You will not disagree if I say presentation skills have a significant role in your professional growth. Effective presentation skills can be quite challenging to master. They do not just involve your communication skills but also critical thinking and non-verbal communication. You are basically trying to communicate a message to an audience. For people, not born with natural eloquence, the idea of presentation or public speaking can be nerve-racking! However, no one is born with exemplary presentation skills. You can always master this with a little dedication and practice. Here are a few tips that could help you eliminate your fear and connect with your audience more naturally.

Are you allergic to gluten or any other food item? Are you dealing with lactose intolerance? Are you trying to lose weight? Are you gripped by a medical condition? If you answered YES to any of the questions above, you most likely eat a RESTRICTIVE DIET.

The main objectives that I am going to cover in this blog are:

• How and why restrictive diets can lead to significant nutrient gaps and reduce compliance
• What is Food Phobia and how it relates to restrictive diets
• How various milk sensitivities differ from each other and what dietary recommendations can be followed
• How consumers can reduce their fear and incorporate a more diverse meal plan to tackle their food sensitivities

While restrictive diets are necessary in certain conditions such as in food allergies, lactose intolerance, weight loss plans and some medical conditions like diabetes and kidney disease, they do not come without their own health risks.

Restrictive diets can cause nutritional imbalance and deficiencies, especially in those who are not closely monitoring their eating patterns with a health care professional or a nutritionist. Secondly, eating a restricted diet over long term generates fear, or is called ‘FOOD PHOBIA’, where a consumer is cautious and very fearful of eating something they have eliminated from their diet with the assumption that it will affect their health negatively. Food phobias very often lead to disordered eating pattern where a consumer will binge eat all the foods they ignored, followed by a strong guilt and reintroduction of the old restrictive diet. The more restricted a diet is the lesser the chances are of sticking with it. Consumers can become very resentful of eating, in general, which leads to poor health outcomes.

Children are at the greatest risk of developing nutritional deficiencies due to restrictive diets because they tend to have more allergies and food sensitivities. For example, if a child is experiencing abdominal discomfort, reflux or eczema, parents begin self-treatment at home by eliminating cow’s milk entirely from the diet. Another common example is the weight loss diets that restrict calorie intake along with which many nutrients are excluded as well.

In a study that looked at various restrictive diets, like DASH diet and weight loss diets, where participants followed a 1500-2000 calorie diet, it was concluded that they were falling short on 15+ micronutrients like Vitamin E, Vitamin D, Iodine, Chromium etc.

Parenting and Its Fears: When we are bringing up a child, we are nurturing a soul with an ensemble of flesh and bones who is going to create his/her own little world centered on his/her happiness and desires. The child will eventually spawn his/her own blueprint of life. Is it not a fascinating role to play? But the awareness of the fact that you will have an unparalleled power to influence a human being can be quite intimidating. Parenting is probably the toughest responsibility on this planet. It is quite a challenge to wade through this journey full of various stumbling blocks.

Parenting is a learned skill. Most of us learn it on the job. As a parent, one always tries to provide the perfect environment without making many mistakes. But if the mistake has already happened and you realize the same, it becomes all the more important to accept and rectify it even if it means apologizing to your three-year-old toddler.

It is often said that parenting is fulfilling but it does come with its own set of conflicts. It is an exhausting role to play. At times, the challenges become so overwhelming that you feel like saying “I am done” or “I need to walk away from all of this”. But, the very next moment, you find yourself swooning over your cute little dumpling snuggled up in bed. The next thing that happens to you is the guilt – how could you even think of it? Many in our society romanticize the idea of having a child but it is not a smooth sail. One moment is all sunshine, and the other moment is embedded with the darkness of self-doubt and intolerance.

Being a parent, we may have to fill in for many roles in our children’s lives. Many times, we are caught up in the dilemma of playing the role of a friend or a disciplinarian. All of us face it at some point in time. With increasing awareness among parents, one knows to switch roles as per situational requirements. The challenge here is to be able to judge the situation rightly. It is significant to have a deeper bond with your child. A bond that is deep allows the child to have his/her own voice and choices while acquainting with boundaries and understanding the reasons for these boundaries.