Our relationship with food is the longest ever. And like any healthy relationship, it requires care, honesty and balance. Food bothers us, fuel our daily life, and brings happiness but it can also be complicated. Unhealthy eating habits and rigorous diet rules can lead to stress, crime and preventive lifestyle diseases.
How we think about food, fixing our life can change for better. In his Bestseling Book, The Power of Employees Eating, Food Scientist Dr. Kavita Bhatnagar has shared real -life stories that reflect emotional, complex and often incomplete bonds that are with food with all of us. Through these narratives, he encourages not only us to rethink food, but how food fits in our daily life.
In an interview with NDTV, Dr. Bhatnagar talks about transferring our mindset-not for a quick-fix diet, but for a long-term approach that actually works.
Dr. Excerpts from NDTV interview with Kavita Bhatnagar:
1. Why is an ideal diet no longer a target?
Chasing a “right” diet often causes more harm than the best. It creates fear of pressure, guilt and failure, which may stuck you – you also start before waiting for the right time, the right plan and the right position.
All this-or-anything mentality means that you either follow the so-called ‘plan’ or leave it completely. And even if you start, a missile can make you feel as if you need to start with scratches. When you keep hitting the reset, you lose progress in search of perfection.
The real, permanent change comes from stability, not perfection. A more flexible approach – where you allow the room for real life – help to create habits that actually stick. In the long run, the best diet is not right; This is what you can maintain.
2. What does “incomplete food” mean?
Incomplete food is about letting the idea go that there is a right way to eat. Even if an ideal diet was present, it would not be worth stress, hardness and lost enjoyment in food.
A so -called correct diet demands strict discipline, turning into a set of rules rather than enjoying food. It creates a tired cycle of control, crime, and overgrowth, where the fear of slipping becomes a larger issue than the slip.
Instead, incomplete food assumes that not every meal will be ideal, the options can still be intentional.
- Uninterrupted food occurs on autopylot-snacking out of boredom, order excess food because it is there, or eating without seeing signs of hunger.
- Intentionally eating incomplete means, making conscious options, even when they are not correct while being reputed to balance and welfare.
For example, if you are tired of the house and order burgers because there is no cooking option:
- Findless food: You remove fries, colas and sweets from the habit, transforming a requirement into an indulgence.
- Intentionally eating: You enjoy the burger and combine it with a simple homemade salad to balance.
Incomplete food is about flexibility, adaptability and progress – not rules and restrictions. A few days will be more balanced than others, and this is fine. What matters a big picture.
Even more importantly, incomplete food is not about reducing standards-it is about making a way to eat which is both nutritious and durable.
Photo: Istock
3. Why did you use stories and narratives in your book? How does it help? Can you share an example?
Because knowledge is not an issue – behavior. We do not lack information; We struggle to implement it. The facts do not change behavior alone, but have emotions.
I did not want to serve or determine. Instead, I wanted to offer perspective – so that people could see their own struggles in stories and feel understandable, justice was not done.
Stories make the change feel possible. They help us connect, reflect and question without resistance.
For example, in my book, a new father, Amit, says that he has no time for hobbies – not even for the gym. Another character, protected, feels guilty of feeding her processed foods. These are not abstract health debate; They are real -life experience. And when we look at our own struggles in others, the change seems more notable, not heavy.
Because stories do not tell us what to do-they show us why it matters.
4. Is it only curing food behavior for those who are overweight?
no way. Food behavior is not just about weight – it is about our overall relationship with health, energy and food.
People often believe that people struggling with weight need to rethink their food habits, but the food affects everyone. Whether it is managing stress, improving digestion, or simply enjoying food without overthinking, understanding how we eat for all.
5. How do we accommodate our diet like life change – new jobs, moving cities, marriage, breakup etc.?
The most important thing? Leave the habits that no longer serve you. We develop, so our approach to food should also be developed.
You carry forward friendship, jobs and even older mindset. Why will not your food habits change?
Maybe when you were in a hostel, immediate noodles were a head. Or at some point, Vada Pav was the cheapest lunch option. Of course, there is apathy. But as life progresses, things change – your metabolism, your nutrition knowledge, your financial condition.
A developed diet grows with you-it does not implicate you in the old pattern. The goal is not to eat in the way you had once, but to eat in such a way who you are today.
Photo: Istock
6. What are your golden rules to master “incomplete food”?
Incomplete food is not about following rigorous rules. This is about creating options that fit your changing life, health and preferences. Some guiding theory:
- Customize your body and lifestyle as a change
What is the work done in your 20s like a skipping breakfast and is running on caffeine-light, which leaves you in your 40s. If your energy level changes, then your diet should also be.
- Leave old food habits
Just because doing some work does not mean that it now serves you. Eating outside every day can be necessary once, but now simple home-cooked food can be better for you.
- Balance nostalgia with nutrition
Food is emotional. If Vada Pav was once your cow-to, then you do not have to leave it-but you can sometimes enjoy it while making your daily food more nutrients dense.
- Prefer stability on perfection
A healthy diet is not about a good or bad food-it is about the pattern over time. A enjoyment will not undo the progress, just as a salad will not change your health.
- Deliberately not mindless
Eating incompletely is fine-do this with an awareness. The mindless food leaves you dissatisfied, while deliberately allows you to enjoy the option.
7. How does compassion help us navigate food options?
Crime and fear want us to eat right, but they do not build permanent habits. Crime fuel stress, and stress physically and emotionally throw our balance.
On the other hand, compassion, allows us to make options from the location of care instead of control. This helps us to see food as nutrition, not the testing of willpower. When we change guilt with awareness and self-trust, the food becomes free instead of fear-drive-one balance makes really durable.
At its core, incomplete food is about freedom – a way the freedom of eating that feels good fits your life, and develops with you. The key is to optimize instead of opposing.
