I was born in a family where everyone was pretty conscious about fitness, be it the early morning walk, yoga or aerobics, while there I was, totally appreciating my love for food and completely unaware of the terms calorie, workout or diet! Then I got married to a foodie and went on with our exploration surrounding food.
The moment I came to know that I was pregnant, I was overjoyed mainly about the midnight cravings!! Once the bump came out & baby started practicing martial arts inside me I was happy and not fitting into old clothes was only a reason to shop for more clothes. I put on a whopping 22kgs by the end of 10 months!
After our son was born, there were guests pouring in, most of whom were strangers for me but there was this one comment that constantly came in from many of them "Ohh you have put on so much weight!!" Initially I just did not give much of an importance to it but time and again I kept hearing it especially from aunties (who were definitely not in great shape I would say).
3 months later, when we were back in Bangalore and back to routine I was so much engaged in baby's sleep, food, playtime I hardly had time to think about eating dessert after lunch! A bit of yoga here & there helped me get some peace of mind, tone down a bit and helped a lot with my sciatica. I tried my best to cut down sugar and carrying this bundle of love covered my dumbbell workout! I lost 24.5kg in 8 months!
This went on till 18 months, I was beaming with happiness when everyone who complained about my weight complimented my weight loss. But this didn't last, I lost track and started binge eating, started putting on weight back and I was disheartened!
Sooner I realized may be I should adapt a healthy lifestyle than depend on short term crash diets, I also realized I need to get fit only to feel good about myself than just because some random person said I need to watch my weight.
With an active husband in the house, together we decided to make a couple of healthy choices without being too harsh on our love for food. We got a gym membership, started weight training, read a lot about food & eating habits, for the first time in life we started weighing our food and roughly calculated daily calorie intake. We are very strict about our weekday eating (baked chicken and veggies 5 days a week) so that we can relish that one cheat meal on Saturday! A couple of months now, I am not skinny but I am definitely fitting into my clothes better (I am still working on those sculpted arms :D), I am healthier and pretty conscious about what I eat.
Things that helped:
Do not buy eatables that you are trying to stay away from, skip that aisle at the shop. It is really hard to slay our temptation if the unhealthy snack is there right in your kitchen!
Get a fitness buddy so you can push each other to hit the gym or motivate each other to eat clean - it is easier if it is your spouse.
Invest in comfortable yet fancy gym clothes - this really persuades me to go to the gym :)
Remember even healthy food carries calories - snacking on nuts instead of chips is healthier but 1/4 cup of nuts is around 190 calories, so portion matters a lot!
Last but the most important one - don't be too harsh on yourself, it wouldn't last long that way and do it for yourself, not for anyone else!
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