How do I lose my weight???

When I thought of writing about this subject – Weight Loss, I actually thought whether I should even venture in an area where much has already been written about by practically everyone – bloggers, writers, dieticians, and doctors. What is really left for me to make it interesting enough for anyone to view or comment on? But somewhere in my heart and mind I still wanted to pen down a few thoughts which keep coming to my mind when I think of the term ‘Weight Loss’.             The last couple of years (10 to 15) to be precise have seen a surge in advertisements marketing diet and weight loss options to the consumer.  Indian Healthcare industry has touched 100 billion US Dollars and growing at a fast rate. Customers are privy to a variety of healthcare options like health drinks, protein and vitamin supplements, and various exercise machines guarantying easy weight loss. Suddenly maintaining a good physique has become a prime most important factor for all Indians and maybe around the world. Everyone attributes good looks to a killing figure which should meet the standards set by the glamour industry. It doesn’t mind if the person is healthy from within but the visual presentation is given too much of importance. Thus we are an easy target for the health industry which is probably making a huge profit every year! Some of the ridiculous claims made by certain brands are as such:                                                                                                                                           

               -Face washes that claim to make you pollution free

-Fairness creams that say you will get a shade lighter in a matter of few weeks

-Green tea which claims a speedy weight loss

-Electric waist belts which guarantee to melt off belly fat like a miracle

-Protein and meal replacement powders which ensure complete nutrition without adding

Calories.

And the list is endless. Everyone gives endless advice to family and friends on what needs to be done for instant weight loss. Some of the most ridiculous ones are as follows:

-          Don’t eat white rice, only brown rice

-          Eat only brown bread

-          Don’t even think of consuming pure ghee

-          Eat only salad and soup for dinner

-          Give up carbohydrates for some days ( meaning no roti and rice )

-          Go gluten-free

-          Have lime, honey and warm water in the morning for miraculous fat burning!

And it just goes on and on. I am no expert on weight loss or diets to be followed but I am a firm believer in traditional Indian eating and the body being subjected to 45 mins of exercise every day. So let me just drive some sense into all of this in my own little way. Let me add here that I am not a certified trainer or a dietician. So the exercise regime and diet tips that I have laid down are what I follow for myself. But it has shown me tremendous good results. You may choose your own exercise regime and diet based on your lifestyle, medical conditions, and likings.

1.       Reasons for weight loss

Firstly analyze your reason for wanting to lose weight. Why do you want to do it? For any goal that you chalk out for yourself, you must have a strong reason and a sense of purpose to execute it else you will not focus on it. Do you want to lose weight simply because you want to fit into a new dress before your next party or you want to post some glamorous pictures on Facebook and Instagram? Is it because you feel body shamed by your friends and family or because you want to prove your friends that you can also be a smaller size? If yes, then these are the wrong reasons to start a weight loss campaign. These external triggers will not motivate you enough for continuing your journey for long. Even if you do achieve your goal, then you will stop once you see the results. Within few months, you might pile those pounds again. The real reason needs to be something more worthwhile. Next time think about the health benefits when you think of weight loss. Exercising and eating right should be done for maintaining a healthy body and a healthy mind. We do not want to suffer from blood pressure, arthritis, joint pains and heart attack in our middle age and after that. So it’s important for us to exercise restraint and take care of health at the right time. Once you do it for your holistic health, the reward will be your weight loss in terms of reducing kilos.

2.       Exercise

Start by walking for 15 mins thrice in a week. Then increase it to 20 mins every day and the week after that start walking 30 mins for 5 days in a week. You may increase it to 45 mins if you want to. In addition to walking (cardio), work on one body function each day for 5 days like the plan given below (I do this in my fitness class):

o   Monday – 40 Surya Namaskar(start with 5 and move up to 40 in 5 months)

o   Tuesday- Upper body workout using dumb bells (weights) for 25 mins

o   Wednesday – Lower body workout (body toning exercises for legs and waist) for 25 mins

o   Thursday – Abs workout for 25 mins

o   Friday – Any dance form like Zumba or simply Bollywood dance for 25 mins

o   You may do 500 kapalbhati (start with 10) and Pranayam for 15 days on a daily basis.

Make sure you stretch before and after your workout and keep yourself hydrated by drinking water in-between exercises. Stick to this regime and see the results. We all know this cliché sentence that weight loss is 80% related to food and 20% exercise. Yes, it’s true but that 80% cannot be successful without 20% exercise. So if you only diet and do not exercise you will not get the desired results. Even if you lose weight, it won’t give you a nice toned body. You will not build your stamina, tolerance, and endurance apart from all the other health benefits of exercising.

3.       Diet

Now let’s talk about the last and the most important piece, the diet. Since I am an Indian I really don’t know about the good foods and the bad foods of international cuisines. So here I would be talking about the Indian diet food. What is the meaning of the word diet? It means the kind of food that we eat on a daily basis. It certainly doesn’t mean the kind of food we eat when we want to lose weight. Unfortunately the word diet is generally only used when we speak of wanting to strike down a few kilos! I was teaching my daughter a chapter in her grade 2 Science notebook which spoke about nutrition. It said that a healthy body and mind require a balanced meal which comprises of all nutrients like carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals. That is because every nutrient has its own value and the elimination of any one of them can cause serious damage to our bodies. This is taught in schools at such a young age but somehow we seem to have forgotten the food pyramid. Most people when on a weight loss program try to completely eliminate carbohydrates and fat from their diet. This is the worst mistake one can make. It can have serious implications on your body. Besides you need energy to burn fat which comes from carbohydrates! Anything that you can’t have for the rest of your life is not a diet you can follow. So can you imagine having only soup, salad, and stir-fried vegetables for dinner forever? Can you imagine yourself punishing yourself by having only lauki ka juice every morning? No you can’t. The only way you can lose weight is by studying the following ground rules:

a.       Eat sensibly looking at the portion size

b.      Check your dinner timings ( before 7.30pm or maximum by 8pm)

c.       Eat fried or sweet only once in 15 days

d.      Eat biscuits, namkeen and bread items only once in 10 days.

e.      Not more than 1 tsp sugar in a day ( so ½ tsp sugar for the morning tea and ½ tsp for evening tea)

f.        Have at least 3 lts of water every day( start gradually and get yourself until 3 lts)

g.       Have 2 small size rotis with ghee, dal, vegetable, curd and salad for lunch.

h.      You may have non vegetarian food twice in a week

i.         You may have rice twice in a week ( white rice)

j.        Have 1 small size roti, dal, vegetable and salad for lunch.

k.       You may also have daliya khichdi or dal dosa for dinner

l.         Have a proper Indian breakfast (poha, rawa upma, paratha, 2 idli or 1 dosa sambhar, daliya upma, vermicelli upma. But don’t have sabudana khichdi or puri. Even if you have to , not more than once in a month)

m.    Have 2 in-between snacks – one between breakfast and lunch and the other between lunch and evening tea.

n.      In between snacking can be done on – almonds, nuts, fruits, buttermilk, sprouts bhel or green tea.

o.      Have at least 2 fruits everyday – apple,pear,watermelon,orange,mosambi,pomegranate,grapes,plums,lichi

p.      Sweet fruits like banana,papaya,chickoo and custard apple can be eaten once in 10 days

q.      Start your day with 3 egg whites along with your tea

r.        Have 100ml milk in the night with Chai seeds which have good Omega 3

s.       You may also eat flax seeds in the day for the same purpose.

t.        Cut down or quit alcohol

u.      No need to fill your kitchen with foreign ingredients which are not easily available or you can’t produce. What you get locally ( fruits, oil,vegetables,grains,spices) is much more fresh and suited to our genetics than the ones we import from seven seas across!

4.         Discipline and Consistency

And the most important part, please be focused with a dogged focus to achieve your goals. They say human beings need 21 days to change their habits. The first 4 days are easy to be focused but from the 5^th day onwards the real struggle beings. But don’t give up. Keep going. Once you start seeing the results in terms of a fitter and brighter you and a few kilos down, you will continue this journey forever.

By following these simple techniques, you can surely lose your weight. And will embark on a lifelong journey of holistic health and wealth!