In today’s busy world, weight management has become very critical for a long term healthy life. With new year around the corner, many of us would be planning to embark on our weight loss journey as a part of our resolutions.

This article aims at addressing your concerns and provides an overview behind the science of weight-loss and tries to establish why some internationally acclaimed diet plans like Atkins and General Motors diet plan worked. It also tries to cater to those who always wanted an Indian alternative

Understanding the science behind weight loss:

After an exhilarating cardio session, you check out your weight and you are glad that your weight has come down, but alas! The next morning it’s back to normal. Sounds familiar? You have worked really hard at the gym and you feel extremely hungry, you end up eating a tasty Alu paratha. Eventually you consume more calories than you often wouldn’t have. Another moment of déjà vu?

The main reason behind the above mentioned mistakes that most people do is due to the lack of awareness regarding the science behind weight loss. Our body has various components- water, fat and muscle which are crucial for our discussions. For a healthy weight loss, the aim is to remove excess of water, toxins in the initial stages.

Below we have detailed two very famous international diet plans, the GM diet and the Atkins diet with Indian meal alternatives. 

Disclaimer: This diet may not be suitable to diabetic patients, pregnant women and breastfeeding women. Please consult a doctor before starting the plan.

The General Motor diet, famously called the GM diet has proved to be a very good detoxifying diet plan. This plan is spread out over a week and mainly aims at eliminating the excess body water, toxins and free fat mass.

1. Day 1: Day one includes consumption of ONLY FRUITS except bananas. There is no restriction on the quantity and upto 4 ltrs. of water can be consumed. Divide the day into 8 meals with a regular gap of at least 1.5 hrs. Have a fibrous fruit like watermelon for the last meal which removes excess salts from the body.
2. Day 2: This day you have ONLY VEGETABLES. Have boiled potatoes (for Breakfast ONLY), with salad dressings, add ghee or olive oil for boosting energy levels. (Make sure the quantity is not more than 200 grams). Avoid potato for the rest of the day and rely on salads and soups for the rest of the meals.
3. Day 3: Consists of a mixture of both fruits and vegetables. There is no restriction on the quantity. However, you cannot eat bananas on this day.
4. Day 4: Milk + bananas. You can have upto 500 ml of milk and upto 8 bananas in a span of 12 hrs on this day. Make sure the meals are evenly spaced.
5. Day 5: You get to eat rice for the first time in the plan. You can eat upto 300 grams of brown rice along with tomato raitha (no restriction on the quantity). You can evenly space the meals.
6. Day 6: Brown rice (250 grams) + vegetables: Potato is forbidden. You can have unlimited amount of veggies which are boiled. Add little salt and pepper to taste but not chilly powder.
7. Day 7: This is the final day of the diet. So it a feast. You can have 400 grams of white rice with unlimited servings of vegetables.
8. On all days, keep yourself well hydrated. Drink upto 12 glasses of water daily.

After this diet plan, you would feel fresh as the body is detoxified and excess water that has been retained has been removed. You would notice weight loss as well. Nevertheless, this is just the beginning. Avoid activities that are stressful to your body as you would be significantly reducing your macronutrients. It would weaken your body.

Before moving onto the next aspect of the diet plan give yourself a week’s time. Avoid all kinds of simple carbohydrates like potatoes, breads, white rice and all kinds of junk food. Stick to brown rice/ phulkas with oil free, low salt curries so that water retention is not triggered due to bad food habits.

The second plan starts after a week. This is an Indian version of the internationally acclaimed Atkins diet. It has 4 stages:

1. Induction
2. Ongoing weight Loss
3. Pre-maintenance
4. Maintenance

Induction: The initial goal is to keep your daily carbs intake to less than 20 grams a day. You can compensate the low carbs with high saturated fat like paneer, peanut butter, olive oils for dressing. Low carb veggies include Gobi, capsicum, cucumber, tomato, radish, broccoli, eggplant, babycorn, onions to name a few. Follow the following diet for 2 weeks

Once this diet is carried out for 2 weeks, we move onto the second phase as our body gets used to fat as its primary energy source.

Ongoing Weight-loss: Start including upto 40 grams of carbs in your day’s nutrition. The only modification in this phase comes in the inclusion of cereals to your breakfast. Include Rajma/Kichidi along with your veggies and fats. But make sure the carbs aren’t more than 40 grams. Try to start with lower amount of carbs and gradually increase till 40 grams. Always prefer soups and salads if you have to eat out. Prefer to cook your meals always and stay hydrated.

Pre Maintenance: This should start when you have lost a minimum of 5 kgs. Generally, the whole point of this plan is to reduce dependence on carbs for energy. However due to over indulgence in fats, people tend to gain weight. Weight loss will be slow down in this stage.

Stick to the same plan as shown in phase 1, however include starchier foods like sweet potato, pumpkins etc. in your breakfast instead of eggs. Also include small quantity of brown rice or oatmeal. The amount of carbs you take shouldn’t cross 70 grams in this phase. Eliminate all foods that tend to add weight to your body and replace with high protein foods like whey or casein. This can be known through experimentation alone.

Life-time maintenance: This is a phase where you try to attain an equilibrium. This can be done by including high fats and proteins while increasing the carbohydrate quantity. Try to keep your protein (1.5 grams/kg of body weight). Start working out in the gym and experiment with your carb intake by maintaining a journal- Apps like myfitnesspal or HealthifyMe work well for this. Keep a log of weekly variation of weights and try to reduce your carb levels every time you see an increase in weight loss.

Weight loss is definitely possible by striking a balance between workouts and diet. There are thousands of people who go through the same problems as you and have overcome them. Low carb diet with a healthy exercise schedule should get you on the road to being fighting fit!