Losing weight is a deeply personal journey, filled with challenges, small victories and lasting lessons but for Pritika Srinivasan, shedding 20 kilos wasn’t just about numbers on a scale. It was about reclaiming her health and confidence. In an Instagram post recently, the CA and nutritionist spilled the beans on eight practical strategies that helped her transform her lifestyle and achieve her weight loss goals.
1. Walk up and down the stairs for 10 minutes
If you’re trying to lose weight and want a new way to do it, stairs-climbing as a regular exercise — or just adding a few flights a day — might be for you. Research shows that you burn about 20 times more calories going up stairs than walking on flat ground. Even going down stairs, you burn roughly five times more, the muscles being worked to slow the body’s descent. That might be all you need to know if you are trying to lose weight.
2. Don’t eat extra when you are full
Binge eating involves the consumption of large quantities of food within a short span, often with a feeling of being unable to stop. During a binge, you may eat even when not experiencing hunger and this may persist well beyond the point of fullness. Mindfulness is a practice centered on tuning into your body’s signals and being attuned to your current state of being. This technique serves as a powerful tool in preventing overeating by enabling individuals to discern when they are no longer genuinely hungry. In fact, a comprehensive review of 14 studies demonstrated that engaging in mindfulness meditation effectively reduced the occurrence of binge eating and emotional eating.
3. Say NO to sugar
The side effects of sugar consumption are weight gain, dental caries, cardiometabolic diseases, mood changes and hyperactivity in child along with gut dysbiosis etc. The sugar consumed in form of glucose, sucrose, fructose or starch (as found in sugar, honey, jaggery or fruits) provides same calorie (4 kcal/1 gm) so eating honey, jaggery, brown sugar is all same from calories perspective.
4. Eat home-made food
Eating homemade food is one of the most effective strategies for weight loss, as it gives you full control over ingredients, portion sizes and cooking methods where you can avoid hidden calories, excessive sugar and unhealthy fats often found in restaurant or packaged foods.
5. Stop eating oily and junk food
Junk food has become a routine part of people’s lives. All these fast food items not only cause obesity but can also damage your liver leading to cirrhosis and increase the risk of developing liver cancer.
6. Include more protein in your diet
Protein can help elderly maintain healthy weight by increasing satiety and supporting lean muscle mass, which helps in increasing metabolism. The recommended daily protein intake for elderly individuals varies based on individual factors like age, gender, activity level, and overall health, co-morbidities. However, as a general recommendation, older adults are advised to consume 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight per day along with a balanced diet for a healthy life.
7. Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day
One in 12 global deaths over a five-year period can be prevented through 30 minutes of physical activity — which can include house-cleaning or walking to work — five days a week, say researchers. A 2017 Canadian study found that physical activity is associated with a lower risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease and just 30 minutes of house-cleaning or walking daily could prevent early death.
8. Chew everything thoroughly
The fact that chewing food well makes a healthy eating habit is an age-old wisdom. Slow eating and thorough chewing help prevent obesity and weight gain — a view popularised a century back and tested afterwards in sporadic scientific studies. Backed by robust science, slow eating and thorough chewing could be the latest recommendations for integration into our weight management efforts.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.
