secret to weight loss
Health & Wellness

The Secret to Weight Loss is in Your Kitchen

If we were to ask you the top reason for your weight gain, you’d probably think of the colas, burgers, and pizza you end up having at a party or at the mall. But you will be shocked to know that the reason for your weight gain is not elsewhere but in your own house. The secret to weight loss is your kitchen, says Dr Kiran Rukadikar 

There is no denying the fact that the percentage of people eating out has tremendously increased. According to a survey, 34% of the people eat out two to three times a week, while 27% eat once a week. About 11% eat three or more times a week, 12% eat once a month, 3% eat on special occasions, while 12% love to eat daily at a restaurant. Dinner and evening refreshments top the chart.

Eating out is no more a mere form of entertainment. It is a routine habit, especially in the metros, mini-metros and tier-I cities in India. People don’t have to plan for it. But surprisingly, people who are obese or struggling to lose weight, do not necessarily eat out often. It is not only the food consumed in hotels or quick-service restaurants but food consumed at home is equally responsible for obesity or tremendous weight gain.

A popular cooking oil brand says, ‘it’s good for heart’ but sadly, forgets to mention that the quantity should be checked.

Obesity is increasing in every stratum of society. Last month one patient visited the clinic, age 50 yrs and weight 105 kgs (55 kgs excess for her height). She is working as a sweeper on the streets in Bombay Corporation. She hardly used to eat out. All she would eat once in a blue moon was vada pav. We found her kitchen was the culprit for her fight against weight loss. For a family of 7 people, they were using 15 ltrs of cooking oil in a month. That is massive, 2 liters per person per month. Sadly her other family members are slowly turning overweight, and will be obese if not intervened.

Types of Meal Outside Home Percentage
Breakfast 3%
Brunch 3%
Lunch 7%
Evening refreshment 25%
Dinner 60%
After Dinner Snack 2%

To address this woman’s issue, I called upon all the family members. Just for the love and to take care of the health issues of this senior female of the family, all agreed to follow lifestyle change to lose weight and get fit. Shopping, cooking, and eating should go lean, every day. Habits are hard to die; making it simple was a task.

The cook is the captain of the kitchen and the health of the family. Just look at the times we eat at home. Consider this: we eat 3 major meals – breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. Also, we have tea, coffee or milk 2-3 times a day and pre-lunch snacks and pre-dinner evening snacks.

 People’s approximate Eating Schedule
Tea /Coffee / Milk with Biscuits or toast
Breakfast
Mid Morning snacks / Fruits
lunch
Fruits
Evening Tea + Snacks
Dinner
Post Dinner

Taking this into account, you will find that almost every person eats more than 80% of his food or snacks at home. So, it is practically possible for an obese person to change his or her diet at home and lose weight.

High quantity of cooking oil used in the preparation of the food should be reduced if you want to know how to lose weight. Use of simple sugars, high-calorie milk products (butter, cheese etc), nuts and oil seeds needs to be drastically cut from our diets. Sweets, desserts and even fried snacks should be restricted to special occasions only.

Some may argue that nuts are proteins, yes true but we make oils out of it, are high in calories and hence should be avoided. For proteins, there are better options with fewer calories.

If you are looking for secrets to weight loss, here is a simple suggestion:

  1. Use only half a liter of cooking oil for a month per person (can add 100ml extra if you are tall ).
  2. Restrict your simple sugar to only 300 gm per month (can add 100gm  extra if you are tall).
  3. Reduce on dry fruits, nuts (including coconut, groundnut) in the food preparation. For those obese and super obese people, total stopping these items would be far better.
  4. Prepare your food (consult your dietitian to get a balanced meal plan ) in distributed parts (as described in the chart) and you can eat it in same fashion.

If you want to lose weight naturally, make some basic changes in your kitchen and then in your habits. That’s the biggest secret to weight loss. You will start seeing the difference soon.

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