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I can visualise the readers quickly going through my article, to see whether like Bill Clinton’s Monica, I am about to reveal some spicy affair. I am sorry to disappoint them , because there is no such thing, more because there is jelly where my spine is than because of any innate purity in my character. This article is about the struggles I faced to reduce my weight from 95 kgs to a reasonable level. I can speak with authority on this subject as even though I succeeded many times to reduce my weight to about 70 kgs, I could not maintain it for long time, always going upto 85 kgs after a few months. This was because, though I used to do regular physical exercise from the age of 10 or so, I am a good trencherman, and never could control my eating, especially with Vijaya’s delicious cooking. My heart attack in 1983 was mainly due to my obesity. When I was discharged from Martha's hospital in Bangalore after nearly 45 days after a massive heart attack, I weighed 64 kgs mainly because of the strict starvation diet enforced by the doctors. After discharge, I could maintain my weight at about 72 kgs as Vijaya was very strict and my pleas, and later my bullying did not move her in the least in this particular matter.
In 1985, I was sponsored for a senior executive development programme in Gurgaon for about a month, where I let myself go without Vijaya’s watchful eyes hovering over me. My weight increased to 85 kgs when I finished my training. After this, it was a continuous struggle to reduce my weight ( in which I succeeded many times ), but could not maintain due to my craving for food, snacks etc. As Mr. Prasad said in his innovative article, I also could not resist roasted cashewnuts , tasty sweets, chocalates etc. The trouble was not eating these things but eating without control. Whenever my weight exceeded 80 kgs, I started getting problems, like hyper tension, malfunctioning of the heart etc. Every time, my cardiologist told me to reduce my weight. On such occasions, I read whatever materials available on the subject, and also implicitly believed in various advertisements promising miracle remedies.
Over the years, I followed various diets and also spent considerable money in ordering various products, like body vibrators, magnetic belts, exercise cycle, bullworker etc. I also joined various institutes guaranteeing reduction of weight by 25 kgs within two months, showing in their advertisements a fat fellow before treatment and a very slim photo of the same person after treatment. However, as I said earlier, I showed iron resolve whenever I faced physical problems and could reduce my weight, but like the Vethal in Vikramaditya stories, I started my indulgence in food, after a few months. This was a vicious circle which was always beyond my control. While it takes months of hard work and strict abstinence to reduce weight, it takes very little time to increase weight. After attending some functions, like marriages, Get-togethers, farewell parties etc, I came back to square one. It was only after my cardiolgist told me when I had to consult him for breathing problems, I was suffering from severe dysfunctioning of Left Ventricle (in layman’s language heart’s failure to pump blood normally), and told me not to come to him if I did not reduce my weight to at least 70 kgs, if not to the ideal level of 64 kgs. This happened about 3 years back. The cardialogist also prescribed a strict diet, and advised walking at least 3 km in morning and evening, avoid high calorie foods like sweets, pakodas etc, which I really enjoyed eating in large quantities. He also painted a grim picture when I told him that I had fulfilled my duties to my family and children, and that I was ready to meet my Maker at any time. He told me that there were more possibilities of paralysis, another heart attack leading to confinement in bed in the remaining years of my life than instantaneous death. His words jolted me to make serious efforts not only for reducing weight, but to maintain the same.
I then started with all seriousness to reduce my weight and also making the necessary efforts to maintain same. Earlier, when recommending me to their friends faced with legal problems, my clients described me to them as the advocate with a very big belly, but very sharp and sincere in legal matters, and more importantly very reasonable in my fees. All that has now changed drastically. I could reduce my weight to about 67 kgs after about 6 months of my visit to my cardiologist, and steadily maintaining the same for the past more than 2 years. I sincerely advise every one to try my methods as obesity is the most important cause for all diseases like hyper tension, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes etc. I shall detail my methods in my next article.
S.Rajagopalan
August 2004
To be continued ……
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