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Don't Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight by Diwekar Rujuta

Don't Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight by Diwekar Rujuta

by Parker · 211 things on Twos

Foreword
It isn't about starving but about eating well, eating right and eating regularly.
I make sure I eat every two hours, and my meal or snack ranges from a sandwich to a glass of soy milk.
Introduction
“He who brought you here, brought me here.”
Losing weight is incidental. A by-product of following a common sense approach to eating—eating right.
Where was the thrill in eating the right amount of food at the right time.
There is no such thing as going ‘on’ or ‘off’ your diet. Eating correctly has to be a lifelong commitment, and the diet should be a reflection of this.
Diet, or what you eat, should be planned according to your activity, lifestyle, fitness levels, likes, dislikes, genetics, etc. It should be part of our daily life, just as brushing our teeth is. For diets to work they have to be personalised.
Oversimplification or generalisation has never worked.
What is most important is that you feel good about yourself, treat yourself well, be committed to eating properly and exercising; and weight loss, rather fat loss, will just happen.
Punishing yourself by going on deprivation diets (liquid diets, low carb, high protein or any other fad diet) is never going to work. You will lose weight but at what cost? Not to mention that it will all come back, double of what you lost, in fact.
Over the years I have come to understand that everything that we do or do not do is motivated by a strong desire to be happy. We want to lose weight because we think that it will make us happy. We want to, just have to, eat that pastry because it will make us happy. We don’t want to eat karela sabzi because that will make us unhappy. The problem is that we are looking for happiness in the wrong place. Happiness is within us (clichéd but true) and when we get in touch with ourselves, our true being, we will discover happiness. Dieting or eating correctly, is a process, a learning tool, to go within. And when we see or experience that glimpse of reality within ourselves, it will (has to) reflect in our physical body.
As for how much weight will you lose? Two things. First, know that every time you talk about weight loss, what you are actually trying to achieve is fat loss. Second, focus on the essentials: eating right and eating on time. Fat loss, remember, just happens. Once you follow the easy to understand and (surprisingly) easy to practice principles, you will notice that you feel different in as little as two weeks. You will get much more intuitive towards food, sleep better and feel much more energetic. In about three months you will see visible changes and drop a couple of sizes in clothes. You will also find that you naturally won’t overeat, will understand how and when to eat that pastry, enjoy a sense of calm and peace and most importantly, stop worrying about how much you weigh.
What diet is not
The word ‘diet’ has become synonymous with drastic weight loss, health loss, energy loss, metabolic rate loss and most importantly loss of sanity!
Your diet has to be a representation of what you will be eating your entire life. It has to remain true to your genes, your likes and dislikes, your work life, your level of activity, and only then does it have a good chance of working.
Dieting is not about ‘going on’ a diet.
Don’t go for diet plans which deprive you of food or make you eat only one type of food.
Any programme which discourages you from exercising is worthless. Being on a diet might help you lose weight, but without exercise we lose our muscles and bone density. And loss of bone density and muscle is ageing.
The human body is designed for continuous activity. The least we can do is give it 30 to 45 minutes of exercise for 3 days a week to keep it in good shape and condition.
Know that the higher the amount of lean body weight you carry, the greater your fat burning capacity.
So eat your fruit, but don’t think that it’s safer than eating a dessert. Its nutrients only work for us if we eat it at as a meal by itself: as a morning meal or after exercise, and not as a dessert after dinner.
Whether we are talking about fruits or soy or some other miracle food, one thing is for sure: if there are reports glorifying it today, in a couple of years there will be reports of it harming you.
There is really nothing like ‘safe food’ or ‘fattening food’. Everything that you eat judiciously, at the right time and in the right quantity, is good for you.
Just as everyone is different, everyone’s diets have to be different too. Don’t try someone else’s regime.
How to eat: relearn
Overeating is the cause of all diseases.
Overeating can be defined as eating more than the body’s ability to digest at that point of time.
So overeating doesn’t just mean eating a large quantity of food, it means eating that food at the wrong time.
You can keep the fire active through a disciplined lifestyle, regular exercise and optimistic attitude. Our basic problem today is that our digestive capacity (or fire) is diminishing and our consumption is increasing.
The overeating threshold is a very very thin line. That gap between eating the right amount and overeating is crossed by just one mouthful, bite or spoonful. It’s crucial to be very aware of this threshold because once you cross this laxman rekha, then you can go on and on and on. Your senses go numb and you can eat up to 5 to 6 times your stomach’s capacity.
Women often gain weight when they get married. It’s because eating with someone else leads us to exceed our usual capacity, although most brides are quite unaware of this change because they’re still eating less than their husbands.
Tip: don’t store sweets or fried foods at home. You might be gifted mithai and the like at festival time. After completely enjoying 1 or 2 pieces, give these away to friends, family, share it at office, give it to your watchman, bai, etc.
Too often we use food as a crutch to overcome boredom or as a distraction from our deep rooted fears or feelings. This is also what girly magazines call ‘comfort food’. Food, or the act of eating, is the most primitive form of comfort, but we need to understand that food is about providing nourishment to the body and not about overcoming boredom or stale relationships.
The biggest lesson that we have to learn is to stop eating before reaching the overeating threshold.
The secret to staying within the threshold is to have more small and frequent meals like Siddharth.
The stomach is actually the size of 2 palms. The food it can take at a time is the amount that fits in your 2 palms.
By constantly eating beyond our capacity, however, we stretch the stomach and take in more food than it can digest. This is why I advocate small, frequent meals. Give the stomach a dose of what it needs. When it’s finished digesting, give it some more. You’re still giving your stomach plenty of food; you’re simply lengthening the process of feeding yourself.
The key to staying within your threshold is to be attentive while you eat. Savour every bit of what you eat, slowly and mindfully, and you will naturally find your threshold. All you need to train yourself to do, is to be attentive to your stomach.
We have to learn to experience mitahar. Mitahar loosely translated means sweet food or diet. Mita: sweet and ahar: food, diet or meal. According to me, the real meaning of the word dieting is mitahar.
Eating should always lead to a ‘sweet’ feeling. We have to learn to eat only to a point where our experience with food is sweet or pleasant, and when our body still feels light and fresh.
Eyes watch the colours of food, nose smells the aroma of food, skin feels the texture of food through your fingers, ears listen to the silence and the tongue opens up to the various tastes in the meal.
Initially you have to eat in isolation and focus all your senses just on eating.
Guidelines
Before eating:
Switch off your phone, TV and computer.
Wash your hands (use a soap).
Serve yourself half of what you usually eat, on a nice, clean plate.
Preferably adopt the crosslegged posture or sit at your usual dining place.
While eating:
Drink a glass of water.
Start eating (preferably with your hands) and eat slowly.
Chew your food slowly and deliberately.
Use the entire mouth and don’t just chew from 1 side of your jaw.
While you still have food in your mouth don’t pick up the food from your plate (Keeping food ready in your hands or on your spoon means you are eating fast and will ultimately overeat.)
Eat with all your senses and think about how the food is nourishing you from within.
Now if you want to eat some more, serve yourself a second helping from the other half that’s left. But don’t eat it all.
After eating
Don’t be in a rush to get up and get going. Stay where you are for a few minutes.
If you’re clearing up yourself, pick up your plate and clean it with water before leaving it in the sink. (Food that dries up on the plate will sometimes stay on the plate even after washing, and can cause stomach discomfort at a later point.)
Leaving food behind on your plate will not be an insult to the millions who go hungry every night.
Overstuffing your stomach has not helped the poor (it never will) and it definitely doesn’t help you.
A fit person is more capable of bringing about a change in society. Feel strongly about millions who go hungry every night? Get yourself in shape and start investing time (not just money) in community projects.
By nutrients I mean carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and of course water. Of these, carbs, protein and fats are called macro nutrients because our body needs them in higher amounts, and vitamins and minerals are called micro nutrients because they are needed in smaller amounts. Also, 70% of our body is water, so this is something that our body needs all the time.
5 basic rules for increasing nutrient intake:
Eat food that is prepared fresh. And consume it within 3 hours of cooking.
The smaller the number of people the food is prepared for, the better its nutrient level.
Eat your vegetables and fruits whole instead of cutting them into pieces, because you lose vitamins from their surface. The larger the exposed area, the more the loss of nutrients.
Remain loyal to your genes and eat what you have been eating since childhood.
As much as possible, eat local produce and seasonal food. Climate, altitude, humidity, wind, soil quality, etc influence our digestive system and foods that grow locally.
A calm state of mind actually helps us to absorb all nutrients from the food we eat. Boring? Ok how’s this: a calm state of mind actually prevents conversion of food to fat.
When the mind is stressed, agitated, worked up, sad, angry and distracted you don’t secrete any digestive juices. You sure eat, but nothing gets digested or absorbed. Because you are feeling disturbed or stressed in your mind (which the body perceives as a threat to its survival), most of the food gets converted to fat (the natural reaction of the body when it thinks it’s under threat). Stress (caused by work, finance, relationships, traffic, lack of sleep, etc) leads to the secretion of cortisol in our body. The function of cortisol is to lower our metabolic rate, prevent fat burning and help convert food to fat.
You will convert maximum food to fat when you’re disturbed in any way. So dig your teeth into that luscious pastry or gulab jamun. Enjoy it and eat it guilt free. A relaxed state of mind is the best preparation for any indulgence.
Bottom line: when it comes to food think nutrients, not calories.
You can digest the most amount of food between 7 am and 10 am.
What to eat: rethink
Most importantly, carbohydrates help in the functioning of our brain cells and neurons. The body is able to carry out its functioning without carbohydrates but it cannot think without carbs.
The glycemic index ranks carbohydrates depending on how quickly they lead to an increase in our blood glucose and insulin levels. High GI or ‘fast’ carbs lead to a quick sharp rise in the blood glucose levels and low GI or ‘slow’ carbs lead to a slow, steady rise in blood glucose levels.
High GI foods (fast carbs) get converted to fat quickly and low GI foods (slow carbs) have a much better chance of getting utilised for energy instead of getting stored as fat.
Fibre slows down the release of sugar in the blood stream and reduces the glycemic index of food. Fibre also leads to a feeling of fullness, and helps in digestion and bowel movement.
Low carb diets lead to depletion of serotonin, a neurotransmitter in the brain responsible for feeling of well being, happiness, and satisfaction.
Carbs help you burn fat, keep your bowels clean, reduce bloating and aids metabolism (because they also provide the all important vitamin B responsible for converting food to energy.)
Insulin resistance is caused by consuming too many unhealthy or fast carbs, in addition to stress, obesity and inactivity. This condition can be managed very easily by reducing the glycemic load at one time; ie eating small portions many times a day and consuming slow or low GI carbs.
You can safely eat your brownie, gulab jamun, etc without getting fat. Two things: eat them not more than once a week (and that’s the most you’re allowed!) and don’t eat them with a meal.
Where the glycemic index is very high, reduce the load.
We should eat fruits when we are in a fasting state or when our liver store is empty: so, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, or immediately after physical exercise.
So when we drink any kind of alcohol, the body immediately puts its fat burning on hold, and starts to metabolise the alcohol; to get rid of this foreign substance.
Diets help you lose weight but you usually gain double the weight back in half the time.
Our protein requirement stands roughly at 1 gram per kilo of body weight.
Increasing activity without increasing protein only leads to muscle wasting.
Avoid red meat (too much of saturated fats) or at least restrict it to no more than once a week.
All other forms of protein can be eaten daily. Fish and eggs are better than chicken; fish scores the highest marks because it’s a rich source of omega -3 fatty acids. But remember: all the non-vegetarian protein options are tough on your body and hard to digest. Soy is great. But because it can increase estrogen levels (the female hormone in your body) it should not be overdone. If you like your soy, eat one soy product a day but not more.
Whey protein is a powder made from milk which you mix with water to turn into a drink. It has the best biological value of protein; which means that almost every gram of whey you consume gets used for its intended purpose and is absorbed by the body. Whey isolate, made from whey protein is a boon for lactose intolerant vegetarians like me as it doesn’t irritate the stomach or the intestines.
Whey protein is easy on the system, has zero sugar, and is easy to digest. If you weight train regularly or run long distances, whey protein will become a necessity.
Being a vegetarian is about practising non violence and compassion towards all, including yourself.
Our body’s ability to digest and absorb proteins depends on our state of mind, time of the day and most importantly on how full we are feeling.
Veg or non-veg, whatever you choose to eat, be kind to yourself and your stomach and eat only a little at one time. Remember the golden rule, just fill half your stomach at one time. With this you will be practising ahimsa even while consuming non-veg food.
You should never eat sausage, cold cuts and processed meats, beef, lamb, and pork
Corollary: fat or good times will make you lean. So eat fat to lose fat.
Saturated fats are solid at room temperature: butter, animal fats (especially red meat), milk and milk products, coconut and palm oil. Long chain fatty acids are found in animal fats. These damage cardiovascular health and are hard to digest. Ghee (which is basically clarified butter obtained after milk is taken through a process of curdling and heating, or clarifying) has short chain fatty acids. These are easy to digest and promote good health. As a general rule, the fats in animal fats are tough on the body, while the ones found in dairy products are easily absorbed.
To keep the face and body from ageing, work at keeping body weight to optimum.
To have a young face, you have to reduce the gravitational force which is acting upon it; which simply means that you must not allow your body weight to go up from its optimum.
The second thing that you must do is include healthy fats in your diet, like nuts (including peanuts), cheese, ghee, paneer and fish. Including fats not just provides your facial skin with the moisture and raw material that it needs to keep from wrinkling, but also helps you to burn fat effectively there, by not allowing your body fat levels (body weight) to go up. Nothing keeps age off your face like fat (the right amount of it of course; the amount which keeps your body weight at optimum). The appearance of wrinkles and loss of suppleness actually has to do with loss of fat from the face.
Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature; so all oils expect for coconut oil.
Mono Unsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFA) are found in peanuts, olives, avocados, almonds. They are considered very crucial in maintaining the health of the heart.
Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA) come in two types: omega 3 and omega 6. Omega 6 is found in sunflower, safflower (kardi) and soy bean oils (most vegetable oils. Omega 3 is found in flax seed, walnuts and the oils in fish. Polyunsaturated fats have heart protecting values too. We should have equal amounts of omega 3 and omega 6. But in diets today, the ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 has grown as skewed as 20:1, which can lead to the hardening of arteries and an increase in cardiovascular diseases.
Trans fats is the new kind of fat which was created to preserve food and give it texture. It is made by converting unsaturated fats into saturated fats, by a process called hydrogenation. Trans fats are commonly used by restaurants, fast food chains and companies that produce food on a large scale and for commercial purposes, as it is cheaper. Most processed foods, store-bought cakes, biscuits and fast food such as pizzas, burgers and fries, etc have this kind of fat. It is rightly called bad fat as it increases the levels of low density lipo-protein or bad cholesterol in our body. This is the kind of fat that is best avoided.
Low fat ice creams are loaded with sugar or sweeteners. Low fat chips are high in salt, and instead of being fried they are baked, as they proudly proclaim.
For a lean, toned body, healthy heart, supple skin and lustrous hair, make fat a part of every meal—or at least of three main meals.
It’s not just enough to eat food cooked in oil. Include nuts, cheese, or any other dairy product in your diet.
Fry, but only once a month.
Including omega-3 fatty acids in our diet such as flax seeds, beans, dairy products including ghee, vegetables, nuts and of course fish, improve our native intelligence.
Don’t reuse the oil once you have deep-fried with it.
Tip: avoid deep-fried food at large parties, because they are usually deep-fried twice.
If you can’t bear to give up your favourite chocolate pastry, you’re in for good news. Have it first thing in the morning. Don’t replace your nutritious meal with your pastry, but have it in addition to it. Croissant lovers go ahead. But don’t indulge yourself more than once or twice a month.
Fats to eat through the day, which ensure optimum fat burning and sustained release of blood sugar: Nuts, avocados, olives, milk and all milk products (cheese, paneer, ghee, yoghurt), oils used in cooking, coconut, flax seeds, fish
Vitamin A is found in whole and low fat milk, dark leafy vegetables, all the orange, yellow vegetables and in the liver and kidney. Take it when you’re stressed, or travelling.
Vitamin D is found in our body, which produces vitamin D upon exposure to sunlight. It is the sunlight vitamin. To get this vitamin, get your daily dose of sunlight. The best time to do this is around sunrise (the sun is not harsh or harmful for the skin at this time). We can also get vitamin D from fish and egg yolks. Plants are not such a good source of this particular vitamin, but green leafy vegetables are your best bet.
Vitamin E is found in polyunsaturated vegetable oils like corn, soy, sunflower, safflower oil and seeds, nuts, whole grains. Processing and overcooking foods drastically reduce vitamin E content. Asparagus, green leafy vegetables, berries and tomatoes are good sources of this one. Take it when you’ve eaten a lot of fried food, bakery products and consumed high amounts of fat.
Vitamin K is found in green leafy vegetables, green peas, green tea, oats, whole grain. It’s the most neglected vitamin because vitamin K deficiencies are very rare. Take it if you are suffering from excessive menstrual bleeding: excessive bleeding is often a sign of low vitamin K levels. Any vitamin supplement should give you more than your quota.
Vitamin C is found in most fruits and vegetables. Vitamin C can be easily lost by something as simple as cutting fruits and vegetables. We lose it more when we keep them covered in a refrigerator. Take it as a regular supplement. It’s vital if you’re a smoker (both active and passive), have a hectic social life and are dealing with a lot of stress.
Vitamin B are many vitamins clubbed together: thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5), pyridoxine (B6), biotin (B7), folic acid (B9) and cobalamin (B12), all make up what we call vitamin B or B complex. Found in fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, eggs, fish and cheese. Of these, B12 is found mostly in non-veg sources, so vegetarians have to take extra care to include this vitamin in their diet. Curd and cheese have good levels of B12, created through a fermentation process from milk (this fermentation increases B12 amounts). PMS and bad moods can be prevented with a good supply of vitamin B just before your periods.
Fibre is truly zero on calories, and just adds bulk to what you are eating. Foods with fibre take longer to chew and thus our eating time increases. (The brain registers that it is full only after 20 minutes). This gives the body a chance to know that the stomach is full, and reduces our chances of overeating. As the fibre moves in our intestine it picks up wastes (almost like a jhadoo) and adds bulk to your stool (and not just your food). So, it makes going to the toilet a pleasurable experience too.
Calcium is found in dairy products, tofu, green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds and in fact almost all wholesome food. It is the most abundant mineral in the body. Take it as a supplement daily. A calcium citrate or lactate (soluble in form) compound is absorbed much better by the human body than the popular calcium carbonate or phosphate supplements. Use a supplement of 1000 milligrams a day for optimum health.
Iron is found in meat, fish and eggs (all non-veg sources). Veg sources are garden cress seeds (traditionally used to make laddoos for pregnant and nursing women), bajra, jowar, other whole grains, fresh vegetables and fruits. For iron to be absorbed effectively, we need adequate amounts of vitamin C and B (specifically B12) in our body. The best strategy to improve iron intake is not to take iron supplements, but instead to create an environment in the body which will encourage iron absorption. Reduce your intake of sweets and caffeine, and increase vitamins C and B, in addition to drinking adequate amounts of water.
Selenium, zinc, chromium, magnesium, manganese, copper are found in fish, egg, whole grains, fresh veggies.
The supplements that we need on a regular basis are vitamins like A, E, B and C, and minerals like selenium, zinc, chromium and calcium.
There are only two kinds of people who can afford to live without supplements: those who live in a super salubrious place and can trace the origin of their vegetables, fruits, grains (the lucky few who own farms and nurse a passion for growing their own food) and those who have no intention of keeping good health.
Water is the most important nutrient in your body (for survival).
We can survive upto 5 weeks without food but less than 5 days without water.
How much water should you drink? Drink enough so that your urine is always crystal clear, not light yellow, dark yellow or reddish.
Get off it people, there is really NO magic drink, pill, potion, etc which will burn fat for you.
The 4 principles of eating right
The physical body, what we can see in the mirror is called ananmaya kosha according to yoga or yogic philosophy (roughly translated as food body). It’s a straight reflection of ‘anna’ or the food we eat and what time we eat it.
Principle 1: Never wake up to tea or coffee.
Instead eat real food within 10 to 15 minutes of waking up.
It’s important to remember at all times (while fighting with your spouse, getting frustrated by traffic, overworking, etc) that stress is the biggest enemy of an efficient digestive system and of the fat burning processes of the body.
Going hungry in the morning is a disaster for anybody who dreams of a sexy body. All it does is create a huge calorie deficit in the morning and then the body has no other option but to overeat later to make up for the deficit.
When you eat antioxidant rich chocolates (yeah even the dark chocolate variety) the excess sugar or sweetener in it renders the antioxidants useless.
Eating first thing in the morning will lead to an increase in blood sugar and energy levels, which will lead to an increase in metabolic rate and fat burning, and a decrease in acidity and bloating, and will reduce chances of overeating later in the day, and stabilise blood sugar levels throughout the day, which means less chances of getting fat.
Principle 2: Eat every 2 hours.
Eating frequent meals every 2 hours is not just better for our digestive system, but it keeps us from overeating.
Every time you eat your body has to work at breaking the food down, digesting it and absorbing it. This process is called DIT or Diet Induced Thermogenesis. In simple English, it means more calorie burning.
When you eat every 2 hours a day, it’s a given that you will eat small. So the number of calories you consume at one time will be very small.
When our body gets a regular dose of a small number of calories often, through the day, it feels reassured and loved. Eating is a way of loving our body and providing it with nourishment.
When our body gets fewer calories at a time, they are utilised better and not stored as fat. Also, because the body is feeling reassured with a regular intake of calories and nutrients, it sees no reason to store body fat. The body loses fear of death due to starvation (which is instilled by a combination of prolonged gaps between meals and eating a lot at one time), and feels encouraged to let go of its fat stores (which it has been holding on to as its means of survival).
Principle 3: Eat more when you are more active and less when you are less active
If we don’t eat food when the body needs it, all this does is create a huge calorie and nutrient deficit. Later, when the time is wrong, that is the metabolic processes are slowing down, your body and mind will demand a lot of food to make up for the deficit.
No food is fattening. You have to just be smart enough to choose the right time to eat it.
We need to up our eating during high demand periods and cut down when relaxing.
So when you are just chilling, the cells become dull, they don’t want anything (they’re in no mood to absorb nutrients and see no reason to make energy demands); so if you load your stomach at this time, it just gets converted to fat. But post activity (mental or physical) the cells are energy and nutrient deprived. This increases their sensitivity, which means that whatever you eat will get used up to replenish those hungry cells and not get converted to fat.
Principle 4: Finish your last meal at least 2 hours prior to sleeping.
So even if its a 8 pm or 10 pm workout, make sure you have your high GI carbs and protein shake within 10 minutes of working out. Yup, even if it’s 11 pm.
Dessert post dinner is bad.
When you sleep just right (the ideal time to sleep is between 10 and 10:30 pm to 5 am and you should stick as close to this as you can), it will show on your body, face and health.
In short, if you eat like a dog in the night you will behave like a bitch in the day.
Get out of the vicious cycle of caffeine and nicotine kicks in the morning, straining on the toilet seat, skipping lunch, not feeling hungry till evening, overeating in the night, getting disturbed sleep at night, and waking up dull and tired in the morning.The day you wake up feeling hungry and with an urge to clear the stomach, know that you have started on the path of permanent ‘results’. Hunger is a sign of youth, health, happiness and peace.
To eat 2 hours before bedtime will lead to most of your food being digested before you go to bed... which will lead to sound sleep… which will leave your body free to do its repair work… which will make your body more effective in burning fat.
Inculcating awareness
This process, though tedious and difficult (seemingly), is a powerful tool. You will instantly know why you are gaining weight. Just one look at the 3 day diet and activity recall will help you know yourself better.
When you are already feeling happy with yourself you can do away with ‘comfort food’.
Eating food for entertainment is a sure shot way of getting fat. It’s a much better idea to take part in some activity that is comforting. Praying, exercising, painting, singing, anything that suits your temperament. It doesn’t just help you burn calories, it keeps you away from ingesting too many calories. Food is not for entertainment or to deal with boredom.
Good rest ensures that the body functions at its best and prevents frequent illnesses.
Exercise is not meant as punishment for the body. Not for getting fat or overeating or anything else. Exercise is a way to improve fitness, blood circulation, and to love the body. If it’s used for anything else, or if it’s abused, it stops working.
Our body is blessed with ‘muscle memory’. So if you have a high amount of accumulated fitness time or if you have been regularly exercising 20 to 30 years ago, you will quickly recover your fitness levels to what they used to be before you quit working out.
Crossing the bridge: from knowing to doing
Just knowing or talking about things like eating right and exercising regularly has never helped anybody. ‘Just talking is not enough.’
Fundamental steps towards adopting a healthier lifestyle:
Step 1: Wake up closer to sunrise.
Ideally: wake up a little before sunrise so that you can witness the peace that every dawn brings.
Dawn brings hope and energy for not just the day, but for life. Sunrise provides us with the vitamin D that we need to maintain healthy bones, gives us the ‘me time’ to clear our head, and cleanses our body of the tamas or the sloth of the night.
Let’s get real: ok, sunrise is great. But if this sounds way out of reach, just wake up an hour before you are used to.
Step 2: Eat within 10 minutes of waking up.
Ieally: eat meal 1 within 10 minutes of waking up. And obviously you can’t start with tea, coffee or a cigarette. If you can’t bring yourself to eat a big meal, start with a fruit. Absolutely any fruit is great. Keep it fresh, not frozen. Don’t add salt, sugar, chaat masala, etc to it. And of course, don’t squeeze it into a juice.
Let’s get real: 10 minutes sounds like a big deal? Ok, eat within the first 30 minutes of waking up. But make sure that you are not reading your paper, checking your B-berry, giving instructions on the phone, etc while doing this. If you workout first thing on rising, eat a fruit before working out. And please don’t eat in bed. Get up, walk around a bit, and then go for your food.
Step 3: Within an hour of meal 1, eat a nice, home cooked breakfast.
Ideally: a hot breakfast is the perfect meal 2 as it is freshly prepared and full of nutrients.
Eating early improves metabolic rate, arrests aging, and reduces hunger pangs in the day.
This is also a good time for a multivitamin or a B vitamin supplement.
Step 4: Eat every 2 hours after meal 2.
Ideally: calculate the number of hours that you spend away from home. Divide that by 2 and carry those many meals with you.
Most of you are used to bringing lunch to work. Eat that at 11 am as your meal 3. For all the in between meals, here are a few options that can easily be stacked in your office drawer; or your office boy can easily be instructed to buy for you.
Peanuts, cheese, curd or yogurt, milk or soy milk, carrots or cucumbers, boiled eggs or omelettes, protein bars, sandwiches, sprouts, cereal, toast with peanut butter, butter, cheese, or tofu.
Lunch is a good time to have a fatty acid supplement (flax seed, omega-3) as it improves insulin response.
Don’t have tea or coffee without eating anything (so, eat with your in between meal) and limit this to 2 a day.
If you have a lunch meeting, remember to eat a meal about 11 am from one of the options, and then at the restaurant, eat half of what you have on the plate. Then remember to eat your next meal after 2 hours.
The more heavy options you can eat just before leaving from work. (You’re dog-tired after a day’s work and need the energy most then.)
If it’s going to be a stressful day, go for carb- rich options like cereal, poha, upma, etc.
The basic principle of the in-between meals is to have low GI carbs with protein and fats. If you’re being less active, you could just go for the protein and fat options like the peanuts, chana and cheese. (No food is really zero carb, and these will give you small amounts of carbs, protein and fat, stabilising blood sugar and giving you adequate energy.)
Step 5: Eat your dinner within 2 hours of sunset.
We already know that loading the stomach with dinner when it has little or no digestion capacity is a sure shot way to get fat.
It is the best policy to adopt against overeating later. Don’t skip this meal if you plan to drink later in the evening or are going out for a late evening dinner, entertaining clients, etc.
Step 6: Sleep at a fixed time.
Ideally: sleep at the same time everyday. Always before midnight.
So you sleep daily between 10.30 to 11.30 pm. At least on the weekdays, and take the weekend off. But on all other days, guard your skin and keep your body young by keeping to your bedtime within the time limit.
Being critical of yourself. Losing fat is about making progress, not about achieving perfection.
Maintain silence as a regular practice. It could be a fixed hour or a few minutes every day, or an entire day once a month.
Wake up just a little earlier than you are used to. And sleep just a little earlier too; 30 minutes is a good place to start.
Try and adopt the crosslegged posture while eating.