Navrathri's coming up and everybody wants to look their very best for this festival of dance, music, joy and fun! Each person wants to spend those hours on the dance floor irrespective of whether they can dance or not. Swirling and twirling to the music in beautiful cholis and kurtas are an indelible part of the nine-day celebration.

Along with the anticipation of the upcoming festival, everybody is just as excited to look great and impress all those around them. With the backless blouses and flat bellies, slim-fit kurtas and toned muscles ready to poke at you, it’s only natural to be slightly overwhelmed. (Especially since we JUST got done with Ganesh Chaturthi and were busy digging into various kinds of modhaks!) Since there's obviously not enough time to get that size zero figure, why not try a few steps that might help you feel confident and great about your self and body?

First of all, bid farewell to all the junk food! Start maintaining a healthy diet. It will help you detox. Drink lots of water and keep eating fresh food. Whilst doing this, try to eat small portions of food during the day and chew your food slowly. Research has shown that eating slowly and chewing wholly not only helps you enjoy the taste of your food, but also hikes up the metabolic rate of the body.

For those of you who don't have exercise as part of your daily routine, think it might be time to start? It isn't just about LOOKING great; many people begin exercising before the celebration so that they have enough stamina to go through the all those hours of dance without feeling exhausted. If you prefer, you could try working on that as an immediate measure.

Aerobics would be a great way to begin exercising if you go with the aim of looking good for Navrathri and Diwali. It not only has that fun, dancy element to it – it will help you drop the excess weight in a short span of time. Besides this, a general hour-long workout is recommended for those who are planning to get into the regime of working out before the festival. Cardio workouts and Yoga are great and will help increase your stamina. Certain asanas done with Surya Namaskars, if done right, can provide a toned body.

Start walking, jogging, cycling, or even swimming! Pick your favourite one and hop to it right away. Try mixing the routine up with sets of squats, lunges, and kicks. Doing them will help you to lose weight in a short span of time while making sure that your lower body is also strong. For now, the most important thing is to be able to go through all those hours of music and fun by having the energy and power for them.

Remember to drink plenty of water because the last thing you need to be is dehydrated. Dehydration actually slows down the process of burning fats. So if you don't drink enough fluids, you will not be reaching the goal you had kept for yourself. Another aspect about this is that burning calories releases toxins. You need to be drinking enough water regularly to ensure that they are being flushed out of your system.

So what are you waiting for? Get to it!

And have a great time of celebrations ahead. Don't forget to buy some great clothes, look absolutely splendid, and put your dance shoes on!

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