The probability of losing weight

With a long deep breath, and high hopes of something positive, she finally stepped up on the weighing scale, only to have her heart broken by what she saw on the screen.

The harsh red numbers on the scale of despair read eighty kilograms — five more than what she used to weight six months ago. It was high time to take back control of her life, weight and happiness.

We all have gone to varied lengths to lose that extra bit of fat, gone to the gym, the nutritionist or to some close relative who very recently emerged with a new personality after losing almost half of her body weight. However, very few of these methods have actually given us the result we so dearly want to see. There are countless reasons why these do not seem to work.

The most likely reason why our diets do not work is our habit to procrastinate. We attempt to reason and rationalise with ourselves to start the regimen tomorrow. To be fair we always end up eating more today while preparing for our controlled eating the next day. The proverbial tomorrow, the next Sunday, or the first day of the new month never seems to come.

Another really interesting reason why we cannot lose weight is the reality that diets do not work unless other elements are added to the regimen.

There, I said it, these one week diets are not going to help us reach our weight goals. Many of us have done it and saw astonishing results. Some of us lost two kilograms, some even lost up to three, but our satisfaction did not last long. Two weeks later we are usually back to where we started off.

Seven days of eating fruits and vegetables for every meal may only reduce the body's water weight, the metabolism also adjusts to burning lower calories as we eat very low-calorie meals throughout the week.

So, when we go back to our regular biryani and burgers, our body takes time to go back to burning as many calories as it used to before. And thus, we go back to being as demotivated and sad as we were before we started our diet.

The gym is not a feasible option for many, but the fact remains that a diet regimen without physical exercise may not do much good.

Climbing stairs, running on the treadmill, skipping ropes and HIIT workouts are all very effective, but for us weaklings with next to zero stamina and ability to be out of breath in just five minutes, all these seem as difficult as climbing the Himalayas.

Oh, and let's not even forget about the pain we all have the day after. Walking, talking and laughing all become nothing short of torturous. 

In a sea of impossibilities, there are a few things we can actually do and achieve when we aim to.

First and foremost, stop pushing everything towards the empty basket of tomorrow, we can skip the ice coffee today, we are actually not hungry and it's just the cheesecake that is making us think we are.

We can climb two flights of stairs today, yes I can go from Dhanmondi 8/A to 27 number on foot. If I do it today, then I have already started my journey.

Let's not set weight loss goals, but rather, set goals for how much we can work out. Took three thousand steps today, can I take five hundred more tomorrow? Maybe a thousand more next Thursday?

I danced for ten minutes today; can I do it for eleven minutes tomorrow? Small achievements everyday will help us cross the finish line. We need to lift ourselves up, but not reward our work with a slice of cake.

Today is a good day to start working towards a better you, for your friend's wedding this winter, for the next summer vacation in Bali or maybe even for no reasons at all.