Well-being: My Experience with Weight-Loss Programs

Upon completing my graduation, I weighed X kg. Then I got job, I dedicated the next couple of years to my career, steadily ascending the professional ladder also I found myself gaining some weight along the way. When the time came for me to get married, I picked-up one of the items from weight-loss program menu and successfully reduced the extra weight within 2-3 months, to make sure I looked my best in the wedding pictures. More than a decade has passed since then, and I am now a family man. Whenever the topic of fitness arises in social gatherings with friends and family, I passionately recount my experiences, all centered around a recurring theme: “the journey of experiencing weight gain and my endeavor to reduce weight through various weight-loss programs”.

Many individuals may share a similar story from their lives. During my own well-being journey, I found myself pondering:

• What should be the role and purpose of “weight-loss programs”? This led to my next question:
• Why is it so tough to maintain the practices we follow during weight-loss programs?

In my reflection, I realized that “weight-loss programs” inherently demand that we “suppress (?????) our desires (???)”. This suppression manifests in various ways:

• What I desire to eat for breakfast, lunch, snacks, or dinner. While craving my favorite foods, I must suppress my desires due to dieting or intermittent fasting, restricting me to a prescribed list of foods.
• How frequently I wish to eat. Despite longing for all meals, including evening snacks, I must suppress my cravings.
• What I want to do after eating. On weekends, I want to indulge in a hearty lunch followed by my favorite pastime – lounging or sleeping. However, I won’t be able to do unless I indulge in a cheat day.

“Desire” (???) serves as the foundational pillar upon which an individual's world (?????) is built. Suppression (?????) of desire becomes the very reason practices we follow during weight-loss programs does not become integral part of our life. Indeed, weight-loss programs serve a purpose, like taking a single step in a ladder. If we desire to keep moving, we need to find what will take us to next step in the ladder else over time we fall back to starting place.

Me wanting to find what that next step in the ladder be like? I formulated an approach that works for me. In my next article, I will share more as it may be beneficial to you.

Keep realizing. I look forward to sharing more of my experiences here.

Article in the series:

Wellbeing: From Knowing to Becoming

Wellbeing: Realization from Knowing to Becoming