Weight loss story: “I increased my protein intake and ate on time to lose 30 kilos in 1.5 years”

As Mayank Kumar Rajesh took up his new professional role as a sales manager, he became less conscious of his diet and fell prey to unhealthy eating habits. Over time, he gained a lot of weight. When he finally reached 110kgs and stopped fitting into his old clothes, he decided to put an end to it and made necessary lifestyle changes. From cutting off junk food completely to eating a balanced diet to indulging in different physical activities, he turned the tables around and lost a whopping 30 kilos. Here’s his weight loss story:

Read also: Weight loss story: “I lost 42 kilos by eating home cooked foods and cutting down on oily, sugary foods”

Name: Mayank Kumar Rajesh

Occupation: Fitness Coach

Age: 27

Height: 5’9

City: Korba (Chhattisgarh)

Highest weight recorded: 110 Kgs

Weight lost: 30 Kgs

Duration it took me to lose weight: 1 year and 4 months

I was overweight from when I was a little child. A food enthusiast, my friends always came to me for restaurant recommendations.

After completing my graduation, I started working as a sales professional in an insurance company from 2017 to 2019. I had to visit customers on a daily basis and given the nature of my job, I worked from 9am to 9pm to meet my sales target. I had my breakfast, lunch and dinner outside. In those 2 years, I gained a lot of weight and reached 110 kgs, which was the highest I had ever gone.

When I reached 110 kgs, I realized that my heart rate had gone up. I was unable to sleep properly, got tired too soon, my breathing intensity had also increased and most importantly, I was unable to find clothes my size which was then 3XL. That is when I decided to lose some weight.

I started by drinking warm water and indulging in different quick exercises. However, I failed. Then I tried some morning walks and again failed. I tried gym and failed again, because I didn’t have proper guidance and I lacked motivation. Finally, in August 2020, during lockdown, I enrolled myself into an online course that provided a personal trainer and a nutritionist, following which, I understood my body, the role of exercise and proper diet. There I learned about micros and macros of our food. I started losing weight and in around 1.5 years I lost about 30 kgs.

Breakfast: Protein milkshake

Lunch: Steamed rice + chicken curry/ mix veg/ egg curry without yolks + salad

Dinner: Steamed rice + chicken curry/ mix veg/ egg curry without yolks + salad or protein milkshake

Pre workout: Banana + dry fruits

Post workout: Isolate whey protein with water

I indulge in (What you eat on your cheat days): Biryani

Low calorie recipes I swear by: Chicken salad

I indulge in strength training at the gym, although I am not a big fan. Apart from that, to stay physically active, I play badminton and practice Kung Fu.

Over the course of my weight loss journey, I learnt that having your dinner before sunset can help a lot.

How do I stay motivated?: I look up to my training coach and every time I feel demotivated, I always take help from my coach.

When you’re overweight, you become prone to various health challenges. One of them is a change in breathing patterns.

I made 4 major changes in my lifestyle to lose weight in a healthy manner. They are as follows:

Food: I started eating a balanced diet. I reduced my intake of junk food and increased the intake of fruits and vegetables simultaneously. I started taking protein according to my daily requirement and began eating my meals on time.

Water: I drank plenty of water. In order to increase my water intake, I made sure to drink 2 glasses of water every hour. It helped a lot. Because of enough water intake, I felt less hungry.

Exercise: I was not a big fan of the gym, so I started to indulge myself in other physical activities like badminton, trekking, and completed 10000 steps daily.

Sleep: Taking rest is very important. Sleeping early helped me wake up early, and I felt motivated every day. Early sleeping meant early dinner and it also helped me avoid late night snacking.

Lessons learnt from weight loss: If you want to change yourself at any given point of time, you can!

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

These views are not generic in nature. Weight loss results vary for individuals and the views shared in this article offer no guarantee of specific results. The content is not intended in any way as a substitute for professional advice.