Hello guys
Please welcome Kushal Sharma, 26 from Bangalore. Kushal today, is going to share his true weight loss story with all the readers of Trends and Health in his own words.
We always want to know secrets to lose weight easily. We are all fed up with crash diets, fake pills and machines. We all want to know easy tips and tricks to lose weight in the comfort of our homes, isn’t it? What if, someone who has lost oodles of weight without crash diets and tiring sessions at the gym, himself tells you how he did it? People like Kushal Sharma, who have already shed kilos can become our inspiration, role model and can motivate us to make our own real weight loss story. Here is, Kushal Sharma, who not only shed lots of kilos during his weight loss journey, but eagerly wants to share his experience and secrets with everyone. I hope, Kushal’s real weight loss story can inspire you all to lose weight.
Please feel free to leave your questions below the post. In the second part of this post, Kushal Sharma, himself will be answering your queries and questions himself. I hope after reading this weight loss journey, we all can learn many secrets about weight loss.
Kushal’s True Weight Loss Story in his Own Words
Brief Background
I am presently aged 26 year old and living in the beautiful city of Bangalore. Professionally, I am into startups domain – have been into web based startups till now. I come from Delhi and like a typical Delhite, is FOODIE to the core (even now). Yup, correct, I am a die-hard fan of ChholeBhathure, butter chicken, Dal Makhani, Shahi Paneer, Naan, Fastfood, anything and everything closely related to ‘food’. From the time I remember, I have always been chubby, during my school, under graduation and post graduation. I have always been on the bulkier side (rather huge, owing to my height!) I have never really been into sports. Actually, I have always been studious and topper (gold medalist in studies). But as you might have heard, “All books and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. In my case, all books and no play made me fat and lazy boy. And, Let me admit, I was one of the laziest persons EVER! And, Trust me, lazy and a foodie is the worst combination! This was me, till I landed in Bangalore in 2013.
My motivation?
Simple! People around me who used to say “You won’t be able to do it! It’s very tough!” I drove my inspiration from them to challenge myself to achieve the unimaginable. Additionally, there were always people who were there to praise me for my smallest of the achievements. It’s always about choice and having the positive vibes and not lost sight of your target.
How I Lost weight?
I came to this city called Bangalore and I was exposed to a new culture – Cyclist (we call them bikers). The part of India I come from, cycle is for kids and the car is for grownups. And here was this city, where going to the office on the bike (cycle) was common for anyone (from a young boy to people in their late 40s!) and is considered really cool and eye grabber! Not often, you would find bikes moving faster than cars in any city. And here in Bangalore, it was happening in front of me! For the first time in my life, I wanted a Bike (cycle), for the fun of it, for the awesome weather, for coming into a different league. There were people who used to say, “You are too fat. Only slim people look good on cycle”. “People will laugh”. “YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO DO IT! It’s very tough”. Call me weird, but I love challenging myself. With a little motivation from some friends there I was purchasing a basic Decathlon MyBike. It was basically to test the waters, if I can survive cycling for a week! Remember, I have NEVER ever been into sports. I used to cramp on walking 0.5 km. So, it was like a completely different thing for my body. You ask, how I did it? Here are a few things that I did and worked for me.
- Started tracking my calories intake and calories burnt
I started tracking how many calories was I gulping down and how many calories did I burn by cycling. There are a lot of free apps like endomondo that will help you map how many calories you burned while exercising. Similarly, apps like myfitnesspal can give you an indication of the calories in the food you are having. I was using both of them.
- Setting daily goals and improving them
I tried to better myself with every passing day. It might be just 100m more cycling, but also some improvement had to be there. In beginning it was tough, I mean REALLY tough. The first day, I was having cramps, my thighs were stiff. But, the results are worth it. When I persisted with cycling, there came a time when while sleeping, I could feel fat in my legs being torn and muscles coming up. That feeling, that moment was the biggest motivation for me.
- “Favourite food” as reward for my daily goals
Everyday I used to cycle. I started off with 5km (with 6 breaks) and within a month I was cycling 20km daily. When I was able to achieve my daily goal of burning X calories, I used to treat myself for breakfast I like (paratha, poha etc. #delhite). The days when I missed my targets, I went for idli sambhar (not my favourite). So, my favourite food became a big motivation for me!
- Not to check the weight on weighing machine
I purposefully did not check my weight for 2 months. I thought I will be disciplined and aim for sticking with cycling routine. Pushing myself for a stiffer target everyday. Additionally, I knew that I have a weakness of being complacent on seeing the results, so I made sure that I have to persist without seeing the quantifiable results!
- Calorie Burnt >= Calorie Intake [on non cheat days]
I have always been a foodie! So, it was difficult (practically impossible) for me to cut down my calorie intakes drastically. The other solution for me was to pump up the calories I was burning. I tried to match my calorie burnt (endomondo) with calorie intake (myfitnesspal). As far as the junk foods go, I made sure that I took a cheat day on Saturdays. But, no free lunches, I made sure I EARN it! The catch was I used to set an unrealistic target on weekends for my “old” self. Like, on 1 of the weekends, 50km cycling was the target, on another weekend, I set a target of riding 5 km on cycle while standing!
- Giving up all modes of transportation apart from the cycle
This worked wonders for me! Being a foodie I am, I made sure I was going to all the highly rated food joints in Bangalore (zomato!). However, far they might be, I made sure I travel to the place on the bike (cycle) and return on the same. It served a lot of benefits for me: 0 cost of travel, Calories burnt to reach the food destination and try out best of cuisines in Bangalore!
- Diet
Simple! If I achieved the target, I get to earn the yummy food, or better stick to healthy (boring) food. I made sumptuous meal as a reward. Additionally, I made sure that my cheats were happening on breakfasts and lunches. I tried to have dinner early (before 9pm good, before 8pm better) I needed something that was sustainable, not a short lived diet. I had met a lot of people who started extreme “starving” diet just to lose weight, not cool I guess. So, I came up with this concept, which I think has been working pretty well till now.
This is the story of how I lost 14 Kgs from cycling. 14 kgs? Shocked? I know, I was about to tell you the complete weight loss story of 30 kgs. But, then I thought it would be too much for you guys in one go. But I promise, I will be back with the rest of the story and your questions to answer. There were more phases of my weight loss story, which happened in the next 2.5 months. The second part was much, much tougher and very interesting one. I am sure you all would wait for the second part to know the rest of the secrets of my successful weight loss story 🙂
Click here to find Kushal Sharma on Facebook and Do not forget to ask your Weight Loss Queries by posting below the post.
