CHENNAI: India is the third most obese country in the world. Twenty five per cent of our population is overweight and what’s worse is that 80 per cent of obese people think they are not overweight and 65 per cent of the overweight population have at least one disease. It is high time that we wake up to this,” said Raj Palaniappan, director, Institute of Bariatrics, Apollo Hospitals, while addressing audience at Reclaim Life. The event was organised on Anti Obesity Day at Taj Coromandel on Tuesday.
Suggesting measures to reduce weight, Raj said, “You can both reduce and maintain weight by incorporating lifestyle changes. You may not exercise on some days and binge-eat on others, but if you make changes in your lifestyle, you will not fall off the wagon.”
He highlighted some of the common exercise mistakes we make, including more emphasis on cardio than muscle training, stress workout and not enjoying it, inconsistent workouts or same exercises, focusing only on scale weight and not body weight, inadequate hydration and exercising in a state of impaired insulin.
This was followed by a panel discussion with celebrity fitness trainer Ajith Shetty, sports and weight loss nutritionist Shiny Surendran, fitness psychologist Keerthana Swaminathan and Raj.
When asked about fad diets and which works the best, Shiny said, “Create your own template and see what works for you instead of going by these diets. If your body feels energised and completely healthy after a meal, then that is what you must you must include in your diet.”
Answering a question on how people desire to have their physical appearance similar to celebrities, and talking about its feasability, Ajith said, “Celebrities have doctors, dieticians and a number of professionals who monitor each and every step of theirs. Also, that is what the celebrities are completely focused on. If you have a 9 to 5 job and there is not enough professional guidance, it is not possible.”
Lately, people have started dreading festivals because of high-calorie delicacies at these events. Why has food become so negative? “The only way to set this right is by going back to the ancient way of living. Walk a lot, take the stairs, get a good amount of sleep and on a daily basis, eat healthy food,” said Shiny.