Thanksgiving 2020

I sat at the dining table, with family and friends, ready to have our Thanksgiving lunch. We went around the table, sharing what each of us was thankful for. My husband and daughter were thankful to have me in their life, and for introducing them to a “healthy lifestyle”.

I got back home that night and was reflecting on 2020 and who and what I was thankful for and the first person that popped up in my mind was Malathy, and the healthy lifestyle she had taught and instilled in me. I sent her a text saying I was thankful to have her in my life. That was when the idea of writing about my health journey came up. I am so eager to share my wellness journey with you!

 

My Lifestyle Before

 

Being an Indian (Desi), my idea of food was the “look and taste” (spicy, flavorful, rich, oily, curries). The misconception most of us Indians have is, if you can prepare a good meal consisting of rice/roti (Indian flatbread) and curry, then you are considered a great cook, or you are feeding your family well. Eating a salad for dinner was NOT even considered a meal.

I would hit the gym at least 3 days a week, walk a minimum of 10,000 steps every day, consume the basic Indian food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No matter how much I worked out, I maintained the same weight from 2012. I couldn’t lose a single pound! It was then I knew I was doing something wrong, because I wasn’t losing weight even with all the exercise I was doing.

I got back from a vacation to India in January 2020 and as expected, I was 5 lbs. heavier. So, I started thinking about doing something to change my lifestyle. I am not a big fan of the crazy diets. I was sharing these thoughts with a friend, who referred Malathy to me.

 

Taking Action

 

There is a saying, “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear”. On a whim, in Feburary 2020, I made that phone call to Malathy to see what she had to offer. I told her I wanted to lose the extra weight. She told me to first focus on my lifestyle and overall health, and the weight would shed off, without it being the main focus.

From our initial conversation I understood that she was someone that had gone through similar experiences and changed her lifestyle for good. I was pumped up to give the program a try and I did not want to challenge anything that Malathy was teaching me because I knew I failed miserably in this area.

Today I can say with confidence I did the right thing for me and my family and I could make a complete 360-degree change to my lifestyle.

Check out some of my photos below to see the vast diversity in my new lifestyle.

 

Just a few things I learnt during the Program

Breathwork

I thought I was breathing just fine all my life until Malathy told me what breathing really meant. Shallow breath and stress promote weight gain. I had to consciously try to breath and ensure my belly/diaphragm moved while breathing. Now, whenever I have a stressful meeting (presenting a business case to the leadership for funding approval, for instance), I make sure I sit for 5 minutes and consciously breathe, using some of the breathing techniques she taught me. This has helped me tremendously to alleviate my stress and have my thoughts flow seamlessly.

 

Importance of Variety & Diversity in my Diet

I was very limited with the types of vegetables, grains or fruits I consumed, and I mostly stuck to the basic Indian vegetables and fruits. We ate only rice and wheat in the form of grains. On our weekly calls, I learnt the importance of including different types of vegetables into my diet and Malathy always stressed that my food should include all colors of fruits and vegetables. “Eat the Rainbow” is something she drilled into me. I had literally used only 1 type of oil all my life for cooking and now I use 4 types oils for my cooking.

 

Importance of Reading Labels

I had no patience to read food labels. All I would do is just pick whatever I ate all my life and go by what people said about the taste of the product. I learned that fewer the ingredients the better, so now I make a conscious effort to read every product label to know what’s going into my stomach. The adage “you are what you eat” can’t ring any truer!

 

80/20 Rule 

I learnt that the 80/20 rule which involves focusing on eating healthy foods 80 percent of the time, and indulging in less healthy foods the remaining 20 percent. Now I know, I don’t have to give up some of my cravings. I would see avakai pickle (mango pickle) and get so tempted to eat it. During my program, I would call Malathy and say I feel like having it and she would tell me have some hot rice with avakai and ghee and just slowly savor it and enjoy it.

 

My lifestyle Before & After the Program

Area of Change	Before	After
Vegetables & Fruits	7-10 basic Vegetables	Added more than 10 new vegetables like asparagus, kale, mushrooms, celery, purple cabbage, zucchini and squash. Salad or Smoothies are part of my everyday life now and I have salad once a day.
Grains/Legumes/Lentils	White rice, wheat flour, urad dal, toor dal	Included – quinoa, millets, black eyed beans, kidney beans, black beans, different types of chickpeas, horse gram, mung beans etc.
Dairy	2% milk & store-bought yogurt	Almond milk and homemade yogurt
Morning Routine	1 cup of 2% milk with coffee and 2 spoons of sugar	Apple Cider Vinegar, ginger, lime with warm water on empty stomach Coffee with almond milk and NO sugar around 2 – 3 pm
Water Consumption	4 Glasses	Up to 8 glasses
Intermittent Fasting	Was unfamiliar with it	Been doing 15 hours of intermittent fasting for the last 10 months
Sprouting	Never sprouted	I do it at least once a week now
Oil	Used only Vegetable or Canola Oil	Added olive oil, avocado oil, sesame oil and coconut oil
Seeds & Nuts	Pistachio, peanuts, almonds, cashews	Introduced: Chia seeds, flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, pecans and walnuts
Breathing Exercise	Never did	Breathing before Bedtime has become a routine. I use breathing techniques during the day if I am stressed out

 

The Result: Entire Family Benefits! 

I introduced the healthy lifestyle to my family and now it has become a habit or practice in our daily life.

 

 

My daughter would always have chapatis, rice with some chicken/ mutton or some veg curry. I started making interesting dishes like wheat pasta with spinach and tomato. I would send photos to Malathy and she would say don’t overcook the spinach, make sure you add it at the end 😊. So the next time I cooked the same dish, I made sure the spinach was not overcooked. I also made dishes like Zucchini noodles.

 

 

My son being away from home and in college for 4 years had gained a lot of weight. When he came home after graduating his goal was to lose weight. He asked me “Mom how much weight can you make me lose in 6 weeks?”. I just threw a number out there and said “20 lbs.”. I just plainly followed what I was taught by Malathy and it worked! At the end of 6 weeks my son lost 23 lbs.!! He’s coming back home for the holidays and would like to lose another 10 lbs., so go Malathy again!!

As for me, I am 10 lbs. lighter (I haven’t seen my current weight in 8 years) as a result of this new healthy lifestyle.

I can go on and on of what the program entailed but I would encourage you to seriously consider looking into the program and see what a significant effect it would have on your lifestyle. Malathy is just an email (healthyindianintheusa@gmail.com) or phone call (+1 405-463-9974) away and I promise you that you won’t regret it!! Her program is highly personalized to meet your specific needs and goals.

 

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