Reduced My Weight by 5.7 kg (true)
No Gym/Special diet: How I turned around my health by lifestyle changes and lost weight in the process
In the past, I’ve always been skeptical of weight loss stories that don’t involve going to the gym. I thought that to see real results, you needed to be putting in hours at the gym each week. How wrong I was!
By making a few simple lifestyle changes, I reduced my weight by 5.7 kg without stepping foot in a gym. In this post, I’ll share with you what those changes were and how you may be able to make them work for you too!
Disclaimer: I’m not a certified health advisor. Please do not subject your body to change based on free advice from the internet. Talk to a health professional if you need help.
Credibility first:
Why did I want to reduce weight:
I did not intend to reduce weight. I did a blood work annually for all sorts of things once I’d turned 35. Cardiovascular diseases run in my genes. I had high cholesterol, that was not a surprise. I’ve had it for a while appearing athletic. However HDL was good and VLDL/Trigycerids was very bad this time. The doctor was as surprised as I was.
I had to do something! I agreed with the doctor that I’d try lifestyle changes before I was forced to take medicines.
For me, weight loss was not a project! It was a by-product of living healthier. I changed my lifestyle to reduce cholesterol, and the weight melted away.
Here’s what I did:
- I cut down on Sugar: This was a big one for me, as I have always had a sweet tooth, especially when drinking coffee. And I drank coffee twice daily. I had to make a choice.
- Learn to drink coffee without Sugar
- Continue drinking coffee with Sugar and increase the risk.
- Stop drinking coffee if I cannot drink it without Sugar.
The choice was obvious. I liked coffee too much, and I liked living too much. So option number 1 it was.
- Increased my water intake: I drank at least two litres of water per day. I found that I wasn’t as hungry if I drank enough water, and I didn’t crave sugary snacks as much. I moved to bottled water for a period. It helped me measure easily. I had to drink 7 bottles (2 litres each) a week. It was simple to measure and easier to track.
- Stopped eating junk food: This was a big one for me, as I love junk food. I consciously started hating McDonald’s and cousins! Coke, Pepsi was out of the system. No more instant food! I cooked, or I ate a fruit!
- Ate more fruits and vegetables: This was an easy one for me, as I love fruits and vegetables. The challenge was to not forget to eat them. My solution was to dump my fridge with fruits & veggies. Every time I opened the refrigerator, I would see something I wanted to eat. And so, I ate them.
- Measured, a lot: I upgraded to Fitbit 3. It helped track my weight, sleep, water intake, and steps. I was more aware of my lifestyle choices. While I hated giving Google data about me, I sucked it up and wore the watch. It kept reminding me if I hadn’t moved 250 steps every hour. I customized it to alert so I don’t forget to do move — I was very busy at work. I especially loved the days when I hit 10000+ steps, the watch celebrated and I really started wanting those moments.
- Started ‘walking’ calls: I started taking work calls on mobile (MS Teams/Zoom) if possible. And I would walk while talking. This was my way of getting those steps even if I was busy at work. And I regularly walked — 4/5 days a week — at least 7000 steps a day.
- Reduced Take-Outs: I stopped ordering take-outs. It was hard in the beginning because I love take-outs. But I found that if I cooked at home, I could control what went into my food, and it was generally healthier. When I did order take-outs, I moved towards healthier options.
- Exercised 10–15 minutes: I did a few sets of sit-ups and Russian twists. I didn’t like to go to the gym and this was the best way for me to squeeze in some exercise. I always watched a 15 minute Youtube video while exercising. It got me distracted from the pain and let me know when 15 mins were over.
The change was difficult at first. I had to make a conscious decision every day to follow these tips. But it got easier as time passed, and the weight started melting away. Every time I had to make a tough choice, I went back to remembering my Cholesterol measure. It is easier to explain to myself that eating an avocado is better than worrying about my LDL.
I did allow myself to enjoy the guilty pleasures from time to time. While I focussed on changing my lifestyle, I didn’t want it to be a punishment. This was not a project to lose weight, so the weight loss was a bonus.
And if you were wondering, yes — my cholesterol is perfect! And as a bonus, my metabolic age is 4 years younger than my actual age!!
What worked for me might not work for you. Please consult with your health advisor before making any changes to your lifestyle or diet! Thanks for reading!
By the way, I write on a lot of other topics. More about what I write here!
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