Reader's Corner
| Simply Svelte | 1 2 |
| Source : Health And Nutrition | |
Being overweight did not fit in too well Sharda Wadhwa’s scheme of things, especially in her pursuit of a career as a nutritionist. Not only did she have to put up with snide epithets (behenji!), but she also had to live with the fact that her very credentials looked suspect (a fat nutritionist advising clients to lose weight?!)
|
|
| But Sharda refused to allow obesity to rule her life. Here is how she fought back and recovered her credibility. | |
| At my heaviest, I weighed 74 kgs but for almost 8 years now, I have managed to maintain my weight at 52 kgs. It is a constant struggle, but I’m determined never to be overweight again. Further, because of my job, I can’t afford to be. You see, for 6 years now, I’ve been working at Personal Point, which is a natural weight-loss and fitness centre. I’m manager, therapeutics, doing all the training for them and managing this particular branch, where our research and development is done. | |
| They Called Me A 'Behenji' | |
| When I got married in 1986, I weighed 50 kgs, which, for my height of 5’3”, meant I was in great shape. In fact, throughout my childhood and in college, I had never ever had a weight problem. Then came my first baby and after the delivery I weighed a massive 72 kgs. Which was all right at that time, I suppose. Only, 6 months later, I hadn’t shed a single kilo of all that excess weight. It’s all too easy to make excuses not to lose weight, once you’ve had a baby. And at first I told myself I didn’t care, but then the comments really started getting to me. | |
| I’ve always been a person who took pride in keeping fit and looking good. A complete extrovert, I loved dancing and took part in all the programmes and beauty pageants held at my collage. I suppose I had become used to being complimented and appreciated for my looks. Now suddenly all I got were snide remarks. Six months after my delivery, my friends were asking when the baby was due! And everywhere I went people would say sarcastically, “Oh, so you’re a nutritionist.” And I could almost see them wondering what kind of a nutritionist I was, if I couldn’t even take care of myself. But what really shook me up was the reaction I got when I went to my cousin’s place for the first time after my baby. I’m the youngest on that side of my family and was always treated as such. Now suddenly everyone there was calling me a ‘behenji’ I suppose the English equivalent for that would be a homely, plump, middle-aged matron, which I definitely didn’t see myself as! I guess being called a ‘behenji’ was what really prodded me to do something about my weight. It really irritated me no end that people saw me that way and I decided to act at once. | |
| Eating Right | |
| I have a Master’s degree in Nutrition and Dieting, so I already knew in theory, how to go about losing weight. Now I’d have to put my knowledge into practice. The first thing I did was to cut down on my intake of sweets and fried food. This was not an easy thing for a person whose favourite snacks ware rasmalai and samosas. Also, I was in the habit of eating out at least once a day. And, at the restaurant, I would go in for things like uttapams and butter masala dosas, which are not too light in their oil content. So all that had to stop and I had to rethink my eating habits. | |
| I started taking three proper meals a day and would not munch in between. For breakfast I would take a glass of milk and an apple or some other fruit. Then for lunch I would start with some liquid, either a bowl of soup, a glass of lassi or just two glasses of water. (This is a great tip for anyone who is trying to lose weight, as liquids fill up and keep you from wanting to overeat.) I follow this up with a light salad (no heavy mayonnaise or cream dressing) and then have one to one-and-a-half chapattis with a little subji. At tea-time I have just one cup of tea and dinner would be the same as lunch or, sometimes, just soup or a salad. | |
| Exercise | |
| Even if you lose weight by dieting, you will simply put it right back on again, unless you exercise as well. I decided to exercise by doing something I really enjoyed. I would shut myself into my room and switch on some music. Then, with the baby looking on, I would dance vigorously for twenty minutes or so. Although I just used to do my own thing, I did have some knowledge about the right aerobic moves. (At one time, we used to have a hobby centre in our house, where the famous aerobic instructor Veena Merchant used to conduct classes). I used to just wait for this time to myself every day. I think it’s really important to do an exercise you enjoy, if you want to keep at is and stay motivated. I also used to do a lot of skipping, minus a rope. This is the best workout for exercising the entire body. Then I bought a stationary cycle and used to exercise on that, in front of the TV for about half an hour a day. | |
| In just six months, by following this routine, I was able to drop 18 kgs. Only to put on 22 kgs at the birth of my next child. And so the effort had to be made all over again. | |
| 1 2 |  |
