Holistic Weight Management - Plateau Breaking

Weight Management Mantra
Extremely overweight Grandpa was taking his daily morning honey lemon in warm water
Cousin A- It's a lost case- अब कोई फायदा नहीं होने वाला है
(Coincidentally, he is also overweight)
Right on cue, he picked up a glass, poured himself a good measure of water, added a spoon of honey, squeezed a lemon half and drank it up in one go.
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Sometimes you notice that you get stuck at a particular figure for too long. This means the body has got used to a typical diet/ exercise style. You need to shock your system into responding.
A typical plateau breaking diet I followed
Breakfast- Milk, fruits
Mid morning- tender coconut
Lunch- fruit, soup, salad
Afternoon- Buttermilk
Evening- Fruit
Night- Soup, Salad

Ensure that previous day you had enough carbohydrates and the next day don’t take too much carbohydrates but enough fibre so that everything does not get absorbed as your body is starved of carbs and waiting to absorb
Caution- only under supervision- don’t do it too many times as the body will no longer be shocked to respond.

Holistic Weight Management- The Exercise Regimen- Cardio

Weight Management Mantra
A friend told the enthusisatic me who was trying to enter into a regimen of jogging daily- If you feel tired, you must stop, breath deeply and then continue jogging at the usual pace. You must not drag your feet and try to move for the sake of it.
The first day of jogging, I was stopping every half a minute as per her advice.
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Cardio
Begin with the warm up and joint mobilization as usual. The recommended cardio duration for me was 40 minutes
Treadmill- 20 minutes, EFX- 10 minutes, Stepper/ Cycling- 10 minutes
Treadmill
Since my goal was weight / fat loss, I was asked to maintain the weight loss zone heart rate (wear a pacemaker or look at the indicator on the machine to check the zone you are running). Weight loss zone focuses on fat loss whereas the cardio zone brings about cardio strengthening. Change the courses everyday. A recommended fat burning course is to do a guerilla method- use the manual mode, walk at optimal speed for 4 minutes, then for the next 4 minutes do an alternate of sprint for 20 seconds and walk for 10 seconds. End with a 4 minute normal walking.
Brisk walking with a speed of 4.5-5.5 is enough, alternating with incline of 3.5-4 every 3 minutes.
Ensure you walk without holding the treadmill bar/ handle otherwise instead of the legs carrying your weight; the arms lend a helping hand.

EFX- focuses on the butt and legs
Cycle- Focuses on lower abdomen, legs
Stepper- Strengthens the legs.
Use a combination of atleast 3 machines to ensure better fat burning as the body does not get used to a set pattern

Follow the cardio with Abdominal Exercises. The cardio mobilizes fat burning and thereby maximizes the abs that you will do next.
The more you hold/ pulse the more will be the resistance put to the abs
Focus on doing it right and use the abdominal muscles rather than other parts of the body for the crunches.
Suck the tummy in while exercising and keep breathing right

Holistic Weight Management- The Exercise Regimen

Weighty One Liner
You know it is time to exercise when...
Cousin R of 14 years was sitting shirtless and immensly enjoying his food.
Cousin A of 2 years pointing at him- Yaay Mamma Dudu!

Weight Training
Typically trains large muscle group to focused small muscle group.
After the basic warm up, it is a good idea to do 10-15 minutes treadmill to mobilize the fat burning.
Start with the lower body exercises focusing on inner thighs, outer thighs, knees, leg raises with machines and weights.
Intersperse with stair climbing for 2 minutes or 15-20 flights. This supposedly helps in maximum fat burning.
Continue with upper body exercises like back, chest, arms, biceps, triceps- with machines & weights.
The method would be hold, repetitions of 15 counts and pulsing (quick repetitions of 10 counts). Repeat the entire set twice or more as directed. More the weight or the holding, the greater the resistance. Concentrate on breathing deeply and holding the stomach in while doing the exercises. The movements have to be slow when weights are being used. This increases the resistance.
End with cool down and stretches.
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Me back after a 15 day break. The ankle is still not behaving but the doctor said I could do the exercises carefully. He recommended a 7 minute ultrasound therapy for 10 days which I did not bother to take. He claims I did not give enough rest to the ankle hence the healing is not complete....
Rest!! You wish!! I could do anything to stay curled up with the Harry Potter 7. Did think about bunking office but for once I have decided to go slow on the book, savour the moments only because I know how it is going to end. Having read the wiki summary already.
Shamefacedly I proclaim I went for the pirated version on Sunday- Rs 300/- and they have done a damn neat job if it. Personally I feel guilty buying this pirated stuff, the author not benefitting and all but i allow myself that crime. And I absolve myself of the guilt by promising to buy the original set for the kids when they grow up!
On another note, do libraries pay royalty ot the authors they stock?

Holistic Weight Management- The Exercise Mantras

Weighty One-Liner
Cousin R’s Wife D- Both R & I got pregnant at the same time. I delivered but R still hasn’t
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Exercising simply put is a way to expend those calories taken and stored.
1. At whichever time you choose to exercise ensure that you have a gap of 2+ hours from your last heavy meal or 1hour from your last snack. Set a time of 1 hour to 1.25 hours for exercises.
2. Gym gear- Comfortable shoes which you have not worn outside, track pants & shirt, sports bra for ladies, face towel, Water bottle- get something funky/ nice which makes you feel good about wearing it everyday for the gym. Also keep a large towel for the post gym shower/ steam/sauna. A spare set of clothes incase you want a change.
3. It is recommended that one alternates between weights/ floor exercises and cardio work out each day
4. Don’t overdo- allow a day’s rest for the muscles to recuperate and relax
5. Obtain the optimal exercise card from your consultant.
6. Pace- the slower you do the weights more the resistance and better the fat burning. For non weights exercise- do it at a fast pace (like aerobics/ dancing/ running/ jogging/walking)
7. Warm up is essential- these are low intensity exercises that mobilizes the joints, prevents injury and allows maximization of the high intensity workout.
8. Stretch in the opposite direction after every exercise to ease the muscles.
9. Follow the order of exercise recommended. It helps in optimizing the exercises.
a. Overall, if you are doing lower body first, finish all exercises in the order recommended related to lower body and then move to upper body exercises.
b. Better to do the exercises involving larger muscle group first than localized muscle group- lower body general first followed by focused thighs/ calf and back first and then biceps/ triceps.
c. Moreover if you lose all the energy doing biceps first, you will be unable to use your arms for the back exercises.
d. A short cardio before the work outs mobilizes the fat burning.
10. Get them to train you on the correct muscles and concentrate on those muscles while working out- visualize them working hard to burn the fat tissues stored and getting you in shape. Only and if only you get the technique right, the correct muscle groups will work and you will feel the strain in the right place.
11. Surprise the body- Prevent Conditioning-change the frequency/ duration/ intensity and type. Start light and increase it as you get conditioned.
a. Are you finding the repetitions too easy? Either you have got conditioned or you are doing it wrong. Check with the instructor to give you a change of exercise or increase the intensity
b. Choose the right fit between number of sets repeated and increase of intensity. The later is mostly recommended.
c. Every month the set of exercises are changed to avoid conditioning
d. The more the number of machines/ type of exercises, the better the body performs- a cardio of 40 minutes is more effective if it is alternated between 2-3 machines instead of just 1 machine
12. Breath in (during relaxation phase) and out (during exertion phase) in rhythm with the weights going down and up- give the muscles oxygen. Failing to breath will built up internal pressure and may cause broken blood vessels/ hernia
13. End with cool down- helps you relax, prevent soreness and release the waste products out of the muscles

Holistic Weight Management- The Diet Chart

Weight Management Paradox
The day your scales are kind to you, you bravely tell the dietician- how come I lost weight, I had chicken and mango both.

The day you gain, you hide that you had non veg all the 3 meals and 2 samosas.
‘what is this, I am gaining instead of losing, after all the hard work.” You hope she sympathises and does not question you too deeply on your day’s diet. You don’t want to be scolded again for the lapse
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The attempt should be to bring about a change in lifestyle rather than a short term change to last during the weight loss period only. If the aim is to restrict only during the weight loss phase, the tendency is to put back as much and more than what was lost. The overall idea is not to stop one from eating but educate and train the body to eat what is right and the right quantity.

1. Instead of 3 large meals, one should take 6 small meals.
-The body handles smaller amounts of food better than big meals at one go. If the quantity is limited, it is more likely to use the energy contained in the food, rather than store it as fat.
-Taking small meals provide fuel to keep the digestive system working and metabolism fired up throughout the day and prevents the body from slipping into fat storing mode
2. The objective is to get a good mix of carbs, protein, vitamins, fibre. A sample diet schedule -(for me- you need to check with your dietician)
Breakfast- cornflakes/ oats/ upma/ dosa without oil/ idly
Midmorning- tender coconut/ fruit/ vegetable juice
Lunch- 1-2 glasses of cold water, Cup of salad, 2 roti, vegetables, daal, buttermilk. The water, buttermilk and salad will help you control the food quantity to near ideal
Afternoon- milk/ coffee with 2 biscuits/ wheat rusk
Evening- fruit
Dinner- before 7.00- 7.30 pm- soup, salad, wheat bread- 2-3 slices/ roti & salad/ veggies/ oats

Ensure you take 12-15 glasses of water. Can also include the tender coconut, juice in the tally.

Non veg is restricted to twice a week and not in the night. Ayurveda mentions that non-veg takes 48 hours to digest. Also it has no fibre and high amount of fat. Proteins require much more energy than carbs to digest but since one sleeps after dinner the whole thing gets absorbed into the system as fat if eaten at night.

Fruits, salads, oats give fibre.
Sugar free/ cholesterol free does not necessarily mean fat free so be careful of such products.
Tetrapack juices are not always good- remember the sugar added
Everything counts- yes that small piece of chocolate too.
Attain your target and then allow yourself one treat day in the week- not before that.
Cut the vicious cycle – the more you weigh, the more you feel like eating junk food/ high fat food. The more you avoid fatty food, the faster you attain your target and the lesser you feel like eating junk food.

Holistic Weight Management- Metabolism is King

Weight Management Mantra
Mom is no help either
Mom- Look at you, how much weight you are putting on. You should try to reduce.
A month later,
Daughter- no I will not eat dessert or parathas or poori. I am trying to lose weight
Mom- What kind of weight loss program this is. It does not let you eat what you like?
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Metabolism- Defined as the chemical reaction that occurs in living cells- the basis of life. An example is breaking down of food and making it absorbable for the living cells.
In weight management terms, the faster your body metabolises the food, the lesser the food gets absorbed into the system as fat.

Obese people have a tendency to have sluggish metabolism. You might even observe that there are a set of (thin) people who eat much more than you in quantity but do not put on weight. A reason could be high metabolism of the body.
The tendency is to skip a meal mostly breakfast or starve the body. When one does that, the body thinks- ‘oh my God, she is trying to starve me. Let me shut shop, slow down and store food. And thus the little food we have taken gets absorbed into the system.
Instead trick the body in the following ways-
The ways to speed up the metabolism-
eat breakfast early so that the body gets the fuel to metabolise. If you stay hungry till brunch the digestive system wastes half the day in idling away and therefore your calorie deficit is not created.
eat 6 small meals- keep the body fuelled for metabolism to continue
Exercise- cross train – cardio, weights etc so that the body changes gear as per the intensity and type- keep it guessing basically.
Massage
Steam/ sauna
Ways to trick the body to keep the metabolism going the entire day

1. stand instead of sit while talking on the phone
2. stairs instead of elevator
3. Go to the colleague’s desk instead of talking over phone or e-mailing.
4. vary the quantity and type of food each day- eat more one day and less the next day. The body will maintain the inertia and burn as much as it burnt the previous day, not realizing that you have slowed down on the fuel.
5. Guzzle water- lack of water slows the system
Basically look for ways to keep moving and fidgeting instead of sitting still.

Finding the Right Gym/ Weight Loss Method

Weight Management Mantra
Deciding to lose weight is almost half the job done.
I went in December to join the gym. The consultant said 5-7 kg excess.
I dilly-dallied for 2 months and then went back for another consultation.
She said 7- 10 kg excess.
Had I joined in December itself, I would have to shed half this weight only.
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Lavs wanted to know how to select a gym, looking at the number of options available. I have already dealt with the basic amneties of a gym and the other questions she had are answered in the following few pointers;
- Keep the goal in sight before deciding upon the right gym. It could be short term weight loss/ gain, muscle toning, tummy tucking, long term, regular exercising for health reasons among other things. Talwalkers for instance have both short term and annual membership schemes. Maverick in Chennai encourages annual and does not support short term requirements (may be they will make an exception if you are getting married as they asked my husband this question when he tried to coax them on giving him a short term quick fix program!). Fitness one has the advantage of being situated in Ascendas office building so guys working there could take the advantage.
- Identify the methodology of weight loss you want to follow- a VLCC kind of place will focus on tummy tucks, diet control. A gym will focus on exercise, weights, diet, massage etc. You could opt for aerobics program or a dance program for weight loss or yoga or pranayam etc alternately.
- Look at the equipment. Typically a gym will have the cardio section and machine/ weight section. Fitness one has TV attached to the treadmill. So if you are the type who gets bored easily – you know where you have to go as in most programs treadmill is the king.
- Check out the costs. You need to work out the cost-benefit equation. Premium gyms- A 3 months weight loss + 3 months maintenance phase promises 8-10 kg loss and costs around Rs 12K in Talwalkers. A regular program could be around RS 1000 plus per month- as per the last time I calculated. While in Maverick an annual membership costs Rs 8K (corporate discount built in). Fitness one is much more expensive. There would be other gyms that follow pretty much similar methodologies and may cost little lesser. There will also be local gyms with basic machines all in a single floor most likely. They will usually have separate time for ladies and gents and mostly students or people who don’t want to spend too much money and want to do just basic exercises go for it. May cost anywhere between Rs 250- 500 per month. But difficult to get hold of the machines you want as they will have only one of each. Among all choices, finally you have to see which facilities convince you to go for it.
- Depending upon the program you opt for, the services like counseling/ diet counseling/ personal trainer will be built in. A weight loss course will have everything built in but for regular ones you will have to pay for each sitting.
- Paid Services- to opt or not- For severe obesity cases it is best to opt for personal trainer who will push you to the limit and the strict dietician you observes each morsel you ate. A massage is also recommended. For regulars or minor cases of “overweight”, I personally feel it is ok to have a regular instructor and the dietician for the first few months of weight loss and maintenance. After that you pretty much get an idea of what food is allowed and what is not. You might feel that you have reached a plateau and you are not working out to the ideal limit on your own, you might opt for a personal trainer then. I think for less than severe cases, it is best to check out how your body responds and then decide for paid services. Also opting for a personal trainer bounds you to the fixed time. You will find that each entity in the gym will try to sell you some service- who does not, they are also doing business. They will extol the benefits of personal trainer or massage. Decide to take not because they say so but because you believe that it will be good for you or you want to take it. For instance I opted for the massage because I wanted to take it, not because the lady coaxed me to take it or promised major benefits! The most expensive massage at Talwalkers is Rs 400/ hour (less than beauty parlour rates) while at Maverick it is Rs 1000 or more.
- Continue or not- Some say that if you stop exercising / gym you will put back all the weight. I am frankly not sure. Look at it logically. When you are in a program where you are made to exercise for atleast 1.5 hours per day and eat according to strict plan with right amounts of fibre/ cal/ carb/ fat, you have a control over calories in and calories out. Once you stop exercising yet follow the rules of the diet, you control the calories-in but do nothing to ensure the calories-out. Probably there may be some increase and you may get stagnant at a point. The moment you lapse in your diet, the weight may climb to a point of no return. Maybe if you stop the gym yet continue a brisk walk / play a sport/ swim / pranaayam you might be able to keep the weight in control. But then all depends on your metabolic rate too. But believe me, I am not a gym person. 2 months into it and I have decided to become a regular. Let’s hope I am able to keep up the tempo.

Holistic Weight Management- The Mathematics of Calories

Weight Management Mantra
Cousin R discusses how he manages his weight.
I do yoga but I am unable to exercise sufficient control over my food intake. Anyway, I am managing to keep my weight constant…
…at 103 kg
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Have your dietician figure out the daily calorie intake for you.
Identify the quantity of calories you take per day vs what you require per day. Also calculate the calorie deficit you need to create to ensure weight loss.
To achieve this deficit, work out a plan of fewer calories in (diet) and more calories out (exercise). Diet alone does not help in sustaining the weight loss.

Start with a 15-20% deficit from your current body weight and work towards your goal.
1. Replace full-calorie food with low-calorie options
2. Choose small servings
3. Eat slow-down foods - an orange instead of orange juice.
4. Drink lots of water
5. Follow a daily food plan -impulsive choices tend to be high in calories
6. Compensate for the occasional lapses in your next meal
7. Alter/ Increase the intensity of work out to avoid the body getting used to the same pattern

Holistic Weight Management- Time Factor

Weight Management Mantra
If you are trying to lose weight, don’t ever tell your friends about it.
They will try to
sympathise – why are you torturing yourself, poor you, eat something
be patronizing- you are not fat, you don’t need to lose
tempt you into submission- eat tempting food/ desserts in front of you or don’t worry, once in a while you can eat.

Better tell your enemies about it. They will snigger at you and taunt you in such a way that you will be determined to prove them wrong and re-double your efforts in losing weight and proving the enemies wrong.
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For Exercise
It is important to select an exercising time suitable for yourself.

Some say it is easier to do it in the morning before the start of your day. The advantages being;

1. you have had a long gap since your last meal so you need not worry about ensuring exercising on an empty stomach. However take a cracker or biscuit or small glace of juice or milk about 15 minutes before exercise. This fuels your body for better performance, settles the gastric juices and abates hunger.
2. you also clear your stomach if you choose to and it is rewarding to see your weight minus the shit of the previous day when you reach the gym.
3. you jump start the metabolism process and since you are active the entire day, it continues
4. Improves mental energy, alertness and possibly controls appetite through out the day
5. more fat burning if you do it in the morning because the body has used up all the carbs during the say and during the night while you sleep and morning you have only fat to offer at the alter of the gym
   Flip side would be –
   -if you wake up late, you get to miss exercise as obviously you wouldn’t want to miss office
   -laziness- you don’t feel like getting out of bed
   -you may need to rush up as you have to get back home to get ready for work/ get your kids ready
   -warming up takes time and if you don’t do it right you may hurt yourself
   
   The advantages of evening exercise;
   

1. de-stressing after the day’s activities

2. you are not hard-pressed for time – no tension of going to office

3.you are already in a warmed-up stage so exercise is optimized
4. the flip side being- you may be too charged up and alert till late in the night, you may find it difficult to stick to it if you are too tired or hungry to exercise, or you need to go out for a party in the evening and you may not have time to exercise.

CNN disagrees- but it is difficult to find time in the afternoon for work out. A second workout especially with weights in the afternoon is recommended to optimise the calorie burning. A good idea if the workplace could provide a basic gym facility (like my Mumbai branch office - hardly used though. Wish I was there to use it)

For Eating
Eat at the right time to maximize the effect of controlled diet

1. Never skip breakfast- breakfast helps jump start the metabolism by providing carbs to the body to burn
2. If your first meal of the day is late, imagine the number of metabolic hours your body would have lost
3. Eat lesser during the evening as your metabolism begins to slow down at that time. Try to finish your last meal by 7.30 pm.
4. If you eat a huge snack / meal right before work out the blood gets confused- it’s like it has 2 bosses- it doesn’t know whether it needs to rush to the stomach to digest the food or to the exercising muscles and doesn’t do either job right.
5. Don’t be hungry for too long after work –out- you need to replenish the body after the hard work

Check this for a good laugh