Know Your Calories - Rice

Have you ever wondered how come when you eat normal food you have gained weight.

According to me I was having normal meals (most of the times). 2 roties, rice, sabji, dal this was what a healthy plate should be and that is what I was having.

Ever since childhood, we used to come back home have our roties and the rice (never measured it and there was always a second serving) and then would go off to sleep and then it was studies and home work. The life pattern never changed much for me but the eating habit always continued.

When I started weight loss I wanted to know how much calories does my normal daily food has. I made a mental note of approximate calories in certain foods which I eat on daily basis. Its just an approx value which helps me to know if I am going over board.

I do not measure calories on daily basis (its waste of time), just a mental approx value is more than enough.

When I became aware of calories, I understood why over the years I had piled on so much weight.

Being aware never hurts.

The first thing I checked was calories in rice.

I use CalorieCount for my calorie reference, you can use any site on the web. We just need an approximate value here.

So for 158 gms/ 1 cup of rice has 205 calories. Remember, you won't eat only rice, it is always accompanied by some side dish.

So how much 158 gms rice looks like.

1. Its 1 quarter plate moderately filled or 1 medium size bowl. Now, when I am eating out I know the approximate calories on my plate with the amount of rice.




You can easily make your plate worth 600+ calories or as low as 400 calories. Add a Naan to the plate to increase the calories or have little rice and little naan to have less calories and satisfy the tongue.

Same rule apply at home. Increase the calories by going for second serving of rice or having roties along with rice OR decrease calories by having more of vegetables and salad along with rice and fill your stomach.

2. This is what my plate looked like before. 2 roties, rice, dal, sabji and there was always second helping of the rice.



3. I no longer combine roti and sabji together. It best to have 1 roti or little rice. Try bringing in a salad, the raw vegetables add a fresh twist to the meal and keep the stomach full for a long time. I have increased my vegetable intake and reduced the rice quantity.



4. As a rule (according to me), vegetables and salad have no calories. Even for that matter I always go for second serving of dal if I am hungry.



When we reduce our food intake sometimes even before eating we think that its less food. But remember the reason you are over weight is because you are feeding yourself more food than necessary. So best way is to give it a try and see how full/satisfy you feel.

Its your plate and its your decision to either loaded it with calories OR to load the plate with less calories.