I am a sweet tooth. I had never really exercised restraint while consuming sweets, nor did I watch my eating habits too closely. Towards the end of 2018, I went on a trip to my hometown and that is when I observed how much I was eating- not just sweets but everything else. I realised how much processed sugars I was pumping into my body. My family does have a history of diabetes and my eating habits were scaring me. I decided that I would take control of my eating habits.
I was never a heavy person or known to be one. I went shopping one day and I really could not find one thing that fit me well. I had to buy oversized clothes because I was so out of shape when looked at myself in the mirror closely. I realised I looked very puffy and full at the same time. It was like me and a bag of potatoes together. It was a clear sign that I needed to do something urgently. When I spoke to people, they did not feel I look heavy or anything. It could be that they saw me everyday and did not observe any changes. At work, we had a basic health check up with a consultation with a doctor, who advised a couple of months before this that I am slightly above my ideal weight and I must bring it back to my ideal weight. I just needed to lose 3kg to reach my ideal weight range. Also, around June,2018, I started developing knee and leg pain out of the blue. I consulted an orthopedic doctor, whose advice was no different.
While I wanted to control my eating habits and lifestyle in general, I did not want to do anything drastic. I wanted to do something that was sustainable and would not deprive me of any nutrients or my favourite sweets. My aim to was to get healthy and fit and not really lose weight.
I followed the below steps and today I am at well within my ideal weight:
I made a sweets calendar and decided to eat sweets on particular days of the year alone. I got this idea of sweet visa from one of the books written by Rujuta Diwekar. This is not easy to practise. Most people love to express joy through sweets and if a colleague visits his/her hometown and wanted to bring some native goodies, it is usually sweets. I always politely yet firmly refuse. I have been having Bournvita for as long as I can remember. Though it is not the best for you and contains sugar, I still have it as a part of my breakfast every morning.
- Maintaining a Food Diary:
I started maintaining a food diary where I noted all the food I was eating every day and at what time of the day and how much of it. Initially I was also recording my physical activity but later thought it was easier for me to maintain it in an app, so I stopped maintaining this in the food diary.
- Early morning warm lemon water
I do not know if this contributed in anyway to my weight loss, but it did aid in clearing my stomach every morning and helped me in feeling light in general.
- Eating as per my genetics and traditions
This was another tip I picked up from Rujuta Diwekar. She is a big advocate of eating as per our traditions and ancestry. As much as possible, I ate as per my tradition. We are Rice-daal eaters and traditionally have been eating South Indian styled breakfast. I felt satiated and did not feel the need to reaching out for junk.
- Gave up eating packaged food
Anything that has a long shelf life, will be loaded with preservatives and cannot be good for us. I was very fond of Jim-Jam and Chocolate and Orange cream biscuits. I gave them up as I could not stop at one when I ate them and usually ended up eating the entire packet. I was never a big fan of fried packaged foods like chips and other crispy Indian foods, so it was not difficult to give them up.
- Included more seasonal fruits and vegetables in the diet
Since I started following sweet visa, I could not eat the sweets I wanted to on a daily basis. Including more seasonal fruits in the diet, not only meant that I was not eating anything preserved and ripened with chemicals but also, meet my sugar needs and enjoy the seasons without being sick. My mom told me a few years back that I always got sick if I ate unseasonal fruits. I remember having a mango once in December and I got really really sick for days. So it really contributes to my health. I always included vegetables in my diet but it was just half a serving. I just made the effort to eat one whole serving of vegetables instead of just a half.
I made the effort of eating home cooked food as much as possible- at least 3 of my 4 meals are home cooked on most days. I have noticed that I do not overeat home cooked food. It is probably because it has an optimal level of oil/butter and salt content. I eat lunch at work on most days and fortunately for me, it is on most days, quite "home style".
My family always practised having elaborate breakfast. I gave up on this in my high school until I completed my Bachelor's degree but I got back into the habit of eating a wholesome breakfast during my Master's degree and I continue to do so. I never leave home without eating a good breakfast. In today's fast paced world, you might be tempted to choose packaged breakfast cereal, I highly recommend that you avoid putting this into your body. I would recommend to have a banana instead. You can probably look for quick recipes online. I follow this Fit Tuber channel on YouTube. I remember he made a video on quick and easy breakfast recipes. So do visit his channel for some tips.
I have been walking regularly as a part of my health and fitness goal. I go for a morning walk every morning (except in the month of May, where I went thrice a week). I target walking 10000 steps everyday. My strategy is to walk at least 5000 steps during the morning walks and complete the remaining 5000 during rest of the day. Some tips to make up the remaining 5000 are, I do not keep bottled water next to me, I always walk to the water cooler every time I want to drink water. I take stairs whenever I can. I take every opportunity to walk from my desk at work. In April, I was really inspired by Jenna Fischer's 30 hikes in 60 days. I could not really take time off work to be able to pull-off that kind of a challenge. So, I took up
30 day 10k walking challenge. It really worked like magic for me- though I did not lose weight, I managed to look leaner. I would really ask everyone who can wants to improve their health to try walking 10k everyday. With other things I mentioned above, it really will help you a great deal. I am trained in Yoga and will soon include this as a part of my fitness regimen.
I am not actively measuring my water intake but I assume I drink at least 2-3 litres a day. I may not be able to drink bottles of water at one go but I like to take water in a coffee mug and keep sipping some every now and then. I find myself less dehydrated and more awake throughout the day.
Well, these are things which worked for me. Within a week of not having sugar, I lost a good amount of weight and the key is to maintain it. These are new changes for your body and mind, and most of the time the initial reaction is to reject it. The key is to stay disciplined, consistent and persistent. The most important thing to remember is to focus on better health and adoption of a healthy lifestyle. Weight loss will come by as a by-product.
I still have 2 things I need to work on:
- Work on my sleep. I sleep well but I do not sleep enough. It is not that I am an insomniac, it is just that I find so many interesting things to do just before bed time that I put off sleeping at a later hour.
- Give up eating noodles. I love noodles a lot and I can eat absolutely any variety. I specifically love the instant noodles. It is my go to comfort food. I plan on making 30 day- No Instant Noodles month.
No comments:
Post a Comment