So here I’m with another experience of my
life. 35 kg weight loss in one year is quite worthy of appreciation, isn’t it?
So, all the fatties out there, this story might interest you eternally.
This journey
began in the year 2011; until then I was under a total delusion to consider
myself slender. I was an undoubted gourmet, drooling and hogging on every possible
edibles that came my way, absolutely ignorant about the piling up of layers of
flab, one over the another. My ears had eventually turned oblivious towards the
insolent remarks passed now and then over my bulging–expanding–ascending body.
I didn’t cared even a bit because I was busy. Busy eating. Only if I knew,
there is limit to everything and one day everything will change forever. Okay!
Not forever, but for one year.
Facebook was on hype those days. It had
captivated everyone who was interested in other’s life and knew how to operate
Internet. People got instantly fascinated to such an efficient social
networking structure. Efficient enough to collectively reduce the productivity
of the entire population to fifty percent. People who had a camera, posted
their pictures over facebook, and those who didn’t had one, got a new one, to click
and post pictures over facebook. Isn’t it amazing, how facebook had a relative
effect on the Camera industry! It was driving people crazy (it is still!). The
entire idea of facebook is based on the inquisitive nature of people; they want
to know what other people think about them. So did I. And that is were
everything started.
I uploaded few
of my pictures from my northeast tour on facebook, only to find a miserable
response through comments, messages and every other possible media. Initially I
took them in a casual way and ignored; but as the ruthless comments on my flab
went on increasing, it started bothering me. Thereafter each conversation
somewhere or the other ended up on the way I’d changed in to a humongous air
balloon! Depression spilled all over me, screeching and cracking from within, I
was all tensed and let down by my own self. And then I did what I was
absolutely not supposed to do. I started eating more. And more. And more.
Yes, believe it or not, this is a very
ironic trait that every fat person has. They grow hungrier when they are tensed.
It was the case with me, I was already a foodie and the tension made me a
devil, gulping all the stuffs around. Err… I pardon myself, gulping all the eatable stuffs around. In geometric sense, I was parallel
before, then I grew wider, then rounder and now I was a complete circle, having
a considerable radius. I was stuffed with junk, pure junk. I passionately
mention the variance in my waist size whenever I tell this story to someone.
So, up till this point it grew from 36 inches to 38 inches, and still growing.
Growing fat or growing thin is very
critical to your wallet; it has to bear a big deal with your changing needs.
Older outfits,
newer outfits, all of them soon became of no use. Every next month I had to buy
new ones. It even became a practical joke amongst my friends, whenever they use
to call me up, either I was at the tailor’s shop for the alteration or at the
mall, shopping for XXXLs.
Finally, the
reality percolated down my obstinate head, that I was a big time fat guy and
needed something serious to be done about it before the condition turns somber.
I joined the gym. Which later on turned out to be my next big mistake.
Playing it smart, I
got myself admitted to a gym nearby which involved a mediocre expenditure. I
still have vivid memories of my days over there:
“NINETY EIGHT! You must be kidding me!” I thought to myself
in purgatory.
The last time I’d
stood over a weighing machine was two years back. At that time I weighed around
74 kg. So it was an apparent increase of 24 kg in 2 years. Bad–worse–and worst
was yet to come.
“Saarji, tension mat lo do mahine mein kam ho jayega,
meri guarantee”, said the trainer cum owner of the gym, in a very assuring
voice. He himself had a huge potbelly and assured me a substantial weight loss.
All I saw was,
either people with ripped, in–shape, toned bodies working out the crap out of
their muscles, or those with obese, over burdened, extra-nourished bodies
making unsuccessful attempts to touch their toes without bending their knees. I
found myself to be one amongst the second category.
The entire gym
smelled of just two things–sweat and rust. It had just one manual treadmill for
cardiovascular exercise and every other equipment was for weight training.
“Are you sure?” I replied, still horrified of my weight.
“Sure saarji, bilkul sure, we chalk out a complete
diet chart and workout schedule for our customers”, he said in a gentle
sales-man tone.
Okay, this is a
very fun fact. Workout schedules, diet plans, appealing packages, in-body tests
and gorgeous dieticians at the gym, might fetch a substantial amount of your
attention. But remember, their role in bringing you to a decent shape is merely
1%; rest 99% needful is to be done by you. Just you. And in most of the cases
all the plans and schedules are followed for max-to-max one month, and in my
case it was 1 week. Dedication is necessary. Once you have decided to give your
entire self to a particular task, everything else falls in place. Well, I
realized it later. When I turned 3 months older, 7 kg heavier and 2 inches
wider.
Coming back to the gym where the trainer was trying to fish
a 98 kg heavy Tuna.
“Hey Amit, come here” he called a trim boy who was busy
doing crunches “Saarji, isse dekhiye,
he was 110 kg when he joined and now he is just 65”, he opened up a small
cabinet behind him, searched for a while and fetched a before–after picture of
Amit. It clearly showed that they were two different people; maybe that’s why
it was in the cabinet and not on display. I became pretty sure that the bastard
was trying to deceive. However some kind of wild burning desire ignited within
me at that very moment, I also wanted a picture like that, of mine, not
photoshopped, not deceptive, but a real one.
“But they both clearly seem to be two different people” I
snapped.
“Exactly Saarji,
that is what workout does to you, we will change you too, completely”, Now the
tone of “saarji” was irritating me.
“Okay, at least don’t lie. I’ll join for three months, if I
like it I’ll take up an annual package later” I gave up in despair. I could
have sued him for deceiving customers, by putting up false claim through fake
pictures, but instead, I joined the gym.
First two days were pathetic. Yelling in the
gym, moaning in the home, I was in complete anguish. My body had reached the
threshold of pain. I was unable to endure the heavy weights of dumbbells,
plates and rods. Weight training. My next mistake. Under an improper guidance,
I straightaway started weight training. So, how the procedure is supposed to
go, first reduce and then build up if you want. I started with building up
without reducing. However the jackass trainer unexpectedly caught the error
after few days and stopped the weight training and continued with just the cardio-vascular
exercises. However in the process of mistake and its realization a big problem
had taken place. I gained another 7 kg.
It happens. I went
to the gym regularly for the first 5 weeks. My body was in complete torment. I
discontinued going for few days.
When you start working out, the different
metabolic activities in your body takes place rapidly and also with a higher
frequency. So, your body needs more carbohydrates and proteins to cope up with
these activities, which in turn increases your appetite.
When I left the gym, my diet was already
increased, although due to improper exercise.
I started eating more and simply grew 7 kg heavier. In total 103 kg,
which was fortunately, the heaviest I’ve ever got. At this point my waist
measured freaking 40 inches.
Back to the gym, I started doing just the
cardio-vascular exercises. The treadmill was manual and I was unable to freely
walk or run over it. Then I came across the most miraculous invention of
humankind, SKIPPING ROPE. Bingo! That was it. Unable to manage with the
treadmill, I started skipping. For the first time, I gave up after 50 skips. Also
I was embarrassed to jump ropes with a bouncing paunch in front of everyone.
But I did skipped. It started with fifty skips, then hundred, then two hundred,
then five hundred, then two of five hundred, then four of five hundred. I
eventually became a pro. I started loosing weight moderately at first then
rapidly afterwards.
Then as the time
passed by, my tenure at the gym was coming to an end. Soon, I realized that I was
paying one thousand bucks per month just to skip ropes. I could do it at home
or an open place–for free. I signed off the gym after three months.
On my last day at
the gym, something weird happened. I saw the fat person from the picture that
the owner had shown me on my first day, and definitely he was not Amit.
 |
| Before (2011) - After (2012) |
Initially I struggled
a bit with skipping the rope but eventually it became instinctive and came
naturally. Try not to take high jumps while the rope passes by beneath your
toes, it may damage the ankles and knees. Always wear sport shoes while you
skip.
Few days later,
skipping became monotonous. I had lost around 18 kg in 4 months, now I weighed around
85 kg. Still I was obese by a huge margin. I started taking brisk walks in the
morning accompanied by skipping in the evening. I cut off intake of sweet, rice,
potato and fried stuffs for the next 5 months.
After 5 months, the scenario turned better.
Now I was just 78 kg. Flabs got diminished drastically. I felt more energetic
and lively than ever. Eventually, working out became a habit. Once you start
loving your body as it is, you’ll naturally try to maintain it. Although I gave
up on dieting after few months but still I avoid eating rice and potato unless
and until I’ve no other choice.
Finally I attained a dot 65 kg after a tedious
yet enjoyable journey of 11 months, and decided to join a gym to maintain it.
And then again something ironic and totally out of plot happened. The dietician
at my new gym declared me an “Underweight”.
I was pleased and almost in tears.
I’ve regained a 5 kg and
trying to maintain it. I eat whatsoever I want but workout regularly. I haven’t
got a ripped body with all six-pack abs, stuck out veins and pumped up muscles,
but I’m fit and feel better than before.
And yes, if ever you
happen to gift me a trouser, I’ve got a 32-inch waist!
