Reconciling BMI

Last December, I still remember how my Sensai Virendra Lautkar reacted when he saw me in Nagpur after 9 years, completely disfigured. The only words he uttered were – “I did not train you for this. Don’t show me your face, till you become what you were earlier. Unexpectedly, you look dead”. And he shut his doors on me where as I was hoping for lovable moments from him as we met after such a long time. Suddenly, I realized that my mirror never gave me my correct reflection…

It was a high time, for me to stop by and do some introspection. The fact that I devote 12 hours in my office thereby handling staggered shift of 40 team members reporting to me and another 4 hours of traveling time made me feel jittery about the course of action that was much needed that time. I somehow felt that I cannot work on my health due to lack of time and this would continue until I move to another job / role. Historically, I have always been a poor player with handling clocks – meaning, I always loose time on many things. But the question here was not of the clock but of the compass. I was lacking DIRECTIONS too. I was not making my own flow but was flowing where ever I got the slope, just like water.

On February 01^st, 2012 I weighed 68 Kgs. The formula for BMI calculation reveals that my ideal body weight should be between 50 to 52 Kgs. Meaning, I was overweight by 16 to 18 Kgs. Not a good sign for a person like me who value martial arts to the core of my heart. Even for an average person, it’s a sign of lethargy, unclear physical & mental priorities, lack of focus or simply said – a poor execution in life.

I realized that I don’t have time to attend martial arts classes or for that matter attending gym, but there’s nothing that was stopping me from redesigning my plate. Subsequently, I had a sprout salad that morning and a fruit salad in the evening. That kind of, relieved me from the mental tension I was going through. But that was just for a day…where as I had to make this adjustment in my daily lifestyle. When I came back home at night, the aroma of Pulao & Matar Mushrooms that my sister cooked that day hypnotically attracted me to the kitchen. And I ended up finishing all that was left in the bowl…This was nothing but a failure…he he he

The very next day I started a fresh with vegetable salad, had Nestle Dahi in the noon and ate veg sub without mayonnaise and sauces in it. And when I came back home, I was again attracted to kitchen by the aroma of vermicelli pulao… I ignited the gas stove to make it warm, regained my senses after 5 minutes, smelled the aroma of the pulao, placed the lid on the bowl, switched off the stove and went to my room only to sleep immediately before I get carried away with pulao…he he he…that was like – winning a battle that day.

The very next day, I wrote a message to my sister that she should not cook food for me and should consume everything she cooks for herself. Well, well, well…my sister is my sister…when I came back home, there were few aaloo ke paraathe kept in the kitchen…along with a message – “Dieting is not healthy, if you want to lose weight, do it through exercise”…I was extremely irritated by the message but was still left spellbound by the parathas…nonetheless to mention, it was a failure that day too…

And then started a battle between me and my poor attitude of kneeling down against the dishes cooked by my sister…sometimes, I won and mostly I lost. Rather I should put it this way – mostly, I used to win during the day and lose at night when I entered my home…the cycle continued for about a month and one fine day one of my direct reportee in my office noticed that I lost a few centimeters of fats on my belly. On March 01^st, 2012, I weighed 65 Kgs unexpectedly...I lost 3 Kgs in a month’s time…that was the AHA moment for me which charged me up again...

I was motivated for more… The challenge was to find time…I had no clue when will I do it but had a vague idea that I can do it after returning from office at 2 am in the dark…I pulled my track suite the very next day and started jogging. After about 5 minutes of jogging, unexpectedly I was chased by a dog who got suspicious as to why am I running in the dark…Consequently I had to rush back home in a jet speed. I took a breath of relief the moment I shut the door and decided not to jog in the night anymore. The very next weekend, I bought an exercise kit and thought to start burning calories at home itself, how so ever small in number they might be. But then while exercising at home; I broke a few items due to lack of spatial awareness, especially a glass show piece, a fancy alarm watch and a ceramic flower pot that too, in just a week’s time. Funny, isn’t it?

Yesterday, I noticed I lost a few more inches around my belly which made me a super happy man…but I was not sure if it appears only to me or to others as well…so I shot a few photographs of mine, and sent it to my brother and 3 close friends. The fact that all of them either use a blackberry or an iPhone, made me sure that I would get a reply immediately…moreover, it was a HOLI-day as well…so I eagerly waited for their responses. However, none of them responded. By evening, I was upset and restless, partly because of hunger and partly because no one responded. I slept at 7 in the evening to avoid the feeling of hunger which weakens me from inside. And when I woke up, I actually woke up – meaning, that short nap opened my eyes…I realized, that losing weight is MY goal and it does not matter to others. Forget about acknowledging or giving feedback, others won’t even pay attention. I smiled, recollected my narcissism and went on for a 20 minute jog around my place…

While writing this post, I now have a better understanding that reconciling BMI is more of a mental fight rather than dealing with physical exercises. It starts with mind and if it has to, it ends in the mind as well.

• Choosing sprouts & fruits over pulaos & parathas
• Dealing with hunger throughout the day
• Controlling your emotions while watching others, relishing mouthwatering food
• Being regular with exercises
• Protecting ourselves from street dogs while jogging at night
• Avoiding the emotions of a caring sister / mother
• Not getting boggled by people who can’t even find a minute to align themselves to my goals

See – everything listed above are mind games, and one really has to win each of it every day…

And it’s not impossible. All one needs is a bit of VANITY…and that’s fair…he he he

Next December when I would be meeting my Sensai in Nagpur, I won’t give him the doors to shut on me…Rather; I would take him to Japanese Garden which happens to be my Dojo in Nagpur, and would have a nice sparring with him…Time for a jog now… J