A Step by Step guide for gradual weight loss.

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Weight Gain during lockdown ? – Are u pinch,grab or hold level?

I am sure most of us have gained some weight in this lockdown. Though most of us might not have a weighing scale at home. Our dresses are our greatest indicator, that we are overgrowing our dresses and cursing our dresses that, it has become very tight !!! I have developed a pretty simple criteria, and a DIY thing at home to find out, the weight gain over a period of time during this lockdown.

I call them pinch,grab and hold. Do stand in front of a full sized mirror and try to hold your belly with your hand on the side. Are you able to pinch, grab or hold it. Pinch reflects heightened levels of fitness, grab is a good amount of fat and hold is where the flab is what we call as “tyres”. As, I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, that there is no need to panic and excess fat can be gradually melted through using our legs wisely.

If you are at home,cannot move out due to lockdown restrictions, do walk around the house at least for good half an hour during morning.If you are staying in a multi storied building , do use the stairs. You will be burning a good amount of fat. But, dont cancel this fat loss by gorging on your favorite pizza,biriyani or fried food. This would make it a zero sum game.

For those who are afraid of street dogs in your vicinity. I am with you. There are instances five years back, where I had broken Usain Bolts records in Chennai when I was chased by a good pack who want to take a bite of me, but since age was on my side , I did take them down in the run. That was some time back. Now, with wisdom dawning, the best method is not to move. Until and unless the dog is rabid, which is a remote probability, the dog will not bite. Another option is to slow down and walk through the dog’s path. So,that you ensure the supremacy of his territory.

Yes, I have gained some weight. But only this belly is going to show me the way to abdominal nirvana and fat burning. If I do not have a belly, I will not have a reason to run !!! These are self fulfilling prophesies just to keep myself doing something active. I am hopeful that the mirror in your house will trigger you to have your own action plans, looking at you and deciding the line of action.

Do write down your weight in Kgs/Lbs somewhere, and do monitor the same every month. Do make small changes in diet, small changes in physical activity. Bottom line is eat less,eat right and burn more. I am sure,that you will be gradually reducing your excess flab in due course.

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Runner’s High- The ultimate dream of every runner.

Runner’s high is a body’s natural adjustment for releasing necessary chemicals so that one does not get tired and keeps running for long durations. This is the simplest definition I could give. For the running geek, please go into all the technicalities and neuro- biological effects on the body here.

To simplify, runners high is the brief moment of time, where your body stops huffing and puffing and your body starts to enjoy the process of the run. It seems almost mythical, yes, its like a zen like state, akin to meditating while running. This could be the highest form of self- actualization while running .I am of the view that the elite runners of the world have a longer “zen moment a.k.a. runners high” than regular mortals like me.

I can say that, I had the moment for a very brief moment, maybe 20 to 30 seconds on my last 10 k. I wish this time span gets longer. But, I am of the view that the more one practices, the more one gets a chance to land up in the runners high phenomena.

If you take a look at the picture I have posted, one can see that apart from the smile on her face, she seems to be very relaxed ( partly because it a smaller run in a scenic river in Portugal). But the moot point here is that, once the body switches into the “runners high mode” , the body starts to release enough chemicals to keep the pain causing reactions to minimal state. The body stabilizes the palpitations of the run and streamlines the oxygen carrying capacity to all parts of the body.

For newbies, including me, this would something like getting an imaginative “olympic gold medal in running”. For the keen runner in you, I would ask you to take some time out in looking at the kenyan and ethiopian runner marathon videos on youtube. My personal favorite is Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, the ” God of Marathon Running”. In this video, you can see people are trying to mimic his speed.

But as my cricketing idol MSD goes, “Don’t worry about the results, enjoy the process”. I would suggest the same sporting philosophy here. Just start with small runs, take breaks whenever you want to take. Take a days break. Do running on alternate days. Take it slow and gradual. The most important part in any fitness or sporting activity is persistence and regularity.

I would like to thank my senior colleague Mr Gopinath Narayan, who is an ardent runner and fitness enthusiast himself for triggering this topic.

I shall subsequently post on running injuries,diet,nutrition out of my own experience in my subsequent posts.

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Proof of Life Concept.. Before and After Picture…

I had deliberately not kept any picture of mine as I thought it was too early to post any picture, pre and post running. But, there were quite a lot of requests from friends to share the same so that actually I had actually lost body fat. Proof that this way/method works.

This is after I started running.. and Work in Progress..

I call my fat self ” Golu” because its cute, instead of “mota” which sounds quite derogatory to me and would hurt my exercising self. Every time I see a person who has excess fat, the first sign is chubby cheeks and fat in the abdomen. This is basically extra food pumped inside the body, and not burnt due to less or no exercise.

One of the basic tenets of slow running as well as long distance running is that, the body first burns all the carbohydrates during the initial part of the run, then switches to fat to burn towards the energy needs. Imagine your body as a Delhi-taxi, it starts with petrol and switches to CNG for the rest of the day. So, I make fun of my near and dear ones that you are like a camel, who has stored excess fuel the way they have stored in the humps, and can run for quite long distances.

Except for those who are having some medical issues, most of us, are simply lazy and are taken back with the thought of running out in the open or on a treadmill. I am a huge south indian food lover, paratha lover, and could gulp lassis and gorge on parathas incessantly. I want to share a small incident of my super power to gain weight super fast.

This was somewhere in 2014, I went for an official training to ISB, Mohali. The campus and the course was great. What gave me the high was the food. The food was mouth watering and there was so much variety. I went on beast mode and ended gaining 4 inches of waist line in a weeks time. When I came back after the course, I had to purchase fresh set of trousers due to the “delicious bulge”. I had gone to the tailor to loosen the waistline of my trousers, then he literally body shamed be my asking, “Sirji, are you left with any pants at home?”. Family and friends, took a jab at me, as to I went there to eat and do nothing else.

This happened even after daily runs in ISB,Mohali inside the campus for a good 40 minutes. It has dawned to me very late that I was hogging more than I could burn. This ” mid- life awakeing/gyan” came to me very recently. I had made some changes to my diet regime. For breakfast, I have muesli, lunch consists of an apple,few dates and couple of bananas, evening I have few parathas, subzi and fruits. As far as my assessment, my evening meal is slightly heavier as I run early morning. I feel lighter with this food, along with my exercise regime. Yes, there are instances where I go overboard onto pakodas,jalebis and all the tasty and junk food !! But I have reduced these sinister habits to a bare minimum.

Another query which was asked by friends was why I started running. It happened due to a loss in badminton match at IIM,Bangalore in 2017. I had been on a course there, and I always carry my racquet whenever I go out, so that I find a place to play in the evening to play baddy. Lucky for me, IIM-B has an amazing facility, so we used to rush to the courts after our classes get over. There was one guy there, who used to be very good. My friends told me that if you can win against him, we shall have a treat. The match was a protracted battle for over 50 minutes. He was 9 years younger than me,but was very light. I was the “golu baddy player” who was trying my best.

Eventually, he got the best of me. I was drained out, but decided that I need to shed extra flab. I started seriously pouring over youtube videos of Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and Lin Dan ( my idol) from China. After looking at their matches for hours together, I found that apart from the skill sets they have, I found that they are extremely fit athletes and they have a amazing endurance and stamina.

That was the zen moment !!!! From that time on, I started cross training which included running, yoga and badminton. I did see results after two months, when I hit 67 kg from 75 kg. I was able to cover the court better in singles game and finding the doubles game less energy sapping.

This turned out to be a long post. Comments by readers are the lifeline of a blog and make it very interesting and interactive..I would be glad to respond to all your comments and queries in the comments section.Do click the follow button in the bottom of the page for updates sent directly to your inbox for more tit bits of info on fitness,diet and running.

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The Philosophy behind Sculpt Fat

I was inspired by Christopher McDougall’s book “Born to Run” which I read couple of years back. This had gelled with the ” Running and Living” concept by Mr Robert Varghese https://www.runningandliving.com. Though, I had a back issue which I sustained due to a two wheeler incident ten years back, I was active in sports. I did play cricket and badminton. Both are inactive due to the lockdown now. The best part of Mcdougall’s work is the idea that the human body has been designed to run, right from our stone age ancestors. If we see kids around the house, they are always on the move. The genetic program to run is so strong that the ” flight or fight” adage has been coined. Over the years, due to wrong eating habits and a sedentary life style, we have accumulated excess fat in our body.

Weight gain is a natural process, so is weight loss. It takes time. I have seen both sides of the coin. From fat to fit and fit to fat. In this blog, I would be sharing my experiences of fat loss, the ways I have found all these years to work. Physiologically speaking, when we are born we are all born with more or less the same configurations. Over the course of years, and due to our eating habits and physical activity the body undergoes a morphological evolution over time.

The way a sculptor uses the rock to make beautiful figurines and designs, we can also use excess fat stored both in our skin tissue as well as stored in our abdominal cavity in a way so that we chisel the excess fat into a way, we want our body to look.

I would share my experiences of both fat loss as well as fat gain with you over a period of time. I would like to make it clear that these methods worked well for me and were natural. I urge those with any pre- existing health condition to consult their physicians before attempting any of the methods posted in this blog. This blog is not responsible for any bodily harm caused to individuals who do not exercise necessary precaution.

I would be sharing my fat loss journey along with all my friends, who have entered this mid -life crisis of the bulge as we get stuck to a sedentary lifestyle. I am of the view that, if fat gain is a gradual and organic process, so is fat loss. It needs patience and sticking to strict diet discipline. A senior colleague of mine who had shed quite a lot of flab, told me that the weight loss journey starts with your mouth and not your workouts. I shall share my cravings for food and the fights between hand, mouth and mind in posts to come.

I am sure that, especially for those who want to cut those extra kilos. My scribblings would be of some help.

Living with Piriformis Syndrome

Hi friends. I hope this post finds yourself and family safe. I have been off workout for sometime now, gained few pounds too !!!. I have got a doberman pup called Colonel, who keeps me busy all day and I have three kittens shadow, ninja and samurai and two big cats ginger and panther. So, I am kinda overwhelmed when I am at home with all the bursts of energy from these lovely guys !!!!

The other thing, I found out after my latest badminton venture was that I had a serious glute issue. I got myself examined at the Sports Injury centre at Safdarjang and found to be having piriformis syndrome.

For those newbies, who do not know about the piriformis, I am placing a video link for explanation.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ_slDEUGdQ

This is a small muscle in your glute, lower back of the body and gets inflammed with prolong inactivity and sitting. This was an eye opener for those who sit long in the chairs including self. Now, I know why one of my bosses keeps walking in the corridor very regularly. The simply do not say that sitting is as bad as smoking for the body.

The doc gave me some advice on the piroformis stretch and light activity advice on how to keep the glute muscles strong. I think, I should be able to start running in due course and pick up badminton post recovery from these injuries which are lifestyle and bad posture effects on the body.

We take our bodies for granted and all the cumulative bad postures come back and hit us very hard one day. That day , as in my case is the day of reckoning !!!! I urge all my followers on word press to give adequate time for themselves, do good yoga stretches for the glutes and avoid sitting continuously for not more than one hour.

Stay safe and Stay healthy !!!

Secret to The Fastest Way to burn Fat !!!

I did join a facebook group which is for weight loss. I thought that I could contribute meaningfully, share the secret there for weight loss out of my own experience. Turned out to be a marketing/merchandising hub for products. Like get rich scheme overnight !!!!

I had mentioned in one of my earlier posts, that both fat loss and fat gain is a normal and natural process. If we use any short cuts for the same, we could be in harms way.

Out of my own experience of both fat loss and fat gain. I highly recommend slow long runs. You burn more calories than walking and it is not that difficult either. Starting to run slowly is difficult. Once you have started, there is no looking back in your fitness journey. There is a modern term called in the realm of professional athletics, called as marathon. Take a look at the picture below :

When we take a look at the picture, we see that most of the people are lean. It is because, running is the best and complete exercise and so is swimming. Because of Covid related issues, all of us are taking it safe. If you have a treadmill at home, I would suggest you to start slow, and steady. I have posted a schedule in one of my earlier posts for easy reference and follow up.

The people who are on top of the marathon game are Kenyans and Ethiopians. I want you guys to take a look at their diet secret in this link https://runnersconnect.net/diet-of-kenyan-runners/. Their meal primarily is corn meal, vegetables and milk tea. They do not take junk food. Strict NO NO !!!

So, if you want to blast past the persistence belly fat which is troubling you, you better change the way you eat and exercise. These simple behavioral changes could mean a lot to you and your family. Everytime you get a thought to go for the burger,pack of chips or an aerated/fizzy drink, hold that thought for 10 seconds and see that thought is good or bad for the body.

Normally, when we binge, we are carried away by these emotions and we do not hold it for 10 seconds. Once we hold it for 10 seconds, we can replace it with either water or a fruit snack. Snack anything that is natural and non-processed food.

As I mentioned earlier, take it slow but be regular. Watch your diet and exercise regime very closely and monitor data. Keep log data of how and when you exercise on g drive ( my fav !!) and keep on eye and mind on what you what you eat. Drink plenty of water.

Do keep me posted on how you managed your cravings for junk food !!! That would be very challenging and interesting fighting the demons from inside you !!!

I hope you stay safe, take all precautions during these times and hopefully our scientific fraternity would bring some good news about the vaccine soon !!!

How to lose persistent belly fat in a month.

Hi friends, Happy Independence day to all the readers from India !!!

I am hopeful that all your near and dear ones are safe and sound. As things are getting back to “new normal”. I want to share some tips with you to lose that persistent belly fat and ways melt that persistent issue.

I have observed my body over a period of time. Especially when I run, the belly moves up and down. This movement helps in burning the subcutaneous fat closer to our skin. I urge you to try slow running in the park or an open area nearby.

I prefer early morning, say around 6 am when there are very less people around and since your body is in motion there is less chance of getting any infection. I find it very difficult to run with a mask in parks, so I run on roads. But, I want you all to stay safe, so better wear your masks when there are people around.

Drink enough fluids. Do carry a small water bottle in your hand or get a water pouch which you can tie it around your waist.

Below is the monthly schedule I am attaching for you to follow:

Weeks One to Four :

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Jog 30 mins with 5 songs on your device. Walk one min after every song.Then jog again. – 5 km	Yoga for 20 minutes and walk – 20 mins – 3 km	Jog 30 mins with 5 songs on your device. Walk one min after every song.Then jog again	Rest	Jog 30 mins with 5 songs on your device. Walk one min after every song.Then jog again	Yoga for 20 minutes and walk – 20 mins – 3 km	Rest

Week -1 -4

I would urge that during these four weeks to abstain from fried food items to the minimum. No chips or carbonated drinks. Do eat lots of fruits and plenty of water.

Measure your weight on a weighing scale. Take a measuring tape and run the tape from behind to your navel as mentioned in the picture above. Do write these measurements down.

Pro -Tip:

I am sharing a life -hack with you. Drink Iskiate , one hour before your run and even as a post work out drink. For those who watched Kung-Fu Panda, this is the “Secret ingredient”. I have been vastly benefited by this drink and I am sure that you would vouch for it after your runs !!!!

Another way of framing a reference point is, who do you idealize your body to be like. Ideally, as per your body height and weight, it can be a sportsperson or celebrity who you like or follow. In my case, the people I follow are badminton super stars Lin Dan of China, Kento Momota and AS Ginting of Indonesia.

Of the three, Momota comes closest as far as physical similarity is concerned. This is Kento Momota wiki page. His height is similar to mine. But his weight is far better than mine. I weigh 74 kgs as of today. His weight is 68 kgs. So my target weight is 68 kg.

Though, I might sound a bit outrageous on trying to mimic the No 1 player right now, but you need to set the bar very high in the process of weight loss. Until you do not have a frame of reference in your weight loss journey, you might get back to old ways of junk food, aerated drinks and laziness.

The only way to reducing pot belly is gradual and slow work outs. Following simple and natural food. Eat less and less processed food. Drink plenty of water. Sleeping adequately and gradual reducing of junk food, alcohol and cigarettes.

I know, it is a very tough ask and a tough task, But, once you look at yourself at the mirror, you feel that its not the same person ten years back. You have caused this damage for yourself,and only you can reclaim your true body which is waiting, rather hiding inside those sheets of fat to be visible to the whole world.

I shall be with you in this journey, all through. Feel free to ask any question/query you feel. I shall be glad to help. I want to see slow and gradual progress towards your ideal body weight.

Let us all achieve freedom from excess fat and flab this independence day!!!!

Best Wishes !!!!

How to practice Active Ageing.

Active ageing – The discourse till now:

Active ageing as a concept is in vogue for some time. Organizations like WHO and European commission have published studies. The scope of this concept is very vast. For the time being, we shall understand the concept bit deeper.

Once you hit forty, you feel that the body is not the same. But, if we follow a disciplined approach to fitness, we can age actively. In this post, I would present some suggestions to practice active ageing, which is healthy and wise.

There are three main concepts involved. Diet, sleep and exercise. The food we eat should be preferably organic, with minimal chemical load in it. I know that it is nearly impossible to know the source of food and what all has gone in it.

Being vegetarian after 40 would keep your body very light and supple. The next part is good sleep. The body repairs itself during night time and a good sleep of 6 to 7 hours is essential for a fresh day. It is preferred that you use a hard bed, instead of a cushy bed which hurts your back. I avoid pillows, you can use soft pillows.

Exercise or physical activity is an integral part of active ageing. The degree of exercise can start with simple walking of 40 minutes a day in the morning to becoming an IRON MAN/WOMAN, there is no end for fitness.

I would suggest a good mix of yoga and aerobic activity on alternate days, for 30 to 40 minutes daily. This would keep all the muscles of the body in action and keep the body internally fit.

I read somewhere that age is just a number. As long as one is physically active and contributes to self,family and the country, you are young. This is my way of seeing life. I urge you to stay fit, eat right and rest well.

You can share your experiences here on the comments tab. I shall be glad to answer your queries in the comments section.

Discipline and Passion for Fitness

Friends, Over the years, I had found that there is a relationship between fitness and discipline. I used to play badminton almost daily for the past four years. It was like a ritual. After dropping the boy in the school bus, I used to rush back to take my kits to the court.

In the Siri fort pay and play scheme, you need to reach early so that you get a court. We have an amazing set of people in our badminton group who take turns for getting the courts booked. Some of us are in the mid-40’s and some of them in mid-30’s.

They always say that they are playing with old men, but during the match we do play with their emotions ( hahaha). Coming back to the issue of discipline, we are all very organized.

All of us keep everyone up atleast one hour prior to the game over phone and we all warm up before the game. We are happy that we all have a good game and the games are always tough and long lasting. Through this process of playing , I found out that there are loads of benefits for the body.

First, the body gets attuned to a rhythm daily and because of this adrenalin rush for about an hour, the mind remains alert and aware during the day. Except for ill health or any personal or domestic responsibility, most of us ( team of 12 people) play very regularly. On weekends, I used to be on baddy dope( literally !!!).

There were instances when I started at 8 am and came back home at 3 pm to feel the heat !!!! But, all for the love of the game. During weekends, the teams are more and familiar faces want to have loads of games. The best part is, I did not have to pay for playing. They just needed me for the game.

Gone were the good ol’days. Stuck between office and home, there is almost nil physical activity. Thanks to my plantar fasciitis issue, I am just walking instead of running. But, I walk regularly. The important part in anyones fitness journey is regularity and persistence.

I want to share an amazing video of Stephen Dunier on how to achieve your goals. It is applicable in most of our areas of life. He talks of small changes in our routines.

Courtesy : Youtube.com

I feel that this man is a maniac in habit formation and execution. He is worth emulating. He outlines, how he has seen habits and persistence change his life.

I am sure that this video would be very helpful for you. I want you to make those small changes in your habits and top it with discipline to realize the true potential of ourselves.

Injury Management and Weight Loss

During the process of running, if we make some mistakes we might get injured. I want to list out some common injuries and solutions so that injuries do not come in the way of your fitness journey. The first and most common injury when one runs is cramping. Cramping is when the body fluids are lost along with essential salts and minerals in the body through sweat. One normally gets pains in the abdomen as well as cramps in the thighs and calves.

Ice Cubes do relieve inflammation.. Very effective…

The best way to avoid cramping is hydration. As I had mentioned in one of my earlier posts, having a glass full of iskiate at least half an hour before a workout would keep you in good stead throughout the workout. The other aspect of injury is due to wrong position of the leg or bad stride. This might cause inflammation of tendons or muscles and in extreme cases might go to an extent of a hairline fracture depending on the impact.

I wear comfortable shoes while I run. As I had mentioned in one of my earlier posts, the art and science of finding a good shoe based on your foot is also very important. You might have a high arch, low arch or a flat foot. Your stride might pronate or supinate when you place your foot. You need to talk to a good physiotherapist before you buy your footwear. Remember these things are going to hold your entire weight, so better invest in a good pair of shoes.

Further, if you are crazy enough in running you might end up like me having a plantar fasciitis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantar_fasciitis. This happens when you overuse your body, which I do out of my passion to run. So, my physio has told me not to run for the next one week. I am terribly bored nursing this injury, but I need to consider the fact that she has told me keeping my good health and health history in mind.

Though, I used to warm up and cool down after the run, have enough hydration precaution and correct foot stride, these things happen. I getting to know my body better with every injury I have and trying to get back to running after the rehabilitation process is complete. I am watching my eating habits and not go into binge mode, as the idle mind and body is the devils workshop. In my case, the food devils are getting extremely active inside my head to try out different cuisines and hog a lot. Gaining weight is very easy through the mouth, losing weight is a easy but a long drawn process. So, I have decided on prevention and sticking to my almost paleo – vegetarian diet of muesli,fruits and parathas at night.

I am sure, all my readers are safe and sound in this pandemic. Take all necessary precautions and keep drinking warm fluids mixed with ginger and turmeric to keep viruses and bacteria at bay.

Super Dan ..the G.O.A.T in Badminton retires.. An insurmountable loss for his fans….

It has been twenty long years of watching Lin Dan play, and the day has come for him to hang his boots. Honestly I could see his power waning, due to age. But he was still tricky and deceptive which he had made changes from his fast paced attacking game. His rivalry with Malaysian great Lee Chong Wei is legendary and I could watch their matches hours together.

What makes Super Dan special is his never give up attitude and fighting even at match points and saving the match and winning it subsequently. I remember his Olympic golds at 2008 and 2012 and all his win against Chen Long in the Singapore Open in 2019. Though Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia troubled him during his early part of his career. Lin Dan has single handedly placed himself as the Don Bradman of Badminton. He is one of the reasons for my shift from cricket to badminton and have fallen in love ever since with the game.

For me its an end of an era. Sports take a toll on the body, and competitive sport at the international level where you have the entire nations hopes pinned on your shoulders is an enormous burden to carry. He not only carried this burden gracefully but gave back to the people a reason to celebrate. He is truly one of greatest sporting heroes.

I shall surely miss you and your relentless spirit on the court. You are in the hearts of all the badminton fanatics of the world. The way you have approached the game and the sacrifices of staying away from your family right from a small boy till entering the national team are truly an inspiration for everyone.I wish Lin Dan and his family a wonderful second innings !!!

Adios !!!! the Greatest of All Time….

Yoga stretch and Core Strengthening

The three important parts of the body once you cross the age of 40 are the legs, back and the abdomen. These parts of the body remain idle during our work years and from 25 to 40 and beyond primarily due to sitting.With COVID around, our sitting time has extended much beyond our standard hours of sitting. There are two things which happen when we sit, the legs do not move, and the core rests for a prolonged period.

From a personal point, I feel that core ( abdomen muscles), back ( both and upper and lower back) and legs, should be in pristine working condition. If these parts of the body are active, then we can assume that we are in good shape. Do a simple exercise at home when you are free. Sit down on the floor, try to spread your legs as much as you can and try to move your body forward towards your legs. You can feel a good amount of stretch or tightness in the thighs and legs.

What I found after doing this exercise is that, how stiff my legs have become over the years. The way I found to increase flexibility and suppleness in the legs is through yoga. There are good back strengthening exercise and hip opening exercises that help you to increase flexibility irrespective of age, as long as these postures are done regularly. The other important thing I learnt about yoga during my stint at IIM,Bangalore was the need to inhale and exhale during the yoga pose. Earlier there was bad breathing or shallow breathing during these yoga poses. But, the effectiveness of these yoga poses get amplified with breathing. I shall make a detailed post on these yoga poses soon.

I would reiterate the importance of water and flexibility in the body. More than 70% of all body fluids has a water base. So, even for losing fat we need to drink water always, immaterial of whether you are indoors or outdoors. Do consume seasonal fruits for an entire meal, preferably lunch or dinner. We are what we eat. I have reduced my share of oily and fried foods this week to a bare minimum ( I snack on aloo bhujia – two tablespoons daily) as old habits die hard. Its like smoking, though I never smoked. Breaking free from an addictive habit is a tough call. But, we have only this body, so we have to take best care of it as long as we can live.

Once your core is strengthened over a period of time. The flabs on abdomen should reduce and you would feel lighter than before. I feel that fat loss and flexibility should go hand in hand. I cross train daily alternating with yoga and running in a fairly gradual manner so that there is no over exertion.

My 5kg weight loss calculation spanning next 6 months

Hi friends, I hope that all of you are safe and sound wherever you are. I would like to share a small insight with you on my projected weight loss for the next six months based on my present activity.

I am sure that most of you would be having some sort of fitness tracker or band paired with your phone which shows your daily calorie 🔥and fat 🔥.

This is my snapshot for my today’s run.

So, going by the above info. If I want to burn 5 kg of fat. It’s 5000 grams/55 grams = 90. So, it would take 90 days to burn my fat with my current activity. Further, I do not see myself running 90 days at a stretch due to possibility of injury and other commitments which might come on the way.

I run alternate days with decent regularity. So, assuming 90 x 2 = 180 days , at the rate of 8 km and 55 grams of fat, I might lose around 5 kg of body fat. Even, if I miserable fail with the alternate day thing, I see myself 3 kg lesser and lighter. I am 5ft 7 inches. I presently weigh 72 kgs. This is my calculation based on my present regime. I suggest you to make one which is comfortable to you. Your body and my body are physiologically different. So, feel free to make necessary adjustment and do it at your own pace. Regularity is the key.

Initially, I thought that I would lose weight in a jiffy. But when I found that it’s a long journey. I decided to take the long haul route and focus on the process. Most of us want instant result, thanks to our mobiles and apps. But our body doesn’t work that way. It’s a gradual process, and we need to have that mental make up to undertake this physical process. Once we make this clear in our mind, then it becomes autotelic. Most of the time, we do not go to this process mode and think of instant results. The fastest way of weight loss is plastic surgery/liposuction which I desist and would strongly advice against. Never look for medical short cuts until and unless prescribed by a qualified physician and is a matter of life and death. Everything else can go gradually and smoothly.

Patience and consistency are the two most important things in fat loss/fitness journey. My pre run drink is iskiate and my post workout drink is plain old chocolate horlicks with warm milk. We need to listen to our bodies during the course of this journey, it gives us indications and symptoms of where the body needs attention. Most of the time, we take those signs for granted and in turn the body takes you for granted. The body says to you always, “Give respect and take respect”. If you abide by this line of thought, it’s always a win/win situation.

Always remember, eat right and burn right. Do post your comments in the comments section and subscribe by email for updates on fat loss, fitness and nutrition.