Healthy food substitues and smart eating.

shivachoubey · Jan 4, 2010

Hi,

I have recently managed to loose 18 kgs of weight. These are few of the substitutes and tricks that worked for me. Hope these helps you too.

1.Cooking in less oil : Wondering how to cook tasty gravy without or less oil. Here is the trick.
Add finely chopped onions to the pan, spinkle some salt and let them sweat. The onions will cook in their own moisture. Make tomato puree and add ginger garlic paste. Cover and let the gravy simmer. Once the tomato is cooked i.e color changes to dark red, add masalas of your choice and add vegetable. This gravy can be used to prepare sabjis. It is recommened not to completely avoid oil as it has essential fatty acids but limiting to 2-3 tsp is a good idea.

2.Oats – Can’t eat oats as a breakfast. A good idea of sneaking them in your meal is to take a handful and mix in your chappati aata. The oats rotis are soft and tastes delicious.

Add a table spoon of oats in soups, it makes the soup thick. It tastes more like pasta in tomato soup.

3.   [FONT=&quot] Sneaking[/FONT] Pumpkin in daily meals – To sneak pumpkin in a meal, cook it with toor daal. Once the daal is done mash the pumpkin in the daal and then go about the normal way of giving a tadka. It enhances the daal taste and as for kids they will not notice the subtle difference.

4.Trick to reduce rice quantity –If you just have to have your rice but want to reduce the quantity, then in a plate first pour the daal and then less rice from usual and then daal again. You will feel full with less rice this way.
Another trick that I follow and which works for me, is to take less rice say 4-5 tsp in a bowl , pour lots of daal and then sabji. This way I get to eat my rice but in less quantity.

5.Homemade Healthy Burger – This is one healthy breakfast. Take 2 boiled potatoes, mash them. Add soya granules, grated carrots, mashed boiled green peas and sweet corns. Idea here is to use less potatoes, just enough for binding purpose and the quantity of vegetables and granules is more. Make patties and grill them on non stick tawa with l tsp or less oil. In a bun, apply green chutney, then patty, cover with tomato and cucumber. Experiment by adding boiled chola (garbanzo beans), rajma, black channa.

6.Cream substitute – In gravies like palak paneer is you want to do away with cream add evaporated milk instead . It thickens the gravy just like cream.

7. Use different oils for different meals- If you cook your lunch in say sunflower oil, use canola or some other oil for dinner. In this way you will get essential fatty acids from all the oils. Meaning, you will benefit from fatty acids found in abundance in sunflower oil and also from fatty acids found in abundance in canola oil.

8. Sweet tooth - If you feel like having something sweet after each meal, try having dry apricots. they are sweet and high in vitamins and nutrients. Limit yourself to 5 a day. Some other healthy substitutes are honey and dates. But monitor the intake.

9. Want to snack on something chatpata - Try Jhaal mudi. Healthy low cal snack. Mix cucumber, onion, green chili, 3-4 drops of mustard oil with puffed rice, add lemon and salt. Add green coriander and make it like a bhel.

10. Hungry while on a long drive - In a zip lock bag make this mixture and keep it in car or purse. Take puffed rice, roasted peanuts, roasted channa, walnuts, mix well. 2 to 3 handful of this mix satisfies the hunger pang. Experiment by adding other dry fruits and nuts. It is way better than catching a burger or french fries when hunger pang hits.

regards
:coffeeShiva

Custard · Jan 4, 2010

Hello ShivaChoubey,

Your post is very informative:wow. I would also like to add that to reduce rice intake :

Add 1 Cup of White Pumpkin (grated) to 2 cups of rice & cook as usual. No one can find the difference.!!!!:rotfl

mssunitha2001 · Jan 4, 2010

hi

Thanks a ton for sharing the useful tips !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cindhuja · Jan 6, 2010

Great Topic :thumbsup.I would also like to contribute my :my2cents

Most of us love to have a balanced diet and lead a healthy life.Some for the sake of maintaining their figure plan a balanced meal. Eating habits are like

1. Who enjoys all diet dishes
2. Eats for the sake of eating
3. Eat anything & damn care about the pros & cons of it
4. Who loves to have a balanced diet but not able to follow it strictly

Itz always better to cheat ourselves and eat rather than eating and cheating our tummy.CHEAT & EAT OR EAT & CHEAT :biglaugh:biglaugh:biglaugh

I would like to share few tricks to cheat ourselves and have a balanced meal.Please pour in your thoughts and feedback too.Will get back soon with tips. :2thumbsup:

Priya_Mommy · Jan 6, 2010

shivachoubey,
your post is quite informative. Hope this works well for diet concious people.

Cindhu,
Waiting for your tips - Cheat & Eat or Eat & Cheat!!!

Cindhuja · Jan 6, 2010

First Set :-

1. Drink 2-3 cups of hot water in empty stomach.Itz good for health and helps you feel full too.If you don't have the habit of eating cereal or diet sandwiches, have a full glass of milk and a small fruit or a milk shake half an hour before your breakfast ..AFter a good gap have your routine idli or dosa, which result in over-eating

2. If you eat cereals/muesli/corn flakes instead of sugar add chopped dry fruits and nuts for natural sweetness. Soak coarsely crushed dates in little warm milk, mash it well later and add it to the cereals.It gives you sweetness and iron strength

3. Have more salads before starting with the main course. Those who avoid salt in salads are really great, but again for the rest it is better add more sourness through lime juice or amchur powder and reduce salt

4. Those whom are allergic to salads and raw veggies, reduce half the portion of your rice intake and have cooked veggies and curries equalizing the reduced half portion. First eat 50% of the veggie alone then start having rice.

Will get back soon

rajalakshmigopal · Jan 6, 2010

Hey Cindhuja,

You are such a sweetie pie!!!Keep them coming :thumbsup.

I will be all ears If you say anything about fruis,veggies,dry fruits with the key word "diet" ofcourse.:idea

Cindhuja · Jan 6, 2010

Second Set :-

5. Curd rice lovers please go for low-fat curd or better avoid it taking with rice.I agree it is very very tough. But do it gradually. In the beginning reduce the curd and rice quantity.Later on avoid rice @ all with curd, instead whip, dilute with enough water and enjoy as butter milk. It makes you feel heavy and helps avoiding extra rice and curd. Instead of tempering with oil grind little ginger and curry leaves along with curd.If necessary sprinkle a dash of asafoetida .Above all please avoid salt

6. Intake a raita, a stir fry veggie and a spicy veggie.As our friend said don't totally avoid oil instead use them for tempering alone. While making raita chop finely or grate the veggies like cucumber,onion,carrot,ladies finger etc and see to that consumption of curd is just for name sake.Dilute them too. My mom adds a tablespoon of coconut paste to the raita. It is nutritious and makes you feel heavy if you have it for rotis. But heart patients and people suffering with cholesterol problem exempt this.

7. While making rotis or pooris or batter for idli and dosa avoid salt gradually..make your side dish spicy to avoid the saltlessness in the roti.Making masal chappathis or pooris helps you avoid salt easily. Like making stuffed roti, pudhina paratha and so on with a cool raita

shivachoubey · Jan 6, 2010

Hi,

Great tips Cindhuja. Once a friend told me that the decision is in your hand 'in your old age do you want to completely banned from food you like or do you want to eat what you like through out your life but in small quantity'. I chose the second option, to eat what I like through out my life but in small quantity.

I love rice and can never give it up. What I do is boil the rice in lots of water and drain it three times. So that the rice is completely devoid of starch. One down side of this technique is that it not only makes rice starch free but also nutrient and vitamin free. But I take my nutrients from veggies and other stuff and use rice as a source of fiber. Also this type of rice expands more in size.

Keep contributing

regards

:coffeeShiva

Cindhuja · Jan 6, 2010

Third Set :-

8. Itz better to have sugar rather than going for sweeteners. In the beginning substitute jaggery for sugar.Later reduce the quantity. palm jaggery is also healthy. Refine the jaggery very well before consuming it.

9. Say a big no to biscuits and cookies.When you feel like crunching something have a grilled multi-grain/whole-wheat bread sandwich with mixed veggie curry or sprouts or home-made jam(low sugar) or steamed corns(no butter,no salt).

10. Maida/Refined flour & Butter are the 2 big reasons for avoiding cakes,biscuits, white bread and cookies. So substitute with whole wheat or at least normal wheat flour.Now-a-days there are too many options for crunchy and healthy snacks such as multi-grain biscuits, whole-wheat cookies, oat-meal cookies, multi-grain bars and so on.Don't hesitate to buy them or bake them.Worth every single penny.Trust me once you are used to it, you will never go back to the routine refined flour cookies @ all.I love Oats and Honey cookie of unibic.