When it comes to losing weight, most of us are willing to give every fad diet or exercise a try. After all every woman wants to lose a few odd kilos here and there. But most Indian women fail to keep their weight loss permanent, we too have been yo-yo dieters and like many women do not understand the need for a disciplined and lifelong exercise regime. One of our fabulous Team AAW co-worker lost over 20 kgs an year back and here are a few tips she follows to ensure the weight doesn’t come back. “Losing the weight is half the battle, sustaining the weight forever is difficult and the main challenge,” she says. So here are her top ways we all can lose weight and maintain it to:
Regular Exercise: Sadly all Indian women undermine exercising and its benefits. When we all can take out 1 hour (and above) to watch bad telly soaps why can’t we go for a half an hour walk? See what time fits you the best; go early if you are a morning person.
There is no shortcut: Exercise is a must especially with our diets that are heavy on oils, spices and aloo (potato).
If you have not been exercising for a long time we recommend you start with 3 days a week and slowly increase the number of days and duration of workouts. Also if you are a avid walker always do stretching exercises before and after working out. This lessens the risk of injury to the muscle and cramps.
Gap between meals: Often we have seen people who have paranthas for breakfast and then have diner. Most of our friends usually skip breakfast as they are getting late for work. The practise of keeping your tummy empty for long periods is detrimental and leads to weight gain too. Our body gets signals from the brain to prevent starvation. This means it starts making fat from all food we eat. The best is to keep a maximum 3 hour gap between meals. We do not mean that you have roti or subzi every 3 hours, just munch on nuts or fruits to keep your energy levels up.
Tip the best nuts and fruits for losing weight are apple, pomegranate, pear, guava, strawberries and almonds.
Water and green tea: Sipping water throughout the day might seem difficult but do you know water aids weight loss and also flushes out all toxins? Water is a sure way to aid weight loss. Green tea has been proven to decrease fat and bad cholesterol in the body. Have a glass of green tea 20 minutes after your meal to quicken digestion. Green tea also reduces toxins and cut fat in the body. Green tea post workout wll give you quicker and better results.
No snacking between meals: Aloo chat, pani puri or endless rounds of namkeen, chocolates and ice creams often fail every diet plan. Stay away from these sugar rich or deep-fried snacks. Often after snacking we delay our meals or eat less which makes us hungry at odd hours and you end up snacking again. Hungry? Choose between fruits, dry fruits or green tea than potato based snacks.
Periods and weight loss: Often irregular cycle is a signal that all is not ok with your body. It is a sign of PCOS too. If it is accompanied with sudden weight gain, visit a doctor. Sometimes once in 10-12 cycles irregularity is fine but anything more than that needs medical attention.
Stomach cleansing: Regular bowel movements are a must to ensure weight loss. Regular clearing of the intestines and stomach by throwing out the toxins from the body help cleanse. One must pass stool every day, constipation also adds to problems. If the stool is not regular or is insufficient then start having wheat bran on a daily basis, it acts like a broom and ensures regular bowel movement.
No desserts or cold water post meal: Water after a piping hot meal can wreak havoc with the digestive process. Digestion of food takes place at a higher temperature and cold desserts or ice cream reduce the temperature of the stomach and slow down the metabolism. This also leads to accumulation of fat on the stomach.
These are a few tricks which will help you lose weight easily and quickly.
