Weight Loss: Skipped Gym Due to 9-5 Job? Here’s How You Can Shed Those Extra Kgs

Hectic schedules and full-time jobs should not be create trouble in your weight loss journey. Follow these tips to get past the hurdles.

For most people, balancing a full-time job and the effort to build a healthy lifestyle is a struggle, especially if someone’s goal is to lose weight. In an environment where having a 9-5 is the predominant culture, finding time to take care of your health and focusing on your health can be a challenge.

Many diets, supplements, and meal replacement plans claim to help you lose weight quickly. While most lack scientific support, research has demonstrated that some weight management measures can be effective. And here are a few that can aid you in your journey of weight loss, while having a 9-5 job.

1. Having a breakfast that is high in protein

Protein can help individuals feel full by regulating appetite hormones. This is related to a reduction in hunger hormones and an increase in satiety hormones. According to research on young people, the hormonal consequences of having a high-protein breakfast can linger for many hours. Eggs, oats, nuts and seed butter are all high-protein ingredients that can be added to your breakfast.

2. Make sure to snack on the right stuff

When you’re hungry during the day, people tend to grab something quick to eat since they’re in a rush to complete work or get on with their day. The natural impulse is to go for fried foods like samosas and vada pavs, which are savoury and convenient, or snack packs that are highly processed. Alternatively, we eat manufactured or packaged foods that we bring from home. This is mostly responsible for rapid weight gain because people don’t realise what or how much they eat when hungry. Instead, plan your meals, and make sure to include tons of healthy snacking options like nuts, fruits and other high protein options.

3. Make sure to get a good night’s sleep

Numerous studies have found that sleeping for fewer than 5-6 hours each night is related to an increased risk of obesity. Inadequate sleep lowers metabolism, the process through which the body transforms calories into energy. When metabolism is impaired, the body may retain excess energy as fat. Furthermore, lack of sleep can boost the synthesis of insulin and cortisol, both of which promote fat accumulation. Sleep duration influences the regulation of certain hormones which affect the body’s ability to tell if it is sufficiently nourished.

4. Manage your stress levels

As part of the body’s fight or flight reaction, stress causes the production of chemicals such as adrenaline and cortisol, which initially suppress hunger. However, when people are constantly stressed, cortisol can stay in the system for longer, increasing hunger and potentially leading to overeating. Cortisol indicates the need to replace the body’s nutritional resources with carbohydrates, the preferred source of fuel. The sugar from carbs is subsequently transported from the blood to the muscles and brain via insulin. If this sugar is not used in fight or flight, the body will store it as fat.

While all these suggestions can be adopted as significant lifestyle changes, supplements that aid in boosting metabolism can speed up the process. Supplements that contain all-natural, ayurvedic ingredients like ginger and long pepper which help to balance metabolism from within the body. Although these ingredients are claimed to be available in different supplements, it is always important to look at the origins of the product and ensure that they are natural, certified and in a form that fits your on-the-go lifestyle. When augmented with a diet regime and well-planned physical activities, the supplement will shorten the distance to your healthy living goals, activate your metabolism and help you lose weight, even with a busy schedule

(Inputs: By Dr. Lakshmi Varma K, Consultant & Advisor at LYEF Wellness)