Are you thinking of jumping on to the most popular diet trends or intermittent fasting bandwagon to lose weight in the New Year? Many of you may have already planned your New Year resolutions to lose weight and stay fit, but celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar strongly rejects diets that encourage curfew on nutrients like carbs, fats or proteins for weight loss. She doesnt endorses fancy diets and believes in eating local, seasonal and traditional foods, flatly refusing diets 'which come with a name' - low calorie does not always mean healthy. She suggests, 'dieting is not the go-to weight loss strategy'.

In an exclusive interaction with Mirror Online, Rujuta, who has recently launched her book Eating in the Age of Dieting, reveals surprising facts about food that you've probably believed to be true but are actually food myths worth debunking before heading into the New Year. Read on.

Losing weight in 2021

a. Sustainability at the core of food decisions

Adopt a more sustainable diet. Be on a diet in 2021 that you can be in 2031/2051. It has to be a diet which even your children can adopt, or a diet that is good for your parents too and that allows you to come together as a community to celebrate festivals. It has to be a diet which has to have therapeutic properties and allows you to get over minor cold, cough, flu and headaches. So in 2021, local, traditional and seasonal foods should be consumed. Sustainability needs to be at the core of every food decision that you make.

b. Learn the importance of activity

Adopt an exercise, which is adaptable and just doesn't come to an end because your gyms are closed or swimming pools are no longer functional. Take up yoga, learn to exercise more at home. Learn the importance of activity. Don't sit at home and go binge watching online web series. Move your bodies for every 30 minutes of sitting; stand for at least three minutes. Look for opportunities to work at home so that you stay active.

c. Know how politics and policies affect your health

In 2021, know how politics and policies can affect our health. So ask for governments to provide good quality air, safe walking footpaths and cycling lanes.

"It is time to rethink your diet and make it more sustainable. Rethink about your exercise and make it more adaptable. Ensure you get fresh air, green open spaces and safe walking areas as a priority by the government. So, really look at sustainability and don't just make it about how quickly can I lose weight. Think about how I can lose weight and stay healthy forever," she says.

Men need to start cooking. You are eating everyday so might as well learn to cook every day. Men should be able to prepare for the food to cook, complete the act of cooking and also clean up after, because only then are you a useful resource at home.

Rujuta Diwekar

Diet plan for a healthier 2021

When it comes to breakfast, lunch and dinner, Rujuta suggested time-tested varieties that perfectly fit the requirement of today. Whether it is boosting our immunity, keeping our waistlines small, wanting good hair and skin or more results from exercise. Heres her meal plan on what you should eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner:

Breakfast: Poha, upma, idli, paratha, daliya, dosa and milk are good options.

Lunch: Roti, sabji, dal and chawal. But, ensure you are eating the sabji of the season. Also you can choose something else than moong and arhar dal. India has more than 65,000 varieties of dals and pulses. At least we need to have a portfolio of 10-15 dals that we are having throughout the month, she adds.

Dinner: Something really light for dinner. I personally prefer rice for dinner because it is easy to digest and easy to cook. Especially for women who are now working from home and at home, cooking a large dinner is unreasonable and time consuming. Make a moong dal khichdi, that is perfectly fine. My clients including Kareena and Alia, eat the same for dinner, she reveals.

When it comes to blood pressure and diabetes, what really works like magic is not eating anything out of a packet. I always say this, jitna packet khulta hain utna pet fulta hain. The more you eat out of packets the bigger you are going to get.

Rujuta Diwekar

Men have controlled professional restaurant kitchens, distancing their work from the cooking that women have been doing for years at home. Men need to start cooking. We cannot possibly go into the post covid-19 world where men think it is a joke to say that I can just cook an omelet, or make a chai. It is not at all funny that you are so poorly skilled. You are eating every day so might as well learn to cook every day. And if not every day, at least three days in a week. Men should know to cook at least basic food like dal, chawal or khichdi without needing directions in the kitchen. Men should be able to prepare for the food to cook, complete the act of cooking and also clean up after, because only then are you a useful resource at home, she says.

Eating habits for youngsters to keep BP and diabetes at bay

Many young people are suffering from high blood pressure and diabetes. When it comes to blood pressure and diabetes what really works like magic is not eating anything out of a packet. I always say this, jitna packet khulta hain utna pet fulta hain. The more eat you out of packets, the bigger you are going to get. It is invariable when you eat from packets, you consume excess amounts of salt and sugar. So, whether it is a tetra pack juice, chips, cookies or chocolates the more you open packets, the poorer your diet and health gets, making you look worse. So eat more at home, and make 30 minutes of exercise a part of your life, she mentions.

Going to bed and falling asleep should be peaceful. She added, Get to bed on time; don't spend too much time on gadgets. We are prone to spending too much time on gadgets towards the end of a day, so don't take your phone to your bed. Make your bedroom gadget-free. Whether it is BP or diabetes, people need to follow common sense rules. Constantly magical cures are suggested for BP and diabetes, but common sense done every day is what works, she says firmly.

If you are talking of sustainability, then you are talking about adopting a lifestyle with which you can even live in 2051 and not just in 2021. It means that the diet allows you to live within your ecological means, so you cannot be eating just endless amounts of one kind of food group and rejecting another just because it is not the rage of 2020 or 2021.

Rujuta Diwekar

She adds, "In the last 20 years, what I have seen is that people are either depriving themselves of fat, carbohydrate or long hours of food. I have seen the desperation to stay slim. Maybe people want to look slimmer than they were 15 years ago, but the method is the exact same. People who were depriving themselves of calories in the late 1990s, then began to deprive themselves of fat in the early 2000s, post that it was carbohydrate and then it was just like depriving yourself of long hours of eating. It is just 'deprivation'. Eat local, seasonal and traditional food so that you find a sustainable path to health, well being and fitness."

Also, when people reject food just because it has protein or carbohydrate, that is also when we begin to have more divisive society, she says. "So just like we stand united in the face of racism, sexism and ageism, we should also stand united in the face of nutritionism which is about looking at food just from the point of view of nutrients. The only people who benefit from nutrionism, is the food industry. As people and society, we suffer if we look at food from the point of view of nutritionism," she warns.

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Rujuta Diwekar: Weight loss myths busted; diet to follow in the New Year - Mumbai Mirror