The Ulimate Road Map to Healthy Lifestyle

I have been on & off on this so called journey of "weight loss". Often I struggle to reduce few kgs and when I finally do, I again put on more than what I loose in short period of time. This indeed left me demotivated, frustrated, blaming on my metabolism and my hectic schedule..bla bla bla.

As part of my every day routine, I greet all my colleagues on my way to desk. Slowly, I started noticing change in one of my colleague. She was actually getting slimmer! I was OMG! She was so overweight and we all knew it was bcoz of her thyroid problems.. but now she is indeed getting in shape!

I couldn’t stop myself but greet her and congratulate her ! (I must admit I was a bit jealous too!) She took my compliments graciously and was smiling calmly. After a brief moment of pause, I was like “How (the hell) did you do it?” She said, "Weight loss is all about discipline & hard work”

At night, when I was retiring to bed, I still could not get over it!. If she can do it so can I ! I am truly inspired and want to get myself back on track, not just for weight loss but for a healthy life stlye.But I had tried hard before, with little success. I realised, there is something that I am doing that is not right. As Stephen R. Covey (author of 7 habits of highly effective people) has rightly defined key to success is combination of:
1. Knowledge (to know what to do)
2. Skill (to know it & do it in correct way)
3. Desire (most important, even if you have knowledge & the skill, without desire or actual practise, you won’t get anywhere)

So, I thought first step first, let me find out exactly what to do lose weight. I furiously took on to internet and started researching on weight loss plans, diets, articles on fitness, blogs, books .etc.
After days of hard work and research, I have found a new guru Rutuja Diwekar (the author of “Don’t lose your mind, loose your weight!”). The book is must read for anyone who wants to maintain a healthy life style & not just lose weight.
I have finalised the following rules from various sources and mostly from Rutuja Diwekar books and commit myself to abide by it.
#1. The last meal of the day is before 2 hours of bed time. (I will try stick to dinner before 8:00 pm)
#2. Eat within 15 mins of waking up. ( I know this doesn’t sound practical, but can try to eat at least a fruit and then have breakfast after an hour. If there is no time to prepare breakfast, can have cereals with milk) strictly no Tea/coffee immediately on waking up, it bloats the tummy and kills hunger in morning only to push you to binge at lunch time.
#3. Eat every 2 hours. (Not practical again?? But wait, it can be possible with snacks like peanuts, sprouts, fruits, etc)
#4. Eat in correct portions. (This is important, as each meal you eat, should be in controlled portion sizes. Any meal you overeat straight goes to storage!!)
#5 Drink lots of water. (This is most common principle and doesn’t need an explanation.)
#6 Exercise at least 3 times a week and protein shake is a must after each exercise!( without protein shake, you just loose muscle weight and not fat! ) Exercise should be combination of cardio & strength training.
#7.Drink green tea at least 3 times a day.
#8. Certain types of food can be had once a month only (eg pizza,cake, choclates,biscuit but that too in controlled portion)

Now that I know what to do, I also understand how to do it. If I choose to follow one rule and ignore 1 or 2, I might never reach my goal. I have to follow all of them together to win in this game of healthy living!

So, today onwards I commit to follow the above 8 rules completely .Will keep posting my updates!