Whew!! That was a long sabbatical I was on. Sorry folks, went away on a holiday. BUT did not put on a gram of weight, in fact lost a kilo, though I was literally on a ‘sweets’ diet—you cannot go to the UK and NOT eat sweets. Even their chocolates taste different!! Did not do my usual aerobics/ cardio exercises . You may wonder what I did. Just read my blog and you will know. Yes, kept off rice, breads, rotis--- ate everything else under the sun but in moderation. Did go on long walks though. So now you know what the culprit is.
Well today, I’ll just write something on the ‘Top 10 ways to become podgy”! Very simple!
- Fruit Juice: This is usually looked upon as a healthy option, but that is far from the truth. If you drink too much of it, you are going to pile on the kilos. Juice contains a lot of carbs and these carbs are Fructose. This gets converted to flab much quicker as muscle cells will not accommodate Fructose. Instead opt for water, low-fat milk, green tea.
- Weekend parties: If you are off booze during the week days but love living it up on weekends and go overboard with alcohol, you’re gonna get flabby! You can pile up over 1000 calories on a good night of drinking. And then add the chicken tikkas, pizzas, French fries you consume along with your drinks you are looking at gaining at least half a kilo during the course of the night. Limit booze to one or two drinks a night and don’t do it too often.
- Carb bingeing: High Carb foods, esp the processed variety, are extremely dangerous in terms of fat gain, as they quickly cause your Insulin levels to soar sky-high which puts your body into a fat storing state. So unless you are doing intense work outs, they are fated for fat storage. So eat them in moderation.
- Eating Out: This is one sure shot way of becoming one step short of little Lotta. The restaurant oils and breads, the extra mocktails if not cocktails that you end up having are only going to add on the kilos. So limit eating out to special occasions.
- Take the car: The more you walk, the less bulky you will be. You do your daily 30- 45 min work out but then take the car to go next door to the grocery store, then believe me the kilos will pile on quite insidiously. So take the stairs, walk whenever you can. Just because you are doing your everyday workout doesn’t allow you to be sitting on your butts for the rest of the day.
- Greasy foods: Doughnuts, burgers, French fries, chips, pakodas- they all taste better than cabbage. They also make you unhealthy and podgy. Think of it this way, it takes 45 minutes intense, like cardio workout to burn 300 calories, so imagine how much of exercising you’ve got to do to burn all those calories you are dumping into yourself. Go ahead, eat them once in a way- no problem at all but don’t make them into a habit.
- Eating the wrong protein: You need protein to build muscle. You know this and you faithfully load up on every protein you can lay your hands on eg. juicy steaks whenever the opportunity presents. Then, you are well on your way to becoming podgy because many protein rich foods are do contain high amounts of saturated fats. Instead, choose leaner proteins and eat them in moderation. Remember you can get too much of a good thing.
- Move back home: If any of you are thinking of moving back home, surrounding yourself with all of your Mum’s high fat, high calorie cooking will take you – you know where.You will soon become the roly-poly kid your Mom just loved- no offense to Mums, I love them.
- Do not skip you workouts because they could mean the difference between you staying lean or just getting podgy.
- Couch potato: Remember the snacking while watching TV? These calories are never taken into account most of the time but they are main culprits in you becoming podgy because you tend to forget how much you are consuming while watching your favorite Tv serial. But again- moderation is the key. You do NOT have to give up totally.
So these are my 10 tips for the day. Simple to follow but needs a bit of will power.Don’t worry, if I can do it, so can you! Once you see yourself in the lovely dress you bought the other day and the way it fits you, believe me, you will be motivated. I can’t watch some of the videos of myself taken 5 yrs ago. But those taken on this holiday- I was amazed—I look really cool!! :)
