Fat-to-Fit the New Way- Part 3 by Supriya

In the past, I have written about how I came down from 70 kgs to 58 kgs in four months. In case you missed it, you can see the transformation and read about it here:

year 2016 – Physical Education Practicals class 12th

We were asked to complete 3 rounds of the skating area, not that big , and I was the chubbiest kid who completed the last 😂. Even once my PT teacher said “she’s too fat, won’t be able to run” I don’t know if it was appropriate for a teacher to say that. From there to a fitness junkie was an amazing journey.

Although I have now joined a gym for strength training, I can never be thankful enough for my weight loss hacks as they led me to a safe and sustainable weight loss- I never went back to my bulky self. And I did it without any hardcore diets or a gym, In short I did not spent even a penny during my losing process, instead I saved the money that was being spent on junk food :D. No no I did not give up on my junk cravings competently, as I feel it , that there is no use of looking good if you cannot enjoy the things you like and My junk cravings are a major part of my happiness.

This post however focuses on developing the overall quality of your life

PART 1 ( The Silent Killers)

In the first part I address the silent killers that kill your determination and discipline without you knowing. Then we blame ourselves for not being enough disciplined or for not working hard enough while the actual culprits keep grinning right under our noses.Remember, that these points are non-negotiable. Just follow them for a minimum of 21 days and tell me if they made a difference. All of them are from my personal experiences and extensive reading/researching. You are only allowed to read more if you promise me that you’ll follow them.

I have noticed. so many times that your sleeping pattern effects everything else in your life and routine. Try staying awake late in the night continuously for 3-4 days, your eyes will start to burn and itch, irritation and anxiety will catch you frequently and you won’t feel like doing anything else let alone follow any routine mindfully. If you are like me- someone who loves the quiet and peace of the night time, I’d advice to you sleep early and wake up at Bhrama muhurat- The most auspicious time for everything.I made it the first point because I myself have suffered a lot of stress due to this habit of staying up late frequently.So my humble request- please sleep as early as possible.

Just like sleep, the content we feed our brain is also a major cause of our sufferings and weight gain. As I have observed it, the more conscious you are on what content you feed your mind the happier and more mindful you’ll be. Which will help you immensely in your weight loss as well as you life. Have you ever noticed that surfing on an intellectual and troll-free community seems much more rewarding and positive than surfing instagram or facebook? . Or consider this- try an experiment for yourself- listen or watch a bollywood movie/serial/song and then listen to some Sanskrit chants of holy names or switch to some vedantic/ spiritual videos or watch something that your are passionate about, I am sure you’ll see the difference. This is the power of positivism. Most of the content we see in our social media feeds is heavily toxic. We don’t realize it but it does effect our thinking process. We see someone having fun with their friends and we feel bad about our own lives (I realized it when I post with my friends that probably it triggered someone). I used to feel constantly meaningless when I realized that these silent killers were present in my life.

This brings me to my next point- avoid social media as much as you can. Replace it with something you are passionate about or if you don’t have anything as such the just try this- whenever you feel like surfing on instagram, just pick up the phone watch a few stories, in case you know someone who posts useful stuff, just have look at their feed then put your phone down. I myself don’t use social media for more than 5-7 minutes a day and even that seems too much. After putting your phone down engage your brain immediately. My recommendations- try yoga for ten minutes, pick up a book and read a few a pages (trust me, bibliophiles never feel lonely) , keep a journal and write your heart out-write what;s troubling you and the next time you look at it try to view it from a third person perspective and think what the solution can be. In case nothing is troubling you, then write down something that you’d want to learn, don’t make a list, just name one thing you’d like to start and why. Trust me, this hack works. You’ll sort out most of your stuff in the same day itself.

Be in sync with nature. The more you live according to nature’s style – the more fit and content you’ll be. A different kind of satisfaction will dawn upon you. Nature is after all our first mother and being in sync with her is the most natural and easiest way to make our lives more beautiful. sync your routine according to her. Wake up when she does and end your day when she does (of-course professional commitments are understandable but you can also do it after waking up early). Nature is running so smoothly because she is following her discipline unfailingly for so many years. Our body understands food that comes from nature, fruits/veggies/milk. They are easy to digest and hardly causes any problems. On the other hand all the processed food are the ones that cause all sorts of health hazards. The other point is to be compassionate, kind and loving like her. Swami Vivekananda said “The one who is loving is living, the one who is selfish is dying”.I know that it is not possible to be kind and loving all the time, but try to do it as much as you can.

The next one is- IGNORE. I tell this to my friends and to myself multiple times that our brains are not dustbins to dump everyone’s opinion in them. So avoid talking/meeting/getting involved with people that you don’t feel any real connection with or people who make you feel bad or simply the ones who don’t inspire you. By no means I am suggesting to be unkind with them, just tell them lovingly that you are trying a new lifestyle and your coach has advised you to keep your interactions minimal.

PART -2 (Weight loss hacks)

After you have taken care of the silent killers, you are ready to move on to follow some simple hacks that makes you fir and healthy in the long run. They work as a charm.

1. Walk for 15 minutes four times a day (preferably after meals). It’s not necessary to specially go to a park, if you have a long balcony or a verandah in your building, that will suffice too. In this way you’ll walk a total of 60 minutes in a day which is enough to spike the metabolism level.

2. Avoid eating Rice and Potato for the dinner. I am naming these two due the the frequency at which it is consumed in India. Otherwise, all food items containing high carbohydrate contents should be avoided at night. Carbohydrates break into sugar and energy, while carbs are highly advised before intense strength training (as it results in energy) it should be avoided at night because of the inactive time zone.

3. Your Breakfast should be your heaviest meal (I used to have 2-3 chappatis) and your dinner should be your lightest. Dinner should be high in protein content and less in carbohydrates. It’s best to have your last meal at least three hours before you go to bed. If you feel hungry in-between, avoid munching on junk snacks and switch to Diet namkeen/peanuts and dry fruits. You can also eat upma and poha.

4. Drink water 250 ml twenty minutes before your meal. What happens is, our brain gets the signal a few minutes later after we are full. So by the time we know we are full we’d have already overeaten. Drinking water fills or stomach and don’t let us overeat plus it helps in releasing digestive juices.

5. If you have stubborn thigh fat I advice 60 squats everyday (20 reps 3 sets) My thigh fat has reduced a lot due to it. If you want to shed overall fat Burpees is the best exercise for it. Though there is nothing like spot reduction, still it is my observation that the effect is seen the most on the focused body part. The trick is to do it consciously, if you want to take on the buttocks or thighs for instance, keep your focus on that body part while doing the exercise.

6. Yoga is the best thing happened to me. It taught me things more than any other exercise can, it is immensely liberating. It makes you flexible, so you kind of let go of the restrictions of the body. After a little practice you’ll be able to bend in new ways, which is very satisfying, it feels like you are free like a bird. If you are not comfortable performing cardio of high intensity training then it is the best option for you. I have mentioned the link for the apps in the end.

7. I would just want you to know that the first time you try any exercise, it might not that cool. You even might look funny while doing it, but don’t give up, you’ll see that after 2-3 months, you’ll doing it more graciously and perfectly.

Apps I used: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=melstudio.myogafat

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=loseweightapp.loseweightappforwomen.womenworkoutathome

lastly, as a fitness enthusiast I’ll keep posting new things from time to time as I come across them. If you have any queries please drop in a comment. Good Luck! 😉