Today’s weight loss inspiration is served by Avjit Singh, a dentist by trade based in Canada. He is currently pursuing a master's program. Avjit had always been on the healthy side, but moving to Canada and adopting a new lifestyle caused him to gain a large amount of weight.
He was aware that he needed to take action, but given that he was living alone in a foreign country, juggling education and a part-time job, he had simply given up on his health. This 26 year old strong-willed man came down from weighing 106 kgs to 85 kgs with extensive hard work and consistency. He lost almost 21 kgs in the duration of 3 months. Let’s know how he did it.
Turning point
Avjit describes himself as a typical Punjabi who loves eating. He'd always been on the healthier side of things. He had gained a significant amount of weight while studying in Canada. First, he attempted to lose weight on his own by conducting online research. He couldn't focus on his health because he was living alone in a foreign place, studying, and working part-time. He would eventually go for the handiest foods like fast foods and packaged food items.
"When Avijit began to experience health problems and his weight stood as a barrier between his daily activities, that is when he got concerned,” says Avijit’s fitness coach, Rihana Qureshi, a Certified Nutritionist and Strength Training Coach.
Diet followed
Avjit had a very hectic lifestyle. He would attend college during the day and do a part-time job after college. This left him with very little time to cook or look after his nutrition. His nutrition plan was prepared to keep in mind his hectic lifestyle as a top priority. Every meal of his had to be a high-satiety meal so that he wouldn’t be hungry repeatedly and manage on a lesser number of meals.
Breakfast typically included eggs in some form cooked in ample olive oil (healthy fats). Lunch would involve a homemade wrap that was wholesome as well as easy to prepare and carry. This was very important. We had to ensure that his meals were easy to prepare. His fitness coach advised him to go for quick and super-easy recipes to motivate him to prepare his food on most days. Dinner would be a wholesome meal with chicken or meat (since the client was a non-veg food lover) with some stir-fried veggies.
Workout regime
Avjit’s hectic lifestyle left him with very little time to work out. Avijit is an avid music lover. So he was encouraged to just go for a walk listening to his favorite music. And it worked brilliantly. He started to love his ‘music walks’. Seeing results got him so motivated that he started working out as well.
Fitness secrets
The secret of this transformation was simplicity.
We worked on a very basic approach here - The simpler you make it for a client, the more consistent they will be, and the better will be the results.
To add to that, tracking his progress daily gave him a sense that someone was there to watch over him and motivated him to not give up.
Most difficult part of being overweight
Being overweight brings its fair share of other metabolic issues that impact our health more than the weight itself. Add to that the confidence and psychological issues one faces.
What are the lifestyle changes you made
First and foremost to reduce his reliance on fast food and encourage him to cook his meals. This was done by sharing some easy-to-prepare recipes with him. Also, late evening is the only free time he would get. We motivated him to go for a walk (post-dinner) listening to his favorite music. This helped with the digestion of dinner as well as improved his sleeping pattern since he would go to bed tired.
