Desi Diet Dilemma: What's Really Holding Us Back?
To lead a healthy lifestyle, it’s important to maintain a healthy weight and exercise regularly. The worse your daily habits are, the easier it is to pack on the pounds.
For the South Asian community specifically, there has been a decline in healthy weight and BMI across the board shown in recent studies.
According to the
National Library of Medicine, “the prevalence of obesity and obesity-related diseases in people of South Asian descent is the highest among Asians (2025),” and that number continues to rise.
If you aren’t sure where to begin on your weight loss journey, the task can seem pretty daunting. The easiest way to start is by knowing what not to do so you can stay safe and educated.
Common Weight Loss Mistakes
Let’s go over some of the most common weight loss mistakes people make when first starting out their nutrition and health journey.
- Inconsistency in Everyday Life
To see results in any area of life, you have to practice discipline and form everyday habits. If you aren’t used to doing something every day, it could take a few tries to make it part of your everyday routine.
It’s especially important to make wellness a consistent part of your every day when going through a life event or in a different set of circumstances. For example, being pregnant, moving, and traveling are all factors that could inhibit you from making healthy choices. But that doesn’t mean you have to put your journey on pause.
Everyone likes to indulge on vacation, but that doesn’t mean you need to abandon the habits you’ve built just because you’re out of town. You can choose to walk to your destinations, order foods with high protein and less fats, or explore activities that require movement.
At Fitness By Maryam, our Personal Training professionals create a workout program tailored to your goals so you get the most out of each session and feel great every time.
2. Misunderstanding Your Specific Needs
Studies show that vitamin D deficiency is at “epidemic proportions” in western South Asian populations. Some reasons for this are:
- Low vitamin D intake
- High adiposity
- Sun exposure avoidance
Lack of vitamin D could also increase the risk of other chronic diseases. But unless you knew this, you wouldn’t go out of your way to increase your vitamin D intake. That’s why doing your own research and perhaps even hiring a wellness and nutrition coach could be the difference between your present self and the person you want to be.
Many traditional South Asian foods are made with large amounts of oil, butter, and other ingredients that are problematic when taken in excess. Finding healthy alternatives can help you lose weight and see the results you’re looking for.
For example, meal prepping is a great way to control your portion intake and ensure a more nutritionally balanced diet. Even those with hectic schedules can make healthier food choices by planning meals at the beginning of each week. It also reduces the stress of making last minute decisions about what to eat that won’t set you back on your nutrition goals.
Our
Nutrition and Wellness programs, hosted by Nutrition & Wellness Coach Katie Sayad Alvarez, are designed to help you achieve your weight loss goals and track your progress every step of the way.
Whether you want a full body detox or an optimized nutrition plan, our coaching programs are catered to your specific needs so you can succeed.
3. Underestimating Small Habits
Showing up for yourself every day is what’s going to have the biggest impact on your weight loss results. When you make excuses for why you can’t choose healthier, you’re denying yourself the achievement of your goals. It’s important to show up for yourself and commit to the promises you make.
Fitness isn’t only about physically moving your body. Your sleep habits, hydration levels, and daily number of steps, for example, are also important to track. Your health journey is a wide compass of factors that exist outside of the gym; your everyday life can greatly impact your quality of health. That’s why it’s crucial to form healthy everyday habits and stick to them.
For example, here are a few things you might add to your daily to-do list:
- Drink at least 2 liters of water per day
- Stretch for 5-15 minutes every morning
- Walk around 10,000 steps per day
4. Lack of Stress Management
Recent studies show that South Asian immigrants are experiencing high rates of mental health issues and stress due to migration, pressures to acculturate, and other factors. Women especially tend to take on a huge role in the household and within the family, which adds to the stressors of everyday life.
High stress can make you want to overeat and overindulge. But all this does is lead to packing on the pounds and eating unhealthily. Sugary, high-fat, high-carb foods are called comfort food for a reason; they’re the first thing you reach for when you’re stressed and want to soothe your anxiety.
If stress persists, the body will eventually release cortisol, a hormone that increases appetite and fat storage, weakens muscles, disrupts fertility, and more. It’s important for women to prioritize managing their stress to ensure that it doesn’t get in the way of their wellbeing and mental health.
For example, you might decide to take a meditation class to learn how to regulate your breathing and practice poses that stretch your muscles and release tension. Our
Breathe and Be class, led by Zareen Atiyat, is a one-hour flow meditation that focuses on breathwork and reflection. Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, it’s a great way to recenter and refresh your mind and body.
Breathe and Be will be held every Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the Fitness By Maryam Facility.
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Any questions? Feel free to reach out to us via email, phone call, or stop by the gym for a tour! We offer both in-person and online Zoom classes so you can enjoy working out from anywhere you choose!
You can also check out our upcoming events for this month on Instagram at
@FitnessByMaryam.
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