Coming back to diet is very tough: day 37

Today, I aimed for having water fasting and until 11 PM I could hold on. Then, I felt very bad and some sick and then I decided to eat enough and now I feel good. Because of winter, I could not do my diet in the last 5-6 weeks. So, I have to again start slowly and listen to my body. The only good thing I did today was that I did not eat any meat. Anyway, in my body, I feel fresh and the good part is that although I am now 101 KG, I really feel very good.

So, learn to listen to your body and don’t try to push your health too much with your diets. 

Weight Loss Surgery or Obesity: Which is better?

I personally am against weight loss surgery as there is a substantial amount of risk in it. However, there is new research that weight loss surgery is perhaps better than having a life with obesity. Christopher Still, D.O., director of the Geisinger Centre for Nutrition and Weight Management, has stated that surgery is better.

He said, "Some obesity-related conditions can be fatal, and others require chronic medication and treatment.

With the help of bariatric surgery, medical complications caused by obesity can be eliminated, and patients can enjoy a much healthier life."

The basic ideas are that first of all, a surgery can decrease weight substantially. Secondly, because of losing weight, the person can do many of the works that they could not do in the past.

As for me, I am not an expert on this topic. I am patient myself and fighting against this problem. I feel that they best way to deal with it to change in lifestyle and food habit. However, modern lifestyle makes changing food habit or lifestyle very difficult. 

Going out and Staying Home: Day 34

I was busy today and yesterday as I had to go to in another part of the city for some banking related activities. I also could not sleep more than four hours for the last two days and as a result, I felt very tired and I was afraid to become sick. So, I could not follow my diet plan for the last two days and instead, I ate even more than normal. Most probably, I have gained some weight. However, I am very happy that I did not become sick as I was afraid of it. Tomorrow and Saturday, I am home and I hope to follow the diet plan and will try to eat as less as possible.

The only good part is that I refrained from eating any meat or sweet. I mostly ate healthy food items and as a result, I have good feeling in my mind. This is one of the basic improvements that I have now compared to the past. In the past, when I had any running, then I used to eat a lot of food and I used to mainly eat meat and sweets. Also, when I am on a diet but I have to do some intensive activities, I do not follow my diet but try to eat normal food. 

Easy Weight Loss: Is it Possible?

Weight loss is a very popular search topic in internet according Google keyword tool. In fact, every month thousands of people from different parts of the world search for it and when there is a demand for any topic there are a lot of advertisers and websites on that topic. So, you should not get surprised to see so many advertisements claiming that they can help you to lose your weight very easily.

Right now, I am trying to lose some weight and I have been trying for more than three months and I have seen some success with it. However, I can see that most of these advertisements promise that you can easily lose weight just following some simple tips and this is what confuses me a lot. From my own experience, I understood that it is not a very easy matter and you have to give a lot of effort and it needs a lot of mental strength to change your eating habit. Anyway, most people are influenced by these advertisements and that is why there are many websites who are ready to promote this idea that you can easily loss weight. I do not want to criticize them and it is up to you if you want to follow their methods. From my own experience, I have noticed otherwise and that is what I am going to talk about in this entry.

The first thing that we have to consider is that overweight and obesity are a huge problem in USA and Europe. This matter is gradually coming to Asia and with the flourishing economy of the countries like India and China, obesity and overweight is going to perhaps become the number one problem of the whole world in next ten years. In USA, nearly half of the adult population suffers from any of these two problems and in fact, it is causing billions of dollars to the US economy. . Things are not good for children as a few days ago there was a report that in England, nearly 10% children are suffering from obesity. So, there is no doubt that it is a huge problem.

Unfortunately, the media is not very active to highlight the problem. All the time in advertisement, dramas and movies, we can see very slim people acting. This is natural because if people like me do any commercials then most people will not perhaps buy the products. I don’t feel that there is any discrimination against fat people in the media but what the media is doing is that they are hiding the real problem. In other words, although many people are suffering from this problem, it is not reflected clearly in the media. So, when we see TV advertisements or movies or TV serials perhaps we feel that most people do not have any kind of problem.

 Just do some search in Google with obesity and overweight and you will understand the severity of this danger for the global economy. Perhaps the main reason of this disaster is that modern life is very tough and full of stress. For example, today I decided not to drink any tea or coffee but last night I had very little amount of sleep. In fact, I could only sleep for three hours and then today I had to go another part of the city for some banking related works.  After coming home I was very tired and I was forced to drink two cups of tea so that I could write this entry. If I do not write this entry today then tomorrow I have to work double. However, tomorrow I have to go out and go to the bank to get some money. Thus, you can see modern life is full of stress and here you can not always expect that things will work out smoothly.

I am one of those lucky persons who could really change eating habits. For last three months, I have almost omitted eating meat, fast food and outside food. I would not say that I could leave 100% but compared to the past yes, I have been able to overcome my problems of these addictions by almost 90%. However, if I were not a blogger but if I work in a company and had to go out and attend dinner and lunch parties on a regular basis then it would have been impossible for me. All the will power in the world would not help me to change my eating habit in this level.

Another big problem is that there is no time for exercise for most of the city people. For example, yesterday I could walk for 40 minutes and today my schedules are so much packed up that I could not do it. Even tomorrow, I don’t know that I will not be able to walk. So, if I have to make up for these two days then on Friday, I should walk for at least two hours which is impossible and when I have an important project in my hand then I have to leave everything and just dedicate my time for that project.

Because of these problems, I feel that there is no easy way out as far as losing weight is concerned. No matter what the advertisements say, it is my conviction that easy weight loss is not possible. However, you should not get frustrated but try to make better choice in your life. When you have meat and fruits in front of you then try to eat less meat and more fruits. I am giving you this advice and I know that only three months ago it was impossible for me to follow. However, if you want to loss weight then really you should cut back on your meat consumption and increase your fruit and salad and vegetable consumption. This is perhaps the best tip and best habit that you can develop. Don’t get frustrated if you cannot develop this kind of habit within one week or one month. Try to be conscious in your heart and if needed take one or two years.

What do you think about the whole issue? Do you think that easy weight loss is possible? 

Beginning of the Second Stage: Day 32

I just came back home after walking nearly 40 minutes. From today, my second stage of effort starts. I started the first phase on 23 October and continued the effort until 18 December. Because of cold weather, I suspended my efforts to lose weight and now, I am again starting from today. Today, my weight is 101 KG and this time my goal is to continue until I come to 90 KG.

The ideal style is to lose 10 KG in 10 weeks. However, even if it takes more time, I am not worried because after losing 10 KG in the first phase, decreasing my waist size by nearly 10 centimeter and changing eating habit- I felt much better when I walked today.

In the first phase, I realized the importance of two things. Will power and mental strength are very important factors when you are on a diet. For example, in the next room, there are some delicious food items and it is now 5 PM and I have not eaten anything in the whole day.

I am not that much hungry but I feel tempted to eat the food items. My goal for today is to eat only once and eat only one plate of rice. I am going to eat rice, vegetable, lentil soup and lentil chop. I am not going to eat any snacks or any other thing. I am not going to drink any malted drink. In short, I am going to eat just once in the day and I am going to drink only water throughout the day.

I am worried for tomorrow because I have to go another part of the city and that is why, I know that I have to eat more. On the other hand, if I want to eat like today then I may become sick. Well, the best way is that tomorrow, I eat enough and then on the day after tomorrow, I try to do water fasting. Even if I cannot do water fasting, I can eat minimum amount of food.

The second factor that is very important in a diet regime is learning to understand the messages of your body. In past, I often tried too much and weight loss efforts became boring and the impossible. This time, I am acting very gently.

Perhaps the most important ingredient of a weight loss effort is mental peace and calm. Of course, modern city life is full of pressure and stress everywhere. My main stress was related to work as I could not work for the last 6 months because of poor health and then strict diet. Now, I have changed my attitude and I am going to change the way I work. Fortunately, I am a blogger and this is a job that can give you a lot of flexibility.

I have to change my style of blogging for the next 1 month at least. Right now, I try to write about buzz topics or news items. For example, tomorrow, Apple is going to announce iSlate- its tablet. In normal time, I would try to cover about it a lot. However, this time, I am not going to do it and instead and I will write an evergreen entry. Evergreen entries are relevant always and I think that I should at least on month focus on evergreen content. You can write it anytime. So, from now, I won’t need to drink tea and stay awake. My sleeping has been messed totally. I cannot sleep whole night. Then, in the morning I sleep and my sleep gets broken during lunch and I am tired for the rest of the day and I am forced to drink two cups of tea and then I cannot sleep whole night again. So, the first thing to do is to totally forget news based blogging and follow evergreen content based blogging.

If needed, I will continue this way of working for one year. Now, my first goal is losing weight. I want to improve my eating habit and totally become habituated to a healthy diet. I want to walk almost daily. I am not sure if I can walk tomorrow as I have to go to another part of city.

These are very simple goals but in life, we often make a mess out of our life. Then we have to stand up again and fix them. This is the thing I have to do now. 

Omitting Meat helps to Make your Body Light: Day 30

I have been writing about my fight against obesity and overweight since 26 December 2009 and today is the 30^th day. In the last 30 days, I could not decrease weight even one KG and even I gained 2 KG. Still, I am not unhappy because I have seen remarkable improvement in my eating habit. It was perhaps the coldest spell of one month in my city that I have seen in my entire life but still, I could manage to largely omit the meat from my diet. In the past, I used to eat mutton or beef daily two times even during summer. So, it is a huge improvement.

Funny thing is that although I gained two KG in the last one month, my waist line decreased by 2.5 centimeter. I feel very light in my body from yesterday. I feel that a lot of fat has gone from my belly and I feel fresh and light. Instead of feeling week in my health, I feel more comfortable and I have the feeling that I can increase my work. My heart beat is now normal most of the time.

Officially, I am back to obesity again but I feel very good in my body. I am going to start strict diet again from next Sunday (1 February 2010) and I have the feeling in my body that this time, it will be easier to lose some weight. In fact, I am getting a lot of mental encouragement because in my body, I am improving.

If possible, think of decreasing consumption of meat. I thought that life without mutton was impossible. Now, I can see that it is not only possible but also brings good feeling to both body and mind. 

Walk in Nature: Day 29

I am just very happy that cold wav is finishing. Now, cold weather has become tolerable and today, I did not need to eat that much. I am going to wait another 8 days and I will start my effort to lose weight from 1 February 2010 and I will continue trying for 10 weeks. In those 10 weeks, my goal will be to lose 7-10 KG. Today, I measured my weight and it was 101 KG. So, I just need to decrease on KG in the next 8 days and it is not difficult.

Yesterday, I went to a rural place which is near my home and I walked for some time there. It was good oxygen and I took breathe in fresh and pure air that is almost free of pollution. The good part is that the place was only 10 kilometer from my home and there was hardly any traffic jam to go there. I am happy for finding this place as there are big fields in which farmers are cultivating cauliflower, cabbage and potato.

After coming home, I felt very good in my health and mind. Today, I also felt good. City life has its own poison and if possible, sometime, go to rural areas to enjoy real nature.

In many ways, this obesity and suffering from bad health became a blessing in disguise for me. I found the opportunity to contemplate on my life and this helped me a lot to understand the problems related to my health and mind. Now, I touch it within myself that losing weight is not that difficult. It just needs some conscious effort from your heart.

In the past, I was always in a hurry for doing anything. I had the same problem with losing weight. My goal was always to lose some pounds very quickly and then eat junk foods again. This time, I could really come out of this habit. In fact, I am not a hurry to lose weight even. If needed, I just want to lose 1.5 KG each month for the next 11 months and this way, I can lose nearly 17 KG. Right now, my goal is to lose 1 KG per week for the next 10 weeks. However, even if I can lose 1 KG after every 10 days, I will be still very happy.

During summer, I want to sometimes do water fasting. In November 2009, I tried sometimes water fasting and it was very good for my health. I got a lot of comfort in my kidney.

Gaining Weight but not Losing Heart: Day 27

Today, I counted my weight and it was bad news for me. I was 102 Kilogram. Thus, I have gained two kilograms. The first feeling I had was sadness. Well, then I thought some more and contemplated on the situation. It has been very cold here and from today, things look some better. May be, after 7 days, the cold weather will become tolerable and I am planning to again start my diet from 1 February 2010. February and March are best time of the year in my city. The same goes for October 15-December 15.

My plan is to lose 6-8 KG from 1 February 2010 to 31 March 2010. I wish that I could lose 10 KG and reach to 90. March is my birth month. I was born in 22 March. March is the month of freshness every where. I think that it was March 22, 2005, my weight was 87 KG.

So, there are now 10 days before February 1 and I want to start February with 100 KG. Then 2 months of trying. I have done that from 23 October 2009 to 17 December. So, I can try again for two months.

This time, the good part is that I feel good in my health and mind and I think that I can even start walking in the lake beside my home. Best way is to walk 1 hour each for 3 days a week.

The best part of February is that you can walk at any time of the day.

Keeping the Will Power intact in bad Weather: Day 25

To be honest with you, in my entire life, I have never seen this kind of cold wave. I think it is almost 3 weeks or even more that the country is suffering from cold weather. The temperature in my city is continuously hovering around 10-13 degree Celsius. Today, there was no sun in the sky. Last night, I could not sleep well. Unfortunately, I am perhaps one of the few persons who cannot tolerate cold weather. As a result, I have totally stopped dieting and I am now eating normal food. I am just careful not eat meat or drink soft drinks (in winter, I don’t need to drink it anyway) and I am also careful not to eat a lot of sweets.

The worst part of this bad weather is that I feel hungrier because there is nothing to do. So, all the time, I feel that I should eat some strong food (meat) and drink something like Horlicks. So, in addition to tolerating the cold weather, I have to keep my will power intact. I just need to hang only for another 10-11 days and then things may better. 

Bad Food is really Bad: Day 23

It was a bad day. I slept until 4 PM day time and then ate only bad food. At dinner, I eat Biriyani which was very oily and then I felt bad. In the past, I enjoyed this kind of food a lot but today, I did not like it at all. It showed that my palate has totally changed. Well, I am sad that cold wave has been going on and there is no respite from it.

I wish that the weather becomes normal soon and then I can again go back to diet. I guess that this kind of bad weather will continue for another two weeks. 

Trying to Eat More Organic food: Day 22

I don’t know whether the local vegetables and fruits that we eat strictly go under the definition of organic food items or not but I know that compared to many countries in the world, our farmers use less pesticide and at least, growth hormones are not that much used. Thus, the size of our own onion and potato is very small. The same goes for our local chickens and their eggs. But the funny thing is that now, the price of our local products is more than imported products.

For example, the other day, I bought a kilogram of local red lentil (Mushur Dal in Bangla Language) for 120 Taka ($1 is nearly 68 taka now) and I’ve found that in the market, the price of imported red lentil was just 90 taka per KG.

 Needless to say that, the local red lentil was closer to organic farming and that is the reason its price is more. Of course it is much more tasty than imported lentils and secondly it is a better for health. Fortunately, I am one of those persons who like organic materials because I find them tasty. However, because of the price factor many people in my city are gradually moving towards products produced by growth hormones.

I’m really worried for this matter because if the demand for organic matter decreases then it will become very difficult for people like me to find out this matter us in the market. The eggs of the local chickens are already hard to come by in my area and if I wanted them then I have to go another area to buy them. I just hope that the same thing does not happen to products like onions and potatoes.

The importance of sleeping at Night: Day 21

I have lost habit of sleeping at night and in most of the days, I sleep very late night. Today, unfortunately, I slept in the evening and then I could not sleep whole night and I have to sleep whole day. This is a very bad habit and I am trying to get rid of it. It is not easy because any habit is difficult to change. In the past, it was good for me because I could write at night a lot. Now, because my health is weak, writing has become difficult. I guess that it is better I try to write and have some mental work so that the mind gets tired and I can sleep earlier.

If you are just like me then please, try to change it as soon as you can. At first, it was nice but now it is a nightmare for me. A real nightmare. 

Just 3 Weeks Left: Day 18

Because of cold weather, I cannot diet anymore and as a result, my weight is not decreasing for the last 3 weeks. I am trying my best to keep it under control and thus, it is not increasing either. Normally, every year, in winter time, I catch cold bad way and suffer for few days from it. This time, it did not happen until now and I am very happy for it.

I guess the cold weather would finish within 3 weeks and then it will be easier for me to start diet again. I have noticed remarkable improvement in my kidney because of decreasing spicy food and almost omitting meat from my daily life.

If you are suffering from any kind of urine related problem then may be you should check whether you eat a lot of spicy food and meat. If so then consult your doctor and you can try to eat without spice and meat for a week. I am sure that it will bring much better feeling in your mind. It did for me and it is really helping me a lot. 

Fatigue and Frustration: Day 16

It was a very tough day and I’m happy that it is almost over. I became very tired both mentally and physically and could not do anything today. I feel so frustrated to because I was very tired and I was not going anywhere. Now, I have a very bad dilemma. On the one hand, it is very cold weather and I am afraid of doing any kind of diet. On the other hand, if I eat then I gain weight and in the next day I have to fight with myself to eat less and maintain the weight. Then, there is another problem and that I cannot work hard like past. As a result, my blogs are not doing well at this moment. Thus, it creates a lot of frustration in my mind.

The thing that I understand very well is that both fatigue and frustration are very bad for any work. However, fighting with them is not easy and I am trying to learn the process of doing it.

Anyway, if you are a fan of cars then you can read about Maruti Eeco written by Mehdi Hassan.

Time for Restrain: Day 15

Yesterday, I ate beef chop and today, I was careful not to eat any heavy food. The good thing is that I could control myself and did not eat breakfast or lunch. As a result, I noticed that my weight did not increase. So, beef chop did not do any harm in the end because at the right time I could restrain myself.

Thus, I learned that it is not always possible to maintain a strict diet but it is possible to try to control myself in the next day. If you have similar problem then you can follow my advice and Try to eat less amount of food in the next day.

Fortunately, the weather was better today and it was less cold. In the last few days, my city became very cold and I do not know why but I find it difficult to do any kind of diet in a cold weather.

Now, my main focus is to maintain the current level of weight and just hang on for the next three or four weeks. 

The Day of Beef Chop: Day 14

No, it was not a disaster but it was bad. Well, I had to go to a person’s home for a work. His wife cooked beef chop and it is considered to be very rude in our culture to refuse under such circumstances. Anyway, I ate some. The good thing is that I skipped my lunch and that is why, my weight did not increase although I ate them.

So, tomorrow, I have to be very careful and I must eat some less than normal. One thing I noticed today was that my health is improving. I can now walk with more ease. I could climb the stairs seamlessly. Even my sleeping habit is improving. I can sleep within 6 AM. Just 2 weeks ago, I was sleeping at 11 AM in morning and was awake whole night.

So, my mood is upbeat despite the fact that I ate beef chops. By the way, if you are a soccer fan then you can read the two entries about tomorrow’s EPL matches:

Birmingham City vs Manchester United

Arsenal vs Everton

By any chance, if you are a fan of Arsenal or Man United then you can join me tomorrow in live score of their matches.  

I love giving live score of sports events. Especially, I enjoy live score of soccer matches because they finish within two hours and hundreds of people come to my blogs. Unfortunately, because of weak health, I was away from it for the last few months. Thus, it is nice to see that I am slowly going back to my normal life again. 

Writing about Your Weight Loss Journey is Good: Day 13

Yesterday, I wrote that I ate some more food. Today, I was all the time careful about controlling myself and in the end, I could do so. The good thing was that when you write about your weight loss journey then it becomes easier for you to remember about your recent days. Thus, today I remembered and told myself that when I write something at night about the day, I want to write something good.

So, you can do the same thing. Of course, you do not need to write in a blog. You can do it in your daily journal or dairy. This will really help. 

I ate some Junk Foods Today: Day 12

It is a matter of regret that today, I ate some junk food. It was a packet of biscuits or cookies and it was sweet. Thus, it contained sugar and other things. Well, I was kind of forced as today, there was no water in the kitchen and it was possible to do any cooking.

Still, it was not that bad because I did not eat any burgher, kebab or restaurant food. The main problem is that cold weather is going to continue perhaps another 3 weeks and I cannot do any diet for the next 3 weeks or even 4 weeks.

Thus, in this month, I just want to keep my weight to 100 KG. Today, I became 101 KG. This is the good part of writing this journal. This way, I know that tomorrow, I should be some careful about eating. 

You have to do the Mind Game: Day 10

Today, I ate a lot. Well, the only good thing is that I did not eat any meat of junk food. So, I don’t feel bad or guilty. The cold weather has perhaps forced me to eat more than normal. For me, this cold weather is very tough to deal and I cannot remain hungry for long time. If I remain hungry then I feel bad and catch either cold or fever. Last year, during this time, I tried to do something extreme and could lose almost 7 KG in 10 days but in the end, became sick and quickly gained that 7 KG. This time, I am more careful.

I am not doing any extreme. Today, I felt hungry and I ate. However, I was extremely careful not to eat any meat or junk food. This is my strategy now. This is an important mind game. I am not allowing my body to suffer from hunger and eve gaining small amount of weight but at the same time, maintaining a healthy diet. So, I just gained small amount of weight and I can take care of it easily after cold weather finishes within 3 weeks. In fact, if I am 101 KG at the first day of February 2010, I will be very happy. I am now optimistic of losing weight in February and March.

My sitemeter suggests that some people are reading about my weight loss journey and I am happy for. Although their numbers are very small. 

Cold Wave Making it Difficult: Day 9

I have been writing something in this blog about my weight loss journey for the last 9 days and it has been very cold in my city these days. There is some kind of cold wave and the temperature is 12 Degree Celsius or some more and some less. However, because 90% or more humidity, tolerating this cold weather is becoming very difficult. I am continuing my effort of not eating any meat. Today, unfortunately, I ate some meat in a food shop but it was very small and I was forced to do it because I had some outside work and I did not have time to eat at home. It was just simply a sandwich.

The good part is that I did not enjoy it that much as it contained meat and I realized that I have really lost habit of eating meat. It is a very good feeling because deceasing consumption of beef or mutton was my biggest challenge in the past. Today, I realized that I can live happily without beef or mutton. I consider myself very lucky because, changing food habit this way is very difficult. I always thought that leaving mutton would have been impossible and it would break my heart and tongue. 

Obesity, Diet and Your Job

I would not write this entry but after suffering 6 months from Obesity and trying a strict diet to change eating habit, I noticed that my work suffered a lot. I am a blogger and this is a god thing because I have to work inside my home. I can also control my working hours. I do not need to go out or I can work any time I like. Well, it seems that there is no bad side of blogging. However, the main bad side I suffered in the last few months is that when I am in a tough diet then it is really very difficult to even sit in computer. Ok, I can sit in my laptop but then brain does not want to work. It wants sugar and meat and tasty and junk food. Of course, now it helps me more.

My problem has basically two features. I find it difficult to work in hungry belly. On the other hand, since I am some kind of a diet, I am just eating two times and I am not eating any meat or sugar. So, working for me is very tough. If I eat 3 times the my weight starts to increase. Thus, it is very difficult to continue blogging. Well, I am trying my best. Let u see what happens.

In the past, I used to think that blogging is a sitting work and it should not be to difficult to lose weight as a blogger.