"I’m so psyched and upset by remarks from people" lamented Mrs. Renu Jain "that it has become impossible for me to keep up my lost weight. My friends and well-wishers say that my body has sagged, I look older than my age. They say that I look pale and sick and that I have lost the beauty and charm I had when I used to weight seventy-six kilos. They insist that I should gain back my lost weight."

Mrs. Renu Jain, the twenty-seven-year-old designer of an internationally famous washing machine, now a fashion designer and a boastful model of her own designer outfits, lost sixteen kilos in five months, to reach her desired weight.

Let’s forget the people! How do you personally feel having lost so much of weight" I asked.

"Well, frankly speaking, I feel so nice, so light, so healthy and so full of energy. My output of work has increased tremendously. I no more feel exhausted at the end of the day despite my hectic schedule between designing clothes and my two small children at home. I even exercise, as per your suggestion, regularly. I personally feel that my physical appearance has improved so much that I, in fact, look forward to go out to parties and social gatherings which hitherto I had dreaded so much. Indeed I have found my real self trapped within me behind layers of ugly fat. I’d hate to think where I’d be and what I’d be like today if I had not been able to shed off excess weight. Losing excess weight has truly worked wonders in my life."

Remember misery seeks company. Do not get bothered by friends and well-wishers who at first nag you to lose excess weight and once you lose it, plague you to put it on again. If you have fat friends who are constantly badgering and bothering you, find new friends. Some fat people who do not have the knowledge or the self control to ear sensibly and lose excess weight in a healthful manner, might feel threatened by examples of your nutritional discipline and healthy weight loss.

If you have control of your life, you can live a healthy and zestful life, no matter what everyone else is saying.

Take charge of your life. Remind yourself again and again that it is to be fat and heavy. Tell yourself that you will be the master of your body and your health. Have confidence and faith in the expert guidance of the qualified doctor who has helped you to lose your excess weight. You have lost excess fat by following The Balanced-Nutrient Diet, a diet full of essential elements so necessary to maintain good health. You have followed the simple exercises suggested in this book as a safeguard against possible sagging of your body whilst losing weight and you are still continuing to exercise regularly. Theref ore the possibility of your body sagging due to weight loss is remote. So have confidence in yourself.

Take the case of Mr. Sudam Bapu, forty three years old, packaging incharge, Cargo Complex, Sahar Airport, Bombay. When he reduced his body weight from a burdensome 135 kilos to a comfortable 85 kilos, he broke away from a lifestyle that lived and breathed fat. Sudam Bapu’s parents were fat and he had fat friends. Even his wife was fat. Fat encourages fat.

After Sudam Bapu lost fat on a medically supervised weight-loss programme and The Balanced-Nutrient Diet, his personality and his needs changed along with his physique. New eating habits were accompanied by new friends and new activities. "I no longer eat the way I used to eat" Sudam Bapu explained. "And I’m no longer ashamed to eat in public. In fact, I’m constantly offering people advice on how to eat. I intend to pass my dietary knowledge to my family. I don’t want my children to be hindered by fat the way I was."

"I can’t think of a better gift for your family, friends and well-wishers than to impart a little good advice on how to eat properly. You can be a teacher of good nutrition as well as an example of good nutrition," says Dr. Mrs. Shalini Gupta, dentist, on having lost eight kilos on The Balanced-Nutrient Diet.

Do no emulate the eating habits of friends and well- wishers if they eat badly. Do not depend upon people who themselves have no idea about health, to tell you how you should feel or whether you require to lose or gain weight and so on. That way you will never succeed in maintaining good health and keeping up your ideal weight. Your best weight is the weight at which you look best and function best regardless of what people say.

If you really have a take an opinion regarding your weight or how you should, look-cosmetically considering - then rely on people who are closet to you and who matter the most in your life. If they feel that a little of fat can be attractive on you, then it’s not too hard to determine when you have reached your desired goal. A quick look in the mirror will tell the story. When you are pleased with your physical appearance, it’s not likely that you need to lose any more weight. Some persons do look good with a little extra body fat. It could be that you do, too. Just be honest with yourself and then use your best judgement.

Ms. M. Dastoor, Air Hostess, lost ten kilos in three months on a medically supervised weight-loss programme and The Balanced-Nutrient Diet. "I’m still five kilos overweight according to you doctor," Ms. Dastoor noted, "but I don’t really believe I should lose any more weight." I agreed. Ms. Dastoor was slightly plump, but she looked great. Her body lines were full but firm and she was physically appealing. As long as you feel good about yourself and are pleased with the way you look, it isn’t necessary for you to lose further weight or gain back some or all of the lost weight, just to meet someone else’s standard.

Mr. Mahmood Khan, an engineer and owner of an Electronics Showroom lost ten kilos under medical supervision and on The Balanced-Nutrient Diet. "Can I eat my normal food now that I’ve lost weight?" he asked.

Time and again patients after following The Balanced Nutrient Diet and having reached their ideal weight, ask the same old question " Now shall I go back on my normal diet?" This means the diet which has brought about obesity and ill health. ‘Normal diet’ to many patients merely means eating normal foods in normal manner without giving any serious thought to the fundamentals of nutrition.

Health is a precious gift. Only when it is gone do we realize the significance of this simple truth. You must learn ‘why you eat’ what to eat, when to eat, and how much of each food to eat’, in accordance with the needs and requirements of your body, both ‘intellectually’ and ‘consciously’, ‘not’ instinctively, as in the past. In order to maintain ideal and healthy weight you must eat ‘wisely’ not for a month or a year, but for the rest of your life.

Get accustomed to eating natural wholesome foods suggested in The Balanced-Nutrient Diet. Avoid excess in food which lead to obesity and ill-health. The Balanced-Nutrient Diet rich in vital factors proteins, vitamins, minerals etc. ‘drawn from natural foods’ is our only true safeguard. Only in natural foods to which man has long been adapted, can we find ‘all’ essential factors required for positive health.

How can I prevent my lost weight from coming back permanently?

Everything you’ve learned upto now, in this book should be applied to maintain your ideal weight. Don’t stop eating properly prepared fresh, low-fat natural foods just because you’re no longer fat. It is not the occasional party or holiday dinner that puts on the kilos. It is the reverting back to faulty lifestyle and eating certain types of food day after day such as too much bread and chapatties made of refined flour, too many sweets, chocolates and icecreams, rich thick gravied dishes, fried foods and so on. Unless you are willing to change your habits of eating, do not bother to lose weight for regardless of how many kilos you lose, you will gain them back as soon as you again eat an excess of artificial foods and such foods as mentioned above.

Could you make some suggestions to make excess weight off permanently?

Following are certain suggestions listed to help you to maintain your ideal weight and keep weight off permanently.

1. INCLUDE EXERCISE IN YOUR MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME.
   

   It is always good to exercise whether you’re overweight or not. A nutritionist Jean Mayer claims that moderate exercise actually depresses the appetite. Research has demonstrated that sedentary people tend to eat more than physically active people. Therefore inactivity combined with overeating, is sure to result in a build-up of body fat.

   Maintaining your ideal weight can best be done by combining your Balanced-Nutrient Diet with exercise.

   Walking is the best exercise and can be included in daily schedule throughout life. For best results, walk briskly. Anyone should be able to find enough time to walk. Walk along the beach , walk around your building compound or walk to the market, railway station or bus stop. Simply walk, be active, take up some recreational sport. The important thing is to do something that ‘you’ can do and then do it regularly.

2. EAT SENSIBLY, EAT WELL - NEVER OVEREAT.
   Have you said this?
   Wrong:
   EAT SNACKS FIRST NO PLACED LEFT FOR A NUTRITIOUS MEAL

   Right:
   EAT A BALANCED- THEN EAT A LITTLE OF NUTRIENT MEAL FIRST SWEETS, FRIED FOODS,ETC.

   ‘Just forget it - I am on a holiday. A package tour. Attending my sister’s or brother’s marriage function arrangement etc. etc. Now that I have lost weight, I can afford to eat and drink heartily. Even if I gain weight, then once again I will consult my doctor and follow The Balanced-Nutrient Diet to lose weight."

   If your answer to the above question is yes, then you are sadly mistaken. 85% of the obesity is due to disorders of metabolism. So if you have this tendency to gain weight, then faulty and excessive eating and drinking may only aggravate such physiological factors making it easier to gain fat and more and more difficult to lose it later.

   Therefore enjoy yourself. Eat and drink in moderation, so that you can continue to enjoy eating tasty foods throughout your life. Never eat in excess. Regularly and permanently follow up with your doctor, your weight record. Keep up to your nutritional discipline. Add life to your ears and not years to your life.

3. EAT ONLY AT THE DINING TABLE
   Eat the same time each day at the dining table. This way you will be eating, only when truly hungry. Avoid eating while watching television and movies.

4. EAT SLOWLY AND CHEW YOUR FOOD THOROUGHLY
   Many people eat so fast that they literally gulp their food without chewing it. The result is they overeat. When you are truly hungry, a fall in blood sugar, triggers an appetite mechanism in your brain, creating, a desire for food. When you eat, it takes about 20 minutes for your blood to absorb sugar and to circulate it to your brain where the sensation of hunger can be switched off. If you eat too rapidly, you may overload your stomach before your appetite mechanism has a chance to diminish your desire for food. Take time to taste and savour each bite. If you eat slowly, chances are you’ll experience satisfaction and quit eating when you have had enough.
5. DO NOT DRINK WATER ALONG WITH MEALS
   When you drink water along with meals you automatically dilute the gastric juices required in proper concentration to carry out digestion. A proper digestion of food is a must for good health and maintenance of ideal weight.
6. DON’T EAT HEARTY MEALS AT PARTIES
   When you have to attend parties, where food is served, eat your meals at home before hand so that you can be sure of what you’re eating. Then if you like you can save room for something light and healthful served at the party. Don’t eat fattening foods or drink sweet drinks just to be sociable. Your fat friends and relatives may force you to eat as they do. Do not lose self control. Keep up your nutritional discipline.
7. DON’T ALLOW OR STORE JUNK FOOD IN YOUR HOME
   You know from reading earlier chapters of this book that refined foods, snacks etc. are simply empty foodless foods. Commercial snacks, cakes, pastries, desserts are so tasty that you cannot resist them and you eat for the sheer pleasure of taste. When you are hungry and your blood sugar is low, sweets are difficult to resist. The solution? Be prepared. Keep a ready supply of fresh fruit salad, puffed rice, popcorn, curd, skimmed milk etc. to satisfy an irresistible urge to snack.

   Limit your intake of sweets, chocolates, icecreams, pastries, to only a few bites , that too preferably after you have eaten The Balanced Nutrient Diet ( refer to the diag. on pg. 247).

8. KEEP YOURSELF PHYSICALLY ATTRACTIVE
   You have reached your ideal weight and you now possess a slim and shapely body. Remind yourself of the advantages of a beautiful body. Remember the times when you were ashamed of your ugly fat hidden below loose and dark clothes. Just imagine how you felt when people whispered behind your back at social gatherings. "Oh ! What a lovely face but what an awfully fat body!" Now is the time to take pride in your physical appearance. That way you’ll pay more attention to your Balanced-Nutrient Diet and do all you can to ‘look’ good.
9. REMIND YOURSELF OF OBESITY AND HEALTH HAZARDS
   The main hazards of obesity are Heart Disease, High blood pressure, diseases of Gall-bladder and Bile duct, plus Diabetes, Joint pains, various forms of Hernias, Cancer etc.
10. HAPPY MARRIED LIFE
    No more marital disharmony. No more tears. No more saying " My husband never looks at me anymore". With a slim and trim figure and a new you, bring happiness back into your married life; keep up to your Balanced -Nutrient Diet. It will help to improve your physical appearance as well as health. You can’t ask for more than that!