“I kept thinking ‘One day I will lose weight, one day I will become fit,’ until one day I landed in a hospital emergency room. I remember that moment clearly, lying in the hospital bed, when I resolved to take charge of my health.
“It was the wake-up call that I needed,” says Agarwala, an Indian native who has lived in Singapore for the past seven years. At the time he was obese, having reached his heaviest weight of 151.7 kilograms (334 pounds) in February 2021.
After his emergency hospital visit, he went on to lose 71.1 kilograms, taking his weight down to 80.6 kilograms by February 2023. In the process of shedding nearly half of his body weight, he dropped four T-shirt sizes, from 3XL to M.
He also suffered from body-image issues and had low confidence.
“I went off all medication by November 2021. My cholesterol and blood pressure levels are normal now, I am off the sleep apnoea machine and am no longer pre-diabetic,” he says.
Agarwala grew up in Kolkata, the capital of India’s West Bengal state, playing cricket, football, badminton and table tennis. He only started to put on weight after he began his career, developing unhealthy eating habits and not exercising.
“I worked long hours and business was stressful,” says Agarwala, who has an MBA from Harvard Business School and is co-founder and chief executive of real estate technology platform REA India.
His physical transformation began with strength-training sessions three times a week with trainer Ahmad Zaki at fitness company Ultimate Performance.
“I started by walking along the river and soon I was walking everywhere, from running errands to helping around the house,” says Agarwala, who began hiking as well.
Zaki says Agarwala’s initial goal was to lose only 50kg.
At the start, the goal was to elevate Agarwala’s heart rate. To build conditioning and muscle mass, he used a prowler – a push sled with weights.
Squats and leg and shoulder presses followed, and as he started to lose weight the focus turned to body-composition training to maximise muscle and fat burning.
Agarwala found the exercises tough and there were days when had little motivation to go to the gym.
“On those days I used visualisation to imagine what it would be like to be fit and the positive outcomes it would have on my life. I took my weight loss as a personal challenge and made ‘fixing my health’ my primary goal,” he says.
“Failure was not an option.”
He had sold his company the year before, although he is still its chief executive. His stress levels fell, and his work schedule became more flexible.
‘6 to 8 pints a day’: how beer lover lost 60kg after seizure, liver disease
‘6 to 8 pints a day’: how beer lover lost 60kg after seizure, liver disease
Agarwala also skips breakfast and has a protein shake after his gym session. Lunch consists of a 200-300ml portion of dal, 150 to 180 grams of cooked vegetables, and besan roti, a flat Indian bread made of chickpea flour.
Good health is the starting point for success in work and life
“I would have 10 to 12 drinks a week with friends, my drinks of choice being red wine or whisky. I quit alcohol for 18 months,” says Agarwala, who now limits himself to one to two drinks a week.
After four months of exercising, he lost 20kg.
“I also felt a lot lighter and had a lot more energy. This prompted me to work even harder,” he adds.
In 2023, he took up running and swimming, and alternates doing 5km (3-mile) runs and 30-minute swims three times weekly.
“The best part about losing weight has been changing my wardrobe multiple times and finally being able to wear the clothes that I always wanted to.
No secret to losing weight: how Hong Kong dad shed kilos and kept them off
No secret to losing weight: how Hong Kong dad shed kilos and kept them off
“I feel good about myself. I have sustained my weight loss by raising the bar on my fitness levels, never letting myself believe that I have achieved my goals.”
Agarwala’s wife, Upasana, was very supportive.
“My wife has always been fit, and tried for so many years to get me to lose weight. She was innovative in rustling up meals that were tasty and yet low in calories.
“When we were invited for dinner by friends, she called the hosts in advance to make sure they would have something on the menu that I could eat.”
He says that he now looks fitter than his wife.
His 18-year-old son Viraj lost excess weight also, dropping 40kg from his 130kg frame in the past year.
“My dad has been a role model for me. Maybe the fact that he was overweight and that it did not come in the way of his success subconsciously led me to believe that it was OK to be overweight,” Viraj says.
“Seeing him make this transformation and how much of a positive difference it has made to his life inspired me to make fitness my number-one priority.”
Agarwala’s advice to others who want to lose weight is to ask themselves if they want it badly enough, and to measure the process and the progress.
He shed 25kg by diet and exercise, in between beating cancer twice
He shed 25kg by diet and exercise, in between beating cancer twice
Good health is the starting point for success in work and life, he says. “You manage what you measure.”
