Proper Diet..

[Sanguine Sridhar]

Can somebody post some healthy,less calorie Indian Brakfast/Lunch/Dinner and the quantity which fits for a person who works by sitting in a cubicle always?

[Anoushka]

Sridhar: Enna thidirnu health conscious? :)

Well for breakfast eat less oily stuff like idli or chappati, or even cereals, upma made of wheat germ (with plenty of veg added to it), and a glass of low fat milk (I heard that low fat milk is available in India), brown bread sandwich with tomato, cucumber, etc... and you can have a fruit couple of hours after your breakfast!

Avoid sugary stuff!

For lunch a bowl of rice and a gravy (dal, sambar, etc) and plenty of veg... (avoid coconut if possible and use as less oil/ghee/butter as possible) and some yoghurt.

In the evening eat boiled payaru vagaigaL if possible... as a snack instead of munching on crisps, muruku, etc

For dinner, chappati and plenty of veg, you can also add a fruit.

Add salads wherever possible, even as a snack.

Drink plenty of water as well :)

I might be wrong here, Dev, please come to the rescue and correct me where I am wrong!

Sridhar: I do know that we s/w engineers do not get much exercise, but even sitting at your desk, you can move around your legs, get up and go for a glass of water every now and then, etc...

[Arthi]

I read in a Magazine that having fresh vegetable(salad) at night is not good for health.

Can Anou/Dev clarify this? :)

[Anoushka]

I am not sure about this Arthi... I do have salads with dinner but then I have my dinner at 7:30 and don't go to bed for atleast another couple of hours....

[Sanguine Sridhar]

Anu,
You made my day :D ..Thanks a lot..Will try and tell you the result

[dev]

Gen rule: less rice(or other carb rich food), moderate qty of dhals & more of vegs & fruits... try to avoid oily/ deepfried & too spicy stuffs... These days I'm also trying to aviod heavily processed food stuffs... Drink lots of water... drink milk or have curds regularly... If u r a meat eater U can have chicken & fish provided the fat& skin is taken off... red meat is to be avoided...

[Sanguine Sridhar]

Dev now tell me what can be done if my mom is against these diet?? Whenever i try to avoid heavy stuff she keep on saying "Valarura vayasu" and add me more food in my daily stuffs :( .. Idhukku mela enna valaruradhu :?

And Dev is it advisable to have salad (Fresh Vegetables) in night?

[Sanguine Sridhar]

One more Q ... After taking food, a glass of warm water burns the fat?

[dev]

Dev now tell me what can be done if my mom is against these diet?? Whenever i try to avoid heavy stuff she keep on saying "Valarura vayasu" and add me more food in my daily stuffs :( .. Idhukku mela enna valaruradhu :?

And Dev is it advisable to have salad (Fresh Vegetables) in night?

Hmmm... I went on a strike when my mom didn't cook to my style...ie, low fat, no coconut(she used to add coconut in anything & everything) diet... Now, she preapres to my liking when I'm at home & if not, i guess it's the same old style of cooking...

I do eat salads at night... I don't think it's a problem... but I eat dinner very early... What's the reason they give for it, Sridhar?... Why should it be avoided at night?...

Warm water after a meal is said to aid digestion... It just makes U feel comfortable... that's all it can do...

[Sanguine Sridhar]

Dev,
Good improvement today! My mom cooked me some delicious low-calorie food and promised me that she will continue it :)
Regarding salad,My mom said that it wont get digest that much soon.

Anu&Dev,
One more doubt! Is it okay if we eat some Marie Gold kind'a of biscuits?

[Anoushka]

Sridhar: Good :)

The next time you go biscuit shopping check ingrediants and also fat/sugar, etc contents. It is good to avoid them, but if you can't go for something with less fat and sugar content. I rarely have biscuits and chocolates, I tend to fill myself with fruits and veg!

And I am not sure about hot water helping to burn fat, but I find it great to have a glass of hot water whenever I feel thirsty :) And sticking to this diet I've mentioned above, I've lost more than 5 kgs in the past three months!

[dev]

Marie gold is better than most other biscuits but that doesn't mean it's good...:) You can have a couple of it if need be...

Anou, Ur diet is extremely good... Try to follow it for your life time...:)

[Sanguine Sridhar]

Anu & Dev,

Thanks a lot i will follow :) Anou for dinner you have mentioned Chapathi,other than that is it adivsable to take Dosa/Idly?

[Anoushka]

Sridhar: I take chappathi made out of flour which has the bran in it, that accounts for my fibre and it is less carbohydrate compared to idli or dosa :)

Dev: Thanks... as of now, that is the plan,... to follow it for the life time anyway! I make chappati for myself for dinner and rice for my husband, if this double cooking doesn't stop me then nothing should.. :)

[dsath]

Idly is a good mixture of carbohydrates and protein without any oil.
If you combine with a sambhar with lots of vegs in it accounting for your vitamins and minerals then idly-sambhar becomes a wholesome diet.
I think its hard to find flour with barn in India. I am not sure.

[Sanguine Sridhar]

Thanks Dev,Anou,Dsath,

My next doubt is about Uppma,Kichadi :P (Rava) what about its calorie content?
And also noodles (Atta).Because these are things which i eat frequently!!

TP: My lunch is bowl of rice + Lot of vegetables + White part of boiled egg.

[Anoushka]

Sridhar: I am not sure about the calorie content of Rava and noodles. Dev had posted a link somewhere which had calorie contents of different stuff, I guess a little bit of googling will help :)

[Shakthiprabha.]

sheesh.

u guys make me feel so guilty.

I have this cravings for a piece of sweet after every meal. is this normal or does it suggest definiciency of something?

[ab_123]

sheesh.

u guys make me feel so guilty.

I have this cravings for a piece of sweet after every meal. is this normal or does it suggest definiciency of something?

I'm no expert, but I've read that if you don't eat enough protein, you crave sweets.

[dev]

sheesh.

u guys make me feel so guilty.

I have this cravings for a piece of sweet after every meal. is this normal or does it suggest definiciency of something?

just restrain yourself from making/buying sweets for a few months... the craving will disappear... needs a bit of self control... It has nothing to do with deficiency of any vitamins & minerals... it's just the addiction to the high carb sugar...

[ssanjinika]

Hey but fruits and veggies get digested much faster than any other food you eat rite?Afterall theres no fat and mostly almost all veggies have lots of water(discount potatoes and other root veggies).The reason for salads not being good for dinner could be because it digests too soon and you wont probably eat anything for the next 8-10 hours .

[ssanjinika]

sheesh.

u guys make me feel so guilty.

I have this cravings for a piece of sweet after every meal. is this normal or does it suggest definiciency of something?
SP,I do too.I need something sweet after a meal - lunch esp.What I do is have some fruit with me and eat it after my meal.Fruit is sweet and its healthy too :).ore kallula 2 manga :wink:

[grapes]

sheesh.

u guys make me feel so guilty.

I have this cravings for a piece of sweet after every meal. is this normal or does it suggest definiciency of something?
i dont know abt the deficency part, bt i too have the same craving so wt i do is after lunch i have a few dates or some raissins, they help me.

[ayeshasadique]

1 Cup od pasta (most of them) = 200 calories

instant noodles might be more as they have hydrogenated fat.....the instant noodles are hard to digest and the unneeded remains takes longer to be excreted from the body.

1 cup semolina (uncooked) = 600 cals
(yields 2 cups when cooked)


1 cup whole wheat flour = 400 cals


1 large hard boiled egg = 80 cals

1 boiled egg white alone = 20 cals

[ayeshasadique]

1 cup cooked white rice = 240 cals

1 cup cooked brown rice = 200 cals

1 cup parboiled rice = 200 cals

1 full cup of most of the vegetables gives approximately between 30 to 40 cals only

potatoes give more
1 cup boiled potatoes may give around 150 cals

[ayeshasadique]

french fries 1 serving (100 gms) = 350 cals

1 hot dog may give 250 cals

1 biscuit may give approx. 125 cals ( imagine the whole pack's count)

1 butter cookie can give abt 75 cals

[ayeshasadique]

1 tsp any veg oil - 40 cals

1 tbsp butter unsalted - 100 cals