9 ways to bust Inactivity !

This post is to all our IT friends... We all are busy with our life right? Hectic work schedules...deadlines....We barely  have time to move from our desks. We are growing daily, so are our tummies too... Yes we are eating a lot daily. But didn't we eat a lot more than that as kids???




 We almost ate double the amount of grandma cookies than what we are eating right now. Then what could be the reason we are developing those pregnant woman stomach?! We are wearing over size tees yet our stomach pops out like a balloon. 

Well... The main villian is : INACTIVITY

What is INACTIVITY?

Let me explain it by taking the daily routine of an IT professional. 

waking up-driving to work-office time-driving back to home-spending time with family-TV/laptop time-sleep

The above cycle repeats day after day...week after weak...year after year...Some however do put an effort to pursue their hobbies in between all these...

Understand that activity and exercise are not same. Activity concerns with what you are doing the 15 HOURS you are awake. 

See the pattern here.... Our work is generally sedentary. Not getting enough physical activity in your daily lifestyle can lead to slow metabolism (i.e body will use less energy throughout the day ).

Now slow metabolism will lead to increased fat gain. Since the energy produced from the food is less, it gets stored in our body as fat. Even if you eat healthy food or eat less amount of food, you will still be a victim of slow metabolism. 


Thus slow metabolism may lead to :

• Fat accumulation and muscle loss
• Insulin resistance i.e. ability to properly use insulin
• Reliance on carbohydrates or glucose for fuel 

So how to escape from such a 'condition' ? 

1)Don't sit for more than 30 minutes. Your fat holding cells will drastically increase. Always take a short walk every half an hour. It has an added benefit of improving the blood circulation. 

2)Use stairs ! I know it is an outdated phrase. I have seen many using stairs instead of the elevator but they climb it leisurely as if taking a stroll in the park. Of course it is better than taking the elevator. But climb the stairs as fast as you can...Compete with the lift baby ! Your heart should beat BOOM BOOM when you reach your floor.

3)If there is a mall near your home you are extremely lucky. Just go to mall and walk. If you think you will spent too much when you go to such places just " forget " your wallet at home. 

4)Get down a few stops before your home when you are using public vehicles. And walk rest of the distance. 

5)Go for a run. Ten minutes everyday at the very least. Get your heart pumping. 

6)Clean your home yourselves. Don't depend on maids. 

7)As the "IDEA" ad says 'walk and talk on phone'.

8)Go for an early morning walk. The freshness will last for the whole day. 

9) Plan active vacations like hiking rather than driving around.  

photo courtesy: gohiking.today 

Along with all that you can try to make small changes in your diet.

• Reduce deep fried foods
• Reduce sugar intake 
• Read the nutrition label before you buy packed food. Trust me, you will be surprised to see the amount of sugar and fat it has.

All these efforts should eventually become daily routines and habits in your life. Remember consistency is the only way to improve your physique. You needn't wait for the perfect moment to start "new" habits. Start now. Now is the right time.

Try to make it your daily routine and let us know how it helped it improve your physique. Feel free to contact me for your doubts and queries. Good Luck ...!

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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