Monsoon Special-Tips To Stay Fit

With the monsoons almost here, let's alter our food and lifestyle habits according to the season to stay at our healthiest best.

Diet

 Stick to seasonal fruits and vegetables For instance, eat mangoes only till the season lasts, not till the end of rains.

• During the monsoons, stick to soups and stir fried or cooked steamed veggies instead of raw salads.
• To avoid stomach ailments and other water-borne diseases, avoid eating street food.
• You must carry water from home when you head out or insist on packaged drinking water.
• To keep immunity high, eat fruits and veggies high in vitamin c, beta carotene and iron (carrots, beets, lime, amla, dates).
• Add ginger and garlic to your cooking to keep sniffles at bay and stomach ailments down.
• Avoid eating bhel,pani puri,or any thing that could probably be uncooked.This can play havoc on your stomach.Eat cooked ingredients as germs are killed during the whole cooking process
• Avoid binging on fried foods (pakoras, chips, namkeens, samosas,etc) as far as possible. Moderation is the key word here.
• Snack on the grilled buttas/makkai/corn that seem to pop up everywhere with the rains. Nothing smells better than corn being roasted over hot coals on a rainy day, besides the fiber makes it an excellent healthy snack.

Exercise

• It is not advisable to swim during the monsoons, unless you have a private pool and have been doing it since long to avoid water-borne infections.
• Head to the gym for safe indoor workouts during this season.
• Once the heat goes down, our thirst signals go down too. But you must consciously attempt to keep hydration levels optimum by drinking enough water.Even if you are not thirsty does not mean your body does not need water.Stick to 12 gllasses a day.The best measure that you are drinking enough water is your pee should be clear or pale yellow  Not dark yellow .When you pee you get rid of chemicals that your body doesn't need any more. It's like with the trash you throw away
• If you  heading out for a walk or run, make sure you wear footwear that not only prevents skidding and slipping, but also from water seeping in.

Bottomline - keep in sync with nature’s cyclical changes. Enjoy the monsoons! :-)