its nutritive value.

In fact, the best chefs are the best innovators. Take the “chinese bhel” or “mexican pizza” for example. These dishes were the brainchild of chefs who knew they had to create unique masterpieces that stand out in the world. In a similar fashion, I like to fuse food recipes to make healthy dishes more tasty and more appealing. In fact, the idea for this next dish came to me totally by chance.

Baby’s 1st Birthday Cake (its great for diabetics too!)

There are many milestones in a baby’s life. But one of the big ones, that is probably more exciting for the parents, is the baby’s 1st birthday. In our case too, we had a party planned for our little fellow’s big day, but, there was one problem – we didn’t want to introduce our baby to sugar, not just yet – so what we do about the cake?

One option was to drop the idea of a cake altogether. But hey, what’s a birthday without cake? Its the one thing that signifies birthdays across all age groups and cultures. Sure, it would be hard to find a recipe that didn’t use honey, jaggery, sugar or artificial sweeteners but I knew I had to at least try.

It really wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. In fact, the cake was pretty tasty (although the texture of the cake resembled banana bread) and best of all guilt-free! And it wasn’t just a cake, I made some frosting and icing to decorate it as well.

The endless battle between giving in to cravings and fighting them…Which side will you choose?

Honestly, the fence might be the best choice on this one. Giving in to your cravings could make you feel guilty about eating more, while fighting them might just leave you feeling deprived. So, how do you tackle this battle? There’s no one way really, but here are some ‘tried and tested’ strategies that might just help you win the war.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall…Who’s the fittest of us all?

If your choice is based on sheer sight, you, my friend, might just lose the bet on this one. While its true that fit people are usually toned and slender, the reverse doesn’t always apply. The number of ‘thin’ people who have excess body fat and are extremely unfit is alarmingly high. So just because someone is a size 0, doesn’t mean they are fit and just because someone is a size 12, doesn’t mean they aren’t.

Tomato soup with a twist

Winters and weight loss – both are ideal times to indulge in some soup, especially tomato soup. But the restaurant and ready to eat versions, though quick are far from healthy. In fact, the overload of salt, sugar, oil and preservatives almost brings them to the point of having zero nutrition.

My recipe for tomato soup changes all of that. It has a whole bunch of good-for-you veggies. The deep red color is from the tomatoes, carrots and beetroot, the rich body of the soup comes from the bottle gourd, cucumber and the potato and the aroma comes from the onions and garlic. There’s also some crunch – and its not from croutons 🙂

How to start an exercise program and stick with it!

Statistics show that for every 10 people who begin an exercise program, only 2 follow through with it. Why is that? We all know and agree that exercise is important. Then why can’t we get ourselves to do it? In my opinion, it is because we set ourselves up for failure right from the start.While the actual exercises itself will vary depending on a person’s goals and fitness level, here are some unconventional ways to stick with exercise: