A week has past since I came back from my holiday in Goa.
Holidays for me is a time to let go. I didn’t think calories or flab, and enjoyed every moment on
sand as if it were my last moment on this beautiful earth. I didn’t have a
worry. Went inside the lagoon fearlessly while I knew, I couldn’t swim. But now
I am back, and after a week of carefully moderated meals and a bit of exercise
thrown in, I am a kg lighter, and back to my goal of losing another 3 to 4 kgs
in the next 6 weeks. Now would be the time for all of you to join in, if you
want to begin on this journey with me.
Last week, I had shared a simple balanced meal plan. That
plan was for all, everyone who wants to be healthy and is roughly 5 feet 2
inches tall. Today, I am leaping into deeper water, writing out a meal plan
that I would base on my health goals, metabolism and my nutrition essentials. I
understand if such a personalized meal plan is being published, then obviously
my personal goals and parameters are to be spelled out first. So, its more of a
personal rant which would follow in the next paragraph, which I would suggest
you to read before u start on this plan along with me. Make sure that you customize the plan accordingly to suit your nutritional intake.
I am a healthy woman who can be described verbatim as being ‘petite.’
I have a BMI rate of 24.1, which though falls in normal category, still I would
want to lower it furthermore. My health goal is not to just lose weight, but to
achieve a higher metabolic rate. My second health goal is to defeat my chronic
condition of Low Blood pressure, which for times more than my liking, cripples
me to be on house arrest. There are no medication for the same, and so rest and
protein rich food is the only way out of this condition. So undoubtedly, my aim
at forming any meal plans for self is to ensure that I have enough protein in
my diet and enough physical exercise to digest the difficult protein off my
body. My biggest problem area in my body has to be my face, which just fluffs
up in a kgs. gain, and comes down only when I loose around 3 kgs. The second
problem area is my back, which accumulates a lot of fat, as if overnight I have
grown 2 bulges which makes me look as if I am stooping even when I am standing
upright. Sigh…
Honest confessions to internet is not easy, but well if I
started on this journey, I better continue on it till end. So, coming back to
my plan; this week I plan to keep it simple yet doable. I don’t want to include
any high-profile superfood in my diet. Simple homemade Indian food and bonus
recipe at the end for you to get it right.
Meal Plan for week 2-
7 am- Early morning starts with a glass of plain warm water
followed by a glass of coriander and lime water. All I need to do is boil
coriander for 10 mins strain, add lime and drink. I mostly do the boiling in
the night and let it cool overnight, in the fridge.
7.15 am – 3 soaked almonds and a cup of black coffee without
sugar.
Breakfast- 1 egg with 1 slice of whole wheat toast or 1
serving of khandvi which is made of all protein rich ingredients. For
breakfast, you can include the tadka too.
11.30 am would be the best time to have a bowl of papaya and
if hungry, then some pcs of apples too.
Lunch- it is the most favorite meal of mine so I will have
it like a queen. A lean protein like egg/chicken or fish with a bowl of cut
carrots and cucumbers, followed by a phulka and cooked vegetable. (full Indian thali)
5 pm – would be the right time to work on my metabolism, so
a cup of curd and flax meal would be perfect.
7.30 pm can start with some protein filled food- like sprout
salad or khandvi without tadka and a
cup of earl grey tea.
9 pm- would be the last meal of the day wherein keep it
protein and cucumbers only. Like humus and salad or grilled chicken and vegetables.
And by 11 pm, sleep!
I would need to exercise in the day, mostly I will either
skip for 500 times or brisk walk for 45 minutes. After diligently following
this meal plan and responsibly cheating during the weekend, I would report back
my findings here next week. For the last week, the cheating included a spoonful
of rice for Saturday dinner, along with 2 glasses of wine.
Next week, I will talk about why I am keeping so many meals
planned for the night, while I eat scarcely during the day. If the principal I
am testing, works; then my friends you are in for a great trick which would
help you loose weight easily, without achieving a plateau. Also, I am working
on another article trying to point out mistakes that people commit during the
night which leads them to reach a plateau in their weight loss goals. Now to
the recipe that everyone must be waiting for- Khandvi!!
Ingredients
1 cup gram flour or besan
1 cup curd
1 chilly grated
1 inch ginger grated
A pinch of hing or
asafoetida
Salt to taste
Haldi or turmeric
for the bright colour
Water as needed
For tadka which is
optional-
2 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 slit green chillies
And a big pinch of fresh curry leaves
Grated Carrots are extremely optional, a more traditional
ingredient would be coconut grated. But I am using carrots today as it is
healthy and looks veraciously red and decadent
This is a recipe that needs to be seen. But in my
experience, I have seen many YouTube videos that do not cover the finer details
of this recipe. I am doing something I have never done before. Instead of
making video recipes, I am actually pasting links of people who have posted the
recipe in their respective vlog channels, with footnotes of things that either
they missed, or could be introduced in the method which would alter the results
quite a bit.
Today, I take on 2 master chefs- Tarla Dalal the legend in
herself and Kunal Kapoor, the Master chef judge. They both have millions of
admirers online, including me. And I always love to see their take on recipes
before I start off in the kitchen. I will start today with K kitchen- the video is here
Chef Kunal does what chefs do the best, beautify the dish so
so much that it becomes too pretty to eat.
- 1. .43 seconds – I suggest we actually mix the besan with curd first and then add water. In fact I suggest we add the water just last and about 1.5 cups does a better job, than 2 cups of water.
- 2. Add hing in the batter, trust me on this.
- 3. 1.19 sec- never should you pour the batter in a hot kadahai. It forms lumps immediately. Pour first and then put it on flame always.
- 4. 4.19 sec- instead of coconut, I suggest using carrots for a healthier lighter, yet a pretty coloured dish. You can leave it plain too, as I mostly do anyways.
- 5. I loved the fact that he never asked you to grease the thali. You don’t need to grease it at all. If it is cooked well, it rolls out beautifully. And greasing can actually prevent you from spreading evenly.
The legend that was Tarla Dalal (video), she made it as a home cook
would- that is without a care in the world that she could go wrong. After all
she must have made this recipe so many times before. Her batter was a bit
lumpy, but much drier than chef Kapoor’s and I feel it is advisable to keep the
batter thicker like so.
Another important step that she mentions is testing the batter before spreading it fully on the plate. Do make it a point to do so, as it is the most important step to get it right, without fail.
Both these people are great in the recipe. And both their styles
are much different to each other. Hopefully with my pointers, you too would be
able to make khandvi like a pro. If you do, please do not forget to let me see a
picture of it soon! Cheers!!
P.S. - Khandvi is a protein rich food which is low on fat, and could be your ideal post work out snack. That's why, enjoy a good plate of khandvi this week. Next week, there will be more bonus recipes which you never thought could be this healthy!
