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Congratulations on achieving your weight loss goal. You have chosen a healthy lifestyle. Enjoy health and fitness for the rest of life now :)

Never thought I would have to embark on a weight-loss journey, as I considered myself quite athletic/healthy/immune to modern-day ailments:sadface

However, neither my circumstances that lead to weight-loss were as severe/life-threatening as many others nor the results achieved as impressive/remarkable as many others did here!

It all started with #ChineseCoronaVirus:mad: Honestly, don't even know if the vaccines (covishield 2 doses + booster) played any role in my situation, or was covid itself the reason for the following health situations faced. Anyhow, life post-covid is certainly a compromised & less healthy one for me compared to pre-covid :-(

* Weight-gain : due to forced sedentary lifestyle; reached 94.5kg. Thought this is acceptable for my height of 6ft, but Dr's recommended weight-reduction
* Covid - early 2021
* Acute appendicitis & laparoscopic appendectomy
* Severe bloating post appendectomy
* Within a year, NAFLD - grade-3 fatty liver, quite near to cirrhosis
* Acute uric acid deposit problem in feet & severe pain
* Severe bloating, discomfort
* Slight disc bulge/sciatic pain in legs

I had it enough, had been frequenting hospital CONTINUOUSLY :-(

Apart from medications prescribed by gastroenterologist/orthopaedist/rheumatologist, and dietary changes suggested by them, undertook the following changes:

* reduced carbs intake drastically, rice/wheat/idli/dosa/roti - quantity reduced to almost 1/4th; compensated with oats/ragi/millets/fresh cut veggies salad/protein (egg/milk/daal/pulses only, no meat/fish)
* this maybe a placebo effect, but consumed ACV (apple cider vinegar) on empty stomach for 6months or so; helped(?) reduce weight
* vit-E capsules for liver health occasionally
* reduced alcohol consumption - from earlier couple of drinks per month now once per month (whisky/beer)
* ensure to drink minimum 2.5-3L water per day
* have a sweet tooth, used to consume "good" quantities of Sri Krishna ghee mysorepa type sweets ;-) reduced it to max once per month
* fresh cut fruits once per day, at noon thereabouts, between breakfast-lunch
* workout/exercise - yoga/planks/crunches/weights: 3days/week, walking : daily
* no junk-food/colas (even before too)
* full day fasting one or two days / month - on ekadashi typically - only warm water + elneer (tender coconut)

Net result:

* weight - before 94.5kg, weight - after 81kg
* brought down liver condition to grade-1
* no more severe bloating/discomfort, though mild bloating still persists
* feel quite light overall
* ALL my pants/jeans had to be re-adjusted, waist size 36in to 33 thereabouts!

Takeaway: if a modest effort as I put in can give results, there's no reason other members with their intense programs can't achieve better results!

Go for it! More is always not the merrier - more kgs on yourself means less health!

Live healthy & prosper ! \\//

I said this earlier: Motivation can get you started, discipline is what will make you keep at it without fail!

After reading and learning few more experiences of life, want to quote another successful athlete and novelist, Haruki Murakami. He wrote in his book about running: Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

The reason I bring these things together is to drive two points for you from my experience perspective:

• Motivation is important, so is company and encouragement.
• Discipline is what gets you there and helps you stay there.
• No road is easy: great to see transformation pictures and achievements, etc. It comes at cost: the largest one to pay is being out of action, suffering with injuries. There can be a detailed thread on injuries and what not! While you cannot avoid injury always, it’s upto you how you manage the injury and bounce back after it.

I had many injuries during my run that prevented me from participating in a TMM FM race for two years. This year though, i changed my game and told myself, i am going to break the jinx and start all over again - do the HM first and then think about FM. It’s like restarting the cycle all over again. This isn't from the weight perspective but the overall fitness - I am holding my weight constantly for past 3-4 years. Not more than a kg fluctuation. My fitness level for the running has gone down drastically due to injuries and disruptions in routine. But anyway, now after missing to go for TMM two years, 2024, I participated in HM and returned home happy!

A picture speaks more about state I crossed the finish line than these words:







While I know this is not long lasting, I would like to believe that the best is yet to come!

Life is sure a lot of fun!

PS: And with this post, I hope to bring back those who have drifted away from the plan - stay on course, the tunnel will open up into bright light for sure! And by the way, I follow the same routine even today that I started four years ago. And continue to feast guilt free - that light at the end of tunnel is well worth it :)

That's a fast HM, 5:03/km is fast for me right now even for a 5k. Finishing my 5k in 25:27 a few weeks back, I felt like what Kipchoge feels after a Marathon rl: . This is inspiring. Owing to our sedentary lifestyle we come up with excuses of no time for this and no time for that. It has been my thinking it's not about lack of time, it's our priorities that need to be in order. If it's important enough you will get up and do it even at 4:30 am, ask me on my riding/driving days or when I am fully caffeinated for breaking a PB. Kudos to your efforts sir !!! You have inspired me for this upcoming long weekend to hit the dirt and try to better my timing.

However, I am not at all disciplined with food, typically after a good run/sports activity I generally give myself licence to eat junk food. I know that is bad, but that is the motivation that brings me to the track, sweat and struggle :D

Seeing a lot of pictures and motivational stories here has encouraged me to bring out mine as well.

This is a before and after(current). The grainy photo is one from a group pic that we took during a office get together in early 2021. I rarely stood in pics usually out of very low self-confidence - that has always been part of me due to my weight since childhood.


I currently weigh around 78kg, + or -1. The journey from 100 plus to this started in March 2023. And i did what everyone mostly here did: burnt the fat with motivation and disciple.

As Abirnale mentions above, the motivation was required just for the beginning few months. Then it became discipline. Currently its just part of my day, like taking a bath. I haven't drastically changed my diet, but dropped a portion and skip a meal once or twice a week.
Other than that, its just burning. I run/cycle everyday now(well, almost!). There are new motivations and targets that come up.

If i don't run, the feeling of incompleteness lingers somewhere in my mind through the day.
But i also don't beat myself if i don't. A new day is always there.
All the best to everyone on this journey to discovering a new themselves. :thumbs up

@ Ertigiat

If you stick with it, you will realize that it was probably the best decision you ever made.
As for supplements, I am not a big proponent of them now, specially for people who are just starting on their fitness journey. Your body will go through a lot of metabolic changes as you start working out. Dont overstress your system by introducing a lot of new stuff into the equation.
As for cravings, here is something interesting! As you start working out more regularly, your body's sensitivity to satiety signals increases.
Exercising restores sensitivity of neurons that make one feel full
This means that as you overall reduce your calorie intake due to this increased sensitivity, you can still afford to feed your cravings a little!
The best way to stick with a fitness regime is to make it enjoyable. If you turn it into a punishment, it will not last.