How much weight did you lose in India?

tigger03

I will be buying a gym membership for the month that I'm in India

giripriya

Trip 1(Nepal) - 3 weeks, lost 10 lbs. due to daily koras around Swayambhunath stupa(45 mins. each) as well as living on a diet largely comprised of Dal Bhat, Tenthuk, Momos, fruit and the occasional heavenly Nepali-style donut, fresh out of the ghee, from the donut-didi at the top of the road where I was staying. I probably would have lost more were it not for the endless cups of bocha and dudh chiyaa that were contantly being poured for me. I ate pure veg on that trip and only got the mild trots my last week, didn't even need to take any meds.

Trip 2(Himachal, UP, Delhi) - No weight lost. was on an organized tour/retreat so just about everything was selected beforehand. Ate veg on retreat, some chicken and fish at buffets and at the heavenly Masala Art restaurant at the Taj Delhi Hotel. Again, mild trots which manifested the week when I came back to the states. Didn't do much walking which was probably why I broke even.

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Q: Ke garne?

A: Dal bhat khanne, maaya garne, sutne!

camelgirl

I only lost noticeable weight my first trip in 1975 & that's because I had no taste for Indian food and I'd done a 36 day overland bus trip from London which I was so excited and distracted I hardly thought about food.

Other trips after that I may have lost a couple of pounds but I now love Indian food and that was the end of serious weight loss.

I do have a decreased appetite while in India because of the heat and also I mostly get a bad head cold, which suppresses my hunger

Last trip (Nov.) lost a few lbs. and gained it right back when I got home.

BTW there is now an increasing problem with obesity (especially children) in India and a huge increase in diabetes due directly to weight gain. It is attributed to affluence alone. Poor people are still very thin in India! Just the opposite of affluent countries like the USA

rajiveanand

I do a lot of walking regularly since I live in New York. However, in India, I am generally in the mountains where there is much more vertical climbing, and I'm always moving from place to place, so I generally get more wiry (I'm not sure if muscular is the right word! ) When I was 18 in Dharamsala in '91, I didn't have very much money, so I was eating a plate of dal and 2 chapatis for lunch and dinner and a one-egg omlet for breakfast. I was also walking from the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives where I was staying to downtown to McLeod Ganj once or twice evryday. I guess it made it easier to dodge the raindrops during the monsoon!

That said, I have a bit more money now, so I enjoy better meals in India, but I'm still running around evrywhere, and I'm Indian, so I stay pretty skinny! In America, if you eat out often, you will get fat. The portions are so much bigger here. I generally eat home-cooked food, but I went to a diner yesterday and had a medium-rare mushroom swiss burger with cheese fries and gravy! That was my only meal of the day, and I could barely move for a couple hours after it!!!

R.

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www.rajiveanand.com

rajiveanand

There are starving children in America who are not as fortunate!!!



R.

kristinm

I fear I will stack on the weight as the only way I have slowly lost 15 kilos (10 more to go) over the last couple of years here & kept it off is by avoiding bread, rice, pasta etc & alcohol like the plague! We are as excited about eating in India as we are about seeing the sights - I'm certainly not depriving myself of all the lovely carbie delights, and although my son and husband can eat very hot food, I am a bit pathetic about it, I just hate the burning, so will probably fill up on rice... I think I'll come back like one of those lovely plump Indian ladies - except white and flabby instead of brown and plump! They look great with their silky sarees, lustrous hair and dark eyes... on us poor old whiteys it's just fat!!!!

On the other hand it will be lovely to be in a culture where curves are valued! And great for my 12yo son to see curvy women being the epitome of beauty - instead of stick insects.

PeakXV

Calories in equals Calories out - not so simple grade school math.

Two important factors is not to frequent so many of those great Indian Buffets and prepared to say No thank you(at least 3 times ) in order to repel those gracious(yet persistent) second serving prompts.


..... remember India is great for walking, tennis, hiking, & have some very good fitness facilities as well.

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We shall not cease from exploration and at the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started ...and know the place for the first time.
T.S. Eliot

Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

Lou Wilson

I was in India for 12 days in January 2007. I flew from Sri Lanka and picked up something on the plane because by the next day I was feeling a little weird. Within 2 days I totally lost my apatite and developed a serious mucous thing lost all my stength but I kept moving went from Kochi down the tip up tp Madurai to Magore hung around the coast then to Chennai. I was sick but I was happy to be in India. When I left Sri Lanka I weighed 80 Kilos (176 lbs) when I got back after 12 days I weighed 70 Kilos 154 lbs
In 1970 I travelled overland and got seriously ill in Afganistan but some people with me helped and I made it to India and sat it out after a month I got better and was immuned to everything and never got sick for about 20 years. That time I dropped from 195 lbs to the mid 140's. I was a little overweight at the start

Digital Drifter

You're onto something here....

In fact, older folk go like

"a saree draped around a broomstick" (in Tamil) looking at those thin Indian and Foreign women. Quite why they were watching those shows is another thing.

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tablaguy

I typically lose about 10 lbs over 1 month in India.

sashaj

I just got back from the South of India 6 weeks ago, and 20 lbs lighter
I go every year and the same thing happens, i look younger and feel much more energetic
I LOVE that country
counting the months til i return

emmac82

wow well i'm there for at least 6mths so hopefully can lose lots of weight!!

i wanted to lose some before i went

Rogue Two

I lost 3.5 stone (about 22 kgs or 50 lbs for those of you who use post-mediaeval mesurement systems) in four months in India and Nepal. Unfortunately I put some back in Thailand.

I'm still svelte and lean, however. Well, a bit.

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Seeking solace at the centre of attention is like seeking sustenance at the centre of a doughnut...

Sylwia

Hello!
(first post!)

I'm wondering what kinds of prepared foods I should be looking for if I want to aim for less caloric meals? It's funny, but I know Polish and most European food so well because I make it all the time, but I don't really know the amounts of fat and sugar that go into Indian food. The Punjabi restaurant down the street doesn't list those on its menu!

Is dal a good option? Are there any other dishes you could recommend by name? While I don't necessarily aim to lose weight, I do not want to gain any! Gah!

greerdd

I lost a few kilos, but still happy for the journey