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Do cardio (walking, jogging, running, swimming) for at least an hour for minimum five days per week and weight train for at least two days a week for an hour, suggests fitness expert Dr Shreyash Gujrathi.
It is true that fitness is not a '10-day weight loss programme' or a 'No carb week' trial.
Small starts are, at the end of the day a healthy start! and any effort in that direction should not be undermined.
As far as any fitness journey is concerned, any start is a good start.
If you have set a 30-days deadline to achieve your goals, here are some guidelines to get started:
Sugar? No sugar!
One of the biggest challenges for individuals who have been physically inactive before, is diet changes, especially changes in the carbohydrate choices.
Even if you have enough motivation, it is not recommended that you suddenly make big changes in your diet, right in the first month of your journey.
Small changes like choosing an oat cookie rather than a white flour cookie, choosing 1 sugar sachet in a coffee mug rather than 2, will set the stage for the upcoming months.
Remember, portion control is the key.
Less salt in the plate adds more salt in the mirror!
Another very easy to do act, is to start measuring the amount of salt you add to every dish.
Trust me, little changes in this habit, even if it is in grams, can make huge differences in the way your face looks in the mirror (less facial bloating, as soon as you reduce salt intake for the first few days).
Also, less salt (not zero salt) in diet, helps to reduce water weight within the first week.
Please note: Any extremist action -- like eliminating salt or sugar completely from the diet for fast results -- can be detrimental for brain function, endocrine system function and other systems in your body.
Make sure that you do 'portion control' and instead of getting rid of a nutrient.
'Ready to go' foods lead to 'Not ready to go love handles'
We all know how difficult it is to remove those extra flabs just above your buttocks, commonly called as 'love-handles'.
Just to put it in one line, bigger the insulin-spike bigger the love-handle.
Packed foods (not all maybe) generally have loads of salt, sugar and preservatives, just to simply increase the shelf-life of the food product, and also to make your taste buds crave it more.
As soon as you consume this or any food which is high in sugar, within half to 1 hour, your pancreas releases an anabolic hormone, named insulin.
The job of insulin, is to push this extra sugar into the working cells/muscles.
But what if you are not working and there is no physical activity?
Then this insulin, pushes this extra sugar into the flat cells which are ready to store this extra calorie intake, just around your belly region, which is a fat-storage-location, also the most important determinant as far is lifestyle related diseases like diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases are concerned.
Unsaturate your life with saturated fats!
Just to increase the shelf life of packet food, manufacturers, usually hydrogenate an oil.
In the process, hydrogen is passed into natural, organic oil (unsaturated oil), to intentionally make it saturated.
Now this saturated oil is greasy, sticky, waxy (saturated) at room temperature. When you consume this, it sticks into the inner arterial walls and heart walls.
This is one of the prime reasons for heart attacks, cardiovascular diseases (heart diseases) and reduced quality of life.
In your first 30-days, it is important to focus on health changes first, rather than fitness changes (which will automatically follow in coming consecutive months).
Learn to read food labels and erase the label of being 'fat'
We as humans, intentionally or unintentionally, do categorise what we see!
Even if we have the best of our intentions, we do this unknowingly.
When you are overweight or obese, people non-verbally may put you in a bracket. And that is the last thing we as humans want to be in.
Reading food labels will make you aware about what food manufacturing companies are doing with your gut and indirectly your ADLs (Activities of Daily Living).
Always check the food label for trans-fats and saturated fats added in what you are buying. Keep those to the minimum or none.
Also check for added salt and sugar.
Added sugars are to be consumed less than 5% of daily calorie intake and salt to be consumed less than 2300 mg per day
Practice mindful eating
Check and educate yourself with the concept of 'serving size' and choose 'portion control' over serving size.
This habit, though sounds like a lot of work, will not only educate you, but reward you with a new image!
We are born to move!
If you see the anatomy of the human ankle joint, knee joint, hip joint or any joint, you will notice that they are made for movements.
And if you don't use them, it is injustice to this beautiful mechanism that God has given us.
Make sure that you do cardio (walking, jogging, running, swimming) for at least an hour for minimum 5 days per week and weight train for at least 2 days per week for an hour.
Or best, join a gym and hire a personal trainer.
Please note, buying a gym membership or hiring a personal trainer is not an 'expense'; it is an 'investment' with priceless returns!
A certified personal trainer will not only help you move more, but also make sure that you stick to all the pointers given here.
Where is the end? There is no end!
Please note, fitness is a lifetime commitment..A 30-days start is one morsel at a time and a good idea to start with.
Let these 30 days be a turning point in your life for better lifestyle choices and better health/fitness decisions, and not just an impulsive short-term goal that fizzles with time.
Dr Shreyash Gujrathi is senior exercise science professor at the Gold's Gym Fitness Institute.