Glad that you're interested in nutrition!
Firstly, let me introduce the author of this page and the founder of Thrivey Pilates Studio.
Hey there! This is Rhujuta Pendse. I have been using equipment pilates for my own fitness for about 5 years now and I've seem an amazing transformation in my overall health through pilates and nutrition. I have been experimenting with my own nutrition and I have found a few things that have added immense value to my health and fitness.
This page is a sum of my experiences in nutrition and a curation of informative sources for those of you who want to achieve the best health they can and are willing to invest time and efforts. I 100% stand by these inputs and have personally felt legit tranquil bliss solely through my diet.
Nutrition is vital to everyone's wellbeing. Our digestive organs have limited space. If we fill the space with nutritious clean food, we feel vitalized and balanced. If we fill it with processed or gut damaging food, we feel imbalanced. We are actually what we eat.
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Think of a car, if you put in the wrong fuel, the car engine would get spoilt. If you put the right fuel, the car engine runs just fine. If you put the power booster fuel, the car runs smoother. It's similar for our body. Although the body won't get spoilt as soon as a car would, it would definitely be less efficient with the wrong fuel (packaged food, carbonated beverages, instant coffee, ultra processed foods). Our body would run just fine with our traditional balanced diet (Roti, Chapati, White Basmati Rice, Dal, Sabzi). Our body would get boosted with premium good quality clean food (Brown rice, Grilled meat, Grilled vegetables, Fresh black coffee, Mamra almonds, Multigrain roti, Red bananas, Broccoli, Red rice). I've listed a lot of ingredients here but I use a few of these at a time and keep switching them to give my gut variety and to stay within my food budget.
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Basics of good nutrition according to my experience -
It starts with quality, clean and wherever possible fresh ingredients. Quality of ingredients refers to the level of processing, nutritional content and the amount of chemicals in the ingredients (many people tend to think that chemicals are derived from plants etc etc and shouldn't technically damage us etc etc but in my experience that's the explanation given by businesses to increase the shelf life of products back when the world needed food with longer shelf life because of the lack of education and food production). High quality ingredients are the ones that are least processed, are high in nutrients and have 0 added chemicals. A few ingredients such as rice/wheat/grains/pulses etc need to be processed in order for our consumption. In their case, opt for the options with the highest nutrient content (Jowar, Bajra, Ragi instead of wheat, Brown rice/Basmati white rice instead of regular rice).
I've compiled a few questions that I think you might have regarding nutrition. Hope this helps.
Why can't I get rid of bad/unhealthy/junk food habits?
I've recently come across this video that has answered many questions related to junk food cravings for me. I hope it helps you too!
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Chemicals additives in food are derived from natural sources only so how can they be damaging for my body?
You're not the only person who thinks of it this way. Here's a video that will provide some insight on this -
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Is coffee good for me? What is the healthiest coffee I can have?
Coffee is good for you when consumed at the right time and the right type.
Right time - Recent research has claimed that our brain doesn't get its best sleep when any amount of caffeine is our blood. Caffeine, the part of coffee that gets us awake and stimulates us, has a half life of 6hrs. This means that if I were to have 30ml of caffeine at 9am then 15ml is still present in my body at 3pm, 7.5ml is present in my body at 9pm, 3.75ml is present at 3am and 1.875ml is present at 9am next day. Clearly my brain wouldn't have slept the best way possible for it on this day. To overcome this issue, I tend to do a coffee detox whenever possible i.e. stop consuming coffee for 3-4 days. Additionally to reduce the caffeine build up in my body, I strictly limit coffee consumption to before 9am each day.
Right type - Instant coffee is highly processed coffee which is definitely bad for your body. The best type of coffee is the one that's brewed at home from ground beans using a pod machine, moka pot, french press, simple americano brewer. Feel free to ask me anything and everything about coffee.
Is butter or ghee good for me? What about all the fats?!
Good quality butter and ghee are excellent sources of energy that nourish our brain. Unfortunately, the Indian food industry has given us Amul butter (colored chemical goo in other words) and ghee (which most probably contains more dalda then ghee).
Here's a good quality chemical free butter that's available on Swiggy, Bigbasket, Amazon. Always opt for unsalted butter, you can add your own high quality pink salt at home -
President Butter
As far as ghee is concerned, trust no one but your own kitchen. Collect milk fat and make ghee once a month.
I've switched to chemical free ingredients and home cooked food but I crave junk. How can I resolve this tiff between health and cravings?
Firstly, yaaay you! Glad you're on your way to better health. If you're facing this, if the craving is for processed food, packaged food, fried food, restaurant food then it's the addiction talking. Here's what you can do about it -
A. Talk to yourself and consider making the same dish at home. It's possible to make everything at home, just find a recipe on youtube! If your brain seems too lazy to make it, it means it's the addiction talking and you don't really need that food item at that time. If you end up making it, yaay you've satisfied your craving and you can now make one your body's favorite dishes at home!
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B. Think of what taste or texture you're craving. If you're craving something sweet then consume any fruit till you're full. If you're craving crispy/friend things then opt for a crispy dosa or 100% whole grain bread toast instead. Feel free to share a screenshot of this and ask me doubts.
I eat home cooked food but I don't see changes in my physique.
Many of our everyday ingredients like salt, sugar and oil are gut damaging if purchased from the wrong brands. Here's why -
1. Most regular salt brands have added chemicals in the ingredients along with salt. Intake of these chemicals regularly can cause toxic load on our gut.
2. Refined sugar is bad. Sugar substitutes are equally bad.
3. All refined oil does more harm to your body then good.
It's natural to wonder that if these don't provide nutrition, why have they been used for so many years?
They do provide nutrition but when consumed in the right form. The right form is pure pink salt/black salt, cold pressed oil stored in tins and coconut sugar/dhaga misri (in the crystalline form with a literal thread inside). Although we have better sugar options, it's better to completely avoid processed sugar and opt for fruit sugars instead.
Do yourself a favor and strictly check the ingredients of your spices, masalas etc. Most brands tend to add chemicals which are not completely necessary for these masalas. A shocking example is that of Hing. Most regular brands add Maida/Refined sugar to their hing/asafoetida. Maida/refined flour is a slow poison.
Click on the name to get to the Amazon.com order page -
Sugar - Dhaga Misri
Cold Pressed oil stored in tin - Chekko
Pink salt - Any brand which has pure pink salt
Which books can I start with to learn about how to achieve a healthy and fit body through food?
I haven't read many nutrition books or tried many of the most popular diets. I have read 2 books and implemented them as far as possible and witnessed wonders in my health over a year. Following the guidelines where ever possible, I have felt truly alive and energetic for the first time in my entire existence on this earth. That's why I swear by these books.
Never be sick again - Buy here
Fiber fueled - Buy here
The mind-gut connection - Buy here
Protein shakes, yes or no?
Protein shakes feel great and give you superb recovery but their effect on our gut is not completely understood yet. I have tried an all natural protein shake for an entire month but I gave it up when I got headaches which are caused due to gut toxins. Believe me when I say, homemade 'green moong sprout curry' or a big bowl of just 'moong dal tadka' or 'grilled chicken' or 'grilled fresh water fish' can give you all the protein you require for recovery after a pilates workout.
In fact, I've eaten homemade 'green moong sprout curry' and 'lasooni palak' for 3-4 months daily and I couldn't believe life could be so easy and beautiful.
I'm too busy. I can't avoid packaged premade food products. What are my best options?
Read the ingredient list, your wellbeing depends on what you put into your body. Fortunately today there are chemical free packaged foods easily available on the internet (Millet noodles, Cereal, Chocolate etc). Freshly cooked food is a sort of modern luxury but try whenever possible to give yourself this luxury, prioritize it whenever possible.
What diet works best?
Assuming your kitchen has clean quality ingredients, the diet that works best is generally whatever you feel like eating just make sure it's made at home.
In my experience, for weight loss intermittent fasting works well quickly and you don't put on weight quickly once you go off the diet.
A general healthy diet for a day -
Breakfast - High fiber (Any 1 type of fruit, oats, palak/methi paratha, fresh coffee, tea)
Lunch - Jowar/Bajra/Ragi bhakri, 2 sabzis, Dal tadka, Very little rice, raw salad, chutney, jam
Dinner - Protein - Dal tadka/grilled chicken/grilled fish/sprout curry + Grilled vegetables (Bell peppers, zuchini, broccoli, mushroom)
Snacks/Hunger pangs - Any 1 type of dry fruit, Any 1 type of fruit, Herbal Caffeinefree tea
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** Include coconut wherever possible, its an excellent source of brain nourishment
I've been following my diet for a while now but then there was a social function and I just had to eat with everyone else. How do I undo the damage?
PALAK, METHI, FRUITS - Have a lot of these and you'll be back on track soon!
Recipe list
While implementing these recipies keep in mind -
Oil - Only cold pressed oils for max benefits
Butter - Unsalted, non chemical butter
Flour - Whole wheat flour only
Salt - Pink salt, black salt
Sugar - Dhaga misri, coconut sugar
Proteins
Green moong sprout curry - I add broccoli and shredded coconut to this to make it more wholesome
Grilled chicken and grilled vegetables
Grilled fish
Mushroom butter masala/Chicken butter masala - Replace mushroom with chicken for the chicken version