Day 5 - 2 December

Started the day with a 20 min (3.5kms) cycle ride. After that caught up with a friend for tea. I was inclined to even have unhealthy breakfast but I somehow managed the urge and just had a black tea without sugar. 

For breakfast I stuck to my kcal meals. 

For lunch I had a beautiful place of home cooked salmon with some veggies.

That's it. No dinner. 

Day 4 - 1 December 2021

No activity. Had a cup of Kashmiri tea and a chicken biryani during the whole day. :(

Day 3 - 30 November 2021

I forgot to write on Tuesday but in general it was a nice day. I stuck to my meal plan from kcal and the highlight of the day was that I walked for about 3 hours at Dubai expo site. By the time I got home, I was dead tired and my legs were hurting. So that's good.

My Nutritionist/Health Coach

My family is very concerned about my health and they would do anything to help me become more healthy. On one side my father and mother worry about my health too much and on the other side, my brother always tries to come up with solutions to motivate me to get into an active lifestyle. Every time I have strictly listened to my parents and my brother, I have lost weight. 

Here are some examples of things I have done in the past:

2011-2012 job break

In 2011, after my work stress started affecting my health and I was on the brink of hypertension, I quit my job and went to the UK and stayed with my brother for 3 months. During that time, he showed me the various types of exercises I could do and taught me how to watch YouTube and cook healthy food at home. Here is what I did during that time:

• Made it a habit to work out for at least 30 mins every day. 
• Started reading the nutritional labels on products before buying anything. 
• Ate whatever I fancied BUT made it myself using healthy ingredients at home. 

Result: I lost about 9-10 Kgs. I felt on top of the world when people started talking about the change in me. 

Thailand Fitness boot camp 2016

My brother used to always encourage me to do a fitness boot camp in Thailand. He even offered multiple times to cover my cost. However, I kept delaying it; until Dec 2016, when I finally decided I would give it a try. Although my brother wanted me to do a 14 - 21 days boot camp, I was skeptical and I opted for the one week program at Fresh Start Thailand Fitness Bootcamp in Chiang Mai. Each day was a new challenge. Activities ranged from long walks/treks, cycling (42kms), yoga, cardio tennis, circuit training, muay thai, step challenge (climbing the 309 steps of Doi Suthep temple 10 times!), etc. If I were to sum-up that one week in a simple sentence, I would just say that "it was very difficult; but in the end, it was rewarding" 

Result: I lost about 4.5 Kgs (the pics above does not do justice). 

Keto/Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) Diet 2019

This one was triggered by my mother, wife and two friends (Mejo & Anna). In fact, me, my wife, Mejo and Anna started the Keto diet together. After religiously following this diet for a good number of months, results started showing on me. 

Result: I lost about 11Kgs. Again felt ecstatic. 

I know there must be a question running in your mind now. If you have been successful all these times, how come you rebound? Well the answer is simple. I still haven't nailed the healthy lifestyle. I have not been able to consistently follow a good lifestyle consisting of healthy eating habits and exercising. Add to it, STRESS also plays a great part in my life. I work in a highly stressful environment + I believe the way I react to stress is also an issue. I am a stress/emotional eater. Also, since my college days, I would go the whole day without food but end up eating heavily (and that too junk) during the nights. This habit still continues. I feel the day I am able to stop my night hunger pangs (sometimes I eat even when I am not hungry); I will succeed. 

I owe it to Vera Armishaw  for motivating me to re-embark on this fitness journey. 

Vera Armishaw, Auckland, NZ

Who is she? Well, again, thanks to my brother, he was the one who forced me into meeting Vera (who happens to be a Nutritionist & Health Coach) for an online consultation session. I was very skeptical about meeting her because, I felt that I knew everything about fitness and nutrition and what more could she say. But my session with her was a motivating one. Unlike other nutritionist and coaches I have met, she her motto seemed to be "simple steps = big results". She did not try to advice me to take drastic steps. She suggested that I make small changes in my current lifestyle and over a period, see the impact. At the end of the session we agreed on the following bite-sized changes:

1. Increase cycling from once a week to twice a week.
2. For the remaining 5 days, walk for 40 mins (can do 20 mins in the morning and 20 mins in the evening).
3. Swimming (if possible).
4. Try to restrict uber/zomato etc. to twice a week. 
5. Eat two fruits a day.
6. Buy low calorie snacks for snacking in case of cravings. 
7. Eat mindfully - at the table, put your food on a plate and eliminate any distractions such as screens, tv, etc. Focus on the food. 
8. Most importantly - When you crave for food, write down what type of food you crave for (sweet, sour, etc.), your emotions (why you are craving? Is it because you are hungry or not?)
9. When out with friends, order one plate that has carbs, protein and vegetables as shown in the picture below:

Above all, Vera keeps messaging me to know my progress. To have such a person following up and making sure you are on the right track is a big support. I hope this journey will succeed!

Day 2 - New Day, New Beginning

Day 2 - 29 November 2021 (Monday) 

I couldn't sleep last night. I was extremely bothered by the fact that yesterday I was able to carry on with a very good health regime till the evening and then shattered it all with the extra food that I ordered from outside.

I know my weakness lies in my night appetite. I can go the whole day without eating food. But in the nights I over-eat and even if I am not hungry, I order something. I know for a fact that once I can control this behavior of mine, I will succeed in my weight loss journey.  In my effort to change my mindset; I have even started listening to subliminal music on YouTube such as this one on how to "Stop over eating" by the YouTube channel called 30 minute mindset. 

Anyways, here is what I did today:

Sleep: 

Slept from about 8.30pm till 4.30pm - ie. 8 hours of sleep. 

Diet: 

Breakfast - Coffee yogurt granola

Mid morning snack - beetroot moutabel with cucumber sticks + Cocoa walnut 25g

Lunch - Cayenne pepper salmon served with Ratatouille + Hearty vegetable soup

Afternoon snack - Kcal brownie

Dinner - Turmeric Chicken + Baked Vegetable Vinaigrette

Total nutritional summary for Kcal meal for the day - 1530kcal; Fat 82g, Carb 105g, Prot 93g

Additional food - 1 banana

Exercise:

 

Cycling - 22 mins/ 4.31kms

Mind & thoughts (Summary)

Day 1 - 28 November 2021

 So today I am beginning my weight loss push. I will divide the blog into various sections for ease of reading and tracking:

Sleep:

I had a very good sleep last night. In fact I slept at 8.30pm and woke up at 5.30am. That is like 9.5 hours of sleep. 

Weight loss struggle continues

Since childhood I have been on the heavier side of a weighing scale. I have tried everything from fad diets to body freeze slimming to reduce my weight. I have been unsuccessful.. I have reached a point where I am annoyed with myself. I need a way out and this is gonna be my final push towards a better lifestyle before I opt for a weightloss surgery. Infact I hate the thought of a surgery to loose weight when I haven't fixed my lifestyle yet.

Starting tomorrow I am going to journal my daily activities and diet, how I feel, etc. Let's see how I feel in one month from tomorrow.