By Sushmita Sengupta
Calorie-restricted diets aren’t new, but they certainly are tricky. The idea is not just to restrict calories but also gain maximum nutrition. It also needs expert supervision.
Calories are units of energy, everything you eat results in calories. However, calories from junk food, sugar, cola etc are empty calories. They don’t do you any good and get stored as fats.
If you have been advised a 1400-calorie diet by your doctor or nutritionist, here’s a desi way to go about it.
To go high on protein, you can have 2 glasses of milk without malai, two small bowls of curd, 25 grams of paneer and 100 grams of egg whites.
It is best to avoid rice, 6 chapatis daily, 3 in the afternoon and 3 in the evening can help make your diet wholesome and high-fibre.
With chapatis, you can pair 1 bowl (25 gms) of dal and 600 grams of sabzi (mixed vegetables made of any combination of veggies) for balance of nutrients.
It is important to also load up on local and seasonal fruits. 200 grams of fruits daily, scattered around the day can help keep you full, and metabolism active.
Bring down the oil intake, try to cook all your food in under 3 tbsp oil. It is a good idea to have more steamed and boiled foods.