Is There a Shortcut to Weight Loss? Ft. Annum Malik

Today I sit down with Annum Malik, the fitness trainer behind Burpees with Bagels. I have been wanting to talk to her for so long because I know so many women who have trained with her and have only glowing things to say. But this conversation goes way beyond workout plans. Annum gets real about her own battle with bulimia, the pressure to stay thin, and why she believes there is no magic shortcut to lasting weight loss.

The pressure to be thin starts young

Annum grew up loving movement. She would dance for two hours nonstop, she tells me, and she was always mindful of staying in shape. The compliments came often. “I had a very slim figure and I obviously wanted to stay that way,” she says. But underneath it, something darker was taking hold.

She developed bulimia. “I used to eat and then I used to purge it out. At first it was maybe once a month. I thought it was normal.” The pressure to look a certain way, the obsession with appearing thin, made her believe this was simply what you did to maintain a figure. Her parents noticed something was off, but at that time Annum didn’t fully understand the danger. She was 5’8 and weighed around 54 or 55 kilograms. The disorder continued even after she got engaged at sixteen and married at twenty one. It quieted down for a while, but after a pregnancy and multiple miscarriages, her weight crept up. She hit 100.8 kilos. That’s when she took exercising to another extreme. “I would walk so much that my legs would turn blue,” she recalls. Her husband finally drew a line. “He said you have to stop this. Either I take you to a psychiatrist or you find a way to channel this properly.”

Finding a healthier path

That ultimatum became a turning point. Annum decided she would become a certified personal trainer. She immersed herself in the science of fat loss and strength. She earned her certifications, starting with level two and then pushing further. She started working at a gym, and her very first client was a woman who lost eight kilograms in four weeks. That early result spread fast. Within a month and a half, she had eight personal training clients. Even the gym owner was surprised. But Annum was not chasing quick numbers. She was building a philosophy.

And life tested her. In 2019, her father passed away on the 29th of January. A few days later, a client messaged her offering condolences. Then, right after, she asked, “When are you going to resume sessions?” It may sound harsh, but that moment pushed Annum to keep moving. “Keeping yourself busy is the only thing that can help you survive,” she says. She went back to training on the fifth. That resilience shows up in her work every day.

Why fad diets fail

We all know the noise around quick fixes. Annum is very clear: fad diets do more harm than good. She is particularly against keto. “I have trained people who’ve had very very very bad side effects because of keto. Alopecia. I was training one client and she lost most of her hair and had to use kala powder to cover it.” She has also seen keto rashes in young individuals. Other seven day miracle diets just lead to water loss and then a bounce back.

She doesn’t even promote strict calorie counting. She gives an example of a client who had a choice between a slice of cake or chicken juice for the same number of remaining calories. The chicken would actually support her goals, while the cake would not. So Annum focuses on portion control and sustainable habits. “You can actually lose weight while eating everything. You don’t have to eliminate any major food group.” For her, it’s about teaching women to trust the process and build a lifestyle, not a temporary punishment.

Motherhood and the body we carry

So many of us struggle with body image after having children. Annum knows this deeply. After her own deliveries, she actually gained weight while breastfeeding. She went into a depression and started emotional eating. That cycle feels so familiar. She would eat to feel happy, then feel worse. “I gained all my weight after delivery,” she says. “I would tell myself, I had a bad day, now I want to be happy. That was my way to make myself happy.” She learned the hard way that finding comfort in food is a dangerous loop.

Now she tells mothers that postpartum fitness is about health, not “bouncing back.” Our bodies have been through so much. They need strength and care, not punishment. “Some progress is better than no progress,” she reminds us. And that “me time” to move your body? It is not a luxury. It is a necessity. She urges women to start as soon as their doctor clears them, but to do it for themselves, not for anyone else’s gaze. “If you want to change your lifestyle, do it for yourself. Not for someone else.”

Eating disorders in our community

This is the part of the conversation that stays with me. Eating disorders are still so taboo in our circles, yet they are everywhere. Annum speaks openly about her own experience, and she now sees it in many clients. She had a client who weighed only 46 kilograms and came to her for weight loss. “I said you are absolutely fine, I’ll make you strong. She said no, I have to fit into this dress.” That mental grip of feeling fat even when you are dangerously underweight is devastating.

Society places a very wrong kind of pressure on women. “Log kya kahenge” has a lot to answer for. We need to talk about this more. Annum says, “You can get so much help, but you can’t get rid of this thought that I’m fat. It’s a mental thing and it needs very serious help.” She now works to shift her clients’ focus from the scale to strength, from shrinking to feeling capable. It’s a small but radical shift.

Small steps, not shortcuts

By the end of our talk, one thing is crystal clear: there is no shortcut. Annum learned that through her own painful years. “I have done all the fad diets. Just name it and I’ve done it. Nothing works except working out according to your strength and stamina.” Trusting the process, giving yourself time, and being honest with yourself matter most. She leaves us with a thought that many Desi women, especially mothers, will recognize. “It’s a permanent guilt, being selfish for doing anything for yourself. But you have to realize your potential. You will go to a meeting even if you’re not feeling well, you will go to meet a friend. So why not show up for your own body?”

This conversation is not about telling anyone to be perfect. It is an invitation to be kind to yourself and to reframe what fitness really means. For Annum, it is a way of living, not a punishment. And that is something worth holding onto.