‘My waistline is 20 inches slimmer’

Syed Bilal Ahmar has just started making his shopping list. Is the 22-year-old not a bit late for the party season?

No. For the student of Malla Reddy College of Pharmacy, festivities have started only now.

“Last week, I checked my weight. I was 73 kg. My waistline is 20 inches slimmer. I need to buy new clothes. Lots of them,” says the very happy A.S. Rao Nagar resident, who weighed 153 kg in 2012.
“I was diagnosed with stomach ulcers in November 2011. My doctor asked me to control my weight (which was 140 kg).”

Out of fear, Syed went on a self-planned diet and had one meal a day for a month. “I became weak and gave up dieting and in 6-7 months, I had become huge — 153 kg.”

A shocked Syed consulted a doctor again who suggested that he adopt a 1,200-calorie diet. “I then Googled and combined the best of the various 1,200-calorie plans.

“So, I would eat an apple, orange and drink unsweetened lemon water before going to college. For lunch and dinner, I would eat two phulkas and a curry with moderate oil. I would have a whole-wheat sandwich for snacks,” says Syed, admitting that he did cheat at times.

After three months of dieting, he was back to 140 and felt active. That’s when he picked up a badminton racket and lost 10 more kg in three months.

He would also rely on Android apps Fitness Pal and Calorie Counter to check on calorie intake. The next impetus came to him during his Ooty visit. “We trekked up and down the hill for one week and I lost 3 kg.” On his return, he joined a gym and lost 40 kg in seven months.

What kept him going? “Self-motivation and my family’s support. Results were showing, that’s why I never thought of using supplements or drugs.”