Thursday 30 October 2014

Conquering the indomitable !



Many Weight loss experiences tend to get preachy and too much of do this, do that and oh don’t do that. I have tried my best to keep this completely experiential, but do pardon if it tends to go overboard.

Some people say that mine is a journey of transformation, a victory over self, and in so many ways I feel its true. I have lost 10kgs in 3 months, and aim to loose another 6 to come into the healthy range of my BMI.

Oh God !! I am feeling soo full, shouldn’t have eaten that last slice of double cheese pizza. Oh Man !!, that yummy-licious choco lava cake was just melting into the mouth, but those last two spoons are now dancing in the tummy, and are doing a shake shake shake  on my lovely thighs J  !! Chal koi nahee, kal zara jaldi uthke jog karne jayungee. Arre, Alarm kab baja ???

If you are wondering on the source of this interesting dialogue, well this and many such captivating mouthfuls have been a parcel of my life for the last 32 years. I have always been overweight from the time I remember myself. Its always been that dilemma between the heart and the mind, and the heart would always over-rule, and I would let myself flow into the emotion of yummy ( obsviously high calorie) food.

So what triggered this change, well a couple of factors and my journey has been described below:-

  1. Playing with and Chasing my 18 month old, I realized, that I needed to be fitter, not just for the physical energy but also to role-model a healthier lifestyle for her. I joined a Aerobics class in the month of June, and for a month and half, despite being regular, I could not see any major changes in myself.  My Aerobics trainer was such a big inspiration, her drive, and her sustained fitness prodded me to dig deeper. Through reading, and self contemplation, I realized that while physical activity will help, it will not be self-sufficient. I needed to bring about a lifestyle change , which involved a huge component of nutrition, which had been royally ignored for so many years. Don’t get me wrong here, aerobics was helping me feel more active, fresh and energized through the day, however with no diet control, there was hardly any weight change as well.
  2. More motivation came from a dear friend, who was not overweight, but was determined to tone herself down to her healthy weight limit, and did so with such panache, that she became my inspiration. I got reinforcement from her that what we eat plays such a critical role, in shaping up our body. Its like the 80:20 pareto principle. Making even 20% changes to eating habits can bring a 80% + impact on health and weight.
  3. I started to follow a simple diet recommended by my aerobics trainer, and then later in the journey I also signed up for a nutrition program from Balance Nutrition, which has weekly diet charts set to your preferences, and lifestyle. It was difficult at start, and I would cheat here and there, but in week 2 of the plan, I took a challenge to follow it to core and saw that I lost more weight and was feeling more energetic. The best thing about the plan , was that I was eating more food, healthy food, just at the right times and in right portions.
I am still on my journey, and hope to reach my milestone soon, and here are my two cents of experience for anyone who is keen to START !

  1. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: any form of cardio/medium impact physical activity atleast thrice a week, can bring in immense energy, freshness, and enthusiasm for a day full of activity. It also helps to increase ones metabolism immensely. Ofcourse this needs to be complemented by adequate sleep throught the week, else the positive effects would get negated
  2. NUTRITION AND DIET: Portion sizes , choice of food and timing play such a critical role in this journey and nothing on this earth can undermine the importance of these elements. The Diet plans from Balance have inculcated a lifestyle change, so much so that I lost 3 kgs during a month long vacation, with no diet plans, just by following the basic principles propagated by Balance.
    • Do I have cheat days? Yes, I do eat out atleast once a week and there is always a restaurant guide to bank upon !!
    • Do I give into urges for sweets/chocolates: yes but in moderation, and before 5pm.
    • Do I get lazy on aerobics, yes sometimes, especially now that the winters have started and it becomes tough to get up at 5:30am but I make it up with some physical exercise at home later in the day.
    • Is it tough, oh yes it is, one has to slowly inculcate a lifestyle change to make this sustainable
    • Will you get a lot of flak from the older generation:Yes, some will say you look weak, others will say you aren’t eating, and then slowly when they see your transformed self, you can hope to find some converted, but mind you , NOT MANY !!