Struggling to get into a fitness routine with your 9 to 5 job and looking for tips to lose weight you may have piled on? We feel you. You may not have access to a team of trainers and 5 nutritionists to carve out a personalised plan for you, but getting fit is a lot less complex than you think. We got Sunjay Ghai, founder and CEO of Revofit, a fitness app that creates custom health plans and supplies wholesome meals to working professionals, to dole out his best tips to tackle the never-ending weight loss battle.
Find the right diet
“Diet fads keep changing, so don’t follow anything blindly. A few years back the trend was Atkins, a few months back it was keto and now everyone is talking about intermittent fasting. There will also be something new out there, so you’ve got to understand what your routine and goal is and how your eating and fitness habits fit into it. If you want to put on muscle, you’ll have to eat extra calories to get shredded. If you need to loose weight, it’s important to increase your cardiovascular performance and eat around 1,500 calories a day. Then, you have to factor in your weight, height and BMI. But if there’s one common tip, everyone needs to control portion sizes. The proteins on your plate should be your palm size and carbs should be the size of your fist.”
Don’t substitute food with supplements
“A lot of working people have vitamin deficiencies as they are less active and mostly indoors. They tend to skip meals and take supplements to overcome these deficiencies. Supplements are only called so because they supplement a meal and they cannot replace it. Ensure your primary nutrients come from your food and these are just an additional top up.’’
Rethink your routine
“A lot of us believe that you need to workout for atleast an hour in a day to get the health benefits we desire. For most working people, this seems like an unrealistic goal, causing them to dropout of their routine. Instead, try to workout more regularly even for smaller periods of time and you’ll definitely see benefits in the long-term.”
Snack right
“When you’re hungry in the evening, everyone has a tendency to grab something that can be eaten quickly as they’re in a hurry to finish work and go home. The natural tendency is to go towards fried snacks like samosas and vada pavs that are filling, tasty and available easily below offices. Or we tend to eat processed or packaged foods that we carry from home. This is primarily what’s causing us to gain weight so quickly. Instead, it’s better to plan your meals. Keep a box of nuts (like almonds, cashews and walnuts) at your desk or carry a homemade snack that keeps you going through the day.”
Get active
“Sitting for long hours is the worst thing you can do for your body. It has also been proven to make you more prone to diseases like diabetes, cancer and hypertension. Set an alarm, get up every half an hour and take a small walk in the middle of work. You can also use your lunch hour to workout for even 40 minutes if you have a gym around you and eat a quick lunch after. This also helps as a refresher and improves the way you function through the day.”
