#WeightLoss: Vandana Malik’s Weight Loss War, Episode 3

Vandana Malik has tried every trick in the book in her weight loss saga, winning some and losing some (weight).

(Here’s republishing Vandana Malik’s weight loss battles from our archives – a woman who attempted every fad diet in the book and made discoveries she never thought she would. This is the third part of a 10-part-series.)

Okay, so remember the two kilos that I had gained thanks to my tryst with chhole bhature? It was time to work at shedding them, all over again.

Too caught up to read? Listen to the story here:

This time I was convinced that it would take no time at all – it was just two kilos, I scoffed – it would be a cakewalk! I’ll start the diet tomorrow, I told myself, and of course – the inevitable happened: tomorrow never came.

Three years down the road the cake had walked its way to my waist and I was back to facing my dreaded enemy, the weighing scale. Mercifully,this time the alarm bell rang at 10 kilos.

I can almost hear you saying, “ When will you learn woman? It’s high time!” But before you get on your judgemental horses, I should tell you, I thought pretty much the same thing myself. The reader will admit though that I am getting better at recognising the signs each time – the first time that the alarm bells rang, I’d gained a mean 20. The second time around,I’d pulled the reins at 15 – and I had now stopped at 10. No tiny accomplishment that.

Moral of the story, as I told myself: I would not give up.

An Email Diet: The New Era of Weight Loss?

A friend had told me about a dietician who interacted with her clients only through email (she was based in another town). Yet she was rumoured to work her magic long-distance. I was drawn like a moth to a flame. Yes yes, once again, I know what you’re thinking– what a sucker this one is for long-drawn suffering!

But I was fascinated with the idea of an“Email diet”, so to speak – a very unique concept at the time. (Today, ofcourse, they are growing from the wood works.) I was also convinced that this was a good idea for me since my dietician would never be able to see if I was cheating on my diet and hurl the book at me (I have had that experience – but more on that later).

Not Exactly Spoilt for Choice

The era of the computer was well on its way by this time, and a gigantic one sat on my desk when I began my craze with the “email diet”. I shot off a mail, therefore, to the magic woman and her reply was prompt. She sent me a form asking for some details – a blood test (most dieticians ask for this to check haemoglobin, cholesterol , sugar , thyroid , vitamin D and B12 levels), medication that I was on and any other health issues that I may have.

Once I’d sent back the form, I receivedanother email. This one contained THE DIET.

It was unique in the sense that it was largelya vegetarian detox diet. This is what it said:

Start the day with a detox drink made by mixing the juices of various green vegetables (coriander, spinach, celery, among others)with a glass of warm water. (Incidentally, I had to drink this tasteless concoction three times a day – not too difficult a feat since at the time I was used to drinking all kinds of liquids in the hope that they would bring down the fat!)

Then there were sprouts, salad and vegetables tobe had for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The diet also came armed with a list offruits and vegetables that were “allowed”, while all else was banished fromcalorie-dom. Needless to say, I wasn’t really spoilt for choice.

I followed the diet for a week – and as had been predicted by the dietician, I had lost a kilo by the end of it! I was given a new diet a week, depending on how successful I had been with the previous one, and it seemed like I was on my way to better (read: fitter) things.

You win Some, you Lose Some (Weight)

I must admit that this was one of the hardest diets I’d ever had to follow – I couldn’t sustain it beyond four weeks. Therefore, it made quite a tale for the times – the high water-mark of my own dietary chronicles – that I managed to keep at it and lose 5 kilos in 3 months!

If you’re familiar with my journey though, you unfortunately know what follows; I was soon cheating on my diet to reward myself (the physical absence of my dietician no doubt contributed).And thus ended with a whimper, and not a bang, the third episode of my weight loss battle.

So what did I take away from my “Email diet”? I found that it was one of the healthiest diets I had done, but also an incredibly tough one to follow. I’m also not sure that it was entirely worthwhile. So my advice is,don’t attempt such a draconian diet unless you have a medical condition that actually demands it!

And what of the weight I had regained, you ask?Well, that’s a story for another week’s annals. Until then, stay happy and eathealthy.

(Vandana Malik will be writing in with what she calls a new weight loss “attempt” every week for readers of FIT. Watch this space for more!)

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