How to lose weight ?

When you burn more calories than you eat, you lose weight. It's as simple as this. So, how does the body burn calories? Body spends energy via three routes - physical activity, food consumed and basal metabolic rate. Let's understand these 3 major pillars of losing weight.

1.Physical Activity

Exercise helps you burn fat. Let's be specific - it's aerobic exercise. Yes, fat burns in the presence of oxygen. Its after 20 minutes of cardio that the body enters fat burning zone.

So exercise  for atleast 45 - 60 minutes, 5-7 days a week. It could be any sport or activity such as jogging, running, dancing, swimming, kickboxing, power yoga...anything that you enjoy doing, need not be a fancy gym. 

Remember your childhood days - ‘slow and steady wins the race’. So it’s time to apply that now. Begin by exercising 20-30 minutes every alternate day and gradually progress.

If your just too busy and cannot afford to spare 60 minutes for your body, opt for the 7 minute high intensity interval training or 'tabata' workout. In this form of exercise, you perform lunges/squats/planks/push up/crunches for a duration of 20 seconds and rest for the next 10 seconds. But, do it strictly.

Exercise will not only help you lose inches , feel good and make you ‘selfie’ ready , but will also help reduce stress levels and make you fit for life.

2. Eat...but eat right 

• You are not asked to starve on a diet. Instead there are excess of foods which will help you lose weight and burn fat. 
• You cannot handle an overload of office work. Likewise, your body too cannot handle an overload of foods. Space out your meals. Eat 6 frequent meals in a day. Your sure about three basic ones - what about other three meals ? Those are your mid-meal snacks - nuts,dried fruits,fruits,roasted channa,buttermilk. This helps you stay away from packet of chips. Don’t skip any of your meals.
• Look at your plate when you sit to eat. Half your plate should be filled with colourful vegetables. One fourth with grains ( bajra,jowar,ragi,wheat,amaranth,bulgur wheat,couscous) and remaining one fourth with pulses ( moong,rajmah,chhole,soya etc). Add variety to your mono-food diet and explore diverse foods offered by nature.
• ‘A Moment on lip or forever on the hips’ is what you must remind yourself of when you think of donuts and samosas. These are "energy dense foods", high in fats and simple sugars, providing hardly any nutrition. Eating small quantities is acceptable. Sharing your desserts is still a better option.
• Eat foods that have "high nutrient density" and low energy density. Examples of such foods include vegetables, fruits, lean meat, fish, grains, and pulses. These foods are rich in fibre which provides fullness. The proteins help you build muscle mass and lose fat.
• Quality of calories you eat matters too. One wada pav gives 300 calories whereas one big bowl of popcorn provides 100 calories. The wada pav,despite the calories may not suffice your hunger but the popcorn will. Now you decide, which is a better snack. Think before you gorge.
• Dinner and bedtime should be well spaced - atleast 1.5 hours.
• Plan your meals and snacks: Planning your responses to hunger helps you shed weight faster.
• When eating out, follow the rule - GPRS - order grilled, poached, roasted and steamed foods.
• When buying packaged food, be extra cautious. Pick up healthier options by reviewing the ranking and analyses on  www.purplekaddu.com
• Drink enough water ( 10-12 glasses per day )
• Chew food thouroughly and slowly. Hurried, distracted meals add to your weight.

3. Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

You must have come across online tools that help calculate your BMR. But, what is BMR? Why is it such an important aspect of weight loss?

In simple terms, BMR is the energy your body spends in performing simple day to day tasks such as breathing, sitting, talking to your friend, or sleeping. But for performing the same act, your body may expel 5 kcal, your friends body may expel 10 kcal. Thus, BMR is individualistic. Why this difference? BMR depends on many factors such as age, climate, body size, muscle mass, gender, hormones and thus the differences observed amongst you and your friend. 

In short, BMR refers to how high or low is your body's metabolism or ability to spend energy. It could be high or low though the difference is not very credible. To aid your body burn more calories/energy, try green tea, spicy foods, high intensity interval training, drink enough water, have breakfast everyday and on time and stress less. Don't be tempted to eat less when you start training. Scarcity of food puts your body under stress which lowers your metabolism, making it more difficult to lose weight. So eat as per required and get enough sleep.

The million dollar theory to help you cross over from obesity to obesigo is thus solved -

70% diet + 30% exercise + lifestyle changes = Successful and permanent weight loss