As People try to be healthy and fit and try to keep their weight controlled many believe that the answer is compensation. “If I binge and over eat tonight, tomorrow morning I will skip breakfast and do an extra 20 minutes walk.”

Let me give you some calorie chemistry here. You are binging on mutton biriyani, 1 C equals 500 cals, you are letting yourself go, so you will do 2 cups, 1000 cals. Then you say, “anyway I have indulged let me eat the payasam (kheer) too.” Another 500 cals for 1 C kheer. Your normal dinner would be 350-500 cals, so lets minus that but you still have 1000 cals extra in your blood. Before morning it will all be converted to fat and stored.

You wake up and skip breakfast about 350-400 cals, then you do an extra 20 min walk in addition to your regular 30 minutes. You burn an additional 100 cals (20 minutes walk = 100 cals). So you may pull out another 500 cals. But you still surely have deposited 500 cals.

Now, you have not eaten breakfast and walked extra, by lunch you are ravenously hungry and you over eat. Then you are worried so you decide to skip dinner. You may over eat 500-1000 cals at lunch but at dinner you may only save 350 cals. So please note the overeating calories are usually more than the calories you save when you skip a meal. The ups are more than the downs and in the long run you have skipped so many meals but only got fatter.

Also when you use this method and maintain weight at each skipped meal you breakdown muscle tissue in the body and also lose nutrients like vitamins and minerals. We see that people like this after a period of time have sagging skin and look aged earlier in life. They also become anemic and have poor bones and teeth. So as you begin the New Year try to break away from this habit and manage your weight control healthily.

The first step is to make a resolution not to go on binges (excessive over eating) and never to skip a meal. So if you are going to a party don’t starve the whole day and then overeat very fatty food. Yes, fatty foods are very delicious but they are ment to be eaten in small, moderate quantities and savored for their taste. Don’t stuff yourself with them. The secrete of good maintenance is not skipping meals but ensuring you follow a strict budget with rich, luxury food. 2 treats per week. 2 treats not on the same day and not on 2 consecutive days e.g. Eat a hot chocolate fudge, 2 scoops, nuts etc on Sunday after lunch. Then don’t skip dinner but eat a normal one, plus normal food on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Then eat biriyani on Thursday but if someone offers you a chocolate on Friday, say “no”. However you may save it and eat it on Sunday after lunch. Be good again till Thursday and then do Chinese food. Next Sunday eat a pastry then Thursday a pizza and so on. See that the 2 treats don’t happen on the same day or on 2 consecutive days. There must be a gap of 2-3 days between each indulgence so that the body can burn off those extra calories without excessive fat deposition.

Never skip a meal and never binge but be in control and enjoy your goodies. Also be smart and budget your treats as you budget your pocket money.