Hey Anu, :)

Good to hear from you.Yes, i'm settled in the US, but was born in Calcutta :wave: .Lived major part of my life in Delhi though.

I'm so glad you find locarbing easy while being in India . For me , i had a really tough time, in the sense everytime i'd start with it,there would be a birthday party or a festival around the corner :yum: and everything would go for a six !!!Life here is comparatively lonlier. Another problem that i faced was the food labels not having required information....and ofcourse constantly explaining ppl that it indeed is another healthy alternative way of living.

Anu , i totally agree with you when you say this place is loaded with junk food joints, but for us Indians there's nothing like simple ghar ka khaana-Just INDIAN food.(My mouth's watering at the thot of gajar ka halwa :yum: mmmm !!) After a while you dont even feel like looking at all the cheesy food that's available here and is so popular because of the busy lifestyle ppl have here.

However, one plus point is that a lot of variety in terms of lo-carb food is available.Lots of cheap non veg food(cold cuts), variety of cheese,protien chocolate bars , milk shakes and other items of daily usage are readily available.I found this WOL rather expensive n India. :lol:

Anyways, getting back to Menu's- i love baingan ka bharta-( do you put fewer than regular onions/tomatoes as onions are pretty high on carbs).

My typcal menu is-
Fried eggs for B/F with some cheese
chicken /baked fish for lunch with some salad for lunch
chicken/veggies for dinner
for snacks i have a SF jello or a just mix some cocoa with cream and splenda.Lots of water thru the day.
I'm having a tuff time trying to cut down the jello or cocoa dessert.I feel as though i'm cheating when ever i have it , even though its very lo on carbs.
Do you know about the carb content in besan? Can't seem to find it.But IMO it shud be ok while on maintainance. :idea: What say u?

More later, gotta rush now...B'bye

Hi Sandhya,
Great to hear from you :wave:
Yes you are right....the degree of socialising is greater here...birthdays, pot luck dinners, weddings, lunch club meets...... :yum: so we end up not being able to resist the yummies on offer! If you throw in the the mishi doi which Calcutta is famous for....oops you are off the wagon with a bump :help:
I guess self control and discipline is called for in all walks of life, sigh!
Re my menu for the day, well lets see......
I dont usually manage breakfast, too early
So lunch is normally some lettuce leaves with cheese and a small piece of left over chicken or fish from the previous day
Dinner is veggies with whatever non veg everyone is having. No rice, roti, bread.
Yes, the baingan bharta does take a fair bit of onions, but I try to cut down on that, though it does compromise the taste. :p
Nice chatting with you.....do write in soon
With greetings from india,Anu

Hey Anu
Wish you a Great 2006 !!!
Anu, is that all you eat for the day? My appetite must be that of an elephant compared to you (lol).
Actually i've realised that this diet makes you feel more full and satisfied.I've noticed that my hunger has gown down.Earlier i used to eat all thru the day, whatever i cud lay my hands on-cookie, namkeen, chips, candy !!! but now i have to force myself to eat every once in a while to get my metabolism going.(I have the worst metab. ever !!.Grr)So my typical menu includes some eggs and cheese,chicken, fish and veggies.I've moved on to OWL so ive also added nuts and a lo carb chocolate bar (occassional treat !)
I'm not sure if its the right kinda food to be added...but i certainly know that it keeps me going.I've run out of ketostix , so will buy them today alongwith my other groceries.
How are you doing on your plan? Are you happy with the progress? I feel i'm losing rather slowly....but since i'm losing inches -I'm NOT complaining ..hehe


More later...Happy lo-carbing until then

Hey ladies! Can I join your group? I was born in India but moved to Canada when I was 13 yrs. old so this is home. I am 53 yrs. old and I have one grown up son and a daughter in University. I got married again about 2 yrs. ago to the nicest man in the whole world! He had never eaten Indian food but now he loves it so I make it once in a while.

So how do you low carb indian food? We just went to the City and out for a buffet - we ate everything in site including NAAN...ummmmmmmm.....

So today is Day 1 for us - I was 136.2 this a.m. and I need to be 120 by Feb. 25 as we are going to see my sis in the U.S.

hey again Jas!
Just posted a msg in the other thread and found u here...
Congratulations on finding the Man of your choice.I wish you have a happy & healthy life ahead .
My indian lo-carb food is basically veggies and chicken cooked the Indian way with lotsa spices.I've absolutely stopped having any pulses and cut down on onion - tomatoes paste in my food.Breads are absolutely out- a big NO NO !!(and now you talk abt Naan yumm)

Jas, which diet are you following, SB?(as mentioned in ur plan section)What stage are you in? Right now,your goal seems too high to me coz my metab. sucks !but ive seen a lot of ppl achieve that - so All the best !
Have fun lo-carbing!

Good morning Sandhya and thanks for posting on the other thread! You are probably right as my metabolism sucks too...since I reached this age....so I will settle for 10 lbs. That is a whole dress size so I will be happy with that.

I actually don't follow any diet but if you were to look at it, it would probably look more like SB.

Okay a question for Sandhya and Anu - what is baingan bharta? Bharta is made with eggplant - right? I also would like to find some indian fish recipes as we have a lot of salmon that we brought back from our honeymoon! If you are interested, check out our wedding pics at:

http://community.webshots.com/user/jas280

So what do you ladies do? I am an Admin Assistan to the Dean at a local College. I figure I have 7 more years of working and then I want to retire and look after our acreage, do lots of gardening and of course fishing! DH and I love our camping and fishing! :D

Baingan Bharta
 

OMG Jas !

you look gorgeous in those pics...and so very happy.STAY that way-ALWAYS :)

Jas, the baingan bharta that we make is kinda modified to lower the carb content. I now broil an eggplant (you could cook it on direct flame or BBQ it too)till the cover is slightly crisp-peel it off and mash the pulp.saute onions and tomatoes in a wok with some red chilli powder and salt and add the pulp to it.cook for 3-4 mins and it's ready.Onions are high on carbs so dont use more than 1/2 (medium size).Originally this recipe is made with lots of onions and tomatoes and little pulp- but we now do a reverse !The indian food cooked at home is pretty different than what you get in restaurants.Home cooked food is light, less oily and more nutritious.Therefore you might find a taste variation when you cook the same food at home. :yum:

Cabbage ,mushrooms,spinach are low on carbs too, so you could try adding them to your diet.

Regarding fish recipes-Anu would be the right person to tell us abt those - i usually bake mine. Just put a few drops of olive oil and lemon juice on Salmon and bake it for 15-18 mins once cooked add lemon pepper on top and eat ! :yum:

Here's a link you could use for simple Indian recipes- www.ruchiskitchen.com

Jas , i feel for me it's important to follow one particular diet. It gets easier when things are formatted for me. If i had to devise a diet for myself , i'd go nuts thinking how much protien, Fat or no fat...breads,sugar-how much ? etc...

Anyways , that's just me !

Will catch with you later- right now i'm gonna make some eggs for myself-My tummy's growlingggg........B'bye :wave:

Morning everyone! I am proud that I started exercising again last night. We have a bowflex which has been collecting dust so last night we started our routine. How was everyone's evening?

Supper was chicken and salad and the scale did reward me with a 1/2 lb. drop.

Sandhya, do you cook Indian food all the time? I find I overeat when I cook Indian food as I love it and miss it. But then again if I cooked it more often, I would not overeat! I love daal but it has tons of carbs. Also we love our Paneer - but I imagine this is high in carbs as well.

Well back to work for me - will check in later...... :cheer:

G'morning Jas,

I'm glad u've taken to exercising again-and congrats on ur wt. loss.I have made plans to go for an hour of brisk walking with another friend (thrice a week.)Exercising is always easier and more fun if you have a partner.

Chicken and salad is a great combination .Its always good to have your carbs with protien, for faster digestionand minimal absorption of carbs.

I do cook indian food most of the time since thats what we like to eat on a daily basis.Its basically one propper meal that the family eats together.

Yeah, Dals are high on carbs, but i believe you can eat paneer in moderation (small helpings once out of induction).

catch ya later-Gotta go take a shower and chk the dreaded scale !!!!

B'bye

Yep the dreaded scale....can totally relate! :lol:

So you are in California Sandhya? It must be absolutely gorgeous there - like the movies protray. I am in frozen tundra but this year it is exceptionally warm. We have been having temperatures around -2 which is pretty good for Alberta, Canada.

So how many pounds are you trying to lose?

Hi Jas, welcome to the thread, hi Sandhya, good of you to keep the conversation going.
Jas, hearty congrats on your wedding! Best wishes from India for a long and happy innings with the best man in the world!!!!
I just checked in an found all these conversations so I thought I would say hi to all of you.....gotta run now, will check in with you gals in a coupla days.
Happy lcing!!!!
Greeting from India, Anu

Hey everyone
what a complete mess up!! I am so upset with my sugar cravings..they just dont seem to go and keep making me cheat everynow and then...arghh..
How is it going for you ladies? Jas, i intend losing 10-15 lbs.I guess i should feel very comfortable at 120-125lbs.Will know as and when i lose and get there- lol.Right now the journey looks long and tuff !!!I wonder if i'd ever reach my goal.

yeah, cali is beautiful -lovely beaches, warm weather, warm people....i need to explore more though....

Good to see you back Anu!
...bye

Finally it is Friday!!! Scale down to 134 this a.m. but the weekend is lurking and I don't do so well on the weekends!! :lol:

Thanks for the welcome Anu. Someday I want to take my DH to India - especially to Simla as I was born there. As he is white :lol: he probably will do fine in Kashmir as well. I have not been there since 1991. I speak Punjabi & Hindi (but with a Canadian accent) so I think I could manage. I understand the culture and of course love the food.....as does DH.

So how many kids do you have Anu or for that matter are you married? When you next check in please give me some recipes for fish!! I have bought some masala (pre-packaged) but have not made it yet.

Sandhya....yep...thanks for staying in touch or I would be by myself. Looks like your goals are very close to mine - 10 lbs. or so....hey, have you tried the Baskin Robins hard candy made with splenda? I keep these in my desk to curb my cravings.... :D

Well have a wonderful weekend ladies....I do not have internet at home so I will check in on Monday..... :agree:

As I said on the other board - I SUCK....dusting myself off and starting in earnest again - 38 days to vacation......

How are you ladies doing?

Hi Jas, Sandhya ,
Good to hear from you gals. :)
Yes, I'm married, have two kids- a girl (17) and a boy (14). Both are in school at the moment, though my daughter graduates next year. Then we get on the college search merry go round, sigh!! She's good at art, so graphic design/animation or some such thing is what she's looking at....let's see what happens.
As for me, I'm 45, I work in a public sector company in the marketing wing, currently posted in Calcutta, but transferable to any place in India. We all dread the transfers......looking for schools, finding packers, dealing with breakages, looking for a house, etc. etc, etc...... :p Anyway, no point worrying about it.
Sandhya's already given you the low down on fish recipes, sounds really delicious, does'nt it? We generally coat the fish with salt and turmeric powder and fry it in mustard oil. Mustard oils are supposed to be heart healthy and anyway the fish tastes great! :yum: You could eat this with fresh salad and bingo, there you are! Though I get so little time to cook, I eat the same as everybody else, but leave out the rice/rotis/bread. (cuts the hassle!!) Actually, in India we are a lot better off in terms of domestic help...I have a girl who cooks everyday so I dont really need to go to the kitchen on a regular basis. Besides I have to travel a bit on business, so the family would go hungry when I was'nt there! All in all the system works fine. And as i was telling Sandhya a while back.....we dont have to deal with the temptations of Starbucks or Dunkin' donuts lurking around every corner! But darn it I'M STILL FAT!!!! Exercise, exercise........I know, I know. :D

Well talk to ya all soon,
Anu

Morning Anu or it is night in India - so hope you are sleeping well. Since I started menopause, I have trouble sleeping. Also I am on Zyban which keeps you awake..... :lol:

I hear you on having help in the kitchen, gardening, etc. etc. Our relatives in India seem to love all this and sometimes when they come over to Canada, they are amazed at how much work we do here. Your daughter sounds creative and there is so much demand for graphic designers!

My daughter is in 3r'd yr. of University and is taking a degree in Social Work - or some field of it. It, to my knowledge, was a 4 yr. course but she plans to take it in 5 - just means more money mom has to put out - the ex pays nothing.....sometimes Canadian laws suck!

So I did good yesterday - broiled steak and salad for supper - drank all my water and the scale rewarded me with a 135.4 in the morning.....this is a loss of what I gained over the weekend.... :D

Sandhya - hope you are doing well!

Hello ladies

I'm so excited- my wt has finally come down to 138 lbs. and has stayed there for a cpl days :yay: .I think what works for me is to stick to the basic induction.My metabolism does'nt allow me to have more than 20 g carbs.I'd be happy to continue this way as long as i keep losing lbs or inches.

Talking about sleep, i did'nt know menopause had an effect on that ! Jas-What kind of changes have you noticed since you started Menop? What about mood swings? I keep warning my DH abt his "troubled" time ahead, when all 3 women in the house will go thru TOM at different times thru the month!!!...lol...Each one pouncing and screaming at the slightest provocation.. :bash: .hehe, I'm sure the poor guy has started having nightmares or is thinking of reserving a bed and breakfast !!

Anu- Graphic designing and animation is an excellent choice. :thup: The gaming/ animation market is still very hot and flourishing.I suggest she takes up a full time extensive course that deals with free hand sketching- computer animation,Flash or action scripting,with other image and video editing software.

Coming back to the main topic- have you ppl tried increasing ur carbs for a few days and then getting back to lo-carbing..... Any positive experience with it? Does any one know of a vegetarian plan that's lo-carb and works? I need it for DH who's a pure vegetarian(no eggs- no meat).

will catch you all soon- till then TC

Happy lo-carbing ppl ! :roll:

Hi Jas, Sandhya, :wave:
Great to hear from you both and thanks for :thup: on my daughter's career choice......though I can hardly call it a "career" choice as of now....she has a long long way to go!
Good to know you girls have been having some success. I'm like you Sandhya.....only basic induction works for me. One roti, one darned roti is all it takes to derail me! Fortunately, I don't really have an additiction for sweets :yum: (I can't stop myself from that generous helping from the dessert tray....but I don't go looking for sweets if there aren't any in the house!) Big deal? You're right...... :p
There's a thread on this site which talks of carb cycling....it generated a whole lot of interest. I think it's on "general low carb". Y'know....a few days on, a few days off and a 1/2-2lb drop after each cycle! Have a look.
If your hubby is a pure veggie....I dont think Atkins is the right plan for him, unless he's prepared to eat tons of butter!
I've got to go now, hope to chat with you sometime soon,
Greeting from India, Anu

It is Friday ladies......what are everyone's plans for the weekend? It is getting colder here in Alberta, Canada - still no complaints though as the winter has been pretty mild for us!

I am spending tomorrow with DS who is an Electrical Engineer and is 24 yrs. old. Just recently Grandma gave him all kind of Indian spices which he does not know how to use. Both my kids love Indian food as they have been eating it since they were babies! So tomorrow, I am teaching my son how to make Daal, Sabji, rice and Makhni Chicken! We are also going to play some cards and hopefully, I can beat him! DH is going ice quadding on the frozen river with his buddies!

So my scale has stayed around 135 for a few days....I hope I don't get carried away tomorrow....weekends are really bad for me!

Sandhya - good job on the 138 lbs.....you are very similar to my weight. As for menopause, I believe I have had all the symptoms some time or the other. I used to be always cold but now I sleep with the window slightly open. Mood swings....ha ha - I think this has been going on all my lilfe - cannot blame it on menopause :D I started some hormone thereapy about 3 yrs. ago but it did not agree with me - I developed a rash and also gained a lot of weight...def...not acceptable. So I just use some herbs and basically live with it!

As for carbs, I eat at least 2 fruits a day but then again I am not on Induction...I just try to eat good carbs and stay away from rice & rotis (which I love)! So your hubby is pure vegetarian - wow! So do you cook meat on a regular basis?

Anu - I hear you about rotis....my weakness.....good thing I don't make this very often. Tomorrow will be a challenge as when I make Mah Ki Daal - I always overeat! I am sure there are a million carbs in this.... :yum: I have a girlfriend who swears that increasing carbs works for her!

Any ways, back to the old grind....see you all on Monday!

The weather is beautiful here.....where is everyone?

Have you guys heard of the Special K challenge - well, I am going to do this for 2 weeks - call me silly or what - but if I can eat some good carbs, reduce portions and still lose 6 lbs. in 2 weeks - I will do it!

Hey Jas

Sorry for not being arnd, have been busy with the other threads gathering info.What is this K challenge? and can one really lose that much in 2 weeks- WOW.I've only abt lost 6 lbs in 2 1/2 months.
After a lot of researching and confliction, i've pushed hubby on a SBD.This one seems most appropriate for vegetarians.Lets wait and see the results- if any !
B'bye

Sandhya.....I really don't know if it will work but it is worth a try. I like cereal and over the years of low carb, I must admit that I have missed my fruits & cereal....all in moderation is the key. SBD is actually what I try to do as it allows for nuts & fruits. It is healthy if nothing else!

The Special K challenge is that you replace any 2 meals of the day with a bowl of cerial and 1% milk. Eat fruits & veges for snacks. Eat a sensible meal at supper time. Sounds doable!

So it is Friday.....I have so much cleaning to do this weekend. The furnace people are coming over to clean the ducts which no doubt will create more dust! Never ending.

Anu - I envy you with the servants and all...... :lol:

Hi Jas, Sandhya,
Great of you to keep writing in. Jas, I KNOW....house work is never ending. In India, even though one gets hired help, there's a lot that needs to be done and weekends are the only opportunity. One's also got to remember that India's a very very dusty country...that's one thing you guys dont have to contend with, is'nt it?
Stay well both of you and happy locarbing!
Anu

Hey everyone

Jas,After i heard from you about the K challenge, saw a whole lot of commercials on TV- did it work for you? Do let us know about your progress.I'm hooked to the basics.Anything above 20-25g Carbs reaches my wrong spots.I am so fed up trying to measure and dissect before i eat.Basically i do well for 2-3 weeks and there walks in TOM to blow it all up :(

Talking about cleaning- i have my entire house upside down.I'm trying to swap my study with the guest room, and in the process have turned the house into a fish market.So now i'm sitting on a pile of clothes inside my closet, trying to find wt.loss solutions -tips and tricks !!

Anu, how are you doing ? Are you experiencing any good results ?I've put hubby on SBD and he hasnt lost any weight yet.Keep telling him-Patience is the name of the game, while i scream my heart out here!
tch- Double standards :lol:

Catch you guys later !

Hi

I'd like to join this thread.

I am Indian (gujarati) born in the United States. I started to enjoy enjoy indian food 5 years ago. When my mom cooked indian food when I was a child, I never liked it. I wanted to eat what the other kids were eating. It was until I met my husband that I realized how good indian food is.

Now I love my mom's cooking and wish I learned how to cook indian food. I'm trying to learn how to cook indian low carb. It's just so hard when I never really learned how to cook indian food. I'd love to hear some easy recipes for chicken (especially tandoori). My mom is a vegetarian so she doesn't know how to make any of the meat dishes. I eat steak too and was wondering if anyone had recipes. My favorite dish is saag paneer. Spinach is very low in carbs, right? Does anyone have a recipe for it?

Purvi

Neela welcome - I am new here as well but Anu and Sandhya are soooooo nice. Funny you should say that saag paneer is your fav. It is my hubby's too and he is WHITE Canadian! He had never eaten any Indian food before he met me which was approx. 10 yrs. ago. Now whenever we go to the City, we have to go an Indian Smorg!! The only suggestion I have for Indian food is to leave potatoes, rice, daal & rotis out.

I also cheat when I cook Tandoori Chicken - I have bought a jar of paste from an Indian Store which I marinate with some yogurt and grill on the barbecue. Indian food, I find, is very easy to cook. The only thing is that it uses so many onions which are high, so try to do with less onions (yep - I know it affects the taste - lol)

Anu - I hear you on the housework! Did you say that we don't have any dust.... :D Girl, I have a lot of dust! You see, I live on an acreage about 1/2 hr. from the town I work in and we are beside a very busy road so it generates dust. Then we have the farmers all around us and when harvesting comes, they generate a lot of grain dust - but it probably isn't as bad as India though. My sister lives in Houston, TX and they use their air conditioning a lot and they have hardly any dust....I guess with our furnaces, we are stuck.

Sandhya - I sort of fell off the Special K challenge ( :help: hides her head in shame) but I have started again. DH is away on a course so there is no reason I should not lose weight this week. So you are remodeling?

Hi Jas -

My husband is white too and he loves Indian food. He is the reason why I started to eat Indian food again. So I want to learn to cook so we both can enjoy Indian food. His favorite is saag paneer too.

Hey Neela.

Welcome to the thread! I'm so glad new lo-carbers are joining in.This thread is kinda slow, but very motivating.

It's nice to know you've taken to Indian food now.I can totally understand your situation when as a kid you hated it,well, so do my kids.They want to carry "junk" in their brown bags to school.I feel as you grows older you tend to get back to your roots and the basics.Now i eat every single food that i once hated as a kid , be it ginger, garlic, or green veggies.

Saag or palak paneer is very easy to cook. Just blanch spinach in boiling water so that it 's soft and tender. Do not throw away the water.Blend with some green chillies till it becomes a paste( depends on how smooth or coarse you want it). In a pan or wok drizzle some oil/ ghee (i use olive oil).put in a spoonful cumin - let it be golden brown , add crushed or chopped ginger, garlic- abt 1 tsp,add some dried red chilli peppers(optional), red chilli powder, paneer cubes and saute' for a few minutes.You can also add 1tbsp onions and tomatoes if you like (i don't since onions are high on carbs)Mix the spinach puree and let it cook for 5-10 mins to get the right flavor and consistency.You can add the water you saved from blanching if the spinach gets to thick in consistency.Add some salt towards the end and your dish is ready. You can garnish with a dash of butter/ ghee/ heavy cream.

You can try cooking tandoori veggies, chicken too. Just mariate all veggies or chicken in some olive oil, Tandoori masala, ginger garlic paste, some salt, roasted cumin powder, orange-red (tandoori color) and carom seeds(1/2 tsp).Omit yogurt to keep it lo-carb

Remember to cut the veggie, chicken pcs slightly thick.Keep aside for a cpl of hours.Let it cook in preheated oven or on outdoor grill (yummy :yum: ) drizzle some oil in between to keep the pcs tender.cook for abt 10-12 mins till the pcs are tender inside and crispy/smoke/ charred on the outside.Sqeeze some lemon juice on top or sprinkle chaat masala and serve. :yum:

Hope this helps.
Gotta go feed the roaring monster in my tummy now!

B'bye and keep lo-carbing!

Wow, we posted at the same time.......Looks like everyone except anu is online.....:)

I'm sorry Jas you fell off the K challenge, but take it as a break from the regular lo-carbing ! Just don't lose heart and get back on the plan.
Nay, me not remodeling-simply trying to distinguish and segregate spaces.Making room for guests coming this summer.

Jas, can you give me some tips on SBD .I'm waiting for my book to arrive and have searched the websites like crazy for vegetarians on SBD.

TC