Will your weight loss plan work?

Weight loss plans don't always work. You could be slaving away with tasteless garlic breadsticks and knocking back hour after hour on that treadmill without a single kilo lost on the weighing scale.

Understanding why your weight loss efforts aren't bearing fruit involves an in-depth look at what you're doing wrong. The trick you're missing could be right in front of you, waiting to be discovered. Intrigued? Answer these 10 questions and find out what if your weight loss plan will work.

Is water intake included in your weight loss plans?

How much water you drink can make quite a difference in your weight loss plans. However, this is only to do with overall water intake in the day so that you do not feel dehydrated or misunderstand thirst for hunger. Myths about hot water helping weight loss or lemonade with honey helping shed kilos are just that - myths.

"Hot liquids in general give a feeling of fullness. But, this in no way means that it contributes to weight loss. Hot water in no way can replace your food intake. Also, please make sure that you are drinking water only at a few degrees hotter than room temperature and not at a boiling hot stage," says Ishi Khosla, Clinical Nutritionist, in this interview -

Top FAQs about water and weight Loss

Recent research claims that drinking eight glasses of water a day is not imperative to health. However, the same research is quick to point out that an average women needs approximately 2.8ltrs of fluid, and that the average man needs about 3.4ltrs every day. This fluid intake may, the study says, include fluids such as tea, coffee, and juices, apart from water.

The study pointed out that guzzling large quantities of water in single sittings and expecting that to make up for poor diet doesn't help nutrition. Therefore, balancing water intake with food and other fluid intake is important.

How many empty calories does your daily meal plan include?

Everyone is aware of the calories in and calories out concept behind weight loss. But, many misinterpret this as an exact equation that doesn't need any qualitative analysis. Where your calories come from is even more important than how many calories you take in.

For instance, if you eat 200 calories worth fried chips, you won't be as satiated or energised as you would after 200 calories worth of dry fruits and nuts. Therefore, take a good long look at what constitutes your daily planned calorie intake.

If you've budgeted calories across meals without looking at what these meals constitute, then you might be spiking your blood sugar levels with the wrong foods and setting yourself up for failure in weight loss.

Example of empty calories: Sugar-based snacks like mithais and cupcakes; endless cups of tea and coffee with 1-3 teaspoons of sugar per cup; processed foods like biscuits, muffins and packaged juices. Replace these empty calories with nutritious foods and spread them through the day.

Is exercise part of your weight loss plan?

Any weight loss plan that does not include regular exercise is incomplete and short-lived. Not only does regular exercise keep your muscles, joints, bodily functions and systems in great working order, it also keeps lifestyle diseases at bay. Therefore, analyse whether you're getting enough exercise every week and if not, then make provisions for some.

It is a common misconception that you can replace exercise with meditation or housework. Unless that meditation or housework is elevating your heart rate and making you sweat, it won't compare with exercise. By following a regular exercise routine you will avoid a weight gain relapse in the future, and you will build strength, which will help you retain physical attractiveness and activity well into old age.

Is weight training part of your weight loss plan?

Weight training is as important, if not more, than cardio training. Running or cycling for long periods of time will add stress to your joints, especially in the lower body. If you do not spend time on strengthening the muscles around these joints, it could lead to problems in middle age. Beyond this, weight training does two things:

a. Weight training creates and strengthens your body's musculature, which in turn ensures that you burn energy more efficiently.

b. Weight training helps improve balance and strengthens your core. This essentially means that problem areas like your lower back will remain supple and healthy due to help from a strong abdomen/core.

How many portions of vegetables and fruits do you eat every day?

This throws us back to the issue of what makes up the calories you budget daily. However, since fruits and vegetables are crucial to weight loss, they need a separate mention. The function of digestion relies heavily on dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals. While meat, poultry, dairy, seafood, cereals and fats, give us important nutrients as well, vegetables and fruits give us this much needed fibre in appropriate quantities.

Eat at least 3-4 servings of fruits and vegetables every day and you'll notice that your weight loss plans will start working extremely well. Of course, the vegetables must be cooked using healthy methods and minimal oil, and the fruits can't come with a cupcake!

Do you sabotage your weight loss plans on weekends?

The average weekend starts on Friday evening and ends on Sunday night. That's nearly three days of unbridled eating and drinking, out of a mere seven, which leaves you with just four days of being good. For many 20-somethings this spells weight loss disaster. Taking a break from your regular meal plan is fine, but blowing it out the water with foods like fried beef and buckets of ice cream isn't. The slippery slope can start with anything from a round of mud slides to a marathon ice cream + movie session.

Understand what flavours and foods you are craving and find the best versions. For instance, if you crave ice cream, then balance out the rest of Sunday's food intake against it.

Are you eating enough protein to support your fitness routine?

Protein is an important food group and macronutrient that you just cannot ignore. A majority of weight loss failures owe the stubborn kilos to lack of protein in the diet. Protein intake becomes even more important when you include weight training in your daily fitness routine.

Without it, your muscles will not receive the necessary sustenance to repair, post exercise, and grow. Do not confuse muscle growth with muscle size. Muscle hypertrophy is a very different concept and not as easy as lifting a few weights and eating some protein.

What you will be doing is working your body to good capacity and then nourishing it with the right foods. An average person can look to .8 - 1gm of protein absorbed per kilos bodyweight. Increase this to 1.2 - 1.8 as per the intensity of your exercise.

These are the standards of protein inclusion, but each person's body varies in how it responds to extra protein, so learn through trial and error. If you aren't able to get all the protein you need from natural sources like animal or complete plant protein (soy), then refer to experts regarding how best to supplement and make up for your protein needs.

What are your carb and fat sources?

The average Indian diet consists of many cereal carbs from rotis, rice, parathas, idlis, dosas etc. The recent spate of nutrition articles have outlined the nutrients one may gain from these cereal carbs. Health buzzwords like 'white rice can be healthy' and 'rotis are healthier than bread' have made their way through to everyone.

However, if you eat more than 150-250 grams of cereal carbs a day, you might be sabotaging your weight loss plans. When compared, carbs from fruits and vegetables are far superior than carbs from cereals. While whole grain cereals can be considered healthy, their contribution to overall health isn't very substantial. Therefore, control their intake and focus on better foods for carbs.

The same applies to fat sources. It is no secret that certain oils and fats are good for us, and some others are bad. Saturated fats, for instance, are extremely harmful to health if you cross the recommended daily 5% guideline. An easy thumb rule is to cut out any active addition of bad fats in your diet, since some form of fats are always present in foods that we eat through the day.

Are you getting enough sleep?

Often neglected and taken for granted, adequate sleep is crucial to your weight loss plans. Again, the difference here is between healthy weight loss and unhealthy weight loss.

Lack of sleep lowers immunity, affects hormonal imbalance, impairs bodily functions like digestion, and causes lethargy, which in turn affects exercise performance. Also, as you feel more tired due to lack of sleep, you will find yourself mentally fatigued and unable to stick to your weight loss resolutions. Getting at least 6-8 hours of sleep every night is of utmost importance.

How often do you increase exercise intensity and progression?

Hitting plateaus can be quite discouraging. However, you can break through these plateaus just as easily as you can hit them. The best way forward is to increase exercise intensity. Run harder, cycle faster, lift heavier, rest more, and eat in accordance.

In fact, a good weight loss plan doesn't wait for a plateau, it accounts for it in regular intervals. Therefore, plan an exercise progression every three months, and you'll find that with each quarter of the year, you feel and look a lot better than before.

An important point to consider here is that when you increase intensity, you must also re-analyse your eating pattern. Several successful fat to fit weight loss plans involve eating more protein as exercise intensity starts escalating and results start pouring in. This may even include eating more carbs or taking in more dairy.

The best weight loss plans come from active observations of what works and doesn't work. More than anything, what's important is how you feel. If you're feeling energetic, stronger and fitter, then half the battle is won. And the other half will come in good and healthy time.
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