Low Carb Indian Diet | Know How to Achieve Phenomenal Weight Loss

The truth is losing weight has never been easy. Many people start their transformation journey from fat to fit with sheer passion and energy. But as they get deeper to the roots of diet and training, they have almost run out of zeal and determination.

While others who tend to stick for a long duration of a strict diet and rigorous workout have hardly any clue on how to maintain the shape they have achieved. And once they get off the track, there’s no way they are returning to strict diet plans.

The Low-Carb Indian Diet Plan to Lose Weight

One word – It works. Put simply, when you consume fewer calories than you spend, your body tends to burn your fat stores, and you start to lose weight (along with some muscles).

Low-Carb Diets are very likely to succeed and provide you with the results you always dreamt about. However, just because you are not allowed to eat much does not mean you can munch on junk foods and wait for good results.

You should always opt for a balanced diet that includes sufficient proportion of vitamins, minerals, fibers and other essential nutrients.

Few Considerations before getting started with a Low-Calorie(Carb) Indian Diet Plan

• One of the biggest challenges that will come across your way is how to curb the hunger. And by hunger, I mean real stomach growling hunger. There is nothing much you can do to deal with this hunger panics. One small tip that can save you – Spreading your calories throughout the day. Don’t stick to mere three meals per day. Go for at least 4-6 meals and divide your calories accordingly in each meal.
• Most of your carbs should come from brown rice, whole grains, and whole grain products. Fresh fruits and vegetables should be a staple in your diet.
• For protein intake, stick to eggs, lean meat, fish, green peas, soya products, and curd. Get your healthy fats from olive oil and, nuts and dairy products.
• Eliminate all kinds of liquid sugar calories from your diet plan including – Fruit Juices, Sodas, Flavoured Milk, Soft drinks and others.
• Gulp enough water throughout the day. It actually helps in weight loss. One study showed that drinking a half liter of water before 30 minutes of the meal made people lose 44% extra weight over a span of 12 weeks.
• With a limited calorie diet, you will have a tough time to fulfill all your micronutrient requirements. Hence, you can look forward to calcium and multivitamin supplementation.

Calculate how many Calories you need to cut to Lose Weight

For knowing the exact amount of calories to cut, you should first know how many calories you are currently consuming. Keep a track of what you eat for at least a week. Find out the calorie count for each food item you ate. Tally the total calories consumed in a week and divide it by 7 to obtain your daily average.

If you are too good at maths, you can alternatively use this formula to make a close estimation to your calorie intake –
Men
10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age (y) + 5

Women
10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age (y) – 161

For instance – Consider a male aged 21 who weighs 170 lbs with a height of 5’8’’ and lives a moderately active lifestyle will require 2692 calories to maintain his weight and around 2100 and 1600 to lose weight and lose weight fast respectively.

Another example – A female aged 21 who weighs 140 lbs with a height of 5’7’’ and spends a moderately active lifestyle will require 2220 calories to maintain her weight, 1770 calories to lose weight and 1330 calories to lose weight faster.

You can use this calorie calculator to know your calorie intake.

Ideal Requirements for all Food Groups for different Dietary Needs

An Ideal 1200 Calorie Indian Diet for Vegetarians

Breakfast – 1 bowl oatmeal or dairy + 1 medium size banana or 10 grapes
Total Calories – 264

Lunch – 2 slice of whole wheat bread + 1 cup chickpeas + ½ cup carrots + ½ cup non-fat cheese
OR
1 cup salad with avocado, carrots, tomato, and leafy greens + ½ cup black bean soup + ½ cup Greek yogurt, unsweetened (add to soup and spoon some beans onto the chapatis) + 1 chapatis.
Total Calories – 370

Snacks – 1 cup tea + 1 bowl poha
Total Calories – 220

Dinner – Brown Rice 2 cup + 1 bowl mixed veggies + 1 bowl salad + 1 small bowl Raita
Total Calories – 350

An Ideal 1200 Calorie Indian Diet for Non-Vegetarians

Breakfast – 1 bowl oatmeal or daliya + 2 hard-boiled egg whites + 1 medium size banana or 10 grapes.
Total Calories – 264

Lunch – 1 cup cooked butter chicken + 2 chapatis
Total Calories – 380

Snacks – 1 cup tea + 1 bowl poha
Total Calories – 220

Dinner – 1 cup chicken biryani or 1 cup fish biryani
Total Calories – 350

An Ideal 1800 Calorie Indian Diet for Vegetarians

Early Morning – 1 cup of warm tea or 1 cup skimmed milk + 1 small methi (fenugreek) parantha

Breakfast – 1 bowl curd or 2 glass of buttermilk + 2 bowls poha 0r two bowl oats + 2 egg whites or 25g paneer + 1 small size fruit + 1 tablespoon oil/butter

Snacks – 1 medium size apple/orange or medium slice of papaya

Lunch – 3 medium chapatis + 1 bowl cooked rajma (red kidney beans) + 2 bowl mix vegetable salad + 1 bowl curd + 2 tablespoon oil

Snacks – 1 cup of coffee or warm tea + 2 cream cracker biscuits

Dinner – 2 medium chapattis + 1 bowl soybean nuggets + 1 bowl cooked vegetables + 1 bowl salad + ½ cup mixed cut fruit + 2 tablespoon oil/butter

Bedtime – 1 cup of milk or 1 bowl of curd

An Ideal 1800 Calorie Indian Diet for Non-Vegetarians

Early Morning – 1 cup of warm tea or 1 cup skimmed milk + 1 small methi (fenugreek) parantha or 2 slices of brown bread

Breakfast – 1 whole egg + 4 egg whites scrambled + topped with tomato salsa + 1 cup cut melon

Snacks – ½ cup non-fat cottage cheese

Lunch – Leafy greens (lettuce, spinach) – any amount + 160g chopped mixed vegetables (carrots, peppers, tomato) + 170g grilled chicken breast + 150g cooked white beans + 2 tablespoons salad dressing + ½ mango

Snacks – 30g soy nuts + carrot and celery sticks

Dinner – 2 chapatis + medium bowl butter chicken + 1 cups roasted Brussels sprouts + 2 tablespoon olive oil (for Brussels sprouts) + steamed kale, spinach or Swiss chard with vinegar + ½ small sweet potato sprinkled with ginger

Bedtime – 1 cup milk + 1 tablespoon peanut butter

You should also read – The Ultimate List of Low Carb Foods for Weight Loss

Traditional Indian Snacks Calorie Chart

Ideal Exercise Routine to Follow During Low-Calorie Diet

• Now that you are on a low-calorie diet, you simply cannot workout the way you did before. You need to make necessary change that suits your diet. You should know that if you indulge yourself in a rigorous exercise during a low-calorie diet, your body will start craving for more calories and that’s something you don’t wish to happen.
• One of the best things that you can do whilst on a low carb diet to lose weight faster and tone your body is – Aerobic Exercise. Perform aerobics at least thrice a week for no longer than 20-30 minutes.
• Alternative to aerobic exercise, you can also do a treadmill workout, cycling and running twice or thrice per week. However, stay away from the high-intensity workouts during this diet plan.
• You can also perform total body strength training workout just in case you don’t want to lose your hard earned muscles. A couple of strength training sessions per week will also help you to maintain lean muscle mass.
• However, you should never forget that you are on a low-calorie diet which means you don’t treat yourself in exhausting workouts day in day out. Just go for 2-3 moderate-intensity exercise session per week so that you don’t unnecessarily invite your cravings.

Benefits of following a Low-Calorie Indian Diet

• A typical low-calorie diet is based on the concept of counting total calories consumed irrespective of its source. So, as long as you stay near to 1200 calories a day, you can eat whatever you wish.
• One major advantage of following a low to very low-calorie diet is that now you don’t need to indulge in heavy workout sessions daily. Just a couple of total body workout or even aerobic sessions would do fine for your weight loss goals.
• No doubt, when you restrict your calories to this extent, you are certainly going to see great results faster. You are more likely to feel happy and motivated than before.
• Quite often, people give up on their weight loss diet routine for the lack of variety in the menu. However, customizing a typical low-calorie diet is quite easy and does not require any special skills or talent. You can simply make your list of foods, or you can even follow your favorite model’s entire diet.

Possible Side-Effects of following a Low-Calorie Indian Diet

Although a low-calorie diet has immense benefits regarding weight loss, there are several disadvantages that you should be well aware of. They are listed below –

• Reducing the total calorie intake may subsequently result in a decrease of nutrients your body receives. Hence, it becomes essential to balance the nutrient deficit for optimal health.
• A low-calorie diet may not be okay with everyone. If you have a routine or job that requires being very active, then you certainly need to get in more calories. Hence, it is advised to take proper guidance from a dietician or a doctor before getting on with this type of diet.
• Following a low-calorie diet may gradually take a toll on your mind. Counting the calories day in day out is not an easy thing to do. And at some point in time, you will feel like giving it up. So, as long as you are not ready for what lies ahead, you should not even think about following this kind of diet.
• During first few weeks on a low-calorie diet, you will lose weight rapidly, but as soon as you start your regular diet again, your metabolic rate has slowed down, and hence you regain the weight for the second time.
• You are likely to face health conditions like constipation, fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, anemia, loss of muscle mass and electrolyte imbalances. Moreover, this type of diet is usually not recommended for teens, pregnant women and people above 50s.

Bottom Line

If you are completely serious about losing extra pounds of weight then following a indian low-carb diet is a stand apart way to do it. No doubt, you will face endless challenges and at times you will even feel like giving it up. But, if you stay strong and pass through all the tough times then there’s nothing that can stop you from reaching your weight loss goal.

Also published on Medium.