Chubby Desis Make Some Noise!!

Where are all my South Asian people out there trying to shed the pounds like myself??

Hopefully we can help each other when we get tempted to eat fried paneer pakoras, jalebis, delicious mithai, greasy baturas and all the other fatty delicious indian foods we tend to indulge in :)

Indian food can be very healthy also and I would love some input on what Indian foods you are eating that is low fat, low calorie and healthy!

Sun. Jan 13, 3:37pm

I am a south indian, but I grew up eating a mix of north indian and south indian cuisine...
To reduce weight I eat chappatis with a bit of oil... Chicken curry with less oil...
dals like rasam, dal with spinach...
Kheema but turkey kheema marinated with indian spices and cooked with onions, garam masala, no butter just 2 tbsp of oil and a bit of yogurt... Turkey is leaner....Avoid pakoras completely... Occasionally have papadams with rasam and rice but very rarely...
Eat chole a lot (garbanzo beans are high in protein, fibre and iron and good for you)...
Maybe you can start a group for indians and I can join the group...
I do get a lot of calorie information online...
Stay away from mithai, fried stuff, eat wholesome vegetarian, chicken dishes with home made chappati and you will be fine...

Wednesday, January 14, 2009, 10:33 AM

Hi,
I'm a North Indian (though lived in Madras for 7 years so love S Indian, just had dosas for lunch today!!) but this is a great idea! I'm a vegetarian going vegan, and have Indian food only at lunch. Papad is a great munch-on. Satisfying to the mouth because of the chewy-chrunchiness, and also fat free and high in protein.

I am trying to count calories, but can't find a calorie counter for cocnut chutney and dosas, and the like. ANy links on that?

Saturday, January 24, 2009, 9:10 PM

It's easy to put on weight whether you're eating Indian food or any other type. We all know that it's the calories that matter.

When I was diagnosed borderline diabetic four years ago, my world came crashing. Since then, I've taken control of my life and trying to completely stop even this tiniest bit of medication.

Here are some of the things that worked for me. It might for you, who knows.

1. I wrote down everything that I ate for two weeks. I found I was eating a lot of samosas, kachodis, other fried snacks such as murukku, mixture, bhujiya etc. that are the stable diet of south Indians like me. Most of the time I had not even realized that I had eaten them. So, I added a column about my mood at the time of eating. I then consciously tried to cut down these, even putting skull-and-bones pictures on the boxes containing these items.

2. I then began to eat six to eight times a day, almost every two and a half hours. Just nibble constantly. I completely stopped eating or snacking while watching TV. It really helped. I even tried to look only at the food while eating and avoid all conversation, but it didn't always work.

3.I drink four to five glasses of warm water first thing in the morning. Also tried a glass of lauki (bottlegourd) juice/ aloe vera plus amla (gooseberry) juice on an empty stomach. Not consistent these days.

4. I do about 30-60 min of pranayama every day, especially kapalabhati and anulom-vilom. Yes, it works. I did lose weight, but more important, am beginning to lose the craving for salted snacks.

5. I eat a whole cucumber with three or four tomatoes first. I cut them into large chunks so that I have to chew them. It takes a helluva lot of time and by the time i'm finished, I am not very hungry. I then eat all the vegetables. If I am still hungry, I eat the sambar/dal/lentils. If at all I still feel hungry, then I eat two or three tablespoons of rice or one chappati. After a few months, I slacked off and since I was eating at a few weddings, I found I was more hungry. It tuns out that the stomach muscles had stretched. So, trying to get back to the old system.

6. Most important. I exercise every day, come hell or high water. Walk four to eight km every day, do yoga and weight training (with 3 kg dumbbells) on alternate days. Weight training really kick started the metabolism again and although I have not lost weight, people say the body shape has improved. Men: you cannot put on huge chunks of muscle unless you work out like crazy with a trainer. ( And women, don't dream you'll build chunky muscles. That requires 3 hrs of targetted training every day and testosterone injections!)

Can any of you direct me to a site that gives the calorific and nutritional value of Indian dishes, the way there is stuff about Western cuisine?

Friday, April 24, 2009, 2:24 AM

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