Diet is a word with 'Die' in it

Post by Inspire.

Indigo

I have my blue blue blue days too. Earlier I would find it next to impossible to climb out of these quicksand holes. I would spend hours and even days drowning in  undefined hazy misery diluted with a good helping of self-pity. And this was not even pms. That was an extra ;) But I have learnt to count my blessings. Quite literally like a bulleted list in my head. I woke up this morning. Thank you God. Every body part still works. Am not joking. Thank you God. There is clean running water from the tap. Life was not always like this and there was no guarantee there would be water coming out of the tap. Thank you God.  It is raining outside and it is comfy and beautiful inside my home. Thank you God. For every single thing I take for granted..that makes my life blest and beautiful..thank you dear God. For food on the table, shoes on my feet, a roof on my head and family to love and care for. Life is wonderful and there is no time to be spent feeling blue! And of course..my favorite song for off-days..sure to make me laugh out loud ..'Mood Indigo' by Louis Armstrong.  Have a great day my friends.  ~Love, Suchi

Weight loss: getting started

I have wished, hoped and prayed for weight loss for as long as I can remember being obese. I have also tried a lot of stuff..walking, power-walking, exercising, joining a gym, taking herbal life dietary replacements/ supplements,  fasting on certain days of the week, exercising on wii with Wii fit plus.  I wish I had not wasted time, energy, health and money on some of these.

Did it work? No. The only thing that did happen, however, was that it fostered a need, a desperation for sustainable weight-loss without self-harm.

This is the second on a series of self-help posts that I am writing for those who are serious about weight loss. The first was http://doctorroy.blogspot.com/2013/07/metamorphosis.html I hope you found it motivating and inspiring.

But first let me tell you why I presume to 'tell' anybody all this. It is because I have finally come down from a BMI of 36 to 26, from trouser size 14 to 6 (of the same brand, eliminating the pitfall of vanity sizing), and lost a whopping 50 lbs in 6 months. It has been difficult, but sweetened by success! And if I can do it, so can you.

So where do I begin. Let me start with inspirations and compelling reasons that pushed me towards finding ways and means towards sustainable and yet reasonably fast weight loss methods.

Epiphanic cliches are dull and annoying but even so I would like to share this with you. One day I realized all energy is simply energy. People who sent me negative energy in the form of jibes, sneers and thinly veiled ugliness in the form of comments..sent me energy from their energy stores. Instead of letting these affect me negatively I decided to look for an alchemist's tool within myself. A transducer. Something to convert negative energy to brilliant positive energy. Something that would carry me forward toward my weight loss goal. And I found the proverbial philosopher's stone. Within.

The mind is an amazing tool. And it is yours, free and clear, given to you by your maker..whatever your faith or belief. Use it. So is your will. Train it, discipline it. Set a weight loss goal. Make it real. Write it down. Writing goals is more productive than simply thinking about them. I believe in setting very practical and realistic short term goals. This keeps us going from one mile-marker to the next. Onward and forward. However, I also believe that long-term goals/ the end-point should be the stuff that our wildest dreams are made of. What we consider impossible in our heart of hearts. And do yourself a favor..instead of disbelief, foster belief. Everything is possible. But you have to wish it, want it and work towards it.

There will be a lot of negative people in your way. 'Friends' will drop their masks when you start losing weight. Take it as a compliment and stick with it. I have been repeatedly told by one person that I have started resembling Abraham Lincoln. This is vicious, false and ridiculous. Try telling my heart that..it was still hurt. Until I decided to look at it as a sign of progress.

Sometimes 'circumstances' will just not be right to diet or exercise.  But your self-motivation for weight loss must be strong enough to overcome your strongest excuse. I have been there too. A demanding job with odd hours making it pretty much impossible to stick with fixed meal times, old parents, running two households simultaneously, raising kids..been there done that.  And I know things I could have done then. I could have made it a point to keep healthy snacks handy. Ahead of time. I could have filled the pantry and fridge with healthy choices instead of palate pleasing unhealthy junk. I could have made it a point to drink measured quantities of water. Every day. And I could have cut down on my carbohydrate consumption each meal that I could.

Weight loss is more about diet. Having a fit and toned body is what the exercise is about. One cannot out-exercise a bad diet and attempting to do so is stupid as it can damage your joints irreparably and still not achieve your weight loss goal.  Both together make an unbeatable combination. Hey it works for everybody with a human body..why will it not work for you? Make it happen.

Things to do to get started on your weight loss journey:

• Weigh yourself. Find out your ideal weight-for-height.
• Calculate your BMI. Find out what it should ideally be.
• Consult your physician. If you don't have one, get one.
• Ask to get tested for at least these basics : Thyroid, Fasting and Post-Prandial blood sugar, blood pressure (to know your baseline) and a Fasting Lipid Profile. 
• If you have polycystic ovaries/ fertility issues, ask for a baseline hormone panel as well.
• While waiting for the test results, get into the habit of drinking 8 glasses of water a day. At least. Easier said than done as it probably involves as many/ more trips to the bathroom..

And yes, I am qualified to tell you this. I used to be a  hypothyroid, hypertensive obese eye-surgeon with polycystic ovaries.  Now I am 20 lbs away from ideal weight for my height, I am euthyroid and I am off medication for the polycystic ovaries. My blood pressure is as good as it gets, with no medication.

I hope you find this weight loss article useful and inspiring. I will help you through this journey if you are motivated enough.

ownership

She had asked me for a glass jar

To catch some morning fog

To keep a cloud in a bottle

I will fill a jar with beautiful dreams and leave it by her pillow.

And I will teach her that a cloud was not meant to live in a bottle

It would turn into tears and stop being a cloud

But the lesson can wait

For now, let bottled fog be her plaything.

I was trimming the jasmine on the trellis when I spotted this. I am thankful to my maker I did not touch it..eeewwwww! I was fascinated  by the split in its 'coat' that ran down its back. Half of me wanted to stay and watch to see what emerged. However, I am usually guided by my saner half which said, go inside you idiot..before the 'THING' emerges!

How to study, what to study

This article is the first in a series intended to help students of all ages and in all streams to figure out what to study and how to study. For years together I have been guiding and teaching my junior medicos as well as my dearly loved optometry students how to formulate study strategy. These days I have been tutoring my daughter with the expected outstanding results. I hope to be able to help those who study online by providing free study guidelines.

These strategies have been tried and tested by me over and over again. They are guaranteed to work.

Time and mental energy are both precious commodities. I do not believe in wasting 6 hours in achieving what can be done in 60 minutes. Stress free.

So here we go. From grade level studies to post graduate studies, remember to spend time planning. You need to define your goals before you touch your books.

• What is your material
• Where is your material (book/ notes/ online study sources)
• What is your time frame/ how little time do you have
• Why are you studying it (for knowledge/ as part of course requirement/ for testing purposes)

Once this much is defined, you know what, where, when and why. As you keep using this how to study/ what to study approach,  you will start thinking in a streamlined, methodical manner.

Next is the approach to a chapter..assuming you want to know how to study science/ history/ geography/ civics/ biology/ physics/ physiology/ anatomy/ medicine/ surgery/ basic sciences. The approach to a chapter remains the same.

Every page you read has 2 parts. The part that matters, and part that does not matter: the fillers. By fillers I mean the language/ sentences/ the connective-tissue of writing so to speak. The author needs to put these in, but you do not have to waste anything more than a passing glance on them. Learn to mentally edit out fillers.  It is a mental discipline you will learn really fast. Once all the 'noise' has been removed from a page, whatever remains is the essence. That is all you need from that page. 

Use index cards/ sticky notes and right then and there, write down those few words that sum up the essence of the page you read. This reduces each page down to a list of bare facts. That is it, you are done. Every time you visit that chapter, all you will now need to look at is your tiny but neatly written lists of facts. Imagine going through a 1000 page book the night before your exams..and doing it in 10 -15 mins because when you studied you shrank it down to substance, eliminating all writing-fillers.

I would suggest limiting the use of hi-lighting pens to a minimum as I have found these cause eye strain and fatigue at exam time. And then one gets into a spiral of hi-lighting more and more, often entire sentences and paragraphs..a waste of time and a disfigured book at the end of it.

For those looking for resources on how to study and what to study: I hope you find this useful. If you do, please leave me feedback. I will really appreciate it. Good luck.

~ Suchi

Metamorphosis

An epiphany saved me. The realization that a 'mantra' is an absolute and binding personal commitment, which may or may not have anything to do with religion. It is the giving up of oneself to one road, to be followed obsessively and compulsively, until the dust on the road coats you..and people cannot tell where the road is and where you are on it..you have become one with it.

It is all- consuming, a force as devouring as fire..and as cleansing. The energy lies within..coiled and inert. It has to be willed into action. And once awake, it needs to be harnessed to give it direction and purpose.

I was never thin..nature did not build me that way. However, I seriously doubt mother nature intended for me to be 70 lbs overweight. For those of you who have no idea of how it feels, it is a sad place to be. IF you were offered hot food and cold water versus cold food and hot water..what would you pick? Chances are, possibly the first combination. So it is with being overweight and not being overweight. The world assumes it is ok to make jokes, give unsolicited advice, call 'funny'/ 'loving' but unmistakably unkind and cruel names...if you are overweight. It is not easy to say 'up yours' to every body who thus targets you. And even more hurtful when you see that your so-called friends are the ones who make up the names that go into circulation. Saying that I wanted to be called by my name, 'Sucheta'/ 'Suchi'..not ANY made up name, did not help. Because they could. Fat AND stabbed in the back.

Whatever. Moving on. You can look at a closed door all your life, or you can look for a way out. I believe deeply in the Almighty and know for sure that when I was groping blindly through my tears of frustration at being called 'fat and ugly' over and over and over again..I was sent my means of saving myself. Friends. Friends who dragged me to the gym. Friends who helped me overcome my awkwardness and join the local Club for fitness classes. Friends who did not call me unkind names but knew I was struggling to change myself. Friends who set me examples of diligence, discipline and no-whining-no-matter-what. Friends who were disciplined enough to stick with diets..and helped me through the really hard days of not straying from my diet. And wonderful instructors who became friends for life.

And slowly but surely I watched the pounds fall off. I also watched in wonder as I got more and more narcissistic. But hey, guess what, self-love is very important. It is a great feeling to tell the person in the mirror: "Looking sexy babe! " It is wonderful to be able to face everyday with a powerhouse of positive energy..and watch as people around you are drawn to that energy and energized by it. To me it has meant watching my husband go from couch-potato to a dedicated 26.2 marathoner..and my 11 year old baby girl excel in swim team and recently join the Fort Bend Fit distance running team. 

I continue to walk my road. I still look for friendly hands to hold. A friendly hug on the way goes such a long long way in making my day. And I finally have the confidence to ignore the name-callers :)..and tell them all collectively, just this once, up yours.

Survival

Some of us are natural survivors, strong and resilient. Others, like me, find survival  soul-searching, mind-bending and back-breaking.  However, not going on is not an option.  I have spent countless sleepless nights wishing to fall into the starry sky. And here I am still. I did not jump. Not out of cowardice but because this is what I realized..

Wives lose husbands they have been married to for 40 years and more. My mother did, 3 years ago. Like rudderless ships, they flounder on. but they do not sink. They still light up at good meals and baby smells. Men become widowers after years of depending on a partner, a best-friend. They survive, scarred, scared. Life, relentlessly, goes on. People survive life changing accidents and disasters. Mothers live on after burying their children. I cannot think of anything harder than that. If this is possible, anything is possible. What am I complaining about?

Healthy human tissue typically takes six weeks to heal and scar. The scar tissue is just a fraction as strong as the original substance..but Time, the great healer, slowly remodels the scar and makes it tenacious and strong. It is not made of the original tissue..it is made of stronger substance..designed to hold better. Mother Nature knows exactly what she is doing. Over years, scars fade. Sometimes, they even surprise us.."Hey, you can barely see it!"

Taking inspiration from nature, I have decided to let myself heal. The scars will fade.