Do you ever look at your old photographs and wonder what happened to that chiselled jawline? Or does that favourite Batman tee suddenly refuses to sit on your belly? Well, it is safe to say that you’ve crossed the threshold of your youthful twenties and slowly treading towards the impending thirties.
Why are you gaining weight suddenly?
As you embark on your professional journey, suddenly the day gets compartmentalised into set tasks and chores. Travel to work, accomplishing the goals for the day, meeting deadlines and then back to the pavilion. So while you’re completely enervated by all that mental marathon, effectively you end up engaging in next to nil physical exercise. From the sedentary desk jobs to the comforts of the couch, the late twenties conveniently ebb away those college hunky physiques.
Rigorous partying gets replaced with more sombre and suave outings involving less movement and more drinking. No wonder then the adipose layers find it convenient to pile up and the paunch makes its debut.
The thirties also usher in a flurry of stress. Financial stress, professional pressure, often anxiety over the wellbeing of family or the wedding woes. Medical reports confirm that stress is a major factor that accentuates body mass. Parallelly, many experience inadequate sleep on a regular basis. This is another major factor causing most men in their late twenties and early thirties to gain weight.
How can you lose weight despite having a crazy schedule?
Professionals in their early stages of career are confronted with major challenges when it comes to balancing self-care and the mounting workload. Consequently, we are able to pay very little attention to our fitness. Indeed in the first few years of our professional lives, we get easily immersed into consolidating our footing. But what we tend to overlook is health is the ultimate wealth and our oversight in these years can wreak havoc in the years to come.
They say abs are not made in the gym but in the kitchen. Following a strict keto diet or GM diet may seem like a quick and foolproof plan. But let’s not kid ourselves, it is only human to reach out for the snack bowl after hours of hard work. So let’s set realistic targets and consciously move towards healthy and non-fattening foods with occasional cheat days.
This could mean cutting down on alcohol and junk and opting for healthier alternatives. Replacing the usual chips, popcorn, fries with pita and hummus, celery sticks and kale chips, nuts and pretzels can go a long way in watching your weight. Another useful tip would be to divide your meals into smaller and intermittent portions and leniently plummeting the carbs intake. A wonderful dietary inclusion is Garcinia tea. Replete with hydroxycitric acid, it provides your body with essential nutrients while reducing your hunger pangs. Garcinia tea is a highly efficient antidote to obesity.
Sneak out on some light exercises in between work hours
We all know about that one new year’s resolution we all fail miserably at; hitting the gym. For those grappling with deadlines and household errands, carving time out for exercises becomes an uphill task. So, sneak out some time from your work schedule to burn a good volume of calories. You may start with opting for the stairs instead of the elevator or even a few minutes of brisk walk post-dinner can come handy. To make most of those hours at the desk, sneak out on a couple of sets of inclined desk push-ups or seated crunches. 150 minutes of exercises in a week can work wonders.
Use your quality time wisely
Drained out from the rat’s race at work, we all seek some rejuvenating time with our loved ones. Why not turn the tables around and weave some group fitness activity to make the most of this time? Go for a run together or sign up for a short term fitness challenge. Weekend sports with family can be an exhilarating activity both for the body and the soul.
Do not compromise on your sleep
One word that we young professionals treat as taboo is “no”. Be it “yes”-ing out all the new assignments in hopes of an appraisal or nodding to all after office hours socialising for the fear of missing out, men in their late twenties and thirties are adept at running against the clock to be the jack of all trades. This comes at the cost of your sleep. Sleep is vital for our well-being and a dearth of it can be the germ of a whole host of problems like gastroenteritis, migraines, crankiness, backaches and most importantly, weight gain. Make it sacrosanct to get a good night’s sleep every day. Everything else can wait.
Feel free to pamper yourself
Stress-induced weight gain is extremely common in men between 25 and 35 years of age. Recoil from everything to just go on a spa day or just take off on a refreshing trek one weekend. Be it music or sports or simply catching up on reading, make sure you pay your stress-busters a frequent visit as an important step to curb the bulging waistline. .
The jump from the twenties to the thirties is usually marked by drastic lifestyle changes and is often accompanied by a significant dietary overhaul. In that context, putting up a few extra kilos often seems like a rite of passage for most men. The tipping scales of the weighing machine is the first red flag that men need to watch out for. According to a survey by John Hopkins University claims that 47.7% of men within the age group of 25-35 years are obese and stand at risk of cardiovascular and liver diseases. Cliched as it may sound, prevention is indeed better than cure. Rigorous fitness regime might not be feasible for everyone but simple lifestyle changes can work wonders.
