I have grown up on GOOD FOOD. My mom is in the cooking profession. She whipped up the yummiest meals and treats.
I still have memories of coming home from school to open the refrigerator to find this quivering perfection of creme caramel sitting on a platter. My sis and I would polish it off in one sitting. Deep-fried pasties, french fries, cakes in every flavour, trifle pudding, indian deep-fried snacks and sweets were eaten with unfailing regularity.
And meal times â€" rich gravies, spiced rice, deep fried flat breads, pasta, pizza made from scratch ( yes she would make even the dough at home ) gratin, roast chicken, south and north indian delicacies. We rarely needed to complain about a meal being boring.
And then to top it off we had a Dad who loved eating out. He would take us out to the greaziest eateries. He would take us to ice cream parlors that served ice-cream in huge beer mugs.
He would go to the trader’s fruit market and come home with cratefuls of mango, apples, bananas, mandarins, watermelon, custard apples, grapes…... Some of the fruit I have eaten in my chilhood, I have not even seen in adulthood.
On Sunday we would go to the local bakery just when the bread came out of the oven and come home with arms laden with warm french and russian loaves which we would slice thickly, smear with butter and gorge on.
Any wonder that by the time I reached undergrad college, I was comfortably over-weight?
My war with fat began then when, in college, my self esteem, confidence and relationship with peers took a downward plunge because of my excess weight.
So I would ‘go on a diet’ lose weight, then gain it again, then lose it, then gain it.
The low point in my life came when, in my mid thirties, I tipped the scales at an alarming 90kg and was looking at my doc who was saying that I needed a hysterectomy.
I then happened to watch an episode of The Oprah Show where she spoke about taking a second opinion on health issues especially surgery.
I saw a doctor who was also a distant cousin and what he told me changed my life. After putting me through a battery of tests, he sat me down and explained that I was insulin resistant. He told me it was an inherited metabolic disorder that would if ignored shorten my life and make me a type 2 diabetic. He also told me that my problem with the uterus was because of unchecked insulin resistance. ’ Removing your uterus might solve your present problem but insulin resistance can affect your heart, kidneys and several organs. Are you going to remove those too?’ he asked. He showed me that by making changes to my lifestyle, I can control my insulin resistance and improve the quality of life.
Taking his advice, I cleaned up my diet. My deep fry pan went into retirement and my steamer went into overdrive.
Fresh fruit and veggies, whole grains and legumes became my main sorce of carbs. I no longer ate refined carbohydrate. No more cookies, cakes, bread, pasta, white rice.
I increased my protein intake by eating more natural low-fat yoghurt, cottage cheese, skinless chicken breast and seafood.
I drastically reduced my intake of oil and fat and stopped the use of transfat.
I was always someone who enjoyed working out but now, I began to work out more scientifically. I educated myself on heart rate, aerobic and anaerobic workouts, interval training, resistance training and yoga and used it to make my workout more well rounded.
The internet was a valuable resource. Through the internet I discovered Cathe Freidrich, The Firm, Yoga Zone, Rodney Yee, Bryan Kest and the whole world of home workout videos. I now own an impressive collection of workout and yoga dvds and a gym membership and use all of them in my exercise program.
My mom who was a food lover by now had dropped her excess weight and I had become the fatty in the family. Motivated with her fatloss, my sis and I decided to try and shape up.
A year and a half later, my sis was getting into size 8 trousers and I was a svelte 66kg in size 12 clothes.
Then I hit a palteau. I wanted to be 65 kg but the scales refused to budge.
I also began to slacken on my diet. The bread crept back in. So did the pasta, occasional pizzas. I ate ice-cream more often, the cookie jar was raided again. The food did not become high fat but definitely the carbs content was too high both in content and in glycemic value. My weight increased and now I fluctuate between 73.6 and 72.5 kg.
I was introduced to online forums like traineo and 43things by my sis. I enrolled and found them amazingly encouraging and supportive.
I joined the forums about a week back and have been able to go back to my healthy 1800 cal diet. The scales still stand at 72.5 kg but I am much more optimistic.
I am determined that the changes I make in my diet will not be a fad but a permanent part of my life.
I work out religiously and hoping that with all the support I now have from an international community, I will finally reach and maintain my goal.
