#WeightLoss: Vandana Malik Finds Out About the ‘Needle Diet’, Ep 6

Vandana Malik has tried every trick in the book in her weight loss saga, winning some and losing some (weight).

Vandana Malik’s weight loss journey is one for the books!

(Here’s republishing Vandana Malik’s weight loss battles from our archives – a woman who attempted every fad diet in the book and made discoveries she never thought she would. This is the sixth part of a 10-part-series.)

This one is about the Needle Diet. Have I not got your imagination going? “Ewwwww. How can one eat needles?”

“What, in the name of God, is a needle diet,” you may ask. No, you don’t have to chew on needles to become thin. The needle diet is rooted in the philosophy of acupuncture, which is based on the belief that any disorder in the body occurs when the energy channels get blocked. So these blocked channels are punctured with needles in order to facilitate the normal flow of energy.

Acupuncture is believed to be an alternate form of treatment for almost all ailments, especially pain in any part of the body. I had bad knee pain due to a worn out cartilage and was not able to wear high heels for a long time. But I have to admit that the pain is much less now and I have been able to wear high heels, for short periods of time, ever since I began the acupuncture treatment.
Okay, so, back to some weight loss.

Acupuncture. (Photo: iStockphoto)

The diet, coupled with the acupuncture treatment to boost my metabolic rate, is as follows:

As soon as you wake up, begin the day with a spoon of chlorophyll extract (in a bottle available with the doctor) mixed in a glass of water to kick start the detox process in the morning. An additional 2 tbsp of chlorophyll is to be mixed with 2 litres of water and to be sipped throughout the day. Breakfast is a bowl of oats with skim milk or a slice of toast with one boiled egg.

11am: 30 to 45 minutes of acupuncture to attack not just the metabolism but also any aches or pain in the joints or even water retention in the body by opening up the energy channels for the kidney and liver . This also facilitates better digestion. So, basically, it is a simple process to actually heal the body by making it alkaline because an acidic body is more prone to storing fat and hence, may be the cause of various ailments.

Noon: A salad made up of  1 or 2 raw cucumbers + 1 tomato – eat as you like it. I have it with the juice of 1/2 a lime and a pinch of black salt.

Lunch: A bowl of brown rice with any vegetables and a bowl of yogurt or just a bowl of curd rice with a tempering of jeera in 1/2 tsp oil.

Evening: Any small non-fried/non-sweet snack or a fruit.

Dinner: A large bowl of vegetable or chicken soup.

The only exercise required was an hour of brisk walk daily – ideally early morning before the treatment .

Vandana Malik  

I was quite pleased with this entire process also because I could actually walk much faster than earlier because the pain in my knee was much better. In fact, there were days it did not hurt at all. I followed this treatment very religiously – more for the healing of the knee than to lose weight. And it worked; my knee is so good that I can walk almost 5 km in an hour which, in turn, is great for losing weight. I lost approximately 6 kgs in 4-6 months.

So, as it stands today, I go for this treatment on and off, mainly to keep my knee in good shape and also for general well being. I also continue to take the chlorophyll extract as it is a good source of antioxidants which helps flush out the toxins and keeps my energy levels high .

As for the weight loss, any diet that does not permit the intake of sugar is very difficult to sustain, so I keep oscillating between being fit and fat.

But I do strongly recommend that people who suffer from chronic disorders like joint pain, arthritis,  back pain, indigestion, migraine etc must give acupuncture a shot (pun intended).

Till next week then. Another episode, another experience. Stay happy and keep smiling.

(Vandana Malik will be writing in with what she calls a new weight loss “attempt” every week for readers of FIT. Watch this space for more!)

(Join us on our weight loss journey with top nutritionists guiding us all the way. Our Facebook community invites you to share tips, success stories and results by simply clicking here. You can also reach out to us on [e-mail] or simply comment below.)

Read:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5