Midhun Mohan weighed 107 kilograms when he was just 16 years old. The teenager never thought of his weight as a baggage but was a bit concerned about the increasing waistline. He has hunted for trousers with 42 inch waste size through the boutiques of Kochi.
Mohan attributes his weight gain to his childhood food habits. “I would polish off eight shawarmas in one sitting. My folks wanted to see me shed weight but they could not bring themselves to deny what I wanted. Then I realized that it was up to me to get back in shape.”
The Panampilly Nagar resident joined the Gladiators’ Gym in Kochi. “At the outset, the instructor warned me that I would have to work harder to burn all the fat that got deposited at an early age. I followed a heavy workout regimen in the following days.”
Mohan worked on separate parts of the body on each day of the week. “I would work on the chest muscles on Mondays, abs on Tuesdays, thighs on Wednesdays and so on. Then we would change the routine, exercising chest and biceps together. You have to keep changing your routine for maximum effect.”
There were special cardio exercises for the abs apart from skipping. Mohan said that he found it hard to skip even for 10 seconds. Now he can skip for up to 15 minutes without breaking a sweat.
The rigorous exercise regimen paid off. “Then the trainer said I could double the effect if I could control my diet. I did so. I chucked tea, coffee, sweets, fried food and stuff like bread and ate protein-rich food. I used to eat four or five egg whites in the morning and evening. Then I was fed up and limited it to two eggs per day. I also ate sprouts, salads, oats and steamed banana. I only ate fish and meat when they were grilled, baked or steamed. I particularly liked the steamed chicken my mother used to prepare for me. I did not touch rice in the initial days. My trainer told me I could eat a handful. I also kept count on the chapatis.”
“I got good exercise because I was in the school football team. My weight was reduced to 73 kilograms in seven months. I realized the change when I played football. My endurance increased like anything. I was never serious about the game but I made it into the teams for district and state-level tournaments. Now I am trying to increase my weight for body building.”
Mohan has a cheat sheet for anyone who wants to shed those extra kilograms.
» Buy a weighing balance
“I bought a weighing balance as soon as I started regulating my diet. I would weigh everything I ate. Gradually I could tell the weight by looking at the food on my plate. This detailing has helped me shed my weight in a short period.”
» Log your diet
“I used to keep a diet log book during the weight loss program. I would log the food items and their weight from morning to evening. I even recorded the amount of water I drank. I showed it to my trainer the next day and we finalized on the day’s exercise based on it. Some foods just would not allow you to reduce weight. A log book will help you identify those. I loved corn flakes but I realized it was not helping me. So stopped it.”
» Food is supreme
“A gym workout is only 30 percent of your weight loss program. The rest 70 percent is done by diet control. However, if you starve yourself, you will look starved and sick. Work out along with that and you will have a healthy look.”
» Keep up the good work
“You will notice a sharp drop in weight in the first month of workout, no matter how heavy you are. You cannot expect the same pace in the next two months though. Do not let your spirits droop.
» Eat anything!
“You can eat anything you want to but in moderation. Burn the calories every day if you can.
» Flexible body
If you have conditioned your body in a gym, you could gain or lose weight as you want.
Read more: Latest in Fitness
