‘To be fit, you need to be slim and smart’ is the trend that is gradually gaining ground. For some people, the quest for fitness is becoming an obsession. Be it in social gatherings, offices, schools, universities or any other gathering, people can be seen discussing issues of fitness with keen interest. This search for fitness has led to the opening of fitness centres all over the country. The main purpose of people heading towards a gym is to reduce weight, though many also go there to build up their body tone and muscles or to stay in shape.

According to Qurrat-ul-Ain Hassan, an aerobics instructor at a slimming centre, females aged between 17 and 27 opt for aerobics whereas women from 35 to 55 years go for machine exercises. However, men between 28 to 55 years  hit the gym for fitness purpose only, says Mohammad Nafees Khan, fitness and gym administrator at a fitness club. According to him, loads of new trends have been incorporated with aerobics like cycling, sauna, Jacuzzi, steam bath, etc.

“People join these clubs in the hope to see quick results which is not possible; the rate of weight reduction varies from person to person and in any case at least two to three months are required for the body to show results,” states Hassan. The desire for quick results leads to crash diets among young women. Hina, an ACCA student, often goes to the gym as well as following a strict diet to the extent that she almost starves herself.

But gym instructors do not encourage crash diets; they say that crash diets have been on the decline for some time. Instead, the emphasis is now on reducing portions or taking short meals (five or eight times a day). Altaf Rind, a gym instructor says that work-out and diet go hand-in-hand.

Commenting on the myth that if you stop exercising you will gain weight, Hassan said that during exercise the capacity of muscles increases therefore when you leave exercise the tendency of muscles to store fats enhances rapidly.

There is a lot of talk about counting calories and protein or low carbs diets but nutritionist do not agree with the idea, especially in the long run. Razi believes that a balanced meal is important because it provides sufficient amount of all nutrients; restricting your diet to just proteins or low carbs will result in deficiency of other nutrients.

Another trend that is being noticed is that many people drink green tea for reducing weight. According to Hassan, it is used to reduce weight and increase metabolism. Sabiha Khatoon, a housewife is an avid user of green-tea. She believes that instead of work-out, 2-3 cups of green tea is more beneficial to shed extra pounds. However Razi states that green tea is only a source of antioxidants. She further adds, “These days people have become very lazy; they seek quick-fix alternatives and opt for the easy way out to reduce weight.”

There is a controversy regarding the consumption of milk as it contains fat which results in weight gain, hence a lot of people including some gym instructors advise against drinking milk. Razi believes that “Milk is an important source of calcium, which is the building block of bones; calcium deficiency results in osteoporosis and arthritis.” If weight gain is a problem one can take low fat milk which is readily available.

To maintain good health and be fit and smart it is important to indulge in some sort of exercise as well as to take proper diet. Merely counting calories and going on crash diets is not the solution if physical exercise isn’t included, though strenuous exercise without appropriate diet wouldn’t also show results. As Razi aptly sums it up, “Gym is not the solution; modification in lifestyle is the solution.”