Q: I am a 35-year-old male, weighing 70 kg and height 5.5 feet. Two months back, I weighed 75 kg, my chest was 36, waist was 36 and hips were 36. I wanted to reduce the abdominal fat, so I reduced the calories and started light exercise. In two months, my weight came down to 70 kg, waist remained the same size, while chest and hips got reduced by 1 inch each to 35 inches (for both). Also, now I look far weaker (this is what others say) and also feel a bit weaker. Presently, I swim and walk for three hours every day. In spite of my exercising, why is my abdominal fat not reducing, whereas my chest and hips have become weaker. I want to reduce the waist size to a healthy level and increase the chest / shoulder size. What should I do? I am a vegetarian, and take fruits, salads, green vegetables, proteins (soyabean) and sprouts in daily diet. I have stopped eating oily food, street food, fried items, sweets, etc. I don't have any other disease. My BP is normal 120-80. Apart from the light exercise I do, my life is basically sedentary (office job).

A:Firstly, it is god that you have a new-found awareness of fitness and good nutritional habits. What you can do to get to your desired goals is basically re-work your fitness schedule. From the cardiovascular point of view, you are doing far too much for one day. If you say you swim and walk for three hours a day, it is too much. You could either do one of them and maximum for one hour a day. You could also alternate between swimming and walking, doing each of them three times a week. As far as light exercises go, I would recommend you up the ante on that: You should go for full body weight / resistance training 2-3 times a week. By doing that, and building muscle, your excess weight will drop more because the extra muscle needs food to build, which it feeds upon even when the body is resting. This will benefit you in two ways: a bigger upper body and a more trim mid section. But do not ignore any part of the body whilst weight training. And lastly to give it a sharper edge, bring on a flexibility program that gives your body a lithe, not weak look.