A friend of mine joined a gym together with his friend. Both weighed 85kg. They did an insane power and cardiovascular workout together for three months. One partner shredded 10kg of fat and the other just 3kg! What was wrong? 

The friend who lost 3kg would drink a can of coke after working out; eat karahi and sweets. And the one who lost 10kg opted for a green diet. There are 150 calories in a 330ml can of coke that need to be burned with a brisk walk of 30 minutes. Body fat won’t disappear by a regular workout alone. Right workout and right food and some other factors will shred it. 

If you seriously want to get rid of fat and develop the fabled six pack, you will have to stop eating bazaari khanay. Not everyone would have an arrangement for home-cooked meals. For example, a bachelor living alone in a studio apartment; who does not know how to cook, has no option but to eat oily, unhygienic bazaari khanay. For such people, cooking might be a very difficult skill to learn. Some might have cooking skills but have no time for it. Others would have their own reasons to eat junk food. 

You need to learn just a few simple recipes to combine them with your workout and you will see the change — not of the kind that politicians talk about but a real positive tabdeeli. 

That six pack ain’t happening without a mix of smart eating and effective exercise

The first recipe is simple and requires just three instruments — a small knife, a pan and a glass or a cup. This should be made after getting up and taken without eating or drinking anything else. It should be your first intake of the day — a remarkable morning drink. Just warm 300ml of water and squeeze a lemon in it. The lemon must be big enough to release two tablespoons of juice. Don’t add sugar. You can add black salt [kala namak] to enhance the taste. Lemon has rich amount of vitamin C. It keeps your skin fresh and the warm lemon water burns fat fast. It speeds up digestion and flushes out the body wastes.

The next meal is breakfast — another easy recipe. Just warm two slices of bran bread, spread peanut butter on them and fry two eggs, ideally desi (organic). This is what I would have with a mug of black coffee without sugar. Your mother-in-law (if you’re blessed with one) might nag you by saying that eggs are dangerous and can cause a heart attack. All you have to do is to ignore her and continue to have eggs in your breakfast. Eggs are full of protein and ideal for those who regularly work out. You can also add mushrooms to the eggs. Mushrooms are cholesterol-free protein and highly nutritious. 

If you can’t dare to ignore your mother-in-law then you can have two cakes of Weetabix (whole grain wheat) with a 300ml bowl of skimmed milk or 200gm yogurt. You can add tea or black coffee to this menu. You can also replace Weetabix with cornflakes. 

There is another great breakfast that I cook at least once in a week i.e. sagu daana. Soak three tablespoons of sagu daana in a bowl of water for 20 minutes. When it swells, drain out the water. Boil sagu daana with 300ml of milk. Keep stirring. You can eat it thick or in runny form. Oatmeal is another healthy breakfast. Add 300ml of water in a pan. Bring it to boil and add three tablespoons of oatmeal. Cook for a few min and it is ready. Now for the difficult meal of the day — lunch. Minutes before lunch, eat two cucumbers [kheera] with skin [the skin contains vitamin C]. Kheera is 90 per cent water. It rehydrates your body and flushes out wastes from the body. Cucumber, like warm lemon water, helps burn fat. The logic behind taking two kheeras before lunch is, your appetite will decrease and you will not have the urge to stuff your stomach. 

There are a range of easy lunch recipes. I would recommend you the easiest and healthiest — boiled chickpeas (Kabuli channay or cholay). Chickpeas are full of fiber, improve digestion and help burn fat fast. Soak 1kg of chickpeas in water overnight or for at least five hours. Put them in a pressure cooker, add a teaspoon each of salt and baking soda and a tablespoon of olive oil and add two litres of water. Cook for 25 minutes. Drain out the excess water. Let the chickpeas cool down and store in refrigerator. 

You can have a bowl of boiled chickpeas everyday for your lunch but not raw. To add taste, you need one tomato, a small onion or spring onion, one green chili, and salt and ground red or black pepper to taste. You can also squeeze a small lemon. Mix everything and enjoy. You can replace chickpeas with red beans — the same recipe works because both require the same cooking time. 

If you want a traditional item for lunch, my recommendation would be lentils — ideally moong (green gram) and masoor (red lentil) mixed. You can cook them in a healthy way. Wash and soak 125gm each of both lentils for at least 30 minutes. Cook it in a clay pot (mitti ki haandi) with a clay lid. Put the soaked lentils in the pot, add a litre of water in the pot. Blend two medium-sized onions and tomatoes in a blender and add to the pot. Add a teaspoon each of salt, ground red pepper and zeera. Add half a teaspoon of turmeric powder (haldi), a bay leaf (tez patta) and two tablespoon of olive oil. Add one tablespoon of ginger/garlic paste and cook on medium fire for 30 minutes. When the lentils are ready, you can have them as soup too. 

Between lunch and dinner, you must eat fruit or two cucumbers again. The ideal fruit these days could be watermelon. It would save you from dehydration and decrease your appetite. Your last meal — dinner — should be extremely light. You can either have a cup of same lentils as soup or have a banana or mango shake. You can also take tom yum soup as dinner and the recipe is simple. 

Make half a liter green tea of lemon grass and add 8-10 sliced mushrooms, salt to taste, a teaspoon of fish sauce and a cup of chicken stock that you can buy from a good grocery store; a teaspoon each of chili sauce, soya sauce and oyster sauce. You can also add some spring onions. Cook all the ingredients to boil and the soup is ready. Clear vegetable soup is also a healthy dinner but its recipe is slightly difficult and lengthy. You will have to prepare vegetable stock first of all.

Combine these recipes with a workout that burns 450 calories every day, i.e. one hour brisk walk + 30 minutes power workout and you are bound to lose at least 3kg of fat.

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Islamabad. Email: yamankalyan@gamil.com

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, June 22nd, 2014