Well yeah, you heard it right. In this article, I will be discussing some of my experience spiced up with some real science of your body. Working out daily is important no matter from where you are, but if you are in India, it becomes even more important.

I realised this last year, when I was in Delhi. I was diagnosed with Gastroesophageal reflux disease. It’s not uncommon, but when you are in Delhi things can get a little bit tricky because of the dangerously high levels of pollution. I had to change my diet and take a lot of medicines for a long time, but nothing worked. Eventually I had to resign from my job and leave Delhi. Kind of extreme, I know. But I was suffering.

Not much changed once I was back home, however. Of course the atmosphere was better than it was in Delhi and I was eating home-cooked meals daily. That helped stabilize my condition a little bit but didn’t completely fix it. I had to do something about it, and quickly.

After several days of mulling over it, the answer to my problem came to me out of the blue as I was watching a movie. And then everything became so obvious, as if I should’ve known this from the very start. It was food!

So what’s the deal with Indian food?

Here’s what I observed while watching the movie: over the last few decades, our lifestyle has changed significantly, having had so much western influence, but our food hasn’t changed all that much to compensate for that. We are eating pretty much the same food on a daily basis that our ancestors from a couple hundred years ago used to eat. And the biggest problem with this food is that it has a lot of carbs!

A normal Indian lunch

You must have heard about Macros and Micros. These are just slang for macronutrients and micronutrients respectively. Most of our food consists of these three macronutrients:

1. Carbohydrates

2. Proteins

3. Fats

Let’s talk about carbs for a minute. Their main function is to provide energy to your body. When you consume carbs, they get broken down into glucose which is then used as fuel by your body. When the body has no more need for energy, the extra glucose is then converted into glycogen and stored in the liver. Some of it is also stored in your muscles, depending on your muscle mass.

So what seems to be the problem here? Well, your liver can only hold so much glycogen (about 100gm). This means that all the extra glucose is converted into fat and stored as adipose tissue or body fat. That’s what gives you that big belly.

“Well, then why did our ancestors eat such carb rich diets in the first place?” I hear you asking.

Because their lifestyle demanded it. And this brings me to the next part of the equation.

Indian Lifestyle

I went to visit my grandfather recently, who is 85 years old as I am writing this and still in better shape than most people less that half his age. I asked him his secret and he said, “It’s milk. I use to drink 2 litres of milk everyday.”

I was taken aback. “That seems excessive, Grandpa, don’t you think?”

“Not for me, no.”

That’s not very helpful, now is it? So I asked him about his lifestyle when he was younger. He told me, “Being a forest ranger, I had to trek through the mountains daily from morning to evening.” I asked how much, and with a very nonchalant smile, he said, “30-40 kilometres on an average every single day.”

Jeez, 2 litres of milk makes sense now.

Old scene of an Indian village

I had pinpointed the problem now. It’s our lifestyle, and our food isn’t made for that kind of lifestyle.

Tell me, have you ever visited a really remote village in India? Then you must have observed something like the scene depicted in the photo above. Just until a few decades back, India was still an agrarian economy, meaning a big part of the population was involved in agricultural activities. Indians, being some of the least machine-dependent people throughout history, did a lot of physical activity. That’s why there were a lot of carbs in their food: to have that quick and fast source of energy on the go. Since all the energy was consumed, there was none or very little glucose left to store as fat. That is why they had such healthy bodies. Even in this day and age, in some parts of the country people do live like that, and I can bet you won’t find those big bellies there.

So if your lifestyle doesn’t suit the food you’re eating, the obvious solution is to change your food to suit your lifestyle, right? Yes, but it’s really hard. I have tried, trust me.

Earn that food

If you live with your parents, try telling your mom you won’t be eating rotis from now on. Or just imagine that for a second.

“What?! No roti? Have you lost your mind?” You can already hear her voice in your head, can’t you?

But I took this brave step! I decided to stop eating roti, along with many other things. After a few weeks of hardcore effort, however, I couldn’t do it anymore. It was obvious to me that I couldn’t just stop eating Indian food, and portion control only helps so much. So, I had to change my lifestyle instead.

I started working out daily. Now I wake up at 5am every day and workout for 1–2 hours in gym. It’s part of my daily routine now. As a result, not only has my disease been completely cured without any medication, but I have also lost over 8 kilograms of my extra weight too.

You don’t need an expensive gym membership, you don’t have to wake up at 5am (although it certainly helps, but I’ll talk about that later perhaps), you don’t have to dedicate 2 hours to exercise. What you do need is to be conscious and take action.

The first step to becoming more conscious about your health is knowing your daily calorie requirement. You can go here and calculate in seconds. Then try not to exceed it. You can use Healthify Me to calculate calories in your food, and the best thing about it is that it is tailor made keeping Indian food in mind. I’m not a promoter, but I will admit that it’s an excellent app that I use on a daily basis.

Second step is to start working out at least 5 days a week. You can hit the gym and do weight training if you would like to gain some muscle mass. Calisthenics is also a good option if you can’t afford a gym or find it too restrictive. You can go swimming if you want a good full body workout while beating the summer heat at the same time. You can also go running or cycling.

As long as you are doing some kind of physical activity with moderate intensity, you are fine. Use the Google fit app to monitor your workout if you’re into that sort of stuff. If you exceed your calorie limit on some days, just exercise harder the next day and burn those calories. That way you can even allow yourself to have a few cheat meals here and there and not feel guilty about them. Hey, after all, you’ve earned it!

Just remember

Eat less but good, work out hard and consistently.

Remember to earn that food

It’s been 2 months now and my problem has vanished completely. But the best part is that I haven’t just fixed my disease, but also my complete body. I feel so much more in control of my mind and body, which is extremely important. It starts with just one healthy choice, and then training your mind to make those choices consistently. Once the rewards start flowing in and you see a change in your health, your body will automatically follow without any resistance. The beginning is hard but it gets easier with each day.

Just remember that the idea here is not to stop eating but to work out and deserve the food. I have seen far too many people going full throttle on very strict diets in the beginning and losing a lot of weight in the beginning. However, they burn out quickly most of the times and the moment they go back to their old lifestyle, they start eating everything and gain weight again. That’s no way to live yo!

We have a lot of food cuisines to explore today, and one should try them all. Each of them has something wonderful to offer. I am an enthusiast, and I’m always gonna eat the food I love. So should you. All you need to do is earn that food.

Cheers!