Ritika Trivedi

In my childhood I was used to hear a lot of body shaming comments due to my bulky physique; from 85 Kg to 62 Kg my journey has been arduous.

I weighed 85 kg. I worked hard and brought it down to 62 kg. Was it easy? Working out, diet plan… obviously they were there, but these didn’t happen without mistakes… I don’t know if it was a nightmare… a combination of dark complexion with overweight was not considered in good books.

It was 2016 when I started my job. With the salary in hand, I majorly spent it on eating all junk food. Earlier I used to be healthy, but this ruined me. I gained a lot… as much as reaching 85 on the weighing scale. I just at the borderline of being obese! I had started wearing baggy clothes, as good as XXL. My vitals had also shot up, my sugar level was 170 added with high cholesterol and migraine.

With all sorts of problems clearly visible, I hastily started working out. What would one think of at first? I reduced my calories. I started eating less food and did a lot of cardio. That was such a foolish thing to do. It didn’t show much progress and it was the time I looked for correct ways of doing things. I started with muscle-building which started giving results and helped me to get rid of my unhealthy lifestyle. After that, I was taking calories that were required by my body and all this helped me in bringing my sugar and cholesterol back to normal. Migraine was not a problem anymore.

I wouldn’t say this was the most amazing thing that had happened. Well, that happened afterward… I never knew this transformation was going to be a kind of turning point in my life.

Looking at my progress and transformation, others in the gym started asking for help from me. I saw them committing those mistakes that I did; consuming low calories and running for hours on trade mill. They were reaching nowhere. It was then I started giving consultations to some of the ladies. In the process, I also became a certified nutritionist. As I started liking my new role, my new challenge was to manage my job with my consultations. Now and then, I got calls from clients and I believed in giving my 100 percent to them. Hence I started organizing my timetable; I fixed the timing during which my clients interacted with me. I never wanted to get associated with any brand and work half-heartedly for them. Instead, I was ambitious to have a brand with my name and wanted to grow gradually towards it.

In March, this year, I participated in Naresh Surya Classic Competition. It is a body-building competition held in Hyderabad every year. I came third in my very first attempt. It was not at all an easy job as it took me about 3-6 months to prepare for this. This included a rigorous workout and diet plan. I used to monitor my water, salt intake levels. Think of a person living an unrestricted life… isn’t this painful? Added to the misery, sometimes my hormonal balance went for a toss, I became cranky, irritated and I had to manage my job and clients too. But all these unpleasant experiences faded once I hit the stage. I remember all photographers had their camera turned towards me… I was getting praised by the judges for the efforts I had put in. That feeling is still there with me.

All this sometimes reminds me of my childhood when my friends used to tease me and pass comments on my physique. But things have changed today… today, many of them text or call me to seek fitness advice. This feeling is so fulfilling.

So far, I have learned two things – I am never going to doubt myself during the time of crisis as I did earlier when I was young. But now I understand, my self-belief has helped me to reach my goals. Secondly, I have also learned to love and treat my body to the fullest. I have grown confident and have eradicated negative thoughts and people from my life. Now I am more determined. I am looking forward to participating in more competitions in the future, both at the national and international levels.

Total Work Experience : 6 Years (Hitachi, Deloitte, Oracle)