The only secret to weight loss
By: Lavleen Bhati
Tags: Weight Loss Tips, Weight Loss, Health Tips, Lifestyle, Health

The only secret to weight loss

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I’ve been on a weight loss journey since I joined college. I have tried so many diets and workouts, and every time I lose weight, it somehow finds its way back to me. It’s been a vicious cycle of weight loss and gain for me. There were times when I even tried some fad diets -eating only a banana or eggs for an entire day to lose weight quickly. But I have never been able to keep it off for good.

During college, I used to scour the internet for new diets that I can follow or exercises that I can do for quick weight loss. And from that experience, I learned that there are a lot of diets online, A LOT. The banana diet, egg diet, oats diet, 900 calorie diet, etc. They’re all so appealing considering they promise quick results and promote the benefits of eating the food present in those diets.

A few months ago, I decided to get straight and set a bet with a friend of mine to lose 8kgs in 2 months. It may sound crazy to some, but I was almost able to do it. And maintain it for quite some time. Let me share with you the one and only ‘weight loss tip’ that I have found useful for me.

(PS. I am not a dietician or a medical practitioner. I am just sharing my experience through this article and what I think may work for people)

Why every diet I ever tried, failed

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The problem I faced when I was on a quick-fix diet, was that I was never able to stick to them. After eating bananas for 3 straight days, I would crave something crispy, freshly cooked, and spicy. And then crash so hard that I would binge on some really high-carb unhealthy food for days and gain back all the weight I lost while on the diet. And the problem with me was, I would not give myself time to lose weight. So I was either on a fad diet or not on one at all.

And if you have been struggling with weight loss or just watching YouTube videos on weight loss, you might know that the same thing happens when you deprive yourself of any particular kind of food. The crash, from when you finally break your diet, is especially worse for very-low-calorie diets and restrictive food diets.

Why my workout never ‘worked out’

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The scientific way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you eat. So there were times when I used to work out for an hour and then eat very less calories throughout the day. To be honest, at the time, I was able to do it and thought it was completely normal, but looking back, I can see why that method didn’t work. After a few days of eating less and working out for hours, I used to feel a lot of fatigue. I would lose weight, but the workouts used to get lazy, and my eating would get even more restrictive. My muscles used to get sore really quickly and so I was unable to continue the workout for long. And then I would just give up because of fatigue. One cheat day would become a week and then a month.

There were a lot of workouts that I tried. I was really into dancing at one point in my life (I still love dancing but I prefer more toning and bodyweight exercises), then I shifted to yoga and even ballet weight loss workouts. I have tried Chloe Ting’s 2-week shred program so so many times. But I never got beyond day 5.

The only secret I needed to know…

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You remember the bet I told you about in the introduction of this article. That bet and the months that followed made me realize an important lesson; the only secret I ever needed to know for weight loss: ‘Consistency’. Ok, it may seem cliched to people. Obviously, if you work on something long enough it’s gonna pay off to some extent. But I really want to share it with people because as obvious as it was, I never really cared for it and went for fad quick fixes instead.

Consistency is what helped me stay on track and lose all the weight that I wanted. I tried not to think of workouts or diets as a ‘way to lose weight’, but just as a task that I have to do every day for a few weeks. After a month, it became natural to me. I would feel lazy if I didn’t work out any day. And eating more salads, eggs and fewer carbs started to feel natural. I also realized that on the days I didn’t exercise, I ate more than usual. I stopped craving the sugary and high-carb food. And overall, my body felt lighter. Also, the bodyweight workouts that I was doing at home toned up my body and my clothes started fitting much better.

This may sound like every other ‘How I lost weight’ video on Youtube, but it’s true. I tried to make workouts a habit and I did. Due to the change in the city after the 2nd month, and my visit to my friend's place, I got off track and gained some of the weight back, and lost the habit of working out. But at least now I know the secret. I just need to push myself to work out for the first week and let my body and mind do the rest.

This time, I know that no matter the situation, visiting family, holidays, etc. I need to do at least 30 mins of workout each day to stay consistent with my progress.

I once read a book that said ‘try making small changes in your life daily. Every change you make and stick to will pay off a huge amount in the future (Not the exact words but you get the gist of it). Try making this one change in your life. Start with improving your diet: stop refined sugar for a week, then add a walk to your routine every day, then exercise, and so on. You’ll start seeing the change after just 1 week. It may not be a huge change, but don’t think of it as something you have to do to reach your target, think of it as just something you have to do in the day. Don’t count days, don’t think of how many more days you need to continue the routine. Make changes that you can stick to. There’s no harm in having cheat days, if you crash and end up binging, wake up the next day and start again, see why you crashed and make changes to your diet accordingly. Try these changes in your lifestyle and see your body change with time.

I will be sharing the diet and workout I followed to lose weight in the following article. I would not suggest going by my exact diet as what worked for me may not work for you. Finding the perfect diet and workout for one is a trial and error. You’re gonna fall, but as long as you get back up and start again, you’ll reach your goals.