Diet Success Story of the Month

Food aficionado, Tresa Mathai, lost those extra pounds by eating smart, not less!

My battle with the bulge started soon after my son was born. I had hoped that post-pregnancy I would lose a lot of the extra kilos, which had piled on during the pregnancy. So after becoming a mom I just kept on waiting for the obvious (weight loss) to happen. A recurring dream was that somehow one day I would wake up and easily slip into my favourite pair of jeans -- which were a snug fit before the pregnancy and which now absolutely refused to go anywhere above my knees! In fact my near and dear ones who have watched me try it on call it the hop-jump-skip-and-gasp routine!

My slim-down rules · Cut down on food cooked outside the home during weekdays. Visiting restaurants was limited to the weekends only and for a food junkie like me this proved to be very tough. If you can master this rule believe you me, you can control that weight. Just remember that all three meals, including the snacks have to be from the home front.  · Limit consumption of aerated drinks and alcohol to weekends. Surprisingly this took a very short time to master. Of course the recent reports of the dangerous level of pesticides in my favourite soft drink helped some too! · Remember to limit usage of oil to two tablespoons of oil per person in a single day’s cooking (all meals inclusive). This means that if you are a family of four, you should not use more than eight tablespoons of oil in a day’s cooking. Having non-stick cookware is a tremendous help here. · Use skimmed milk in your coffee and tea instead of regular milk or cream, as is often the norm in offices.  · I have also tried to avoid having celebrations that centre around food. Thinking up of alternatives has been quite taxing but rewarding. For example, when my son did some worthwhile work instead of packing the family to the nearest pizza/burger joint to celebrate, I decided to treat the kid to a day at the zoo. Or the instance when my husband got an increment and we celebrated by checking into a day spa for a relaxing time instead of heading for our favourite restaurant.

I realized soon enough that nothing short of a miracle would get me back to my pre-pregnancy size. On realizing that I was on my own, determination kicked in and I started on my quest to drop those pounds.

The way ahead was not easy. Foremost was a darling husband who would very sweetly say, “Honey it doesn’t really matter, I love you regardless” and then drool at the sight of this lissome babe sashaying by. Not that I ever was the sashaying type, but still….

To start with I went through all the literature available but ended up quite confused by the huge amount of information at hand. Newspapers, magazines, TV and even my neighborhood saloon were willing to be my ally in this very personal battle. Recommendations were plenty but all were frankly quite bothersome and complicated. Also, I was too lazy to do the work, like counting the calories et al. Believe me getting the meals ready every day is chore enough without going into the intricacies of carbohydrates, proteins etc. I was serious about losing weight, but not serious enough to write a thesis!

I made some simple decisions, which surprisingly worked! None of my rules are hard and fast, in fact a little bit of cheating now and then helped me continue!

Sticking to this weekly regime helped tremendously. My personal experience has been that it’s indeed a case of mind over matter. To be precise it’s mind over stomach. Half the time when we reach out for food it is the mind and not the stomach, which dictates. If a woman can understand this and not let the mind rule the body, weight loss is a lot less difficult. 

It also helps to remember not to get disheartened when you don’t stick to the rules from day one. It might take time to learn and inculcate food discipline. The trick is to keep going on regardless!

Last but not the least, remember that occasional lapses can be fun and strangely encouraging. It never hurts to have that scoop of ice cream or slice of pastry or any other morsel that spells temptation for you. Just remember to keep it in moderation. Any food in excess is bad for you and that is an absolute truth!