One of the key tenets of Growing Young, biologically, is to get to, and stay, at your Ideal Body Weight and Optimal BMI range. People who are overweight or obese, are at an increased risk for many serious diseases / health conditions, and therefore already, severely handicapped in reducing their biological age. Not only that, all-cause mortality of overweight or obese individuals almost doubles as compared to that of individuals of normal weight!
So where do we start - with the body weight calculator! Do a quick assessment of where you stand and know if you need to act. It is important to stay in the Healthy / Normal ranges of both - Ideal Body Weight and BMI. However, I find that most fall in the Overweight or Obese category! If you fall in this category, and if you want to Grow Young or just Stay Healthy and Active, it’s time to act.
Weight Loss is a multi Billion $ business category around the world, because it is not easy to lose weight, or even maintain the Ideal body weight, thereafter. Also, being a huge business category, different entities offer disparate solutions and add to the complexity.
It is my effort to come up with simple, easy and uncomplicated guidelines, to follow on your own, to reach your Body Weight goals. I assure you that if the S.C.R.I.P.T. is followed consistently, you will not only achieve your Ideal Weight and BMI goals, but will always remain in the normal range!
This is my S.C.R.I.P.T. for weight loss:
S: Steps: walk 10k steps and climb 10 floors a day,
C: Calories per day, reduce by 10-20% of required count,
R: Reduce or remove: sugar / sugar substitutes, processed foods, white flour from your food (alcohol upto 2 glasses of wine a week),
I: Intermittent eating window - 10hrs (exceptions allowed),
P: Protein intake daily - minimum 1.2 gm / kg body weight,
T: Training: 1 hr weight training, with weights / week.
Let me explain: loss of weight needs to come from loss of fat, while preserving and even growing muscles. The S.C.R.I.P.T. has been evolved keeping this goal in mind.
Let’s dive into the details:
S: Steps: Walk 10,000 steps a day and climb 10 floors a day. The idea is to do a basic Cardio workout everyday. You can substitute walking for swimming, jogging, rowing, biking, skipping, etc., as you like. Pace is not important. You can do the steps anytime of the day, though a Cardio workout in a fasted state delivers the best results. A rough count is 10k steps of walking = 8 kms. Check your walking pace and work out the minutes you need to walk to cover 10k steps and you are set.
Climbing 10 floors is a guideline. Please start with whatever you can achieve and aim for 10 floors everyday - all at once or divided through the day in any fashion.
C: Calories: Basic logic of weight loss is: burn more calories than you consume. Eating less is logical. Check the recommended daily calorie intake for you and aim to reduce by minimum 10%, going upto 20%, depending on how far you are from your optimal weight.
Start by weighing everything you eat and count your daily calorie and macros intake on an excel sheet with the help of a calorie chart.
Hacks to reduce calorie intake:
Eat a heathy salad portion before each meal (with homemade dressing),
eat more veggies in your meals, reduce calorie dense foods like cereals, oily foods, desserts, sodas, processed foods, etc.
eat nuts as a snack,
stay hydrated, have water about 30 minutes before each meal,
eat more proteins in each meal.
R: Reduce or remove: sugar (and sugar substitutes - they are no good, except stevia leaves), processed / packaged foods, sodas, white flour / refined grains from your food (alcohol upto 2 glasses of wine a week). The basic idea is to remove empty and dense calorie foods from your diet. I would also recommend to avoid cow’s milk as it is difficult to digest. Eat more fibrous foods. Reduce carbohydrates in favor of proteins. Reduce oil consumption / animal fats / red or processed meats / smoked or char grilled or burnt food.
We keep it simple - no further guidelines on what to remove from your diet!
I: Intermittent eating window - 10 hours. Eating in a time restricted window will automatically make you eat less. This will also give your body much needed free time to focus on repair and regeneration of cells, tissues, organs, etc. and help keep our body healthy, disease free, in balance and young. This is much needed when you are focusing on reset mode for your body.
To achieve a 10 hour or lesser eating window, my recommended solution:
start the day with a zero calorie drink - water or black tea / coffee,
breakfast as late as possible,
lunch as you like,
dinner - as early as possible, or just an evening snack and no dinner, or skip dinner altogether.
While 10 hours or less should be the ideal eating window, you can make exceptions sometimes in a week.
P: Protein intake daily - minimum 1.2 gm / kg body weight going upto 2.2 gm / kg body weight. A high protein diet will make you lose fat and weight, and help build muscles and tone your body. A high protein meal also takes longer to digest and reduces your appetite, serving multiple benefits. So make protein a pre-requisite in each meal / snack.
Just so that you do not shock your digestive system, start with whatever you are comfortable with, and increase protein intake gradually.
Best sources of protein: soya - tofu, edamame, eggs, beans, lentils, cheese, yogurt, nuts, quinoa, chia, buckwheat, oats, protein powders / bars, chicken, fish, meats.
T: Training: minimum 1 hour weight training, with weights / week.
Weight training is essential to build muscles, lose weight, and increase your metabolism to help you burn more calories. Weight training will also improve all health parameters, tone your body and give you an improved body image, besides enhancing your quality of life and also protecting you from injury.
To start, the 3 best exercises to do are squats, pushups and dead lifts. Once you are comfortable with these, you can progress further with a trainer. As you go along, remember to have a stronger focus on a leg workout. A strong lower body is key to staying injury free and physically fit.
1 hour a week is a minimum guideline, you can move this forward to 1 hour, 4-5 times a week, once you are comfortable with the routine.
How to make the S.C.R.I.P.T. work:
Start slow, as per your physical comfort, and aim to get there and beyond,
Keep improving daily in small steps, do not over exert at any time,
If you have any medical condition, start this journey under advisement of your Physician,
When faced with a difficult task, mix it with a fun thing or something you love, for example if walking steps is not your forte, listen to music or a podcast or a book or talk to a friend, or walk with a friend - anything to make the difficult task a walk in the park!
Plan a treat for yourself when you reach a certain goal,
Sleep well. Target 7-8 hours a day. Sleep is your super power. Good sleep will push up your fat and weight loss results dramatically,
Measure your weight at a fixed time and with a similar attire every day, and log.
Follow the above routine consistently and see the difference in just a couple of weeks.
You are Guaranteed to lose excess fat and weight.
Here’s to a New Happier, Younger YOU.
Akkshay Mehta
(Age Reversal Evangelist)
This blog is my effort to inspire you with the latest developments in the space of healthspan, lifespan and age reversal. In simple English! Do share and Stay tuned.
I would love to hear from you. I can be reached at mehtaakkshay@gmail.com
Excellent Inputs. Tks
Ten hour window for eating is pretty wide and likely not going to get many on the benefits from fasting, like autophagy.