Eating in India
 

I will be traveling to India this weekend. Does anyone have some "do's and don'ts" for how I can maintain the Atkin's Diet while in India?

Thanks.

Atkins recomends when ever on vacation move to maintanance, that way you can enjoy the vacation and not end up so frustrated you go completely off the wagon :)

Just stay away from refined sugars and flours for the trip. Eat alot of veggies, go ahead and enjoy a nice curry (It may have some bad things, but not much), and enjoy meats or poultry. You wil probably walk a ton, which will help to burn any extra carbs that sneak in. Visit those open air markets for fresh foods or at least a ton of walking :)

Tricky one
 

Travelling to India and Atkins is a bit tricky. My husband goes there quite a bit on business and strictly stays off any kind of meat. Goes completely veggie for the duration as he says seeing flies and stuff crawling on meat which is not refrigerated in 35+ heat is enough to put anyone off. In the past he's chanced meat in one or two of the top hotels and still had a severe case of Delhi Belly. Stack up on the cooked veggies would be my advice - he manages to lose weight every time he goes there anyway :lol:. Good luck and have a lovely time. Remarkable country full of wonderful people and culture.

Hi!

I am from India. I love the food and can say that there are lots of food items u can have during ur visit. Also with the walking involved u are bound to get lot of physical activity.

About the meats.. if u go to good hotels.. I bet u will find good and fresh meats. Also the meats are always cooked till done so u don't have to worry about any infections from meat, but u should be vary of the water. Always carry bottled water which is readily available all over the country. You will find lots of cuisines varying per the state u visit.

U may want to carry a small transaltion pocket dictionary to know what u r having. U can always have
Tandoori (baked in wood/coal fired clay oven) which u have in Chicken and Cauliflower which are absolutely to die for. :yay: Stay away from the Tandoori Roti though(bread) :nono:
Most of the vegetables are cooked in oil or ghee(clarified butter). Most of the dishes use a wide variety of spices.
Onion, Tomato, ginger, garlic, Coriander and coconut are major ingredients in the Vegetable and Meat preparations. :yay:
Any vegetable or meat korma can be safely had, but check for potato in korma.
Stay away from Any items which have Dal or a pulse in them. :nono: Paneer is homemade ricotta cheese.
You won't find lamb or Beef in India, but you will find plenty of fresh Goat, Chicken and fish.
Always ask for mildly spiced dishes as the Entrees are Spicy to be had with Nan, paratha, Roti or rice :nono:
You will also find fresh salads.
If you don't find anything u like u can always go to chinese, thai and continental restaurants. They are in very major city. U will aso find KFC, McDonald's and Pizza hut in big cities.

Enjoy ur Vacation :dazzle: and I hope you come back with Lovely memories. Do try to keep me posted during your visit. :thup:

Kranti

i am indian. and i love indian food. belonging to the coast i love rice. and this staple food has been my main source of energy ever since i remember. Sadly i am a vegetarian. wondering how to do atkins now. can anybody help???

If you're lacto ovo vegetarian (eating eggs and all diary), you can attempt Atkins, else its very tough.
If you are lacto ovo, then eat a lot of eggs, cheese and (full fat) milk and yogurt/curd. You can also eat the low carb vegetables and fruits.

Kranti, you just made me very hungry! I adore tandori!


Look into making cauliflower rice. Basically you "rice" cauliflower and cook it like you would a rice dish. Then you could serve curry on top.

Lots of time when I'm making/eating Thai curry I just serve it on top of steamed broccoli. I love that.

Hi Molls229,

Indian food is one of my favorite foods. I could actually BE a vegetarian if I could eat Indian food everyday.

Your question was can you eat rice and follow Atkins? One cup of cooked Basmati white rice has 45 grams of carbs --- high for Atkins. Rice is like anything else on Atkins, as it's all about lowering the carbs. Rice, bread, potatoes, & sweets are all things I love, but cannot have right now, I have 170 pounds (77 kg, or 12 stone) to lose.

If you're on induction (the beginning phase), that would mean less than 1/4 cup of rice per day... but of course, what would be the point?

I have good news, though. Indian vegetarian foods are often low carb, including eggplant, cauliflower, and spinach. Additionally, ghee (clarified butter) is an excellent way to add fat to your diet (it's amazing that when carbs are dramatically reduced, fat helps with satiety and does NOT make you fat, as it is CARBS which drives up insulin which creates fat).

Being vegetarian on Atkins, in my opinion, is fine, as long as your carb intake is low. Watch out for paneer or channa cheeses, or other "soft" cheeses, as they tend to be about 2 gm carbs per ounce (and who wants only 1 ounce of heavenly paneer?).

old post
 

These threads are funny. I did not realize, until now, that Molls229's post was from 2004.

Oh well.