mumbai for those whore constantly waging war with their love handles heres a piece of news sweeter than a batch of jam doughnuts dieticians have declared that counting calories is passe theyre now advocating eating your fill of wholesome foods instead of subjecting yourself to starvation levels worthy of an asceticone of the diets to have taken mumbais fancy is the macrobiotic diet a practice that has gwyneth paltrow for a poster girl its a diet that follows the rhythms of seasons explains shonaalii sabherwal who says shes the first macrobiotic dietician in the city you should eat in accordance with the place youre staying in and incorporate its cooking styles many of the rules of the practice sound like grandmotherly wisdom for instance sabherwal suggests eating raw salads in summer and cooked salads and baked vegetables in winter as its a time when people need more energy the diet also places a premium on whole grains such as brown rice and barley and probiotic food especially soya products such as miso the emphasis is on bringing the body back to balance sabherwal points out its not a diet that focuses only on weight loss its more about wellness its a diet that feeds you and then makes you lose weightdietician madhuri ruia on her part advocates functional food the principle that informs this diet is that the chemistry of your plate is representative of your mind body and activity level what she means is that the sort of food one eats has a bearing on ones feelings and desires dieting is not will power explains ruia who has set up half a functional health studio for example when you have an urgent need for something sweet its a sign your brain is not being well fedruias brain food involves combinations of vegetables carbohydrates proteins and healthy fats she advises plenty of vegetables such as beetroots greens and red capsicums and toothy fish such as rawas and surmai as they have healthy oilseven foods that were earlier off limits for dieters are now being championed as health foods dietician vibha kapadia says that almonds and walnuts once regarded as avoidable fat are now recommended for their valuable antioxidants oils made from corn and sunflower were once advised as they contain polyunsaturated fats but dieticians now recommend olive and groundnut oil as they have monounsaturated fats that fight cholesterolthe newfangled diets seem to be winning favour with those who want to live healthier lives hanisha jatwani one of sabherwals clients is a cancer survivor whose medication sideeffects cause weight gain i felt i needed something nutritive she says she gave me a very good plan for detoxifying within two to three weeks i lost two kilos its not like i dont indulge but i know my limits while wholesome meals are key to these new eating practices each diet is tailormade i had a 73yearold patient who was really weak sabherwal recalls he needed to build up his strength so i