Adopting the 'Dixit' lifestyle: A journey from Fat to Fit

It all began a month and a half ago, during one of my daily phone conversations with my Mom. "I'm starting the Jagannath Dixit diet," she announced, "I think you should too... You've become huge!" Snide comments on my weight are a routine in our conversations, which I have learnt to happily ignore and continue eating what I want! My mother, a strict disciplinarian, has always been a fitness enthusiast, very conscious about her health and the preventive aspects pertaining to lifestyle- based diseases. Even at 55, she manages to squeeze in an hour of workout at her gym, in her schedule lined with household and office work, along with her social commitments. "I suddenly realized I can't keep up with this pace for too long", she said. "I'm getting older, and I don't know how long my body can keep up with the exercise it is used to. I don't want to suddenly stop and end up with a debilitating senescence. This diet seems quite easy. I think I can manage it."

She proceeded to explain to me what it was all about, and egged me to join in too.

I've always been skeptical about diet plans, food fads. Basically I'm a hard-core foodie. Ask me to give up my pizzas, and I'd tell you I'd rather weigh a hundred kilos and live 50 happy years than giving up on the food I love. Besides, I'm blessed with an attribute of being taller than most people, hence a lot of my weight gets masked and isn't very obvious to onlookers (unless they happen to be my Mom, who would note the tiniest change!) It's not like I haven't tried... I mean, who wouldn't like to look lean, be able to pull off all the clothes in the back of your closet which you've kept for 'some day' which you know would never arrive, yet can't have the heart to discard? I've tried having 'smoothies' when my mom-in-law tried Dr. Tripathi's diet plan for her diabetes. I liked them and did manage to lose a couple of kilos, but it was basically too much of work to buy all the ingredients, grind them each morning and make the smoothie. Moreover, not everyone in the house was willing to have a protein- based breakfast, so it only led to the additional chore of cooking two separate items for each meal. Over time, we gave it up and I regained whatever weight I had lost. 

Also, as a gynaecologist, my schedule is variable, and I cannot really keep up with 'small frequent meals', even if I've been preaching it to my patients. I definitely cannot pull down my mask in the operation theatre and pop in a fruit just because it is time for me to have my meal! I have tried cutting down on my biscuits and junk food, but it only worked to an extent. I would binge eat one day finally after having missed it sorely, and be back to square one! 

I had been receiving several WhatsApp forwards on Dr. Dixit, but, like most other forwards, had chosen to ignore them so far. I gave a non-committal answer to my mother, but decided to research a bit on this diet plan, since it sounded quite viable. I googled Dr. Jagannath Dixit, and came across a whole list of links to YouTube videos and websites. I also found a scientific paper which Dr. Dixit had published in one of the medical journals, which caught my attention. He himself is a Professor in Preventive and Social Medicine. His theory is based on the reduction of insulin surges in the body, thus allowing the basal insulin to 'digest' the fat stored. It seems pretty logical. He had published a community study on several commoners who followed his lifestyle for upto 6 months, and managed to lose weight and inches considerably. Intermittent fasting was the key.

I am quite partial to anything that's backed by scientific evidence. Mom sent me a picture of a relative who had lost all his belly fat and was looking fabulous! Well, this was someone I knew, not just a random photoshopped person for an advertisement for a gym or meal replacement product. "That's it!" I decided on the spur of the moment, "I'm trying this out." Mom was exuberant! Her sarcasm had finally worked!

The 'Dixit diet', as people prefer to call it, is based on the premise of only two meals a day. You can choose the preferred timings of your meal based on when you really feel hungry. They may, of course, vary for each individual. But he has recommended sticking to the same time every day, with a variation of around 15- 20 minutes. Your meal can be spaced out over a span of 55 minutes. In that period, you can eat whatever you want, but he recommends including a serving of protein in your meal, and even I observed that when I had proteins, I did not feel hungry soon again. In between your meals, you can have specific fluids- water, dilute buttermilk, tender coconut water, green or black tea or coffee, regular tea with less milk and no sugar, in whatever quantity you want, and one tomato throughout the day. 

Also, he has recommended coupling it with exercise of our choice- the simplest being walking 4.5 kilometres in a period of 45 minutes. 

He recommends that one should check their HbA1C levels before embarking on this program, since it's not advisable for diabetics to do it without supervision.

This routine isn't a diet plan per se, it's more of a lifestyle. It's like our ancestors, or our farmers- who have two square meals; the first before going out on the fields, and the second after returning home. And I intend to continue with this lifestyle even after I have reached my target weight.

I started the diet bang in the middle of the Ganesh festival. The house was abound with sweets and 'prasad'. The first few days, I had intense sugar cravings. I ate whatever sweet I could lay my hands on in my 55 minutes! I tried various permutations and combinations. The meal timings recommended by Dr. Dixit were 9 am and 6 pm, or 1 pm and 9 pm. However, neither would suit me, since I am at work for almost 12 hours. After a few trial days, I settled on breakfast and dinner. On the first day, I carried a chopped tomato to work, to eat if I felt hungry. I obviously did, opened my tiffin box to eat it in the evening, ended up finishing it in less than two minutes and was still hungry! Then I started carrying buttermilk, and would have a cup of green tea in the afternoon. At my designated mealtimes, I would be ravenous! My appetite increased to thrice the usual! Moreover, I would stuff myself, worried that I would get 'hangry', and wouldn't be able to eat in between. It took me a week to adapt to the change. My body stopped sending me hunger pangs in between mealtimes. I learnt the trick that if I had a bowl of sprouts, or dal at my breakfast, I would be quite full till late evening. I made it a point to include some protein in the diet whenever possible. I started going for walks or jogs in the mornings, which was difficult to keep up considering my schedule. But we would try and make it at least 3- 4 days a week.

The first change I noticed was that I felt considerably lighter. Several times before the Dixit lifestyle, I would be too full after dinner- would even have reflux of food sometimes. However, no matter how much I ate, I would still not feel as full now. In a week, my weighing scale showed me a kilo lesser than the weight I had started with. This felt good!

The best part about this diet was that I didn't have to give up anything! I was allowed to have a meal of pizzas or samosas or whatever I would like! However, I needed to finish it all in my 55- minute slot. I would carry a small 'daba' with me initially- I would collect all the snacks, the Prasad I was offered throughout the day and eat it all together at dinner time! People found me weird, but that was the only way I could eat it all!

Gradually I found myself stop craving for junk. I learnt to listen to my body. I would never restrict my intake at mealtimes, but only have what I really felt like. I'd have sweets only if I really felt like it, and not as a compulsion after every meal, as I was in the habit of doing previously.

It helped to have my mother and husband follow the same lifestyle- having a fitness partner helps keep you motivated!

Over a period of 1.5 months, I ended up losing 4 kilograms. There's a noticeable difference in my inches as well. I feel more energetic, more confident, sexier! And seeing the results is what keeps me going...

Of course there's still a long way to go! My face has started looking much thinner, while the belly fat still remains (it's always the last to go!)

But it's been a month and a half of just a little bit of discipline and self control, which has got me to believe in myself, to reach goals which I had never thought I could have achieved! Moreover, there are other plus points too. I've learnt to cook without tasting the food I'm preparing! Sometimes my family has to eat stuff with less salt, but they're very sweet about it, and I discovered a culinary prowess that I never thought I possessed! I've made friends with a vendor selling tender coconut water, and he's a really adorable and hard-working fellow, who I learn a lot from!

Seeing someone I knew achieve results pushed me into trying this out. The reason I'm writing this is that I hope I'd be able to motivate someone who is as depressed as I once was, who's given up all hopes of ever transforming himself/ herself from fat to fit, into believing that it's not really as hard as it looks. If a foodie like me can do it, anyone can! One just needs the will power!

The writer is a young dynamic Obstetrician, Gynaecologist and Infertility Specialist practicing in Pune.