Written By: Shaloo Tiwari | Updated : February 15, 2017 2:57 PM IST
To lose weight in a healthy manner takes everything from your dedication, patience, discipline to hard work, but what triggers it is the inspiration behind it. It reminds you that there's no backing off. Neha Mittal, a 34-year-old working mother of a 4-year-old has lost an amazing 48kgs in 10 months. The biggest inspiration behind this success story of her is her adorable daughter, whom she couldn't play with when she was overweight. She was 107.5 kgs when she realised it was getting difficult for her to play with her little one and she was unable to enjoy the most precious moment of motherhood. She also began facing some serious health issues such as thyroid, breathing trouble, high BP, to name a few, so much so that simple things like lying on the bed started to get difficult for her. She then tried various measures to lose weight, but to no avail. She realised it was high-time she met a nutritionist, though she knew that a nutritionist would only support her weight loss by suggesting a suitable diet but she had to be disciplined enough to follow it, which was the real challenge.
The only thing that kept her going was her daughter. She says, 'I couldn't play with my daughter because of my weight and there could be nothing worse. I then met a nutritionist for weight reduction and embarked on this journey on 12th July 2015. I was following a very healthy regimen, as a result of which there was no starving, fatigue, etc. I was receiving weekly updates on the diet plans on a progressive basis. I followed the mantra suggested by the nutritionist Weight loss is a journey of patience within a couple of months I reduced 15 kgs which was quite remarkable and encouraging for the journey ahead so I set myself a reasonable monthly target of reducing 4-5 kgs of weight. In a span of 10 months, I reduced 48 kgs of weight. Apart from following a healthy diet, I regularly do some exercises for 30 minutes a day. I strictly use stairs only. Today at 59 kgs, I am living a healthy life and have no health issues too. I am still maintaining my weight with a healthy diet.'
The diet plan she followed
6:30 am -- wake up
6:30 am -- 1 glass lukewarm water
6:45 am -- 5-7 soaked almonds with peel
7:00 am -- walk for 20 mins (brisk walk) + 1 min of climbing stairs
7:30 am -- 1 cup green tea
8:30 am -- breakfast (1 cucumber sandwich with multigrain bread/ 1 besan cheela / oats upma) + 1 glass of milk or tea
9:00 am -- 1 glass water
10:30 am -- green tea
11:30 am -- 1 glass water
12:30 pm -- handful of roasted chana (black grams)
1:00 pm -- 2 glasses water
1:30 pm -- lunch (2 chapatis + 1 bowl veg + 1 tomato)
2:30 pm -- 1 glass warm lemon water
3:30 pm -- 1 glass of water
4:00 pm -- any fruit
5:00 pm -- 1 glass water
6:30 pm -- tea + 2 biscuit
7:30 pm - 1 cucumber
8:00 pm -- 2 glasses water
8:30 pm --dinner ( 1 chapati + 1 bowl dal + 1 beetroot) / moong dal khichdi (rice and moong dal ratio is 1:2)
9:30 pm -- green tea/ glass of milk with a pinch of turmeric
Hurdles in her weight loss journey
Following a weight loss regimen is not as easy as it sounds. Neha came across many hurdles in her weight loss journey. She knew it was going to be difficult and therefore, she was initially unsure about it. Meanwhile, problems like back pain, breathing difficulties, abnormal BP, lethargy, thyroid etc. were persistent. She wasn't able to get over her cravings in the initial days, that was the most difficult part for her.
Cheat days She says except for the initial week she was able to control herself so much so that she didn't cheat here diet even once. It was only on the Women's day that she relished a piece of cake, that too because her colleagues insisted. The thought of being able to play with daughter kept her going.
The happiness of losing weight
'I was feeling very healthy from the inside. My thyroid got normal as well as my BP. I feel very light on my foot. Highly energetic and most importantly, I can play with my daughter. I guess that's all that mattered to me. I almost got a new life' says Neha.
The diet she follows now and would like to continue
She still follows the same diet. According to her, the diet has become a part of her life now and she is habituated to it. In fact, now if she tries to change her diet, it makes her uncomfortable.
We feel that it is highly commendable that she was able to keep up her promise to herself and set and example for others too.
Image: Neha Mittal
