In the last decade, we’ve observed something very interesting - people are making changes to their habits to lead a more active and healthy lifestyle. This change could be as big as getting a gym membership or as small as choosing healthier snacks. And if there’s only one upside to Covid, it is that it has made us realize the importance of our physical and mental wellbeing.
We’ve also seen a huge uptick in gimmicky products that claim to help you with fat loss/spot reduction. And that inspired us to write this article. While we’re glad to see India move to a healthier way of life, it upsets us that some see this as an opportunity to push you products that don’t necessarily help with anything. For instance, these so-called new-age “oatmeal” biscuits only contain as much as 10% of oats. Shocked? We were too. Some chips that are branded as healthy still contain the same number of added flavours and preservatives. A more honest approach to this would be to brand them as less evil out of the other options in the market. Having said that, we don’t want you to get into the trap of labeling food as good or bad. It is okay to eat junk once in a while, just make sure you’re eating healthy at least 80% of the time and if you can also exercise regularly then you are already part of the top 5% in your age cohort.
“Hey, I’ve noticed you’ve lost a lot of weight. What’s your secret?”
“Nothing yaar, I’ve just been drinking //insert brand name// slimming tea regularly”
Sounds familiar?
Well, weight loss might not be this easy but it’s still an easier concept to understand. Let’s get started.
How does one lose weight?
Two words.
Calorie. Deficit.
What does this mean?
Calorie deficit occurs when you consume fewer calories than you burn. The body needs to burn a certain number of calories to perform all its functions each day. When you consume more calories than you burn, it’s called Calorie Surplus.
Average calorie intake of an adult varies upon factors such as:
- Gender
- Age
- Height & Weight
- Physical Activity
Calories consumed < Calories burned = Fat loss
You can achieve this by either eating less or exercising more. We tend to believe that you cannot outworkout your mouth so getting the eating part of the puzzle right is essential!
Here’s a chart with calorie need estimations:
|
Males |
|||
|
Age |
Sedentary |
Moderate |
Active |
|
19–20 |
2,600 |
2,800 |
3,000 |
|
21–25 |
2,400 |
2,800 |
3,000 |
|
26–35 |
2,400 |
2,600 |
3,000 |
|
36–40 |
2,400 |
2,600 |
2,800 |
|
41–45 |
2,200 |
2,600 |
2,800 |
|
46–55 |
2,200 |
2,400 |
2,800 |
|
56–60 |
2,200 |
2,400 |
2,600 |
|
61–65 |
2,000 |
2,400 |
2,600 |
|
66–75 |
2,000 |
2,200 |
2,600 |
|
76+ |
2,000 |
2,200 |
2,400 |
|
Females |
|||
|
Age |
Sedentary |
Moderate |
Active |
|
19–25 |
2,000 |
2,200 |
2,400 |
|
26–30 |
1,800 |
2,000 |
2,400 |
|
31–50 |
1,800 |
2,000 |
2,200 |
|
51–60 |
1,600 |
1,800 |
2,200 |
|
61+ |
1,600 |
1,800 |
2,000 |
Eating fewer calories does not mean you’re devoiding your body of the nutrients it needs. It is very much possible to get the important nutrients and you can always consider supplementing if you want to. (We don’t want to brag but Happy Ratio contains all the 39 essential nutrients and is only 400 calories, which means your body gets a lot more for a lot less.)
The transition might be tough, you might feel a bit tired or hangry. That’s why it’s important to ease into this transition. If you’ve been consuming 2500 calories for most of your life, your body will go through a shock if you start consuming 1500 calories all of a sudden.
You see, fitness is boring. We said it. Losing or even gaining weight takes a lot of time, patience and discipline. Notice how we said discipline and not motivation. What we’ve observed is that getting motivated with respect to fitness is tough, it takes time. Maybe watching other people’s fitness stories gets you out of bed today, but in time, it might not have the same effect. And this just becomes an endless loop. And it’s so much easier to get demotivated. You can’t expect results in weeks/sometimes even months. And when you don’t see progress, you get demotivated and start engaging in bad habits. Which is why it’s important to be disciplined. Just trust the process. If you stick to eating right and exercising regularly, you will see/feel the results you’ve always wanted. Motivation is temporary, routines and rituals are permanent.
Here are a few “hacks” that will help you lose weight:
- Drink water before your meals and stay well hydrated throughout the day
- Eat fibre-rich foods - It helps you feel full without adding a lot of extra calories to your diet
- Focus on your protein intake - Not only will it help you with your muscle growth but protein also happens to be very satiating i.e you won’t feel hungry!!
- When lifting, focus on form first and then slowly increase the weight
- It is okay to reward yourself with a few treats, just make sure you don’t go overboard. But if you do, don’t beat yourself up for it, because then you’ll want to eat more junk to help you feel better
- Track your meals - If you can't measure, you can't manage. Start tracking the calories you're taking in, while this is a bit tough with Indian foods, you can look at consuming something like Happy Ratio, not only is it just 400 calories, it's also satiating and you get all the 39 essential nutrients.
You can avail Happy Ratio "All-In-One" Nutrition health shakes by clicking here. Use code HAPPYJUNE to avail our Buy 2 Get 1 Free offer. You can also use our code TRYITALL10 if you wish to get a Try-It-All Sampler Pack with your purchase of any one of our products.
