All I needed to get back to writing was some interest to write, which I generally get when I read something inspiring enough, or come across something that touches me enough, or both.
Today, I felt the need of writing about weight loss. I also intend to write about my travel experiences. But that would come later.
It is a journey, and like any travel the destination is your own self. In this case as well, the journey is more important than the destination. The path you choose decides how and where you land.
In the beginning, get your reasons charted out. Write down the reasons you must lose weight. If the number crosses 10 where each one of them is valid, you should pull up your socks, and tie your laces, and be ready for an adventure.
My mother believes that when one is taught anything on practical application of a pure science, it is more important to say what should not be done than what all can be done. So I am writing down here all the don'ts, and my reason to write it. I have done all these things, and screwed my health massively, and learnt this the hard way.
1. Crash diet: Crash diet is a sudden change in your dietary habit replacing the food your body is familiar with. Remember that no system in the universe can accept anything sudden. Don't let your body take revenge on you for this act. Every diet of this sort is undoubtedly fad. I got admitted in the hospital for a whole month for going on a diet which my friend called indefinite torture, because I was on a liquid diet where I had nothing other than water for 13 days. I was perfectly alright till I touched the first bit of solid food, then had the worst pain of my life. I was in the hospital for a whole month, and it took me about a year to get the entire system to a reasonably good health. And for having done all this, I did not lose even one pound !
2. Too much of exercise: This is another thing that I did because dieting was out of option. Muscles lose their ability to do anything at one time. I landed in muscle fatigue, and could do nothing for weeks!
These two points I knew were senseless, and still followed them. The irony is that I have an official degree in Biotechnology, Biochemistry, and Chemistry. And these things were well taught, and I had also been evaluated on my knowledge in these areas. The reason I am writing this is because there will be a time when the need to lose weight, the desperation, or the sorrow will be strong enough to deceive the knowledge and sanity. Everyone who is officially fat will have this problem. I had this. But what you have to learn is to pay deaf ears to people who comment or mock or ridicule or treat you different for the reason you are fat. I have had fat people with fat children giving me advice and making comments about me. It was hard, but now my attitude keeps them at bay. They don't like the way I don't encourage their crap, but you should stop taking crap from people.
3. Buying clothes of smaller size: A lot of people think that clothes of smaller size is a big time motivation to lose weight. But it is not. There is no shortcut to losing your weight and knocking off those inches. So by the time you lose your weight, chances are high that it would be out of style. You would have wasted your money on something that won't fit you forever. Accept it, you will never come to a state where your skin will touch your bones. It is not healthy either. You will come again to a level to receive comments "aapka size nahin hai" (we don't have (clothes) your size)etc. I have big time junk in my house of clothes that don't fit me, and I have never touched at all. It is such a waste of space, and it demotivates me that it has been ages since I had this in my shelf and never succeeded in getting into it. It demotivates me more than anything else.
4. Rely on someone to keep you motivated to lose weight: Don't wait for someone to remind you everyday to workout or stick to your diet. If you don't care to be there for yourself, who do you think should care for it? You need commitment with yourself more than anything else. Don't either wait for an ideal time to start your schedule. Tomorrow never comes. If it does, and you are not ready for it, it will kill you for not having done things that should have been done yesterday.
5. Hating yourself for the physique: Well you deserve to hate yourself for the negligence that caused this weight issue. Evidently your feelings have not done anything good to have a positive effect on losing weight or on arresting weight gain. Don't be harsh on yourself. Remember if you love and care for yourself is when others will bother to love or care for you. If you are already a snob, this point is not for you, neither is my page for you. But when you love yourself, you will all the more have reasons to be careful while doing anything to yourself. If you think you are ugly, you must realize that it is your perception that is ugly, and not yourself(physique)
6. Have unrealistic goals: No matter what your weight is, even if you are just a few kgs overweight, give yourself plenty of time. Don't think that you can easily shed 1 kilo in 2 days. Give yourself ample time, and enjoy your journey of loving yourself and giving yourself the gift of a good physique. Don't make calculations of how many grams a day you should lose a day to reach your goal. It is not a wise way of working. Unrealistic goals are absolute certainty of losing motivation.
7. Irregularity: Discipline is a major asset in one's life. If you are not disciplined with your eating and working out, don't expect your body to be in a disciplined structure. You must eat the food the body is familiar with, and do your workouts so that it is sure that you won't deprive it of nutrition. Chances are high that you will bloat if you don't have regularity in your exercise schedule. Discipline in life will take you places. Inculcate the habit of discipline in every aspect of your life.
8. Checking the weight everyday: You should check your weight everyday only when you are in shape. When you are on a weight loss program, your weight would fluctuate, and thus will not keep your enthusiasm on top always. Check your weight before you start, and then every 15 days till you arrive at the ideal weight.
9. Surgery/popping pills: If your weight gain is due to medical conditions, have the medicines prescribed by the doctor. If you are popping pills to accelerate weight loss, you are going to be FUBAR. Surgery is even worse. I know a friend who went for liposuction, and was screaming everyday because she felt her body burn wherever the liposuction had been done. Trust me, it is not something you can even bear to listen when someone else is going through.
10. Changing plans: Remember that you should only do what you enjoy doing. If you don't like yoga, dont do it. If you don't like working out in a gym, don't do it. Do some physical activity that will bring down your weight. Don't remain idle. If you feel going to the gym is better when you are in a yoga schedule, or the vice-versa, it is a bad habit. Do whatever you like, but stick to it.
11. Be your own doctor: Having a degree in life sciences, I did not start my plan without taking the necessary tests to assess myself. Please consult your doctor about your health condition. For example, if you are not supposed to cut your sugar intake or salt intake, and do them, you will land up in big mess. Have a master checkup done, take the reports to your doctor, and ask him/her if you are fit for dieting/exercise, and most importantly ask what you should not do. Don't be your own doctor and make your own decisions. Go to your family doctor instead of a "nutritionist" in a corporate hospital who is actually an intern trying to kill time and make money. No sane person will give you advice without knowing your medical background. So switch to your deaf mode if someone starts giving you free advice. Tell them you have no intention to pay attention or money for their advice.
Today, I felt the need of writing about weight loss. I also intend to write about my travel experiences. But that would come later.
It is a journey, and like any travel the destination is your own self. In this case as well, the journey is more important than the destination. The path you choose decides how and where you land.
In the beginning, get your reasons charted out. Write down the reasons you must lose weight. If the number crosses 10 where each one of them is valid, you should pull up your socks, and tie your laces, and be ready for an adventure.
My mother believes that when one is taught anything on practical application of a pure science, it is more important to say what should not be done than what all can be done. So I am writing down here all the don'ts, and my reason to write it. I have done all these things, and screwed my health massively, and learnt this the hard way.
1. Crash diet: Crash diet is a sudden change in your dietary habit replacing the food your body is familiar with. Remember that no system in the universe can accept anything sudden. Don't let your body take revenge on you for this act. Every diet of this sort is undoubtedly fad. I got admitted in the hospital for a whole month for going on a diet which my friend called indefinite torture, because I was on a liquid diet where I had nothing other than water for 13 days. I was perfectly alright till I touched the first bit of solid food, then had the worst pain of my life. I was in the hospital for a whole month, and it took me about a year to get the entire system to a reasonably good health. And for having done all this, I did not lose even one pound !
2. Too much of exercise: This is another thing that I did because dieting was out of option. Muscles lose their ability to do anything at one time. I landed in muscle fatigue, and could do nothing for weeks!
These two points I knew were senseless, and still followed them. The irony is that I have an official degree in Biotechnology, Biochemistry, and Chemistry. And these things were well taught, and I had also been evaluated on my knowledge in these areas. The reason I am writing this is because there will be a time when the need to lose weight, the desperation, or the sorrow will be strong enough to deceive the knowledge and sanity. Everyone who is officially fat will have this problem. I had this. But what you have to learn is to pay deaf ears to people who comment or mock or ridicule or treat you different for the reason you are fat. I have had fat people with fat children giving me advice and making comments about me. It was hard, but now my attitude keeps them at bay. They don't like the way I don't encourage their crap, but you should stop taking crap from people.
3. Buying clothes of smaller size: A lot of people think that clothes of smaller size is a big time motivation to lose weight. But it is not. There is no shortcut to losing your weight and knocking off those inches. So by the time you lose your weight, chances are high that it would be out of style. You would have wasted your money on something that won't fit you forever. Accept it, you will never come to a state where your skin will touch your bones. It is not healthy either. You will come again to a level to receive comments "aapka size nahin hai" (we don't have (clothes) your size)etc. I have big time junk in my house of clothes that don't fit me, and I have never touched at all. It is such a waste of space, and it demotivates me that it has been ages since I had this in my shelf and never succeeded in getting into it. It demotivates me more than anything else.
4. Rely on someone to keep you motivated to lose weight: Don't wait for someone to remind you everyday to workout or stick to your diet. If you don't care to be there for yourself, who do you think should care for it? You need commitment with yourself more than anything else. Don't either wait for an ideal time to start your schedule. Tomorrow never comes. If it does, and you are not ready for it, it will kill you for not having done things that should have been done yesterday.
5. Hating yourself for the physique: Well you deserve to hate yourself for the negligence that caused this weight issue. Evidently your feelings have not done anything good to have a positive effect on losing weight or on arresting weight gain. Don't be harsh on yourself. Remember if you love and care for yourself is when others will bother to love or care for you. If you are already a snob, this point is not for you, neither is my page for you. But when you love yourself, you will all the more have reasons to be careful while doing anything to yourself. If you think you are ugly, you must realize that it is your perception that is ugly, and not yourself(physique)
6. Have unrealistic goals: No matter what your weight is, even if you are just a few kgs overweight, give yourself plenty of time. Don't think that you can easily shed 1 kilo in 2 days. Give yourself ample time, and enjoy your journey of loving yourself and giving yourself the gift of a good physique. Don't make calculations of how many grams a day you should lose a day to reach your goal. It is not a wise way of working. Unrealistic goals are absolute certainty of losing motivation.
7. Irregularity: Discipline is a major asset in one's life. If you are not disciplined with your eating and working out, don't expect your body to be in a disciplined structure. You must eat the food the body is familiar with, and do your workouts so that it is sure that you won't deprive it of nutrition. Chances are high that you will bloat if you don't have regularity in your exercise schedule. Discipline in life will take you places. Inculcate the habit of discipline in every aspect of your life.
8. Checking the weight everyday: You should check your weight everyday only when you are in shape. When you are on a weight loss program, your weight would fluctuate, and thus will not keep your enthusiasm on top always. Check your weight before you start, and then every 15 days till you arrive at the ideal weight.
9. Surgery/popping pills: If your weight gain is due to medical conditions, have the medicines prescribed by the doctor. If you are popping pills to accelerate weight loss, you are going to be FUBAR. Surgery is even worse. I know a friend who went for liposuction, and was screaming everyday because she felt her body burn wherever the liposuction had been done. Trust me, it is not something you can even bear to listen when someone else is going through.
10. Changing plans: Remember that you should only do what you enjoy doing. If you don't like yoga, dont do it. If you don't like working out in a gym, don't do it. Do some physical activity that will bring down your weight. Don't remain idle. If you feel going to the gym is better when you are in a yoga schedule, or the vice-versa, it is a bad habit. Do whatever you like, but stick to it.
11. Be your own doctor: Having a degree in life sciences, I did not start my plan without taking the necessary tests to assess myself. Please consult your doctor about your health condition. For example, if you are not supposed to cut your sugar intake or salt intake, and do them, you will land up in big mess. Have a master checkup done, take the reports to your doctor, and ask him/her if you are fit for dieting/exercise, and most importantly ask what you should not do. Don't be your own doctor and make your own decisions. Go to your family doctor instead of a "nutritionist" in a corporate hospital who is actually an intern trying to kill time and make money. No sane person will give you advice without knowing your medical background. So switch to your deaf mode if someone starts giving you free advice. Tell them you have no intention to pay attention or money for their advice.
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