Fit to Fat to Fit!

I am overwhelmed to share with you my incredible, and, almost impossible journey from fat to fit in just 6 months. Why impossible? Because I am a big time foodie. As you can see in many of my posts, I love cooking and trying out new dishes all the time. I wasn’t like this always though.

In my teens, my lifestyle wasn’t exactly healthy; I would wake up around noon and post that, I would freshen up and straight leave for college. Breakfast was always skipped, and lunch was junk food at all times. Ironically, I was super skinny then despite of surviving only on junk and deep-fried food. Then I got engaged, and, married at a very early age, and started putting on weight. In denial, I chose to blame it on the happy hormone, but the fact was, I had stopped caring for my body all the more after marriage thinking “I do not have to impress anyone now. I got my prince charming and it is forever.”

When I was 16, then 25 and now at 36 years old.

Apart from having a senseless thinking, I had a senseless way of eating too. I won’t be wrong if I say “I just couldn’t stop eating.” From a twiggy 44 kgs damsel, in a matter of just a few months I was 68 Kgs and still gaining, all this at the age of 23 years. From a size 0, I jumped the ladder to a size 12, which was not only physically visible but also affected me medically giving me constipation and acidity. Now, you may be wondering that 68 kgs doesn’t really sound too heavy or worrisome. Trust me, when I say this, it is extremely worrisome! As per my body statistics, my ideal weight should be between 48 to 52 kgs. The worse part was that I was living in complete denial that my lifestyle wasn’t unhealthy one bit, and, I chose to completely ignore the long-term damages.

Too glam to give a damn!

Then life took a U Turn (as mentioned in my previous posts). I was awakened, and, decided to start working on myself, physically, and, mentally. I was head strong this time, and determined, to get to my ideal body weight under any circumstances. I started consulting a renowned dietitian; the best thing about his diet was that it was more of a lifestyle diet rather than just target weight oriented, and one could follow it even after they have reached their ideal weight. That diet is an integral part of my life even today. I am never starved, I do have my cheat days, and thoroughly enjoy my daily meals and fit life. With the lifestyle change, the medical issues vanished and I no longer have constipation or acidity. Although he is no more now, till date I am thankful to my dietitian for revolutionizing my lifestyle. Believe it or not, he worked till his late 80s before he passed away.

Before and After

It’s not that that I had not tried dieting before. I had; and miserably failed. My failure was due to being starved which lead to lack of motivation and will power. I would follow the diet for a month, then would return to my old dumb habits. KITO, detox, treatments, etc., you name it.

My present scenario, I am 48 kgs and size 2 at the age of 36 years. I lost 20 kgs in 6 months 8 years ago, and I am still maintained. All my hard work, dedication and the right information is still paying off. What diet did I follow and what exercises did I do? Let me share all my tips with you.

Then and Now

• First and foremost, my dietician wrote down a few blood tests to rule out any underlying disease. And just in case anything came up, he would prescribe a diet accordingly.
• It is a little slow process for women with PCOD/PCOS or thyroid to lose weight, but not impossible.
• Since I had no underlying disease, I was put on his regular diet which included Wheat, Dal, Rice, Milk and looooooooooots of Vegetables.
• Never stay hungry for more than 2 hours. Apart from your Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, have one sugar free and cream free biscuit hourly.
• My last meal of the day, is at 6.30 pm, max at 7pm. Before bed, I have a cup of tea or butter milk.
• From the past 1.5 years I have been going to the gym to tone my body. Prior to that, my only workout during the process of losing weight was walking my dogs three times a day, each time for 20 minutes (I am so thankful to them). You can go for a walk for an hour at a stretch too.
• Consume a lot of veggies. It will help to keep full, you won’t starve and it’s the healthiest option.
• My daily diet:
  • A big cup of Masala Tea + 2 Marie Biscuits for Breakfast.
  • 2 Wheat Rotis + half bowl of Curd + lots of cooked Vegetables for Lunch. (you can modify as per your liking like vegetable parathas or vegetable sandwich)
  • A big cup of Masala Tea + 2 Marie Biscuits for Supper.
  • A small bowl of White Rice mixed with Dal and Vegetables for early dinner. (sometimes, you can substitute rice with pastas or sandwich again or dosa or idli)
  • Butter Milk before bed.
  • 8-10 Marie Biscuits throughout the day.
  • 1 hour of Walk

Since I am a vegetarian, this is my diet. Please do note that I do not have any underlying issues. It would be advisable to get your blood work and other tests done or consult a good dietician before jumping into anything which would be drastic in any sense.

My weight loss not only cured my constipation and acidity problem, but boosted my confidence to another level. Now I love dressing up, I look prettier than before, I look younger than my age, I ran my first Marathon, I am less stressed and mentally fit too. I can work for hours without feeling lethargic.

Weight loss is not just to look pretty. Infact, looking good is just a small part of it. A healthy weight loss without starving yourself will keep you FIT for the longest time and you will not even relapse. By relapse I mean, many people feel that eating less will help them loose weight faster. Yes, it is true, but then you will relapse and gain double the weight of what you originally were. Remember! All the efforts, and, hard work you put in to lose weight, should not backfire by gaining double. It’s the most common problem.

So please, choose a dietitian who will give you a lifestyle diet and not just target weight diet. It has been 8 years since I lost my excess weight and I am still slim, trim and fit. 

Advertisement