Healthy eating at weddings and dawats

Mehndi, baraat, walima, then a dawat at every relative's house. In shaadi season some people eat a wedding meal three or four times a week. You do not have to sit with an empty plate. You just need a simple plan.

By Muhammad IshfaqUpdated 25 October 20264 min read

What is on a typical wedding plate?

Wedding food is cooked in large pots with a lot of oil and ghee, so it is usually higher in calories than the same dish at home. A plate of biryani plus qorma with naan, then kheer, gulab jamun and a cold drink, comes to about 2,000 calories in one sitting.

Before you go

• Do not starve all day to "save room". You will arrive very hungry and eat much more, very fast.
• Have a light snack 1 to 2 hours before you leave: a boiled egg, a cup of dahi, a handful of roasted chana, or a fruit with a few almonds.
• Keep the rest of the day light. A simple breakfast and lunch with daal, sabzi and salad leaves room for the evening meal.
• Drink water before you go. Weddings are often hot and crowded, and thirst feels like hunger.

At the buffet: the one plate rule

1. Walk around once and look at all the dishes before you pick anything up.
2. Fill half your plate first with salad, kachumber, raita and tikka or tandoori chicken.
3. Choose one main dish: biryani or qorma with naan, not both. Take one level serving.
4. Choose grilled over fried and creamy: tikka, seekh kebab and tandoori over qorma, karahi swimming in oil, or fried fish.
5. Leave the oil behind. Use a spoon to lift meat out of the gravy rather than pouring the gravy on the rice.
6. Eat slowly, and talk. Weddings are about meeting people. Put your plate down between bites.
7. No second round. Once your plate is done, move away from the buffet and get a cup of green tea or water.

Dessert without guilt

You do not have to skip dessert. Choose one, take a small bowl or a single piece, and enjoy it slowly. Sharing a plate of gulab jamun with your family is a nice way to taste it without eating a full serving. Skip the cold drink and have water or a sugar-free drink instead. That alone saves about 100 to 150 calories.

Polite ways to say no

In our culture, refusing food can feel rude, and hosts and aunties often keep filling your plate. Some polite lines that work:

• "It was delicious, I have already had two helpings!"
• "Doctor ne mana kiya hai" (my doctor has told me to be careful). This is a good one if you have diabetes or high blood pressure.
• "I'll take some home for later, if that's okay."
• Keep a little food on your plate. An empty plate is often seen as a request for more.
• Hold a cup of tea or a glass of water in your hand. It is harder for people to add food when your hands are full.

The day after

A single big meal does not make you fat. Weight gain comes from repeated extra calories over many days. The scale may go up 0.5 to 1 kg the next morning, but that is mostly water and salt from the rich food, and it goes away in a day or two.

• Do not skip meals to "make up for it". Just go back to your normal plan.
• Drink extra water and eat plenty of vegetables and salad.
• Go for a walk. See walking for weight loss.

Shaadi season: when there is a wedding every week

If you have weddings or dawats 3 or 4 times a week for a month, it adds up. In that case:

• Keep the other meals of the week very simple: daal, sabzi, roti, eggs, salad.
• At some events, eat only the salad and tikka and skip the rice and naan.
• If you are the host, offer a big salad table and a grilled dish. Many guests will thank you.
• Look at your weekly total, not one meal. Our calorie calculator shows how much room you have in a day.

Want to check a dish? Search for it on our food calorie picker. For more desi swaps, read how to lose weight eating normal desi food.

Common questions

How many calories are in a wedding biryani plate?

A full plate of wedding biryani has about 600 to 800 calories, because it is cooked with a lot of oil and the portions are large.

What is the healthiest food at a desi wedding?

Salad, raita, chicken tikka, tandoori chicken and seekh kebab are usually the best choices. They are high in protein and lower in oil than qorma or fried dishes.

Will one wedding meal make me gain weight?

No. Any jump on the scale the next day is mostly water and salt. Return to your normal eating and it will go down in a day or two.

I have diabetes. What should I eat at a wedding?

Fill half the plate with salad and tikka, take a small portion of rice or half a naan, skip the sweet drink, and take only a taste of dessert. Take your medicine as your doctor advised.

Sources

1. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: biryani; korma; naan; kebab; gulab jamun; cola. fdc.nal.usda.gov
2. Longvah T, Ananthan R, Bhaskarachary K, Venkaiah K. Indian Food Composition Tables 2017. National Institute of Nutrition, ICMR, Hyderabad.
3. Hollands GJ, Shemilt I, Marteau TM, et al. Portion, package or tableware size for changing selection and consumption of food, alcohol and tobacco. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2015;9:CD011045. doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD011045.pub2
4. Robinson E, Almiron-Roig E, Rutters F, et al. A systematic review and meta-analysis examining the effect of eating rate on energy intake and hunger. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2014;100:123-151. doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.114.086777
5. Hall KD, Sacks G, Chandramohan D, et al. Quantification of the effect of energy imbalance on bodyweight. The Lancet, 2011;378:826-837. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60812-X

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