As we all know, the worst thing pandemic has done to all of us is messing big time with our daily routine, our lifestyle and fitness. From watching series/movies endlessly to cooking various trending recipes and snacking alot on junk, sleeping late at night and waking up late, it has messed up our fitness alot. Many women have been diagnosed with health issues such as PCOD/PCOS and hypothyroidism due to sedentary lifestyle and weight gain caused by it.

Many of these people are trying hard to lose weight and get fit but are confused about which diet and fitness regime to follow.

First and the foremost of all, there is nothing such as the ‘best diet plan’. Every body reacts different to different diet plans. For some, eliminating dairy might work but for some it may not. Swiching to vegan diets isn't as easy for everyone out there. And keto diet is a no-no! Keto diets have to be done in supervision of a certified dietician.

So, what should be done? 

Live by these golden rules:

1. Maintain a calorie deficit: Calculate your required calorie intake according to your height, weight, age and activity using any of the calculators online. Reduce 500 to 600 calories from the required calorie intake amount. This is called calorie deficit. 
2. Don't over-restrict the calories: Make sure you take a minimum of 1200 to 1500 calories which is very important for normal functioning of the body. Restricting yourself less than this will not only affect your well being but also weakens your immunity and also affects skin and hair.
3. Have nutritious food: Add lots of colourful fruits and veggies, seeds and nuts and whole grains to you diet. These help to increase your metabolism.
4. 80/20 rule: Live by this rule if you crave very badly for junk/sweets and tend to overeat on some particular day. Comprise 80% of your daily calories with unprocessed, nutritious food and 20% of it with any junk you crave for. Remember that restricting yourself when you crave for it only increases the tendency to overeat. If you crave for a chocolate, have a piece or a small bar of it rather than finding replacements. If you crave for chips, make sure you buy the packets with smallest portion so you dont overeat rather tham buying a larger packet of it.
5. Fitness regime: There is no need of any fancy fitness regime to stay fit. Dont force yourself to workout a particular regime. Some days you may take short, multiple walks in a day. Some days take longer brisk walks. Do some yoga on days you dont feel like working out. Dance to some music or workout on zumba/aerobic videos on youtube when you dont feel to step out of the house for walks.
6. Cardio and strength training: These words may seem very fancy but they are not. Zumba/aerobics and walks are a form of cardio and need to be done atleast 5 days a week. They majorly help i  losing weight by increasing your heart rate and therefore, your metabolic rate. Strength training comprises of exercises such as planks, squats, jumping jacks etc to strengthen your muscles and therefore, prevents the loss of muscle during your cardio. You should strength train atleast 3 days a week. So, a balanced workout of more cardio and some strength training works perfectly.
7. Time and consistency: Remember that it would take time and consistent effoets to lose weight. And never be demotivated by what your weighing scale shows. It may take time but results would be permanent.

So, you dont need any fancy diet plans and workout regimes to stay fit and lose weight. Rather than making short temporary changes, make changes in your lifestyle, accept it and make them permanent and it would definitely work wonders!