Staying in a hotel in India and losing weight

Options
rencawdor24
rencawdor24 Posts: 157 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

I am from the UK and have been living in Mumbai, India for the last 6 weeks or so. I am staying in a hotel and to my dismay I realised that I have put on 4-5 lb in that time even though I haven't been massively overeating. I am still due to stay here another 4 1/2 months!

Has anyone out there had to stay in a hotel for work for a few month and managed to lose weight? Or even maintain? if so, how?
Or are there any Indians out there who are on a weigh loss programme? Any tips would be great in terms of what types of food to avoid and what to eat?

Many thanks for any help/tips.

Ren

Replies

  • GertrudeHorse
    GertrudeHorse Posts: 646 Member
    Options
    Does the hotel have a gym? What sort of food do you have access to? Are you eating a more Western diet? Or are you mainly eating local cuisine?
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    Options
    you're probably eating more and being less active... is it really hot in India right now? I became much less active when I moved to Saudi because of the climate, in the UK I walked everywhere, in the Arabian Gulf it's too hot to walk anywhere 9 months of the year. Find other ways to be active, if there's a gym at the hotel, use that. If not get some exercise videos and do them in your hotel room, you can find a lot on you tube if you don't want to spend any money or if you can't buy the videos locally.

    re food - eat less. Indian food while totally yummy is heavy on the carbs and fats, maybe take smaller servings of rice or other carbs, and have the meat with less of the sauces and more of the vegetable and salad side dishes (but watch out for dressings and sauces). Try to increase the amount of protein in your food while reducing (but not eliminating!!) fats and carbs. If it's possible to weigh and measure your food then that's a much better strategy than eyeballing portion sizes and trying to "just eat less" of some things, but if you can't, then just try to make portion sizes of fat and carb foods smaller, and portion sizes of protein and vegetable foods bigger, and don't feel obliged to finish what's on your plate if you're full. But don't eliminate carbs or fats totally, your body needs them, just not so much of them.
  • rencawdor24
    rencawdor24 Posts: 157 Member
    Options
    Yes, the hotel has a gym. But I am here as a single parent with my 3 year old, so I tend to exercise to Jillian Michael's ripped in 30 when I can in the mornings.

    The food is mainly local cuisine so usually biryani's, kebabs, fish, chicken or meat curry. There is also an Italian restaurant. But the problem is pretty much all the options are high in fat or as they are drenched in ghee or butter.

    I have come across one salad that I request - greek salad, but without the cheese and with grilled chicken instead. This is still yummy, but I'm worried, I will soon get bored of it, if I eat it everyday.
  • rencawdor24
    rencawdor24 Posts: 157 Member
    Options
    Yes, its really hot here, so going out and about during day will be difficult. And during evening, the mosquitoes are out. Plus the roads are not paved well, so I can't walk very fast as I am often busy looking down so that I don't trip.
    But I've started Jillian Michael's ripped in 30, which I had brought with me from UK.

    Thanks for the advice. I will try and eat more of the veg and salad. The only problem with the veg is that the veg is often tossed in butter! But I might ask them to make me a portion of veg that is just steamed. One of the problems I am finding is that, as I don't know how things are cooked, I can't tell which is healthy and which isn't.
  • Rocbola
    Rocbola Posts: 1,998 Member
    Options
    Lay off the meat, and eat more veggies. I used to work with a couple of brothers from Mumbai; their wives would bring in some of the most delicious veggie based food i have ever had. There should be a lot of healthy food in Mumbai.
  • rencawdor24
    rencawdor24 Posts: 157 Member
    Options
    Lay off the meat, and eat more veggies. I used to work with a couple of brothers from Mumbai; their wives would bring in some of the most delicious veggie based food i have ever had. There should be a lot of healthy food in Mumbai.

    I have heard that even the vegetarian food here is high calorie. Also, my work is paying for my stay and food within the hotel, which means I would need to eat in the hotel. But I'll try eating mostly vegetarian for a week here and see how it goes.

Categories