Lockdown weight loss: "I have a bowl of moong or split moong dal for dinner"

A sudden heart attack at the age of 35 sent Mrinmoy Burman in a state of shock. The big culprit? High-cholesterol and calorie-laden food.

Realizing that the time to change was now or never, he overhauled his lifestyle and started eating healthy post his surgery and shed excess weight in less than a year.

To know what his big fitness secrets were, here's his inspiring transformational story.

Name: Mrinmoy Barman

Occupation: Service (Operations Manager with an MNC)

Age: 35 years

Height: 5 feet 5 inches

City: Gurgaon

Highest weight recorded: 85 Kgs in March 2020

Weight loss: 22 Kgs

Duration it took me to lose weight: 7 months, currently I am 63 Kgs

In March, I suffered from a severe heart attack. Even though I was on the heavier side, I used to actively play badminton. But the heart attack came as such a big shock to me, so much so, even my surgeon was surprised when I told him my age! Two stents had to be placed.

I later realized that the heart attack wasn't accidental but a result of bad lifestyle- particularly high cholesterol. That's when the change happened and I turned my life around.

My breakfast: I have my breakfast at 8:30 am sharp and prefer eating oats with almonds and fat-free curd/ vermicelli upma with veggies/poha or two idlis.

My lunch: For lunch, had at 1:30 pm, I mostly take 2 - 3 chapatis or little rice with moong dal and low carb vegetables (broccoli, beans, spinach etc.) or grilled boiled chicken/fish ( 100 gms)

My dinner: Just a bowl of moong or split moong dal at 9 pm. If I feel hungry later, I have a glass of skimmed milk.

Pre-workout meal: 1 hour before I take 2 digestive biscuits with tea without sugar, preferably red tea. An hour before heading to my workout, I have 2 digestive biscuits with tea (without sugar). Sometimes, I have red tea.

Post-workout meal: I have a cup of green tea.

I indulge in (What you eat on your cheat days): Nothing fancy, on rare occasions when I crave too much, I like to have chicken momos or homemade pooris or paranthas. I avoid eating outside food as much as possible.

Low-calorie recipes I swear by: My wife prepares delicious oats recipe- with nuts, curd and jaggery powder. I avoid gluten and sugar. Vermicelli is another favourite. I love eating it and this has helped me control my calorie intake. Most of my food was prepared in very less oil (usually mustard oil). I have to thank my wife for being so supportive and helpful.

For the first 2 months, I brisk walked for 6000 steps (1 hour a day) and gradually, increased to 10,000 steps every day (1.5 hours), followed by a quick run or 10 minutes of normal freehand workout. That’s it. I fully focus on keeping doing this every day no matter how busy I or bad the weather is ( I will go for a walk even if it's late or run for a short while or at the least climb stairs at home).

Calorie intake is crucial for weight loss.

I am from Assam-where people love to eat meat (and heaps of it!). There's also a saying in our community which translates into, "if you eat less now, you will be able to keep eating for longer time/years, but if you eat more now, you will be able to eat less or may not live to eat in coming years due to some health issue."

I keep this age-old saying in my mind and ensure my calorie intake is not more than required levels and also keep a check on what I eat.

Honestly, weight loss and dieting is now fun for me. I love checking my weight every 10 days and the lower it goes, the more motivated I am. I believe the loss in itself is a big stimulator and keeps you consistent. The only thing one has to ensure is to be firm and strict.

How do you ensure you don’t lose focus? It’s all about your mind, mental preparation and sticking to your goal. I am in no way an influencer/talker or even a fitness freak if I can do it and any person in this world can do it. Only thing is to keep repeating what you are doing and the dots will keep connecting automatically. Just stay focused and of course, you have to be strict on sustaining this. And repetitive action helps in controlling your mind. Just start by giving yourself 60 minutes to stay healthy. That’s it.

There are 100s of things which demotivate an unhealthy, obese person, but the one that affected me the most is lethargy. I was so exhausted and lazy all the time. Lethargy really impacts you and badly affects your will power and other aspects of life.

What shape do you see yourself 10 years down the line? Currently, I weight 63 kilos and my plan is to reach my goal weight-60 kilos and sustain it. Secondly, I want to make my body tough and healthy when I turn 40.

What are the lifestyle changes you made? It’s all about being strict and following the routine, which believe me, will all fall in place gradually. Just concentrate on eating the right thing at the right time and the right quantity. Workout for 60 minutes minimum (any simple workout but just keep doing it every day) and sleep for 8 hours for sure.

I think the day I had my heart attack, 15th March 2020. I almost felt that that was it, the end of my stint in this world.

It took a heart attack and surgery to make me realize that life is beautiful and too precious to be wasted like this. Simple mistakes which I did every day (which I assumed to be fun) were actually something which was killing me from inside. But never mind, those are by-gone, one always learns from owns or others experiences. What's important is you should stand up and fight strongly and conquer. This has made me strong now.

If you have a weight loss story to share, send it to us at toi.health1@gmail.com

DISCLAIMER:

These views are not generic in nature. What worked for the writer may not work for you. So avoid following this article blindly. Find out what works for your body.