“Dude, you on a diet or something?”

…my roomie asked eyeing me, as I skipped the section with the full-cream yogurt and reached out to the one marked “0.1% fat”.

I scowled back at him. I don’t know why but most people I know have only two kinds of food habits.
a) eat like there’s no tomorrow (“dude, this is the age to eat”)
b) go on a diet and cut out on pretty much all the good stuff. (“I’m dieting”)

My biggest problem is convincing people that you don’t have to be ‘on a diet’ to make sensible choices when it comes to food.
Sensible choices, for me includes choosing whole wheat over white bread, light cheese, trimming the fat on the chicken, using the oven instead of the deep fryer and yes, picking 0.1% fat over full-cream yougurt.
And no I am not on a diet.

In fact I’m nowhere close to a diet – I live on chicken 2 to 3 days a week, ice-creams (inspite of the snow outside!), munch on Pringles and have a Twix every once in a while.

Which is exactly why I’d want to eat more sensibly.
Because the kind of activities I do on a day-to-day basis hardly justifies my food-ability. And I’m guessing most people reading this aren’t exactly Rambo look-alikes either so it’s not just me who has to worry about going through the day on a chair getting up only in case of necessities.

In a way I’m angry at people who don’t care about their food habits unless something happens. For these people a ‘food habit’ pretty much means whatever they can find and are allowed to eat where they live. I know a lot of my friends who have deep-fried delicacies almost everyday because “this is what you get here dude”.

No its, not! And and no points for guessing the side effects. True, when you’re living alone, (and on a tight budget) healthy eating’s not always an option but hey, we can try, right?

Remember; a ‘diet’ is what you routinely eat, not what you go on for a month – and having the right attitude makes a good diet; One of these days I really got to talk to these guys, after all…


“Hey, I’m still talking to you”
I blinked as I snapped back to reality. I was still reaching out for that yogurt and there were other people starting to stare at us.

I just looked back at him and smiled. There isn’t much you can say sometimes.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Remember; a ‘diet’ is what you routinely eat, not what you go on for a month"

Very well-written! People often go to either extremes, either overeating like there's no tomorrow or dieting to the point of anorexia. That's NOT how it should be! One has to find the right balance when eating, developing a type of diet that complements his or her physical activities.

You definitely have the right idea about it. Keep it up. :)

Anonymous said...

Right about that diet line. But as I'm not a big non-vegetarian, I live on chicken and eggs once a month. This means I am on non-veg diet once a month :)

-Saurabh-

Rayees Ahamed said...

I always buy 10 % fat Kondensmich,

0.1 % fat milk is simply water

-=A.R.N.=- said...

@Sindhu
Thx :)


@Saurabh
Once a month? there's no way I can stay without chicken at least once a week.. :)

@Rayees
c'mon...most of the 4.5%fat milk we get in india are more watery than the 0.1% here.

And you use only Kondensmilch? All the time? woah..

Rayees Ahamed said...

ama boss, for water boiler tea/coffee, 10% kondensmilch serves the purpose, add less for the same consistency to get higher resultant temperature of the final mixture.

Arun Sundar said...

Thats why one should get married and delegate the 'taking care of diet' to the wife!

-=A.R.N.=- said...

@rayees
Oh okay. I prefer fully milk...no water :D

@arun
Hmm, "delegate"? Dude, now I know you're working too much
:)

A wo(a)ndering mind said...

:D I agree.. I hope people would take their health more seriously.. my next post is gonna be something on those lines

-=A.R.N.=- said...

@A wondering mind
"Next post" I gather, after the Grand Tour?

Intern said...

hehehehe, this a very funny post :D
i myself am strictly against sugarfree stuff and low fat diary products, dont ask why.

i am the kinda person who like to go natural prefers food the way it should be rather than altering with synthetics.

although i agree with goin fr whole wheat instead of white flour and using jaggery rather than refined sugar.. etc
my house is ful of those "natural" stuff.. :O
according to my theory, carbs do more damage than fat. there is a limit to hw much fatty food u can eat, but nt fr carbs.. :D

therefore i guiltlessly eat a nice helping of thirunalveli halwa, than rice :D

sheesh that was a long comment :P

-=A.R.N.=- said...

@Shimmer
Hey wow...not everyday I get a comment on a post nearly a year after I write it! thx!! :D

Hmm, I'd like to agree with your theory on carbs doing more damage - the problem is that Indian cuisines sometimes have an unfortunate imbalance of purely carbs: like rice with fried potatoes and appalam :)
Boy that's unhealthy!