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Feb 3

Weight loss tips: How to lose weight by fasting, according to this guy who lost 45 kg in 23 weeks – GQ India

We are all unique beings, whose bodies react differently to different weight loss methods. Some burn tremendous amounts of fat by following the keto diet, some have to workout twice a day in the gym, some just lose inches by indulging in bare-minimum cardio routine and some like 38-year-old Vijay N Dixit lose weight by fasting.

Now, although we wouldnt advocate relying on just a stringent fasting routine to lose weight, Dixits journey (from 112 kg to 67 kg) will give you a very unique insight into how you need to approach fitness for yourself and create a weight loss routine that works for you.

Says Dixit, my journey started with me having no clue about the body, nutrition, or in fact even knowing what the word "health" meant. I began with what I knew, which was, Calories In - Calories Out = Weight lost/gained. So, I cut my calories to almost nothing. I lived on salads, fruits, almost all raw or semi-cooked. Then, after successfully dropping (a recorded) 14 kg in 45 days, I had a little tryst with what I later found out is called "hypoglycemia" aka low blood sugar. This is when my real story began and I started what I love doing: reading.

I read incessantly to understand two things. One: the human body and its relationship with food. Two: nutrition and its relationship with food. The crux of my research was based on the logic that good food nourishes the body and by virtue of that, health should be an outcome.

Through my reading, I found out about "intermittent fasting", and the consequences of it on the body. It kind of added up to being exactly what I was looking for. I live on the hills, in a small town, and I don't think there is a gym here, maybe, but anyway, I am too lazy to workout etc., and the concept of fasting seemed the most convenient, as I now call it "the lazy man's hack", to my lifestyle.

QUICK READ: What is intermittent fasting?

So what I started doing was - I continued following a restricted calorie diet and clubbed it with a 12:12 intermittent fasting routine. And slowly, yet frequently, I reduced my eating window by half or an hour (in every week or ten days), till I came to a point where I was eating for 4 hours a day and fasting for 20 hours.

QUICK READ: Is intermittent fasting really worth It?

For the past 14 months (I started my weight loss on 12 June 2018), I have been eating for less than 4 hours a day, on most days. I make exceptions when there are social engagements.

Apart from fasting, I only walked 6 kms (average over 18 months) on the hills. I sometimes do pull-ups in my kitchen loft - 5 or 6 just to get my muscles up.

For most parts, I stuck to a severe calorie deficit in the early days, but as days progressed, and learning (by reading), I tried to (and still do) maintain a very diverse diet. I have become mostly-vegetarian over the past 6 months. My personal lessons have been that non-vegetarian sources of proteins are quite overrated, but those that disagree can disagree. I eat an assortment of grains (different types of rice, millets, wheats), fruits (mostly the seasonal ones), vegetables, paneer, mushrooms, etc. and also ice cream once in a while.

I weigh about 72 kg now. The lowest I took my weight to was 67 kg, and that was in 23 weeks from when I started my weight loss journey. It has been 13 months since then and I have managed to never go beyond 74 kg through this time.

For starters, make these basic changes to make fasting easier for your body:

1

Remove all processed and refined ingredients from your diet.

2

Replace table salt (sodium chloride) with rock or sea salts.

3

Try and keep your eating window as little as possible - 8 hours or less for best results.

Disclaimer: The diet and workout routines shared by the respondents may or may not be approved by diet and fitness experts. GQ India doesn't encourage or endorse the weight loss tips & tricks shared by the person in the article. Please consult an authorised medical professional before following any specific diet or workout routine mentioned above.

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Weight loss tips: How to lose weight by fasting, according to this guy who lost 45 kg in 23 weeks - GQ India

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