Weight gain makes a lot of people lose out on their confidence and face rejection, which can be very hard to deal with. For a homemaker, Bhavani, the struggle was all too real. However, she decided to take it in her stride and lose weight for good.To know how she did it, read her story here:Name: Bhavani RaghukandanOccupation: Homemaker

Age: 31 yearsCity: Trivandrum

Highest weight recorded: 104.5 kilos

Weight lost: 32 kilos

Duration it took me to lose weight: 9 months. I started in June 2018 and reached my goal weight of 72 kilos by the end of January 2019.

The turning point: It had been bothering me for quite some time that my BMI was too high. I lost a few kilos of my post-pregnancy weight after stopping breastfeeding but still couldnt reach the healthy BMI range. I had tried many diets but none of them seemed to work. One day I came across a book about the paleo diet. When I read it, I thought, one more diet, why not try it and see. The first weekend of starting the paleo diet along with the gym, I saw that I had lost 1.4 kilos solid. It became the lifeboat I had been struggling to lay my hands on.My breakfast: 30 almonds or a cup of milk along with two boiled eggs. Some days I eat a cheese omelet with 2 eggs.

My lunch: I usually eat one big bowl of mixed vegetable gravy or soup, topped with some nuts and butter. I make it a point to add greens in my lunch in some way or the other.

My dinner: One bowl of seasonal salad, one cup of homemade greek yogurt and a dry paneer gravy. Some days I take to the traditional route of having a bowl of sabzi and eggs.

I love eating dairy products. That being one of the major staples of this diet, I dont feel the craving to cheat, since Im a lot happier with my meals than before.

My workout: I work out in the gym for 1.5 hours to 2 hours daily, 5 days a week. In the beginning, I was only doing functional training and 40 minutes of cardio every day. Once my weight reached down to 75 kilos, my trainer switched my regime to include weight training and targeting specific muscle groups with 20 minutes of cardio every day. I also like to do a bit of yoga for flexibility and some basic breathing exercises, in the morning.

Low-calorie recipes I swear by: More than the calories, my diet completely went for an overhaul. I gave up the intake of any form of sugar and deep-fried items. Anything prepared in maida is a strict no-no.

How do I stay motivated? I have a photo of the before me on my phone. Whenever I feel low, I just look at that. Thats enough to get me to stop lazing around and head to the gym. Plus, after one year of training in the gym, I also participated in a competitions held there and to my surprise, I won a year's worth of membership! I laminated that certificate and have kept that in the room. That pushes me to go workout harder even on my lowest day.How do you ensure you dont lose focus? For so many years, all that my parents and I wanted was for me to lose weight. Standing on a weighing machine and checking my weight was the most nightmarish thing anyone could ask me to do back then. Once I started seeing weight loss in the same machine, I didn't want to stop now. Working out has become such a part of my daily routine now and missing even one day immediately puts my day off.

I have this practice of checking my weight first thing Monday morning every week. The weight I see on the scale now is enough to make me focus throughout the entire week.Whats the most difficult part of being overweight? Before this, life was difficult. Not being able to do even small physical activities easily like climbing up the stairs without feeling the need to stop in between and take a breath or getting up from the floor without support was daunting. I didnt even feel like walking down the street to buy something. Plus, I had to choose the clothes that fit my size rather than from the clothes I actually liked.

Go here to read the rest:
Weight loss: Paleo diet made this mom lose 32 kilos in 9 months! Here's how - Times of India