Rebuilt, Rewired, Resilient: Lessons from a Life in Motion!

It's been a while, everyone- I started this journey in 2013, and it's been nothing short of spectacular- I was at my lowest both physically and mentally back then and I am glad I found this sport. Like Denzel Washington said, “Without commitment, you'll never start, but more importantly, without consistency, you'll never finish." You guys have been my consistent force that drives me and keeps me at it. Once again, I want to thank you for all the love and support over the last 12 years.

This space is for everyone who is trying to make a difference within their capacity. We often get motivated by an ordinary reference to perform extraordinary things- The driving force is the X factor and an underdog story- I consider myself fortunate in having inspired lives around me.

Enough said - let's dive into our topic. Okay, I'm 45 now, and I shifted to England a year and a half ago, which has led to a 360-degree change in my routine. This kind of impacted my routine to a great extent, at least initially. What did I do to overcome all of that? Well, here are some practical takeaways that you will be able to use straight away and manage your health and fitness goals better.

Back in India, meal prep was never an issue, you have access to house help who loves you because you eat the same food day in and day out and cooking for you is a breeze(One of the upsides of being in a low per capita income country is that house help is more accessible and affordable—eases things at home and creates jobs too)- The kids have their circle and there is someone or the other in the family to fend for them.  in short, once you become consistent with diet and exercise, you are more or less in control- however, after we shifted,  life changed completely- it was just the 4 of us for each other- Of course I work and have mates and colleagues- but you are staring out in a new country so things take time to pick up- So cooking meals for family, additional duties towards kids, especially the little also the housekeeping, cleaning up after meals,  and these are monumental tasks in itself- a straightforward reason for you to give up- having the privilege of food prepped helps you to maintain focus and makes it a lot easier overall, vs all of the above- but as you know, nothing can come in the way of a person who is on a mission- I manged to find music in the middle of all this chaos and replicated the exact same meal structure for myself- with access to more options from a macronutrient standpoint in this country, my nutrition is to the next level now- I can’t train in the morning anymore due to obvious reasons, house work, kids school etc, and only do this post work- I learnt about the most important variable along the way, given the fact that it’s not eat healthy and exercise and you will always work your way to low bodyfat levels and six pack at the age of 45, it adjusting and managing your metabolism, your hormone profile- now before I push you away- believe you me- when you come to my age, this is one of the deciding factors that influences how you progress- you will suffer from injuries due to training, you will lose digestive enzymes due to consistent dieting over the years- what saves you is being able to naturally evolve all through this and learn about your internal system,- manage your metabolism with the tools that are available at your disposable.

So here is a breakdown.

  

I want to reference a study by Dr Andy Galpin here as it has personally helped me understand the nuances of metabolism-

So in simple terms, metabolism is everything your body does to keep you alive, from turning food into energy to building and repairing cells.

Metabolism Components and Modifiers

Total Daily Energy Expenditure- The key components of TDEE- consist of four components:

Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (EAT) contributes to overall metabolism

Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) contributes to overall metabolism, and is the biggest one of all

Thermal Effect of Food (TEF), contributes to overall metabolism

 Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) contributes to overall metabolism

1. Basal/Resting Metabolic Rate (BMR/RMR)

What it is: The calories your body burns at rest.

How to tweak: Build or maintain lean muscle through resistance training, as muscle tissue burns more calories at rest than fat.

2. Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)

What it is: The energy used to digest and process food.

How to tweak: Increase your protein intake slightly within your diet- rule of thumb- 0.75 to 1 gm of protein per pound of bodyweight- protein has the highest thermic effect among macronutrients- so your body expends more calories to burn this- in short increase your protein intake in case you are not consuming enough already.

3. Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (EAT)

What it is: Calories burned during intentional exercise.

How to tweak: Adjust your workout intensity, duration, or variety. In short- challenge yourself every now and then in gy,- a good indicator is your heartrate-  without getting into technical aspects- you must learn how to train at different heartrate zones- high to low intensity- both have their own benefits from a fat loss and muscle building standpoint- btu remember, exercise in the gym is a minority contributing factor to your overall goals as you are only doing this for 45 mins to an hour a day- it is important but without all the other facts listed here- it will only take you thus far.

4. Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)

What it is: Energy spent on non-exercise movement (walking, fidgeting, chores).

How to tweak: Add more movement throughout your day— including fidgeting, walking, and taking stairs- this is the most modifiable and responsive component for boosting metabolism, contributing as much as or more than structured exercise to TDEE.-  personally for me, a 15 min walk after each meal is the best tool- helps to bring down blood sugar and insulin and puts you right back in the fat burning zone- walking 3 to 4 times a day for 15 minutes is close to 6.5k to 10k steps which can do a world of good to your respiratory system- if you follow a good diet and use this tool alongside exercise, you have mastered 70 percent of the weight management issue- speaking from 1^st hand experience.

So the takeaway from this is-  Metabolism is not just converting food into energy, it is all these other factors that influence the overall result- the big one is the non exercise energy expenditure- BTW- Fidgeting is a major contributor towards caloric expenditure and this has been scientifically proven- so next time someone flags you for this, just drop the science on them. ……Until next time.

We lift, therefore we are!