Women and their weight loss tamasha by Rujuta Diwekar

When I was little my father told me your stomach can digest only small quantity of food at a time (quantity as big as your fist). So eat less but frequently. I did exactly that. Now that I am in the US and cook my own food I understand the kind of hassle my mother went through to make those many snack items for me. I eat after every 2 to 3 hours and never follow any other dieting fads at all (like cabbage soup diet, not eating sugar or certain type of foods etc). When I look at other people getting thinner and so called fitter with these type of diets I get confused, am I eating too often? Am I silly to not follow something that I see is working for others?

Fresh home cooked food every day is always very high in my priority list. It takes a lot of planning and organization skills to do that. People who do that are 'undercover cooks' as this does not go anywhere on their performance reviews or seen as an achievement at the end of the year. This is the age of instant/ ready to cook/ fast food. I am muddled at times thinking why should I spend so much time on planning and cooking my meals and not opt for the ready made option? I must be stupid to do that....

I try to exercise everyday for 30 to 45 minutes never more than that. When I see people working out for 2 hours a day I feel how is my 45 minutes going to help me in losing weight?

For all my confusions the only answer is Rujuta Diwekar. Her books give me the confidence that I am on a track that can actually work. There is no point in eating sugar free ice creams if you end up eating 3 at a time. Eat the non sugar free ice cream, just turn off all the surrounding sounds while you eat and listen to your stomach because it might be screaming after the 10th byte that I am full. Her books motivate me, give me tips on improvement, reassure my faith in not having faith on the crash diet plans, encourage me to spend time in making meals and not going overboard with the exercise regime.

This book is specially meant for women and their weight issues at different phases of their lives. Teen/ single/ married/ pregnant/ post delivery/ with kids/ thyroid/ fibroids/ menopause - solution on weight gain in every phase and every problem is covered in the book. I am no exception to being a tamasha queen when it comes to the matters of weight and weight loss. So I could relate to the tamasha examples she writes about and found it super funny. I loved the book.

(Rujuta Diwekar is the dietician/ nutrition instructor of many film personalities)