Fasting does not mean you limit yourselves to drab old salads and juices. Let us see how to jazz up your healthy diet menu...

Fasting is a wonderful new beginning.... But, thanks to that salivating tongue, foodies never find fasting fun even though they know the health benefits of fasting. So, nutritionists have taken up the responsibility of making fasting, fun with their little tricks and tips. Nidhi Aggarwal, a nutritionist says, “Bake, grill, boil, do anything but fry. If you fast on a regular basis, then go for boiled potato chat and garnish it with all the vegetables you like. Instead of concentrating on the potatoes, you can concentrate on the other veggies. Beet root pakodas and sweet potato kheer are also good options.” Fasting can be fun. All you need is a little determination and loads of vegetables, nuts and fruits.

Naini Setalvad, nutritionist and health consultant says, “When you are fasting, have lots of fruits and nuts. Go for nuts and vegetables cooked with minimum oil. Make a salad out of bottle gourd and cucumber and spice it up with cumin or green/red chilly. Slow cook whatever you are making so that the flavors come out.


For those, who complain about the lack of choices in fasting, nutritionist Rajan Bhokhle has some good news,“Juice fast, dry fast, tea fast, master cleanse fast and fasting for religious purposes or just to lose weight, choose what you want to do and why. Some people also fast to enjoy special fasting foods like mint sabudana salad and watermelon smoothies. A well garnished peanut curry with a dash of kokum or tamarind pulp, vegetable broth or apple, cranberries and grapefruit juices are also good options.”

Fasting may not exactly sound like fun but with the lemonade diet, the cookie diet and a juice fasting diet, it can be made interesting. Not only is the food consumed during fasting important, so is the food after the fast. Dietician Ritu Galotia says that one of the golden rules when fasting is to break the fast extremely slowly and carefully. She adds, “Drink lots of vegetable juices, and consume well garnished fruits. Oatmeal is also a great food to eat afterwards. Do not overeat!”

Looks matter, whether it’s that of an individual or even something on the menu. Buy a fancy bowl, decorate it with some salad leaves, put some nicely chopped, chilled fruits and vegetables and feel like a queen (or a king). And yes, don’t forget to stand on that weighing machine after you break the fast!