‘Healthy mind lives in a healthy body’, goes the age-old saying. And gaining too much weight can be a sign of unhealthiness. While it is easy to gain weight, it is not that easy to shed it. It requires consistency and determination. Most of the people give up in between and some never start waiting for the ‘tomorrow’, which of course never arrives.
For all those who are waiting for their weight loss journey to begin one day can draw strength and inspiration from the IPS officer Vivek Raj Singh. In the course of two years, the overweight officer lost 43 kgs and thereby proved that no goal is impossible if you are disciplined and self-motivated.
Presently posted as DIG in the Chhatarpur Range of Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Singh spoke with Indian Masterminds about his weight loss and how he was inspired by his wife to achieve this feat.
Being fat became normal to me
In a social media post, Mr. Singh mentioned that he weighed more than 80 kgs when he was in class 8th. Mostly people called him chubby and considered him cute which led him believe that he was quite normal. But weight gain continued, and in 2006 when he entered the National Police Academy for his training as an IPS officer, he carried a weight of whopping 134 kilograms. He had entered the zone of obesity was now obvious to him.
In the training period which lasts for 46 weeks, Mr Singh managed to lose around the 30 kg.
This success gave courage to him. As he told Indian Masterminds, “This made me believe that it is not impossible to loose weight. But then I got my posting in my parent cadre Bihar. In those initial years, I again put on weight and reached over 138 kg in 2012-13. In between, I lost 8-9 kgs during my postings in the Naxalist affected district of Bihar but not more than that. After few years, I started believing I might have to live with the weight of 130 kg and got used to it”.
Currently, Mr. Singh is posted in Madhya Pradesh on an inter-cadre deputation. Interestingly, he is the only officer to serve in three cadres. In Bihar, he was posted in district like Aurangabad and Lakhisarai. Then after getting married to IAS officer (Varnali Deka), he was transferred to Assam-Meghalaya cadre.
Not controlling the portion was my fault
The senior IPS officer describes himself as the food lover. He never liked food to be wasted so, he used to eat whatever was served in his plate without controlling the quantity. Also, he never hesitated in eating junk food and this became a major reason for his weight gain.
Inspired by wife
When asked about the inspiration for his weight loss, he replied without hesitation, “My wife has been my biggest inspiration. She lost her 26 kgs of post-pregnancy weight gain by just walking. This motivated me but I never pursued it seriously till the 2019. I was maintaining my weight of 130 kg and was diagnosed with hypertension Seeing the scale and my medical condition, I realised that this is the high time I should go about losing the extra kilos.”
Mindful eating and walking
Mr. Singh says his love for food was such so he couldn’t stay away from it for long. So he didn’t opt for dieting, but started controlling his portions on plate. He describes it as mindful eating. “I didn’t quit my favourites like pizza and chats. I just made sure that I remain calories deficit and am not eating too many heavy meals in a day. I didn’t want to crave for my favourites, so this was the best thing I could do. Then, I supported it with walking almost 50 thousands steps each day. This feat was not achieved in one day but gradually I was able to complete it. I started with 10 k steps and walked everywhere possible.”
Mr Singh also said that one should always set a goal and then plan the strategy- whether it’s for losing weight or for any other accomplishment. With discipline and consistency, he has achieved goal, and now weighs a healthy 87 kiolgram. He is continuing his weight loss & fitness journey.
And yes, he no longer takes the medication for hypertension.
