I was reading antonym from a board book with my 2 year old daughter when she pointed out a fat lady to “Mama” and a thin lady to Aunty. I knew I had gained weight in couple of years but I was always in a state of denial. Even after seeing my pictures of my daughter’s 2nd birthday, I was not convinced. But my innocent little girl told me in her way that I am fat which really shocked me from inside.

I’ve always been fairly active and believed I ate mostly healthy.  Although I’ve never been seriously overweight, I still struggled with my weight for what felt like the majority of my life. My weight hung out in 50’s in school, creeping up to the 60’s  for College Years courtesy to hostel and junk food.  I slimmed down to the low 50’s again before our wedding in 2007 but my weight made its royal come back up to the mid 60’s and 80’s in the years following miscarriage, depression and finally delivery of my daughter. At 5’3″ with a medium frame, I knew my ideal weight was closer to 55 or 59  than 85 to be sure.

Yes I was 85kg, after the delivery of my daughter. Losing weight was something I wanted to do and knew I could do, but I always managed to put it off in back burner. Any weight loss efforts never extended much beyond trying to be more active and cutting out obvious junk food.  I would manage to lose few kgs here or there – inevitably slipping back into old habits, which of course meant those lost pounds would find their way home again before long.

I had many excuses such as having an infant, C-section delivery, no time for gym or yoga but in reality I was just undisciplined and unorganized. Pictures of my daughter’s 2nd birthday was an eye opener for me. I was looking like a lady in her 40’s. I knew it was time to get back into shape and start exercising more regularly again.

I joined few weightloss groups on facebook to keep me motivated through my weightloss journey. I kept my target as 28th August 2016 (daughter’s birthday) to get fit into my favorite dress. In Jan 2016, I started practicing yoga at home and walk for atleast 30 minutes a day. Started with just 5 suryanamaskar and 5K steps in a day. Everyday I use to increase it with 2 suryanamaskar and 1000 steps. I started avoiding junk and keep eating small meals after every two hours.

As I started gaining stamina, I joined yoga classes and society gym.By start of April, I could easily do 108 suryanamaskar and other asans and regular cardio in gym. From January to April I lost around 7 kg weight which was very nominal. I started the weight training in gym. I began lifting heavier weights, and by end of July, the scale flashed 68. “I couldn’t believe it. I thought maybe the scale was broken which really gave me results. After 4 years, I was seeing this number on the scale.

My journey has not ended here as, I am standing tall at 66 kg and still have 8 kg before I attain my ideal weight. But now I know the secret of getting fit.I think what worked is a combination of sustained and regular exercise with healthy diet. It was not a miracle but my discipline that yielded results.

Some women make it look so easy to get back into shape after having a baby, but  for me it took a ton of hard work! My story is not one of overnight success. I didn’t take a magic pill. My results were not from a fad diet or a product from an infomercial. My journey has been more like a roller coaster ride of trials, many errors, and a collection of small milestones along the way, eventually leading to more than I ever expected to gain.

Based on my experience, I can say follow these golden rules to get a healthy lifestyle –

• Write down your goals for the day/week/month.
• Track your progress.
• Rise and exercise. “It’s become a part of my routine every am at 5:30.”
• Adjust your attitude. “If I have the “can do” attitude, I can finish what I started.”
• Try new workout classes and routines.

Be patient. “You didn’t put on all that weight overnight and you will NOT loose it over night.”