Faced with the task of gaining weight and clicking my BMI ( body mass index) to an acceptable value above 18, I was wondering what was my best move. On the final day of Airforce SSB( services selection board), the board commander incharge for the selection, walked up to the 9 of the selected candidates, his eyes matching the charismatic smile he wore always, and told us with an air of caution " Beware of your weight. They might consider awarding a temporary rejection. Also keep your teeth and ears clean. Pretty much that's all you guys can check up on, except for those of you who smoke consider buying a new pair of filter lungs!". I smiled. But, through that smile was also a fear of how to put on more than 3kg, within 1 month to medicals.
Back home, action prime was to check my current weight. It was 54.5 and plunging. Plunging was an extrapolation I managed considering the kind of food habits I have had to develop at Amrita. It is difficult to serve on repulsive Idly's and smothering fried rice which are presented to you in such specious ways that one tends to underestimate the value of a hotel management degree. As I did my math with information from World health organisation, my knees staggered to see that I needed a good 56 kg plus for an 167cm height, to be awarded a BMI of 19.6.
Scientist in me estimated two ways to achieve the feat. Reduce height, ( gosh, I am already comparatively short enough to be the older brother of kilng klan klung from china!!) or gain weight. Since, my mom was not from kryptonite and my dad never drove a star ship, option one seemed pointless to try.
Thus I embarked on a search for a nutrionist. A doctor who suggests what to eat to keep us healthy but who most likely are the first person you'd meet at the new joint corner paani poori stall hogging voraciously god knows what! Sadly the best reply I ever got from my family contacts were : eat well, that's enough. Although there did surprisingly be a nutrionist who like Einstein, was suggestive of an out of globe idea, of administering a injection ( probably the ones that they breed broiler chicken with!) to "pulp" me up temporarily with "steroids" (sounds familiar? the substance responsible for that extra pack on Schwarzenegger's abs!). I didnt have to answer that; mom did. With her smooth flat NO. A MSc zoologist by education,guess she would have had nightmares seeing her son like a chicken puffed up before killed, walking around her house!
Since, information from the color of undergarments David Beckham wore to work today to the phone number of that hot chick you met at pub yesterday, is available online, the researcher in me decided to find the solution myself.Hard ways pal!. Keywords=" How to gain weight?", were typed in and "search" button pressed to yield "About 33,900,000 results (0.13 seconds)".I was happy. I went wading through data from nutritional value of the ketchup to the oat meal and banana. Soon, I learnt the first law:
First law of gaining weight: " Eat more, work less"
Scientifically confirmed. The more you eat and the more calories you gain, if your expenditure stays limited, the extra calories deposit and show up as weight. Simple, logical and conclusive. The problem was that I was in my last couple of weeks towards my thesis work and it was required of me as the team leader to lead my team with example. Not many of my team mates would be happy to receive ideas from a leader who "hogs like a pig and slogs like a frog". Nevertheless, I had no option than to be a full pig and a part frog. I expressed my concern with my team mates who readily agreed to assist me. But this wasn't enough. Though a nutritious breakfast, I felt weary by 11am. Though a heavy lunch, I felt like drinking 2 cups of tea by 4pm to cease my growl. Though a calculated dinner, I felt empty by my late pee time. Something was to be changed; Second law:
Second law of gaining weight: " Have more smaller meals a day than less larger meals"
Ok, now this one is by observation. the point is to keep your tummy full all times. Eat in variety. My schedule was 8 am breakfast, 11 am brunch, 1pm lunch, 4pm snack, 6pm snack and 8 pm dinner. After first few days, I felt what it feels to be like a mommy with 7 months pregnancy! Full and full. And laziness comes along without effort( remember frog who slogs!).
So, can you go play football until you are tired and sweating or go swim with your friends? Nope. Infact, I had to make a complete change of my exercise routine to suit my goal.
Third law of gaining weight:"Avoid physical activities that works your heart and sweats you"
I am a regular jogger. Play football occasionally and loves weekend swimming. Everything I did was against law three. Result? I could with a little more effort start skeletal observation lab at university! So, I changed to yoga ( basics) as stretching and weight building for those smart biceps and chest! Additionally I was taking protein supplement which required me to work out muscles, to be effective! So, I borrowed a set of gloves and hit gym with dedication of a school going kid. The gym ordained my muscles. Shortly I started to enjoy my biceps and abs through my Tshirts. Weight? Yes, I was putting on weight. Scientifically, If you work your muscles hard enough and provide adequate proteins for its growth and aid it with lots of carbo, they grow with resoluteness.
By the end of month, I was counting on 55kg and up. I could feel my weight on my arms when I do my regular push-ups and pull-ups. I could feel my jean waistline to be more tighter.I started having the incredulous feeling of adjusting to the extra efforts needed to run a mile. Finally I did it. I was around 55.3kg when I reported for the Airforce Medicals.
Now for the hilarious part: The Indian average for 167cm for a BMI of 19 is 56kg. And the army always has a tolerance of 10% to this value. This meant that my initial 54.5kg was well within what I really wanted to get through. Efforts in vain! But then, I learned something valuable: How to perform basic mathematics of addition and subtraction to ones body! Anyways, as a researcher, my problem to find a way to gain weight was successful and by the code of conduct, I share the results I have gathered.
The following list gives the various healthy food combo I have tested ( nutritional values have been used) and accepted as a good meal for the various time slots I had mentioned above. Though I don't stick to many of them today ( I am 57kg and up!!!) I have had a tremendous makeover of my eating habits with this information.
Breakfast: Cornflakes( for Essential vitamins and Iron), Oat meal( with milk and banana flakes), Nuts( cashew nuts, Almonds( HDL cholesterol), dry grapes, pistas: all with Oat meal),
Raw banana( etha pazham; carbo and vitamins)
Brunch: Bread with peanut butter( proteins) and egg( half boiled; Proteins)
Lunch: Kerala rice with curd ( for carbo and good nap!!)
Tea: Bread with mayonees and cheese( amul; fatty one!)( fats and trans fats!)
Snack: Mostly fruits,Protein powder with milk ( after Gym only), fried beans( proteins)
Dinner: Rice with dal and fish pickle( for fat!)
Occasionally I also made up a point to consume chicken and red meat (but these are exchangeable with proper vegetarian substitutes!)
* Note: I used Protein powder of Amway products named " Nutrilite" and found it to be good.
So If your girl friend says that you can get that muscles and look pulp for your height only by joining her for ice creams and pizzas, I would on your behalf say " Diva, check your brains!", because, I am the living proof for you to adopt a healthy eating style and gain weight that lasts. Today, ironically, though I jog for 2.5 km everyday, I still maintain the same weight of 57kg. Thanks to my healthy eating habits and fitness regime. So cram up the three golden laws, choose the right food and be that person who looks in the mirror
and says : " Not bad, I look nice!"
No comments:
Post a Comment