Motivation
I have never been fit in my life. Reasons: Never knew or realized one has to be or can be fit! Surprisingly, none of my family members or friends ever fat shamed me. I use to cycle everyday, walk almost 3-4 km, never had any health issues, had wonderful friends and may be that is one reason I never realised I was unfit. But after college, inspired by my friends, and a few personal resons; I felt an urgent desire to see myself as an athlete! I seriously started my fitness journey in mid 2022 and have lost about 15kgs of fat and gained decent amount of muscle too. I still have to loose additional 12 kgs of fat and run a half marathon!
Disclaimer: None of what I have written here is a medical advice. These are just my personal experiences, and you will have to figure out what works and what does not for yourself (including taking expert medical consultation regarding protein consumption, workouts etc).Â
Loose Fat
Food intake and not exercise is the key to loose weight.
Fasting (intermittente fasting) and not portion control worked best for me. Skip breakfast, eat lots of protein and fats in your calorie quota (me being a vegetarian, nuts and protein shake worked best). Restrict to just 2-3 meals a day (without having any snakes :p or calorific drinks).
Don't loose just weight, loose fat. When you are dieting, you may loose muscles as well. Strength training will maintain muscle mass while loosing fat
Know the calories in your food. I tracked calories for the day to the dot, but later found it to be too time taking. But in the process I learned the macro profile (protein, fat and carb content of food) of my meals.
Drink Water (to stay hydrated, and not confuse thirst with hunger)
Follow a diet that you can sustain for rest of your life. Sustainability is the key!
Exercise
I do it because it is more mentally/emotionally rewarding than physically necessary. But trust me, the physical effects are real!! It starts to improve your life in ways you don't imagine. At the beginning, I focused on gymming as I was able to get a personal trainer who would keep me accountable and regular with workouts. Later (after a year or so), it just became a habit.
If I have to give you one tip, it would be to find a fitness community and spend time with them. You will see yourself change without much concious efforts.
Here are some of the minimalist ways to get started:
Protein requirement: at least 1.2 g / kg of your body weight if you are living a active lifestyle. More if you are working towards building muscles
Training Style: I like to follow Wanhee. I found him to be resonable and practical given my lifestyle. Here is one of his intro videos: How I Built An Aesthetic Body While Training Less - Minimalist Training Guide
Other things to get started with Gym: These two videos by Saket Gokhale gives you a good structure on how to approach gymming. It is in Hindi, but you can turn on the english translated subtitles, that work decently well. Video 1, Video 2
Rest and sleep: More important than you think!