Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist. The following account is my journey of weight loss. It is not necessary that this should work for everyone. Please consult your medical professional / nutritionist for specifics regarding what diet would suit you.
Thus came along Jan 20. After a carefully rationalized lunch at Saravanaa and the last minute shopping of chocolates to be delivered to my teams in Colombo and Hyderabad I was back home, to pack for this 2.5 week trip.
After supper, I was ready to leave to the airport. My mind was a smorgasbord of questions on how I was going to manage my weight. I was an Endomorph, waiting to add kilos. I had to conquer this trip, absolutely by conditioning my brain and thereby my body.
As a part of my diet plan, one thing was clear – I had to burn more calories than what I consumed to ensure I lost weight. If there was no opportunity to burn calories, I had to reduce the calories consumed, without compromising on the minimum calories required for a person to be healthy. Also, I had to ensure that my diet was balanced – 25% Carbs, 40% Protein and 35% good Fat.
I had started analyzing the calories in each of the common food items that I consumed, particularly, the East Indian plethora of food. For example 1 normal sized homemade idly packed 40 calories; 1 normal sized homemade dosa had 35 calories; 1 small roti 25 calories. A cup of rice (4 spoonful) had 220 calories; a small bowl of daal 170 calories; 1 large egg white 17 calories; I cup of yogurt 200 calories; 1 aappam 45 calories; vada and poori was a big no-no.
This knowledge of calories had to be combined with how much protein and good fat was in the food for carbohydrates alone did not have any nutritional value.
With this basic information, while in the flight I started charting out a plan for the weeks outside home. Of course, in the flight I had no option but to eat what was served. I ate the fruits, small portion of rice and daal. I avoided the desert. I had to spend 13 hours at the HK airport as a layover before I could board the flight to Colombo. 
In the lounge, where all food was free, I selected the steamed vegetables and bread made out of whole wheat or multi-grains. I did not have any juices as none of them were fresh and were loaded with sugar.
In Colombo, I had the buffet option for breakfast. I carefully selected my meal – 1 dosa (small), 1 aappam, 1 cup of fresh juice (pineapple, cucumber & carrot with no additional sugar) and 1 small cup of yogurt with nuts (almonds, cashews, walnuts and coconut). This was a real sumptuous breakfast that kept me full for a long time that my intake during lunch was controlled. I continued with the same every morning while in Colombo.
The lunch was served at our meeting site. Again, I chose 4 spoons of red rice, with daal gravy and the vegetables in the menu. Dinner was Roti with vegetables or 3 spoons of rice with vegetables. Of course there were a couple of burger dinners with colleagues. You would notice that I tried to balance it all out – have fun in the company of people while ensuring I eat right.
As I had forgotten to pack my swimming trunks in my baggage, I missed out on swimming. Though I didn’t swim, I had no regrets, as I was always worrying about the quality of the water in those pools (no matter even if I were staying in Cinnamon Grand, one of the best hotels in Colombo). And while swimming, I would invariably ingest a few gulps.
Ergo, my exercise in Colombo was the walk along the sea wall, enjoying the sound of the waves hitting the shore, the street vendors selling fish, cotton candy and various snacks. And, the view of the Chinese company that was defining a new coast line, by reclaiming the land from the sea on one side and the tall buildings that housed the various multinational chain hotels – Shangri La, Hilton, etc.
In Hyderabad, though I had the opportunity to get egg whites, I did not try raw egg white, as I didn’t want to be sick. In fact I was not having raw vegetables during the entire trip, as that was one of the main reasons for having Delhi Belly.
Hyderabad was more difficult when it came to diet, for there was so much rich food available there. Even though the quantity was rationalized, each morsel was loaded with calories. And there was sugar freely available. To balance it, I ensured that I walked my 10000 steps each day. And, took the opportunity to hike a nearby hill, in Hyderabad.
My breakfast usually consisted of Dosa / Idly. The lunch constituted of 4 spoonful of rice with lots of lentil gravy and veggies. Dinner was stuffed paratha – I avoided naan and paratha stuffed with potato.
In general, I did not lose out on any good food, and actually enjoyed my regime. It certainly was not very difficult, particularly being a vegetarian and travelling. Finally, when the trip done and I returned to Vancouver, I had gained only 1 kg in 3 weeks. Not bad at all.
My main learning in this trip were
- Everyone has to be aware of one’s body needs and while on a weight loss program ensure that they are not starving. Starving is an open invitation to add more fat in unwanted places of your body. When you starve, you body thinks you are not going to get food and would trigger the conservation mode. I’m sure you would have all guessed where this conservation was going to show up; yes, the belly and the back first.
- You can be in a diet and certainly need not kill yourself. You can still enjoy the simple pleasures of life – some great food.
- As the saying goes “anything in excess is poison”, it is all in the quantity. Eat in right proportion and never stuff yourself.
- Keep a routine and have food at the right time. Though I had to work the night shift with my team during the travel, I ensured that I was not eating snacks throughout the night. My dinner was usually done by 8:30 pm and I avoided eating anything after that. To energize myself, I had tea. The stomach does need some rest during the night.
- The one thing that went for a toss was the 7 hours of sleep – I was not able get the 7 hours even if I was willing to spilt it.
When I returned on Feb 5th and weighed myself, I was down by 3 kg from the starting point – 86.5 to 83.5 kg. I had 7 more weeks before when I had to lose another 7 kg to be able to win the challenge, with M. Yes, certainly an uphill daunting task.
The very fact that I was able to manage travelling and actually gain only 1 kg during that time, gave me the confidence that I can do it. I had to be stricter in my regime. I cannot yield to temptations and my diet can do it.
So, what is this diet called?
to continue…
Great going Subbu! Nice lessons to learn from your article!