The real deal

This post is not about what you can do to gain or lose weight. Its just a brief summary of what happened in my life over the last 3 years or so. There is some history which you can read or not. Now let's move on to the time where I started doing a lot of experiments with health and fitness.

1. The company of like-minded people

The most important aspect of any active lifestyle is surrounding yourself with people who think on similar lines. As Frisbee started becoming popular and competitive, I had to build skill and strength. That led to many conversations among friends about what next. One of those was about whey protein and how its important for muscle development. 

2. The first supplement

Whey protein when consumed in excess or not used by the body properly can end up as kidney stone. Its also important to buy the right whey protein. Many brands have additives, sugar and carbs. They are all just bad. So I started with whey protein only on gym days or after a good/tiring session of Frisbee. The quantity was still lesser than what my body needed. So, in effect, I was burning a few extra calories without realising that. This cycle of 1 or 2 days in the gym and a weekend of Frisbee continued for a few years until I hit that wall for the first time in 2011.

3. P90x

We were going to play a Frisbee tournament in Italy. The World 

Championships. Every single day would be a test of our survival skills on the beach and not just game skills. Again, it was one of my friends who suggested P90X. A 90 day program with something to do everyday. Rest days had yoga and stretching as well. My goal was to lose weight. To be honest, the 90 day program was really hard. I was doing it all by myself. Just me inside my room and the video instructions. I did not let isolation play into my mind. What made me go through that was the sheer rush of adrenalin and high energy levels after the workout. I was not getting tired. Every week, I was only getting more active. I noticed that I was able to shave off a few seconds from every workout every week. During this time, I was strictly off direct sugar and fried stuff. It also helped me that my parents were in the US for sometime during those 90 days. At the end of 90 days, I had lost almost 6 kilos. My fitness was at the highest level since 1980. After that first P90X session in 2011, I ended up doing a few more 90 day sessions.

4. Going gluten-free

After I moved to Australia in 2012, I decided that I should try something different. For atleast three months, I followed a gluten-free diet. No bread, no pizza, no pasta.. anything and everything containing gluten was out of the house. I don't have health problems with gluten but those 3 months were amazing. My body felt a lot lighter and general well-being was at a high. Very soon it was time to get over the gluten-free phase.

5. Adding weight

After the gluten free phase, I decided that I should gain some muscle weight. So I tried Kris Gethin's DTP. It was an amazing program. I was super excited to do it everyday in the gym. The other personal trainers who were at the gym used to wonder what I was doing because they thought it didn't make sense to what they were taught in the classroom. But I did not care. I took the 4 week challenge. I did add muscle but not a lot though.

5. The worst one week

Then in end-March 2013, the worst thing happened. I started taking krill oil supplements for the usual EPA/DHA stuff. What I didn't realise that I could be allergic to shellfish. My body started reacting with rashes. Even the doctors could not find out what was happening. The shellfish reason was only understood through an elimination process that I did at home. Many visits to the hospital and extreme stress made me lose 6 kilos in about one week. It was the worst way to lose weight. From that situation, it took me atleast three months to just get my life and weight back to normal. Around August 2013, I started going back to the gym again but by late Sep, I was tired of just doing stuff at the gym by myself.

6. Moving on to Crossfit

Crossfit was always on the back of my mind ever since I moved to Oz. On first look, it was quite expensive compared to my gym membership. It took more than 1.5 yrs to convince myself that I could spend money on Crossfit. I took a 10 class pass. On the first day, I was the last in class. For the next 9 classes, I was the last in class. But the experience was just first class. For the first time, I was not doing any isolated movements and more than that, I was having a lot of fun. Intense Crossfit over a period of few months without any change in current diet made me lose weight again. In early 2014, when I visited the US, I was back to 61.5kgs - the lowest I had been.

7. The last 3 months

During the last three months, I tried a paleo diet as well. Didn't get through that for more than a few weeks because I don't eat any meat. Vegetarian paleo is just being mean to yourself. With good food, supplements and a lot of Crossfit, I managed to gain about 8 kilos. A lot of it is actually muscle. My waistline has not changed from when it dropped to 29. Upper body is phenomenally strong compared to the same time last year.

So what are the things that went right for me?

a. I told myself that I will remain active and stuck to that regimen all the time. Frisbee, Crossfit, Cycling etc. I kept doing something or the other. I even cycle to office here. Some days I am really bored and didn't do anything but in the last three months, I have been to 5 Crossfit sessions every week. Add to that some yoga, stretching and mobility as well.

b. I made it a point to reduce the carb intake as much as possible. I am not a farmer who works on the field or a factory worker who does a lot of manual labour. I am a knowledge worker sitting at a desk all day. I don't need a lot of rice and wheat for that. I supplemented my diet with whey but only on workout days.

c. Its okay to cheat. Once in a while, I do eat a muffin or a brownie. Everyone has cravings. It doesn't matter as long as you have an exercise routine that helps you get over that guilty feeling.

d. I keep it very simple - work hard. Just like how you had to work hard to get that admission into a top college, you will need to put in a lot of effort to get that weight loss or gain.
e. Set sight on something in fitness. At work, you want to get promoted every 2 years or you want a higher salary every year. You improve your performance based on what you want. I did that with Crossfit. When I started, I could hardly get a few strict pull-ups. Now I am super comfortable with pull-ups. My next goal is handstand push-ups.

Lose that body fat - The history

Well, we know that's not going to happen for sure. I am no doctor or nutritionist or dietician. This story is about me, about what I did for almost a decade - a period where I went through the highs and lows of body weight and in that process, figured out myself a little better. 

1. Fear is always good

Rewinding back to 2004 - London. Fortunately, I was not that fat. I was hovering around the 70s. Waist line was 33 or so. Exercise was not on my mind. The only sport I had played was volleyball and I was not good. My family had a history of people suffering from high cholesterol, sugar and the usual stuff that ends up giving someone a heart attack. I told myself one thing - I may not be able to eliminate all that from coming to me but I can definitely delay it. The simple fear got me going.

2. Take a small step
I decided to give a shot at spinning classes. One of my colleagues was killing it at 32yrs whereas I was gasping for breath. I told myself to just be regular at it. I signed up for a Nike 10K run for the first time. I looked up some training schedules for running. My instructor told me that I should try and finish under an hour. I trained for about 2 months and I ended up at 57. I was pumped. The result was visible. Over the next 2 years until I joined ISB, I managed a few more 10Ks. From spinning, I graduated to Spinning & Abs, Extreme Spinning, Body-Pump. Essentially, I didn't stop myself from getting bored from the same routine. The other incentive was I get to see some hot British women in active wear. All this time, I was not too bothered about what I was eating. Didn't even have whey protein. I would only strive to get to the level where my t-shirt is cold and dripping with sweat.

3. Get passionate

April 2006 and afterwards. I was introduced to Ultimate Frisbee. I was kicked about the fact that I could learn a totally new sport. In school, all my friends played basketball and football. I was not very tall to play basketball and not that great at football either to make the cut. In college, everyone played cricket and I hated that game. So, Frisbee was like a boon. Obviously running was an important part so I spent a good time during the week running on the treadmill. Still no fancy supplements.

4. Rolling stone gathers no moss

So, in effect, I was just doing some activity all the time but only since 2004 April. First it was gym classes and a bit of running. And then it was just Frisbee. If you are reading this and you are thinking about losing weight, the first thing you need to do is get a bit more of an active lifestyle. That doesn't mean that you should immediately hit the gym and go all out or run a marathon. 

Take a step by step approach. You will find thousands of websites and forums giving you plans. Not all will work for you but some will. I guarantee that. It may take you some time to find that right one but over a few experiments you will get there. Don't experiment with food yet. Get out of the bed or the house first. One thing at a time.