LLWT-4 Tackling Festival Calories

Let’s Lose Weight Together Part 4 (LLWT-4)

Apologies are expected. I write after about 2 months while on the quest to complete a series of articles titled – Lets Loose Weight Together. The delay is unnatural and uncalled for at the same time. But as you read on, you would know the circumstances were such that I was completely zoned out.

As an update to my weight goals, I am 3 kgs lighter than since I started. Now another 3 kgs to go but it would need to wait till next year. I contracted dengue earlier this month, and after a 4 day visit to the hospital and many more days of rest at home, I am very happy in my skin as of now. I have continued eating clean as mentioned at the start of the LLWT series. But this article is aimed at something else entirely. I started writing it in October, to chronicle how to maintain weight during festive season where festive eating is at its height. For all who have not read the earlier posts, I strongly suggest you read and start to slowly incorporate your diet in the sketch I mentioned below. This is the right time for you to start so that the Christmas season with all its buttery goodness leaves a great taste on your palette but no calories on your tummy.

Throughout the Pujo and Diwali season, I possessed high metabolism rate which helped me burn out my cheat luxury effortlessly. This past season, I gorged on everything deep fried, sweet and alcoholic. But still was able to meet you at more or less the same weight as before. I am writing this article today, so that everyone feeling guilty of Diwali gorging can take a few leaves out of this tip jar, and better equip themselves for the coming Christmas- New Year season.

Eating is life for me, so letting go by a day without food is a wastage I can’t really imagine. But at the same time, being fit and healthy ensures that we can eat on our favorite cheat food till time immemorial. My goal is to not get an hourglass figure, but to attain a healthy weight in ratio to my height. By BMI calculation I am in the upper healthy range, and another reduction of 3 kgs will ensure I fall in the right weight to height category. When I started this series of article, I didn’t think I would carry on for so many weeks. But life is such, especially for an entrepreneur. We face delays in every aspect, and learn to live with it for future.

So here are some tips and tricks that I used to get past the post Diwali leftover weeks, with flying colors.

1. Dinners become the most important meals in the festive season. During Durga Pujo, a lot of my friends visited us at pandals to gorge on these yummy Bengali street food. Diwali celebratory parties with innocent card games and yum food were always served for dinners. So eating healthy for dinner is a bit far-fetched at that time. But we can overcome this by going to a party with a full tummy. This way you gorge less of those deep fried starters or farsaan. I have made a habit of having a cream cracker biscuits and/or roasted channa with tea in the evening. These low calorie snacks fill u up for a long time and hence you actually just taste and move on to the next dish effortlessly.
2. Another thing I do most often is to have a cup of vegetable soup before going out to eat. This helps fill me up with nutritious fibers which is good for my body. I always make a batch of vegetable soup by just boiling a collection of vegetable in a pressure cooker with salt and pepper and blend it to fine puree. I add some aromatic herbs at times to make it interesting to the palette.
3. I start each day with a big bowl of freshly cut fruits. This helps in detoxifying my body immensely. The heavy dose of fibers right in the morning cleanses last night’s filth effortlessly, and creates a path for a better nutritious day ahead.

To be honest, I eat very healthy, but I drink very filthy. So if you are anything like me, then these next tips would help you even better. It did to me, and being honest about this helped me curb my drinking from almost alternate days to once or twice a week only, that too alternate weeks at times. And that my friends, I feel is a triumph of a sort.

1. Make it a rule to never indulge in fried snack while drinking. This helps a lot. Alcohol makes you hungry. The best way forward is to enjoy a drink along with your dinner, or have a drink after the dinner. This helps in getting rid of the intense craving to reach for the bag of chips or other naughty snacks.
2. Roasted chana is a tasteless protein based snack. But it is one of the healthiest things to have with a peg of whiskey. Mix it with some salsa and it becomes a Mexican appetizer. Mix it with kuchumber salad, and it becomes an Indian salad. Stick to salads like these that appeal to our taste buds more than anything. A lettuce or sprout salad may not look or feel appetizing with your favorite drink.
3. Try to limit intake of sugary additive to your drinks. It affects the body most. Sugar and alcohol react together to make a concoction of intoxication that really is not good for a human body. Try tonic water with your drinks, but the best is still to go clean with ice and water. Another great substitute is to have flavored water mixed with 30 ml of vodka or gin. Flavored water is nothing but water that is kept in a glass jar overnight with cut fruits and herbs of choice. If you have an orange in the water, then it sweetens the drink greatly. So find a mix that suits you and stick with it for this festive season.
4. I know no one is going to like this one, but really a glass of water needs to go in your body for every peg of drink you take. I have a tip for you on this one. So in a party drink a glass of water before you start drinking. Obviously you are not going to stop at just one drink when it’s your friend’s farewell. So after 2 drinks, drink another glass of water. Do the math, u got 1 glass of water for each drink, and you enjoyed the drinks like u r supposed to as well.
5. Lastly, be prepared that there would be 2 days that you would not be able to exercise. And there would be those days that the table is full of pies and tarts of every sort. Guilt should not be a part of any celebration. Live that day responsibly, work a bit hard the other day by pushing for extra 10 minutes of exercise. Trust me, it works.

I hope these are of some help to you. If you read this far, then do put in a comment to let me know how your season went. I am always more than happy to hear from you guys!

And before I leave, here is a sneak peak of all the holiday baking that should land up on your table this month. i would be sharing 1 recipe each week to pull you through your holiday entertaining with flying colours. Cheers!

HOME-MADE WW BUN WITH PORK AND CHICKEN PATTY, SERVED WITH ARUGULA SALAD.

GARDEN FRESH ZUCCHINI STIR FRIED AND SERVED ALONG BALSAMIC GLAZED ONIONS 

CRISPY POTATOES WITH GARDEN THYME

HOT CROSS BUNS STUFFED WITH MOMS GUAVA JELLY

Cheddar Stuffed Curried Beef Burgers!!!

If my last post has stirred up enough hunger for a perfect hamburger, than this is a post for you to satiate that hunger. I finally wooed that elusive hamburger, and made it mine too. I bet you can ever get your hands on such a tasty, and yet pretty healthy combination of Curried beef burger, with wasabi hinted hung curd and a side of crunchy French Beans; one of the classic east fused with west combinations of mine!

For this recipe, I have used a pretty pack of chicken curry masala from the awesome hamper that was sent to me by the Mother’s Recipe team. It rendered the patty a unique flavour, which married very well with sharp cheddar that was stuffed inside. It’s a must try dish for every meat lover in town! 

Ingredients:

250 gms of Ground Beef

1 packet of Mother’s Recipe Chicken Masala

½ cup of Shredded Sharp Cheddar

4 Hamburger Buns, buttered and toasted

¼ cup of Hung Curd

2 squirts of Wasabi from a tube

Sliced jalapeno Pickles

Sliced Tomatoes and/or cucumbers

4 Onions thickly sliced

1 Tbsp of Butter

1 Tbsp of Olive Oil

¾ cup of White Wine

Salt and Pepper, to taste

a pinch of chopped corriander (optional)

Method

In a bowl, mix together the ground beef with the chicken masala. It would be a good idea to use a clean hand for this job, and try not to over work the meat. Please note, the masala has enough salt, and thus no more seasonings required.

Form into 4 patties, make a divot in the centre of each one and stuff with 1 Tbsp. of the shredded cheddar, flatten them into a burger shape, keeping the centre of the patty dented. This would allow the meat to cook and brown evenly on the girdle. Cover with plastic wrap and pop them in the fridge for about an hour.

In a small bowl, mix together the hung curd and wasabi. Season to taste and set aside in the fridge until ready to serve.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, allow the butter to melt in oil. Add the onions and cook, stirring often for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the onions develop some colour, but still retain their texture. Add the wine and allow it to reduce for about 2 to 3 minutes or until it’s reduced quite a bit. Remove the onions from the pan and allow them to come to room temperature.

Preheat your iron tava over medium high heat, (between medium and medium high), and add the burgers. Cook it for about 5 to 7 minutes on each side, or until u r happy with the texture. This much of cooking time will give you a medium cooked burger. For rarer cooking, keep it for 3 to 4 minutes, while for well done, keep it for 10 minutes on each side.

Brush the cut sides of the buns with a little melted butter and place them cut side down on a non-stick tava to heat it through.

When ready to assemble, smear a little curd mixture on one side of each bun, top with the burger, followed by a slice of tomato/cucumber, caramelized onions and slices of jalapeno. Top it with the other half of the bun and serve it along with a side of crunchy blanched fresh green French beans. Just to enhance the flavours of curry in the patty, top it with a few chopped leaves of coriander. 

Cheers!!

This recipe is made for- http://mothersrecipe.com/

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