Fat-to-Fit the New Way

This post is about a journey I thought I’ll never be able to accomplish. One of my biggest dreams if you ask me.

I have always been a chubby kid since childhood, and I never actually minded it, everyone called me cute. But as I turned 19, I realized that I was not only overweight and unhealthy, but continuing down this path will result in some health disaster sooner or later. Might not be today or tomorrow, but ten years down the line, I’ll regret not taking any steps when I was at my prime. I have always been a thoughtful decision-maker, and that’s what helped me here.

Funny thing is I have been inspired by fitness models a lot of times before and had always said to myself, “Okay, I am starting this exercise or this diet from now on,” but that “now on” just never came.  My inspiration never lasted for more than two days.

Then one day, I was going through my social media when I found some pictures of a classmate back from school days. Boy! She looked gorgeous in every outfit, and that’s where it changed. Models did not inspire me, but that girl did! Maybe because I knew her, she was my age. So, if she can be fit, can I? Comparing ourselves with others is not bad when it results in something good for us.  I went through her account every single day for the next 20 days or so and told myself that I want this fitness, and I am going to try my level best.

After that, it all changed, will power and discipline are the only two things you need to succeed at anything. Everything else follows automatically. Within six months, I was almost ten kgs down. I never thought it was so easy, but when you really… really want something, it becomes easy, every effort that has to be made comes naturally after the first few days.  I don’t follow any hardcore diets; in fact, I am against them. I still eat everything I love and am completely fit.

First things first, You don’t have to quit your favorite dishes altogether; you just need to know when to stop. First few months, I followed a strict diet, then gradually, I came back to my normal routine after losing 8-10 kgs and successfully maintained it.

For the first three months, I was under a controlled diet. For me, a Controlled diet meant no junk. None at all. Very little sugar and essential carbs. I still ate my normal meal of chapati and vegetables, but the only difference was I ate three chappatis at breakfast, two at lunch, and one at dinner.

Note that late dinners are directly proportional to the increase in weight. I ate at least three hours before going to bed, and most of the time, my dinner consisted of only fruits. I avoided eating potatoes and rice altogether for those months (It’s my favorite). As far as I remember, I didn’t touch even a single tiny french fry during that time. (It was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life :P).

I always consumed calories under 1500 per day and as much water as possible. The key is to burn more calories than you take in, and our body burns a good number of calories throughout the day.
Note that sugar doesn’t mean only sweet stuff; whenever you buy packed food check the ingredients. You’ll find that Carbohydrates are usually divided into two parts: energy and sugar. And this sugar is present in almost every packed/processed food. You need to keep that in check.

Another golden rule is to drink water 20 minutes before you have a meal and walk for 15 minutes one hour before going to bed.

Now coming to the exercise part, which helped fasten my weight loss progress. I did a combination of Yoga and cardio (One can easily find the applications in play store). For me, Yoga was more helpful that cardio, for not only it helped in weight loss, but it also brought a certain calmness and a sense of awareness in my mind. It creates discipline and confidence, and the radiance that shines on your face is just an added advantage.

Once I attained my goal, I stopped having fruits for dinner and added 10 minutes of extra exercise. So key takeaways will be :

• Have a balanced diet (no overeating once you are full)
  spend 20 minutes on exercise daily.
• If you are struggling with stubborn fat, then try different combinations of exercise (I do aerobics/yoga/cardio/taekwondo)
• No need to spend even a single penny, applications for all the exercises are available on play store.
• Try to find inspiration; most probably someone you know!
  Please don’t abandon it after two days, stick to it 😛

I hope you reach your fitness goal sooner than you thought. Good luck 😀

If you have any doubts feel free to drop a comment