Is weight loss is high on your list this year? You must have experienced problems while sticking to this goal with an Indian diet which is considered calorie-rich which makes it difficult to continue with it when you want to lose weight.
People then turn to cuisines or are advised diet plans which may or may not suit their taste buds and many a times give up on their weight loss goals for the sheer reason that they cannot continue eating bland food for the rest of their lives. But instead of taking drastic measures, one can just alter their current Indian diet to make it much more healthy, without really losing out on the taste. Yes, you will have to give up eating a few things but in the process, you will get more healthier and lighter. Celebrity nutritionist Radhika Karle who currently guides Sonam Kapoor about her dietary habits, lists down some rules and charts out a sample meal plan for people looking to lose weight on an Indian diet.
Five golden rules
Eat every two hours: Don’t wait till you get hungry. It is important to consciously eat at the right time for your body’s metabolism to work optimally.
Control your portion size: Get your portion size right by charting it out depending on your weight loss goals, etc. Here are some common measures: One serving of fruit equals to a tennis ball sized fruit (you can include more than one fruit if they are smaller in size). One serving of rice is one-third cup cooked rice.
Avoid anything that has saturated fats: Switch to things which are low-fat. Say no to buffalo milk which is full fat. Have only 2 tsp of oil/ghee per day.
Shun sugar: They just add empty calories to your body. One can get enough natural sugar from seasonal fruits and dry fruits. If you want to sweeten something, add stevia as it a natural sweetener. Though honey and jaggery have other good properties, if you are on a weight loss diet, you should stay away from them as they too add empty calories.
Drink enough water: Keep yourself hydrated by drinking enough water every day. A simple way to find this out is by checking the colour of your urine. It should be pale yellow in colour. If it is lighter or darker than that, it may indicate that you are not drinking enough water.
Here is a sample weight loss Indian diet plan
Breakfast
a. Home-made rava idlis with sambar (no coconut chutney)
b. Whole green moong chilla with mint and dhania chutney
c. Oats upma – made with vegetables (try using steel cut oats for added fibre)
Mid-morning snack
a. Chaas made with 1/3 cup low fat dahi – add fresh dhania, rock salt, and jeera powder
b. Mango milkshake – ½ mango + ½ cup (125 ml) low fat milk (NO added sugar)
c. Fruit chaat – 1 cup mixed fruit (use fruits with higher fibre – apple, pineapple, guava, pear. Add chaat masala + a pinch of rock salt)
Lunch
It would be best to incorporate 4 food groups. See the table below and mix and match to ensure a well-balanced lunch meal:
STARCH
VEGETABLE
PROTEIN
Phulkas – 2
Start with 1 cup salad – all raw vegetables
Dal – ½ cup moong, toor
Brown rice – ½ cup cooked
Plus ½ cup cooked sabji
Chowli (black-eyed peas)
Lapsi rava (broken wheat) – ½ cup cooked
Focus on green vegetables
Rajma (kidney beans)
Jowar rotis (made with 3.5 tbsp atta)
Chole (Chickpeas)
Methi/palak rotis
Low-fat paneer – 50 grams
Aloo/potato – ½ cup cooked
Moong sprouts
Waal (White beans)
Mid-afternoon snack
a. 1 utapam made with less oil + roasted tomato chutney
b. Home-made Bhel:
1 cup murmura
½ cup roasted chana
¼ cup plain roasted peanuts
¼ cup mixed tomato + onion + dhania
Green chutney made from pudina and dhania
c. Steamed methi muthiya (Gujrati snack):
Made with combination of bajra, whole wheat, and besan atta
Use fresh methi
Dinner
It should be the lightest meal of the day. Choose from the following options:
a. Bowl of soup – Rasam/palak/dudhi
b. Bowl of sprouts salad:
1 cup cooked sprouts – chana, moong
1 cup all raw vegetables – cucumber, tomato, onion, carrot
Dressing of lemon, salt, and pepper to taste
Radhika Karle holds a Master’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from Texas Woman’s University, Houston. She has also done a fellowship in Adolescent and Sports Medicine. She returned to India 7 years ago and started Radhika’s Balanced Body, a personal training studio in Mumbai. Radhika has over 10 years of work experience in the field of fitness as a nutritionist, personal trainer, yoga and Pilates instructor. She currently trains Sonam Kapoor for her diet and fitness. Her personal nutrition mantra is, ‘Everything in moderation’ and her fitness mantra is, ‘Do what you love and just stay active’.
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