Bhavani Ravi

(Housewife, Chennai)

Consulting with Shiny has been a turning point in my life, I have learnt over the last 6 months that weight loss never happens even if you exercise vigorously but fail to diet. Especially when one is in the mid 40s (like me), it is more important to follow a systematic diet plan for sustained weight loss. But the very idea of dieting put me in severe stress. I used to have a severe anxiety around being hungry, and ate to avoid that. In the process, I am sure I loaded on more calories that were required, and also did not give my stomach a break.

For the most part, following Shiny's diet plan has been stress-free. In the beginning, she only replaced the usual food choices with other healthier choices. So at no point did I feel hungry or anxious. In a couple of months, I had lost 4 Kgs and feeling lighter. She pushed me towards the next step only when I felt ready for it. In every monthly review with her, she would not only review the diet, but also ask me how I felt, what are some of the emotions I went through. She included items that I liked in the diet, nothing was "completely off". I slowly learnt to enjoy my food rather than see it as a necessity.

Moving on to intermittent fasting and then to a once-in-a-while liquid diet was smooth and was done by my own choice. I never checked my weight in-between those reviews. Whenever I felt anxious whether the diet was working (and the anxiety was frequent during the first few months), I could message her and she would ask questions to understand why I was feeling anxious.

Till now, I have lost almost 12 kgs in about 5.5 months and am feeling healthy and happy. I still have a long way to go to reach my ideal weight, but I am confident that I can do it. Initially, exercise made my joints ache, but I have also started working on gaining flexibility and strength first and only recently moved on to more strenuous exercise.

Two things have helped me stay on this journey apart from my determination to succeed. One is that I would meticulously write down every single thing that I ate, everyday and with time included for this entire period, and highlight whenever I ate something that was not in the diet plan. Second is that I told all my friends and family that I am following a diet plan, and this would reinforce my decision every time I was tempted.

Every resolution can be followed better if there is an anchor. Shiny has been my anchor in this process. And I am very grateful to destiny for brining her to me!