I hit 99!

That is not a cricket score.

When I was a kid, I was tall and skinny. My mother, as an encouragement, told me that I could start wearing long trousers, like all my heroes, the minute I hit 100 lbs (45.36kg), as we still in the British system then.

1948: Standing in the driveway
in our Mysore home

I was stuck on 99 lbs for a long time, even though we had a great cook who did his best to try and tip me over that critical mark with Bombay Toast, pancakes, masala doasia, bondas, and other mouth-watering sweets.

I finally made it and got my long trousers and never looked down again at my skinny wobbly knees.

The reverse is true now. Two years ago I was 120 kg (264.55 lbs). I had a sort of competition set up with my two daughters as to which one of us would drop down below 100 kg (220.46 lbs). It was a sort of unfair competition as my daughters would not reveal their weights, so I had to accept their word!!


2002: Susanna and Joanna just before
we started our informal weight loss club

As you know, once I make up my mind to achieve something, I go at it with hammer and tongs. I was walking between 2 and 3 hours every day that the weather permitted. I kept my pulse rate at over 140 for most of my walking time. I ate normally, but cut out my favourites - crisps (except when picking Samuel from school, as we both loved to get our hands greasy in the crisp packet). No chocolates, no sweets, and especially no condensed milk!

Slowly and steadily over the last six months the weighing scale was going down. Then, I decided I would not watch the scale for a few weeks.

Last weekend, when I visited a supermarket, there was a person who was measuring fat content and calculating the BMI Index.

My fat value had been over 35, even after my intensive workouts in the gym over a year ago. My Body Mass Index (BMI) was also abnormally high, being over 35. I dared to take the test. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my fat value had dropped to 31.1% (normal for me should be around 25%, preferably around 20%) and my BMI was also down significantly to just 29.4, down from my high of over 35.

So yesterday, I decided to take my weight.

Lo and behold, the scale was down to 99 kgs (218.26 lbs) with all my clothes on - which means possibly a couple of kg lower in my birthday dress. (At the new weight my BMI is just 27.7 and I am still overweight by about 10 kgs or 22 lbs!)

Given that my weighing scale is notoriously inaccurate when it shows weights above 100 kg, I will have to verify this value sometime today when I go to the Railway Station where they have one of those heavy duty weighing machines.

But I was excited. As my two daughters were having a pow pow session in Newcastle, Susanna and Asha having gone up to visit Joanna, Samuel and Daniel, I sent a celebration (for me) text message to Joanna.

I haven't had a reply as yet, but I am sure both of them will be thrilled!! :-)

Happy birthday, Susanna, and wish you another great year of dieting, but for heaven's sake stay away from that Atkins ho-ha.

Walk and walk well, and eat less - that is the best steady cure to the battle of the bulge. And I feel just great for a doddering old man.