Extreme Weight Loss Success Stories - Surgery Isn’t the Only Way!

Still skeptical over Anant Ambani’s weight loss? Two people tell us how they lost over 80kgs through sheer grit!

Of course the usual haters and the mean tweeters are convinced that the Ambani kid underwent the knife to get in shape, but we have real life success stories which show that grit and perseverance will take you places! Anyone who has lost even a kilo knows how difficult it is to stick to a gruelling routine of exercise and strict diet (Photo: Twitter/@rishibagree)

Say aye if you also thought that Anant Ambani’s astonishing weight loss of over 108 kilos wasn’t natural!

No doubt the billionaire kid looks phenomenal, setting serious weight loss goals for the rest of us but many voices on the internet refuse to pin the drastic slim-down to natural ways.

The Quint spoke to a number of nutritionists to understand if such a drastic weight loss is possible with old-school techniques of extreme workout and a well-monitored diet.

The short answer is a YES.

If you make weight loss a project of your life, dedicate 4 to 5 hours a day to achieving your ideal body weight, it is very much doable. Breaking down Anant Ambani’s weight loss over 18 months comes to 6 kgs a month. Though the ideal loss if 4 kgs/month, 6 kgs/month doesn’t amount to drastic either. 

<b><i>Niti Desai, Nutritionist</i></b>

Doctors say that losing too much weight too fast can impact your immune system and that’s why it’s important to take the weight loss slow.

From fat to fab in just 18 months! (Photo: Twitter/@riyushah5

We even spoke to two people who made sustainable lifestyle changes to drop more than 80 kilos and keep it off for good.

If these stories don’t inspire you to hit the gym, we don’t know what will!

One Extreme To the Other - How They Dropped More Than 80 Kilos

For the uninitiated, liposuction is used as a targeted weight loss technique for stubborn fat pockets. It is not for the super obese but for people who are close to their ideal body weight.

On the other hand, bariatric surgery is for the morbidly obese, where the stomach is stapled to a fourth of its size, but you still need tremendous grit to count your calories, limit them substantially for the weight loss to happen.

Related Read: Zap It or Freeze It- The Truth Behind the Bizarre Weight Loss Ads

But we don’t blame you for being skeptical about the Ambani kid’s sudden weight loss - with the weight loss industry shilling all types of questionable quick fixes - from carb blockers to body wraps, heat stimulators, fat freezing, liposuction, bariatric surgery, cool sculpting - taking a shortcut to get skinny has never been more inviting.

Naini Setalvad - Lost 100 kgs In 18 Months

Naini went from a massive 160 kgs to a svelte 60 kgs(Photo courtesy: Naini Setalvad) 

Mumbai-based renowned dietician Naini was born skinny, perfectly normal till her pre-teens and that’s when the junk food addiction started. In standard 12th, Naini hit a massive 95 kgs and just kept ballooning day-after-day.

It wasn’t just the expanding waistline that was damaging her health - missed periods, brittle hair, constipation, sunken eyes, round-the-clock sluggishness were a part of her routine.

(Photo courtesy: Naini Setalvad)

And then at the age of 32 she decided, enough was enough.

She made one healthy change at a time. She took it slow at the start - the journey from taking a few steps in a day to extensive running took about a year-and-a-half. But she chalked out a diet and exercise plan she could commit too.

My grain intake was white bread or two <i>rotis</i> in the entire day. I would open various food books to know more about the lowest calorie foods. A cucumber had only 18 calories, I would cut it into paper-thin slices and spread it on my plate and chew on it slowly. A bowl of cabbage had only 25 calories and that was my vegetable for the day.

<b><i>Naini Setalvad, Dietician</i></b>

Today Naini is a lifestyle, disease and health consultant, runs a health centre in Mumbai and guides people how to lose weight sensibly.

2. Manoj Mehta*- Lost 80 Kgs In18 Months

“If you’re lamenting that you can’t afford a trainer, or even special diet foods, there are more options than you know. Yes, pricey programs work but so can small changes you make on your own” - Manoj after dropping 70 kilos in a year-and-a-half (Photo: iStock)

A banker by profession, Manoj left his job in New York after weight-related health damages were seen too often and got too common.

Shortness of breath, heart palpitations even when sitting on the couch, were making it difficult for him to function. Two of his grandparents passed away in their 60s, and he realised he was living on borrowed time.

“I had to change, and I realised it had to be different this time.”

The biggest revelation I’ve had is that I absolutely hate cardio! Cardio sucks. Majorly! A friend introduced me to strength training and I loved it. Even when I was 154 kgs, I could do it and realised I am a strong person. Now at 74 kgs, I go boxing thrice a week and strength training twice a week.&nbsp;

Manoj Mehta, Banker

The challenging part, Manoj says, was the complete lifestyle overhaul. Not diet, not just exercise, definitely not a pill but an entire lifestyle change.

(Name changed to protect privacy)

Bottomline - Even if you think Anant Ambani took the easy route of a bariatric surgery, to keep the weight off, he will have to fight the urge to sit on the couch and eat an entire box of pizza for the rest of his life. Because no matter how rich or powerful you are, if you don’t want to go back to the size you were, there is no escaping falls or failures. But each time you get back up it becomes easier every day.

Also Read: Fat Nation: Rising Obesity Surgeries In the Land of Starvation