Get Back in Shape - Part 1: my selfimposed challenge to lose 6 kgs in 30 days!

oh yeahh!!! that's where you're headed with that diet and laziness plan!

Have you ever put on some unwanted weight?
A sabbatical from work and gymming. A travel across a country that's over-run with delicious cuisines. And an addiction to KFC and MCD. I did it all together and what i got was a grand bonus of 10 kgs - that gradually replaced my six pack abs with what a friend refers to as THE MONO AB(classic in its reference to the amoeba :P). the ultimate ab. The family pack. Or as i simplyfy it - the FLAB.

At a godzilla size of 72 kgs, i've now begun this mission to bring it down to 62 kgs again. But i hate slow and steady. so i decided to go extreme and challenge myself - of that arises my Kamikaze challenge - to lose 6 kgs within 30 days!!!
I have done it before. but this time there's a major obstacle called the NEW YEAR EVE standing right between my 30 days! (and damn im gonna be in goaaaa!!!!!!)

So anyways, here's a step by step breakdown of my routine for this thirty days. (i'll be updating this very article from time to time in case of revisions to or failure of my routine.)

Step 1: Conditioning Workouts
rest assured, im gonna be putting my body through hell. and unlike women, i hate losing muscle mass when im losing weight - which is what typically happens if you follow an ONLY CARDIO (running, cycling, swimming, skipping, aerobics, spinning) routine to lose weight.
So what im doing is getting back to the basics of martial arts - using body conditioning workouts. these workouts are basic enought to be done anywhere, tough enough to maintain the muscle, and rigourous enough to burn the fat right back to hell!
You'll find a plethora of conditioning workouts on the web. but here is one that i highly recommend - do three repitions of this and then briskwalk/run 7 kms:

PS: the fastest ways to lose weight are skipping, swimming, running/briskwalking, cycling and aerobics/power yoga. though using only these techniques will result is loss of muscle mass - so you'll end up with a thinner but relatively shapeless body.

Step 2: Diet moderation
please note the word MODERATION. Never crash diet coz its the worst thing you could do to yourself. ofcourse crash diets work but they leave you unhealthy, weak and with dark circles under ur eyes. so its pointless to lose weight and look n feel like a zombie.
the trick to lose weight is knowing WHAT you eat. Proteins are your best friends when it comes to losing weight - coz your body CANNOT STORE protein. it uses what it needs and dumps the rest away. Plus, your body also needs more calories to process proteins than any other basic nutrient. And keep the follwing in mind:
1. eat whenever you are hungry. WHY? coz if your body knows that you are starving or not responding to hunger, it will start storing fat!!! you need to cheat you body. Chomp on carrot strips, oranges, cucumber, tomato, black gram and onion salad, lettuce, radish slices and 'sukha bhel' (if ur in india) everytime u feel hungry. Peel a lemon into it. Vitamin c is the best refresher :)
2. eat two proper meals a day coz your body needs nutrition and your tastebuds need satisfaction. BUT dont eat too much. eat 1/4th of the quantity, just enough to kill that temptation :)
3. evn in your proper meals - avoid oily stuff (in fact, run away from oily or deepfried stuff as much as possible)
4. non vegetarians can rejoice as their proper meals can be awesomely full of proteins. take any meat - roast it, grill it, boil it, microwave it - and you have ur low fat, high protein meal ready!
Bt pls note that if you are having a high protein diet when you are doing a weights intensive workout - you'll put on weight (muscle mass).
5. vegetarians can settle for more grams, dals, sprouts and an absolute abstainence from RICE! infact, salads are an awesome option for vegetarians. low fat salad reciepies are available all over the net - use them all!!! :D
6. drink a lot of water - or protein shakes. coz it kills hunger, keeps you feeling full, and flushes out toxins n clears your body. (bt in the later parts, when you want your abs to be visible, cut down on salt and water - coz water retention covers your abs/muscle definition and salt causes water and fat retention)

Step 3: Working Out
This is obviously the most crucial part. coz without pain, there is no gain. or loss in this scenario.
divide your workout into 6 sets. do one set per day.
set 1: conditioning workout + 3 mile run + Chest-Shoulder Tricep workout
set 2: LEG WORKOUT (yeah, no cardio here, coz a good legs workout will kill you anyway)
set 3: conditioning workout + 5 mile walk with weights in your hands + core-obliques workout
set 4: conditioning workout + Back and Bicep workout
set 5: 10 mile walk - forget the gym, just pack a bag with some water and some carrots and maybe a camera and go out n explore your city for 4-5 hours! :) take a friend along if they've got the stamina :)
set 6: 500 skips + full body stretches

REMEMBER:
- Train as heavy as you can. more muscle trauma = more quality weight loss.
- keep yourself well hydrated at all times.
- avoid machines, use more of free weights and dumbells and try to do as many excercises standing up as possible.

i'm myself at step one as of now. will start step 2 and 3 by day 6 of my routine :)
let me know if you following it. the more, the merrier :)
if you encounter any difficulties, let me know. i'll try to help out any way i can.

cheers!

PS: this is my progress chart:day 1 - 72 kgs
getting used to the gym after such a long time takes a lot of effort. i tire out within 3-4ks of running!

day 3 - 71.5 kgs

Unexpected deterrent - hospitalised for Typhoid! :(
got hospitalised for typhoid midway: hospitalisation was a bummer - it dropped my weight like crazy, but that weightloss was unhealthy weight loss - so i picked up that weight again as soon as i gt back frm hospital. now its back to low intensity cardio workouts and extremely low cal liquid diet (as im still on medication)

day 14 - 68 kgs
2 more kgs to go, to win my challenge to lose 6 kgs in 30 days :)
have to fight dehydration and weakness as i go along - to stay out of hospital and stay healthy!

day 21 - 69 kgs!!! - Piled on an extra KG!!!
as expected, piled on an extra kilo on the new year weekend!!! need a drastic change in plan to lose the gained kilo and keep up to the promised weight loss.
Back to low calorie diet for a week and Changing workout routine to alternate day UPPERBODY-LOWERBODY workouts:
day 1: 5 kms incline walk + 4 minutes of hell + upperbody
day 2: 3 kms run + 4 minutes of hell + lowerbody

Day 27 - 66.5 kgs! 3 days left and only 500 grams to go!
I could have very well lost that final 500 grams over the weekend with one extra session of cardio/kalaripayattu. But i chose to rehydrate, get some yummy food into the system and enjoy a bit - afterall, im doing this to be healthy, not to just flatten out right? :)
the last 500 grams are gonna be a cake walk with 3 days to go! :)
PS: my six pack.... is backkk!!!! :D

Day 30 - 65.8 kgs! VICTORY!!!!!!!!!
The last two days i pushed myself onto a low water, low salt, basic foods diet and worked out only martal arts work outs (majorly cardio and speed weights). And that did the trick. Quite like a finishing move in Mortal Combat! :P swung my weight right down to 65.8 kgs!!!!!!


to all those who said it aint possible - i've just done it again - A SECOND TIME!

Cheers!

PS: if you too undertake this regime, feel free to keep me updated on your resutls or ask about changes you can make to your regime to suit your bodytype/health :)