If you thought your 9to5 desk job lifestyle was extremely unhealthy, try #CrewLife for just a little while.
When I joined the Aviation industry, by fluke, way back in 2004, I was a slim person of BMI 17. I ate whatever pleased me, hated going to the gym, never played any sports and barely knew anything about health or fitness. Initial years of flying didn't affect my weight much due to many reasons. I did not enjoy the crew meals on board and also had a tough time managing my sleep patterns. Straight out of college, #CrewLife gave me multiple shocks including to my body. After such long hours on my feet, running heater skelter like a minion well, because I was one and most seniors treated us like their personal slaves. Once on layovers I ignored my food and resorted to over sleeping to deal with my exhaustion. 14-15 hours of hibernation was usual. On a particular flight into Paris from Newark, I was in bed for 22 hours(!) without any food. Following day, I fainted at Charles De Gaulle and had to travel supernumery Paris - Bombay. Things were no better at base as I was new to the city, lonely, vulnerable, lazy and unhappy. I hated cooking. And the idea of cooking for one seemed like demise of all good things to me. I skipped meals or hogged on outside rubbish food. About four or five years down the line, I was up by six kgs. and was ideal weight of BMI 20+. So I still had nothing to worry about as most people told me that I looked better with the weight gain.
Fast-forward a few years down #CrewLife, say in 2009-2010, where very gradually I took to drinking which increased my appetite greatly. Now I did not skip meals and treated food like air. Constantly eating large portions coupled with even larger count of alcohol. Crew meals on board suddenly seemed to be almost gourmet. I flew, I ate, I slept and I drank and was super complacent. Eventually, I learned to manage work better and not run around on board like a monkey, doing other people's job. To our horror, time off after flights and layovers shrunk from three clear days to zero clear days or a clear day or maximum two which left little time for any life except unpacking and packing, and to sleep before and after the flight. Health and fitness weren't exactly on my mind. I still hated gymming. My BMI had shot up to 22+ which was technically ideal weight. I constantly thought and discussed my weight but did little or nothing to change it. Clearly, I didn't think it was important.
However, worse was yet to come. Another couple of years down the line, 2012ish, I was pretty much settled in #CrewLife and also in Mumbai. Love had finally come to me and I spent most of the days eating and drinking through the world with BF and friends. When I saw one of my pics from a trip to Hudson Valley Vineyard, I was beyond shocked at how fat I looked. BMI at the time was 23+. Again, technically I was still not over weight but I was petrified by my size. I started under dressing like a fat Mamma, avoiding people for the fear of being judged. I lived like that for quite a while and then one fine January day of 2013, in Hong Kong, I decided that I was going to become slim and trim for my upcoming30th birthday in June. I started working out and eating better. I tried to take up running in vain as the best I could do was jog that too at other people's fast pace of walking! However, in a couple of months, I had lost 3-4 kgs. But meanwhile, my mental health suffered at the time and I gave up on it all. My priorities had changed drastically and involuntarily. Things got back to normal by the end of the year and I was drinking and eating like before. I toiled about my weight and appearance yet continued binging, vegetating in days off on the living room couch or hotel bed. By now, I had gone from thinnest person on board all the time to one of the fattest at most times. Uniform was now extremely tight and everybody commented on my fat. Yet! Yet, I drank more and never thought twice before gorging on red velvets. Although, I secretly remained completely psyched about my weight.
Come January, 2015 and I was on ground for a little over a month during which time all I did was drink, eat, sleep, read. In February, when I weighed myself in Cochin hotel, I was aghast at my weight. I was now BMI 24+. Another kilo and I would be over weight. I was so distraught, I started doing treadmill the very next day. Gradually, I added 15 minutes of yoga stretch before the run and 20-25 minutes of post run exercises which also included 50-100 squats. I started reading everything and anything related to diet and exercise. Since doing only a treadmill used to bore me, I added spinning and stair climbing in between. My diet diary on MyFitnessPal was diligently maintained. I allowed myself to have one dessert a month, with a rare dinner, no crew meals, no fried food, no white carbs, almost no oil or butter and no alcohol. When on flights, I ran or gymmed and in Bombay, I started cycling regularly in the mornings. In merely, six weeks I had lost four kgs, BMI of 23. Post two months, I had lost about 6 kgs but I was unable to exercise on a regular basis and also was cheating on my diet twice a week. I regretted not working out but I thought it was okay to cheat a bit, my reward for being a good girl for so long. It's now a little over three months since I started my charade in February and I am 9+ kgs lighter, bringing down my BMI under 22. I work out irregularly and cheat now and again. But at least, things are not out of control. I need to lose 5 more kgs before I hit my target weight. And I know, it will happen.
It wasn't easy but it was also fun. What was difficult was to detach myself from people around me were doing. Other crew members devouring crew meals or the hotel buffet, BF guzzling beer pitchers, friends gobbling down red velvets. But I manged. In fact, the more weight I lose I feel there is so much more to be lost. It's not wrong to say no to yourself once in a while. Now that I feel lighter, better, happier and energetic, I think it was a good decision.
To celebrate, let's buy me a beer.
