Want To Lose Weight? Try These Indian Diet Plan Tips
One of my friends is making me go crazy these days. She is trying to lose a few extra kilos just to be able to enjoy the upcoming festival season. I tell you this girl is really super crazy… She is a fit girl but just before the onset of winters she gears up to lose weight… yes and her reason being that she doesn’t want to give up on the winter special sweets made at home along with the upcoming marriage season. So she made me suggest a few free diet plan recipes in India that can help her shed some weight without compromising on taste. Here I thought that why not share all those suggestions with my blog readers and followers to enable them also tweak the standard recipes and make a healthier version of those.
Can Indian diet plan recipes be tweaked for weight loss?
A traditional Indian diet is many times better than any other diet as far as taste is concerned. That is why many people who are not natives still get accustomed to the spicy taste of Indian food. Indian diet is known to be a balanced diet for weight loss. The most common Indian food recipes if tweaked a little can help in weight loss journey. Problems arise when we begin to think of special festive meals, which are heavier and richer in fat content, as regular Indian meals. A happy simple diet of spicy simple dal rice, rajma, chana and curd can never make you gain weight. It becomes an issue when we begin to think of Dal Makhni, poori sabzi, chana bhatura, kulcha choley with jalebi and rabri as typical Indian food.
Let us talk about how a spicy Indian meal can benefit in losing weight.
Indian spices are natural and healthy way to keep digestion good
There are various spices that are used regularly in almost every Indian cuisine. These are anti-inflammatory, and good for health. One such spice is Turmeric. It is a standard spice that is used not only to add color to our food but also to help in treating digestion, bloating, heartburn, and other related stomach issues. Another such spice is Illaichi or cardamom. It is known to be a useful spice that helps in easing stomach and intestinal discomfort. Similarly, red and green chilies are a great way to keep the metabolism active.
Indian recipes are majorly cooked with fresh vegetables
Fresh vegetables and herbs make the majority of Indian recipes. The herbs act as a flavor enhancer and also are very beneficial for our body and their examples include curry leaves and coriander greens. You can also make your digestive system healthy by eating regularly green vegetables as they are a source of fiber.
Indian recipes are less fattening yet satisfying
Let us forget about Dal Makhani and butter chicken for a while but think of a simple dal, sabzi, raita, chutney, and chapati. A healthy Indian diet plan consists of foods like dal, salads, and curries made using vegetables and other pulses. In all these recipes we do not use ingredients like sauces, cheeses, or cream, which are rich in calories. The rich flavors of spices and herbs give Indian food items a distinct flavor that satisfies our taste buds. As a result, a small portion can be a happy satisfying food experience. This keeps a check on our calories intake too.
Use of curd and buttermilk as fermented food is a great way to keep digestion good. Curd, which is healthy fermented milk has good bacteria and healthy probiotics.
How to tweak unhealthy Indian food to make it healthy!
There are very unhealthy Indian foods as well to which people are severely addicted. The one who is interested in losing weight can do these some extra minor changes in the food to make it healthy enough.
- Paranthas can be made with stuffings of carrots, cauliflower, and even cabbage without frying. A shallow fried or tandoori parantha tastes equally great with some deshi ghee on top.
- Pav Bhaji can be had with just one pav and lots of veggies-filled bhaji. Use of less of potato is recommended.
- Vada Pav can be made by baking vada instead of frying.
- Puri and sabzi can be a great breakfast if fresh peas are added to bhaji. If you have a long day ahead then two small poori and bhaji will be great to keep you full all through the day.
- Bread Pakoda is another killer which can be made healthy with a layer of cottage cheese and shallow frying it in place of deep-frying.
- Those pakodas can be baked instead of fried.
- How about a healthy Khakhra as a snack in place of fried papad?
- Boiled masala corn is better than any other evening snack.
- Pancakes made with Mung and chana sprouts and in the chat form are a yummy healthy option.
So here are some easy ways to eat healthy by tweaking mindfully and healthily. Eating home-cooked meals is the best way to stay healthy and maintain weight.
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