Gatherings with friends, family, work buddies and more takes up speed from October onwards. The time of festivals! We have Diwali, Navratri, Dussehra, Thanksgiving, and now Christmas and New Years coming up too.

One thing that connects us with all the festivals, apart from the excitement of connecting with people, the colours, decor and fun is the food! It’s hard to maintain our usual diet or stick to a routine when there’s so much festivity around. We binge a little more on those delicious alu puris, mishti doi, phirni, gajar ka halwa, rum cake, cookies, oh the list is endless, and we are already swooning!

The season of festivals is here, but with a dark cloud?

While the season of festivals come with fun and frolic there is also a dark cloud looming above our heads, that makes us worry about staying fit and all the extra effort we’d have to put in after the festivals to get back on track with our fitness.

But what if there were ways to enjoy festivals consciously, stay fit and also dig into those scrumptious meals?

Throw in some fruits and veggies

Okay, we know how that sounds! But most festive foods are oily, extra sweet and loaded with calories. What if you ate festive foods but also set aside some space for fruits and veggies? It would add to the perfect balance. Your bowels would stay healthy, and skin would certainly glow.

Set aside time to exercise, perhaps with a friend

It can get tedious to think of exercise when everyone’s partying and making travel plans to beautiful destinations. All the heavy festival food and staying up late at night may take a toll on the body. Exercise helps improve blood circulation, flushes out toxins and ensures you stay in shape. Also, we wouldn’t want to fall sick when celebrations are in full swing. Maybe plan your workouts with socializing with a friend and commit to working out together over the holiday. 

Don’t forget to drink a lot of water

Stay hydrated, baby. This advice will never get old. And it always works. That glass of bubble, or red wine, or rum can get you dehydrated. All that food is great but let a simple glass of water be your steady bae. (Of course, this is not just for festivals)

Don’t deny yourself the good stuff but do remember to hydrate yourself to keep your appetite in check and metabolism up.

Set realistic goals

You can’t just ignore the festive foods. We all deserve rest and festivals is the time to have a laid-back vacation, treating ourselves to some extra good food. Instead of having unrealistic goals such as going to the gym every day or not touching any of the festive delicacies, why not maintain a low but sustainable level of exercise? Something you and your buddy as we talked about earlier would enjoy doing.

A short walk every morning, yoga or gym during the weekend, and maybe just 5-10 min of easy-peasy exercises you could do any time.

Festivals are a time to connect with loved ones, ourselves, gather together over the one thing that has immense power to connect us, food!

Savour authentic festival food without a worry. The key to stay healthy during this time is to eat wisely and consiously.

Don’t feel guilty about eating beyond your diet or not being able to maintain the usual fitness regime you have. Instead, try and find a middle ground with these super doable tips and really enjoy the festivals.

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