Full name:
Prava Ramphal
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 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).
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.
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 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!
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/
you are AMAZING!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Kim...it's really commitment to a lifestyle change and the benefits that have led to this stage in my journey. I am stoked that the rewards are plenty xxx
ReplyDeleteWow! What great results! Congratulations! Keep writing for us please :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat an insightful interview. Thank you for being so motivational!
ReplyDelete