Romesh Ranganathan, 48, Lost 44 Pounds by Keeping Fitness Simple—Here's How He Made Exercise Stick

2 min readJohn Walton - PA Images//Getty ImagesFunny and self-deprecating on screen, Romesh Ranganathan takes his health and fitness seriously off it. He's not your typical gym-goer, though. Rather than training to build a bodybuilder's physique or hit performance milestones, his focus is on staying strong, healthy and active as he gets older—and being there for his three sons.“I got a medical when I turned 40 as I started to worry about my own mortality, not for myself, but because of my kids,” he told On: Yorkshire Magazine. “Before, when I was going to the gym or staying on top of fitness, I'd do it for some sort of vanity reason. I've long since abandoned that and have accepted that I'm never going to look good. So the second half is about my reaction to that medical.”Now 48, Ranganathan revealed on the Wolf & Owl podcast that he's been training more consistently in recent months. He has previously said he lifts weights three or four times a week—sometimes more if his schedule allows—while also trying to keep his daily step count high.Romesh Ranganathan's Workout Routine“I started hitting the gym for weights about three to four times a week, sometimes more if I fancied, and was trying to up my step count and cardio, but my appetite for that is a struggle,” he said in an interview with Huel.It's an approach that has helped him lose around 44 pounds over the past few years.Running has also become a key part of his fitness journey. After initially hating it, the comedian went on to complete the London Marathon in both 2024 and 2025.The turning point came after one piece of simple advice.“Running is something that people had always recommended to me. But as soon as I had a go at it, I found it unbearable. I'd go out for a run and be blowing after two minutes, then start walking, run a bit more, start blowing again. I'd come back and just feel absolutely battered,” he told Runner's World.“Then somebody gave me the basic tip of just slowing down a little bit and getting on top of my breathing. That is the single most helpful tip I've ever had; suddenly I went from someone who couldn't face running to seeing all of the benefits of it. That's not to say that it suddenly became easy.” Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men’s Health UK with a passion for storytelling, health and fitness. Having graduated from Cardiff University in 2020, and later obtaining his NCTJ qualification, Ryan started his career as a Trainee News Writer for sports titles Golf Monthly, Cycling Weekly and Rugby World before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo. During his two-and-a-half years there he wrote news stories for the website and features for the magazine, while he also interviewed names such as Les Ferdinand, Ally McCoist, Jamie Redknapp and Antonio Rudiger, among many others. His standout memory, though, came when getting the opportunity to speak to then-Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher as the club won League One in 2023. Having grown up a keen footballer and playing for his boyhood side until the age of 16, Ryan got the opportunity to represent Northern Ireland national futsal team eight times, scoring three goals against England, Scotland and Gibraltar. Now past his peak, Ryan prefers to mix weightlifting with running – he achieved a marathon PB of 3:31:49 at Manchester in April 2025, but credits the heat for failing to get below the coveted 3:30 mark… You can follow Ryan on Instagram @ryan.dabbs or on X @ryandabbs_