The jump start - What I needed

I am 32, married and with two kids. I am into software industry and had(may still have) a very sedentary lifestyle. Binge watching Netflix lying on my bed is still my favorite pass time. I used to sit on my chair for hours working on those reports and developments. I was overweight- border line obese at 91 kgs. Taking the stairs while going to cafeteria or for smoking seemed to be a daunting task. I had blood pressure at 180/120 and had cholesterol problems. I gave up and accepted that I am not going to loose weight as it seemed too difficult. I am foodie also and ate anything which seemed tasty(cravings due to sugar).  I started my weight loss journey many times only to give up later as I did not put anytime into research or guidance. I used to walk five miles in morning and skip lunches only to eat a heavy dinner without tracking calories. This resulted in no weight loss and I used to get disappointed and believe that I cannot loose weight.But today, I am at 74.8 kg after two months of commitment and support.  Through this blog, I am going to log my weight loss journey and describe what I am doing to reach the goal.

The weight loss toolkit

When I told my family about my desire to loose weight, they were all very supportive. This time I told myself that I have to walk the mile and put all my efforts to reach the magic number. I believe that the following things were important in getting me to this point.

• Commitment- This is the most important of all. Without this it will be impossible. Do not listen to the voice in your head which is asking you to give up. Do not argue, do not reason with it, just ignore. Just focus on how good you are going to look when you loose weight. The tasty food is going to come back to your life soon enough(Those are cravings caused by sugar. You'll come over those).

• Support- You may need support of those close to you but again they may also think that this weight loss is not possible as you may not adhere to it as in the past. Do not worry about it. You are doing this for yourself and them as if you are healthy and happy and they would like that. Just be committed and everyone will come around. My wife was very supportive and even she joined with me loose a few kilos.

• Calories Tracker-  Having a good calories tracker is very essential as it lets you know how much of what macro(Protein, Fat, Carbohydrate, Fiber) is in your food. Religiously log your food for few days and it will become a habit soon. I use healthifyme android app(my wife uses iOs version) to track my calories and it is a good app for tracking calories for Indian foods. You may use MUS3JK8WE to get 100 cash award from them which you may use in buying their premium membership. I haven't used it yet as I relied and my own research. Log your weight weekly.

• Activity/Exercise- I started with 30 minutes of activity daily to jump start the metabolism of my body. It was a daunting task initially. So, I divided the activity in 3 parts through out the day of  10 minutes each. If you are at home then it you can circle the block in ten minutes. I started with walking because if you start with too intense exercises you are most likely to give up if you have been inactive for long time.  Like calories tracker, there are apps for that too. They use your phone's sensor to tracker  to act as pedometer. I use Google fit to track my walks. Start with five days a week.

• Diet - It is very important to choose and adhere to a diet plan. It doesn't matter even if you are living in a gym, if you do not adhere to a diet plan. You may hear a lot of buzzwords viz keto, Low Glycemic Index, atkins etc. You may consult a nutritionist if you are not good at researching or do not have time to do it. I am on my sabbatical, so I have a plenty of time(One of the reasons why I am writing this blog). I did a lot of research and development from weight loss smoothies to apple cider vinegar to wheat grass. I started my plan with South Beach Diet. It requires a bit of reading/understanding and it helped me a lot. I lost quite a few kilos in in first phase itself and now I am in second phase and still loosing. South beach diet is more of a life style change than a diet. It slowly get rids of those food cravings and by third phase you'll be ready to live your life a healthy way.

• Water - Water is most important as for me there was around 2 kg of water weight in my body as I used to drink less than 2 liter a day. If you are drinking less than the recommended amount, then your intelligent body starts saving water for a rainy day. The trick is to drink enough water at regular intervals so that your body thinks that water supply is enough and it stops saving water. It is also helpful as all diets recommend foods high in protein and water flushes out the protein waste and your kidneys thank you(protein is flushed via urine). I cannot stress this enough. Drink more water and you'll see the changes(apart from acne reduction, healthy skin)

I will be logging this journal with my experiences so it may help me/someone in future looking for a way to loose weight.