[Lifestyle] Weight loss: "I have oats khichdi for dinner and a glass of haldi milk"

[SliCeR]

At the age of 30, Anubhav Kumar suffered from a fatty liver and kidney stones, all resultant of an unhealthy and largely sedentary lifestyle.

An inspiring video on the internet acted as the big changer for Anubhav, who gave himself a goal to lose weight and is now a motivation to many like him, and has also written a self-help book.

To know how he lost 20 kilos in record time, read his transformation story below and gain helpful tips:

Name: Anubhav Kumar

Occupation: Software engineer 

Health problems due to obesity are quite common. I myself suffered from a fatty liver and kidney stones.

One fine day, I went on a walk with my sister to the park. She casually showed me a Youtube video of women in her fifties and how healthy her medical reports were. The video showed how the doctors admired the woman and complimented her by saying her vitals are as good as a young child's. This very line in the video gave me a strong jolt of inspiration to start my weight loss journey and get my health back on track. I felt if that lady in her 50s could do it, why couldn't I in my 30s?

That was the big turning point and I am happy to have never looked back.  

Health problems due to obesity are quite common. I myself suffered from a fatty liver and kidney stones.

One fine day, I went on a walk with my sister to the park. She casually showed me a Youtube video of women in her fifties and how healthy her medical reports were. The video showed how the doctors admired the woman and complimented her by saying her vitals are as good as a young child's. This very line in the video gave me a strong jolt of inspiration to start my weight loss journey and get my health back on track. I felt if that lady in her 50s could do it, why couldn't I in my 30s?

That was the big turning point and I am happy to have never looked back. 

I just did brisk walking and nothing else to lose weight. Initially, it was difficult for me to walk even 5000 steps but kept doing. Slowly, with the right determination, attitude, hunger for success, I was able to increase from 5000 steps to 15k a day to 20K+ sometime.

My aim was to have control over my calories and do simple cardio movements like brisk walking regularly.

Fitness secrets I unveiled:

Real fitness lies in your mind. If you are mentally fit, you will feel physically brisk and healthy. If no, no diet, fitness regime, doctor or dietician can help you achieve your goals or lose weight. Set a goal in mind, be true to yourself before you decide to start your journey. 

Motivation comes from within. The following things helped me stay ahead in the game:

a. Self-control is crucial and is the only secret to my weight loss. Actually, you have to go through many changes in your habits. Changing habits takes time & not easy actually when it comes to leave unhealthy food & a poor lifestyle & switch to a healthier one. I trained my mind how to say NO to junk food and Big YES to healthier ones.

b. Be disciplined. I was very particular about foods I was eating, waking up early in the morning, saying no to junk foods, tracking calories on daily basis, tracking my total steps every day, going for a brisk walk daily, drinking at least 10 glasses of water without fail, etc throughout my weight loss journey. 

I think, now I have trained my mind enough not to lose focus because now it's not only about my fitness but as an influencer it is like my responsibility not to lose focus, at least for people who believe in me.

What’s the most difficult part of being overweight? Every person who feels overweight or suffers from bad health will agree to this- poor self-confidence, low self-esteem, the risk of catching diseases and poor health in general. Nobody wants that in life.

What shape do you see yourself 10 years down the line? I aspire to have a lean, athletic and aesthetically pleasing body and help others achieve their goals.

The biggest change for me has been that I now help people to stay fit (mentally and physically) in life by sharing ideas, insights, and motivation through my Instagram account at "@anubhav.mission" and my personal blog at www.anubhavkumar.in . Sharing ideas and motivating people for a healthy lifestyle helps me stay highly motivated. People now see me as a fitness influencer and helps me engage in fitness talks. If you keep yourself engaged in fitness talks, you stay involved and motivated for fitness in life. I even wrote a self-help ebook called "Willingness Meter" to help people stay active physically and mentally in life. 

I started to follow a strict diet plan and track my daily calories, the burn using an app on my phone. Walking is good too. Initially, even dragging myself out of bed was difficult. But I downloaded an app and tracked my daily steps. My first goal was to lose 10 kilos by taking at least 10,000 steps every day. So I kept that goal in mind, restricted my calories accordingly and saw the changes happen!

I used to eat around 1400 calories per day. Slowly, I reduced it to 1100 calories by adding low-card meals. I reduced my daily intake of 8 chapatis to 2 and filled the gap with more veggies and weight loss-friendly foods like oats.

I also focussed on eating more fibre, low-carb sources like mushrooms, bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, green beans, papaya etc. Veggies and fruits became my new friends. 

If you limit your calories, restrict junk food and follow simple workouts like brisk walking 10k steps a day, it is more than enough and this is how I achieved my weight loss goal. You do not even need to join a gym if you are doing these two things properly. Lastly, dedication & motivation are the only things that will keep you energetic throughout your journey.

I know one thing, motivating others when on the same mission works best for your own motivation. But, you have to be very particular about your mission before motivating others. You can not motivate others with zero results. And, this is why I planned to motivate other online & created a new Instagram account, wrote a self-help book, share ideas through my blogs. Books are the best motivators & gurus in life. I always prefer reading books, let it be any topic. Self- help books are my favourite & is the best source for your self-inspiration