Weight Loss books are such a rage these days. The problem of obesity has engulfed the entire world and weight loss is the first thing on everyone’s mind. I am no exception. Post birth of my daughter, I have been trying to lose weight inconsistently. I work hard on losing weight for few days and then lose the enthusiasm and want to break the short lived rules and bust my own temporary weight loss plan.
I think the first thing that makes the book ‘Don’t lose your mind, lose your weight’ different and better than many of other contemporary books is that it takes a ‘new’ approach towards weight loss and healthy living. It is probably the only book that tells you to EAT TO LOSE WEIGHT.
Rujuta has done total justice to food by saying that no food is harmful or bad. All foods are good. Just that the goodness or the badness of a food depends on how and how much we eat it. It explains the nutrients – carbs, proteins, fats and vitamins. And also foods that provide these nutrients to our body. The whole book is full of wisdom from ‘what to eat’ to ‘how to eat’ but the main feature of the book is the four principles that Rujuta preaches.
Below are some of the weight loss tips from Rujuta’s book ‘Don’t Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight’:
1. The weight that a weighing scale tells you is not your real status of health. Our body weight is made up of 2 parts – the fat weight and the lean body weight. The former is the fat while the latter is the weight of our bones and muscles. A weighing scale the weight of the body and not the fat. For eg. Serena Williams weighs more than a FTV model but Serena is far fitter than the models.
2. If you must eat chips and fried foods make them at home and fry them. You will use good oil and eat your food hot, so they will taste better and also be more nutritious. Since this is a long process you will land up doing this maybe once a fortnight or so.
3. Just as everyone is different, everyone’s diets have to be different too. Don’t try someone else’s regime. Exercise is non-negotiable. Unless you exercise, you will never see enough of a result, despite all your good eating habits.
4. Be nice to your stomach. If you want to lose weight, savour every bit of what you eat, slowly and mindfully, and you will naturally find your threshold. All you need to train yourself to do, is to be attentive to your stomach.
5. 5 Basic Rules To Increase Nutrient Intake –
Eat food that is prepared fresh. Consume your food within 3 hours of cooking. Never deep freeze your food.
The smaller the number of people the food is cooked for, the better its nutrient level. More the people, the earlier you start preparing the food and the greater the quantity of the food, the more oil and heat it requires.
Eat your vegetables and fruits whole instead of cutting them into pieces, because you lose vitamins from the surface. The larger the exposed area, the more the loss of nutrients.
Remain loyal to your genes and eat what you have been eating since childhood. Right from the time you are in your mother’s womb, your body is used to eating, digesting and assimilating certain foods.
As much as possible, eat local produce and seasonal fruits. Mangoes are great in the summer. Eat them just once a day as a mini meal in themselves, and they will give you a season’s supply of antioxidants.
6. Compare the nutrient to calorie ratio. A paneer parantha is always better than a pizza. When it comes to food, think of nutrients and not calories.
7. Carbs are very important for day to day activity. So you should not cut down on carbs. In the absence of carbs, fat can not be utilized for energy. Point is to choose low carb food. Low carb foods are fibreous in nature. For eg. brown rice, jowar, bajra etc. For carbs that are high on GI (glycemic index) for eg. white rice, sugar, you must reduce the load. The best time to eat high GI food is post exercice.
8. When to eat fruits? – as the first thing in the morning on an empty stomach or immediately after physical exercise. Any time aside from this, the body converts the fructose from the fruits into triglycerides. Have fruits as whole and not as juice.
9. We need protiens. They provide our body with adequate amino acids. Proteins that should be eaten are – egg whites, milk products, lentils, sprouts, nuts and soy.
10. Fats are of two types – Saturated (solid at room temperature) and Unsaturated (liquid at room temperature). In saturated fats, ghee and milk products is the best of all as it contains short chain fatty acids which are easy to digest and promote good health. Long chain fatty acids as found in animal fats damage cardiovascular health and are hard to digest.
11. Unsaturated fats are of three types – Mono Unsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFA), Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA) and Trans fats. MUFA are in olive oil, rice bran oil and peanut oil and is great for moisturizing skin. PUFA comes in two forms – omega 3 and omega 6 and we all know the benefits of these.
12. Trans fat is the fat that is used in preserving food and gives it texture. This is to be avoided.
13. The MOST IMPORTANT part of the book – Four principles of eating right:
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| Four principles of eating right |
- Never wake up to tea or coffee in the morning. Instead eat real food within 10 to 15 minutes of waking up. When we sleep, our blood sugar levels drop in the night. In the morning our liver stores are almost empty. So our blood sugar is low and it’s our responsibility to bring this up to an optimum level. Low blood sugar is also a reason why we feel ‘low’ in the morning. Eat real food. This kicks in the action of insulin, which is secreted by the body as a response to an increase in blood sugar levels. The stimulants provided through tea and coffee increase blood sugar levels but provide zero nutrition to the cells that have been starving for the last 9-10 hrs.
- Eat every 2 hours. Eating every 2 hrs will lead to a conducive environment in the body to burn fat and thus fewer calories get converted to fat and we get a flatter stomach and no need to hold on to fat stores.
- Eat more when you are more active and less when you are less active. We need to up our eating during high demand periods and cut down when relaxing. No food is fattening. You have to be just smart enough to choose the right time to eat it. Eating more when you are more active will make your body an effective calorie burner which will increase the metabolic rate of your body and helps you to lose weight more effectively.
- Finish your last meal at least 2 hrs prior to sleeping. In the night, cells are naturally not very sensitive to energy or nutrients as they don’t really need much so if you overload your stomach most of it will get wasted or converted to fat. If you want no stretch marks or want to reduce the ones you already have, eat 2 hrs before bedtime.
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| Some notes from the book |
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| A sample diet chart |
The book many more such enlightening facts and suggestions that take us on a journey of healthy living and good eating. I just wish the book was written in a more concise and proper English language. I often find the language too crass and that, for a while, takes away the charm of reading a weight loss, non-fiction book. Also, I agree Rujuta is the official dietician of Kareena Kapoor but what is the point in mentioning Kareena in the book atleast 20 times! and then dedicating a whole appendix on Kareena’s Tashan. Moreover, I didn’t like Kareena’s body in Tashan and probably she herself didn’t too which is why she became ‘normal’ in her later movies.
Nevertheless, ‘Don’t lose your mind, lose your weight’ is a wonderful book that teaches you to treat food with respect and make the most of it.
This is a book that should be read every time you lose track with your body and is a MUST READ book.
I need it desperately…thanks for the review and sharing the highlights of the book. I am seriously thinking about being healthy now. Thank You Surabhi darling…
please send this pdf to me, at deepshikhamore@yahoo.com. waiting for reply.
Hi surbhi di.. I m unable to mail u.. Whenever m tryng to mail u, i recieve a mail sayng delivery failed. Plz provide me correct mail id.
Oh no Barsha.. so sorry. Pls email me at Womanatics at gmail dot com
My pleasure Sarab! 🙂 The book indeed motivates you to live a healthy life.
Hi Surabhi,
Have you read 'Women and the weight loss tamasha' by Rujuta ?
If not, just read it, n i m sure u'll love it, I personally recommend it for every women not only for the diet factor, but for the psychological approach of it for our bodies, it beautifully covers all the stages and roles of women and emphasizes on making us love ourselves,helping us being ourselves. Waiting for another book review 🙂
Hey,, naah.. I havent read it.. but going by this book.. I can say that I would love her next book as well. And hopefully, I should be able to post another review soon.. 😀
Sounds interesting, I just like the sample diet chart in the post it looks so yummy diet chart I have ever seen.
Ha ha ha..! Indian food you know.. 🙂
Glad you liked it.
Surabhi you have given all the gyan so precisely & comprehensively –where is the need to go for the book?
Hey Indu.. aha..! what a comment.. I read it and got a smile on my face :-* thankyouuu.. how have you been? Its been long time.
I have read this book too 🙂
It really helped to change my mind about food!
Great Review 🙂
Yeah.. the book is indeed path breaking.. 🙂 I am glad that someone has written a sensible book.
Well, I do not think the diet she prescribes in the book is that good. Nor is it very practical to eat 8 times a day for a working woman- 4 or 5 is more like it. And mad stuff like eating dessert first hing in the morning- who on earth does that?! Also the much repeated claims on animal fat clogging your arteries- well, I'm not buying it. I had a granma who used to eat meat on a daily basis and lived healthily till 97. It is your overall lifestyle that matters.
Having said that, the book does have a sensible approach towards dieting. Way better than the ones that say "avoid carbs like the plague", eat "fat free" and eat insane amounts of protein.
Hi, I don't think comparing out lives with our previous generation is a good idea either. They used to eat stomach full yet they never deposited fat because they used to work a lot. And you are right. Lifestyle matters a lot but at the same time, with so much of our life now taken by technology, a little caution over food is necessary in my opinion.
Hi surabhi….thank you for the review of this book….i am planning to buy the book…but does it gives information about exercise in detail….because all I have read is what and when and how much to eat.
Nice to see this kind of interesting information and Its really cool one to consider.
Thanks a lot for your help on this. I look forward to reading more articles from you!
Natural Weight Loss tips | Weight Loss Program in Chennai
Hiii….thanx for the information… I order the book…this is very inspiring… I wish I would have known about it before… but it's never too late to be what you might have been… thanx once again.
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Hiii….thanx for the information… I order the book…this is very inspiring… I wish I would have known about it before… but it's never too late to be what you might have been… thanx once again.
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Hi Preeti,
Glad you liked the article. Better late than never! 🙂
i have also read the book in 1st month of my pregnancy and surly its helped me eating healthy food, many habits i have changed after reading book. its really motivating book… read it fully before giving any negative comment.
Hi,Thanks a lot for this information,this book is a revolution in itself! Bringing back all good things in our culture ….thanks
Hi,Thanks a lot for this information,this book is a revolution in itself! Bringing back all good things in our culture ….thanks
hey this is really helpful for me.please mail me pdf of this.
Ravina, I don’t have its pdf.
amazing book. pl. email this book at mridula.13@gmail.com.
Thanks. your review is very helpful
Hi Surabhi
Will u be sending the pdf of this book free of cost on email ..pls confirm
Hi Saumya, I do not have the pdf of the book. I don’t know how come some readers started talking about the pdf.