Excerpts from Kalli Purie's new book Confessions Of A Serial Dieter

New Delhi: Kalli Purie talks about her diet secrets in her new book Confession Of A Serial Dieter.

When the Going Gets Fat, the Fat Go Hungry

I am not sure about the tough but the skinny definitely go hungry.It's not easy and there is no magic pill. You just have to shrink thetummy. And shrinkage is not painless. Be under no illusions, youhave to walk this road. Most dieticians say, 'My diet will neverstarve you; there is so much to eat, you will be eating all day.' Yeah,right. They have to say that to convince you to start the journey.Anyone who tells you 'I feel so full on my diet' has done anexcellent job of brainwashing themselves. Full marks to them butthe truth is, diets are hard in the first stage when the weight loss isjust starting. You are going to feel hungry.

In fact, for me a diet is only working if I am hungry, at least instage one. Or it's like saying you will exercise and lose weight butit won't be strenuous. Of course it will. You have to build yourstamina and endurance and soon you will achieve what you want.You will go through hunger pangs. But it will pass. Besides, doingit the hard way will serve as a strong reminder the next time youdecide to go on a binge.

Here are a few tricks that helped and still help me deal with thehunger. This is what I do and you can too:

Dinner is not served

I did not enter the dining room. There was no pretence of 'Let's sitat the dinner table and catch up on the day and I will just watchyou eat.' Even if you manage to get through dinner without takinga bite, you have sat through a whole meal denying yourself. Thisdenial will be displaced to a craving for other food later. The act ofsitting down to dinner gets the mind and body ready to eat food.Why confuse the body with signals that it is getting food when itisn't?

Destock

Destock the kitchen. Nobody needs Oreo cookies, chocolate-chipice-cream, packets of chips, extra-creamy mature cheddar.

The 'I have a family and children and guests keep coming so Ineed to keep the fridge stocked' excuse is rubbish. Nobody needsfatty, processed foods. The sooner we teach our kids this, thebetter.

Whenever a food gift comes to the house, I send it away tofriends or tell the staff to finish it immediately. Individuallywrapped chocolate brownies announcing a new baby, homemadepista mithai with real silver warq decorations for a weddingshagun, giant bars of Lindt with hazelnut for Diwali... I give themall away instantly. I keep nothing even for a day.

The bottom line is, avoid temptation. If there is chocolate inthe house I will eat it, and there was always chocolate in our housebefore. Now we have chocolate in the house but it is under lockand key and under the supervision of my husband and only forgenuine emergencies. He does not relent easily, no matter howangry or how desperate I get for my chocolate fix. I have to beliterally dying and on my last breath before he agrees to ration outone piece.

So even when I have a weak moment - and I have many -there is nothing to raid in the kitchen. What am I going to cheatwith? The most exciting things in my kitchen are cheese slices anddigestive biscuits. Nice, but not quite worth cheating for.

Brainwash yourself

A certain amount of reprogramming is necessary. Your body andmind have been programmed in a certain way and that needs tochange. You have to reprogramme your mind. This has to be doneon a regular basis as the new programme is prone to viruses. Youhave to spend time and install regular updates. I have to constantlyprogramme myself into saying:

A holiday does not equal binge eating.

Food does not equal happiness.

Stress does not equal a bar of chocolate.

Weighing myself is like brushing my teeth.

This is some of the new programming that is now hardwiredinto my system. Repeat after me and every day before you go tosleep and first thing in the morning:

I won't eat when I stress out. I will sweat it out.

I won't eat late at any rate.

I won't skip my workout even if I have to skip work.

I won't forget that dancing, champagne and designerclothes can feel as good as chocolate.

Disengage from food

For foodaholics, it is essential to wipe out the amount of time andspace food occupies in your life. Food has to be displaced from itsposition of pride within your mind. If, like me, all good things inyour life revolve around food and everything is planned aroundwhat you are going to eat, change it now.

Food has to be the last thing you plan. I delegate it. I am not inthe kitchen cooking it or in the supermarket buying it. I am justnot involved. I disengage from meal planning and answering theeternal question that plagues most of us who run a home: 'Aajdinner ke liye kya banana hai?' What should I make for dinner?I know I'm lucky I have a cook but why does the dinner questionalways come when I have barely finished lunch? I have made twoweekmeal plans for my family and left it at that. It has its flaws butoverall, the system works.

Do this with your diet plan too. Many diets and dieticiansgive you recipes and elaborate meal plans to make the diet foodyou are eating inclusive. I don't believe in that. I think food hasto be excluded from your mind space. It's the 'alcoholics can'tstop at one drink' approach. You have to stop thinking about foodcompletely.

Confessions Of A Serial Dieter is available for Rs 250 at all leading bookstores.