While for most of the people, the decision to lose weight stems from their own sufferings and lifestyle problems, for 31-year-old Chankel, the situation was entirely different. Seeing his parents battle several critical illnesses, he decided to change his life. He restricted himself to 1500 calories per day and never, ever skipped a workout. Read on to know his sometimes emotional and sometimes inspiring weight loss journey.

Name: Chankel Pasricha Occupation: Assistant Professor Age: 31 years Highest weight recorded: 97 kgs Weight lost: 27 kgs Current weight: 69 kgs Duration it took me to lose weight: Almost 4 months The turning point: My mother is a cancer patient and my father is suffering from heart disease. Infact, a lot of my relatives are suffering from some disease or another. Since I was overweight, everybody warned me that I might face similar consequences in the near future. When I realised that these diseases are hereditary, I promised myself that I will turn my life around. My breakfast: Soaked walnuts and almonds (50 grams), 2 teaspoon chia seeds and 1 glass of milk without any sugar. My lunch: 1 bowl of green vegetables with 2 chapatis. My dinner: For my last meal of the day, I just have a salad consisting of green vegetables, beetroots and carrots. I make it a point to restrict myself to just 1500 calories per day. I indulge in: I loved having moong daal halwa and gol gappe as my cheat meals! My workout: I have realised that it is actually really easy to lose weight, once you set your mind on it. My workout regime constituted of HIIT (High-intensity interval training) combined with normal cardio sessions. I also included running and cycling in my daily routine. Low-calorie recipes I swear by: I love having oats and boiled vegetables. Fitness secrets I unveiled: Ultimately, it all boils down to your mental strength. You will never be able to lift heavy weight and build muscle power if you don’t have the will power to do it. How do I stay motivated? Although it takes a while to get there, once you start seeing tangible results, you get addicted to working out more. How do you ensure you don’t lose focus? My absolutely stubborn attitude to achieve my desired weight made sure that I stayed right on the fitness track. What’s the most difficult part of being overweight? My waist measured a whopping 42 inches. As a result, I was not able to sit on the ground, tie my shoelaces or find clothes of my clothes.

What shape do you see yourself 10 years down the line? I am working on gaining muscles as I want to get six packs without using any supplements.

What are the lifestyle changes you made? For starters, I completely changed my sleeping habits and got rid of my lazy attitude. I also ensured that I worked out regularly, without giving any rest to my body. I did not have any cheat day or rest day. (Not even on Sundays.)

What was the lowest point for you? I was suffering from severe pain in my left knee since 2017. When I visited an orthopaedic, he asked me to get a knee surgery done. The cost of the surgery alone was a whopping 2.5 lacs. That was the day I knew that I needed to act fast and change my lifestyle completely.

Lessons learnt from weight loss: It does not matter how slow your progress is. As long as you are trying, you are still ahead of those who haven't even started their journey yet.

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Source: indiatimes.com