~A whole new me ~ My Story to being 30kgs lighter [ for iMagazine (City Press) ]~

I was contacted by a journalist from the Cape Town based City Press' iMagazine in the second week of January 2013 who interviewed me for a human interest story on my health and weight loss efforts.  Below is the raw interview details that she requested from me....reading it now, makes me want to share this on my blog so that this may assist you, the reader, in your journey to a newer you.

Full name:  Prava Ramphal

 

Age: 45

 

From in SA: Gauteng

 

Weight at heaviest and date: 117kg 2008

 

Current weight:  75.2kg

 

Briefly describe your meals when you were living a less healthy lifestyle:

 

Breakfast: Toast with butter and cheese, muesli or all bran flakes with 2% low fat milk, coffee with cremora and /or milk

Lunch: Take away  or dinner left over meals of curry and rice, fried chicken and chips, rolls with greasy fillings, pies, samosas, fizzy soda drinks

Supper: Curry and rice, popular fried and grilled take aways, pizza,  braai meats with store bought marinades and sauces,

Snacks: Potato chips, roasted and salted peanuts, popcorn

 

Briefly describe your meals now:

Breakfast: A protein and veggies prepared in coconut oil or olive oil.  Green tea or black coffee

Lunch:  Baked salmon, home-made olive oil and fresh garlic and herb marinade with salad, Home made thai chicken soup with vegetables, tuna and home made  mayonnaise salad.

Supper: lean protein with salad and low carb veggies

Snacks: blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, apples, goji berries, melon, occasional banana, seed mix (sesame, pumpkin,flax, sunflower) raw coconut flakes, Green tea J

 

Describe the basis of the diet you used to change your lifestyle: what is it called, what does it entail. Etc?

When I researched various eating plans that would ease my chronic lifestyle diseases I came across the Paleo (Paleolithic) diet, which in essence, works to normalise insulin levels.  Years of consuming refined carbohydrates, including grain and seed breads, made me sluggish and miserable and spiked my blood sugar levels.  This I understand caused my insulin sensitivity to decrease and reduced my body’s ability to control it.

 The Paleo diet is based on the principle that if our ancestors didn’t eat it, then neither should we – it advocates eating natural, real food which is widely available, with little or no processing. The Paleolithic diet consists mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, eggs, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, potatoes, refined salt, refined sugar, and processed oils

The foods that the Paleo diet include:

·         Lean Meats – Beef, Veal, Venison, Lamb, Chicken, other wild game meats. Try to have these grass-fed if at all possible.

·         Fish – Salmon, Tilapia, Bass and more.

·         Seafood

·         Eggs

·         Vegetables – these are essential for good carbohydrates and fibre

·         Some Fruit – Berries & those of the less sugary variety

·         Nuts (raw)  in moderation – don’t  too crazy on these.

·         Natural oils (olive, coconut and avocado oils to name a few).

 

Apart from the weight loss, how differently do you feel?

I seriously feel at least 20 years younger, like a have new lease on life, energised and invigorated, alert, brainy, confident, boost in self-esteem.  I feel alive -  I am living not merely existing.

 

Has your weight loss improved your health? For example, were you once at risk for certain diseases and now not, or do you no longer need medication you once did (based on medical input)?

Being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 13 years ago during my first pregnancy, which my physician at that stage attributed to gestational diabetes and introduced insulin to stabalise my blood sugar levels.  This continued post-birth of my now 12 year old son and until August 2013.  On oral medication for diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol too and am currently on a trial without medication.  My 30kg loss has caused a normalisation in all my blood readings monitored over a period of time.  Nutrition and exercise I believe, is responsible for this remarkable turn- around in managing my chronic lifestyle illnesses.

 

What was the biggest motivating factor for wanting to lose weight? Was it a particular incident that changed everything, for example?

My minor children motivate me to be the best parent I can and should be.  With that in mind as well as my serious health scare experiences related to the dangers of diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol, coupled with a genetic history of cardio-vascular disease, years of yo-yo dieting, trying almost every marketable weight loss drug and finally reaching psychological maturity, it was a sense of  a ‘do or die’ situation for me.  The effects of years of medication which offered a fair amount of control over the illnesses made me morose, bordering on depression, yearning for a lifestyle change that would see me being healthy and fit and able to participate in the robust lives of my sons. 

What are your top three tips/advice for others wanting to lose weight?

I see it as a system of keys, which you will use to unlock the doors to a new you. 

 

Mental preparation is the first key – it your mind and body can work in tandem to achieve your nutrition and fitness goals, then you are one third on a winning wicket

Planning and preparation is the second key – begin by researching the various nutrition and exercise options available, realistically adapt this to your way of life, beginning with small changes and working your way up by challenging yourself to better those changes.  Discover your niche, personalise and exploit it to enable a change or the unlearning  of former unhealty habits  to developing and nurturing new ones, that will lead to a sustained healthy lifestyle change.

Execution and sustaining the lifestyle change is the third key – which comes with commitment, determination, perseverance, and a never give up attitude to reaching your health and fitness goals.

Some people believe that if overweight or obesity runs in their family, they are destined to also be overweight or obese.  However, only half of a person’s body weight is due to genetics.  The remainder is due to lifestyle choices – foods consumed and physical activity level performed.

 

What is your exercise regime and what keeps you motivated to exercise on days you really don’t feel like it?

I attend a gym under the instruction of a personal trainer twice a week.  Two times a week thereafter I train on my own at the gym, using the guidelines developed for my exercises routine.  The motivation for gym training is actually the inspiration from my previous set of work outs, some achieved with great discipline and satisfaction, leaving me totally invigorated after a hard work out as well as the knowledge that I have a choice to be healthy or revert to a sedentary lifestyle which will see the old habits resume and take over my life completely.  Also that I am eight to nine sizes smaller in my clothing allows me to shop for new gym clothes which need to be showed off J

 

What prevents you from gaining weight now?

Possibly the will to lead a healthy lifestyle?  While willpower may have been and in some ways continues to be a motivator in assisting my mindset in controlling what I consume, it can be likened to a paradigm shift, if I may use this term.  I see it as a difference from “I can’t have this food”, to “I don’t want this food”.  The want for exercising 3-5 times a week is also liberating in the sense that when I see the difference in the definition it adds to my body and the feeling of joei de vivre it creates for me personally, I am driven by the need of my body to remain motivated.  Also that I am able to create and adapt my proudly Indian heritage meals into a lifestyle change is for me a mainstay on this lifestyle change.  I have always maintained that it’s all about my bodys' wants vs its’ needs.

 

What are your tips for eating at friends, family and restaurants?

It’s important that family and friends respect and support your food choices – what works for me when invited out, is to ask what is on the menu and advising on what I eat so that they could include it in their menus.  Practically, it often works out that I take along something that I have prepared at home.

 It’s equally easy in restaurants, where you advise the waiter of your food preferences and they prepare your meal accordingly, without processed sauces, but including widely-available olive oil and lemon juice.  If all else fails, have a garden / green salad with boiled eggs or chicken / fish without marinade or sauce or salad dressing.

 Any books, websites or apps or Facebook groups you can recommend to someone on a weight loss journey?

http://thepaleodiet.com/

http://robbwolf.com/what-is-the-paleo-diet/

http://www.sleekgeek.co.za/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/sleekgeek/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SleekgeekREBOOT/566734053419406/

http://whole9life.com/

It starts with Food – Dallas and Melissa Hartwig

Your Personal Paleo Code – Chris Kresser

What was the biggest challenge during your weight loss journey?

Initially, it was the fear of giving up bread and processed foods.  As I progressed, it was the dealing with the challenges of the transforming me , including the emerging identity crises and the acceptance of my lifestyle change by family and friends.  While I may have “metamorphisised” and emerged both mentally and physically fitter and healthier, at heart I very much remain Prava!

 Share a quick recipe you prepare.

I blog where I share recipes that I have tried and tested and share my experiences and my journey.  Many recipes are available on http://laughlovelose.blogspot.com/