Health is a state of balance , when we eat the food our bodies are basically extracting the nutrition to run the bodies , grow ,repair , and protect by building immunity . A balanced diet is what gets the body to receive all the essential nutrients to aid the body in its functions . What is a balanced diet ? a balanced diet should consist of all those components which are required by the body . Is a balanced diet the same for all ? definitely not , because the needs of each kind of individual vary . A child will have different requirements from an adult , a women will need different components in her diet which will again be different from a pregnant lady . At senior ages the nutritional needs again change . So the concept of a fixed balanced diet for all simply doesn’t exist . The dietary needs vary across ages , gender , body structure work profile and of course the activity levels . People trying to maintain work life balance need to look out for the following aspects of their routine for planning their nutrition menus .

Some parameters of planning food plans

1. How is the level of activity – if the level of activity or exercise is high then the requirement of carbohydrates is higher , though one must ensure that the nature of carbs should be of the high fiber variety ( also called complex carbs ) . If one exercises and eats simple carbohydrates like sugar , maida , corn starch , sweet bakery items , the person will get an unbalanced diet .

   If the level of activity is low , more like a sedentary life , then one must have less of the quick energy giving foods like ( rice, pasta , corn ) and shift to glycemic index foods , which release less sugar into the system like mung dal , channa , sprouts and lobhia i.e more of lentils

2. Breakfast – eating a breakfast which has more of vitamins is important , it could consist of fruits , mixed veggie juice and a high fiber cereal which could be dalia , muesli or oats , skipping breakfast has some issues particularly because many times it is common to miss lunch during work hours and this creates deficiencies in the body .

3. During the day it is important to hydrate oneself as hydration keeps the metabolic wastes moving out of the organs to the kidney for removal . Hydration can happen with water , coconut water herbal teas . when one doesn’t drink enough water it leads to sluggishness , increase in acid levels

4. The composition of a daily plan must contain a fruit , some salad ( carrot/ cucumber / radish / broccoli etc ) some whole grains , lentils ,dairy and some natural oil . This covers most of the major food groups . we should just be careful that we are not eating too much of the oil and heavy part of the diet

5. Snack options must be available in the office , the options could be fruit ( banana , apple , pear ) , yogurt , baked or roasted snacks. Other options are idli , dhokla , khnadvi , boiled alu chat , bhelpuri , roasted channa , peanuts

6. Some nuts and oil seeds should be part of the diet like flaxseed , walnuts , almonds , pista , according to season

Common mistakes we usually make to unbalance our diet

• No breakfast hence starving through the day , which lowers the metabolic capacity

• Too much tea and coffee which build acidity

• Snacks which are loaded with hidden fats

• Heavy and late dinners

• Too much sugar through the day

• Little or no fibers in the food plan