Hi guys !
In this blog I am going to talk about the first part of my weight loss journey, of 2013, in which I lost more than 57 kg weight i.e. from over 114 kg to 57 kg. There is going to be a series of blogs about it which I will be writing and sharing regularly on this website. Just in case you or any of your near n dear one is struggling with weight loss/fat loss or about a particular phase of it like where to begin, how to begin, how to deal with plateau, how to lose the last 5 kg, etc.
First of all, you are beautiful and amazing the way you are, and do try to lose weight only if you want to, not because somebody else taunted you about it or tried to make you feel a particular way about yourself just because you carry a few extra kilos. When you are confident in who you are, your body doesn’t make much difference, but, if you are having other health or psychological issues just because of extra fat/weight, then surely do lose it.
Before considering and following my personal fat loss journey, please read this article https://yourchoicestlifestyle.com/2020/08/24/weight-loss-three-primary-questions-to-decide-upon-before-starting-a-weight-loss-regimen/ . If you do not have any hormonal problem only then consider adopting my journey of 2013. In case, you have any hormonal problem, please follow my other blogs in this series of health and fitness. I am sure they are gonna help.
Okay.. Now coming to the beginning of it all. I was born heavy in weight, quite chubby n fatty. During childhood, nobody stopped me from eating anything, although I was not very much into eating junk food, but I loved homemade fatty food in which there was always a lot of ghee and malai (oil n cream made from milk). I didn’t like sweet food much though. Even chocolates, I ate on rare occasions, like one chocolate after 4-5 months. I never liked cookies or cake much in childhood. But yes, I liked salty food a lot, which also kept me overly bloated mostly.
(I will keep the story short here n will talk in details as and when required in upcoming blogs)
Actually, when my younger brother died during my final exams of senior secondary (class 12th), I started eating a lot of junk food. Like 3-4 packs of potato chips n one litre of coke daily was normal for me. I didn’t realise how much depression I was in. I didn’t know what to do. I literally wamted to die at that time. Just eating a lot of carbs kept me going. Yup.. many people don’t realise how much unhealthy they eat when they are depressed. My weight increased from about 78 kg in Feb to 95 kg in May that year due to that kind of junk eating. Gladly, I still didn’t get any hormonal problem. I got myself checked and tested properly in the Endocrinology department of PGIMER, Chandigarh, after my 12th class final exams and they said that I was obese because of laziness and junk-food eating only. It was kinda relief as it gets really difficult to lose weight when one has other medical conditions like thyroid or diabetes involved. But even then I didn’t pay any attention to lose weight. I was okay with it or say comfortable with it.
Years passed by and I was in my final year of law graduation in Mumbai, it was that time when I realised how much of junk food I was eating. Actually, it had started being difficult for me to even climb stairs and a few of my lectures were at the fourth floor of the college. It felt difficult to pick up my own weight. I realised that I was eating junk food daily there and was even getting ill regularly after short intervals. Reason was carelessness about my body n health. Then in 2013, on 2nd jan I weighed myself n was more than shocked to know that I was weighing over 114 kg. I was always reluctant about scaling my weights for many years prior to that. It was that moment when I realised who was I fooling?? I had to start working after completing my law graduation and I knew that I would be under-confident with that much weight on my body. Also, someone from my own family told me that I could never lose any weight or get slim, and I really took it as a challenge and made up my mind to cut my weight to half.
So, I started researching various diets to inculcate in my routine and which exercises could help me in reducing weight. Initially, I wanted to lose weight as soon as possible but I knew that I had to be a little patient as the weight I gained for years could not be reduced within days or weeks. The best thing I thought at that time was that I could not switch my lifestyle habits 180° and I should have started with the simplest thing I could do. Thus, I started with cutting junk food to the minimal. Yep, I didn’t eliminate it altogether as I knew that I could eat much more of it after a gap if I had refrained myself from having it completely. I started adopting healthier choices of eating whenever I could and lesser portions of unhealthy food at times I definitely wanted to eat something unhealthy. For example, if I wanted to eat fried rice with manchurian, then I ate 1/3rd plate of the combination rather than one full plate of each; and for another meal of the day I ate home-cooked food in which there was minimal fat. I didn’t care much about cutting calories strictly or measuring them daily. I just kept going with my eating lesser n healthier portions for about 2 months till the last week of feb.. Occasionally (after a couple of weeks gap), I calculated my calories intake as well which was sometimes roughly 1300-1400, and sometimes 900-1000.
And guess what?? I lost about 23-24 kg in those two months only. The reason was that I didn’t stress my mind n body about diet and exercise much. Actually, my father got diagnosed with throat cancer during that time. So, I was stressed about that more than my weight/fat loss. Also, my final exams of law graduation were next month only.
When I reached 90 kg weight, I didn’t lose any weight further for about 9-10 days, despite starting even walking for about half an hour daily. Then, I researched more about weight loss and got to know that I had hit the plateau phase in my weight loss journey. After that, I went full throttle extreme to get out of that plateau. I will discuss about that in my next blog which I will share with you in a day or two.
Thank you for reading this blog..AND if you have any queries, please do comment, I will either reply to it or write a full blog on that topic within 24 hours or earlier if asked to do so.
In the end, I would like to say that it is going to be your own journey. One way doesn’t fit everyone but I am sure that my ways may help you. Take your time. Go easy on yourself. The world wouldn’t collapse if you are carrying a few more pounds than people usually do.
Live well and stay happy. Take care. ❤
