Why do I say that Health is not a size? Well, see the photo and read on for your answer.
The picture on the left (year 2011) is when I was obsessed with being a size zero. I did many diet fads (even the lemon detox diet!) I just wanted to lose weight quickly without any exercise. I did manage to be 50Kg human being, managed to wear a 26” waist jeans too (that I bought in 2003!). But I was malnourished, I had the dark circles under my eyes, I felt tired all the time and just didn’t feel happy. I had no muscle strength what so ever! BUT my lost weight wasn’t lost for a long time, it came back once I started eating “normal” food! 😂That’s the tragedy of diet fads especially when we are obsessed with our size, our weight and number of calories in our food! (BTW Calories is the Kilo-joules of energy that food gives us)
The picture on the right (year 2015, a lot happened in the years in between which is for another time) is when I realized that health is not a size, and that my obsession with weight and calories was not going to let me enjoy my life. Here in this photo I was able to fit in a 28”-30” waist jeans, was 55 Kg but that didn’t bother me even a bit because I could see the glow on my face, no dark circles under my eyes, I was full of energy and I felt fit and happy.
In saying that size of your waistline does matter though, if it’s going beyond control i.e. if it’s bulging out, if you feel sick, feel bloated and have developed health conditions then that’s an indication of some underlying problems that might lead to serious problems later on like heart conditions, diabetes, thyroid to name a few.
Though a certain kind of “diet” won’t help you fix these problems but a healthy lifestyle will. And remember a healthy lifestyle doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, like some diets do. This also stands true if you are too skinny but have problems like low energy, low iron levels, low B12 levels, these are all indicators of problems too (my 1st photo).
Have you heard about the saying, “The rage of today is the garbage of tomorrow!” ? Well, this is very true for crash diets or “diets” that ask you to stop a certain class of food like carbs, dairy to name a couple (unless obviously, if you are intolerant to them and trust me I myself have followed such fads, guilty!). This “garbage” has been spread by the food industry to earn big bucks. (Check the post, “garbage of food industry”)
When I did realise all this, my journey of living a life of no short-cuts, no-diet fads, loving my food and hence a life of no regrets started. I went back to basics, started cooking from scratch, mostly local food (Check my post about why eat local food), but one important change I made was, starting to exercise 5 days a week (cardio and strengthening). This lifestyle is easier to maintain because I can eat real food, but all I must do, is to add exercise and the whole equation changes for good!
Ghee
