[deehunk]

I wanted to share my experience on the forum about weight loss/gain associated with neuro disorders. I used to be a not obese fit person till 2015 and was operated on for a brain tumor in August 2015. There was a weight increase of 20kg in 3 months post-surgery. Ever since I have struggled hard to maintain my weight, this was aggregated following a lumbar surgery in 2020 before Covid lockdown. I put another 10kg by 2021 because of very less physical activity and medications.

I consulted an endocrinologist in August 2021 as I had difficulty in walking and breathing, as usual, and was asked to go through a series of tests for thyroid, cholesterol, cardiac, liver, and lungs. The test report showed everything normal and for a person weighing 127kg, there was no cholesterol. The doctor diagnosed the condition as hypothalamic obesity which is due to damage to brain tissue leading to a reduction in metabolism rate. As of now, there is no cure for this disorder, so managing my weight is a big challenge. I can walk, can climb stairs, and work like any other physically fit person.

It is always better to consult an endocrinologist before starting a weight loss program. My weight fluctuates between 5-10kgs, so constant monitoring and adjusting my lifestyle accordingly is required. This condition of hypothalamic obesity was discovered in the early 90s and some clinical trials of medication are in progress.

[SS80]

Hi All,
I am 34yrs old and for the last 10yrs, I have worked in customer service roles, primarily in the UK and Australian shifts. Recently got a promotion and now I work in day shift (12.30 pm to 9.30 pm).

I notice that my weight has gained by 7-8kgs in the last few months and I tend to sleep for longer hours than before. I sleep from 1 am to 10.30 am, I want to get up early, do cycling or some sort of physical activity and then continue with my day before finally hitting bed around 11ish in the night.

Any tips on how to switch my daily food timings/habits, to move my whole clock to normal Indian hours? How many hours of gap is required between meals? When is it ideal to have dinner or skip it? Google has too many answers and not sure how much of it is legit.

I am 5.5ft tall with a weight approx 74kgs. Any inputs on weight reduction too are highly welcome. Thanks in advance.

[deehunk]

I guess your weight gain has happened over 6 months,

1. Start walking for at least 30 minutes preferably early morning.
2. Give a 6-8 hours gap between your food intake.
3. After 2 weeks add 15-20 minutes to your daily walk.
4. If you are a vegetarian, add millets to your diet.
5. Avoid sitting for long hours, and reduce coffee/tea consumption.
6. If you are addicted to smoking or alcohol, first reduce and then stop later.

Consult a doctor before starting any weight reduction project. I first met Dr. CHANNAGIRI. S. RAVINDRA, has a clinic in Girinagar.

[siddhant]

Originally Posted by SS80

Any tips on how to switch my daily food timings/habits, to move my whole clock to normal Indian hours? How many hours of gap is required between meals? When is it ideal to have dinner or skip it? Google has too many answers and not sure how much of it is legit.

I am 5.5ft tall with a weight approx 74kgs. Any inputs on weight reduction too are highly welcome. Thanks in advance.

Your weight is too high for your height. 65 kg is a good weight for you but body composition matters too. Aim for 15-16% body fat - it is sustainable and healthy too. Your focus must be on fitness and a healthy lifestyle by making small but gradual changes. Avoid any sudden changes - your body doesn't accept that easily. Also, if you have some medical condition, consult with doctor about specifics.

My recommendations are as follows:
- Wake up at 7 am. Drink 1 glass of copper charged water immediately on waking up without washing mouth.
- Freshen up and workout for 30-40 minutes.
- Have breakfast within 8-9 am. Few healthy options: sattu, oatmeal, upma, dosa, idly, poha etc. Portion size should not be large but medium.
- Eat one fruit around 11 am: prefer fresh seasonal, local fruit - they are the most nutritious.
- Lunch around 1-2 pm: Make it the heaviest meal of the day. Again, keep it balanced with focus on portion sizes and include salads.
- Snack around 5 pm: Very light snack if you're feeling a bit hungry, recommendations: roasted makhana, handful of peanuts, roasted chana, sprouts, dry fruits & nuts, bread + peanut butter etc.
- Dinner around 7-8 pm: Light & balanced dinner.
- 30 minutes before bed: around 200 ml warm milk with turmeric. Skip this if you don't feel like it.

Idea: eat only when the sun is up. Digestion (agni) is directly related to the sun cycle. This is also a form of intermittent fasting and very effective if you do it persistently.

More things to know about this diet:
- Although I am not a fan of calorie counting, do it for 1-2 weeks to get a sense of how much you are eating. Goal should be to stay in mild calorie deficit (usually 200-300 cal). My guess is 1600-1700 cal per day should be enough for you but make the proper calculations yourself. Adjust portion sizes according to this.
- Cutting junk food, chips, tea, coffee, sugar, table salt, cold drinks, alcohol/cigarettes (if applicable) will have the biggest impact on your body. If you can't cut it completely right away, reduce it aggressively. Healthier alternatives for sugar: jaggery (gud), honey, stevia, thread mishri, and for table salt: rock salt (sendha namak).
- Cut out refined oil completely. Use mustard oil, sesame oil, groundnut or coconut oil in small-medium quanities for cooking.
- Avoid packaged food with high sugar & sodium content, preservatives, artificial colors etc. Nothing like fresh, home cooked vegeterian food.

More on workout options:
- If you have prior experience with strength training, do it 5 days a week, 30-40 min per day. Strength training is the most effective in cutting down fat. Cardio (HIIT) for 15 minutes every alternate day at the end of your workout. 20-minute walk on non-cardio days.
- Alternatively, you can also do bodyweight workouts for 20-30 minutes at home or surya namaskar (8-12 sets) at the very least. Increase intensity and repetitions with time. Focus on proper breathing.

Do it diligently for 3 months and I guarantee you'll lose 4-5 kgs at least. You can also track your habits by noting down details. Fitness and healthy diet changes have compounding effect, much like investments.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

I am healthier than I have ever been in my life; physical well being has translated into mental calmness too. The only regret being that I should have started this transformational journey a couple of years earlier.

Happy to share that the journey continues - on and on and on.

Today is the 1192nd continuous day of the documented journey. As mentioned earlier, although the effort had started in Feb 2019, it took a while for me to decide to document it properly.

SMILES

1. At an average of 12km per day, I have covered nearly 14,500km till date.



2. On at least 75% of the 1192 documented days, I have either been on 18:6 IF or (to a lesser extent) OMAD.

3. I began around the 80kg mark. Reduced the weight to sub 60 in about six months and have plateaud there ever since.


(Animated image)

4. Have not visited a physician even once for the entire duration; not even during the pandemic. Earlier, a quarterly consultation was a given - not for anything big but for complaints like throat infection, cold, fever, joints pain etc.

5. Have imbibed a lot of patience, tolerance, stamina, empathy and of course physical fitness as a result and effect of the process that accompanied the weight loss journey.

FROWNS

1. People still ask me if I am sick.

2. My belly isn't completely flat. A small amount of fat sits there persistently: the solace being that from the size of an SUV tyre, it has come down to the level of a street bike's .

3. It could be my genetic make up, but a slight slip up in food intake and/or slackening in physical activity results in a quick accumulation of weight. Always keeps me on tenterhooks.

[carthick1000]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

2. My belly isn't completely flat. A small amount of fat sits there persistently: the solace being that from the size of an SUV tyre, it has come down to the level of a street bike's .

3. It could be my genetic make up, but a slight slip up in food intake and/or slackening in physical activity results in a quick accumulation of weight. Always keeps me on tenterhooks.

Congratulations on getting light and staying so! And all the best for keeping up healthy living in future.

Now that you became very light, it would be a good time to add some muscle mass by doing resistance training. Complex lifts like deadlift, squats, bench press, overhead press and barbell rows help build your muscle mass faster and also keeps you fit for old age too. Start small and gradually increase to become lean and muscular. This is the best way to loose the belly fat and you don’t have to worry about the cheat days adding to belly fat. Lean muscle burns fat faster than less muscle.

Training is only 33%. The other 33% is food and the remaining 33% is rest.

Enjoy the journey!

[graaja]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

Happy to share that the journey continues - on and on and on.

...

2. My belly isn't completely flat. A small amount of fat sits there persistently: the solace being that from the size of an SUV tyre, it has come down to the level of a street bike's .

3. It could be my genetic make up, but a slight slip up in food intake and/or slackening in physical activity results in a quick accumulation of weight. Always keeps me on tenterhooks.

This is awesome. Congratulations on keeping up with this lifestyle for more than 3 years

And now that you have done it for 3 years, it will be very easy to continue this as a lifestyle for life.

Regarding the belly fat, it is quite normal to have that small stubborn layer of belly fat. If you want to get rid of that, you will have to do much more stricter carb restrictions, workouts etc., which is not really needed from the point of view of health and fitness.

#3 is also very relevant. But as long as you keep your diet under control without falling back into bad eating long term, a few kilos of gain is not a problem which can be reversed by getting back on track.

Continue with this lifestyle and enjoy a healthy and fit life.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by carthick1000

Congratulations on getting light and staying so! And all the best for keeping up healthy living in future.

Originally Posted by graaja

This is awesome. Congratulations on keeping up with this lifestyle for more than 3 years

Thanks.

This is nothing compared to what you and many others on the forum have done and have been doing. But I do feel proud of sustaining this for more than three years. Goes on to prove that not all weight loss journeys are fads, flukes or fantasies.

Now that you became very light, it would be a good time to add some muscle mass by doing resistance training. Complex lifts like deadlift, squats, bench press, overhead press and barbell rows help build your muscle mass faster and also keeps you fit for old age too. Start small and gradually increase to become lean and muscular. This is the best way to loose the belly fat and you don’t have to worry about the cheat days adding to belly fat. Lean muscle burns fat faster than less muscle.

Regarding the belly fat, it is quite normal to have that small stubborn layer of belly fat. If you want to get rid of that, you will have to do much more stricter carb restrictions, workouts etc., which is not really needed from the point of view of health and fitness.

True.

I am nearing 40 and that's one reason why I don't want to stretch too thin. The belly fat remains - constantly mocking me; but at the same time motivating me not to let it get grow.

And now that you have done it for 3 years, it will be very easy to continue this as a lifestyle for life.

Hmm.

But there is this constant fight between the mind and the body on what's needed and what's not. As long as the former has an upper hand, this habit will continue to remain as my lifestyle.

Training is only 33%. The other 33% is food and the remaining 33% is rest.

But as long as you keep your diet under control without falling back into bad eating long term, a few kilos of gain is not a problem which can be reversed by getting back on track.

+1

[GreasyCarb55]

Well I just discovered this thread and I had to make a post.

I was maybe 3-4 kilos over average till about 7th grade and I started to balloon in weight after that, I'm currently 18 years old, 178cm (5 feet 10 inches) and weigh about 115kg.

My food intake is on the lower side and I rarely eat processed/junk food (2 times a month at most).

I may be moving to a different city for college so I haven't committed to any sort of gym membership, since my board exams ended on the 13th I've been walking about 5-6km a day for about 2 weeks now with light food intake.

Any tips to improve are welcome.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by GreasyCarb55

My food intake is on the lower side and I rarely eat processed/junk food (2 times a month at most).

I may be moving to a different city for college so I haven't committed to any sort of gym membership, since my board exams ended on the 13th I've been walking about 5-6km a day for about 2 weeks now with light food intake.

Any tips to improve are welcome.

Weight loss and maintenance is not about cutting calories, but about managing hormones. Any weight loss you achieve by drastic calorie restriction is not sustainable. This will result in slowing metabolism and when you quit this calorie restriction some day (which will definitely happen), all the lost weight will be back and more.

Weight loss is about managing the hormone insulin. This can be done by either intermittent fasting or low carb diets.

And committing to gym membership is not needed for weight loss. Gym membership is good to have a strong and fit body, but for general health and weight loss, it starts with how you eat. The concept of low carb eating is clearly explained in the first post in this thread.

You can also check my "Fat to Fit" thread where I have explained about intermittent fasting, low carb and keto diets.

Actually there are no weight loss diets. You need to work on your lifestyle to reduce weight and keep it off. All the best.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

- have either been on 18:6 IF or (to a lesser extent) OMAD.

- began around the 80kg mark. Reduced the weight to sub 60

- have not visited a physician even once for the entire duration; earlier, a quarterly consultation was a given - for complaints like throat infection, cold, fever, joints pain etc.

- have imbibed patience, tolerance, stamina, empathy and of course physical fitness

Congratulations, @dailydriver. When you go through a regime like this, the cold, fever and infection cases reduce drastically; and agree on the patience, tolerance and fitness part too. I speak from personal experience.

- people still ask me if I am sick

- belly isn't completely flat

- slight slip up in food intake and/or slackening in physical activity results in a quick accumulation of weight

It is normal for people to think you're sick since they've been used to seeing you in the earlier avatar. For the belly, I'd recommend suryanamaskars. If you let go of your routine for a couple of weeks, the body "toning" goes out of whack.

[Arun Varma]

Originally Posted by GreasyCarb55

Any tips to improve are welcome.

In words of the great strength coach, Dan John - 'Train Little and often over the long haul'. You are 18 and have your life ahead of you. Start now but start small. Too often people start too aggressively and either hurt themselves or lose steam and quit altogether. Take walking as an example. It will be easy to start off walking for an hour on day one because you can but it is never the exercise alone. It is the lifestyle modification that goes with the exercise. If your supporting lifestyle does not match the initial intensity, then it will not be sustainable. Instead, you can start walking for 15 minutes on day one and add a minute each week to this and by end of year one, you would be walking for more than an hour each day. Plus, you would have had a chance to a. make it a habit, b. fit it into your life better because you added time incrementally. I picked walking as an example but you can choose anything - cycling, swimming, etc

Also, start strength training, with a similar approach as above along with the walking / running (aerobic). Research has shown consistently that strength training is as effective in reducing weight than aerobic workout. The reason is that muscle is more metabolically active than fat so the more muscle you build / retain, the easier it is to burn the fat. Also, strength training stabilises your hormones - makes more sense for people over 40 but still cannot hurt to get a head start.

Last but most important is your diet. You cannot out-train a bad diet. Again, here too, start incrementally. Make small changes. Have a nutritionist assess you. We typically underestimate calorific value of the food we consume.

Remember the mantra "Little, often, over the long haul". For your workouts, diet, and lifestyle and you will give yourself the best chance of a fit and healthy life.

God bless!

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by am1m

Went for an annual health checkup

Originally Posted by am1m

I'm an active outdoors guy!" mindset.

Originally Posted by graaja

I don't think dietary fat like cheese or red meat play a role in cholesterol and need not be cut out. Sugar is the culprit.

Looks like similar story is playing out with me related Cholesterol. Went for annual health check last week and got high LDL cholesterol reading of 168. I have some reports going back upto 2011. My LDL was always above optimal, about 120 ish, upto 2018. 2020 it touched 140 and now it is 168.

I have been fairly regular on exercise front with about 5 days a week Gym/cycling mix routine. Also, following intermittent fasting 16:8 for last 3 years, may be missing it for 1 day a week.

Upon some self reflection on food front, the one place where I might have slipped is the sugar part. During the last year, started with small servings of Indian sweets as well as cakes which by last week reached to a level where I was eating big slices and multiple servings. Now I am not sure if this caused the spike in LDL as the sugar reading is well within limits.

The doctor has advised me to increase vegetables intake and remove sugar, reduce dairy products. Curd is the only dairy product which I like and again used to take big servings. Need to control that now as well.

Per doctor, we'll check the reading again after 3 months. If it is still high then he might prescribe statins.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

Happy to share that the journey continues - on and on and on.

Today is the 1192nd continuous day of the documented journey. As mentioned earlier, although the effort had started in Feb 2019, it took a while for me to decide to document it properly.

.

Congratulations dailydriver! 1192 days continuously is no small feat!

Just a general wonderment. What about alcohol in your diet.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by shipnil

Looks like similar story is playing out with me related Cholesterol....upto 2018. 2020 it touched 140 and now it is 168.

Yep, similar story.

Short answer, it can be reversed easily (assuming no other underlying causes- which the doc can figure out).

Long answer: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...ml#post5336518 (Fat to Fit - A journal of my fitness journey)

Originally Posted by shipnil

Upon some self reflection on food front...the sugar part...started with small servings of Indian sweets as well as cakes...I was eating big slices and multiple servings.

Oh my god, exact same story, I got in to the habit of eating something sweet after every meal. Stopped that, helped immensely and don't miss it at all. So for sure you can stop too. Also deep fried stuff.

Originally Posted by shipnil

Per doctor, we'll check the reading again after 3 months. If it is still high then he might prescribe statins.

Got the same warning 9 months ago. Don't worry, take the steps the doc suggested, especially cutting out the sweets and you will reverse the trend without needing statins.