A mindful path to fitness: Jai Manglani

We all have read about the famous proverb “Slow and Steady Wins the Race”. While the proverb really fits into the rabbit and tortoise race, it translates well into all areas of our daily lives as well. Jai Manglani’s fitness journey is one such example where dedication, consistency, and steady efforts helped in losing weight and making fitness a lifestyle.

Jai Manglani, a cosmopolitan millennial and textile exporter by profession, enjoyed playing football and had an active lifestyle. But despite living an active and busy lifestyle, his food habits landed him in the world of obesity. His struggle with excessive body weight started right when he weighed 98kgs, and ever since he had been juggling between his food habits and weight management. With MSF, he undertook a gradual shift while unlearning and relearning food habits and making healthy living a way of life.

From where it began…

Having struggled with obesity during teenage, Jai was always conscious of his weight but the love for food kept him bound. While he weighed 98kgs during his board exams, he worked hard and changed his diet to lose 20kgs in 6 months. But instead of being a change in lifestyle, the dietary habits were soon changed and landed him back to his old weight chart. Having tried diet plans from nutritionists and sweating out in the gyms, Jai knew he needed something more inspirational and permanent.

“Nutritionists gave me basic charts which would make me lose 5-6 kgs in the beginning, but then it would come to a halt.”

This is when he discovered MSF! The transformation stories of people from different walks of life inspired Jai and made him believe that he could transform his body too. Jai’s fitness journey started when he enrolled for an MSF 12-Weeks Transformation Plan.

“I love eating. I wanted to know how to manage my weight around it. I wanted to decode what works for me.”

A mindful journey to weight loss

Jai says,” I knew MSF would understand my love for food and build up my diet plans around it. So, instead of disciplining me right in, they gave me a diet plan that would fit my lifestyle and my love for food.

“What could have been a 2nd-week diet plan was chosen for the 10th week because I wanted to bring in a gradual shift”

“We started slowly as it was difficult for me to give all the snacking and bingeing habits at once. To break through my food habits, we went step-by-step and kept the process slow and steady” says Jai. ‘I trusted the process and MSF’s wisdom and that is how we went week-by-week. If you try to jump a few steps it becomes difficult to handle. State of mind is important too” shares Jai.

“There were days when I desperately wanted to see results. There were days when I wanted to go back to old food habits. But then I trusted the process and disciplined myself for the greater good”

How I followed my diet?

‘I had been on diets before. So it wasn’t a struggle to keep up with a regularized diet. But this time I wanted weight loss from a long-term perspective and so the choice was to keep it slow and healthy.” Jai says. ‘When you are trying to lose weight the natural way, it will take time, it will take efforts, but you have to be consistent and go slow”

“I followed the diet plan religiously for 6 days a week and 7th day would be the cheat day. But even cheat days were healthier than before”

“My changed diet would annoy my mom a lot, and would definitely take some time to prepare. But in the end, the satisfaction of eating healthy and watching the change come in was incomparable” shares Jai. “Of course some days it would be difficult, and I would crave some fried foods, but I was dedicated to losing weight and MSF’s inspiration kept me going” Jai says.

The lockdown Experience

‘Indeed, COVID19 lockdown has been a tough time for the world, but for my fitness journey, it proved to be the best time for losing weight. With ample time to rest, sleep and cook for me, my focus was doubled and I was losing weight at a faster rate too” Jai says.

“In the open world, work and other commitments restrict fitness activities to a level. During the lockdown, I had all the time to give to my fitness and shed weight too”

Jai says ‘15-18 weeks of the lockdown, I was put on the shedding phase, and soon reached 71.5 kgs. It was one of the best times. Having achieved my desired weight, the focus now has shifted to mindful weight gain and shaping my body’.

2-Years of MSF Fitness Plans

‘I started off with the MSF 12-Weeks Transformation plan and then shifted first to the Half-yearly plan and then to an annual plan. And in this entire journey, I have learned to rebuild my food habits, and lost about 17 kgs in a natural way” Jai says. “I didn’t know I would come so far, but I love the way I have been following my diets and now can manage my weight around my food habits.”

“The continuous cycle of gaining and losing weight has been put to an end. Now I can manage my weight and enjoy my food at the same time.”

‘After having lost weight and reaching my optimum, we have proceeded with the weight gain journey, as I am building muscles now” shares Jai.

I journey to inspire!

“I believe in inspirational stories. We get inspired, set goals for ourselves, achieve goals, and create stories of inspiration for others. That is what happened to me. And that is what I wish to continue. The idea was to commit, stay positive, and trust the process. And with dedication, I could achieve what I wanted!” Jai says.

“Health and fitness require dedication, perseverance, and patience. It took me 2 years to achieve my goal too.”

“To reach your goals, you have to trust the process and stay positive. It takes time, but if you trust in the process, your day will come. Victory lies in the daily challenges, struggles, and small achievements.” shares Jai.

Unlearning and relearning food habits, disciplining oneself, and creating his own inspiring story, Jai has carved out a beautiful transformation for himself – one which he shall maintain life-long. Rather than opting for quick weight loss or crash diets, he went on a slow and steady process to lose weight gradually and mindfully. If you are motivated and want to change the way you perceive health and fitness, join MSF Transformation Plans now and be the healthier-fitter version of you!