5 Simple Tips to get and stay fit without too much effort. My personal 'magic' formula

The other day, a colleague and I were discussing where to go for lunch. He was suggesting a healthy option whereas I was pushing for one that was rather more partial to the taste buds. After some discussion, he blurted, “You don’t have to worry. You are lucky…you are fit and thin anyway but the rest of us normal people have to watch what we eat”.

That statement astounded me. Being classified as lucky-in the matters of weight and fitness- was not just unfamiliar, it was completely at odds with my belief about myself. As a matter of fact,I have always thought the opposite.

Believing I was prone to putting on weight made a lot of sense in school and college. I used to live the exact same life-style as my friends but yet by the time I was 20-21 years old, I was weighing in at close to 90kgs, rather porky given my height of 171cm. I did have a couple of other friends who were heavy as well but most people my age were thin and fit, seemingly effortlessly regardless of how much they ate and how little they exercised. And as any of the people who knew me then would tell you, my weight was a source of some despair for me..(I believe there’s a video somewhere of a drunk me ranting at length about how unlucky I was). I personally felt like I was resigned to being fat all my life and there was no hope.

To the folks who have only gotten to know me in the last 5-6 years or so, that may seem unimaginable. They probably only see the trim (though not built) me, weighing in at 65-66 kg, not really controlling my diet more than any one else, not necessarily exercising any more than the occasional gymming that is almost obligatory these days. Some are probably aware that I run double digit distances as a hobby and maybe attribute my relative fitness to that habit.

Yes, physically ‘college-me’ to ‘work me’ was a significant transformation. You don’t lose 20+ kgs and go from huffing and puffing 400m to running semi-marathons overnight but here’s the thing.

It was not as difficult as you might think. Neither getting fit or staying fit has required herculean effort or self control. The following points are fact

1)      I have never gone on a diet. Not once

2)      I have not given up any form of food that I like.

3)      I  have only exercised 4-5 hours a week at most

4)      For the last seven years, I have gotten slightly fitter every year without upping my effort level significantly if at all

And so folks, this is my attempt to share the simple system that works for me, developed gradually through trial and error over this time. There is a lot of information on fitness and health  out there so rather than adding to the clutter, I want to kind of distill the information and give some very actionable tips that I know have worked for me.

This is by no means a Wolverine or Captain America body program…it will not get you ripped, it will not get you a six pack or buns of steel. If you want that, you have to be willing to put in the effort and the sacrifice both in diet and exercise and there are real experts much more qualified than me who can help you with that (I am not ripped or muscular by any stretch of imagination). This article is more for pragmatic folks who have other goals and priorities in life rather than having Hollywood bods but at the same time, want to be reasonably fit and healthy. I hope what works for me helps you out as well. Here goes.

Before reading on, just know none of what I am saying will work unless you are willing to put in to 3-4 hours of exercise spread over 3 or 4 days a week as a basic requirement There is no fitness without exercise though there might be some articles on the net that promise you that. They will probably also tell you how to earn $10,000 a week working from home.

And to be clear the article is not for guys only, the principles apply regardless of sex.

1)      EXERCISE SMART: We all know this already.This is how I bring it to life.

 Mix it up: Don’t do only one of exercise, whether it be running or a sport or even weight training. You need a good mix for cardiovascular- health, strength and flexibility to be fitter or even lose weight. Not to be prescriptive, I recommend at least 1 hour of each (cardio, strength, flexibility) a week and 1 more of whichever you prefer. Some basic examples of each are given below

Cardio	Strength	Flexibility
Running, cycling, swimming, regular sports (tennis, foot	Weight-training	Yoga

My own weekly regimen is also as below. Though a big disclaimer, you need to develop your own and build it up gradually. Do not go and try to run 10-15k on your first day and fuck yourself up.

Category	Activity
Cardio	10-15k Run (1 day) Alternative activity (Swimming, Tennis, etc) (1 day)
Strength Training	Upper Body (1 day) Lower Body (1 day)
Flexibility	None for now (L). Want to start Yoga soon. Need to get off my ass

While weight training, prioritize your big muscle groups: When people go to the gym, there is always this temptation to go for the vanity muscles, be it your biceps or your abs. Big mistake. The basic principle is this. The more muscle mass you have, the higher metabolic rate you will have and the more calories your body will burn without doing anything. The bigger muscles will gain more mass than the smaller muscles if you work on them. So getting your big muscle groups bigger and stronger is the perfect cheat to eating more. Your big muscles will be your back, your chest and your legs (thighs and hamstrings). Legs in particular is something people tend to ignore but has really worked for me. As my legs have gotten bigger and stronger, I can eat so much more crap and I don't gain fat and weight.

Invest in Education: One of the main requirements for exercise to be effective is for you to do it properly. Especially for weight training, it is critical. Rather than take a crack yourself or read up,  if you can afford it, I highly recommend a one time investment in 5-6 sessions with a personal trainer so that you can learn the basics. Even for running and cycling, injury is very easy if you are not careful so read up (all the information  is there) and make sure your technique is as faultless as it can be.

2)      EAT SMART: I am not going to give any diet advice since as I said earlier, I am hardly qualified. Instead some tips on how to smartly manage the food you eat today.

Eat heavy earlier in the day:The time of day we eat has ridiculously important. The guiding principle is that old proverb “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper”. Breakfast especially and even lunch to some extent are the meals where you can indulge on occasion. But keeping dinner really light as a rule is something I have personally seen make a big difference. Also amongst the food groups, carbohydrates (particularly sugar) are the one you have to be with the most ruthless with. I have made a habit of not having any sugar (desserts or otherwise) in the evening. On the flip side, I have almost no scruples with eating sweet stuff around lunch time.

Eat more frequent smaller meals rather than fewer, heavy ones: This tip has been doing the rounds for a while and I don’t have much to add other than a small warning basis my personal experience. I fell into the trap once of my smaller meals ending up being unhealthy snacks rather than quality food so be very mindful.

Remove unknowingly unhealthy items from your regular food when you don’t see the value in taste: Long title but let me explain with an example. I like my coffee and have a glass a day.I noticed that I was ending up having copious amounts of sugar with my coffee even though I didn’t particularly care about the flavor sugar added. Plain coffee and milk, while definitely less appealing than coffee, milk and sugar, was something I could live with without blinking. And so except when I am indulging in ice-blended coffee (a weakness of mine) on occasion, I always have my coffee without sugar. This is one example and I am sure with a little thought you can think of plenty more in your own life.

3)      VALUE FOR CALORIE: How to still eat the unhealthy food you like

Value for Calorie is a philosophy I live by religiously. I only eat unhealthy food if I really love the taste. If there’s unhealthy food that I like a little bit but not particularly, I avoid it like the devil. I will never eat something unhealthy just because it’s right there or its free or cheap or it’s just the social situation. Which, if you look around you, happens all the time. For example, on a night out, you may eat a shit load of bar food even though you don’t particularly like it, just because its what everyone around you is doing. Or you may not be super fond of pizza but you end up eating it when you get it for free at a work event or something.

Eating random crap which I don't particularly like is the habit I have consciously stopped. My philosophy is that I think of calories almost like money. I have a limited amount and I intend to derive the best value from it. So if I am using up my calories, it better be for something I really really like. Anything less, doesn't warrant me wasting my quota, no matter what the situation or persuasion. A good example for me is beer. I’m ok with it but don’t particularly care about the taste. So I never drink beer because it’s just not worth it for me, no matter how much my friends might berate me for it. On the other end, I am really fond of KFCs cheese fries. If I feel like having them, I don’t stop myself even though God only knows the calorie and fat count

Look into your own eating habits. You will find a lot of low Value for Calorie items. Eliminate them ruthlessly. 

4)      HAVE MORE GOOD DAYS THAN BAD DAYS

This is where it all comes together. It’s all well and good for me to say you can eat whatever you want, as long as the taste makes it really worth it for you but how often? Clearly it’s not possible to do so everyday and still stay fit.

Correct. The method I use involves defining good days, bad days and neutral days. A good day for me is one where I have eaten relatively healthily and exercised. A bad is the exact opposite, I have might have pigged out and not exercised (this tends to be every Friday..sigh). And anything in between is a neutral day, for example you exercise as well as pig out or you don’t exercise but eat right. It’s not entirely black and white but you will know what kind of a day it was.

Make sure you have more good days than bad days. At least two good days every week for sure. And don’t cheat or lie to yourself, convincing yourself that a neutral day was good or a bad day was neutral.

You can actively track this in the beginning till it becomes second nature to you to balance out the good and the bad. 

5)      SLEEP 7-8 HRS A NIGHT NO MATTER WHAT

Sleep is the most ignored piece of your fitness regimen with everyone choosing to fixate on the obvious suspects, diet and exercise. This principle is simple, following it is a different matter.

Thanks for reading. If you think my ranting make sense to you, do share this article with other people who might find it useful.