Fatboy slim - How I went from 93 to 69 in six months - Part II of II

(continued from previous post)

“Soon I'll be thinner than all of you, she swore to herself. And then I'll be the winner. The thinner is the winner.” 

― Steven Levenkron, The Best Little Girl in the World

“I’m older now, which I can’t help, but I’m also fatter, thanks to all the extra helpings.” 

― Jarod Kintz, This Book is Not FOR SALE

“Inside some of us is a thin person struggling to get out, but they can usually be sedated with a few pieces of chocolate cake.”

- Anonymous

“When we lose twenty pounds…we may be losing the best twenty pounds we have! We may be losing the pounds that contain our genius, our humanity, our love and honesty.”

- Woody Allen

“If nature had intended for our skeletons to be visible it would have put them on the outside of our bodies.”

- Elmer Rice

“In the Middle Ages, they had guillotines, stretch racks, whips and chains. Nowadays, we have a much more effective torture device called the bathroom scale.”

- Stephen Phillips

“Don’t go out of your weigh to please anyone but yourself.”

- Anonymous

I was transferred to the Bombay office for my second sojourn. After the initial first month, where I had the guest house sojourn as I mentioned earlier, I took an apartment on rent at Chembur, Central Bombay. One night in late July 2015, after dunking in two packets of noodles with some namkeens thrown in for good measure, I chanced to read an article in the Mid Day, a tabloid. 

There are many weight loss stories....I did this, I did that. Many of these could be pretty motivating but you need to try them out yourself to check if they work on you. Many of them have a lot of cliches - five / six meals a day, eat whole grain stuff, one day junk food, single day binge, 7 pm lockout for food, breakfast like a king, lunch like a commoner and dine like a pauper - but there is no single believable, 'followable' weight loss story.

For some strange reason, this post struck me. This was an account by a fat boy like me, weighing 95 kilos, who lost 14 kilos in four months, by just eating right and running. It felt unbelievable that this could happen in four months. It was a very normal, relatable but honest post - try to cut right on food and exercise even minimally, but regularly. He had written on how he went about giving up just the extra portions of food he used to hog. The article ended with "If I can, so you can!" I did not know what attracted me to that article then, but it gave me a much needed thrust. That night, I decided to give a self prescribed regimen, a try.

What did I do? For starters, I decided to stay off outside food, as much as possible.  Even if the need to eat outside arose, I would compensate by eating lesser at the next meal of the day. Due to the ligament tear and the asthma, I could not run but I turned my walks to brisk ones. I have a habit of getting up early. So I tuned my alarm clock from 5 am to 4 30 am. A walk in the park. 30-45 minutes. 10 crunches. Mild exercise just for five-ten minutes. Daily, without fail. Another 30 minutes of walk in the evening.

I have a bad habit - I don't eat much in the morning. It is always said that breakfast should be the most important meal of the day. But since I have traditionally eaten less for breakfast, apart from coffee and three-four biscuits, I did not eat anything else sometimes. Lunch was fruit and light tiffin (my office should really be complimented for giving this option). A friend of mine suggested having soup when hunger cravings arose. Now, soup was one thing that I never used to take. But I found that soup was not only filling but tasty too. I would add soya granules or diced carrots to 'fill' the soup. Nights used to be flattened rice ('aval'/ 'poha'), noodles, a couple of rotis or bread with vegetables. There were days when I did have breakfast too. Frankly, I have not kept a tab on what I ate. But I tried not to eat outside food except the odd vada pav or samosa. But they were really 'odd'. 

Then, a psychological issue as regards food. Dine with a friend who eats less. If you don't have one, dine alone. You may not believe me, but this has an effect. Of course, this is not an option. You don't choose dine-in friends on the basis of how much they eat, do you? There is a Tamil actor called Surya who looks the same even after 15 plus years in the industry. When he was asked as to how he maintains his body, he just said, "I eat when I am hungry, but I stop, when I am less hungry". We are not actors who have a necessity to keep fit all the time, but we owe something to ourselves.

Now, wait. Did these methods take effect? No, not immediately. In fact, for close to three months, nothing much happened, Yes, three months. I was frustrated. I even thought that my body's metabolism would render it impossible to lose weight.  But, for once, I did not give up. I kept telling myself - just go the whole hog, be patient.  

Then some three months later, the results started showing. The weight started reducing. First in a trickle, and then, in a cascade. In six months from that day I read the article, I have reduced 24 kilos. I weigh 69 kg now. No inhalers used except a couple of times, but they were totally unrelated to health issues. It was unbelievable at first. The reason was that I had never lost weight in the past 15 years of my life. I used to maintain 74-75 kg, but that was about it. When I was continuously putting on weight, I remember when I used to weigh myself on weighing scales at various hotels I used to stay, I would, shocked at the results, try to weigh myself again and again with various other combinations of clothes - a lighter trouser, shirt so that the weighing scale would skim off atleast one more one kilo. Just to satisfy myself psychologically!

Many a time in the past when I had embarked on a weight loss regimen, I had given up. The reason was it was a 'diet' in the conventional sense of the word. I would go back to a binge after the regimen. So, what is needed is a comprehensive plan for life, not for a specific time period. There is always a temptation to hog food, at the sight of it, particularly for self-confessed foodies like me. Food is like a magnet, it attracts. This is despite I being a vegetarian. If I was a non-vegetarian, I am sure I would have hit 100 kg long back.

I have very high tolerance limits. For anything to be achieved in this world, conviction and patience need to be the main weapons in your armoury. Yes, it takes time and is painful, but it does yield results. In my life, nay, in any person's life, if patience as a virtue is put on a pedestal, it certainly does give results.

The other reason I should acknowledge is that since I am at present staying away from my family, there are no pressures when it comes to food - I get to do my own thing!

Ah, the thrill of fitting into a 39 inch shirt! The trouser that falls down from your hips because it is loose! Ah! The slim fit, oh yes, bring on the slim fit! Yes I do shop at slim fit counters these days!

Old shirts and trousers which I liked but could not fit in are back in my wardrobe. The best effect has been that I don't need to look into the mirror and cringe. And, everyone is asking the same questions:

"What happened?"

"How?"

"What did you do?"

"Please tell me too"! 

I pinch myself. People are actually calling me 'thin'!

And so, here it is. No magic. It is tough. Painful even, at times. I had always believed that, as far as food was concerned, the only way to conquer temptation was - just give into it. It was like I lived to eat rather than ate to live. I used to say that since you live only once, go for it. Now, I know that it is not right as far as food is concerned. Control the temptation to reach for that extra portion, that extra piece of food. All the exercise, crunches, walking, running, cycling etc. are fine but unless you control your mind and mouth, you will not achieve the target. In fact, nothing else is required. From my experience, I am pretty convinced about one thing - there is no way to lose weight other than by eating less. Don't starve. Don't go off food so much that your body feels weak. But be on a leash. Once you start, it is easy to follow. Start by cutting down on the extra dosa or roti. There is a definition of cost reduction in cost accountancy, which states that it is the achieving of real and permanent reduction in the cost of a product without impairing the quality of the product. The same applies to weight reduction too.

This post is not meant to be preachy or assume any advisory tone - so as to say that now that I have slimmed down, slim is the way to go. But being slim makes you fitter. It does make you appear more confident as far as your conscious deportment is concerned. It is not to say fat people are not confident. In fact this is not a comment on fat people at all. I have been fat most part of my life. All those drugs taken for asthma coupled with mad binges have made me look pretty plump most of the time. But slimming down atleast made me less conscious of my looks and not worry about rummaging my wardrobe again for that shirt or trouser that would accommodate me. I don't pant while climbing the stairs. I don't queue up for the elevator for one or two floors up. Further, it has made me keep off these drugs, which is most important. Prudence has made me place inhalers in office, home and my car, but there are no inhalers in my trouser pockets.

The neighbourhood tailor is smiling again. Why? The visits to his shop have increased to alter the trousers once more - the other way! Now that is one thing both of us wouldn't complain, would we?