Sunday, March 16, 2014

The Ugly Truth


Finally boarded the flight, and there is my seat.. And oh ! What is this! A fat man walks over and occupies the the seat next to me ! What a bad day ! Sharing a car back seat with two fat people? Walking with the obese? Oh they walk so slow ! Desperate to know whose your new colleague? It's a obese lady! Oh no!

Why are people these days so ignorant about their health? Is it lack of knowledge or people have developed some sort of immunity to this disease.

No, I am not shallow to judge people by their looks, but that's how the world is my friend. Knowingly or unknowingly, your physique, personality and appearance  is a very important aspect by which you are judged day to day by every person you come across. Without doubt, you yourself subconsciously create an impression of a person in your mind by his looks at the first instance.

You may have a beautiful face or a charming personality or sparkling skin, but if u have loads of fat flowing down your body, you are not appealing. No, men do not look at a fat lady twice. No, women do not prefer fat unhealthy men. Also, you have no right to feel bad if your fit colleague gets a better offer or is more favoured by your higher authorities.

Apart from all the inconvenience caused to other people due to your body size, there are endless criticisms and various jokes on fat individuals, insulting names to which you have learnt to painfully gulp down and laugh at your own body in order to not be "unsporty"

There are endless lists of diseases you will encounter within few years which you have already read about, heard from many people and ignored or laughed it off. I have super powers of future predictions and I guarantee, if you do not make a move now, you will have some sort of cardiovascular diseases in future, and believe me, you will not be laughing then. These days, obesity is further coupled with smoking and alcohol associated with obesity-related depression and that, multiplies to be a bigger risk factor for all your diseases.

So many times you have looked at your favourite actor or actress and wished you would have a body like that. So many times you have found yourself looking at the hot guy/girl in your class/office and observed their body and wished you had the same. So many times you have stared at yourself in the mirror and looked at yourself from different angles to see what makes you look thinner. You have tried all the possible photography tricks to get that slim shot for Facebook display picture. You have either spent hours at the mall searching for the apparel in which you look most slim, or just given up on shopping for months together. Who are you fooling? Everybody out there can see you huge body! Did you actually think you can hide that ?

"I'll reduce once my exams are done!" , " I'll join the gym once I finish my graduation! ", " I'll stop eating food", " Someday, sometime in life, later, I'll reduce and then I'll be fit".

No, my friend. Fitness is not a project. It is a day to day activity. It must be incorporated in your life. Just like you wake up and brush your teeth, have your breakfast, you must exercise.

I have heard people telling me, exercise will tire me and I won't be able to work. The truth is, exercise increases your stamina and strength. Maybe the first week you are tired and will sleep early, but soon, you can do more study, more work. You feel fresh and happy. And one week, is something you can definitely give yourself!

Walking is not exercise. Even if walking sweats you, it is still not exercise. Running, jumping, skipping, cycling, weights must be your target.

I do not get time to exercise, is like saying, I do not get time to live. Because if you do not exercise, you are going to live the rest of your life in morbidity. I am not saying everyone has to have a six pack body or a perfect figure. But being fit, within normal BMI and giving a push to your cardiovascular system from your otherwise sedentary lifestyle, so that your quality of life gets better, is a must.

 A good 45 minutes of continuous exercise without chatting with your friends and avoiding prolonged rest can do a great deal of change in your appearance. It lifts your floppy skin and muscles up and makes your body taut, apart from losing a good amount of weight. The best motivation to getting yourself to lose weight is, by losing weight. When you see the weighing matching showing 3kgs lesser, after a whole month of hard work, you will not want to gain it back at any cost, but only reduce it further.

Every time you sit down in your couch or laze in your bed apart from your sleep hours, that fat around you is growing and spreading around you. Get up and move. If you don't move now, you are bound to be bed ridden for many years of your life with multiple saline bottles and needles in your veins. The scene is not very pleasant there. Visitors sympathise you and comment about your avoidable increase in size. Doctors find it so tough to operate on a obese body that it is a common complain and inconvenience in the operation theatre.

"I will stop eating from today in order to reduce weight".
Just look at that statement many times till it starts feeling stupid to you.
One cannot live without eating. The good solution to diet is, eating home food. Wheat chapatis, vegetables, pulses, dals, milk products, anything that is cooked at home is good. It does not increase weight. It is healthy. Do not eat outside food. Reward yourself by cooking your favourite pizza at home, with a little lesser cheese, when you have reduced a few pounds. Take some efforts and cook your favourite dishes home, and believe me, when you cook things yourself, you tend to eat them lesser than when it is readily cooked.

"I want to enjoy life and eat whatever I like to eat" is the most common escapism to your mind control. Hunger and the smell of tasty food are your worst enemies. Avoid going to such places where there is extremely tasty food and smell. Chose a fruit juice without sugar when you go for outings with friends or just a cup of tea or coffee. Have a bite from their plate and stop it right there. Focus on your stomach, and stop when it's "almost" full.

Eat only on the specific timings when your gastric acids have developed a circadian rhythm of boosting up. Avoid erratic timings. Do not put anything in your mouth more than breakfast lunch and dinner. If you strongly wish for chocolates, or cakes, or some other snacks, chip bits here and there, once a while, add a little amount it in your meal plate during lunch or dinner. Continuously chewing on gums or sipping on sugar filled coffee or tea, or biting chocolates, or chips, to keep yourself awake at work are danger signals to your health.

Substitute your meals occasional with a fruit meal. Learn to say "NO" to food. Once you learn that, you have won half the battle. Absolutely cutting down on food is useless because there is a 100% chance of relapse.

Specially for youngsters, do not waste your youth in being the "fat guy" or "fat girl". Make some efforts, give a little push, and life will change upside down for you.
Looking forward for a beautiful, physically fit, "you".

BMI (Body Mass Index)

Height (in cm) / weight (in kgs)
<18 -="" malnourished="" p="">18-25- your perfect
25-30 - overweight
30-35- pre-obese
35-40- obese ( red alert!)