Getting into Shape - Part 2 - The diet

In this part I'll summarize my diet. But before I start, I would like to comment on "dieting" in general. Many people have a misconception of what dieting is. Dieting does not mean to eat sparingly to lose weight. Nor does it mean cutting out certain types of food. For me dieting is taking everything in moderation. Don't force yourself not to eat something because it has too many calories or something like that. This in turn will make you to quit exercising as your mind will carve for that Sunday ice cream or a cheese burger. There is nothing wrong in an occasional bite of a pizza. But do practice restrain on these stuff, as these tend to negate all the hard work you put while exercising. So when you hear people say 'Don't diet', what they mean is don't starve yourself to death.

With that clarified, I can tell about the diet that I'm am currently on. Being a vegetarian, I was constantly told that body building requires one to eat meat. Well, that is bull-shit. Agreed, eating certain type of meat will give more protein and easily soluble protein, but one can get the required amount through pure vegetarian menu.

Simple formula. More protein => Quicker Muscle building/recovery => Better body. Sounds simple right. So where do you get the extra protein from? Soya is the major source of protein for me. I consume soya in many forms. From the beans to milk. It has higher protein content per gram than any other natural substance. Apart from this, egg whites are know to contain amassing amounts of protein (don't consume yolk, as it it known to have the bad cholesterol). Apart from this green vegetables and citrus fruits contain the essential minerals to supplement the protein intake. Do not go low on carbs, since it is the major source of energy for your workouts. It is when we go low on carbs, does a workout result in loss of body mass. In general have a balanced meal. 5-6 meals with lesser quantities is better than the 3 meals a day formula.

If you are working in the evening, don't take anything for 2 hours before the workout. During the workout, one can eat a banana or have an occasional energy drink for the instant energy. Remember to drink lots of water. Don't let yourself get dehydrated. And do not listen to people who tell that drinking water during workouts is bad.
It is desirable to work on the abs and run on the treadmill on an empty stomach. So its better to do these workouts in the morning.
So what about the capsules that claim to give you the 'Arnold' body? Most of them are bad if not outright dangerous. But some are good, like the Whey protein. But take your doctors consultation before having anything that is not natural.

Getting Into Shape - Part 1

Warning : Lots of self praise ahead ;P

This article was long overdue. Its finally here. It was my new year resolution to get into shape, and with two months to go, I'm confident that this will be the only resolution that I'll manage to keep. I intend to write this as a series, and since this is the first part of the series, Ill list down my feelings about exercising and dieting in general. Later on, I plan to write on specific exercises that help you to tone your body and get into shape.

I first hit the gym 3 years ago. But it was a failed attempt. I was going with my brother who was my gym partner. And as I was still studying and he was working, our times never matched, and not surprisingly I wasted almost 6 months of the gym fee. That is when I realized that, keeping yourself fit should never be that costly. So I made myself a promise that I would start a home gym.

That promise materialized this year. What probably triggered this was a general visit to the family doctor, where I checked my weight. I was shocked to see the needle oscillate between 67 and 69. I weighed 68 kilos! I also started to notice the bulge in my waist whenever I used to wear formals. I was slowly getting conscious of my body. Let me tell you, no one, and i mean no one can work out, if they are not self conscious of how they look. You need to take long silent looks in the mirror, and only when you feel the urge to look better will you start working out.

The build up to this was very gradual. First I got 6kg dumbbells, not the fancy steel ones, but cast iron dumbbells which cost around Rs18 per pound, and did a lot of core workouts. This means that you will have to build your inner strength, to be able to sustain the weights. I started with push-ups, pull-ups, dips, parallel bars and power yoga for a whole month. You will be surprised with how much you can improve in one month. Just for example, I barely managed 10 push-ups in the beginning, but at the end of the month I was doing 2 sets of 30 push-ups!

In February I added 10kg dumbbells and a bench to my collection. I started with weekly workouts. This basically means that you concentrate on different parts of the body on different days. This is a proved method to increase the pace of muscle development, rather than working on the entire body everyday. I started to keep a schedule. The week started on Mondays with Triceps, then it was Chest, Wednesdays I concentrated on lower body like thigh and calf muscle. Thursdays I worked on my biceps, followed by shoulders and lats on Friday. Saturdays I concentrated on my back. Sunday was the rest day.

In March I added a treadmill to my home gym. The basic reason to shell out 20k on a treadmill was to do cardio workouts. In the beginning I used to run for 1km. Slowly it picked up and now I run 5 km in 30 mins.

This routine continued for couple of months. This was when Bala decided to join me. I really liked this part, as Bala was a newcomer to the world of gymming. Initially I was his tutor/coach, but bala being a quick learner, picked up everything very quickly and thus my joy of being a mentor was short lived. But with this, there was another kind of joy, that of having a partner to do workouts with. We used to put music in our laptops, discuss the days happenings. What me and bala also started was to build our abs. We used to crunch our abs everyday. Couple of sets of 20 reps each. This is by far the most difficult muscle to shape. Especially when you are a vegitarian and addicted to ghee, cheese, and chocolates. It takes patience, humongous effort, and a balanced diet. Ill get into the diet details in the next part.

By the month of July, I had started to see significant improvements in my body structure. And by this time I was also addicted to working in my home gym. I always used to look forward to this part of the day. Its true that gymming can get addictive. You start to get a rush when you crunch your biceps, or the rush of boold into your head when you complete 2 sets of pull-ups can make you feel dizzy. I saw the movie/documentary "Pumping Iron" starring Arnold. There he compares the pleasure factor of working out to be equivalent to that of having sex. Since I haven't yet experienced the latter, Ill go with his word for now :D.

By September, I started to work on my abs in the morning, along with my cardio excercises. This time, I added more variation, doing different workouts for my lower and upper abs, as well as the sides. More details later. But when you start to see the outline of the possible 6 packs, there is no stopping you. Its like a bait to a fish. It grabs your attention, and you will push yourself to extreme levels to get those perfect 6 packs. I'm happy to say that with a determined effort and a conservative yet healthy diet I have been able to get strong 4 packs in my abs and i'm confident that my lower abs will again split to become a 6 pack abs in couple of months time.

The result of 10 months of joy is more joy. I'm now 60kilos. My waist is 29" compared to 32" in January. I'm slim, i'm fit, i'm healthy and i'm happy.

I must say that working out will add a different dimension to your life. It will give you purpose, it will give you a sense of confidence about yourself. It is defenitely a positive investment. I would suggest everyone to try excercising. It is the best precautionary medicine ever!