Things That Bang

"I want to be thin. I want to lose weight fast. Put me on a diet."

My dietitian frowned at me and replied "No diet. Eat fruits, vegetables, salads. Lots of water, no sugar, no bakery stuff and you will naturally lose if you exercise regularly."

I was exasperated "But its gradual."

She smiled "That's good. You want to glow not look like a starved mannequin. No diet. Don't your clothes fit you better? Haven't you already lost 5 kilos with exercise and regular eating habits? Diets don't last. You will fall off the wagon, feel disappointed and one day you will stop exercising as well. This has to be a life long habit not a hardship."

I returned to my crunches chastened but unconvinced until I read an article about Oprah falling of the bandwagon:

"I'm mad at myself," Winfrey writes in the article. "I'm embarrassed. I can't believe that after all these years, all the things I know how to do, I'm still talking about my weight. I look at my thinner self and think, 'How did I let this happen again?' "

Oprah's mea culpa comes at a time when a growing number of books, including "Rethinking Thin" by journalist Gina Kolata, argue that diet-induced weight loss is extremely difficult to sustain long-term.

Oprah also confessed that she starved herself on a liquid protein diet back in 2005 to get in shape.

In the end she seems to have come to the grand realization that being thin is not the end goal but to be fit and healthy. Given her thyroid problem its good she realized that size zero may be possible but would make life miserable for her.

At my gym there is a thin girl who works out infrequently. She wants to take part in the Miss India contest. She is about 5 feet 7 inches, she is all teeth and has a rake of a figure. She is less than size zero if that's possible.

She wanted to know if she was imperfect in any way and whether she needed to go on a rigorous diet. My instructor laughed and said she needed food not lack of it.

I looked at her reflection and then mine in the mirror and tried my best not to laugh. The realization that I could never be a size zero didn't seem all that bad all of a sudden. That kind of thinking requires a 'foodless existence.' and a certain kind of zeal that I lack.

I realized I could never be 'thin' and it was alright. I will always be a curvy babe in love with food and life. Right food, healthy self esteem and regular exercise is something I can see myself incorporating as a lifelong habit.

Skinny jeans will never be mine and I can live with that.