The Story of My Experiment with Weight Loss

This morning I weighed myself to confirm that I had reached my first goal so that I could share it with all of you.  I reduced 10 kilos in 4 months without any strenuous exercise or strict diets or extended cardiovascular activities or for that matter, swallowing any pills – herbal or otherwise.  The reader who has faced challenges with his / her weight and tried various things over the years will relate to this article wonderfully.

I have never been classified as ‘obese’ and yet over two decades of sedentary lifestyle, late hours, work stress, lack of exercise, occupational hazards, occasional junk food, eat outs had a definite effect on the state of my health.  And this is despite the fact that I have never been a big eater or a foodie and rarely indulge in extravagant bouts of eating or drinking.  Health may not have been a focus area, but neither was it ignored – moderation was the mantra barring exceptional circumstances.

On May 1 this year, an acute health setback made me revisit my entire work/life schedule and also the fact that I need to reduce my weight by least 14 kilos gradually and permanently.  I set myself a target of reducing 1, 2, 3, 4, 2, 2 kilos respectively over the next six months without compromising on my lifestyle or venturing into any diet plans or diet pills.  Neither did I have the time for any strenuous exercise or extended time at the gym.  Most of you know that in cities like Mumbai where I reside, work and commute takes away the bulk of your day and weekends are to play catch up with lost sleep and spend time with the family.

I have always believed, rightly or otherwise, in sharing only that which I have experienced myself or are good at.  I would refuse to conduct a ‘time management’ workshop unless I was reasonably organized myself and knew how to manage my own time.  So vide this article, I am sharing the outcome of my deliberations and experiments.

There are millions of articles on the internet and hundreds of advertisements on various miraculous diets, herbs and pills one can eat.  There are so many methods propagated because it is an industry by itself, probably one of those which flourish irrespective of whether the economy is inflationary or recessionary.  Yet how many of them succeed?  I am not going to talk of some rather bizarre weight loss techniques or on surgical techniques which are beyond my limited knowledge to talk upon.  But these are extremes that the average person would not like to go into.

Most people get influenced by the ‘before / after’ images of how a particular product or plan works.  To get a glimpse into the truth behind these images and how they are manufactured, read this article.  Most diets succeed in the short-term, but fail to last permanently.  The reason as to why diets don’t work is here. Perhaps, if you have tried it yourself, you already know the answer.  Researchers who have studied these over decades have a lot to say. 

Remember, if there was one diet plan that worked for sure and had a permanent effect on you, would it not have survived the test of time?  There would be no reason to even try alternative diet plans if there was a perfect solution.  Further, crash diets can have disastrous consequences; and damage your health.  Read what respectable journals have to say about high protein diets. 

Excessive cardiovascular activity requires time and can also have consequences, especially with an ageing body.  Endurance exercises can cause heart problems and in a report published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology researchers from Denmark say that people who push their bodies too hard may essentially undo the benefit of exercise. Diet pills, metabolism boosting pills, fat loss pills, and the like are most likely marketing gimmicks.  Protect yourself from weight loss scams, this site gives you the know-how.  And I have not touched upon possible side effects and consequences of swallowing pills – herbal or otherwise.

All of the above together with the hyperlinks are to give you material to be more aware before you take the plunge.  I was quite clear in my own mind that if at all I embark on this journey, I would not sacrifice my simple lifestyle, not go on diet plans and had no intention of any strenuous exercise regimes as well.  So I set myself this rather ambitious target with no additional aid to test out for myself what could possibly work. 

Over the years, I may have read about the subject and its corollaries several times, but did not get down to actual experimentation till now.  And in the near future, I intend to conduct workshops for people who could benefit tremendously from this no-diet, no-exercise, no-compromise regime.  And yes, I do eat junk food occasionally too.  And sweets too! 

Any feedback that you would like to share personally or publicly on your own attempts, if any, would be extremely helpful and add value to my little repertoire of knowledge. 

My modus operandi was all about moderation.

1.    Nirmiti Nidra

2.    Moderate targets achievable over a period of time

3.    Moderation in food / moderate diet.

4.    Moderate to minimal physical activity.

5.    Moderate colon cleansing / detox through simple techniques.

6.    Moderate increase in intake of natural enzymes.

7.    Moderate food plans (what and how to combine food types)

8.    Moderate discipline in everything I do.

The results have been gratifying both from the point of view of weight reduction, cholesterol and normalizing blood pressure.  You know where and how to contact me whenever you wish to.  Take care.