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“Currently India ranks second with 155 million obese citizens, while China has 190 million. If this (trend) continues, the number of obese people living in the country will cross the number of obese people in China by 2020,” JS Rajkumar, chairman, Lifeline Hospitals told reporters (Source: dnaindia.com) Not only this around 55.6 per cent males and 76.2 per cent females and suffer from abdominal obesity thus giving way to various disorders like diabetes, hypertension.

Are you one of these 150 million obese citizens and moreover wants to remain in the list? One of my friend, here in Bangalore is overweight and so his wife. Friend keep buried his head in his laptop, while wife claps on next twist in TV soap opera. So when I started the topic of fitness, all I get in reply is that “I am keen interested to start some workout and lose weight but I don’t have some free time for this. Next month I will try to spare some time for exercise.” Ah! Classic argument. I always think that all folks who don’t have ‘enough’ time to do some exercise are more busy than Barack Obama or our own Aamir khan, Amitji or Salman khan who always find ’some’ time to do exercise, yoga or meditation.

Everyone that has a problem with their weight or how their body looks, always has an irrational reason outside of themselves to blame for them being that way. Don’t let yourself be a victim, and don’t rationalize why you’re in the spot you are in now. Admit to yourself that you’re in the situation you’re in because of what YOU’VE done, and then make a change.

1. Mindset is everything
If you are having a mindset of fat person, nobody can help you out. Until you realize and see yourself as a lean and fit person, you will always lack will power to get up and start workout. Have you ever wondered why half the people on the Biggest Loser end up gaining all their weight back? It’s all about mindset and willpower. But when you get back into the real world and one day you’re late for work and you stop at McDonald’s for breakfast, then it’s only a matter of time before the whole cycle starts again… If you want to be lean and fit forever, you MUST have the mentality of a lean person.

2. Do it early in morning
This is tough. Get it over with early! If you exercise first thing, you won’t have all day to talk yourself out of it. Set your alarm, get up and do it! Make it part of your routine and you won’t think twice. But sometimes alarms remains in snooze until time for gym gets over and when this started happening frequently, it’s a sure sign that workout days are over. What do you think at that time? “I need more sleep as was working late night.”, “Who the hell wants to go out of warm bed and damn good sleep?”, “will start gym from tomorrow”, “What will happen if I miss workout for just one day?”, “will wake up after 10 mins” and ..those 10 mins then get stretched to an hour or two. Whether sleep is good or gym, always comes in mind in morning when we struggle for waking up.  In this situation, just think “which one is better, today I will decide at gym. “ .. or think, “If I miss one day, it will become more tough. What do I want more? Sleep for few mins or fitness?”. Tell someone from your family to kick your butts or pour drops of water on your face continuously until you are able push him/her back.

3. Start Today: RIGHT NOW!
Write down a list on a piece of paper, all the reasons you have for not being able to do any form of exercise. Using the same list, overcome all of these reasons to find out if it is only yourself that is preventing you from a healthier lifestyle.

4. Remove fear of hard work, go for Fun!
One of my friends was afraid of treadmill, really! He would like to skip entire gym instead of running on treadmill and feeling bad. The instructor there always tell him to do cardio.. by running on teadmill or doing something similar.  Well, no one is forcing you; if you don’t like a particular exercise/workout, avoid it. Period. Showing up is half the battle. Just get your body there and once you’re at the gym, your body will adapt to the environment and it will be easier to exercise. Forget about the “no pain, no gain” attitude. The mind, body and soul connection is very important here, don’t forget to have fun. Try a new sport or class. Adding variety, group support and competition can increase your likelihood of exercising. Or pick an activity you’ve always loved, like biking or walking outdoors. The more enjoyable it is, the more likely you’ll stick with it.

5. Put realistic goal
If you expect to lose 20kg of weight and 4” of waistline in just 1-2 month, which you accumulate over last 10 years, It is unrealistic. Most people pissed off seeing no progress for weeks. Well, go in to gym for fun not for instant results. If you want instant result, better go under knife. When I started going to gym my target was to reduce waistline by 2” in 6 months and become fit.

Also Read: Simple pre-formatted spreadsheet to track personal or household expenses.
6. Track your progress
Suppose you are working on a project in the office. What will happen if nobody keeps track of progress of the project? How much time and enthusiasm you can keep doing working without knowing what’s the state of project or progress etc? Therefore, keep a tag on your progress.. Write dowb your weight, waistline, biceps measurement etc. and keep them updated by weekly or monthly.

7. Skip a day
Exercise obsession is as bad as none at all because it’s physically and mentally counterproductive. Allowing your muscles to rest and rejuvenate is a crucial part of being healthy and achieving maximum results. And giving yourself a mental break prevents burn-out and makes you more likely to stick to a long-term exercise plan. Listen to your body and if you’re having an off-day, take it easy and rest.

8. Pick a role model
Aim to achieve the fitness body of your favorite role model, you may not achieve the same body as them, but at least you will improve your own.

9. Change your outlook
Buy new gym shoes or a cute work out suit. Debuting the new look seriously works!

or if you still struggling, the next tip will surely help you gain pace:

10. Blackmail yourself
Take a picture of your shirtless self holding a sign with your email address on it. Email it to a friend saying: “If I don’t send you a new picture that shows serious improvement in 3 months, post this photo on Facebook.” It’s nasty, but extremely effective.

What’s your take? any other tip you find helpful, please mention in comments.