Five easy tips to lose weight by an ex-obese!

                                                          But then fate played a card and my father (an equally obstinate man), forced me to join a gym. I hated it in the beginning but after a few sessions, it started to feel really good. I was dropping kilos like hot bricks! In nine months, I lost almost 40 kg and that’s when I decided to become a health and fitness journalist because losing weight is extremely simple and I felt the need to share that with the world. So here are five simple tips that will help you lose weight:

Tip 1: Accept your problem

It’s not just about looking good, obesity will kill you. It will give you heart disease, type 2 diabetes or joint problems. If you’re a guy, the excess cholesterol build-up will give you erectile dysfunction and is also likely to increase infertility in both sexes. That’s not how we were meant to live our lives. So stop listening to what others say about obesity and accept you’ve a problem. And obesity is not a sign of prosperity; it just means you are a glutton.

Tip 2: Stop believing in fad diets

I lost 40 kg in 9 months and I did it without any crash dieting. I didn’t take weight loss pills, nor did I follow a fad diet. All I did was exercise and eat healthy. There are thousands of crash diets out there which will help you lose say 5-10 kg in a week but then the weight will come back when you stop following that diet.  I’ve seen scores of people who lose a lot of weight but then gain it all back once they stop dieting. (Read: Fad is bad!)

Tip 3: Up the ante gradually

I was extremely lucky to have a trainer who knew that you can’t push fat people too much or you’ll end up disheartening them. When I went to the gym, my trainer Anil Bailu (a former Mr Maharashtra) started me off slow, not making me do more exercise than my body could handle. Every week, I would do weight training thrice a week and cardio for six days. In the beginning, that would only consist of 15-20 minutes sessions of mild walking, because he knew that my obese body couldn’t take more. Gradually, as I lost weight, he upped the ante, increased the cardio time and I started lifting heavier weights as well. So don’t overdo it and have patience, the results will come.

Tip 4: Weight loss products don’t work

If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Simply put, all weight loss products are shams. Most weight loss pills are caffeine-loaded pills which just allow you to exercise longer. Some of them make you really edgy and angry as well. And some of them like DNP are downright dangerous and can be fatal. (Read: Slimming pill takes UK student’s life) 

The sauna belts and meal replacement shakes too are useless, they just do not work. They are just shams to scam vulnerable people, like penis enlargement pills. The only way to lose weight is to eat a healthy diet and exercise. There are no two ways about it.

Tip 5: Believe

The most important thing I can tell you is believe in yourself. You are obese because you’ve eating unhealthy for years. In the same way, you can lose weight by making the right choices. There might be some genetic predisposition that still doesn’t inhibit your ability to control your own actions.

If I could do it with a metal plate in my leg so can you. So stop complaining, get off your butt and just eat right (you will get plenty of ideas on our healthy recipes section) and exercise. It’s that simple. (Read: Fat to fit – losing weight the right way)

You may also like to read: 

• Fun ways to exercise and lose weight
• Lose belly fat with exercises by Hrithik’s trainer Kris Gethin
• Can weight training help you lose weight?
• Walking for weight loss
• Get fit at your workplace with these expert recommended exercises and tips
• Why is high intensity interval training better (HIIT) for weight loss?

For more articles on weight loss, visit our weight loss section. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates! For daily free health tips, sign up for our newsletter. And to join discussions on health topics of your choice, visit our forum.

 

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