Till the time I turned 12, in class 7, I was an average sized kid. I have a sister (shes 3.5years younger than me), and there were a lot of kids living near my house. So, hours of playing outdoors kept me healthy and active. I was never athletic, never won a single race, but I definitely wasn’t fat. Looking back, at 5’6” and 55kgs (120lbs), I was at a good weight.
I remember standing in front of the mirror in my red swimsuit before swim class one evening, and seeing a hint of a belly. Silly me. I was so excited.
In the beginning of class 8, my father got a new job and we moved across the country. We stayed there for 5 years, till the time I finished class 12. That was the time I started REALLY putting on weight. I would eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. And apart from a few attempts at controlling my weight for some occasions, I really didn’t give a damn.
By the time I entered college, I was 75kgs (165lbs). My college was a small one, only 500 students, 100 per year. The other 20 (or so) girls in my year were short and petite. I stood out like a giant.
In my 2nd year, I started taking kung-fu classes. After 6 months of that, I joined a gym for a few months, moved on to aerobics for a while, and finally, in 4th year, I discovered the joys of running. After I started running, I quickly dropped some weight, and went from 75kgs (165lbs) to about 66kgs (145lbs).
After running for a few months, I experimented with a few weeks of Beachbody Insanity, and managed to reach a moderately-happy weight of 63kgs (140lbs).
I maintained this weight for about a year. Unfortunately, during my last semester of college, the second half of 5th year, my faculty made me go through a REALLY bad time. They pretty much convinced me that I would have to repeat the year, and that was something I could not take.
I looked to food for comfort, and the healthy routine I had grown accustomed to, went for a toss. In 6 months, I quickly gained about 5kgs (10lbs).
After I cleared college (thankfully in one attempt), I started working out again. I would go to the gym, and I would run. At this time, I regret going on the 17 Day Diet and the Dukan Diet a few times, off and on. The diets themselves are great, and I did have splendid results for the little time I was on them, but I regret falling into the ‘diet’ mentality.
Our normal eating habits are very different, so following these diets was hard. And also something that would be very difficult to maintain for the rest of my life. Since I went off-on on these diets a lot of times, I think my metabolism paid a price.
I trained for, and completed, a half marathon in November 2011. It took me forever (3hrs 57secs), but I am very proud of it. I ran all the way, took just one break to tie my shoelaces and have a cup of water, and didn’t take a single walking break. I’ve come a long way from being the girl who almost collapsed after a 100m run back in 2006.
December and January, I didn’t do anything. Partly because I was really fatigued after the 21k (emotionally and physically), partly because I lacked the motivation, and mainly because I was just too damn lazy.
On February 1st, 2012, a sudden surge of motivation came over me, and I started on the Dukan Diet (again!!), and started doing Insanity. I gave up on Dukan about 2 weeks later, when I realised I was bloated and getting rashes (I don’t know if the rashes were because of the diet). The next 2 weeks, I continued Insanity, but started eating a normal healthy regular diet, like I used to earlier.
At the beginning of March, I weigh EXACTLY what I weighed on 1st Feb. Kind of sad, but I think I’ve learnt every lesson I had to.
2nd, 3rd and 4th March, I gave in to some cravings. I was visiting relatives, and it’s really hard (and offensive) to refuse food that has been made lovingly for you, for hours, especially in a culture that’s as food centric as ours.
So tomorrow, 5th March 2012… I start again. I’m starting my 5th week of Insanity (Recovery Week), and I am going to eat normal and healthy. No fad diets. Ever again.
