Losing Fifteen Kg In One Month To Save The Dream Of An Army Career
Prologue:
It was on the 16th of July 2002, that this tall young lad stepped into my consulting room. “Doctor, please help me lose 15 kg weight in one month! I’m willing to do anything you tell me.”
He wasn’t exactly the first person coming to me, making such a fantastic demand, nor would he be the last! But I sensed something different about this boy that prevented me from feeling the usual sense of amusement, at such an atrocious demand. In fact, the demand did not appear to be atrocious at all, the way he put it. It was when I asked him the reason for his extraordinary demand that I began to perceive the daunting immensity of the challenge that I was going to face.
A last year student of B.E. at the Islampur engineering college, Onkar Bhandurge had set his heart on joining that engineering corps of the Indian army. Although the Indian army requires thousands of officers, it is not easy to enter the army as an officer. You have to pass a battery of tests, before you can get selected. Although thousands of boys appear for the entrance test, very few make the grade.
In this situation, Onkar had passed all the required tests. But he weighed 85 kg at 5 feet 10 inches. Thus he was declared temporarily unfit and was asked to lose 15 kg weight in just forty two odd days. He was due to appear for a medical check up at the Appeals Medical Board at a Command Hospital, in that period. Eventually I was to get only thirty days as Onkar came to me rather late.
He had already approached the then largest health club in Pune and also the largest chain of the so called slimming and beauty clinics in India. Both boasted of being great champions of the weight loss industry. Both quoted huge fees, but also categorically refused to guarantee even one kg weight loss in thirty days. The health club, in fact, also told him that he would have to take nothing but fruit juices for one month. The juices would be provided by them and he would have to pay separately for them. Little did they know that he would have to stand up to a very strict medical scrutiny and starving to death was not an option at all for Onkar!
To say that the job was difficult would be a gross understatement. But this lad had come to me with a great hope. He was determined to put in as much effort as was required. He left me with no choice but to accept the challenge. That I would have to draw on all my skill and experience was a foregone conclusion. Luckily, I had the experience, of helping a boy lose 8 kg in 22 days for N.D.A. entrance, but this was a long time ago.
There was a slight problem with Onkar. He wasn’t as fit as Sameer, the first lad I treated. Getting him to exercise six hours a day was not going to be easy. Starving him was not the option. He would never lose 15 kg of fat by starvation. Any drop in the haemoglobin count, or appearance of ketone bodies in urine, as would inevitably happen on a starvation based diet, would automatically render him unfit in the medical check up that would follow. This was something we could not afford. All this was explained to Onkar, before his treatment was planned. Five meals including a breakfast, lunch, evening snacks and dinner were planned, along with plenty of skimmed milk throughout the day. His exercise regimen included one hour running, walking and hill climbing, twice a day, morning and evening. This was followed by rest for one hour, at the end of which he would work out at our Centre for two hours. The major exercises, the cardiovascular workout, were conducted on the tread mill, the mechanical walker, the elliptical cross trainer, the cross country skiing machine and the exercise bikes. Warm up and cool down exercises preceded and followed the cardiovascular exercises. No strength training was involved in the workout. Four hours of rest was planned in the afternoon. We needed half a kg weight loss a day. Execution Of The Treatment: Onkar started exercising with great determination. Initially he was tiring and had cramps in the legs. But he fought on gamely. We had the knowledge and experience to solve every one of Onkar’s problems. The treatment was planned with precision including the exact litres of water Onkar would require. Propelled by sheer mental strength, his fitness improved by leaps and bounds. The daily tilting of the scale filled him with great enthusiasm and both of us were growing in confidence. The nutritional plan was never any problem for Onkar, now he was also becoming more comfortable with his exercise regimen. We had achieved about half the goal in twenty days. By now every single member of our Centre identified with this lad’s epic struggle. A wave of relief and happiness was sweeping through the Centre as everybody had begun to sense victory. Victory, not only for the two of us, but for everybody at our Centre! When Onkar began to work out, the exercise was slow and laboured. But by now, he was tremendously fit. He was exercising easily, fluidly and at great pace. Naturally, he started losing weight faster. At last, on the evening of the 14th of August, he completed 14.5 kg weight loss. He was due to report at the Command Hospital on the morning of the 16th of August. Knocking back the last half a kg in one day was a mere formality now, but the 15th of August was a holiday for us. We decided to keep the Centre open on that day especially for him. But Onkar requested us to not to do so. He said that he could run four times that last one day. At last, on the morning of the 16th of August, Onkar stood in front of me, one last time, to check his final weight. And to our absolute jubilation, he weighed exactly 70 kg! We had won the battle! There were celebrations all round at our Centre. The Result: That morning, Onkar left for the Command Hospital (S.C.), Pune, with our well wishes and blessings. As is their routine practice, he was admitted and kept at the hospital till the 19th of August, facing a battery of tests. Finally he was discharged having successfully passed in the medical check up. Every single person at our Centre was overjoyed. We had achieved what most people wouldn’t even dream of achieving. At the end of the day, the explicit faith that this boy reposed in me, when his entire future depended on my ability to help him achieve the near impossible, was the single most important quality that won the battle for us. Losing 15 kg weight, in just one month, was a great battle won by Onkar, even before joining the army. Tremendous faith, will power, determination, a clear cut goal, scientific treatment, clinical precision in planning and execution of the treatment, all contributed to Onkar’s huge, huge success! Onkar, did not just achieve his goal, but also lent all of us great strength and a lesson we’ll never forget! One can achieve even the impossible, if one is really determined to do so. Onkar’s amazing story was published by ‘Saptahik Sakal’, the largest selling and the most popular Marathi weekly magazine, on18th January 2003, in their ‘Fitness Special Issue’, bringing us huge publicity. Many more boys and even girls came to us to lose weight for army, air force or even merchant navy, due to this article. Two girls lost 8 kg each while Makrand lost 11 kg in 22 days for the army. Viraj lost 18 kg in 50 days for merchant navy. But Onkar always will have a special place in our memory! Epilogue: This article is not, in any way, intended to give the reader any false idea that anyone can achieve fifteen kg weight loss, in a month, at will. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is neither possible nor required by anyone to lose weight at such a break neck pace. Only a very healthy and sturdy young man from a rural background could put in as much effort. Moreover, he would also have to have a very good metabolic rate to lose weight as quickly. For the average person, two to four kg weight loss a month would be excellent weight loss. That is precisely what is recommended internationally. Also read what people and specialist doctors say about us on the links ‘Testimonials‘ and the ‘Doctors Recommend Us‘ on this website. All our contact details are available on the ‘Contact Us’ page of this website.