THE WEIGHT IS OVER

Delhi-based photographer Mansi would have no energy to do anything on a daily basis. She started to feel weighed down emotionally and psychologically. “Initially, I thought I needed to lose weight and then everything would fall into place. But then I gave it another thought, and went for functional training (helps provide strength, stability and mobility that people need to thrive on a daily basis).My prime objective was to strengthen my back and get overall endurance. But in the process I started to lose weight too. Now, I feel I can handle much more, both physically and mentally. I am definitely in a more positive space,” she says.
‘Healthy’ is the new ‘thin’. Only there is very little to ‘lose’ this time. Latest research says millennials, increasingly, consider health as more than just a number on a scale. The 2019 Food and Health Survey found that 49 per cent of those aged between 18 and 34 years are more inclined towards mindful and intuitive eating practices instead of fad diets.
SELF PRESERVATION
This was on the anvil for long. With a barrage of medical glossary like inflammation, anxiety, pollution, immunity, metabolism and gut health governing our day-to-day living, how long can one hold on to the weary old topic of weight loss and fad diets? Celebrity nutritionist Pooja Makhija says, “We are living in an age of self-preservation. There is cancer, pollution and viruses breaking out out frequently, we can’t just sit and worry about looking pretty. We need to bolster up to face the consequences.” The new approach: There is only one life so why not spend it enjoying food rather than toying with it. Sleep more, eat better and walk miles instead of obsessing over something that’s transient.
FIT OVER FAT
Losing pounds alone isn’t a prescription for happiness. When people struggle for thinness, they can sometimes emerge unhappier, and often just see the weight pile up again. “The realisation is setting in that a fit body harbours a fit and healthy mind. People are making time for functional fitness, like cycling, swimming and running that keeps them fit and close to nature too,” says Dr Monica Goel, internal medicine. Plus, knowing that you’re doing something positive for your bone density, cardiovascular health and cognitive abilities every single time you exercise can add to the good feelings that make exercise easier to sustain.
UNDIET in 2020
While Keto and Mediterranean diets will still find takers, it’s the talk around “un-diet” – less food restrictions and more natural body cues – that’s caught attention. “People are done with fad diets. They prefer healthy meal plans that ensure essential nutrients,” says fitness expert Shalini Bhargava.
According to studies in the American Journal of Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health (2016), food restriction in almost any form — elimination diets, wellness diets — routinely upsets hormonal regulation, potentially setting off serious mental and physical health problems and, paradoxically, weight gain.
That’s what the discernible lot is waking up to. “Yes, there is still a huge number that comes to me for wacky, starvation diet prescriptions but there is also a growing number that wants to eat right. I would say the ratio is 50:50 and that’s a cause worth celebrating,” says Makhija. Weight watchers are still dime a dozen and they will go to any length to fit into a bikini for a friend’s bachelorette or a tux for their 50th birthday bash. But there are also those who are done pumping in the gym and taking protein supplements. They want to not just look fit but also ‘feel’ fit. According to Makhija, “70 per cent of the weight loss battle is won in the kitchen. Even doctors are turning into ‘functional’ practitioners and prescribing hydration and nutrition over painkillers to patients. They are waking up to the ancient wisdom of ‘food is medicine.’
WORK LIFE BALANCE
Did you know that all the while you stressed over and lost your sleep over weight loss, you gained a few kilos? Sleep deprivation leads to the release of certain hormones that can cause weight gain, says Dr Lancelot Pinto, pulmonologist. In many countries, the number of people who are sleep-deprived is almost equal to the number of people who are obese. “Patients who come to me want work-life- balance and not just a good body. Lifestyle issues like stress, anxiety and insomnia have become a priority for them. The word diet is losing its credibility, people are looking for nutritionally dense diets so that their skin looks good, they get good sleep and their mind gets nutrition. I refer more patients to counsellors these days than to a gym,” says Dr Anjali Hooda Sangwan, obesity, metabolic medicine and clinical nutrition specialist. The answer lies in finding an equilibrium between physical movement and diet. Make eating right part of your lifestyle, exercise for good heart health, strong bones, lung capacity, digestion and automatically you get close to your ‘happy’ weight!
— with inputs from Deebashree Mohanty

Our fascination with weight loss is in bad taste -Tabu, actor
There is a difference between staying healthy and losing weight. We should all aim for the former. Mindless weight loss can be really dangerous. Also, the reason why you want to lose weight cannot be ‘so, I can look good’. Looking good has other aspects to it too.
Get healthy plan 2020
- Rethink and redesign your schedule to squeeze in some movement on a daily basis.
l Endurance training and getting the form right is more important. Keep weights for later. l Make the kitchen your medicine box. Eat fresh, homemade, seasonal, on time and in the right measure l Have weight complex? See a counsellor, not a trainer. l And get enough sleep before you do the above!
Losing weight should not consume you-Vikrant Massey, Actor
I do not conform to the atypical Bollywood macho hero image and I am ok with it. Because not everyone is sculpted the same way and that is how it is meant to be. At the same time, I am not judging people who are pushing their limits to get a well-toned body. As long as it is not affecting you adversely you are welcome. But should losing weight consume you totally? No. There are other things to perfect, many skills to hone.
It would help if we gave more importance to mental health than body sculpting- Manoj Bajpayee, Actor
We are living in an Ornamental Age. Be it cars, houses, roads or ourselves, we want everything to look good. We don’t bother about the inner self, or the foundation. We chase toned abs... it’s only after we cross 40 that we accept spiritual and mental health is more important. Self-help books on mental health now outsell weightloss, diet, and exercise tomes.