Today, India like all other developing nations is facing the problem of growing obesity. The everyday life of the urban middle-class population today is not as physically demanding as it used to be some couple of decades back. With the boom in the IT sector, people are doing jobs where they are having to sit at one particular place for 17-18 hours. The same is true for a number of other sectors as well. The advent and rise of junk food has its own role in increasing the obesity of the younger generation.
Overweight, naturally leads to a number of complications with age. But apart from the physical aspect, it can also seriously affect one’s mental health. An unaddressed evil of our society is body shaming. A large section of people believes that calling people with names about their body shape is funny. But, in reality, such jokes or adjectives often leave the recipient with long-lasting mental scars. For many, body shaming becomes the cause of lifelong trauma.
However, there are several ways to overcome both, body shaming and obesity. Today we will be sharing with our readers, the inspirational story of Sukriti Chakravarty, who with her sheer will-power completely defeated obesity and body shaming, and today ranks amongst the most successful young ladies of the country.
Sometime around her early teenage days, Sukriti started gaining weight. Even before she could figure out what was going on, she became a subject of body shaming by classmates and even by some relatives. Along with her weight, the taunts and remarks from people around also kept increasing. By the time when she was in 12th standard, Sukriti’s weight was close to 97KGs.
“I faced it (body shaming) all around. People used to laugh at how I looked, they used to laugh when I had difficulties in finding dresses to wear. Even during my graduation years, other students in the hostel used to capture my photographs, make fun of me. But I never allowed all of this to affect me, I had that confidence in myself, ” she says.
Without giving two hoots to what people think or say, she devoted all her focus solely on studies. Sukriti passed all her examinations with distinctions and life was going well for her. In 2012, inspired by the ideas of then BJP leader and current Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she decided to venture into politics.
Sukriti never felt that she should have any regrets about the way she is. The idea of abandoning all her favourite delicacies for losing weight did not even enter Sukriti’s mind for a second. Not till 2017, when 24-year-old Sukriti, was diagnosed with the thyroid. Doctors categorically said that she was showing pre-diabetic symptoms which could at any moment turn into full-fledged diabetes. It was a moment which shook the otherwise jolly Sukriti, to the core.
This forced Sukriti to not only look back at her life, but also take tough decisions for the future. It was during this phase when Dr. Ajay Chhabra entered her life, a person she calls “an angel.” Dr. Chhabra instilled the much-needed faith back in Sukriti. With a supporting companion like Dr. Ajay Chhabra with her side, a motivated Sukriti made a strong resolution of getting fit.
Dr. Chhabra laid down a complete routine for Sukriti, including a healthy diet chart which excluded all the spicy and oily dishes. This, however, doesn’t mean that Sukriti was having to consume boiled or tasteless food. She was enjoying all sorts of less spicy, less oily, simple yet tasty dishes.
Sukriti’s diet plan also consisted of a variety of juices, which she needed to consume in every two hours. And for this especially, she just can’t stop thanking her mother. Sukriti says, her mother spent entire days in the kitchen preparing all the wild juice combinations. Despite being a patient of asthma, Sukriti’s mother stayed up for nights to ensure that her daughter’s dream becomes a reality. Whenever speaking about the role of her mother in this journey, Sukriti falls short of words.
“Mom never liked how people used to make fun of me. She was my real strength, always boosted my morale. She spent days and nights in the kitchen to prepare all the juices and dishes that were prescribed to me. I have no words to thank her for what she did.”
By following a healthy routine, with a little support from family, Sukriti lost a whopping 28KGs in a matter of months. All naturally, without having to spend even a minute in the gym. Today she is not only completely fit, but better than ever. What perhaps is the most remarkable thing about Sukriti is that even after losing all the weight, she still follows the routine chalked out by Dr. Chabbra and intends to do so for years to come.
She wittingly says ” Before I had no option but to wear the dresses of aunties and even for that there were limited shops in the entire city. Today I can wear whatever I want to.”
Getting diagnosed with thyroid at such an early age, made Sukriti realise the value of health. Today, she is not only committed to a healthy and fit lifestyle but wants to inspire others as well. However, she also says that one should consider cutting weight only if it is affecting their health, and not to appease anyone.
Sukriti believes, any girl can lose weight through a natural and healthy routine, like she did. Though, she believes that it is only the ‘excess’ fat that needs to be removed, because “the Indian body type is not cut out to be size zero.”
Today Sukriti Chakravarty is a social media and digital marketing expert for various corporates and political associations