In pursuit of size zero

I had to lose weight. Not that I was obese. I was just a wee bit on the heavier side. This thought had been eating me for a while now.

When I got married some 15 years ago, my weight was normal. Then I had my first child. The joy of becoming a mother was something I couldn't surmount. Later, I had another child and I was very happy with my small sweet family, so I ignored the weight piling on.

As children started schooling, I had more time on my hands. That is when I started watching more TV.

The stars shown on the idiot box were unbelievably thin, even managing to come down to a 'size zero'. Now, I had heard of various sizes in clothes, but this 'zero' was what caught my attention. The next time I went to the mall, I searched for this size. I always felt zero was a 'no value' number, so if zero meant nothing, how could a person be that size?

However, as I started watching more television, the zero flashed in front of my eyes more often and I decided that it was time I lost some weight.

The first step was to join a gym. Initially, I met women who were my size or maybe larger, which was quite nice. But my happiness was short-lived as I met women who were much thinner, probably in pursuit of size zero.

Not to be easily disheartened, I decided to go on a strict diet. After a few weeks of the special diet and exercise regime, I felt that I may have lost some weight. But, to my utter horror, the weighing scale showed no change. "Maybe I must buy a new scale," was my first thought.

After a couple of months, I started losing a few pounds. But after that, my weight reached, what my gym instructor called, a 'plateau'.

How then did people go to size zero? Or was it their plateau weight? Or whatever it was.

After the initial depression, and hours of discussions with my husband and friends, I arrived upon a decision: I was not going to lose any more weight. I looked good, as complimented by my husband. I was to continue with my exercise and diet, which also made the atmosphere at home more serene.

So, after a positively enlightening experience. I decided to watch less television, eat my regular carbs and live life to the fullest.

- The writer is a Gulf News reader