I have had several queries from desperate IT professionals, struggling to manage their weight issues while working most of the daytime and into the nights too, spent sitting at their cubicles with hardly any physical movements. I sympathise and understand as my daughter is an IT engineer.

So was Reinhard Engels. A software engineer at Cambridge and struggling with his weight given his working atmosphere, he came up with a diet that is sensible and based on what is nutritional commonsense. His diet is explained in 13 words. No snacks, sweets, no seconds. Except on days that start with S (Sundays, Saturdays and special days).

He has put into a nutshell the essence of weight management.

1. No sweets – this includes sugar in tea and coffee, honey, jaggery, sugar, jam, soft drinks, sugar in fruit juices, all kinds of cakes, desserts and sweets. With this rule, you can do away with unnecessary empty calories.

2. No snacks – Here comes the major calorie reduction as most snacks we categorise are fried. You keep away from these and you are half way through the battle with your weight. Fries, potato chips or any other kind, doughnuts, samosas, bhajias/pakoras, biscuits, vada, and any that are deep fried. Maximum calories come from fats and fatty foods. Avoiding these helps in weight loss and in keeping your heart healthy.

3. No seconds. Serve only once and not a second time.

4. Keep your sweets and snacks for the weekend. Even then restrict how much you eat.

The above tips will help you get started on a weight loss process. But may not sustain the weight loss process unless you add the following tips too, to keep the weight loss process continuing or else you’ll find that you stop suddenly after a big jump down the high initial numbers.

1. Keep salad and fruits with you to eat when hungry. Drink water after eating any snack or meals.

2. Decide a mealtime and stick to it as much as possible. Eat a breakfast. And try not to eat beyond 8pm even if you are still working.

3. Exercise! Do it religiously at least 4 times a week. The effect of exercise is cumulative. You need to pursue it for a while before you find results. Now, exercising helps you manage your weight problem and also remove stress which again may help you stick to your diet.

4. Because Reinhard says “no seconds”, does not allow you to pile up food the first time (unless what you are eating is only salad). All the food that you will eat at a meal should fit side by side on the inner circle of your plate, like how food is plated in a five star hotel!

Keep eating healthy and fit in time to be physically active. This is the magic to reduce weight and maintain a healthy body.

BDST: 1942 HRS, APR-20, 2016 
Edited by:  Sharmina Islam, Lifestyle Editor