So you have an enormous collection of dunce caps from failed weight loss programmes, because, you’ve discovered, they are strewn with hurdles you simply couldn’t surmount.

You feel you’ve slavishly tried every dietary tip in the book, fasted more than Medha Pathak, obediently followed workout instructions over TV, sweated it out in the gym and followed in vain those insufferable skinny friends’ advice. And now, you’re a hardcore skeptic. You feel you’re stuck with your jelly belly; your thunder thighs will always announce your arrival despite the monsoons and your ample arms will always amplify your apple shape.

Great! Because if you fit into this category, like many of us do, this article is tailormade for your. Follow these practical ways pointed out by our experts to iron out those bumps on your road to slimdom and you will soon have your goal within sight

Warns Alpa Patel, dietician at the Talwarkar’s gym, "Any weightloss programme that does not include adequate exercise only aims at quick and temporary results. Your weight will look great on the scale but you will look and feel terrible. Once you resume your usual diet you will gain from one and a half to double the lost weight so that leaves you much worse of. What happens is, with such sudden dietary alternations you lose not only water and fat but also precious muscle. As the body uses energy from the muscles, you lose the lean mass which actually helps you burn calories."

To add to your woes, the loss of muscle will lower your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and you’ll burn calories slower. Let’s say you’ve gained about ten pounds of muscle over the course of the year. That muscle could help burn 350 to 500 calories a day by just being on your body. With no exercise there’s no way you can build those calorie-burning muscles.

Besides, at the end of this diet-only weightloss plan you will be too weak to even think of exercise

Then again, explains Patel, "In some people the appetite is enhanced after a workout so they end up consuming more calories than they burn – the result, an impasse. So don’t ignore the necessity of a suitable diet." What does a good before-and-after workout meal look like? Grab a complex-carbo rich fruit like a banana or munch on a sandwich before you set out to the gym, for instant energy. When you get back, go for a protein-rich meal that has beans, dal or lean meat like fish or chicken. Proteins help repair the muscle breakdown that has just occurred, as well as build extra muscle which in turn burns more calories by increasing the basal metabolic rate.

Points out nutritionist Niti Desai "Many fad diets which involve only one food group or item like only fruits or only boiled vegetables, or only lean chicken is not realistic and hence cannot be followed for too long. The reason people venture into these expensive gimmick diets is because they are promised quick results. Once they start the diet they feel deprived and find it very difficult to maintain, but they persevere because they want to get back the value for their money. This diet plan almost always fails because the users soon revert to their original eating habits."

Diet pills and powders are another danger. Many of these which are touted as "ayurvedic" preparations actually contain allopathic appetite suppressants like amphetamines or fenfluramine which are clinically prescribed for morbidly obese people especially before surgery. These drugs are certainly never to be used cosmetically because of the potential side effects like loss of hair and decreased blood pressure among others. Besides, these drugs can become addictive. In some cases users have been hospitalized because they developed life threatening symptoms. It’s better to make practical changes in your eating habits with an eye on moderation. The results may take longer to show up, but being realistic, it is a plan you will never tire of. Your diet should never make your feel weak and deprived, so make sure you don’t cut too many calories too soon.

HURDLE No. 4
YOU GIVE UP EASILY

You launch into the weight loss plan with the enthusiasm of a bunjee jumper but it is short-lived. Almost too soon you start making excuses, throw up your hands and resign! You want quick results and you’re not willing to be a slow loser. Here is why.

Says Patel " the higher the number of weight loss programmes you’ve gone on the greater the chances of failing the next one. It’s very important to pick an exercise regimen that suits your lifestyle and a dietary plan that appeals to your taste buds plus gives you a sense of satisfaction.

Among the reason that may be responsible for past failures include

1. You lack support and encouragement from your family and friends.

2. Your expectations are too high or unrealistic and you are easily discouraged. Maybe you haven’t considered the following factors:

* As you age, you basal metabolic rate is reduced, so you have to work harder to burn the same calories.

* In menopausing women the weight loss is slower as they tend to retain water – the result of reduced production of estrogen.

* Another disadvantage among women is the weight gain of about a kilogram a week before the menstrual cycle begins due to water retention. There is also a tendency to feel mentally low and hence binge on simple carbohydrates like chocolates and mithai.

* If you have hormonal problems like hypothyroidism your body tends to retain water also, your appetite for carbohydrates is enhanced, so make sure you get your condition treated.

3. Your diet is not interesting enough – maybe it lacks variety, or your favourite food is altogether eliminated, or it is too restrictive.

4. Your exercise routine is boring – there is no music or no suitable music, you don’t have friends or family to work out with.

5. Your exercise routine is too heavy with the result your BP drops, you feel giddy, you tire easily and if you are an older person you get dehydrated.

6. Your exercise technique is wrong

* If you have a back problem, your exercises should be altered to avoid strain to the back.

* If your warm up is not adequate you inevitably end up with cramps, a muscle pull or a strained back and neck.

* If your cool down is not adequate or proper you will again end up with cramps; you’ll feel tired instead of fresh and energetic because the muscles are not relaxed; and you feel giddy because of difficulty adjusting to the temperature and blood pressure changes.

7. You make excuses to avoid working out during your menstruating days, but the fact is, premenstrual discomfort is actually reduced and even eliminated with a workout; unless of course you have a bad case of PMS and your doctor advises you against exercising.

8.You have a nine-to-five job two hours away from home and you’re too tire at the end of the day. This too is not a valid excuse as a workout will actually make you feel fresh, relax those strained muscles and help you sleep better.

If you always win at the blaming game and your life is a bed of excuses, watch out for these red flags:

* You have an enviable collection of fast food menu cards, and all those pizzas, burgers and fries, which pack in loads of empty calories are just a phone call away.

* You work in an office where not only birthdays and promotions but every sales target or bagged contract is celebrated with huge deltas of black forest and Maharaja burgers.

* You live or work next to the best fast food place in town so you make sure you take all your friends and relatives to try out your favourites.

* The highest point of your average evening is the TV-and-chips session where you stretch out your tired legs and tuck in a whole bag at about ten calories per water. So if you eat about 50 chips per sitting you have happily managed to take in 500 cals by just sitting there. Next time the bag of chips comes your way, quickly pass it on to the next person as if you were passing a hat at a party game.

* Your children never finish their french fries and chicken lollipops and you can’t bear to waste the food you’ve taken so much trouble to prepare or paid so much money to buy. So instead of throwing it in the trash can, you quickly gobble it up. Ah! Conscience clear. But remember, if you treat your stomach like a trash can, it will begin to look like one.

* You must drink up your seven cups of tea a day to keep alert at work so you end up with 210 calories from the sugar alone (if you use one-and-a-half spoons per cup calculated at 20 calories per spoon). Even if you can’t cut down on the number of cups, cut down on the portions by buying yourself a smaller cup.

If you have typical cravings for chocolates and candy Desai offers the following suggestions:

* Don’t stock these saboteurs in your refrigerator or kitchen cabinet. Buy them in small portions only.

* Don’t even start eating them, just say "be gone fatty" and mean it, for they may trigger an orgy of overeating.

* Distract yourself by reading a book, watching TV, having a pedicure, ringing a friend or, better still, going for a walk.

* If you must have a mid-meal snack here’s a sumptuous skinny shake: Blend one cup of yoghurt with a few strawberries, one elaichi, a banana and the juice of a small orange. An eight-to-twelve ounce (200-250 ml) portion and no more makes a good snack. Beyond that your calories start climbing.

If you’re simply replacing high fat foods with much greater volumes of low fat foods, you’re more than compensating for the fat cut. Let’s say you succeeded in shaking your head vigorously from side to side when you were offered a king size pizza, but you later gorged on the guilt-free idlis and dhoklas and bhels; you’ve simply taken the longer route to reach the same score.

So, to cut the fat and the calories, here’s what Desai suggests

* Eat plenty of fibre-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, pulses and lentils and don’t peel of the valuable fibrous skin of fruits like chickoos as far as possible. In oranges and mosambi don’t remove the white thready fibrous portion.

Pectin, a compound found in most fruits, has an almost magical ability to make you less hungry all day. So if you must have something sweet after every meal let it be a fruit like mango, banana, pineapple, grape or chickoo; you’ll find it easier to avoid that mid-meal snack.

* Rajma, moong, peas and beans contain soluble fibre which moves slowly through your digestive system and gives you the "full" feeling for a longer time.

The humble potato scores high on fibre as its flesh contains soluble fibre and the skin, insoluble fibre. To reap the benefits of both types of fibre, bake the potato with its jacket and have it with baked beans or paneer or low-fat yogurt cheese (in place of sour cream).

&Make sure the carbohydrates you consume are complex – the type got from whole wheat bread, chapatis made from atta and not maida, bhutta or corn on the cob, which is easily available especially around this time of the year, spaghetti and macaroni.

* Make a meal of soup – it’s filling, low cal and nutritious. Just boil up vegetables, beans and toss in a few shreds of chicken. Add a dash of lime, a pinch of pepper and chilli powder and your quick-to-cook, good-to-eat meal is ready. Use different vegetables and beans each day to avoid the monotony. Don’t overdo the cube of stock as it’s loaded with sodium.

At last you’ve made headway and reached your target weight. Now you can muster enough courage to slip into your swimsuit and those flashy bermudas. But once you’re out there on holiday you forget your diet and exercise regimen and gain upto 400 percent more weight than usual, certainly a mighty hurdle to contend with.

Here’s what you can do to overcome this

* Plan a holiday that includes physical sports like hiking, swimming, badminton, or even scuba diving, and don’t book into a room which has a TV set.

* Don’t make food your number one cause for enjoyment. Keep your schedule interesting so you won’t think so much about food.

* If you’re going to your native town, avoid dinner time visits to those homes where relatives insist on loading your plate with heaps of fatty foods because you’re not looking ‘healthy’.

* Stick to your diet without making a noise about it or your dear ones may persuade you with the ‘Come on, you’re on holiday’ line which is difficult to resist. Be ready with the handy excuse ‘I have a stomach upset’ for the persistent ones.