While weight loss is a difficult task in itself, it becomes harder when you are a working mother. You are so busy taking care of your duties as a mother and a working professional that you are unable to spare any time for your health. 30-year-old Shikha A Sharma realised that she needed to do something about her growing weight if she wanted her confidence back. However, instead of blindly following fad diets, she decided to go back to her roots. Read on to know her motivating weight loss journey to lose weight.
Name: Shikha A Sharma

Occupation: Entrepreneur

Age: 30 years

H
eight: 5 feet 5 inches

Highest weight recorded: 86 kgs

Weight lost: 30 kg

Duration it took me to lose weight: 9 months

The turning point: I have been overweight for as long as I can remember and it wreaked havoc on my self-confidence levels. Body shaming incidents made it extremely difficult for me to go out and socialise. In fact, I was embarrassed to even go out of the house as I was really conscious of the way I looked.

I did not want to wear western clothes as I felt that I looked bad in it and hated getting my photo clicked. I was tired of living my life in hiding and decided to do something to lose weight and get back in shape.

Before Breakfast:


1/ 2 teaspoon coriander powder with normal water

1/2 teaspoon ashwagandha with normal water

1/2 teaspoon of the black mustard seed with normal water

My breakfast: For breakfast, I usually have one stuffed chapati with either tea or coffee without sugar or stevia in it. I ensure that I do not miss my daily dose of nutrition in the form of kitchen spices which is the secret behind my weight loss.

My lunch: In the afternoon, I have two wheat chapatis with any vegetable of my choice. We need to understand that vegetables do not make us fat. Having green chilli with your daily meal is a must as it works as a natural fat burner.

After lunch: 2 small cardamoms and 1/2 teaspoon of coriander powder with water

Evening: 1 cup of tea or coffee made of milk with 5 biscuits

My dinner: For dinner, I have two wheat chapatis with any vegetable curry of my choice. I occasionally switch my dinner and have two idlis, a bowl of sambar and a big bowl of vegetable curry.

I indulge in: Once in 15 days, I take a cheat day where I eat whatever I feel like without any guilt or regrets.

My Workout: Being a mother and a working woman, I did not have any time to hit the gym or exercise. I have broken the myth that “you cannot lose without exercising”. I focussed on eating right and used mustard oil or ghee for cooking.

Fitness secrets I unveiled: I have realised that going back to your roots i.e. what our dadis and nanis used to eat is the simplest way to lose weight.

We need to understand that all these international food items which are called the holy grail of weight loss may not work as efficiently for us.

We are Indians and we need to follow a local, Indian diet to get back in shape. We have also made chapatis our enemies, completely forgetting that we used to have it since childhood.

How do I stay motivated? There was a lot that pulled me down when I was unhealthy. All the unsolicited comments, the trolling and negativity were my main motivation to lose weight and get back in shape. I still remember those incidents very clearly and do not wish to go back there, ever again.

How do you ensure you don’t lose focus?


I won’t lie, there are days when all I want to do is eat junk food. However, I have realized that junk food satisfies the mind and not the body. Now that I have lost a lot of weight and get my life back on track, I don’t want to go back to where I had begun. I feel extremely proud of myself every time I look into the mirror and I don’t want to lose that feeling.

What’s the most difficult part of being overweight? When you are overweight, people judge you solely on the basis of your looks and do not bother to know you. It is really heartbreaking. Sadly, you also become underconfident and are on the risk of developing unhealthy eating habits.

What shape do you see yourself 10 years down the line? I want to remain as fit as possible, live a life sans any medications and enjoy the freedom of eating whatever I want.

What are the lifestyle changes you made? I made it a point to be consistent with my diet and stick to Indian food. I did not follow any International fad diets to lose weight. I just followed my own diet which was completely based on the spices available in my kitchen.

What was the lowest point for you?


Being overweight really impacted my self-confidence and there is this once incident which still hurts me. There was a time when one of my friends refused to meet me only because of the way I looked.

Lessons learned from weight loss: I have realised that going on a ‘diet’ is nothing more than eating healthy food and making healthy choices. At the end of the day, going old school is the best way of losing weight as ‘Dadi ma ke nukhse can never go wrong!’

If you too have a weight loss story to share, send it to us at toi.health1@gmail.com