'I lost 11 kilos in two months'

We asked Get Ahead readers to share their stories of weight loss with us. Here is Anuj Thakur's inspiring tale of a daily regime that enabled him to shed 11 kilos.

I thought I should share my experience of weight loss -- it feels good to be able to do so, and in the bargain, may inspire somebody else to lose weight as well.

I am 5' 8" tall, and used to weigh 90 kilos right up until this summer. My weight embarrassed me, and it made me feel bad about myself -- I suffered from low self-esteem because of it.  For the past two years I have been meaning to reduce, but somehow never found the time.

Things came to a head this year, however, and I decided it was now or never. I decided to devote every hour I could spare to my weightloss, and I embarked on the following daily regime to get back in shape:

• Also read: Diet, exercise and thyroid trouble

• In the morning I did yoga -- 20 minutes of aalom vilom (breathing in through one nostril and out the other, alternating nostrils) and 20 minutes of kapaalbhati (a pranayam wherein you exhale with some force, so as to pull the abdomen inwards).
  
• Every evening, I would jog for half an hour, and then walk for another 20 minutes, covering a distance of around five kilometres.
  
• Once I was through with this, I would visit the gym. I never attempted any weight-lifting exercises -- I only worked on my abs and the fat accumulated on either side of my torso, for about 45 minutes every day.
  
• After dinner each night, I'd go on another 45 to 50 minute walk.

So you see, in total, I devoted nearly three hours each day to my weightloss regime.  Of course, I would have been unable to attain my goal without diet control, which is an absolute must if you're looking to lose weight. Here is the diet routine I followed:

• Want to lose weight? Try some sleep!

• For breakfast, I would have one roti, with cooked vegetable and daliya (coarsely ground, cracked wheat).
  
• For lunch, I would have two rotis and cooked vegetable, followed up with a cup of tea.
  
• In the evenings, I would snack on some light, non-oily poha chivda or boiled corn, with a large glass of mosambi (sweet lime) juice.
  
• For dinner, I would have two rotis and cooked vegetable once more.

All through my diet, i was absolutely off oily foods and sweets of any kind. I have also permanently given up icecreams, aerated drinks, samosas and other such unhealthy foods -- I consider them poison for me now. But the whole exercise was well worth it, because I lost 11 kilos, and five inches off my waistline within two months. I weigh 79 kilos at present, and life is looking good.

Were you once overweight? How did you manage to drop the excess baggage? Email your contributions to howilostweight@rediffmail.com, along with your name, age, occupation, contact details, and photographs of yourself both before and after your weight loss. We'll publish the best entries right here on Get Ahead.