'Hey, you seem to have lost oodles of weight! What you doing gurl?' Something like this is sure to make any woman feel simply out of the world, though the usual reply will be - 'Aah, nothing. Have I lost any...really!!!' And you might as well guess the amount of effort being put in by our pretty lass :).

And meeting someone after ages and then getting to hear something like - 'You have gained a little...not much...just a little bit!' Believe you in me, the world comes crashing down and you stare at your reflection in your bedroom mirror, promising to exercise, hit the local gym, control your cravings (minus those for chocolates... after all they are mood-up lifters!) - in short do all you possibly can to get rid of the flab. And you even do that and again after few days, the motivation is down to zero and you are your old sweet chubby self again :)). I, too, have all these people cribbing about their weight... rather the extra weight! At times, I, too, feel the urgent need of shedding as many possible kilos.. er pounds... (offfo whatever!) and register at this nearby gym right away. When I make my first dash in there (this first dash being twice in two consecutive years!), I am this highly motivated being determined on achieving the so-called hour glass figure... and this state of my mind continues for at least two weeks (simply because they promise results will show only then!). Then I take my weight again... no significant loss :((( (I guess the only loss in the world everyone looks forward to!); and I, too, am back to my old sweet chubby self :D.

OKKK... I know all you fitness freaks out there will just not buy whatever I just shared and ask me not to give in too quickly and still exercise and all! But first give me that motivation or better still, reserve a treadmill (or stepper... or at least a cycle) for me every morning from the kitty party beauties who walk on them at their leisure discussing (read gossipping X-( ) about their grown-up intolerable children, good-for-nothing husbands and nasty moms in-law! Trust me, a few days more out there and I can even write a novella! Though this is not the only reason, I don't like the gym. The bigger one is that I don't enjoy it :((. I'd rather play basketball for four hours at a stretch (it's been years since I was younger...sigh.. and did that ), rather than run on a static treadmill or cover 5 kilometers on a cycle that takes me nowhere!!!

Now because I cannot do that, I follow the other methods - walking a lot, insisting on taking stairs, reducing the proportion with the time of day etc etc. Yeah... right... all those weight-loss techniques written and designed for lazy-lumps like me! :D. I enjoy them more. And when nothing works, I talk to Shivani (yupp... my sweet little sister) and she goes on to tell me about the cakes she baked the other day and how much were her newly-tried biscuits appreciated last week. She usually ends up on a note that she is going to make some pav-bhaaji or french fries... basically something to eat! Or else, I have my friend for solace, who will crib about how she seems to be gaining a kg by the day. Of course, she eats so little and only binges on the left-overs from her 2 year old daughter and I totally agree with her. With us, even the air around us carries the dreaded calories! I am serious!!!

And when nothing works, I walk up to my closet, take that dress out that flatters me... try it on and stand in front of my bedroom mirror, marvelling at the beautiful reflection I see and wonder at the amount of time and effort my creator spent on me :)). Not joking... seriously! I smile at myself and this smiling self in front oozes back in me my confidence, making me forget all those 'weighty issues' :))) ! Try it once.... you will fall in love with yourself all over again :)