20 000 steps a day weight loss results

What is the worst possible thing that can happen to you when you overweight? In addition to unsolicited comments from strangers, it is being let down by people close to you. When 25-year-old software engineer Narashiman saw that his friend had a meme out of weight issues and posted it on a social media platform, he had enough. From walking 20, 000 steps every day without fail to changing his lifestyle completely, he left no stone unturned to shed all the extra kilos. His transformation is jaw-dropping!
Name: Narashiman

Occupation: Software Engineer

Age: 25 years
Height: 5 feet 11 inches

City: Chennai

Highest weight recorded: 115 kgs

Weight lost: 30 kgs

Duration it took me to lose weight: 5 months

The turning point: When you are overweight, there are a lot of things which bother you. However, nothing hurts more than your friends making fun of you or not being able to fit on the seats of public transports with ease. There was no specific moment which nudged me to lose weight, rather a series of events which pushed me to get back in shape.

My breakfast: 3 slices of wheat bread with a couple of boiled egg whites

My lunch: A small plate of rice with a lot of mixed vegetables

My dinner: Chapattis or oats

Pre-workout meal: Few walnuts with some almonds

Post-workout meal: Drinking a cup of water that is soaked with chia seeds

I indulge in: I eat biryani once a month

My workout: I made it a point to hit the gym at 5 in the morning for 5 months straight. I used to do a lot of cardio (treadmill, cycling and elliptical) and also walked for at least 2 kilometres everyday post-dinner. I also used to walk at least 20,000 steps every day and kept a track of it with the help of my wrist band.

Low-calorie recipes I swear by: A serving of fresh fruits and vegetables and a cup of green tea

Fitness secrets I unveiled: I recommend everyone to do basic research on the term ‘metabolism’ because it plays a major role in the weight gain and weight loss in the human body. Calories deficit is another major aspect to be concentrated on during your weight loss journey.

It is important to understand that balancing your metabolism and calories you intake is the key to lose your weight. Hence, first, we need to identify our body’s metabolism and then start working out. Don’t blindly rely on gymming alone to lose weight, rather try to change your lifestyle and use your body to get most of the work done.

How do I stay motivated? I keep myself motivated by simply looking at the other people’s fat to fit journey on Instagram. I’d like to especially thank my friends and colleagues, who kept me motivated by their inspiring words.

How do you ensure you don’t lose focus? In the beginning, it was very difficult and challenging to change my lifestyle completely. In fact, there were times when I almost gave up. However, I told myself that I need to go through this momentary pain if I wish to lose weight and get back in shape.

What’s the most difficult part of being overweight? I did not have a lot of options when it came to buying clothes owing to my weight. Moreover, finding a seat on the bus or a train was also really troublesome, both for me and other passengers.

What shape do you see yourself 10 years down the line? I would like to stay fit and healthy for all the years to come.

What are the lifestyle changes you made? I have made several lifestyle changes and follow them very strictly. Some of them are:
1.I wake up early even on weekends

2.I completely avoid junk food and stick to healthy, homemade food

3. In the era of smartphones and laptops, I have made it a point to do something manually every day

What was the lowest point for you? One of my friends took to the social media platform to post a meme about me in which he called me his dad. It was really heartbreaking as I never expected my friend to make fun of my weight.

Lessons learnt from weight loss: The pain of working out is much better than going through the pain of being overweight. I have also realised that you need to drink water every day to speed up your quest to lose weight. Some of the other lessons are:

1. Go sugar-free whenever possible

2. Make it a point to sleep for at least 7 to 8 hours every day

3. Keep a check on your weight and weigh yourself every 15 days

With gyms closed and the boredom of performing tricep curls with tins of tomatoes setting in, walking has become the easiest way to satisfy your fitness cravings. Here we investigate the benefits and challenges of taking your walking workout to the next level by chasing 20,000 steps per day. Game on.

Exercising is something in which, generally speaking, I do not like to take part. Whether it’s cardio or strength training, I don’t find enjoyment in breaking a sweat or having a body that aches in pain the morning after a workout. That said, I do think that living a healthy lifestyle is important, and that seems to go hand in hand with regular exercise. So, I started searching for a sport that was easy and pain-free, and one that I could actually stick with (unlike my short-lived jogging phase which lasted a fortnight). But after much deliberation, I finally decided to take on the most effortless sport of all, walking.

In order for walking to be considered an exercise stringent enough that I wouldn’t have to do another HIIT workout again, I set myself a goal of 20,000 steps a day (a number I landed on based on recommendations from the Internet). This didn’t concern me too much, considering that walking took up most of my daily commute. But the Health app on my phone, which had a pedometer that listed the average daily step count for a person as around 7,000, didn’t seem as confident in my mission. It quickly became clear that in order to make this work, I would have to walk almost quadruple the amount I usually would, and although I was ready for the challenge, it actually proved much harder work than I ever anticipated. Did I stick to it? Yes. Did it change me? Definitely. Would I recommend it? I can’t speak for everyone, but if you’re thinking about taking up the 20,000-steps-a-day mantle, I would recommend that you first read this.

It was time-consuming
From the very first day, time was the biggest issue. Finding the time to walk over 15km a day while working a desk job from 9am until 6pm meant that early mornings were inevitable. My plan was to walk at least 10,000 steps before arriving at the office and spend my hour lunch break walking laps around the park. I worked out that every 10 minutes would equate to approximately 1000 steps, so in an ideal world, I would have had at least 15,000 steps tucked under my belt by midday. However, the reality was that waking up at 6:30am to squeeze in a two-hour stroll while having enough time to make myself look presentable was simply not realistic. Sleep-ins were bound to happen, which meant that to make up for lost time, I would aimlessly trot around the CBD after work (sometimes for up to 2 hours) like a weird and lonely wanderer. But I was determined to make this work.

Strategy was key
After a couple of days of walking until almost midnight to squeeze in my 20,000 steps, I decided I needed a new strategy. I would take every moment as an opportunity and walk whenever I could, rather than try to get the steps done in large chunks. If I had to wait a few minutes for the bus, I’d walk up and down the stop. I would order a coffee and use the five-minute wait for an extra 500 steps and when I would catch up with friends would always suggest a stroll over sitting in a cafe. You learn very quickly that, although they may feel insignificant, these small incremental changes make all the difference.

My umbrella became my best friend
Before this personal project, I barely ever carried around an umbrella. It was something my mother would have to remind me to take before I left in the mornings. However, once I understood that an umbrella would become my closest companion, I splashed out on a particularly sturdy one that cost over $90 — and before you start criticising me for my spending habits, the amount of money I saved on Ubers made it well worth the price. No amount of rain was going to stop me from hitting my goal.

No pain, no gain
I began to genuinely look at walking as a workout when my legs and feet would ache after a few consecutive days of walking over 15km. Granted, it wasn’t as bad as the pain I felt following my long distance runs, but there was still some tension in the muscles. Not enough to complain about, mind you, but enough to make me feel like I was an active person. I finally understood the satisfaction my friends found from being sore after their gym sessions.

One of the biggest challenges was loneliness
Despite travel being a major obstacle, it was still doable. An early morning flight, for instance, meant that I had to get out of bed even earlier in order to fit in as many steps as possible before boarding the plane. The most significant challenge, surprisingly, was boredom and loneliness. Sure, I listened to music and podcasts during my walks, but I could only do that for so long without becoming painfully aware that I was strolling aimlessly, without any clear destination. These were many moments when I would question what I was doing and why. And you’d be surprised at how uninterested people were in my walking habits. My numerous invitations for others to join came up against a fair amount of rejection, which meant that walking alone for hours on end was something I had to get used to.

Keeping this project a secret was extra labour
I refused to be one of those people who starts one exercise or diet and announces it to the entire world. Firstly, that just holds you accountable and makes it more embarrassing when you fail to stick with it. But most importantly, I honestly just looked really lame. There are people out there that have goals to make a difference in this world whereas my goal was to stomp my feet 20,000 times. This led to me having to make evening plans as late as possible, so I could arrive with my 20,000 done and dusted. The one time I went on a date and told them that we needed to wrap it up before midnight as I had 3,500 more steps to go, I received an eyebrow raise and a second date is yet to happen.

No time for hangovers
On a night out, it was not unusual for me to go well over 30,000 steps, sometimes even 40,000. Clearly, I go hard and have no regrets shredding the dance floor until the next morning when I wake up, broken. What I usually would have done was stay home and feel sorry myself or the entire day, but the steps needed to be stepped. As I was not about the cheating life, even if my step count was over 10,000 from my post-midnight dancing, I wouldn’t consider those into my days worth of steps. I would start completely new which would force me to go out, get some fresh air and there was not one day where I wished that I would have stayed home instead.

I ate more but I lost weight
This was a factor that especially intrigued me. All the extra walking made my appetite bigger than ever and my energy levels were consistent and levelled. I was always moving, hence I was always hungry and therefore, I was always eating. In addition to that, the food I was consuming was by no means ‘healthy’ — unless you put fries, chips, doughnuts, caramel slices and Reuben sandwiches in that category. Interestingly enough, after a month of consistently hitting my goal of 20,000 steps, never missing a day, not only did I maintain my weight, but I lost almost 4 kgs. Other variables might have come into play such as stress, but in all honesty, I was having a pretty carefree month and not once did I have to concern myself with the nutritional content of my food.

Would I do it again?
I cannot state categorically that walking 20,000 steps a day will allow you to eat whatever you want and still lose weight because I’m not a trained fitness or health practitioner. It’s not my area of expertise. I’m merely sharing my own experience and what I can say, is that mentally and physically, I have never felt better. The long walks alone cleared my mind and made my body feel lighter and more active. Most importantly, I became extremely productive and my time management skills improved immensely. I became a morning person as well as a night owl and my days felt longer which made me feel as though I was capable of achieving more. I wouldn’t ‘do it again’ as actually, I have never stopped. I started this project on 5th June 2018 and have managed to meet my 20,000-steps-a-day goal every day since. It was one of the best life decisions I ever made and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon.

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