Few things that work for me:
- Reduce sugar to minimum, replace with honey when possible.
- Avoid processed foods, ketchup, sauces, biscuits, chips, namkeen, sugar added juices, soft drinks etc. High in salt and sugar.
- Eat mostly home cooked food, restaurant food is high in salt, oil, sugar, hygiene doubtful
- Aim for at least 50% volume of food from veggies.
- Eat home made curd/buttermilk in every meal, or at least once a day.
- Eat eggs/meat/fish not more than twice a week if you cant stay away from it. Wed & Sun for ex.
- Eat at regular times. Avoid eating on the move/rush/standing. Min 60 mins lunch break.
- Avoid snacking between meals, eat seasonal fruit if you are tempted.
MOST IMPORTANT:
Eat SLOWLY, chew well. Saliva contains the enzyme Ptyalin which breaks down carbohydrates into simple sugars. When you eat slowly this happens adequately and the released simple sugars give you a sugar hit that leads to satisfaction of eating. Take at least 25 mins, max 35 mins for eating. You will automatically eat less. Walk for 10 mins post meal, you'll feel great after.
Last tip from my personal experience :
When you eat to 25% of the stomach's capacity hunger pangs are gone.
When you eat to 50% of the stomach's capacity hunger is totally gone.
When you eat to 75% of the stomach's capacity SLOWLY you will be fully satiated.
Then STOP.
Last 25% should be left empty to enable digestion, and avoid overeating due to greed. Else your stomach expands and you'll get into a cycle of eating more to feel full and its becomes a vicious cycle.
Just like you cant fill a washing machine up to the brim with clothes and expect it to work correctly. You should always leave the table feeling there is a bit of space left in your belly. This takes some practice, but in a couple of weeks you'll get the hang of it and will be surprised why you were eating more earlier.
None of the above is rocket science, all of India used to eat mostly like this just a few decades ago. Kitchens were out of bounds except while eating so there was very little snacking. No fridge = fresh home food each meal. Vegetable sellers used to roam the streets in hot sun, so the veggies had to be fresh, plucked the previous evening. Small, efficient local supply chains. No preservatives or artificial ripeners were used. Supermarket veggies in India are really pathetic, don't buy there.
If you add some exercise, Yoga (suryanamaskar, pranayama, few simple asanas), and good sleeping habits, things will greatly improve in 3 months.
Also brush twice a day and use tongue cleaner. You'll get better oral health, better digestion. I was shocked to see the west doesn't use tongue cleaners and are obliged to use breath fresheners all the time and still most people have bad breath and bad teeth by 40s.
Don't smoke or drink. If you do, limit it and taper away gradually. Once you have crossed 45, they start wrecking real havoc in your body.
I don't manage to follow all of the above all the time. But I do manage at least 50% of the above most of the time. People usually take me for a good 10-15 years younger than I am
Hope these work for you.
Don't follow any fad diets like High protein, Keto, veggies only, vegan etc. They are psychologically taxing, results temporary and cause more problems than they solve. Indian style vegetarianism is good but not mandatory from health perspective if you follow the above guidelines.
May be we should move this type of discussion to a suitable thread.
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