4 Simple Habits You Can Use to Lose Weight and Build Muscle

May 20, 2023

As a cardiologist, Dr. Amar Shere thought he knew the right things to tell patients about how to eat and exercise for better health, even sharing tips in popular TikTok videos.

But last year, Shere had a revelation that he wasn't taking his own advice and decided to transform his lifestyle to be the best possible role model for his patients, losing 30 pounds in the process.

"I realized I was not listening to my own advice and I wasn't being the doctor I wanted to be for my patients," he told Insider. "I wanted to be a positive role model for my patients and practice what I preached."

Shere, 35, said he got Kunal Makwana of KMAK Fitness to become his personal trainer to help him stay accountable and give him the tools to build a customized routine he could stick to. Healthy habits like eating enough protein and strength training a few times a week helped him to build muscle, burn fat, and feel better in his day-to-day life.

As a longtime vegan, Shere said that he thought he was eating the right foods for his health but found that he was relying too much on unhealthy processed vegan foods and takeout, which didn't have enough protein to support his health goals.

"The biggest change I made was to increase my protein," he said. "I wasn't eating the right amount of protein to see the results, to gain muscle mass and lose the weight I wanted to lose."

Shere started aiming to eat at least 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of his body weight, which is on par with the latest evidence on the ideal amount of protein for muscle gains. That's about 0.6 grams per pound. As a vegan, his go-to sources of plant protein include tofu, tempeh, and lentils.

Shere isn't new to fitness; he's been a fitness instructor for a Bollywood-inspired program for a decade and loves to dance. As such, he was already doing plenty of aerobic exercise, which is great for heart health. But working with a trainer helped him stick with more regular sessions of resistance training, which helped him improve over time by gradually working up to more challenging weights.

"The biggest thing was staying consistent with it. It wasn't anything fancy. Basic exercises and progressive overload really helped me lose the weight and gain strength and muscle mass," Shere said. "Sticking to a plan for weeks on end, that's when I was seeing the results."

Rather than trying overly complicated movements, he stuck with classic exercises like chest presses, shoulder presses, and squats.

Resistance training is also great for overall health, including heart health, and research suggests that it can help prevent illnesses like heart disease and boost your lifespan, especially in combination with cardio exercise.

To make his exercise routine even easier to follow, Shere said he stuck with a workout split with one day dedicated to his upper body, one day for his lower body, and one day for full-body exercises — about 2 ½ hours to three hours total.

"Working 60-70 hours a week, I did not have time to go to the gym every single day," he said.

Shere said continuing to do exercises he loved, like dancing, and having a supportive community helped him stay motivated to stick to workouts.

"Having another person to help motivate you on days when you want to quit makes a difference. I think that support is really important," he said. Shere said he also started walking more outside of the gym and aimed for about 10,000 steps a day — evidence suggests adding even a few thousand steps to your day could have major health benefits.

The last major change Shere made to lose weight and build muscle was maintaining a calorie deficit, making sure to burn more energy with exercise than he ate in the form of calories from week to week.

The key to staying in a calorie deficit over time is not to cut out all the foods you love, Shere said.

"If you incorporate some of those foods into your diet, you're more likely to stay on it. It's not all or none when it comes to healthy eating," he said.

For instance, Shere said he now ate fewer processed foods, packaged foods, and takeout but still treated himself to a daily serving of heart-healthy dark chocolate. He said his favorite healthy chocolate recipe was melting dark chocolate over (plant-based) Greek yogurt, freezing it for a few hours, and then topping it with berries and walnuts.

"I have a big sweet tooth, so I wanted to make sure I included that in my diet," he said.

To round out his routine, Shere said he also prioritized getting at least seven hours of sleep a night and practicing some breathwork and meditation. Evidence suggests stress and sleep deprivation can stall weight loss by causing you to crave certain foods and eat more.

"Any result is really a matter of consistency. Simple but consistent habits ultimately lead to growth," Shere said.

Shere said that making lasting changes to his routine helped him relate better to patients who were working to get healthier.

"Before, like many doctors, I was telling patients 'Just eat healthier and go to the gym.' Now I'm definitely more empathetic and inquisitive in terms of their lifestyle,'" he said.