From Fat to Fit

Category B: Thick framed 

I would like to discuss category B with my own experience because I belonged to the very same category. FAT.

Not a pretty picture huh? Love handles, chubby loose stomach..Yea..That was once me.

SELF REALISATION

I realized I was fat. Category B. Even though I don't believe in BMR, I understood my body fat percentage was way more that what I hoped it would be. It was around 16%.

How I reached that fat percentage? 

• I ate only "clean" bodybuilding foods. In fact I ate way too much of it. I never tracked how much I ate.

• I indulged in those occasional cheat meals. Slowly those "cheat meals" became more frequent and generally accompanied by a session of overwhelming guilt.

• I went to gym. Worked hard. But rest of the day I was a total couch potato. I barely moved and sat watching marathon sessions of sitcoms...Game of thrones,Spartacus,Breaking Bad... You Name it,I have watched it.

• Turned a blind eye towards cardio. "CARDIO?? Does that even exist??! "

• I never cooked my food myself. Generally ate from outside.

And as a result I became like this. 


"THE SPARK"

After a few months of gap I visited my hometown again and mom asked if I stopped going to gym.What made mom ask that? Did I actually look fat? Weekend over. Back at Mysore... 

 TRACKING

First thing I decided to do was to track what I was eating. I downloaded myfitnesspal app. I also bought a food weighing scale to get correct measurements.

After tracking for a week I realised :

• I was eating way more carbohydrates than what is required especially late at nights.

• I was taking in hell lot of hidden oil from curries I ate from outside and sugar from teas and other beverages. 

• The veggies I was taking was limited to onions, tomatoes and potatoes. 

 FIXING MY DIET

I calculated the amount of carbs, proteins and fats I needed to improve my physique. Then I implemented that on my diet.

• Eating majority of carbohydrates around my training time (morning) and increasing protein and fat as the day progresses. 

• Including more varieties of veggies into my diet.

• I always kept my meals smaller and increased my meal frequency(breakfast-snack-lunch-snack-dinner-snack).So I never felt full and at the same time was never hungry. (That's my little secret ...Shhh !!! *wink* )

The main challenges I faced?

• At the end of the day I generally craved for something sweet even though I wasn't really hungry. The solution I found was to  eat homemade peanut butter. (Thanks to my mom! I will share her recipe with you guys on another post.)

• On low calorie days I was at the verge of my temper. I was always irritable, it has gotten to the point that I actually started fighting with my girlfriend for no apparent reason. I didn't know what was going on for a while with me. Then I figured I was 'HANGRY' - so hungry that I was angry! I started adding more vegetables into my diet which kept my hunger at bay at the same time it was low on calorie. 

•  I work in an IT firm, where parties and weekend get--togethers are very common. Here is how I managed my diet during such events.

1.  I never went to parties with an empty stomach.
2.  I started socializing rather than concentrating on food.
3.  I chose to eat only oil free food.Mainly veggies, oil less chicken, fish and white rice. 
4. Never took alcohol.

WEIGHT LIFTING

Inarguably my most favorite step. I love this. And I can't make mistake in this. 

Photo courtesy: Happy page,facebook 


I always lifted heavy. I made sure the targeted muscle is stressed enough. And gradually my body weight started to reduce and my body got more defined. 

My abs workout and tips : Click here

Then  came the stagnation period. My body simply  stopped responding and started adapting to what I had implemented. It was hell frustrating, as I didn't see any change for weeks. I couldn't even think of reducing food anymore. 

CARDIO

The last weapon...Cardio...the one I hate the most.  My main confusion was which type of cardio should I include. HIIT or steady state and what time of the day should I do it early morning or evening. 

I decided to go with steady state cardio in the morning 4 times a week. I will wake up 30 minutes earlier than usual, have my protein shake and jump on to a cardio machine.

How did I get through 30-45 minutes of boring cardio?

• My biggest motivation was beautiful girls in my gym. And to my blessings those cardio machines were filled with them. So to impress them I did my best in every cardio session.

• Not every time I am lucky to be near them so I started watching bodybuilding motivational videos as I moved myself on the machine. 

These two worked pretty well for me. I was able to get through those lengthy cardio sessions maintaining a steady heart rate of 60-70% of max. I also increased my cardio by 5 minutes every week. And the result...

That's the beginning of my fat loss experience. Again this might not be the best way to loose fat for everyone. My aim was to lose as much fat as possible without losing muscle. So I chose this slow fat loss program. You have to understand your body. You should always be flexible enough to adjust according your body's requirement.

Things I learned :

• Patience...Patience is the key. It takes time to get results. If you are losing 0.5-1 kilo in a week , you are on the right track.

• Even if you are not losing weight but you see improvements in the mirror then you are on the right track.This is because you may be gaining muscle but lose fat alongside. 

•   Your jeans waist is still tight but your t shirt sleeves and shoulder getting loose. This is not a good sign, time to revisit your plan.

• Vegetables plays a big role in hunger suppression

•  200 calories banana milk shake is far better than zero calorie diet soda.

• And last but not the least... even if you eat a lot it is possible to loose fat. Right food and Right training is all it takes.

So that's my story.

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