The first basic step to lose weight is to break meals into various categories - early morning breakfast, breakfast, mid morning snack, lunch, evening snack and dinner.
Nidhi S. Yadav, head, clinical nutrition, Fortis Healthcare, explains how to go about it.
"One should start the day with a glass of lukewarm water and honey. For a tea drinker, it should be a cup of tea with Marie biscuits and two or three walnuts or almonds. This should be followed by a breakfast - one can have muesli, oats, cornflakes with egg white," she said.
"After an interval of two hours, one can go for salads or fruits. Lunch should consist of two chapatis made of multi-grain flour, a bowl of dal and green vegetables. Evening snacks can comprise a cup of tea with idli or dhokla or roasted channa.
"Dinner should consist of vegetable soup, brown bread or chapatis and veggies. If one feels hungry before going to sleep, one can have a glass of milk," she said.
Having fruits is essential to keep calories at bay, but one should avoid banana, mango and grapes as they are high on calories. It is better to go for watermelons, melons and sweet lime. One should either have fruits 40 minutes before a meal or two hours after a meal.
