Overweight Indians, Here’s How You Lose Weight – (Part 1 of 2)

In our very first blog post on Scientific Nutrition, we are going to head on tackle the NUMBER ONE question we all have – How to lose weight!

This series is broken down into 2 parts for easy digestion (pun not intended!) and there is also a simple step by step guide at the end of the series which you can download and follow through.

Now, there are definitely more than one ways to lose weight in a short span.

However, most of the advertised campaigns and even your local nutritionists focus on quick methods that may help you lose weight in the short run, but ultimately your weight creeps back to where is was (or worse).

Plus most of their diet plans are restrictive in both, variety and portion sizes, leave you feeling hungry and weak.

Weight loss isn’t just about losing water weight but primarily about “changing your body composition” and losing fat deposits which needs some time and cannot be done in a day or two.

There is absolutely no reason to subdue your appetite and be hungry all the time when embarking on any weight loss program. In fact, an ideal fat loss regimen should leave you feeling energized and your overall health should improve remarkably at the end of the weight loss cycle.

NOTE: Use of laxatives or weight loss pills only helps in getting rid of water weight which will be regained very soon and will also leave you feeling dehydrated and weak. Such practices should be avoided as they are simply short term strategies and harm the body in the long term.
Fancy fad diets that make tall claims should also be avoided. It is perfectly possible to eat healthy and lose weight at the same time. The food intake should be nutritious and something that can provide your body with the energy it needs without adding to your bulk.

As you probably know, obesity, weight gain, is triggered principally by an accumulation of cellulite, or what we simply call – fat. So the first thing that a weight loss program should focus on is to limit unhealthy food intake and move over to a healthy diet that provides your body with the same amount of energy but is low on “fat accumulation foods”.

However, this doesn’t mean that one should resort to crash diets (anything short of 1200 calories for an average Indian), which will result in a feeling of weakness and can also lead to health issues.

Such quick dietary programs may result in short term weight loss but this is invariably followed by weight gain.

In order to lose weight, you must spend more energy than you consume. This triggers the body to make use of fat reserves which will be converted into energy.

Weight loss in turn has many health benefits such as:

  • A lower risk of heart disease (source).
  • Lower risk of stroke.
  • And lowers your risk of high blood pressure and diabetes.
  • Back and joint pain can also decrease with a loss in weight.
  • You will feel more agile and energized after the completion of a weight loss cycle.
  • Weight loss can also help in boosting self esteem and result in a feeling of overall well being.
  • And lastly, as weight is lost, it additionally takes less effort to move the body = you will be more active!

Now, rather than depending simply on a weighing machine, it is advisable to make use of BMI (Body Mass Index) indicator for determining whether you need to undergo a weight reduction regime or not. Many online calculators (use this) are available for calculating BMI. Typically speaking, a BMI of below 18.5 indicates underweight. A BMI between 18.5-24.9 falls in a healthy range while a BMI score of 25 or more means you may be overweight. A BMI of 30 or more indicates obesity.

Studies demonstrate that overweight people who lose weight reduce risk of diabetes. For men, the danger of heart diseases diminishes extensively. By and large, humans tend to put on weight as they age. A couple of kilos through the years are not an issue, yet individuals who pick up more than 20kgs contrasted with their weight as an 18-year-old are at risk because of that additional weight.

So with that said, LET’S BEGIN our journey through this series…

The science behind obesity, weight gain

Obesity can often be avoided by eliminating sugar and starch from your diet. These twin components lead to release of insulin in the body, a hormone that governs fat storage in the human body.
Lower the insulin level, faster the fat gets rid from your body and vice versa. Also, lower levels of insulin leads to a simultaneous reduction of water weight. It is not uncommon to lose up to 10 kilos (sometimes more) in the first week of eating this way; both body fat and water weight will be lost initially.

When you are not consuming food, or you are working out, your body must draw on its interior vitality stores. Your body’s prime source of energy is glucose. Indeed, a few cells in your body, for example, cerebrum cells, can get vitality just from glucose.

The principal mechanism towards losing weight is to break down sugars, or glycogen, into basic glucose atoms. The body breaks down fats into glycerol and unsaturated fats. The unsaturated fats can then be broken down to release energy, or could be utilized to make glucose through a multi-step procedure called gluconeogenesis. In gluconeogenesis, amino acids can likewise be utilized to make glucose.

When you consume a meal, glucose, amino acids or unsaturated fats in the digestive system instructs the pancreas to discharge a hormone called insulin. Insulin follows up on numerous cells in your body, particularly those in the liver, muscle and fat tissue.
Insulin advises the cells to retain glucose, unsaturated fats and amino acids; quit breaking down glucose, unsaturated fats and amino acids; glycogen into glucose; fats into unsaturated fats and glycerol; and proteins into amino acids and begin building glycogen from glucose; fats (triglycerides) from glycerol and unsaturated fats; and proteins from amino acids.

The movement of lipases relies on the levels of insulin in the body. If insulin levels are high, then the movement of lipases is enhanced whereas if insulin is low, the lipases are not so dynamic. The unsaturated fats can then be ingested from the blood stream into the fat cells, muscle cells and liver cells were under the control of insulin, unsaturated fats are made into fat particles and put away as fat droplets.

In a fat cell, lipases function by breaking down fats into their constituent units. These lipases are under control of various hormones such as glucagon and development hormone. Glycerol and unsaturated fats are thereafter released into the blood stream from where they are passed onto the liver. Later, the twin units can be further digested or utilized for making glucose.

It is likewise workable for fat cells to take up glucose and amino acids, which have been consumed into the circulation system after a supper, and proselyte those into fat atoms. The transformation of starches or protein into fat is 10 times less effective than basically putting away fat in a fat cell, yet the body can do it. On the off chance that you have 100 additional calories in fat (around 11 grams) skimming in your circulation system, fat cells can store it utilizing just 2.5 calories of vitality.
Then again, on the off chance that you have 100 additional calories in glucose (around 25 grams) skimming in your circulatory system, it takes 23 calories of vitality to change over the glucose into fat and afterward store it. Given a decision, a fat cell will always try to store fat instead of the carbohydrates in light of the fact that fat is so much more simpler to store.

There is an expanding level of proof that proposes that exercise alone is not an effective approach (source) to get more fit and lose weight. It is significant to remember that exercise is critical for maintaining your desired weight level. Accordingly in case you’re attempting to get more fit and keep it off, masters accept that the best thing to do is to bit by bit decrease the measure of calories you consume additionally.

How much a person will weigh is determined by the rate of metabolism, the rate at which energy is stored as fat reserves and the rate at which this stores reserve is utilized. The amount of fat tissue in the body remains the same; it is only the size of fat cells that reduces.

As a thumb rule, women will lose weight if they consume between 1,200 and 1,500 calories per day and for men the corresponding figure is 1,500 and 1,800 calories per day, depending on their starting weight.

What Foods Should I Eat To Lose Weight?

One of the many questions asked by people is – How to lose weight fast?

But before we can answer that correctly, we need to know what is exactly “fat”. So let’s go!

The fat that is in charge of the belly shape is called visceral fat. Visceral fat is metabolically more dynamic than subcutaneous fat (the fat just under your skin) so it has a tendency to burn off faster.

At the point when an individual starts shedding pounds, it is typically the tummy that loses fat first. So losing belly fat is not difficult.

A successful dietary regime must always consist of a variety of food sources. Avoid mono-diets and eat healthy.

Include proteins and vegetables. Intake of proteins helps in increasing metabolism levels and creates a feeling of fullness.

Certain foods burn more calories than others. A diet rich in protein burns more calories than a meal which is rich on carbohydrates or fats. Common (non vegetarian) protein sources include chicken, pork, lamb, fish, eggs and milk.

Vegetarian protein sources examples can include Paneer (Cottage Cheese), Cheese, Milk, Dry Fruits (think almonds, walnuts etc.), Tofu, Whey Protein, Legumes and Lentils (more sources), etc.

Vegetables such as Broccoli, Cauliflower, Spinach, Cabbage and Lettuce should be favoured.

Try to avoid vegetables rich in starch and sugars such as sugar beet, squashes, parsnip, potato, sweet potato and corn. Also avoid artificial sweeteners and diet colas.

There is no limit on the amount. This is VERY important. If you deprive yourself of food, you will eventually quit and never actually lose weight.

Keep eating until you cannot eat anymore or are full.

Avoid white rice. You don’t need that, at least not too much on your plate.

We Indians (most of us) have a habit of including Rice (or some form of Rice – Idli, Dosa, etc.) in almost every meal of ours, and that’s just not going to help you in the long run.

Yes, rice has its place, especially brown rice, but it should NOT constitute 60% of your plate!

Eat 2-3 times per day. If you find yourself hungry in the afternoon, you may also eat four or more times. Remember to eat breakfast as it is the most significant meal of the day. Eat a healthy breakfast to help you feel refreshed and recharged throughout the day. Common breakfast foods include porridge, oat meal, eggs or if you are in a hurry, you may eat some fruits such as a banana.

Foods that have straightforward starches are high in glycemic content. Consequently, it is best to run with nourishment things that have complex starches. By doing that, you are guaranteeing that your body is fit to keep up healthier blood cholesterol levels. Aside from that, foods that are great wellsprings of complex starches are additionally harder to process and can result in more calorie intake.

There is no restriction on good fat intake and try to favour cooking oils such as coconut oil. Make use of olive oil if you have access to it. In India, most Olive Oils are imported and can be costly, but look at it this way… if it can prevent you 100 total trips to a cardiologist, isn’t it cheaper!?

Next, monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) that is found in nuts, avocados is also good for your body.

A basic trick which works wonders is to divide your food intake into small cycles. You may even try using smaller plates as people tend to eat less while using smaller plates. Try not to eat once or twice but at least thrice a day. Do not sleep immediately after consumption of a meal. While eating, it is best that you chew food properly. Don’t eat in a hurry. It is not a race. Eating food slowly will make you consume less food than what you eat normally.

At the point when diminishing calories, it is imperative not to prohibit fundamental supplements from the diet. A few foods with a high-vitality substance ought not to be avoided in light of the fact that they contain key supplements. Nuts and slick fish, for example, salmon (locally called Rawas fish), are two samples of high-vitality foods that contain vital unsaturated fats.

Consuming 300 to 500 calories less for every day ought to prompt a loss of somewhere around one and two pounds for every week. This is a sensible target.

We get so many “urgent queries”, especially from the big Metros Delhi, Mumbai (and others in India) asking us – How to lose weight in a week? And we cannot help but wonder whether these people even think beyond a week?

It took you months, if not years to pound on that fat on your body, and you want lose that fat in a week. Here’s a fact: YOU CAN’T. Definitely there’s no easy way to lose weight. At least not with regular means.

Anyway, continuing…

Fat contains the most measure of calories out of all the nourishment sorts (protein, starches), so a great approach for losing weight is to eliminate greasy nourishments and consume more wholegrain and vegetables.

Remember, dieting doesn’t mean not eating or starving. It means eating but eating healthy – so never skip your meals. When you skip a meal, the body goes into starvation mode and tends to absorb more calories because it is unsure when the next meal might come. Do don’t confuse your body. Eat at regular intervals and never ever skip a meal.

Watch this video…


Drink Water, Coffee or Tea and avoid alcohol. Drink as much water as possible as it aids in metabolism and aids digestion. Drink a glass of water before you begin with your meal. This will prevent overeating and help you in feeling fuller. In the event that you are enticed with drinking brews with your companions, then you might need to minimize it. This is on the grounds that, alcohol is stacked with loads of calories.

In this manner, it is not a decent thing to do, especially when you are on a diet program since it may keep you from attaining your objectives.

If you like spices in your food, its best to try these hot foods as it can really help boost up your digestion system. At the end of the day, it can help your body in smouldering more fats and calories and aid in weight loss.

Try soup weekly or even daily if you like it. Soup helps you consume fewer calories at a meal. Soup is an incredible approach to sneak in a couple of those high-supplement/high-fibre nutrition types we know we require a greater amount of – entire grains, veggies and beans.

Studies (source) have demonstrated that consuming soup or vegetable-based soups (either hot or cool) as the first course of a supper diminishes the amount of calories a person consumes. The key is to adhere to lower- calorie, higher-fibre soups, for example, vegetable bean or minestrone. Sample this- a glass of tomato soup has just around 75 to 125 calories.

Taking a calcium supplement can also offer assistance in burning more fats. Calcium, when joined together with phosphorus and vitamin D3 can really support your vitality levels, which can offer assistance to your body while performing physical exercises.

Try to avoid eating outside food or at restaurants. It is best to eat at home and prepare your own meal. At a restaurant, you can never be sure what ingredients have been used or what cooking oils are being used in the kitchen. At home, you are sure of all these details.

Avoid soft drinks, colas, cookies, ice cream, pizzas, and other fattening and processed foods. These come with many artificial sugars and preservatives that add to your weight. If you wish to consume juice, prepare it the traditional way instead of procuring them from the market.

Eat fruits because they contain natural fibres and natural sugars. You can either eat it directly or in a salad as per your preference. One useful trick is to think of a fruit as a dessert so you avoid eating other sugary alternatives such as chocolates or ice creams.

Most people need around 20 to 35 grams of fibre a day. It is always better to get nutrition from the food itself instead of trying out juices. An orange, which has 3 grams of fibre, is superior to a glass of squeezed orange, which has less than half a gram.

Continue – How To Lose Weight (Part 2)

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