Losing weight often seems like an insurmountable task. Most people commit to reducing their calorie intake, and may even make a proper diet chart, but fail to stick to the plan for one reason or another.

If you want to lose weight, it is important to start eating healthy. Substituting junk food with low-calorie healthy food in your diet will not only help you in shedding those extra kilos but will also help maintain your overall health.

Please check this link for a complete weight loss diet.

This article provides a diet chart that tells you exactly what to eat and when for weight loss. The chart is designed to give you a good combination of proteins, carbohydrates, and vitamins without compromising with taste. It also talks about substitutions you can make so that it is easy for you to follow the diet.

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  1. Indian diet plan for weight loss
  2. What to include in a weight loss diet chart
  3. What not to include in your weight loss diet plan
  4. Weight loss diet chart substitutes
  5. What else can you do to lose weight
  6. Maintaining a healthy weight after reducing
  7. Other useful tips for weight loss

India is a land of agriculture and is among one of the countries which supply food all over the world. Since the early civilizations, Indians have focused on eating a plant-based diet. Some people are also vegan and do not consume animal products like milk, curd, yoghurt, cottage cheese at all, which vegetarians do. Indian households usually consume a wide variety of herbs and spices. This diet chart takes into account all these dietary preferences and provides lots of alternatives for you to choose from.

A traditional vegetarian Indian meal is very beneficial because it reduces the risk of developing serious health conditions such as heart diseases, cancer, diabetes, kidney disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.

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First meal: lemon water

The first thing in the morning

If you are not doing it already, do it now! Drinking water on an empty stomach every morning is very beneficial for your health because it not only helps in flushing out the toxins from your body but also gives your skin a healthy glow! Do not drink water after brushing to avoid its contamination with the fluoride of your toothpaste.

You may also add lemon to your water. It keeps your gut healthy. If you have diabetes or high blood pressure, avoid adding sugar to your morning lemon drink. Also, if you have high blood pressure, avoid adding salt to it.

Benefits:

  • Lemon water is a very effective way of reducing weight.
  • Lemon contains vitamin C along with many other beneficial nutrients which help our body in fighting diseases such as respiratory (related to the lungs and breathing system) problems, common cold, and cough.
  • Lemonade is also beneficial for people who have diabetes. It is considered to be a good alternative to high-sugar fruit juices or drinks.
  • Lemonade not only reduces your body weight but is also beneficial for your liver. It helps the enzymes of our body to work efficiently and hence, improves liver function.
  • Lemon also has flavonoids which help in digestion. That’s why it is recommended to have lemonade in a lot of stomach problems. Hence, having warm lemon water in the morning improves your digestion. It also helps in reducing acidity.

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Second meal: breakfast

Have breakfast two hours after having the lemon drink. It is really important that your body gets nutritious food at the start of each day. Having snacks with tea is not considered nutritious. Eating a nutritious breakfast not only helps in weight loss but also gives your body a lot of energy to kick-start your day.

What to have for breakfast?

Two eggs, boiled vegetables like cabbage (low in calorie, rich in fiber and vitamin C), cauliflower (rich in vitamin C, vitamin K, and fiber), green leafy vegetables (vitamin A, vitamin K, fiber, and iron), beetroot, tomatoes, etc. You may also take low-fat milk (without cream) with bread made of gram flour (“besan" or "dal cheela”).  

Benefits of these food items:

  • Eggs are a good source of protein, vitamins, and minerals. Besides being nutritious, they also help in weight loss. If you take eggs with other meals, it might limit the utilization of carbohydrates in your body. Hence, eggs are enough by themselves to help reduce weight. Eggs are not only beneficial for losing weight, but they are also good for the bones, hair, and pregnant ladies.
  • To boost your immunity, it’s better to eat boiled vegetables because boiling does not reduce their nutritional benefits. They help in keeping your body fit. They not only reduce your weight but also help in controlling it. Eating boiled vegetable will also keep you away from the oils and spices of fried vegetables. Boiled vegetables aid in preventing diseases such as heart attack, and cancer. They increase the level of antioxidants in your body and prevent you from contracting diseases.
  • It is good to stay away from fat-rich food as much as possible. It will also help in reducing weight. If you drink milk on a regular basis, take low-fat milk (without cream). This will help in reducing fat in the body and keep you away from cholesterol-related diseases.

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Third meal: 3 hours after breakfast

This specific part of the diet plan includes taking a healthy drink 3-4 hours after breakfast (at noon). Having a healthy drink will help in boosting your energy.

What to drink?

Drink green tea or coconut water.

Benefits

  • Green tea is a good home remedy to reduce weight. It helps in improving your digestion and its healthy ingredients play a vital role in weight loss.
  • If you drink green tea an hour before having food, it not only reduces your weight but also controls your appetite.
  • Green tea is full of antioxidants. Drinking green tea 2-3 times a day will keep you healthy and also prevent diseases.
  • Coconut water is considered best for weight loss. It is low in calories and is easy to digest. Drinking coconut water increases the metabolic rate in our body, burn extra sugar, and reduces body fat.
  • Coconut water also controls blood pressure, prevents dehydration, strengthens your bones, and brings a healthy glow to your face.

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Fourth meal: lunch

An integral part of the diet plan for weight loss is lunch. It is recommended that you have your lunch between 1-2 PM every day. It is important to take other nutritious food items besides vegetables and Indian bread (“roti”) for lunch.

What to eat for lunch?

You can have salads such as a green salad which can be made using spinach, cauliflower, cabbage, cucumber, and green chilly. A green salad is a good source of vitamin B12. You may also add a vegetable salad to your lunch, which can be made using cucumber, green chilly, tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, radish, and carrot. It is good to make your pulses in one teaspoon oil only. It will help in controlling your weight. Alternatively, you may also have brown rice with cucumber “raita”.

Benefits

  • People who usually have increased appetite should eat more salads. Salads are rich in fiber and they keep your stomach full. As a result, they not only help in controlling your appetite but also reduce your weight. Eating salad also helps in replenishing fiber deficiency, improving digestion, and preventing serious heart diseases and cancer.
  • Eating pulses is very beneficial because they contain protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals in large quantities. They are low in fiber and fats. Pulses are also filling and they prevent frequent hunger pangs. As a result, they help in reducing your weight by controlling your appetite.   
  • Brown rice is also fiber-rich and helps in improving digestion. It keeps your stomach full. Thus, it prevents overeating and controls your body weight.  
  • Cucumber is also low in calories and rich in fluids. Hence, it also helps in weight loss.

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Fifth meal: afternoon tea

Having green tea after lunch helps in digestion and the nutrients present in them help in reducing weight. The benefits of green tea are mentioned above.

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Sixth meal: evening snacks

It is important to have evening snacks but make sure they are healthy and nutritious.

What to eat?

You may have puffed rice (murmure) with a lot of vegetables in the evening. To improve the taste, you may also add lemon to it. Lemon will provide your body with vitamin C. Fruits and sprouts are also a good alternative for evening snacks.

Benefits

  • You don’t usually need a heavy meal in the evening. So you may eat puffed rice with vegetables. They are very healthy and you don’t have to worry about weight gain as well.
  • Eating fruits will fulfil the vitamin requirement of your body and you will also be able to control your weight.
  • Sprouted pulses are good for bones. They help in strengthening them and also keep your weight in check.

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Seventh meal: dinner

The last meal of this weight loss diet chart is dinner. Usually, people eat a light breakfast and a heavy dinner, which is totally opposite of what is recommended. Dieticians recommended that if you want to reduce weight, your yoghurt should be low in calories.

What to eat?

You may choose from the various kinds of salads such as green leafy salad, vegetable salad, fruit salads, and more. You may also have chicken or pulses depending upon your diet preferences.

Benefits

  • Eating salad for dinner not only provides ample amount of fiber to your body, but it also controls your appetite.
  • Eating chicken or pulses at night helps in reducing weight because they are rich in protein which plays an important role in weight reduction.

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As has mentioned above, a plant-based diet, which is very beneficial for reducing weight. But, if you also consume meat and eggs, it is good to eat the right quantity at the right time.

For reducing weight, it will be beneficial if you add food items like fruits (banana, lemon, cucumber, sweet potato, turnip, pomegranate, watermelon, apple, mango, orange, and guava), vegetables (spinach, tomato, carrot, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, onion, okra, and mushrooms), and legumes (chickpeas, lentils, pulses, and beans) to your diet. Dieticians recommend eating a low-carbohydrate, low-fat, low-gluten, and protein-rich diet with mostly plant-based food items.

Other healthy foods include whole grains (oats, barley, millets, brown rice, and corn), dairy products (low-fat milk, cottage cheese, yoghurt, and curd), healthy fats (olive oil, ghee, coconut oil, mustard oil, and sesame oil), herbs (ginger, coriander, fenugreek, black pepper), and health drinks such as unsweetened fruit juices (apple, orange, lemon, mango, and pomegranate), natural protein shakes (which contains spinach, mint, coriander, ginger, cucumber, and any other fruit or green vegetable that you like), coconut water, lemonade, etc.

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It goes without saying that eating unhealthy food such as fried, spicy, or oily food. These include burgers, pizzas, french fries, noodles, momos, and other street foods which have unhealthy fat that increases the level of bad cholesterol in your body causes weight gain.

It is also recommended not to have fizzy drinks like beer, cold drinks, and soda drinks. Other unhealthy things that you should avoid include sweetened beverages, too much salt, candies, baked sweets, ice creams, milk, chocolates, ketchup, mayonnaise, fried chips, street food, condensed milk, and other foods which are high in salt, sugar, and oil.

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Sometimes it gets difficult to totally avoid the tasty food items that you once cherished and the other times you simply do not eat certain food items like meat, eggs, dairy products and those which you are allergic to. To solve your problem we are listing a few substitutes that you may try to include in your diet.

Food items Their substitutes
French fries Boiled Potato salad with black pepper and salt
White bread Whole wheat bread or Brown bread
Fried chicken Tandoori chicken
Butter Olive oil
Ice cream Frozen fruit mash of banana, mango, or apple.
Milk chocolate Dark chocolate
Cookies Fig bars
Kale Cauliflower
Mayonnaise Mustard and avocado sauce
White rice Brown rice
Eggs Shrimps, Plain yogurt, Greek yogurt, pulses, soy

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Weight loss is a slow process. Hence, combining a healthy diet with regular exercise will definitely speed up the process of your weight reduction. There are a lot of fitness activities that you may choose from depending upon your body type such as dancing, zumba, running, yoga, jogging, cycling, biking, trekking, swimming, lifting weights, and other sports.

These activities can either be done by oneself or with the help of trained professionals. Do not get discouraged because every physical activity takes time to be mastered irrespective of the weight and body type of the person. Every physical activity needs time and practice, and like everyone else, you will also get better at it.

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Often, people do not know the duration for which they have to follow the weight loss diet plan. Since different people have different body types, metabolism, body weight, the amount of carbohydrate intake, and the type of diet that they are eating, the process of weight loss depends on the individual only. When you exercise along with following a diet plan, you may start seeing changes in your body in the first two weeks. By only following the diet, results might take a month or more to start showing.

Many people quickly get back to their normal diet after attaining the desirable weight. Sometimes, this can lead to regaining weight. Therefore, it is recommended that you slowly get back to your normal diet instead of jumping back to it all of a sudden. You may consult a nutritionist or a dietician to know how and when to get back to a normal diet. Although the above-mentioned diet plan is healthy and can be taken into practice on a daily basis, it is better to talk to a dietician if you want to include other foods in your diet.

Maintaining a healthy weight also involves knowing your BMI (Body Mass Index) which is the ratio of your body weight and height. The following table explains what a healthy weight is according to the height of the person:

Classification BMI
Underweight 15-19.9
Normal weight 20-24.9
Overweight 25-29.9
Obese 30 and above

To calculate your BMI, divide your weight (in kg or lbs) with the square of your height (in mor in2).

Try to keep your BMI within the limits of normal weight. However, when some people have more muscle mass such as bodybuilders, rugby players, kabaddi players or weightlifters, their BMI might be higher but that does not mean they are overweight.

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"Lose weight but learn to wait". This is a phrase that you should remember while adopting a weight loss diet. Since your weight gain also took a lot of time, expecting an overnight change in your weight will always leave you disappointed. Weight loss takes some time because your body slowly adapts to the new weight which your leg bones carry. Hence, the following are a few tips that you may follow in order to reduce weight without having complications:

  • Never skip your breakfast.
  • Eat smaller meals at regular intervals than eating heavy meals three times a day.
  • Include more fruits and vegetables in your diet.
  • Stay active and exercise regularly.
  • Do not let your body dehydrate and drink plenty of water.
  • Read before you eat. Check the labels to know how much calories does the food products that you’re buying contains.
  • Avoid eating junk food which is the main culprit behind adding chunks to your body.
  • Avoid alcohol intake as it hinders your digestion and affects the secretion of digestive enzymes.

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References

  1. Michelle McMacken, Sapana Shah. A plant-based diet for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes. J Geriatr Cardiol. 2017 May; 14(5): 342–354. PMID: 28630614
  2. Grant WB. Using Multicountry Ecological and Observational Studies to Determine Dietary Risk Factors for Alzheimer's Disease. J Am Coll Nutr. 2016 Jul;35(5):476-89. PMID: 27454859
  3. Johnston CS, Day CS, Swan PD. Postprandial thermogenesis is increased 100% on a high-protein, low-fat diet versus a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet in healthy, young women. J Am Coll Nutr. 2002 Feb;21(1):55-61. PMID: 11838888
  4. Frank M. Sacks et al. Comparison of Weight-Loss Diets with Different Compositions of Fat, Protein, and Carbohydrates. N Engl J Med. 2009 Feb 26; 360(9): 859–873. PMID: 19246357
  5. Barbara Strasser, Dietmar Fuchs. Diet Versus Exercise in Weight Loss and Maintenance: Focus on Tryptophan. Int J Tryptophan Res. 2016; 9: 9–16. PMID: 27199566
  6. National Health Service [Internet]. UK; Healthy weight.
  7. Fatemeh Azizi Soeliman, Leila Azadbakht. Weight loss maintenance: A review on dietary related strategies. J Res Med Sci. 2014 Mar; 19(3): 268–275. PMID: 24949037
  8. Frank Q. Nuttall. Body Mass Index: Obesity, BMI, and Health: A Critical Review. Nutr Today. 2015 May; 50(3): 117–128. PMID: 27340299
  9. National Health Service [Internet]. UK; 12 tips to help you lose weight on the 12-week plan.
  10. Catherine M. Champagne et al. Dietary intakes associated with successful weight loss and maintenance during the Weight Loss Maintenance Trial. J Am Diet Assoc. 2011 Dec; 111(12): 1826–1835. PMID: 22117658
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