11. FIRST MONTH OF MAKEOVER

MG personally worked on every members workout. A workout plan was designed for each one. i received my email on 8th Jan-2014. A nutritionist was available for few days so that we could get a proper diet for the event. I wasn't too keen on the nutritionist as i was happy with my current dietitian. But still i did visit her and shared my current diet. She was pretty happy with what i was doing. I had never been seriously going to the gym.

My work out plan was as follows:

Monday, Wednesday & Friday - Gymnasium and on

Tuesday & Thursday - Cardio Activity

Saturday - Group Batch. (Yoga, Floor batches like stretching, strengthening, Abdominal, Ground activities, Military Circuit and things like that. All these things were too interesting and very different form of workout.

Here the energy was completely different. All were focused on health and only health. Serious workouts. MG would always be around and ensure that people are working out. GAPPA NAKA MARU (don't just chit chat. :). All the instructors would also be alert.

MG would ask, what are you doing today?? he would make out that one's not in a mood to workout, then he would give a different exercise. Like one day i was bored for the cross-trainer. He said today do 36 surya namaskars. Now i had earlier done them during my Yoga at home, but they were 12 to 16. But that day i realised that i could do 36. He showed that if u are training well you can achieve new heights. It’s always that you need that someone who would tell you that you can do it. MG is the man who showed me that I have the potential and that I should have focus on achieving that.

There were various events organised for the Makeover.

team meeting on 12 jan. our team had around 20 members

all our results would be uploaded online after the end of every months tests.

first event was a cross country. first 10 people who would finish of one team get the max points.

first tests at jan end. Last 3 days of the month end we had to give the tests. it felt like it was like the exams in college.

at the end of the First Month at Jan i was down by more 6 kgs. So at end of Jan i weighed 104 Kgs.

10. MAKEOVER 2014…..

I am a member of PYC where there was a event for 3 months. Mr. Mahendra Gokhale (MG) heads the gymnasium. I had heard about him from many people regarding his way of training for fitness. I had read of makeover a year back about their earlier years event, that too while having a drink at the PYC restaurant I had read on the notice board. But never took it seriously. Ashwin, a dear friend of mine goes to the gym at PYC. I spoke with him about the makeover and he said it’s a great event. Now that I was loosing weight I needed some new target. Anyways I have donated so much to all the high end gym’s of the city, I said might as well give it a try. So I enrolled for the same. It was a 3-month program starting from 1st Jan 2014.  

We had a briefing on 2nd Jan about how are the points calculated and lot of stuff. We had teams and the owners would buy the participants. Something similar to the IPL auction. Well we were all set. We had a set of tests. Like weight, height, BMI, fat percentage, muscle percentile, water content etc. Thanks to my dietitian that I knew these things. With these we also had physical tests. How many pushups and sit-ups in 30 seconds. Thank god I was unaware of this earlier coz I cant even do a single push up. But MG’s main idea was participation should be compulsory. It doesn’t matter how good you are. So there were options of bent knee push ups. Wow that felt great. But I saw it was only the ladies who were doing it in this style and very few guys, like me. But there was lot of motivation during the day zero test. Another flexibility test was there where we had to sit and reach to our toes, which was scaled. And the last was to run and or walk 2.4 kms or choose a blip test. The blip test was to run 25 meters to and fro on the beep. With every level the time of bleep would reduce. So finally when you don’t reach the other side before the bleep you are done. And that’s your score. I didn’t even try this crazy thing and opted for the 2.4 kms.  So during this event called MAKEOVER 2014 I started my journey with 110 kgs.

9. HAPPY NEW YEAR…31st DECEMBER 2013

December, the festival and party time was around. With the same routine I lost another 2 kgs in dec. I was pretty happy and was looking forward to my visit to Dynanada.

On December 23rd I visited her. even though I had lost weight, she was not happy with the result as compared to my earlier visit. My fat percentage was higher than earlier. It was Christmas Eve that evening we had family plans so that my daughter Sara could have some delicacies. Even I wished to eat little yummy food and also looking forward for a lovely New Year celebration which was just a week away.

My new diet was ready and I was asked to visit on 1st January 2014. It was the first time that she had ever called me in 8 days.  I asked for a visit after 3rd Jan, 2014 but she didn't accept it and asked to come that day. So that evening for Xmas eve we took Sara out. She enjoyed a lot. Oh yes I had dinner at home at 8 pm and just accompanied My wife and Sara. One 1st Jan, 2014 I had a visit with Dynanada. So on New Years Eve it was a lovely diet dinner at home with Anjali and Sara. I hit the sack at 10 pm.. IT WAS HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014 @ home sweet home… :)


NEXT UPDATE ON 28TH NOVEMBER, 2014

8. MY FIRST RUN

October 6th 2013, was a marathon organised by Pune running called "Running Beyond Myself". Me, Mukesh and Arun registered for the Marathon. I had never done a single run ever, hence I registered for 3 kms. I was excited to run my first marathon.

On the race day at 6 am I reached and saw that both my friends Arun and Mukesh had registered for 5 kms. Since it was I charity run I asked if I could join my friends and I was allowed. I had never done 3k. I could not run the entire 5k. First 3k I did manage to run. Later I walked a bit and again ran till the finish line. I was amazed that I finished 5 kms in roughly 37 mins. It was a amazing feeling and a great achievement. 

In the pic Arun, Mukesh, me and Ashwin

I  was now Hungry for more......

7. USE OF TECHNOLOGY FOR BETTER HEALTH AND MOTIVATION…

Meanwhile, I was gifted a Jawbone UP by my friend Atul Goel. The Jawbone was a small device, which would fit on the wrist. It was a sleek funky band. It would count on how many steps one would walk. It would also give a amazing analysis on sleep. It would show right from how many hours of deep sleep to light sleep. The target goals was to walk 10,000 steps and eight hours of sleep. This device gave me the main boost towards exercise, which was needed. If I was short of completing my steps, I would  go for a walk in the evening just to complete my target. It would sync with my phone and update me on my stats.

On the phone I started using Run Keeper for my walking. This app gave me the push towards walking more and getting speed. Slowly, we were a group of four friends. Amit and Pavan also joined me and Arun. In my group we have more than 10 friends with Jawbone’s. We use to encourage each other, push, boost and applaud on performances. Every 15 days I would visit the dietitian and she would analyse my results and accordingly make changes to my food. This jawbone was the key. I was totally hooked on to that. The main target was to complete 10k steps, come what may.

On 2nd December 2013, I was 112 kgs. So in 3 months I had lost 11 kgs with a diet plan given by Dynanada Chitale. To compliment to my Golf and morning walks. In total it was from 131.5 to 112 that’s like 19.5 kgs.

Every friday I will update this blog," My Health Journey"

6. “D.C.” MY LIFE CHANGER….EAT MORE LOSE MORE… BUUUUT EAT CORRECT AND ON TIME !!

DC (Dilip Chabbria) is a brand in India who modifies cars and gives it a great look, luxury and comfort. Well the DC who modified my life completely is Dnyanada Chitale, my Nutritionist

In July 2013 my wife Anjali started visiting a dietician-Dnyanada Chitale. She had seen good results in less than 2 months. She was behind me to visit her. I could never keep up to a diet. But  my weight was at a stand still and it was getting frustrating. So finally, I agreed and we had a visit to the nutritionist. 2nd September, 2013 was my first visit where my weight was the same since November 2012 at 123.6 kgs. After a few questions and analysing all the figures of Fat, muscle and water percentage she prepared a diet plan. 

The diet was meant to be followed entirely (strictly about what to eat, when to eat and how much to eat). She took a note of my daily routine and accordingly my meal timings were decided.  Like starting from morning with eating dry fruits, tea and biscuit then for breakfast few parathas and every 2 hours something till the end of the day.

I realized that I was having more food than my early diet. As per the diet plan for lunch, I was to have 3 phulkas (indian bread) without oil. I never ate more than 2. All meals were spread equally throughout the day. At the end of the month I had lost 3 kilos, which got me to 120. Now I was excited to loose more. I could not wait. ....

Next update on 7th November, 2014

5. WALKING IS GOOD FOR HEALTH BUT WHAT NEXT

(Arun, me n Amit- Thanks guys for your support)

I used to weigh myself everyday. October 2012 I was 125 kgs. So i was around 6 kgs down in 3 months. Slowly I realised that company would be great for walking. My wife Anjali would be busy getting our kid Sara ready for her nursery school. She would later go for a walk after 8 am once Sara was on the bus. I had to catch up with work around 10 am so had to go early around 6:30. So i thought of getting a few friends walking. Arun Gupta (left of mickey in pic) was in and was keen to join. I didn't ask him earlier because he lived in pcmc area, which is 8 kms from the university area where i stay. Arun had gym on alternate days. So thrice a week i had company. Amit Gandhi (right of me in pic) also joined us. Now i had company too. I got a Yoga tutor at home for the other 3 days. So alternate days walk and Yoga.  From November I started yoga. On 5th November 2012 i was 123 kgs.

All continued well. Since i was not following any diet, there was no change in my weight for the next 10 months with walking and Yoga. The best achievement so far was that I was off booze completely. Now it was time to meet a good Nutritionist for better results. I had visited one earlier but couldn't follow.


!!! Every Friday I would be updating My Health Journey..!!! 

4. ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER !!! lets start somewhere

So the next morning I pulled up my socks, put on my sports shoes, shorts n tee and off for a walk. I started with a kilometre, of which i felt good at least to start. Few days i started going regularly with my morning walks. Well, with no exercise for many years walking also felt like a great activity. I did get up early mornings and moved out of the house. With no serious Diet I continued my walks. Slowly in a month I started walking for 45mins and would cover 3 kilometers.

To my surprise I managed to be off booze completely. I use to accompany my friends for their evening drinks, but would have a juice. I knew that a drink would not harm me. I was a heavy drinker and after 3-4 large drinks I would get a feel of it. So i thought what's the point in having a drink if its not gonna give me a kick. My friends would offer me which i used to refuse (was too too tempting). No one forced me. They all accepted my decision of quitting and supported me. In the new house I had a lovely bar, where I had  a pretty good collection of whiskeys, rum, vodkas across the world. All was set for near n dear ones, but i myself could not enjoy it. All my friends love the bar and would enjoy drinking there. I am the bartender at Nirvana...


!!! Every Friday I would be updating My Health Journey..!!! 

03. THE ALARM RANG !!!!

Now this was too damn scary. At 34 how can I have health issues? My daughter has not even started going to school. During all this my wife Anjali knew exactly everything as she was with me during my doctors visit. So i decided I will start losing weight. But how… was the million Dollar question. I decided to quit drinks. Well from inside i knew i wouldn’t be able to hold on to that decision.

I had earlier lost 22 kilos (107 kgs to 85 kgs) at age of 17. That was with aerobics, gym and running a max of 2-3 kms. Well that weight also came back after few years. Then at the time of my wedding at 26  i lost 15 kilos (117 to 102). So i knew i had done some good weight loss in the past. But now things were different. I had my right knee injured during a road accident on the bike in 1995. Carrying so much of weight all my life would have made my knee joints more weak, damaged and obviously injury prone too. With so much weight i had back pain. While sitting and getting out of a chair would also be very painful. So i had to ensure that I take it easy, but seriously i had to do something outstanding. Didn't know what target should be set for my weight. My doc said that for my height of 6 feet i needed to be around 85 kgs. Well that looked like a huge mountain where the target flag was not visible from where I was.... So where to start and how???


!!! Every Friday I would be updating My Health Journey..!!! 

02. EAT DRINK AND BE MERRY!!!!

EAT DRINK AND BE MERRY!!!!

On 4th August, 2012 I had a health check up which showed that I have high Uric Acid and Cholesterol and Fatty Liver. On 6th August, 2012 I visited my Family physician and I was advised to have a lifestyle change. He asked me to lose weight or with my BMI (40.1) i would have to undergo bariatric surgery. That was when the alarm rang. Didn't know where to start. With 131.5 Kilos at age 34, I didn't know what, how and where.. The only activity I did was playing golf, but that wasn’t enough.

April, 2012

Am a person who loves partying, drinking, smoke cigars, late nights, high calorie foods. I have so many social circles with whom I would go out for dinner and drinks. Enjoying my drinks and food. Twice or thrice a week I would be out for dinners. Sometimes families and sometimes only guys. And the worst was that I could never say no to anyone. I had a very unhealthy lifestyle that could take me to my peak of 131.5 kgs (which i was unaware, till I stood on the scale on 6th august, 2012 at my doc’s clinic. The last i had weighed was 122 kgs few months b4 that)

So I had to lose some serious weight.. hmmmm so where to start….. what to do….

So I came home and the first thing I did was Google, to calculate my BMI. Well i did that and yes my BMI was 40 and with that it read as follows:

BMI is over 40 (Obese Class 3 : Morbid Obesity)

With a BMI of 40+ you have an extremely high risk of weight-related disease and premature death. Indeed, you may have already been suffering from a weight-related condition. For the sake of your health it is very important to see your doctor and get specialists help for your condition.


!!! Every Friday I would be updating My Health Journey..!!! 

01. SOMETHING ABOUT ME

Hello Readers.

March, 2011

This blog is to share my health journey. I am Rahul Mundada. I live in Pune, India. Am 36, married, with two children (daughter's 6 years and my son is 13 days old). 

Its been a great and exciting journey that i am going through. I hope this brings motivation to lots of readers to change towards a healthy life..

This is my first blog and would appreciate your feedback and support ...

Cheers To Healthy Living :)

!!! Every Friday I would be updating My Health Journey..!!!