“Being thin”. Those are themagic words every overweight person wants to hear.
I am no different! For over35 years now the one mission I have been trying to accomplish has been toachieve that magic weight – a mission that has led me on a holy grail quest allaround Mumbai, to every dietician’s chamber. And what do I learn at the end ofit? Surprise surprise – they ALL have a different path for me to follow to “becomethin”.
So, while one argued that I should definitely give up meat, another arguedfor the redundancy of milk and milk products. Yet another dismissed fruits fromthe diet charts. Almost all of them though unanimously agreed that I shouldgive up sugar and oil.
What did I learn at the end of it, therefore? “Youshould give up all you love to eat if you want to be thin”. This got methinking – if I have to give up eating all that I love then what is the pointof living. Right? I can almost see all of you nodding in agreement!
So I had to achieve theseemingly impossible: to be able to eat all that I love – especially the sweetstuff – and still “be thin”. I began by telling myself: “junk “ the dietsbut not the goodies (insert appropriate emoticonwith a wink and the tongue salivating and you’ve got the message).
I must confess here thatdeep within my heart I knew I had to arrive at a workable compromise. Because “beingthin” might be my goal but “staying thin” – now THAT’S my dream. Phew – is ittough, tough, mighty tough. How do I know? Because I’ve made 10 – yes that’sright – 10 such attempts over the past 35 years and still counting.
So let me take you through this journey that I’dlike to call – “Being Thin ... on the Quest for a Magician (aka, dietician)“.Wait a while, take a break and over the next few weeks, you’ll read a lot moreof my – let’s call them “attempts” – to find the perfect dietician and that ever-elusive PERFECT DIET! Good luck to you and me!
(Vandana Malik will be writing in with what she calls a new weight loss “attempt” every week for readers of The Quint. Watch this space for more!)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)