The Post talks with six New Yorkers who were looking for and found fitness and diet plans that work, helping them to shed pounds and gain confidence and hope in 2018.
Manit Kadakia, 31, couldn’t resist the allure of New York’s convenient food options: “I relied on Seamless and dollar-slice pizza,” the Upper East Sider says. Last year, on his 30th birthday, the 6-foot-tall finance worker weighed 259 pounds.
For 10 years, he says, friends and family had been encouraging him to start working out and make better decisions about what he was eating — but it took a milestone birthday for him to internalize it.
There’s “something about the round number,” says Kadakia, a vice president of regulatory compliance at an investment bank. “The day after I turned 30, it clicked.”
Thinking about how his bad habits would affect his health in the long term motivated Kadakia to clean up his act. “You don’t feel them when you’re 30,” he says of the effects of unhealthful eating. “You feel them when you’re 50.”
The first step he took was trying the Australia-born, team-based workout F45 on a pal’s recommendation. Kadakia found he loved the 45-minute cross-training circuit workout at the Flatiron studio — and the new fitness family he met there.
“My friends and the trainers were my motivators,” he says. “If I didn’t show up, I was letting them down.”
‘Whether it’s body fat percentage or weight, I set mini goals for myself.’
Soon he was going to the gym six days a week. This year, he dropped 71 pounds.
Kadakia also adjusted his sleep schedule so he could perform optimally, both at work and during his workouts. Although he often used to stay up past midnight, he now hits the sack around 10 p.m. “As good as ‘Game of Thrones’ is, I can watch it later,” he says.
While thoroughly pleased with his progress, Kadakia still keeps up his six-workout week. He believes that by setting manageable goals, he’ll succeed in keeping his weight steady.
“Whether it’s body fat percentage or weight, I set mini goals for myself,” he says. Currently, that means increasing his reps on weighted exercises and doing more pullups and pushups while maintaining his weight.
As he keeps improving, he says, he’s found peace with himself. “I just genuinely feel like a better person,” he says.
Tip: Get your workouts done in the morning. Starting early makes a difference.
