Weight loss with low carb diet, or How I lost 15 kgs in 15 months

I've always struggled with mild overweight. It's nothing to worry about, but I've been pushing 24-25 BMI for most of my life. While I have always had a strong understanding of the theory of nutrition and theory of exercising - something which is part of my scientific and rational way of thinking - I struggled to put them in practice. For instance, I have tried and given up on more exercise regimes then I can remember in the last 20 years. Of course, I also know that while exercise is awesome for your health and must for your body, it's not a solution for weight loss. Nutrition it is.

And like everyone I knew the basics - avoid sugar, fried stuff, packaged food, more vegetables, etc. I just had difficulty sticking to a routine. I have been averse to fad diets and wanted to take a moderate and slow approach towards better health, hence I was focusing on "reduce" rather than "avoid" for all the bad stuff. Unfortunately for my temperament, reduce just didn't work, since there was no intuitive measure of how much is enough or when to stop. Avoid turned out to be better since that forces black and white distinction. Long story short, I began hearing about low carb and low dairy diets for the last 3-4 years and after looking into multiple scientific research into and consistent anecdotal evidence, I decided to look into the Keto diet. It quickly dawned to me that Keto is not just suitable or feasible for vegetarians. I modified this to low carb, low dairy version for me, and after sifting through my notes and reading created by diet program.

Results? I lost about 15 kilograms in 15 months straight as the weight chart below shows. I wasn't starving, I wasn't going hungry, but I watched what I ate and results gave the confidence to say no to candy or ice cream or pizza which tempted me. My customary before-and-after pictures show some change, albeit not as drastic as before-and-after pictures are wont to do, but the change was visible and noticeable by family and friends alike. In fact, slight uptick you see on weight graph is intentional as I felt it's going too low for my preference. I was content to be around BMI 18-20.

My weight loss journey for the last 6 years, and drastic loss in last 1 year

Before (Oct 2018) and After (Mar 2020) - from 78 kgs to 65 kgs

Here is my diet plan

Main principles

• Avoid junk food, processed food, packaged food
• Minimize refined/white sugar as much as possible, including honey
• Increase portions of nuts, vegetables, and fibers in the diet
• Reduce carbohydrate intake, specially avoid bad kind of carbohydrate during dinners
• Reduce milk intake as much as possible, limit to buttermilk, curd, and paneer wherever possible
• Increase protein intake significantly
• Eat very healthy breakfast, in a small portion, or skip the breakfast altogether and don't eat till noon
• Eat moderate portions during lunch
• Eat light dinner, and do not eat anything after 8pm
• Take fixed portions in the plate, and don't go for second serving
• Chew slowly, enjoy the food, avoid distractions
• Drink lots of water, about 4-6 liters daily
• Keep 3-4 hours gap before mealtime and bedtime

Good kind of Fat & Protein

Walnut, Almond, Peanut, Chickpeas, Flaxseeds, Paneer, Cheese, Tofu, Mushroom, Lentils/Daal, Pumpkin seeds, Soy chunks, Sprouts, Clarified butter/Ghee, Coconut/Olive/Peanut oil

Good kind of Carbohydrate

Sweet potatoes, Brown rice, Oats, Corn flex, Millets, Lentils/Daal, Sprouts, Banana, Broken Wheat/Daliya

Good Vegetables

All kinds are good but Avocado, Brocolli, Carrots, Green peas, Lemon, Guava, Gooseberry/Amla, Beetroot, Spinach, Lettuce, Cucumber, Tomato, Capsicum, Brinjal are better

Things you can drink

Green tea, Lemon juice, Curd

Things you can eat A LOT

Paneer, Cheese, Soy chunks, Peanuts, Peanut butter, Almond, Walnut, Flaxseeds, Mushroom, Tofu, Avocado, Brocolli, Lettuce, Chickpea, Green pea, Spinach, Pumpkin seeds, Cucumber, Tomato, Capsicum, Brinjal

Things you can eat A LITTLE

Sweet Potato, Banana,  Coconut, Brown rice, Oats, Corn flex, Lentils/Daal, Broken Wheat/Daliya

Taking all this together, here is what my day looked like:

Breakfast - skip or small fruit or small portion from Good Carbohydrate list

Lunch - 2 roti, 2-3 bowls vegetable curry, (if you want to taste anything else, take 1 teaspoon only)

Mid-day - dry fruits, small fruit, 2-3 cups of coffee (coffee is not advisable)

Dinner - Sprouts, or Soy chunk, or Salads, or grilled Vegetables, or Paneer, or Peanuts

And trust me, your body will adapt to this. This may look like meagre diet but I never felt hungry. Any pangs were soothed by a handful of sprouts/peanuts which are both filling and incredibly tasty. I discovered 3-4 ways to cook sprouts in the process.