This is a health and happiness blog. Our readers might not need an introduction to Rujuta Diwekar or her books. Yet, for the benefit of those who might not know her, here is a bouquet of books from her.

Rujuta Diwekar perhaps is the leading Dietician in India. Winner of the ‘Nutrition Award’ from Asian Institute of Gastroenterology,  Rujuta is amongst the most qualified and sought after sports science and nutrition expert in the country. Her books are very popular; her talk programmes are always housed full. She becomes popular with her first book,  Don’t lose your mind, lose your weight. Kareena Kapoor has written the foreword for the book.  Her other clients include many other Bollywood who’s who including Alia Bhatt.

Let’s learn from her:

Her book Don’t lose your mind, lose your weight has become very popular. She has divided the book into six divisions:

• What diet is not
• How to eat: Relearn
• What to eat: Rethink
• The 4 principles of eating right
• Inculcating awareness
• Crossing the bridge: from knowing to doing.

We suffer from many wrong notions, including about food and diet. This book will dispel many of them.

“For a long time, I used to think that diets were all about starving and punishing yourself. And I wasn’t alone. A lot of people thought the same way. Then I met Rujuta. She totally changed my perception about diet and dieting.” Kareena Kapoor.

There are many crash dieticians around these days promising weight reduction without exercise. Rujuta says,” Any programme that discourages from exercise is worthless. “ She further adds,” Being on a diet might help you lose weight, but without exercise, we lose our muscles and bone density. And the loss of muscle and bone density is aging. Your fat body weight remains the same.”

Balancing with the exercise she says,” Exercise is a part of adopting a better lifestyle, but it is not an alternative to eating right.”

Therefore, both exercise and right diet are necessary for a good and healthy body.

Another of her popular books Don’t lose out, workout is an excellent book for all those who want to know exercise science. We can bridge our ignorance gaps about diet and exercise by reading both these books.

About the exercise, she writes, “What you do for 23 hours of your day will always have a greater bearing than what you do for 1 hour in the day.” Rujuta Diwekar, Don’t Lose Out, Work Out!

Her other quotes are:

“Women should never, ever (saying this at the cost of knowing never say never) ‘standardise’ their meal size. We are hormonally vibrant, and it’s perfectly NORMAL to feel like eating more on some days and less on other days. The key is to stop at the right time. Oh, btw, even our genes can determine the stomach’s capacity.” Rujuta Diwekar, Book: Women and the weight loss tamasha

“The fact that we haven’t learned to reassert ourselves or talk about our innermost feelings to people who really matter, also adds to the burden. To support our thyroid, we must learn to speak our mind, tactfully yes, but speak for sure.” Rujuta Diwekar, Book: The PCOD – Thyroid Book

“You first visualize how much you want to eat and then start with half the amount. The trick is to eat it in double the time you typically take. It means smaller morsels of food enter the stomach, thus improving the micronutrient assimilation and insulin response. This process can be repeated if required, but the key is to be without gadgets during meal times. This was one of Kareena’s well-kept secrets (when she says she eats everything), till she shared it on our fb live chat.” Rujuta Diwekar, Book: Pregnancy Notes: Before, During & After

Her first two books Don’t lose your mind, lose your weight and Don’t lose out, work out, are a must-read for everyone who wants to have a correct knowledge about diet and exercise. Others are specific books for specific conditions. However, I would recommend the latest on Pregnancy for all the pregnant ladies and to be pregnant young girls.

All the best.