Weight loss diet plan is what most Indians struggle with and all the new diet plans with fancy names and exotic and new food ingredients make it all the more difficult. If scrutinized closely, weight loss is not as complicated and difficult as it comes across. A proper weight loss diet plan formulated under the guidance of a certified nutritionist can easily help you lose weight.
Reasons Why Weight Loss Programs Fail
1. Stress: Stress is one factor that incessantly interferes with any weight loss diet. Stress triggers the release of hormones which accelerates fat storage as well as increases cravings for sweet and sugary foods. Thus, removing factors that stress you out should be the first step to making any weight loss diet work.
2. Hormones: Hormones play a very important role in maintaining or losing weight. Correcting hormonal imbalances is imperative to achieve improved results with any weight loss program. Any well-planned Indian weight loss diet helps overcome hormonal resistance and ease your way to weight loss.
3. Nutritional deficiencies: It is important to understand that each and every nutrient has a significant role in your body. Deficiency or absence of any one can lead to other problems and unhealthy weight. Once starting with a weight loss program everyone wants faster results but with imposing deficiencies the process can get delayed or fail. Thus a healthy Indian weight loss diet plan should essentially focus on correcting these deficiencies along with weight loss.
4. Unrealistic expectation: Most of the people who come looking for weight loss programs and consultations want quicker results. Losing weight fast and in a short time is what everyone expects but that is not how weight loss, or daresay healthy weight loss works. As a result, people fall prey to fad diets.
5. Lack of compliance: Not everyone who starts their weight loss journey reaches the end. Lack of motivation and determination is what leads to non-compliance. Weight loss needs patience and perseverance which most people fail to understand.
1. Define Goal
2. Track your weight loss.
3. Exercise is important
4. Drink lots of water
5. Get inspired from actual weight loss stories
6. Misconception regarding diets: The biggest and most common fear amongst people asking to lose weight is that once you stop following a diet, you tend to gain back the lost weight. Now, this stands true for fad diets that assert faster and quicker weight loss but not for personalized and healthy weight loss diet plans. A nutritionally well-balanced Indian weight loss diet is easy to follow and gives you lasting results.
A Well-Balanced Indian Diet Plan
So let’s take a look at what does a healthy well-balanced diet plan includes making it an effective tool for weight loss.
1. Plant-based diet: A traditional Indian diet is essentially a plant-based diet that includes fruits, vegetables, lentils, and whole-grain cereals. A plant-based diet is essentially healthy for you as it lowers the risk of heart diseases, diabetes, hypertension, and certain cancers like breast and colon.
2. Nutritionally complete: From proteins, carbohydrates, and fats to vitamins and minerals our body needs all the nutrients in balance to function efficiently, stay healthy, and most importantly to lose weight.A good diet plan generally offers these vital nutrients and antioxidants to boost overall health and help you stay fit.
3. Includes all food groups: It is a prerequisite of any healthy weight loss diet plan to include all the food groups to provide healthy energy and good nutrition. A weight loss plan with all food groups as an integral part helps you lose weight and manage it for a longer time without adversely affecting the body. Fad diets that claim rapid weight loss are generally based on the exclusion of one or more food groups leading to nutritional deficiencies and other health issues.
4. Herbs and spices: What makes an Indian weight loss diet even more potent and effective is the use of the herbs and spices like turmeric, fenugreek, cumin seeds, cinnamon, etc. India is a land of spices and each and every spice used in Indian cooking offers a plethora of health benefits, aids in weight loss, and regulates hormonal imbalances.
5. Supplementation: The Indian diet plan for weight loss is generally vegetarian therefore certain nutrients need to be supplemented like vitamin D, vitamin B12, and proteins.
Foods To Include In Your Indian Weight Loss Diet Plan
You would surely want to add the following foods to your diet plan for weight loss.
1. Fruits and vegetables: Try including at least five servings of fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet plan. Rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, fruits and vegetables help detoxify your body and lose weight. The trick to eating fruits and vegetables is to go for variety in terms of texture and most importantly color.
2. Cereals and grains: Whole grain cereals are needed for fiber, good carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals like zinc and iron. They form the major bulk of your diet and provide healthy natural energy.
3. Legumes and pulses: Legumes, pulses, and our good old dahl’s are good sources of proteins, healthy fats, and carbohydrates. Their rich vitamin and mineral profile makes legumes and pulses an indispensable part of the Indian weight loss diet plan. The majority of Indian pulses, legumes, and dhals have been associated with various health benefits. They are known to be effective in reducing cholesterol, promoting heart health, and managing blood pressure and blood sugar.
4. Nuts and seeds: They are the nutritional powerhouses that help boost your metabolism and correct hormonal imbalances both essential to promote weight loss. Nuts and seeds are also good sources of proteins, fiber, good fats like omega 3, and antioxidants.
5. Dairy: Dairy and dairy products are imperative for calcium, zinc, vitamin D, and proteins. Milk in the form of fat-free or low fat can be incorporated into the diet.
6. Soya: Soya is a good alternative for vegans as well as vegetarians. It contains proteins and phytoestrogen that are helpful in regulating hormonal imbalances and also against osteoarthritis.
Foods To Avoid In Your Indian Weight Loss Diet Plan
The biggest folly of today’s lifestyle is the abundance of processed foods in our diets. These processed foods are loaded with sugar, salt, chemicals, and unhealthy fats like Trans fat and saturated fat.
If you are looking for healthy weight loss then staying away from this unhealthy junk is wise.
Check your diet to strike off the following foods:
1. Sweetened beverages like flavored soda, soft drinks, energy drinks, sweetened tea and coffee, flavored milk, etc.
2. Sweeteners – Products containing sugar, jaggery, honey, condensed milk add to the calories and should be avoided. Artificial sweeteners in the product should also be discouraged.
3. Sauces– Available in a wide variety and varied flavors like barbeque, mustard, sweet onion, mayonnaise, and also our good old ketchup are high in chemical, preservative, and artificial flavorus. They are also high in sugar and salt content, both a detriment to your weight loss efforts.
4. High-fat junk – Mostly all fast food like burgers, pizza, wraps, fries, ready-to-eat crisps, and chips, fall under this category.
5. Refined flours – Include white flour and its products like white bread, pasta, biscuits, etc.