I just found your site and love your recipe and videos! You made every dish seems achievable! I can’t wait to try many of them since I’m trying to cut back on meat and increase my vegetable intake. I commend you for your resolution and it is very doable! I’m also trying to lose the 5 lbs I gained from the holidays!
Some tips I’d like to share:
1. Physical activity for 150 minutes/wk (2 hrs and 30 min) is the recommendation for adults. You can spread it out in a week. As for me I speed walk for 30 minutes for one day. I’ll break it up to 20 minutes in the morning and then add 10 minutes later in the evening. Or, sometimes I do 10 minutes increment for a total of 30 minutes.
So, you can do it in 10 minutes increments but not less than that. Please ask your doctor before starting any exercise regimen.

2. Eat more vegetables and fruits. Feeling adventurous? Try new items. Farmers Market usually sells veg/fruits that can’t be found in grocery stores.

3. Take time eating your meals and don’t eat on the run. Try to get rid of distractions (tv, radio, etc) and savor each bite.

4. Use smaller plates as you have mentioned is an excellent idea!

5. Lastly, don’t give up if you don’t see changes right away. Making changes is hard but your body will adjust and you will feel the difference by making these changes. I always feel good after my daily walk!

If you like more information you can check out these websites.

http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=6805
http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/index.html

Hope this helps!

Sincerely,
SarahS

Happy new Year. Good luck with your resolution. Something I have often read is that 1 mile of walking gives you most of the benefits as 1 mile of running. So I would suggest that other than dietary changes you could just add walking a few miles every day or every so often in the week to your lifestyle! Get yourself a 10$ pedometer! Every little bit helps! Good luck!

Regards,
SS

Good luck with 2010 and your resolution, it would be great to see some health conscious recipes coming up. This is the first time I have realized you had a blog so I shall be following along from now.

I love your YouTube videos and have been watching for a long time now. We even made one of your dishes fro our New Years Eve dinner.

I moved to Cairo, Egypt a few months ago and am now having trouble getting some of the spices but am managing to get by.

Thanks,
Forest.

You’ve trashed the word” Trade Secret ” which most matronly figures around me have used, even insisting that I keep it to myself. Thanks to cosmoplitan life we’re exposed to so many alternate cooking methods and if we’re lucky enough, are able to put them to practice because most mothers and mothers- in- law maintain that theirs is the best. The Internet is a wonderful medium for selfless people like you and of course eager learners like me.

An interesting fact is that you manage to find the right substitute for an out and out Indian ingredient and cook the way you want to. So many of our Indian realtives living abroad for more than a decade haven’t stopped cribbing about how they crave for Indian food or how they can’t use spices in their cookingbecause neighbours and colleagues resent it. I wish these people come across your website and learn that its possible to have your cake and eat it too!

I’m a North Indian as well and now feel at liberty to alter methods and ingredients for traditional Punjabi dishes. My husband and daughter don’t complain and I am glad to see the fuel as well as oil saved. The saviour is the humble pressure cooker.

Whether it is whole pulses, lentils or some vegetable ( like bottle gourd, yam etc) I simply pressure cook all of it it without even sauteing the masala. A recent find is that mustard seeds can be popped on a hot tawa (covered) so no oil for the seasoning either. As for relatively delicate vegetables like cauliflower, karela etc, I combine them with potatoes and the dry masalas toss them and pressure cook them in a separator/ container. Here too no oil is required and only the number of whistles or time needs to be experimented with.

Beyond thirty, ladies usually start having weight issues and a separate exercise regimen may not be possible for all ( even for a working woman turned homemaker like me). I think these methods at least curtail weight gain while we’re sruggling to shed what we’ve already piled on.

My daughter and I sit through your videos together like we’re jointly attending cookery classes. She joins me in wishing you lots of happiness and success in the year ahead.

My 2009 resolution was to become a minimalist. I spent this year donating unessential items in my house to the Salvation Army. I must have shed a
third of my belongings and don’t miss any of them.

I’ve a fan of this site for almost a year now. I had no idea Jain vegetarian
cooking could be so good and yet so simple.

While making your delicious Chole recipe for lunch today I made a resolution
to become a vegetarian for the New Year.

“Eat Food, not too much, mostly plants” will be my theme for 2010.
I look forward to your recipes to help me through the year.

Good luck with your resolutions and I wish you a healthy New Year.

Les

While cleaning out the house, be sure to include the kitchen! Once it is cleared out of high calorie, high fat foods make sure you don’t buy them again.

Healthy food choices AND portion control are very effective weight loss techniques.

My resolution for this year is to lose weight. My problem is that I eat a lot of sweets. I try to control it but not been very successful. Please do share with us your ideas and food recipes for a low fat diet . When we know that others are having the same resolution as ours it gives us more encouragement .

Have a wonderful New Year and may all your hopes, dreams come true.

Thanks
Lakshmi

I, too, de-cluttered our house in 2009 and it really does feel great. I haven’t missed one thing that I got rid of.

Looking forward to more of your great videos and recipes!