All the Indians out there!

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minusonali
minusonali Posts: 65
in Introduce Yourself
I am Indian and its so hard to eat healthy with my family, I try to but I am limited with options. What do you guys eat? and my mother makes roti i eat one for lunch is that ok?

Replies

  • Fatlorenzo
    Fatlorenzo Posts: 101 Member
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    Ok, I'm not Indian, but my ex is, and the rotis were healthy when no ghee on it. All daal are better cooked without so much oils. :)
  • vibhorka
    vibhorka Posts: 21 Member
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    I am Indian as well. I agree its hard to eat healthy, when it comes down to our delicious snacks with high carb content and sugar.

    But I have to tell you, I love the fact that the Indian recipe's for all the chicken and goat curries along with okra, cauliflower and other non starchy vegetable recipes are the best. I mean I can not imagine enjoying so much variety in what I eat without knowing how to make stuff Indian style.

    Although,I am not encouraging people to eat ghee by the bucket, but I believe its one of the best fats you can use, especially if you make it at home and make it with organic/grass fed butter.
  • amsharma_ak
    amsharma_ak Posts: 15 Member
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    Hey ... Guessing whether 1 roti is enough or not is difficult ... you need to track your entire diet and Roti is a small piece of it ... Mostly around 70-80 calories out of 2000 that you are supposed to eat everyday ... Nowadays there are calories for all kinds of indian foods and you can make your own recipes in MFP as well... so tracking is easy ...
  • minusonali
    minusonali Posts: 65
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    I couldn't agree less I love Indian food, and the chicken and my favorite naan! Its been hard so far but its nice to know that MFP has lots of others who also struggle too.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    I am not Indian, but I cook a lot of Indian-inspired dishes (usually simpler versions of traditional northern Indian dishes, from Madhur Jaffrey's cookbooks, and a few others). Much Indian food is very healthy and has a variety of vegetables and legumes. You can cook with less fat if you wish to reduce the calories, but the real trick is simply to eat less of each dish. Either take small servings of each, and eat more only if you are truly hungry, or serve yourself once and don't take seconds. You can also have less rice and bread, though I do find it hard to be restrained with naan!
  • hiker583
    hiker583 Posts: 91 Member
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    Indian food has a large variety of vegetables, you just need to find right balance between roti/rice and vegetables + daal. You can cook with very little oil and spices, and stay away from maida based things like naan.
  • javacafe
    javacafe Posts: 79 Member
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    I am an Indian. And, I too love Indian food. And, because my wife did the cooking at home, it was practically impossible to count the ingredients/calories. And, she did not take kindly to the idea of having to measure everything. So, about a year ago, I took charge of my own meals, every single one of them, and made a *dramatic* transition in my eating habits. (My Food Diary is open, if you want to look at it.)

    Interestingly, when my teenage son joined MFP and started lifting weights, *he* was able to convince my wife, easily, to list out all the ingredients, and give him the weights/quantities of whatever went into her cooking. (Indian mommies! LOL!)

    So, if I wanted to, I could switch back over to her cooking. But, I had begun enjoying the ultra-clean nutrition I was consuming, and cherished the control I had over my own eating. Sometimes, I cook Indian food for myself . . . chicken, marinated in yogurt, Indian spices, etc. But, I make a recipe out of those. So, I know exactly what went in it. So, I still have control over the calorie count and macro ratios for the day.
  • minusonali
    minusonali Posts: 65
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    Thanks everyone!
  • timewiz13
    timewiz13 Posts: 37 Member
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    When it comes to rotis and rice (biryani, pulao, etc.), it's definitely good to be careful.

    I think you have the right idea by only eating one. The max I allow myself to eat is two.

    Also, whenever you eat indian food, remember: RAITA (Yogurt) WITH VEGETABLES IS YOUR BEST FRIEND.

    You have NO idea how filling it is, and how much it saves you from eating more of the unhealthier sabzis.

    Sometimes, I like to make some raita with chopped up cucumber, and have it on the side of a daal, some aloo ki sabzi, and 1-2 rotis (without ghee like someone above also said).

    Do your research on Daals to figure out which ones are good and which aren't. Some of them are very carby (but still high in protein).

    Personally, I prefer Masoor Daal. Tastes so good, and SUCH good protein for the calories.
  • minusonali
    minusonali Posts: 65
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    my mother and i were talking and she said that dinner should consist of high protein no carbs(roti, rice or bread) not sure if this is a good idea? What is your view on this myth.
  • javacafe
    javacafe Posts: 79 Member
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    The total amount of calories, and to a lesser extent, the proportion of carbs, protein, and fat (i.e., the macros), you consume in a day will determine whether you put on weight, lose weight, or maintain your weight. Although it is widely held belief, there is not much evidence to support the idea that carbs consumed at night is any worse for you.
  • Spadhnik
    Spadhnik Posts: 130 Member
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    my mother and i were talking and she said that dinner should consist of high protein no carbs(roti, rice or bread) not sure if this is a good idea? What is your view on this myth.

    As I heard, high protein is good while loosing weight. At our home we eat roti almost every day. I don't use oil at all in roti, not even while making dough(for some reason no salt too, so pretty bland!). Check in MFP, roti has less calories than rice and much feeling. So two rotis are all right with no rice. (Difficult sometimes for me as I love rice). Many times I eat Raita as sides ( with beetroot, sprouts, etc). I make mix veg sabji so I can get multiple nutrients. I normally avoid gravy based curry as it would need more oid while cooking than simple sabji.. I m also thinking of using brown basmati rice over while rice (once I convince hubby!!)
    I hv kids at home so i do make puri (fried roti) for them but I will always eat simple roti. Mealtimes could be tricky with family but I try eating in portion, less oil, more veg....at least most of the time...
  • akaar78
    akaar78 Posts: 27 Member
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    I know what you mean....it's hard to let go of the spice that makes it challenging to stick with bland food...actually when you cook stuff with less ghee /oil indian food can be the best.. I have seen my friend having a good serving of curriess and go easy or never touch rice,,she adds raita and curry as her main lunch...that's actually quite filling....I have tried last time when I wanted to lose weight...it works pretty good....but lighter curries like dal,sambar,okra,cauliflower subji,channa masala....like that not the kofta s and paneers

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