WEIGH(t)ing it out

WEIGH(t)ing it out
Rutuja Joshi

‘A Few Extra Pounds Might Bring Extra Years’, I just read this on the net.
And yes I am back on Sulekha with a bang. You see, earlier I used to blog on Sulekha during my lunch hour. But then I realized that I needed to shed those extra pounds, so Sulekha was out and exercise was in. But only now I realize my folly!

And what a folly it has been!

Once upon a time people used to call me thin. Honestly, they’d said if I ate any less I’d disappear. Well what can I say, that was just once upon a time. And the day when one of my friend’s daughter Anita asked me, ‘Aunty are you having another baby?’ that was definitely the wake up call I needed.

I needed something to kick start my weight loss.

"Have you heard about the banana diet?” asked my friend. “It’s a rage in Japan, a banana for breakfast, that’s all it takes.”

Now this was a little difficult for me to digest so I checked up on the net. Thank god for the net! Believe it or not, it is true, it’s taken Japan by storm! I read on one site that banana sales in Japan went up 80 percent in one week compared to the same week the previous year. And I dug up some more.
But there were many more sites which said this diet was definitely a recipe for disaster. And the Banana diet was out of the window.

“Hey how about the GM diet?” suggested my neighbor Trisha. “Let’s do it together.” When I gave her a blank look, she looked at me in pity at my ignorance. Well this is the diet, GM – General Motors has come up with for its employees. It is simply wonderful; just follow it for a week. And voila, the pounds simply melt away. You can lose even 15-20 pounds!

The next day we went shopping together and filled our carts with plenty of fruits and vegetables, especially watermelons. The diet plan needs one to eat only fruits the first day, vegetables the next. A combination of fruits and vegetables on the third. Banana’s and milk (Yes bananas again) on the fourth. Well, I cheated on the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh day and ended up gaining two more pounds!

After this experience, I gave up on diets. Even now as I recall the splitting migraine I had the first day, i get another migrane. The sight of water melons makes my stomach churn. And the fact that Trisha actually lost 6 pounds only adds fuel to the fire…

“You know you had it all wrong. Diet alone does not a size zero figure make. You also need exercise!” Now this was my hubby dearest. “You know you should wake up early morning and go jogging.” Easier said than done! Waking up itself is such an ordeal. On top of that early morning? But I made a strong resolve, I bought new jogging shoes. I set the alarm. I was all set to go.

"Wahhhhhhh maaaaaa,” my toddler’s wails made me turn back the minute I set my foot out of the door. With that, jogging was out of the door too and in was Tabata training instead.

'It takes just four minutes of your time', said the article I read about Tabata Interval training. 'It is one of the best workouts for those who have time constraints. It works wonders for women who want to lose weight'. Now this was exactly what i needed.

Twenty seconds of intense exercise followed by ten seconds of break; repeat this eight times and you’ll be done. For non-sportsman like me, one could use the stationary bike or jumping jacks or rope skipping. Now since I don't remember the last time when I’d skipped, and since our bike is used for drying clothes, I settled for jumping jacks instead.

To tell you the truth, i didn't know what jumping jacks was exactly. So the net came to the rescue yet again. It's just the name used in US, for the same jumping excercise we did in school years ago. It seemed so simply. But I actually managed to twist my ankle on day three itself. Maybe it’s just me, maybe I am just clumsy. But jumping jacks maybe for any Jack, Dick and Harry but it's not for me.

Atleast not any more.

Ultimately I decided to settle for brisk walking during lunch hour everyday.

Have been doing that whenever I can. I have even lost a pound or two, not that it really matters since I have many more pounds to go. I was just about to go for a walk but clicked onto yahoo.com for mail just before that. And guess what? the words ‘A Few Extra Pounds Might Bring Extra Years’ flashed before my eyes.

I have skimmed over the article and now have started weighing my options. There is some mention about health and stuff but right now the words pounds and years are dangling in front of me.
Those extra pounds…or those extra years???? ?
Now what should it be….

Hey…check out the link…
http://health.yahoo.com/news/healthday/afewextrapoundsmightbringextrayears.html

crosspost:sulekha.com