I lost 157 pounds in 2 years — a weighted sled push was key

Fitness

By Tracy Swartz

When he wanted to shed, he turned to the sled.

An obese tech entrepreneur who landed in the hospital because of heart palpitations is crediting a weighted sled for helping him lose nearly half his body weight in two years.

“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,” Dhruv Agarwala, 53, told the South China Morning Post this week.

Agarwala reached his heaviest weight of 334 pounds in February 2021 — he had his heart episode eight months later, during a business trip to India.

The Singapore-based CEO shed about 157 pounds by February 2023, dropping four T-shirt sizes, from 3XL to medium.

“I went off all medication by November 2021. My cholesterol and blood pressure levels are normal now, I am off the sleep apnea machine and am no longer pre-diabetic,” Agarwala told the Hong Kong-based newspaper.

Agarwala — who has an MBA from Harvard Business School and is the co-founder and chief executive of real estate technology platform REA India — initially set a goal of dropping 110 pounds.

He was inspired by the physique of retired tennis pro Roger Federer, 42, who weighs 187 pounds, according to tour stats.

Agarwala embraced participating in strength-training sessions three times a week, walking at least 12,000 steps every day, and pushing a weighted sled to increase muscle mass.

Men’s Health reports that pushing and pulling a sled loaded with weights may be the “best-kept secret for building muscle and burning fat, pain-free.”

“The benefits of a sled push exercise are vast. It engages your quadriceps, hamstrings, calves and glutes and it also strengthens your core muscles,” Farren Morgan, founder of The Tactical Athlete, told the UK mag T3 last year.

“It’s a fantastic cardio workout too that elevates your heart rate and engages the entire body,” Morgan added. “This results in a high-calorie burn and is a great way to improve your endurance as it challenges your cardiovascular system.”

Justin Timberlake, 43, pushed a sled carrying 440 pounds to help drop 24 pounds last year, while Khloé Kardashian, 39, added daughter True, 5, to her sled-push routine just last month.

For his part, Agarwala also transformed his diet by ditching alcohol and cutting his caloric intake to fewer than 1,700 a day.

“I was used to eating unhealthy food, which was hard to give up. I had tried the Atkins and South Beach diets and intermittent fasting in the past, but did not find them sustainable,” Agarwala told the South China Morning Post.

“The ‘Aha!’ moment for me was when I realized that I could eat what I wanted as long as I controlled the portions,” he added.

The Indian native says he eats at least 120 grams of protein at every meal, with cooked vegetables, grilled chicken, and fish topping his menu.

His metamorphosis has increased his energy levels, which means he can work even harder in the gym.

Gone are the heart palpitations that sent him to the hospital — which turned out to be heartburn.

“It was the wake-up call that I needed,” Agarwala confessed.