Have you been trying to loose weight ?
Whenever I ask this question to any overweight person the answer is`Yes’ but it does not happen. Then I ask , Why it does not happen ?” Most of the times there is no definite answer. Only some excuses come. Let me take these common myths and excuses one by one.

I don’t eat much : Most of the overweight people would say this and are convinced that there is some underlying disease such as thyroid disorder, some medicine intake commonly hormons  (even iron tablets) which are responsible. To some extent genetic inheritance and body metabolism are responsible for excessive weight gain. However, God has given us one body and unfortunately we can’t change it whether we like it or not. There is practically no disease or medicine which increases weight. Even if there are some they cause only a marginal increase and again the methods to reduce weight remain same.

• I avoid Fatty food : When asked most people would say.
• I put oil in cooking instead of ghee. 
• I avoid rice. 
• I take juices.

The fact is almost every food we eat contributes some calories. We have to reduce the total calories and also the type of food from which we get calories. All types of fats (egg, oil, ghee, butter, malai) have the highest calories per gm i.e. 9 cal. So avoiding fats is most important.

Some items which we do not consider fatty and are quite commonly consumed are chips, bhujia, biscuits, mathi, namkeen, samosa, tikki, etc. Sweets of all types have very high amount of concentrated calories. Juices and cold drinks also have very concentrated calories and must be avoided. Alcohol and meat are other two very important contributing culprits.

I have a very busy work schedule : There fore can’t control my diet and also can’t do any exercise ?
Exactly the opposite reason given by some homemakers of two to four persons household not enough work. Both situations are just the same.

A very busy executive, computer engineer, salesperson, teacher, doctor and especially young students, social worker, everybody gets so much in the web of work that care of ones own self is ignored. There is a rat race to achieve targets, goals, marks that there is no time to take care of the body. With this type of lifestyle usually there is excess consumption of junk food and no physical exercise. 

I have lots of tensions : Yes, anxiety and depression do increase weight in many people. Some persons tend to eat more and reduce their physical activity and gain weight during a rough period. I can only say that there is nobody who does not have problems. All problems are as big as we perceive these. Do not increase in the world your problems by adding on weight as one of the problems.

So what is the solution ?

1. Motivation : Consider your body as a slave. Do not pamper it, do not listen to its unreasonable demands and try to work it hard.
2. Confidence : Weight can be reduced. There is no reason why it should not happen. It only needs sustained effort and perseverance.
3. Sustained effort : Weight gain occurs over a time and it will be lost over a time. Half Kg. per week or 2-3 Kg. per month is a good rate of loss. But this rate usually means a sustained effort for 5–6 months for most moderately obese people.
4. Find your bottleneck in diet : Excess tea, excess juices, excess snacks, excess social events, free food  etc. and cut on that.
5. Reduce total calorie intake : To reduce weight a cut in diet to nearly half of current diet is required to make any significant effect.
6. Small frequent meals : Do not skip meals and especially not the breakfast. Divide total food intake into 3-4 small meals.
7. Water: Take lot of water, 20-30 glasses of water per day.
8. Green salad : Take a lot of green salad such as cucumber, carrots, radish, cabbage etc. You have to eat in kilos and not small pieces to do that. Usual response Yak! Salad is not tasty. You can either have tasty food or health.
9. Forget about taste: You can either have tasty food or health.Fonh out your weakness or cut those. Most often these items are eaten in excess as well as these are likely to be calorie rich. Develop a taste for healthy food.
10. Exercise : You must be surprised that I have kept exercise at the last. I am a myself diehard gym goer. Exercise is a very important component for fitness and activity. But for exercise to be able to reduce weight it has be moderately intense e.g. (gym) or 30-40 minutes of brisk walking. It has to be sustained i.e. at least 5 days a week. The increase in hunger due to exercise has to be controlled. No amount of exercise can reduce weight without appropriate diet control. Rather weight will increase further due to increased appetite. In weight loss, 80% role is of diet control and 20% of exercise.
11. Calculate: Calculate your calorie intake. Know your calorie value of common cooked food. A rough idea
    • Any fried item(Sweet or Salty): Multiply   weight by 6-7 calorie e.g. Samosa 100-150 grams x 6-7 calorie = 600-1000 calorie which is equal to one complete meal.
    • Normal cooked item: Multiply the weight of item by 3-4 calorie e.g. one roti, 30gram x 4=120gram.
    • Common Cold drinks: 50-200 cal/100 ml.
    • Calorie requirement: Calculate your calorie requirements also. You require roughly 1cal/min for your basic requirements. Add 1cal/min for normal activity time such as household activity 3-5cal/min, for very active exercise such as running or gym. To loose 1kg/week weight you need to have a daily deficity of 500 calorie or more.

Finally a word about machines and weight loss medicines. Obesity is a life style disease. It is not a short term problem. A quick fix will not help, A change in lifestyle, regular habit of exercise and a permanent modification is diet only keep you fit.

To conclude, I would say that there is no reason big enough to spoil your health, there is nobody who can’t reduce weight if they try hard.