I have a weighty issue... It's my weight. It has been almost an exponential progression in the last few years. In college when almost all my friends were underweight I was the perfect weight for my height... Not a kilo more. Yet, I was referred to jokingly as 'moti'. With a waist of 28" the playful jibes didn't matter to me... I knew I was tall enough to balance those 'extra' inches.
After college, happened a job in Gaming... In spite of it sounding exciting, it was actually a sedentary job that required endless hours in front of the PC with rarely a stretch of any muscles other than those in my fingers. Combined with a lack of exercise, my haphazard timings of meals played havoc with my body. Naturally, the waistline now measured 32"... That's a four inch increase in 2 years.
My sedentary lifestyle continued with my later jobs. Food habits were equally bad... though there was no binging on unhealthy food. My body's metabolism rate took a beating and since then it refuses to breakdown what little quantity of food I eat. That quantity has often been described as 'chidiya ka khaana' (roughly translates to feeding portion of a sparrow)... But, it has not stopped my body from storing up all that as fat just in case it has to face a decade long famine.
Well, now I am on my 6th job that involves sitting on my bum all day and have completed roughly a decade of wheeling my office chair around a maximum of 180°... And NO... I am definitely not gonna tell you what my waist measures now! What really bothers me is that I have to lose over 30 kilos to be considered fit.
My fitness issue is complicated further by my tendency to spiral into depression for long periods of time... Sometimes spanning a year. These phases make me lethargic, more sluggish than I'd care to be. Add to that my general lazy demeanour and I have carved out for myself the perfect route to obesity. This becomes a vicious cycle... Every time I look in the mirror I find I hate what I see and that makes me sad. The only saving grace is, until now, depression hasn't caused me to over-eat... But, it makes me sleep. Sleep a lot. And then there are hormone problems... That's as tiresome as it gets!
Anyway, I have decided to take matters into my own hands... Be my own inspiration, my own motivator and crack the whip on my own bum! I may have found help coming from totally unexpected quarters... But, that's another story... for another day.
So today I charted a diet plan for myself, nothing fancy, no flash, no miracles expected... A simple light diet that avoids heavy carbs like rice and potatoes and yet satisfies hunger. Now, motivating myself to exercise... That is an uphill task indeed. I am trying to find interesting alternatives to the gym which frankly, I abhor. Maybe Zumba! I haven't figured out how yet but I know I have to sweat some of my weight off!
In the pursuit of that satisfying meal which is healthy and nutritious but does not insult my taste buds, I tried out something that came highly recommended by a health conscious friend (and by some magazines). It is this 'supergrain' quinoa. I tried it and it is easy to prepare and suits Indian cooking styles... So, I have replaced rice in my mostly South Indian menu with quinoa. I am liking it so far... But, the stuff is a little on the expensive side.
I made my first quinoa dish yesterday... Quinoa Pulao. The recipe is same as any simple pulao where the rice is substituted by quinoa.
Good luck to you. Here are some of my thoughts on how to make this work.
ReplyDelete1. You need to commit to it by writing it down. You have already done this by writing this blog entry. So you are already off to a great start.
2. Make small but achievable goals along the way. So, for example, "I want to lose 2KG in one month" is an achievable goal, but anything higher than than, and you will be stressing yourself too much, and may give up.
3. Remember at the end of the day, it's a game of calories. Regardless of what you eat, the end game is how many calories you consume. It does not matter whether those calories came from (whether it is healthy food or junk food).
4. There is no such thing as a cheat meal. Cheat means work for elite athletes, who are at the peak of their career. For the rest of us, it is a slow and steady race. A single cheat meal can reverse all the hard work you put in the entire week, and that can become very depressing.
5. A support network that keeps you motivated helps. Look for people with same goals so that you can share tips & tricks.
6. Do not get tempted by low-fat or low-sugar foods. The important thing is the amount of calories, and not the percentage of the macro-nutrients in the food.
7. On some days it will get hard. Deal with it, or come back to this blog entry.
Thank you so much, Cajie! That's great advice. I do plan to stick to a good routine.
DeleteI made a diet chart... wrote it down and have even handed it over to people who would be able to push me back on track if I deviate even though I am comfortable with eating healthy food in small quantities and not too prone to temptation. If I get tempted, pictures of food are enough for me. :D
And I am glad even people in my office are ready to help me with it :)
The real starting trouble is with exercise... I am not sure how to start off. I do not want to get stuck with the usual treadmill routine which I am sure to get bored of in less than a week. I am trying to come up with something that is flexible enough to keep my interest and show tiny results along the way which will keep me motivated.
try yoga. :)
ReplyDelete:D Anything I start alone would end up being discarded... I should try something in a group.
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