How to lose weight, raise your immunity/energy levels

The best thing I have ever done for myself is go to a Nutritionist. Life-changing to say the least. In addition to the increased energy and fitness, it also saves me a lot of money in medical expenditure later, because prevention is cheaper than cure. :)

This is not a crash diet or a drastic change from a typical Indian diet, I am having all food groups, and I don't starve - so it is easy to sustain all my life. Sharing some of what I learned from her, and have been applying to myself since this May. I went to Qua Nutrition, but am sure there are many such places. There are many diets these days, different bodies react differently, I am just sharing one that worked for me. :)

• She prepared my diet based on a comprehensive blood and urine report, my lifestyle, calorie-needs and metabolism. So it is best that you see a nutritionist yourself if you have specific needs or issues. What works for me may not be what is good for you. I am trying to share what is possibly generic and applicable to all. 
• I had slightly high cholesterol, had put on weight, and I was pre-diabetic in May. When I did my tests in September, my HbAIC (mean sugar level) had dropped from 6.3 to 5.6 in 3 months, just via diet and exercise. And I had lost weight and built muscle. 
• Weight alone is not a good indicator - if you have built muscle mass, your weight may remain the same but you look more toned and slimmer. If you diet is not balanced, you may lose muscle, in which case you weigh less but look flabby and saggy. 
• At the end of 3 months she made me repeat my blood and urine tests and then decided whether I am doing better - not just by my weight-loss or "feeling fine". :)  
• Feeling fine does not always mean you have great numbers in your medical reports, that is not a good indicator always. You get symptoms only when things have worsened.

Diet

• The key thing here is portions. I am actually having more variety of foods, but smaller quantities of each.
• For every meal, I make sure I have some form of protein. 
• The immediate effect I felt after starting this diet is a rise in energy levels. I used to feel tired very often earlier, given my workload. 
• When I travel I now know what foods to choose. My nutritionist also gave me choices when some foods won't be available. 
• Sweet cravings happen when you are low on micronutrients like magnesium - a good diet gives you those micronutrients via healthier options like walnuts and pumpkin seeds so it reduces your craving for sweets. 
• I still have tea and coffee (3 glasses max), but if you can stop it is good. I use jaggery instead of white sugar. I still have the occasional sweet and dark chocolate. 
• There are loads of foods that are good for you, this is not the complete list. You can find a lot of information online. The key thing is to develop an awareness of what you are eating and how it satisfies your nutrition needs. 

Morning

• I have 5 almonds soaked overnight in water, and peeled. Raises your good cholesterol levels, which in turn reduces your bad cholesterol.
• She also asked me to have methi water - soak a teaspoon of methi seeds in a full glass of water overnight. Have only the water first thing in the morning. This helps balance your sugar levels and cholesterol. I believe methi also cools the body. Some people may have reactions to this, so you need to try and check. Discontinue if you have bloating or other symptoms.
• I exercise every morning - either a 1-hour walk, or strengthening exercises at the Sports fitness centre I go to. So I have been asked to have 2 dried figs or 2 dried prunes also so that I don't exercise on an empty stomach. 
• Ideally you should not have tea/coffee - or have a 20-min break before you have it. Stopping tea completely didn't work for me. 
• To have during my exercise I take a cup of green tea with lemon in it, in a bottle.
• Breakfast is my usual 2 dosas/idlis/parathas/oats, or 1 omelette once a week. Different things throughout the week. And with breakfast I have 2 boiled egg whites every morning. This ensures I have good protein in the morning, keeps me full and energized all morning. My dosa recipe, which contains millets also. 
•  I have been asked to have 2 Omega 3 Fish oil capsules.

Mid-morning

• Around 10.30 - 11 (half-way between 2 meals) I have 10 cranberries or a spoon of pumpkin seeds. All good fats and micronutrients that the body needs. 
• Along with a fruit. This mid-morning meal ensures I am not overly hungry by lunch-time, and so I need less food at lunch-time, I don't over-eat. And fruits eaten by themselves ensure the nutrition is better absorbed by the body. Add 2 pinches of cinnamon powder to the fruit to lower blood sugar if that is a need. 

Lunch

• 15 mins before lunch and dinner she has asked me to have a glass of water with a spoon of apple cider vinegar in it, for fat-burning. I keep forgetting this. :) 
• Lunch is: 
• 100 gms rice/millets/2 chapathis (You can vary over the week. We completely switched to millets because it's bringing down my husband's sugar levels significantly, he is diabetic, on insulin. I make it like rice - 3/4th glass any of the millets + 1/4th glass rice. With a pinch of salt. Just add less water. I also lost weight after I stopped wheat. Some of us are gluten-intolerant and we don't know that - but if you lose weight it means wheat didn't really agree with you. I do eat parathas and rotis occasionally)
• 100 gms any kind of dal/rajma/chickpea/chicken/fish/paneer/mushroom/tofu (any protein basically - have a different one every day if you can)
• 100 gms vegetables (try to have a variety)
• 100 gms chopped salad (tomato/cucumber/capsicum/carrot/onion etc - just cut in strips or chunks and add a dash of lemon on it. Actually quite easy to have. Very important - fibre is key in losing weight)
• 100 gms low fat home-made curd (very important to make the curd at home - the bacteria might be mostly dead in most shop-curds that have been kept for a while. Getting the right amount of stomach bacteria is a very critical part of a good diet - if your digestion isn't happening well, everything you eat is of no use, because the body isn't absorbing the nutrition. Get one of those ceramic jars (jaadis) you get in road-side stalls, which people use to make pickles - curd sets better in it because it retains heat. Get the first culture from someone who makes curd at home, sometimes shop curd won't work)
•  Chew on some jeera after the meal if you have a tendency to bloat. Keep in mind that if you have never had salad you may have bloating for a few weeks until your body gets used to it. I had that problem. But now I can eat any amount of salad and I am fine.)
• 100 gms is a small katori. Measure initially until you get used to it. 

Mid-afternoon

When you start feeling hungry again. 

• 10 pistas
• 1 fruit - a different one from the morning. The idea is to have a wide variety of fruits. Have different ones every day if you can. Just one each. 

If you have a huge gap between lunch and dinner, you can also have some sprouts/khakra/curd in between - the idea is to not feel ravenously hungry for dinner and then overeat.

Dinner

• I started having my dinner at 6.30 PM a month ago - and it changed my life. :) I lost a kilo - and I have more energy to work/take my calls during the evening. The idea is to finish your food 3 hours before you sleep so everything is used up, not stored as fat. This is not something the nutritionist told me, it is just something I tried out because some of my friends do it. I had a mental block about having dinner so early, but got over it once I started doing it - now I enjoy the feeling of going to sleep feeling light.
• 1 spoon of apple cider vinegar in water 15 mins before dinner.
• Dinner for me is a repeat of lunch. But if you are the kind who likes to have a different meal, you can do that too. All you need to keep in mind is that you have this combination:
• 100 gms carbs
• 100 gms protein
• 100 gms vegetables
• 100 gms salad
• 100 gms curd

• Soups are also a great way to get nutrition in. My basic soup recipe, which I got from my friend Vinisha, is very simple. Fry some chopped onion and garlic, add the vegetable/dal, add water and cook. Cool and grind, and boil again and add some herbs. Even pepper is enough. A dash of lemon at the end will make almost any soup tasty. If you add cooked tofu or mushroom in it, you have your protein. And adding some cooked millet noodles in the soup will make it a complete meal. 
  

Bed-time

• If you feel hungry, have a glass of milk with turmeric in it. 
• I have one walnut before bed. 
• If you have digestive issues, have some saunf tea. Pour boiling water in a glass with 1 teaspoon of saunf. Let it remain for 10 mins and then have the water.

Sleep

• Good sleep is very very key  to losing weight. You should get at least 7 if not 8 hours of good sleep. The less sleep you get the more chances of putting on weight, especially around tummy.

Exercise

• Exercise is very very key. Diet alone is not enough. You can do simple things. A full one hour walk is one of the easiest ways to lose weight. Low intensity, long-duration exercise. I believe visceral fat starts breaking down only around the 45th minute. You can walk at a normal pace. This worked for me, I lost weight. I only do this on alternate days, but if you can do every day it is even better. I keep a timer for 30 mins on my phone, and then walk back from wherever I have reached. I walk early mornings. 
• Alternate days I do muscle-strengthening exercises. Floor exercises mostly. Very important as you grow older, especially for women. Any gym instructor can teach you this. Or do yoga. 

Menopause

• Diet and exercise do help with menopausal symptoms. The body loses its protective estrogen shield and so you develop all kinds of vague illnesses. 
• Include soya products in food, like soya bean, tofu etc a couple of times during the week. Preferably natural forms, not processed.
• Flax seeds and chia seeds are also good, do alternate days. 
• Nettle leaf tea is supposed to reduce hot flushes. 
• The entire diet and exercise listed above balances your system, so it also reduces menopausal symptoms. 

All the recipes in this blog are healthy, except for the cakes. :) Please comment/mail if you know of healthy recipes I could try out or any useful tips. Thanks in advance!

Also see: https://noodlesandmangopickle.blogspot.com/2018/11/diet-plan-to-reduce-cholesterol-raise.html