Can I Lose Weight by Eating Indian Food? (2024)

The Indian cuisine is a rich one. It harbors a blend of spices, flavors, leafy greens, and protein sources to create impeccable-tasting dishes.

But among health freaks, Indian food preferences have gained a bad reputation. They are associated with items that are high in cholesterol, fat, and calories. As such, many people think that following an Indian diet is a no-go if you are on a weight loss journey.

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The result? Weight-watchers turn to other cuisines to get access to healthy superfoods made with ingredients like broccoli, avocados, and so on. While there is no issue in following a healthy, foreign diet, it’s not accessible or affordable for everyone.

Besides, many dieticians also recommend that you stick to traditional and local Indian food as your bodies have adapted to that lifestyle.

But can you promote your weight loss progress while following the country’s staple meal plan? That’s exactly what we will find out in this article.

Can I Lose Weight by Eating Indian Food?

Yes, you can certainly lose weight by eating Indian food items as long as you are diligent in your diet. Contrary to popular belief, the country’s diverse cuisine holds a lot of potential when it comes to supporting your healthy lifestyle and weight loss goals.

The catch, of course, is that you have to watch what you eat. The Indian cuisine is one of the most diverse in the whole world. Different regions have different staple meals, ranging from fibrous and nutritious vegetable-based diet plans to high-calorie curries and flatbreads.

As a fitness enthusiast, it’s your responsibility to do your due diligence and mark the foods that are healthy for consumption.

If you devise a good meal plan, the Indian diet is one of the best to aid your weight loss journey. That’s because most of the country’s meals are prepared using fresh produce - nutritious fruits and vegetables. For the most part, the concept of unhealthy processed foods and frozen ingredients is absent.

Moreover, 80% of the country’s population follows the popular Lacto-vegetarian Indian diet, which encourages the consumption of plant-based food items derived from leafy greens, lentils, and fruits.

By following such a plan, you can curate most of the meals using fibrous vegetables that will keep you satiated and energetic for longer periods. This is very important, as weight loss is not simply a game of counting calories. Instead, you have to eat in a way that you lose weight in a sustained, healthy manner.

The Indian diet can also offer the right balance of micro and macronutrients that your body requires - primarily protein, healthy fats, and carbohydrates. The myth that the country follows dietary habits that focus more on carbs and less on protein is outdated.

If you are a non-vegetarian, you can get your daily protein intake from food items like chicken tikkas, chicken curries (cooked without butter), or even eggs. If you want vegetarian options, items like paneer curry, soybean curry, chickpeas curry, and even pea curry act as healthy sources of protein.

Therefore, home-cooked Indian food has the potential to offer you the three most important qualities required for healthy weight loss - it is sustainable, filling, and nutritious.

By following a well-devised diet plan and incorporating some daily exercise and workout routines into your lifestyle, you can take advantage of these benefits.

Which Indian Foods Are Good for Weight Loss?

As we mentioned earlier, the Indian cuisine is a vast one. There are a multitude of options to explore, whether you want healthy or unhealthy options.

For effective results, you need to stick to a well-structured Indian diet plan for weight loss. The food items that you consume should be low in calories but equally filling and nutritious.

Dal

For vegetarians, legumes act as one of the primary protein sources. So, eating dal, which forms the staple of most North-Indian diets, can be pretty effective for your weight loss endeavors.

Dal is basically a dish made from split or whole lentils or pulses, which have high protein content, are fibrous, and contain many essential nutrients.

Because of this healthy nutritional profile, many studies indicate that incorporating dal into your eating habits could be great for your weight loss goals.

Leafy Greens

Green and leafy vegetables are nutrient-dense and great for losing weight. They are also a major part of the traditional Indian diet.

Here’s what you get for incorporating more leafy greens into your diet:

Fiber - improves satiety and feelings of fullness for longer periods.
Calcium - for promoting bone strength.
Iron - for improved delivery of oxygen in the body.
Vitamin C - for the development of healthy tissue and improved immune system.
Vitamin K - for preventing blood clotting and improving bone health.

Apart from these benefits, leafy greens are very low in calories, allowing you to keep your weight in check without starving yourself. Ingredients like spinach, cabbage, and curry leaves are easily available in Indian markets.

Whole Grains

The Indian diet primarily focuses on the use of whole grains instead of refined grains. They are lower in calories and have been linked to an improvement in our resting metabolic rates. Thus, they are the better option for weight loss.

Go for food ingredients like wheat, oats, millet, and rice to enjoy the full benefits of having whole grains in your diet.

Fruits

For people with a sweet tooth, you don’t have to sacrifice your three-course meals by eliminating desserts. By following the Indian diet, you can simply include fruits like apples, mangoes, papayas, and dates in your meal calendar.

In fact, some of these fruits are also used as common ingredients in many Indian dishes. Fruits have high water and fiber content and form the backbone of weight management.

Lean Protein

There are many sources of lean protein in the Indian diet. For example, skinless and boneless tandoori chicken is a great provider of protein while offering minimal fat.

Grilled and steamed fish like Indian salmon can also provide similar nutritional profiles.

Turmeric

Turmeric is an important spice used in most Indian food items. While not exactly the pinnacle of health and fitness, this particular ingredient can also help you keep your weight in check.

Besides your diet and lifestyle, there are some other common causes of drastic weight gain - obesity, for example, may often be caused by some form of inflammation in your body, leading to weakened insulin resistance and build-up of more fat deposits.

Turmeric is the most effective spice for suppressing such symptoms in the body. This is because it contains curcumin, an ingredient filled with anti-inflammatory properties.

Curd or Dahi

Believe it or not, curd derived from natural sources can actually be pretty healthy. For one, it acts as a good source of calcium while also improving your gut health. This is sometimes very important for weight-watchers as sudden changes in your diet can lead to digestive issues.

Moreover, some studies conclude that curd’s positive influence in lowering the bacterial imbalance in your gut can also lead to a small reduction in abdominal fat.

Indian Foods to Avoid During Weight Loss?

There are many Indian foods that you must avoid because of their unhealthy composition and high-calorie nutritional profile.

When you are on a weight loss journey, it’s not just important to keep track of the number of calories you consume. It’s equally essential to break down the nutritional value of all the food items that you consume.

At the same time, getting all the calories in a single meal and then fasting for the rest of the day will not provide long-term results. So, you need to structure your diet very specifically to get the most efficient results.

For example, a well-structured 1500-calorie Indian vegetarian meal plan will focus on using more fibrous, low-calorie foods like leafy greens. This will allow you to get the essential nutrients and stay satiated throughout the day.

Moreover, because of the low-calorie count associated with each item, you can have multiple meals a day and fight potential hunger pangs.

Based on these considerations, here are some Indian foods that you need to avoid strictly if you want to lose weight:

Fried and Processed Snacks

Fried snacks like samosas, pakoras, and vadas form a big part of the Indian cuisine. However, they contain unhealthy fat content and are high in calories. Similarly, processed food like hamburgers and potato chips should also be avoided.

All of these can be detrimental to your weight loss goals.

Sugary Desserts

For foodies, the Indian palette is incomplete without some flavorful desserts. But fitness enthusiasts should not think the same way.

Many Indian desserts like gulab jamun, jalebi, barfi, and others are loaded with sugar and calories.

Creamy Curries

Creamy and rich Indian curries may provide some delicious textures. But they are made with excessive amounts of butter, ghee, cream, and other unhealthy ingredients.

Dishes like butter chicken, paneer tikka masala, and korma should be avoided for this reason.

Street Food

We always recommend homecooked Indian food to fitness-oriented individuals. As such, street food should be strictly off-limits.

While items like pav bhaji, chaat, and pani batashe are flavorful and delicious, they lead to a diet pitfall because of the unhealthy ingredients used and the high-calorie profile.

Sugary Beverages

With so much focus on food and eatables, let’s not forget that unhealthy drinks can be equally harmful, if not more.

Beverages that are packed with sugar are also high in calories and can lead to negative consequences for your fitness goals. Avoid popular Indian drinks like masala chai with added sugar, commercially available fruit juices, and sugary lassi beverages.

How Can an Indian Lose Weight Fast?

Losing weight is not as difficult as it is often portrayed. By sticking to some rigid diet-based and lifestyle-based principles, you can easily achieve your goals.

However, immense determination and patience are required for the same. Go for sustained weight loss instead of starving yourself.

Here’s what you, as an Indian, can do to lose weight as fast as possible:

Achieve the State of Calorie Deficit

You can only lose weight if you consume fewer calories than you burn. Otherwise, you will end up gaining weight, irrespective of how many hours you put in at the gym or how healthy you eat.

Adopt a low-calorie but fulfilling diet to achieve your goals in a sustained, controlled manner.

Stick to a Plan

The weight loss journey should be a structured one. You need to change your entire lifestyle to become healthier.

Apart from adopting healthier dietary habits, make sure that you devote some time to exercise and workouts.

Moreover, all your training sessions and diet menus should be pre-planned. You should always know what you are supposed to eat the next day and what kind of physical activity you will perform.

To make things easier for yourself, you can check out any of the pre-planned workout routines and healthy diet plans produced by Dr Workout for free.

Focus on Portion Control

People tend to gain weight even if they are eating healthy. What are they doing wrong? They are eating too much.

It’s recommended that you eat smaller meals more frequently throughout the day. Also, substitute high-calorie food items with low-calorie alternatives.

For example, avoid any type of naan and replace it with whole wheat rotis as they offer fewer calories. Moreover, try switching the traditional white rice with the healthier alternative - brown rice.

Lastly, make sure that the serving size is as per the dietary restrictions recommended by the diet plan that you are following.

Increase Protein Consumption

Lean sources of protein in your diet, like chicken, fish, tofu, legumes, and even low-fat dairy can be very helpful.

They help you get the feeling of fullness for longer periods while also maintaining muscle mass and keeping you fit.

Sleep and Hydration

Lifestyle changes include improving your sleep and hydration cycles. Make sure that you are getting plenty of water. When you are thirsty, you are more likely to get hunger pangs and cravings.

Moreover, focus on getting enough quality sleep. If you are sleep-deprived, the hormones associated with hunger and appetite will get disrupted, resulting in more food cravings.

Summing Up

Indian food has gained notoriety for being unhealthy, loaded with carbs, and high in calories. But if you plan your meals right, the cuisine can actually be one of the best in the world for supporting weight loss and fitness goals.

By making nutritious and homecooked Indian meals every day, you can lose weight in a jiffy without spending an extravagant amount of money on superfoods like avocados and pricey salads.

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