14 April, 2009

Diet plan to shed weight for Indian moms

Few days back I got this message.

Hi Kiran:

I love your blog, website and all the videos you have. It is very inspiring!

I am a mom of two kids - struggling with weight. I am not obese per say, but I have so much flab on my ab - it really depresses me. I have been working out a lot and have been seeing promising results.

It will be helpful if you can write a blog post on what not to eat if you your diet is primarily Indian. There are so many books on western foods, but hardly any documentation on Indian foods. Maybe they exist - I just don't know about them.

Some things are obvious - don't eat puris, samosas, sweets etc - but what kind of eating plan do you give to people whom you train.

Will wait to hear from you.

Best of Luck with your son's exams. Sorry to hear about the tutor - what a shame!

Ragini

Diet plan has to be balanced, wholesome and nutritious. The importance of Proteins can never be underestimated. I would even recommend an added protein shake. All the fruits, vegetables, milk and milk products like low fat yogurt, cottage cheese, etc are to be included in abundance. Have a good helping of soya and soya products like nutri nuggets, tofu, soya milk. Have sprouts, lean cuts of meat like chicken breast, fish, tuna.

After this comes good carbohydrates like whole grains, cereals like maize, barley, whole wheat etc.

Use oils sparingly.

My very typical diet plan would be as follows

Breakfast- Brown bread sandwich (bread of whole wheat or multi grain bread), with lettuce, cucumber, tomato, low fat cottage cheese, mint chutney, plus a fruit, plus tea/milk/coffee/buttermilk with no sugar.

Lunch- 2 rotis (50% wheat, 50% wheat bran-choker), sabji, curd/raita, salad.

Evening- milk shake (without sugar)/ fruit/ vegetable cutlet (made of finely chopped vegetable, cooked with 2 drops of oil on non stick pan)

Dinner- soup and salad of your choice.

13 April, 2009

Diet plan of people suffering with Cardiac problems

Diet plan of people suffering with Cardiac problems is essential part of the cardiac treatment.

Few key factors

➢ Low sodium/salt intake

➢ Add fish to your diet, specially tuna

➢ Reduce tea/coffee

➢ Less than seven per cent of the calories should be contributed by saturated fats. Fats are solids and saturated. Hence, go in for oils, which are liquids at room temperature. Vegetable oils, such as olive oil, groundnut oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, soya bean oil, flax seed oil are heart friendly. Trans fats and saturated fats, such as butter, hydrogenated fats, clarified butter and margarine are completely avoided. Foods rich in trans fats are fried fish, bakery products, french fries, bread and margarine sticks. 


➢ Liberal intake of fibrous foods, which are cardiac friendly and aid in digestion and reduce constipation and thus, also passively decrease the chance of heart diseases. It also reduces cholesterol. Cardiac diet thus should be comprised of high fiber count and low fat content.

➢ Fiber sources of foods are abundant in varieties; some of the popular varieties are legumes, pulses, cereals, whole grains such as barley and oats, nuts and seeds and fruits and fresh vegetables.

➢ Men below 50 years of age should take 35-38 grams of fiber and above 50 aged senior citizens should consume 30 grams of fiber every day. Women blow 50 are scheduled to consume 25 grams of fiber, and above 50 are to consume 21 gram of fiber daily basis.


➢ Nuts and seeds, are a good source of monounsaturated fats that help in increasing the HDL (High Density Lipoproteins) levels.

➢ Fruits and vegetables are a rich source of complex carbohydrates. They are devoid of cholesterol. Cholesterol is seen in animal foods. They are not seen in plant foods, though saturated fats are present in plants. They are a rich source of phyto nutrients and antioxidants. They help in removal of free radicals, which are unstable molecules.

➢ Folic acid, seen in legumes reduces the homocysteine levels. Homocysteine levels is one of the culprits behind arterial blockage.


➢ Fatty cuts of meat, whole milk, whole dairy products, foods such as egg yolk, liver, organ meat, red meat, ham, and pork are to be avoided.

➢ Maintain the ideal body weight. Obesity is a factor of concern.

➢ Balanced diet, tension free life, will surely help a cardiac patient to live a peaceful and regulated life. Modification in lifestyle includes abstinence from smoking and alcohol. Exercise works in conjunction with a strict diet. Increased activity is essential for healthy living.