Often people consider “healthy” and “balanced” as the same thing when talking about food, whereas in the world of nutrition both have different meanings. Healthy food provides essential nutrients to the body, but a balanced meal is one in which all the nutrients are present in the right proportion.

According to nutrition experts, many times people pay more attention to one food group like only protein or only carbs and ignore the rest. The result is that the food is either deficient in some essential nutrients or contains more fat and sugar than necessary.

For a proper and balanced diet, it is important that different food groups be included in the plate and portion control is also kept in mind. With this in mind, if some changes are made in daily lunch or tiffin, then eating healthy can become easy.

The week can be started on Monday with vegetable-rich upma, made from semolina or millet. Along with this, sprouts salad with lemon and chaat masala provides both fiber and protein.

Soft idli made with lentils and vegetables is a light yet nutritious option for Tuesday. Any seasonal fruit along with this makes the meal more balanced.

On Wednesday, you can try Chana-Dahi Chaat made of boiled gram and curd, in which cucumber, lemon and mild spices improve digestion along with taste.

Keep patties made of oats in your Thursday tiffin, which can be eaten with mint or tomato chutney and topped with pomegranate or any seasonal fruit.

Paneer veg wrap made from whole wheat roti is a good option on Friday. The meal can be made protein-rich and tasty by adding capsicum, lettuce and a little curd to it.