Want to lose weight? Simple! Ask any body. You will get the following answers:

•    Join a Gym – a good one, ok?
•    Go for a walk every day for 3 hours
•    Do yoga. My cousin benefited immensely
•    Go on a starvation diet
•    Buy that ‘sauna-belt’ you can reduce weight exactly where you want!

Surely you do not want to hear more, do you? Despite all this, losing weight is not a secret  process. It is a matter of burning more calories than you eat. But, if it were really that simple, why does it not get done?

The problem is psychological – easy things do not get done unless it becomes a way of life, or there is a huge driver to make it happen. I can imagine wanting to get fitter to ‘run the marathon’, ‘go to Kailas Mansarovar by trek’ ‘play squash with my 15 year old son’. So first step in wanting to lose weight is to FIND A CAUSE. ‘Wanting to look fitter’, ‘wanting to feel young’ are not enough drivers immaterial of how vain you are! So let me repeat, go find a ‘driver’. You need a very, very good reason to lose weight. Losing weight is not an end in itself!

Now let us go to the second step. Start thinking of weight loss as something positive. Since we think of weight loss as some ‘great achievement’ to be got immediately – we start thinking we have to do something drastic to see results — diets, pills or those weird fitness gadgets on infomercials that promise instant success, surgery, – really anything. We ‘hope’ that some of this will work for us. The real guide to weight loss is this: Make small and simple changes each and every day in your life – and you will see the results. This is exactly like investing. Great wealth is created by investing regularly and for long periods of time. Do not make too many changes in your life and hope for instant results.

Vegetarianism, walking, climbing stairs, spot jogging, basic yoga, reducing salt, reducing sugar, reducing deep fried things, etc. all help. Do not try them all together – it might lead to a deprived feeling! Make small changes in life – if you eat breakfast at 8 am and lunch at 1.30 pm, eat a salad at 11.30 am. No salt, no dressing. Plain salad no frills. Do this for at least a week.

  1. Dr Mohammed Ali Khan

    True
    In her book ” lose your weight , not lose your mind ” Dietitian and fitness consultant Rajuta Diwekar makes a distinction between muscle and bone weight and fat weight.. she says that all crash diets will only reduce the muscle and bone weight ultimately weakening the body.
    She makes a case for slow weight loss with good wholesome home made foods, eating regularly and not starving, sleeping well and most important exercising well.She also says that walking is overrated.
    Good advice.

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