Is Roti Healthy? (5 Tips For Weight Loss)

One of the most popular and culturally rich foods from the Indian subcontinent, Roti has become a staple food in many households. 

Also known as Chapati in India, Roti is an unleavened flatbread made from whole wheat flour.

Not to be confused with Naan bread which is chewier and softer in texture due to the yeast and dough, Roti is less elastic and thinner in texture. 

Roti does not include fillings but it is often served with pulses, meat, or vegetables. It often accompanies various stews and curries. 

Although Roti is delicious, is it healthy?

Roti is a very healthy dish to eat as it is packed with fiber due to the use of wheat flour. With 18 grams of carbs and 3.1 grams of protein per serving, Roti is a very nutritious starch that can complement a healthy diet, especially when compared to other breads that lack the high fiber that Roti has. 

In order to eat Roti in a beneficial way, let’s take a look at a few tips you can follow to make sure you are taking advantage of this food in the best way possible.

Tip 1: Understand the Nutritional Value of Roti

Tip 2: Understand How  Many Calories You Should Eat In a Day Alongside Roti

Tip 3: Learn How to Portion Control When Eating Roti

Tip 4: Make Sure You Are Consistently Working Out and Building Muscle When Eating Roti

Tip 5: Utilize the Healthy Carbs and Fats From Roti

Now that we know 5 ways to incorporate Roti into your daily intake, let’s get started!

How To Lose Weight When Eating Roti

As you all may know, calories are units of energy you get from all the foods and drinks you consume. 

In order to experience fat loss, it is important to know what it means to be in a calorie deficit. 

You are in a calorie deficit if you are burning more calories than you consume on a daily basis. 

This is the only way that fat loss can take place. 

When eating food such as Roti, and just any food in general, it will be helpful to understand its nutritional content which we will be taking a look at in the upcoming section. 

It is also helpful to know how many calories you should be consuming on a daily basis so that you are more mindful about what you are putting into your body as well as how much you should be putting into your body. 

After you have figured out what your daily calorie intake should be, you should also keep in mind that exercising and building muscle will play a big role in your health and fitness journey. 

To build muscle, you should be partaking in some resistance training. 

This is because muscle allows you to burn calories even when you are at rest. 

Muscle will give you room to eat more while still losing fat. 

Now that we have briefly discussed how to stay fit while eating something such as Roti, let’s dive into a more detailed discussion about how you can incorporate Roti into your lifestyle.

Tip 1: Understand the Nutritional Value of Roti

Roti, a food rich in dietary fibers, minerals, and proteins. 

A typical serving of Roti is made up of 120 calories. For every 3.5 grams of fat, there are 18 grams of carbs and 3.1 grams of protein. 

As you can see, there are more calories coming from fats and carbs than protein. 

Although it is not exactly an ideal balance of macronutrients, the fats and carbs from Roti are actually good for you.

Also, the flatbread itself has 3.1 grams of protein but it can be seen paired with other protein-rich dishes. 

This means that as long as you balance your other foods to be richer in protein, Roti is not actually bad to eat. 

The most ideal ratio of macronutrients is made up of 45% carbs, 22% fats, and 33% protein. 

So, as long as you balance out the rest of your meals and drinks for the day, you are good to go.

Roti in itself is typically made from wheat flour. When looking at the USDA nutrition facts for a cup of wheat flour, you will find that there are 95 grams of carbs (3.4 coming from fiber), 1.2 grams of fat, and 13 grams of protein!

You can expect to see many benefits from a high protein flour such as the one used to make Roti.

Tip 2: Understand How Many Calories You Should Eat In a Day Alongside Roti

A serving of Roti contains 120 calories. 

Let’s see this comes into play when looking at your overall daily calorie intake. 

When discussing calories, you should know about the concept of energy balance. 

Energy balance helps you determine whether you are staying the same, shedding fat, or gaining weight. 

If your ultimate goal is to lose weight, then you need to burn more energy than you consume. 

You always want to make sure that you are putting yourself in a position where you are in a healthy range of calories so that you know exactly why you are continuously gaining weight, if that is what you are struggling with. 

Overeating is a big issue that can sometimes be hard to control but by understanding how many calories you should be eating in a day, you can find yourself in a situation of control over how you look and feel. 

If you want to figure out how many calories you should be consuming in a day, there are two methods that I want to share with you. 

Just a quick note though, these methods are very trial and error because everyone’s body is unique and different. 

The first method requires you to look up your TDEE or total daily energy expenditure through an online calculator. 

This will give you a rough estimate on how many calories you should be taking in daily. 

For the second method, you will need to multiply your body weight by the number 12. You will have to adjust accordingly because it does not account for how much muscle you currently have on your body nor does it account for how active your lifestyle is. 

As you are adjusting, you want to make sure that you are not dropping your daily calorie intake too low too fast. 

A slow increase or decrease of calories will allow you to sustain long-term results. 

So, when we eat food like Roti, we need to find out how many calories we need to eat in a day and fit Roti in those calories. 

This leads to the next topic where we will talk about portion control and fitting your favorite foods like Roti into your diet. 

Now that you are more informed about how many daily calories you should be taking in, let’s move on to portioning and eating in moderation!

Tip 3: Learn How to Portion Control When Eating Roti

Roti can be hard to resist and crave at times. 

Although Roti has proven to have a lot of health benefits, overeating anything can be detrimental to you and your body. 

Portion control is a crucial factor in maintaining good health and a good diet. 

To begin learning how to portion control, you should go back to tip number 2 and figure out your daily calorie intake. 

This will help you determine how much Roti you can eat without it being too much. 

Eating in moderation is very much about the mind and how much self-control you can grow to have. 

By resisting the urge to overconsume, you will find that it’ll be beneficial for you in the long run.

You also want to make sure that you are regularly staying active and working out. 

It is important for you to portion the amount of Roti you are consuming but it is also important to balance out how much Roti you consume in comparison to the other meals you are eating throughout the day. 

You want to have a good balance of all your macronutrients for the day.

When we look at a food like Roti, we need to understand that most of the calories comes from carbs which means our other meals should be balanced with fats and protein. 

Roti as a whole is a great option and a great alternative for other flatbreads out on the market. 

Make sure that you take advantage of this but don’t get too ahead of yourself. 

Let’s now move on to the importance of working out and building muscle. 

Tip 4: Make Sure You Are Consistently Working Out and Building Muscle When Eating Roti

There are many health benefits to building muscle as well as visual benefits. 

Visually, it gives you that toned look that you always see on social media. 

Health-wise, muscle burns calories at rest which means that you can lose fat while eating more. 

Muscle is something that gives you access to eating more and staying happy while you are dieting on your fitness journey. 

The combination of understanding calories and working out to build muscle will allow you to get into great shape. 

Now that you know the importance of building muscle, let me share with you a workout routine that you can follow to help get you into shape!

Women 

Monday (Full Upper): 

• Seated Shoulder Press: 4x20 

• Lateral Raises: 4x15

• Lat Pulldowns: 4x12

• Dumbbell Row: 3x10

• Dumbbell Fly: 3x10 

• Knee Push Ups: 4x20

• Weighted Crunches: 3x35 

Wednesday (Back/Hamstrings/Biceps) 

• Assisted Pull Ups: 3x10

• Lat Pulldowns: 4x12 

• Cable Row: 4x15

• Stiff Leg Deadlift: 4x15

• Hamstring Curl: 4x15

• Bicep Curls: 3x10

• Hammer Curls: 3x10

Friday: (Legs/Butt/Abs): 

• Squats: 5x5 

• Goblet Squats: 4x20

• Glute Bridge: 4x20

• Glute Kickbacks: 4x20 each leg

• Jump Squats: 4x20

• Weighted Crunches: 3x35 

• Leg Lifts: 3x35

MEN 

Mon: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Abs (Push Day)

• Bench Press: 3 sets 10 reps

• Dumbbell Press: 4 sets 12 reps

• Shoulder Press: 3 sets 10 reps

• Lateral Raises: 3 sets 15 reps

• Triceps Rope Push Down: 3 sets 15 reps

• Cable Crunches: 4 sets 15 reps 

Wed: Legs & Abs

• Goblet Squats: 4 sets 20 reps

• Weighted Walking Lunges: 2 sets 20 steps

• Stiff Leg DeadLift (Romanian Deadlift): 4 sets 15 reps

• Glute Bridges With Weight: 4 sets 20 reps

• Jumping Squats With Resistance Bands: 5 sets 20 reps

• Weighted Sit Ups: 4 sets 25 reps

• Weighted Toe Touches: 4 sets 25 reps

Fri: Back & Biceps (Pull Day)

• Assisted Pull Ups: 3 sets 10 reps

• Lat Pulldowns: 4 sets 12 reps

• Dumbbell Rows: 4 sets 10 reps (Each Side)

• Seated Cable Rows: 4 sets 15 reps

• Bicep Curls: 3 sets 10 reps

• Hammer Curls: 3 sets 10 reps

This is a simple resistance training workout plan.

What I recommend is to just look these workouts up on Youtube and choose weights that are not too heavy at first so you can really get your form down. 

All it takes are a couple of adjustable weights (bowflex adjustable weights on Amazon) and a reliable workout bench (steelbody bench on Amazon) that will allow us to do all the necessary workouts. 

When you feel that you’ve grasped the form, feel free to go heavier and heavier every week. Remember, this will not get you big and bulky. 

It will get you nice and lean.

Building more muscle allows us to eat more of the foods we enjoy while still staying lean. 

This means we can enjoy Roti and still be responsible with our diets and health. 

There are so many benefits to building muscle and consistently staying active. 

One of my favorite benefits has to do with eating more of my favorite foods. 

I mean, isn’t that why we all workout anyway? 

Let’s now discuss how you can use the carbs and fats in Roti to your advantage!

Tip 5: Utilize the Healthy Carbs and Fats From Roti

When you eat a food such as Roti, you will see more calories coming from carbs and fats over protein. 

Depending on what you have eaten throughout the day, your body will either store these carbs and fat as fat for the future or use them as energy. 

In order to prevent fat from accumulating, you want to make sure that your body is utilizing them for energy through your daily activity and movement. 

Your TDEE or total daily energy expenditure describes how many calories your body is burning. 

15-30% of your TDEE comes from something called TEPA which is the thermic effect of physical activity. 

This means that you are in control of 15-30% of the calories you can possibly burn in a day, which is a huge portion. 

For this reason, you want to make sure that you are regularly staying active whether it be at a gym, at home, or even as you are going on walks through the neighborhood. 

By keeping active, you will be able to use those calories you eat in a day for the better and increase your allotted calories overall. 

So, let’s go out and make sure that we’re utilizing our favorite foods such as Roti and stay away from a sedentary lifestyle! 

There it is!

In this article, we talked about Roti, more specifically its health benefits and nutritional value. 

We also discussed how you can incorporate this food into your daily intake by understanding 5 easy tips. 

Now that you are more informed about Roti, it’s time for you to go out and try some

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