At 29, Aathira Sethumadhavan has transformed not only her body but her entire life. Once an overweight child and a self-described "major foodie," Aathira struggled with her weight and health for years. Working long hours as a chef and indulging in late-night meals, she developed severe health issues, but being a foodie it was unimaginable for her to control her cravings for junk food.

“Growing up, I was always an overweight kid - and like most people, I believed that it was because of my genetic predisposition and it was who I was. I pretended to be thick-skinned to get through the taunts, harassment and bullying. But I was also (still am) a major foodie - I live to eat and not vice versa. This factor alone made me sure of the fact that I would never be able to follow a “diet” and would never be able to lose weight,” she said.

Aathira did try to workout on and off but was never consistent. She accepted that this is how she will be for the rest of her life. However, one day, things changed. At 24, while working long hours in a hotel and living alone, her health took a severe turn.

“Post the onset of COVID, work had become more stressful and I didn’t realise how much I was pushing my health. Finally, reality hit me in December 2020 in the form of a full-blown anxiety attack in the middle of one night at work one day. I was diagnosed with hypertension, high cholesterol, IBS and severe symptoms of PCOS (used to get my period once in 4 months). I started taking medication for all this and also decided to take a break from work to focus on my health,” she said.

Determined to change, Aathira began working out daily but struggled with dietary control. “I tried working out everyday, even though I found it very hard - but I still couldn’t control my diet - because I did not understand what to do. And almost a year later, my weight had remained the same - 100 kg. I was still on medication. Still have panic attacks. Still feeling pretty pathetic about myself,” she said.

One day, while she was in Kerala a harsh comment from one of her relatives broke her down. "Someone told me, 'You look worse than before,' which hit me hard,” she shares.

Though this derogatory remark broke her down but worked as a catalyst in her weight loss journey. She started researching about healthy ways of losing weight. “I did my own research, understood that there’s actually something called sustainable nutrition for weight loss and I decided to give it a try. As a trained chef, I decided that I’d try and give regular recipes a makeover to make them healthier without compromising on the taste. I understood the importance of eating in a calorie deficit, including more protein in my diet, cutting out refined sugars and the importance of walking and strength training. Within one week of trying, I lost about 3 kgs. This was the first time in my life I ever lost any weight, which super motivated me to keep going,” she said.

With consistency and determination, she was able to lose 26 kgs in 7 months which not only made her look thin and better, but it reversed all her health conditions. She stopped all medications and her menstrual cycle became regular.

What Were Some Of The Biggest Challenges You Faced Along The Way?

“As someone who had never controlled my diet before, the hardest part was cutting down on my food and cutting out eating from outside. I’m a foodie through and through - and I found portion control incredibly hard in the beginning - but just after a few weeks, it became normal, almost natural to eat that way,” Aathira said.

“Similarly, working out at 100 kg was extremely challenging - I could barely climb a flight of stairs or run 50 meters without wanting to collapse. It was always a little scary because I could see many people watching and judging me, even going so far as to laugh at me. But with time, it got better. What used to be my workout in the beginning is now just a part of my warmup set,” she further revealed.

“Staying motivated throughout the journey was very tough. I had my days - where I really wanted to pull my hair out and give up. But I kept reminding myself ‘why’ I was doing this - why I started in the first place, and what my goal is,” she said.

Aathira further explained how consistency trumps motivation. Staying consistent will help you build habits - and eating right and working out/staying active just became a part of her lifestyle.

“The result of staying consistent was eating right and exercising became an integral part of my life - if I go off track for a few days because of lack of motivation, I feel restless and lethargic because I didn’t work out and eat right - it gets ingrained. Which is why consistency works when motivation doesn’t,” she further explained.

“I work out 5-6 days a week, 1-1.5 hours a day. It was a mix of strength training and heavy cardio, and I also made sure to walk at least 10,000 steps a day,” she shares.

“I followed a normal balanced diet making sure to include everything I liked to eat - the diet was just higher in protein and lower in refined carbs and saturated fats. I ate about 1500 kcal on most days - according to my body’s needs to sustainably be in a calorie deficit. I also 16:8 practised intermittent fasting 3-4 times a week,” she further said.

“Someone who likes to eat out and travel a lot, trying to find the right balance was something I found hard in the beginning. Then I understood that the only way to make sure to stay on track was to portion control my food, be mindful of what I’m eating and also ensure that I walk a lot, regardless of where I am. Even if I don’t have access to a gym where I’m traveling, I still try and make sure to get in at least 10-15k steps a day,” Aathira said.

Aathira shares that the most important thing to know is that weight loss is 80 per cent in your diet and 20 per cent in your activity levels. And that 80 per cent should be a sustainable, tasty diet which you can follow lifelong.

As per her, the most important thing to note is:

1. You have to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight - which means you need to eat fewer calories than you burn in a day. You can track your calories online for a few weeks and then follow it up with good portion control once you get the hang of it.

2. If your uric acid levels are under control, try and incorporate more protein into your diet. This is the best way to stay satiated throughout the day, to beat random cravings, and energy slumps and help preserve muscle mass.

3. Reduce refined carbs and saturated fat content to the best of your ability. Fill your plate with more protein and fibre instead of refined carbs. Invest in an air fryer to cut down on frying. And use natural sweeteners like dates, bananas and dark chocolate to make desserts.

4. Walking is the most underrated exercise. Try and click at least 10,000 steps a day - this actually contributes a LOT to boosting your metabolism and burning calories.

5. Do strength training 3-4 times a week. It has WAY too many benefits - from helping you burn more calories at rest to making you strong and completely independent.

6. One bad day of eating does not ruin progress, just like one good day of eating won’t help you lose weight. The trick is staying consistent, and that can be achieved by healthily eating tasty portion-controlled food.

“It can seem hard in the beginning, but trust me, it gets better with time - every time you feel like giving up, just remind yourself of why you started in the first place. Also, be sure to set yourself realistic goals - crash dieting is not worth it, and will not be sustainable in the long run,” she said.

"I’ve become a lot healthier and happier. The fact that I don’t have to rely on medication anymore is a major plus point for me. I’m also very happy that I’m very energetic and strong and don’t need to rely on anyone to do any chores. Also, what started as a personal health journey became my career. I became a certified nutritionist because I fell in love with the concept of healthy delicious eating and more importantly, wanted to help others like me because I really understood the struggle," she said.

Aathira now runs her own health and wellness company and has coached over 2000 clients worldwide in the past two years - through sustainable and custom-made diet plans. She also creates and posts recipes on Instagram almost everyday - which is her favourite thing to do - making healthier versions of all foods, especially of what we all commonly perceive as “bad” or “unhealthy.”

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