Drive away the blues

Your New Year resolution of getting fitter is about a month old, and you haven't got around to hitting the gym yet because you've spent all of January recovering from the plentiful parties that you attended. Worse, you've put on more weight because of the alcohol consumption and the late dinners.

Now that the party invitations have dwindled considerably, you finally have the time to get around to implementing the workout regime that has been designed for you. But alas! The idea of going to the gym brings on the blues. Motivation is clearly what is missing. Aiming to rid you of your lax attitude, Kaya Life has come up with an interesting strategy. The best part: you don't have to visit more than twice a week. Here's how.

At one of Kaya Life's centres, four experts are available-a nutritionist, a trainer, a body therapist and a life coach. Their roles are clearly defined. The therapist takes you through for your fitness check-ups and is involved in the inch-loss and toning process each time you visit. These fitness check-ups comprise of body strength, body weight and body mass index (BMI).

Your BMI measures the fat versus muscle mass in your body. The programme encourages loss of extra fat in your body and not weight loss. Keeping in mind your strength, age and BMI (fat versus muscle mass in your body), the nutritionist draws out a unique diet plan. The uniqueness of it is not just that it's tailor-made but that it rests on the fact that it's not about "food restriction" but about "food balancing" keeping in mind the food that you like. Where no food type is "banned" from consumption, the nutritionist also provides alternative food choices if you are eating out one day; in case of alcohol consumption, they also help in healthily compensating in other meals.

The same parameters of strength, age and BMI are considered when the trainer provides you a set of exercises to do after a 30-minute brisk walk. The walk forces the body into a routine that is more rigorous than what it's used to, which makes the body begin the fat loss process. Since it's important to turn this fat into muscle, those subscribing to the programme are provided with a portable-resistance band. Exercises are prescribed depending on how much strength training the body requires and keeping in mind what area of the body needs to lose the most inches.

Following a thorough check-up and warm-up, band exercises are prescribed for the biceps, triceps, thighs, shoulder and back.

Once you're given the requisite dietary changes and exercise routine, you'll meet with your life coach: the one who constantly motivates you and keeps you from slacking off on fitness target. This makes the life coach extremely important to the programme and to those who sign up for the programme for he/she meets you each time you visit (which is not more than twice or thrice a week) and talks to you about the difficulties that you face and the success rate of the programme for you.

They promise a 5-kg (fat loss) programme in two months but their files suggest that those who've diligently trained with the help of this programme have lost as much as 13 kg a month by just introducing changes in the dietary habits and exercise routine.

It's probably easier said than done, but experts say the 21-day rule doesn't apply here. It takes no more than four-five days for a person to begin enjoying a workout and that the effects of a routine can be seen as early as three days. All one really needs is a life coach for motivation.