You have been eating healthy, avoiding fast food and doing practically as much work as the other colleague at your workplace. And still your weight is still on a rise. You can’t seem to figure out why! Most frustratingly, you do not know how to lose those extra pounds, love handles and pouch belly that you never had a couple of months back. Where have you been going wrong? Really, what must you do to get back in shape without compromising with your daily schedule?
Here are a few, yet key things that I personally followed (strictly two months before my wedding) and did achieve a lean figure.
If you are a working professional your demanding lifestyle of can take a toll on your physical health and body. The paucity of time, the dependence on ‘ready-to-eat’ convenience food, or ‘vegging on the couch’ after hours of toil only lead to a body gone way out of proportions. Clothes stop fitting and lethargy prevails, not to forget a couple of pounds bulging out notoriously at the most unwanted of places. You do practically as much work as your colleague sitting on the other side of the cubicle. You woefully complain that you hardly eat and yet you are gaining weight. You wonder to yourself what he does to stay so healthy and (more importantly) look so lean! Then you wonder at the possibilities of dieting...or crash dieting...or whatever it takes to fit right back in your favorite pair of jeans!
The key is not dieting. It is all about choosing the right diet and incorporating it in your daily life.
Making minute changes here and there in your daily schedule can actually work miracles. No, you do not need to miss work and do not need to do strenuous ‘suryapranaams’ to achieve a lean and fit look (although we never discourage exercises and you can go on doing them as per your wish). It is about knowing what you eat and what impact will it have on your body, or more precisely, your ‘figure’.
A healthy diet is very important in achieving a proportional figure. While it may vary from subject to subject, we have compiled a general list of do’s and don’ts that will definitely help you reduce the overall fat content in your body and attain a balanced figure.
To begin with, certain key information must be furnished.
- Depending on whether you are a male or a female, your body would require more carbohydrates and proteins or calcium, proteins and carbohydrates respectively.
- You must also make a note of your height and have your Body Mass Index (BMI) calculated accordingly to set out on a diet plan.
- Next in line, you should make a note of vices – drinking, smoking, eating out, eating late, and skipping meals.
- Make sure you are not under any medication.
- Know exactly how your day is divided. This will help in making sure that you provide your body with the required nutritional support for enhanced professional performance.
Diet plan according to time
Whether you work from 9AM to 5PM or are in a graveyard shift, there is always a diet plan to help you replenish your body with nutritional food.
- Working all day: If you’re a long-run person, on your feet for almost the entire day, your body needs enough energy to keep you going. Keep your sugar level stable with the help of hydro-carbonates. Start your day with cereals and milk, eat vegetables (not too oily or overcooked) with chapattis and salads at lunch, go for a bowl of soup with a couple of baked bread sticks as an evening snack and round it off with chapattis, stir-fried vegetables and dal at dinner.
- Late-night worker: If your work starts when the world goes off to bed, you need enough nutrition to last you till the wee hours of the morning. Vitamin B1 is the key nutrient that will keep you on your toes till morning. Start your day with a breakfast comprising brown bread and honey. Your lunch should include salads, chapattis and vegetables. As an evening snack you can eat a fruit like apple, pear, orange or papaya. For dinner you can have chicken barbecue and salad.
While these are basic work shifts that require proper care and attention with regards to one’s diet, there are other general factors that help you maintain a lean and healthy body. No matter what occupation you have, your body needs enough energy to do it well. You need a healthy diet plan so that you don’t gain weight and yet eat only as much as is required by your body to work efficiently and for you to not feel dizzy or hungry and be tempted to hog between meals, even while at work.
Sedentary workers: Working professionals, especially those restricted to a sedentary job, perform intense mental activities and have very limited physical movement during their work hours. Your body needs ‘intelligent food’ that gives energy to your brain and nerves while also satiating your hunger. You need food items rich in Vitamin B and C. Eat a wholesome salad, fruits (oranges, apples, pears, papaya) or a vegetable sandwich (made with brown bread) for breakfast. Eat two chapattis with stir fried vegetables, salads and yoghurt for lunch. Have a bowl of fresh tomato soup in the evening and for dinner eat fish, vegetables or porridge (dalia).
For an average person who wants to shed a few pounds, here a few easy-to-do week-wise tips that will not only reduce the fat content in your body but also, if followed strictly, lead to acquiring visible results in body proportions within weeks! The prescribed timings are standard, based on an average person’s daily time table and can be molded by one hour to suit your needs. (And no, you can’t cheat! No chocolates, butter, cheese, rice or potatoes! Not even out of desperation! After all, you do want to get back in shape, don’t you?)
Week 1: Your body needs a detoxification.
7 AM: Drink a glassful of lukewarm water. You may add a dash of lemon if you please.
8AM: Take two slices of toasted brown bread. Toss in freshly chopped vegetables like cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce. Add a pinch of salt. This is your breakfast.
11AM: Eat a fruit. Avoid bananas, litchis or grapes as they add weight.
1PM: Eat two flour and bran chapattis (the ratio of mixing wheat bran and flour is 2:1) with lightly cooked vegetables and salads.
4PM: Drink a cup of regular tea. You can also munch a couple of biscuits (but only a couple and not a whole pack of assorted nut cookies).
6PM: Drink a bowl of soup. Avoid cheese and butter. If you cannot take soup, you can eat a fruit. This will keep your hunger at bay till dinner time.
8PM: Eat one flour and bran chapatti (the ratio of mixing wheat bran and flour is 2:1) with lightly cooked vegetables and salads.
Week 2: Your body needs a nutrient replenishment.
7 AM: Drink a glassful of lukewarm water. You may add a dash of lemon if you please.
8AM: For breakfast, eat a bowl of sprouts. You can choose to drink a tumbler of thin buttermilk if you like.
11AM: Eat a fruit. Avoid bananas, litchis or grapes.
1PM: Eat two wheat and soya flour chapattis (the ratio of mixing wheat and soya flour is 2:1) with lightly cooked vegetables and salads.
4PM: Drink a cup of regular tea. You can also munch a couple of biscuits.
6PM: Drink a bowl of soup. No cheese or butter to be taken yet. If soup is not available, you can eat a fruit.
8PM: You eat porridge (dalia), cooked with seasonal vegetables for dinner.
Week 3: Your body feels lighter
7 AM: Drink a glassful of lukewarm water. You may add a dash of lemon if you please.
8AM: For breakfast, a brown bread sandwich. You can have an egg-white omelet on alternate days.
11AM: Eat a fruit. Avoid bananas, litchis or grapes.
1PM: Alternate between two wheat and soya flour chapattis and flour and wheat bran chapattis and have them with regular non-oily vegetables. Increase your intake of salads.
4PM: Drink a cup of regular tea. You can still munch a couple of biscuits.
6PM: Drink a bowl of soup minus cheese or butter. If soup is not available, you can eat a fruit.
8PM: You eat continue eating porridge (dalia), cooked with seasonal vegetables or salads or wheat and soya chapattis with light curry for dinner.
Week 4: Measure your weight and inch-loss
Follow the diet plan of Week 3. Increase the quantity of foods that cool your system such as yoghurt, cucumbers, and tomatoes etc. Also increase your intake of high-fiber foods such as oat bran, woody vegetables etc. that keep your energy levels high.
However, do bear in mind that you have already come this far. Three weeks without rice, potatoes, oil, ghee, butter, cheese, sweets, chocolates or fast food indeed calls for applause. This is the final week. A little bit of perseverance will give you astonishing results. Depending upon how much weight you have lost since you began following the diet plan, you can choose to include lean meat twice a week, to be taken at lunchtime. If the temptations are too hard to resist, you can allow yourself a treat of boiled chicken salad. Do remember, no gorgeous dressings should be added to the salad though!
We are sure that once you follow this month long diet plan, you will be a better judge of the food you eat. While continuing to measure your progress in losing weight each week, you will have an idea of what suits you the best and doesn’t leave you feeling weak or hungry. The idea of the diet plan is to keep your stomach full while not adding the minutest amount of fat.
Finally, here are a few tips that one must follow to maintain that gorgeous figure and stay healthy:
- Do not skip breakfast: Breakfast is the first chance for the body to refuel its glucose levels after a gap of eight to ten hours. It is important for weight management as it helps curb your hunger and prevents you from binging later during the day.
- Eat at regular intervals: Our bodies needs energy at regular intervals. Moreover, frequent food intake helps your prevent acidity, gas or bloating. Mini meals supply a constant stream of insulin to preserve muscle but lesser insulin release and therefore lesser fat gain.
- Eat healthy: Eat natural food items. Avoid junk food or eating out. Carry roasted nuts or fruits while on the go instead of chips and munchies.
- Say no to aerated or caffeinated drinks: Replace fizzy drinks with water, coconut water, lime drink, fruit juices or herbal drinks. Restrict your intake of tea and coffee.
- Avoid stress and long working hours: Let your body rest and use up all the nutrients that you have provided it with and produce energy.
- Avoid cigarettes and alcohol: Smoking or drinking for busting stress is no excuse! These have more negative effects on the body than you could possibly imagine.
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