How yoga helped this Thiruvananthapuram native lose weight

Parvathy, who is a native of Thiruvananthapuram and a chartered accountant, has an inspiring weight loss story to tell you. It’s about going from 85 kg to 72 kg, gaining oodles of confidence and positivity as well as keeping diseases at bay. And it was yoga that helped in facilitating her weight loss journey. Parvathy details her weight loss journey and how yoga changed her life.

From 68 to 77

Till her delivery, she weighed only 68 kg. After her first child, she weighed around 77. And for some reason, it never went down after that. When she again gave birth after a year, the weighing scales touched 85. People started making fun of her. Since Parvathy’s husband was quite lean, people started wondering if she was his mother.

All these taunts were affecting her self-esteem. Since she was breastfeeding it wasn’t possible to stick to any particular diet. Now all that was left was exercise. But circumstances didn’t allow her to join a gym. So even though she tried some workouts at home, nothing was showing results. Though she managed to touch 80 kilos, it wasn’t going down from there.

A time she would rather forget

Parvathy found it uncomfortable to attend functions owing to body image issues. She started obsessing over her body. She was scared to look in the mirror or take a selfie. In short, this was affecting her confidence which also caused anger issues in her.

She found it difficult in getting up from the floor. She would get up slowly and cautiously, keeping both her hands on the floor for support. Like a 90-year-old. When she started carrying her 6-month-old baby, her parents would quickly take it from her arms. Because they found it difficult to watch her huffing while carrying him around. But Parvathy wasn’t really able to gauge the reactions around her. She also had issues like elbow pain, back pain, cholesterol, hair fall, irregular periods, and painful menstrual pain.

All those who saw her commented on her weight gain. Even after delivery, she was asked whether she was pregnant. That all added to her humiliation. Parvathy had lost all confidence. She didn’t even have the strength to appear in front of others.

Yoga to rescue

That’s when a friend suggested Yoga to her. The thought of implementing yoga into her weight loss journey never occurred to her. After joining the yoga class, she confided to the Guru that she found it difficult to face people with her body issues and needed a solution. Though the guru assured her of good results, she was skeptical. Considering she has been trying various methods to lose weight what possible change can yoga do was what Parvathy thought.

Unbelievable change

On day 2, she felt she had made a mistake by joining the class. Asanas were adding to her back and elbow pain. The pain was getting unbearable for her and she found it difficult to even climb the steps. Parvathy decided that this was too much for her and wanted to quit. But the next day, her mind told her to attend the class. A week later all the pain vanished. She was able to see visible differences. Initially, she found it difficult to concentrate while doing meditation. But within a week her concentration came back. From 80 she slipped to 78. Parvathy was astonished when some of the kurtas that weren’t fitting earlier fitted her.

Changes in diet

After a week, she was also briefed about following a particular diet. She completely avoided sweets. The morning started with dry fruits. After the morning yoga, she would have a home-cooked breakfast at 8:30 am. If it was Dosa, she would add shredded carrots to it. Since Parvathy had high cholesterol, she reduced the intake of non-veg. She also reduced the intake of rice at lunch and included more leafy veggies and raw veggies. Earlier her daily water intake was less. Now she drinks around 3-4 liters daily. Ever since she started eating her breakfast on time, Parvathy found herself free of gastric issues. Intermittent fasting was done once a week. That day she would only have fruits or vegetables.

Within a month, she lost 5 kgs. More than anything else, her attitude towards life changed completely. 15 minutes of meditation gave her a lot of peace of mind. Yoga taught her about her strengths and how to attain contentment in life. More than weight loss she learned about healthy living and remaining positive.

After two months, she came down to 72 kilos. Now she can easily perform several asanas. Her body had become very flexible. She is astonished to see some of the photos of her performing certain asanas. Parvathy never ever imagined such a huge change in her body. For someone who had difficulty carrying one child can now easily carry both. For someone who was almost close to reaching a prediabetic stage, her sugar level is normal. The same goes for cholesterol. Not only did her periods become normal they no longer pained her. She had a persistent fungal infection in her hands. With weight loss, that also vanished. She believes it has something to do with the changes she made in her lifestyle.

Tons of motivation

Initially, everyone was making fun of her. For nearly 8 months she did a lot of workouts. She would be panting after 10 counts of Jumping jacks. She would often discontinue the workouts saying she had elbow and body pain. She was branded lazy. When they heard that she had joined yoga, they were all amused. They felt she will not be able to sustain it. They were sure she was going to discontinue it on day 3. Since she herself had no such confidence, she didn’t dare disagree with them. But after a week, they started rethinking and felt that maybe she had decided to change. When people started commenting on her weight loss, her husband and parents started motivating her. Her mother would prepare oats for her and keep praising her efforts. Meanwhile, her husband after noticing visible changes in her behaviour has already decided to start yoga. Her brother who used to make fun of her appreciated her efforts. Even her father-in-law commented that he didn’t expect such a change from Parvathy. Her friends and colleagues think they can feel a change in her behaviour already. Not just that a lot of people are showing interest in yoga after noticing Parvathy’s image makeover. Just the fact that she was able to bring some positivity into people's life is making Parvathy elated.