Read to know more about the impressive morning routine he followed to lose weight:
Gireesh Gangadharan, an IT professional became physically inactive after knee surgery and ended up becoming over 15 kilos overweight. The only solution his doctor offered him was to drop everything and start losing weight and so he did! With absolute discipline and a go-getter's attitude, Gireesh lost over 8 kilos in 5 weeks and plans to keep up with his healthy routine.
Name: Gireesh Gangadharan
Occupation: IT Service
Age: 30
Height: 5 feet 3 inches
City: Mumbai
Highest weight recorded: 73 kilos
Weight lost: 8 kilos
Duration it took me to lose weight: 5 weeks
The turning point
I used to get frequent knee pain and recorded high BP because of the extra weight. When I consulted a doctor, his only advice was to 'leave everything' and reduce some weight because according to him, I was a whopping 15 kilos overweight in comparison to my age and bodyweight. I knew that I had become physically inactive and put on weight because of past knee surgery, but never imagined it would be so much. Because of the constant knee pain and weight, I couldn't even play well with my daughter. This ultimately motivated me to shred the extra kilos.
Diet that I followed
My breakfast: Oats smoothie or Banana milkshake and 2 hard-boiled eggs, with one egg yolk. The secret to my weight was my morning routine. One, I started to have fenugreek seeds water upon waking up/hot water with lemon and honey or hot water with apple cider vinegar. This was one of the ways I ensured that what I had wasn't boring at all. On some days one can have chapati too but stick to having just 1 or 1.5 chapatis for breakfast.
My lunch: If you have breakfast by 9, try to keep some seeds(chia seeds, sabja infused water), nuts or fruits handy for 11 am. For lunch, I had 2 chapatis with sabji, or sprout salad with low-fat dressing, and some curd. I had chicken breast shallow fried once a week
My dinner: Dinner on most days was masala oats or low-fat soup which was home-cooked
Pre-workout meal: Mostly just warm water with lemon and honey
Post-workout meal: Oats smoothie (number of varied recipes you will find online, do try)
I indulge in (What you eat on your cheat days): To keep the craving at bay have a small portion of rice not everyday but whenever I felt like eating
Low-calorie recipes I swear by: Oats in any form! Mushroom soup and sprout salad with lemon juice squeezed
Workout followed
The only fitness regime I followed was through a fitness app, I used to workout following experts online religiously. The app, if anyone wants to know is 'Get Six packs in 30 days'
Fitness secrets I unveiled: Having dinner an hour early (by 8 pm) for me made a lot of difference, you will feel light when you go to bed and the morning is even more refreshing and get you in a mood to workout. Never take a break in your workout routine, if not in a mood to do the complete workout on some days, stretching your stubborn muscles is a must. So atleast stretch on a daily basis
How do I stay motivated?
Hrithik Roshan is my fitness motivation. I keep his photo as my lock screen wallpaper, wherein he is flexing his muscles. I know it sounds hilarious, but it worked for me to keep looking at my ideal, and inspire myself on a daily basis.
How do you ensure you don’t lose focus? Remember that the rigorous dieting and workout you are doing is just for a short period just to get you in shape. Once you are their just follow your regular routine with a light workout. So trouble your body for 2 months so that you stay healthy life long.
What's the most difficult part about being overweight?
When you are overweight, it gets hard moving around, you start to feel very lethargic on a daily basis and encounter frequent pains and aches. I also didn't really prefer taking photos of myself or getting clicked because of the poor shape I was in.
What shape do you see yourself 10 years down the line? When I turn 40, I want to still maintain the same fitness regime and shape that I am today, at the age of 30!
What are the lifestyle changes you made? Avoid junk(do take a bite-size though so that you do not crave), stay away from sugar for atleast 3 months, try to drink 3 lts water, have a protein diet that is taking care of your daily need(take same grams of protein as is your body weight in kgs, so for 65kgs person should consume 65grms of protein) from whichever source possible
What was the lowest point for you?
The most troubling part was not being able to play with my daughter, or not being able to get up from the floor to hold my daughter because of constant knee pain.
Lessons learnt from weight loss:
The momentary happiness you derive from having unhealthy food is much less than the satisfaction you will attain leading a healthy lifestyle and staying fit
If you have a weight loss story to share, send it to us at toi.health1@gmail.com
DISCLAIMER
These views are not generic in nature. What worked for the writer may not work for you. So avoid following this article blindly. Find out what works for your body.