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Uma Suresh’s Magnificent Transformation Story

Habil

April 30, 2021

Name Uma SureshTransformation Story

Age 27

Weight now 66 kg

Weight then 78 kg

Lost 12 kg in 6 months

Uma has struggled with her weight for as long as she can remember. It was only after giving birth to her first child did she cross over from chubby to obese.

“I’m a foodie and not too fond of exercise. After my delivery, I could not stick to a diet and exercise plan, so I never lost my post-pregnancy weight. Emotionally, I was on a downward spiral and in dire need of motivation,” she recalls.  

Uma spent a lot of time reading up on healthy diets and calorie counting for weight loss. “I read many articles in which I learnt about the importance of counting calories to lose weight. However, I could never find the calorific content of certain South Indian dishes that I cook at home on a regular basis; until I downloaded HealthifyMe”, she says.  

‘I found the calorie count for all the Indian foods I enjoy eating, on HealthifyMe’

At first, Uma was encouraged to use the app as it featured the calorie counts of all  Indian dishes, including the traditional items she cooked at home. Tracking her meals regularly helped her keep track of the number of calories she was consuming, whilst providing its nutritional value. The features of the app impressed her, and led her to sign up for a free trial session with fitness coach Meenakshi Subramanian and found herself in sync with Meenakshi’s goals and plans for her weight loss.

“Meenakshi offered valuable advice and helped me understand what kind of exercises are good for my body, given my current situation. The bond I formed with her made me opt for a premium plan”, she says. She started training under Meenakshi, her fitness trainer and Subhasri, her dietician, in August 2015. “Aside from providing me with a customised diet and workout regime, Meenakshi and Subhasri checked up on me regularly. They motivated me every time I was low and ensured I stuck on to the right track”, says Uma.

Meenakshi recalls how Uma was extremely anxious to lose weight when she signed up. “Uma felt that losing weight while taking care of a small baby was going to be a challenge, especially because she couldn’t sign up for a gym membership or exercise class, as she didn’t have any help”, says Meenakshi.

‘Home-based exercise programmes and controlled portion sizes did the trick’

A regular day for Uma began with a glass of lukewarm water with a dash of lemon or apple cider vinegar. She followed it up with a green smoothie and breakfast at 9.30 am which was usually muesli with a cup of milk or a wheat paratha and 1 katori sabzi. Her mid-morning snack included zero-calorie green tea. Lunch at 1.30 pm comprised of 2 chapatis/1 katori brown rice, 1 katori sabji and 1 katori dal. She sipped on a cup of green tea and munched on a handful of nuts at 3.30 pm.

Her evening workout was followed by a glass of milk or sprout salad. Dinner was simple – soups with lean protein like chicken or fish, stir-fried vegetables or 1 katori sabzi and a paratha. She made sure she had a glass of milk before heading to bed.

Since I was eating something throughout the day, I didn’t feel hungry. My dietician, Subhasri advised me to watch my portion sizes, consume less oil & salt, and avoid sugar in any form”,  says Uma.

Housebound because of the baby, Meenakshi designed a home-based 4-week workout plan for Uma. “I sent her level-based plans. Since strength and endurance is extremely low after delivery, my aim was to build up her strength. So we began with extremely basic workouts,” says Meenakshi.

The morning workout was designed to be fairly simple – Surya Namaskar, squats and other basic exercises, whereas, evening workouts included Zumba and weight training. “It wasn’t easy but I slowly got used to it. I increased the time I spent on my feet, and was motivated to go up to 10,000 steps a day. Over time, I hit the 15,000-step mark, which really fired my enthusiasm,” says Uma.

post-pregnancy weight lossSince Uma was very strict with her diet and her workout, she lost 3 kg in the first month, which gave a big boost to her confidence. By switching levels of exercise over time, walking more, sticking to a healthy diet and breastfeeding, she was able to lose weight consistently over a period of six-months.

‘HealthifyMe motivated me to push my limits

Uma recalls that although it was a difficult beginning, her coaches never let her give up. “I was added to a Whatsapp group with new mothers who were also trying to lose post-pregnancy weight. They shared their experiences, discussed their routines, asked questions which the HealthifyMe Coaches answered, and more. This motivated me to push my limits”, she says, revealing that losing weight has helped her regain her confidence.

Uma is now six months pregnant with her second child. “I’m definitely going to sign up with HealthifyMe to lose my post-pregnancy weight, again,” she says.

Inspired by Uma’s successful transformation? You too can get fit with HealthifyMe. Sign up here

Disclaimer: Uma lost weight using HealthifyMe but the results may vary for you. Let us help determine the best method for you to achieve your goal.

About the Author

A sports lover, a quizzing enthusiast and an avid reader, but above all, a writer. Though he may have made the switch from engineering with the hope of becoming the Sachin Tendulkar of writing someday, Habil now realistically hopes to reach Shiv Sunder Das levels. While he hopes to write about sports one day, he is more than happy to help you improve your health along the way.


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