Health Transformation Story – Blog by Paresh Tavargiri

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and after a sumptuous lunch, I was on the verge of proceeding for my afternoon siesta. The 6 Gulab jamuns I had feasted upon in my lunch were slowly showing their effect and with a feeling of contentment, I shut my eyes to begin my journey towards dreamland.

I was rudely awakened by the shrill ringtone of my mobile. I was in no mood to come out of my dreams and just thought of cutting the call… when I realized that it was my college friend calling me after years. We had our customary exchange of greetings and What he said next shook me and I blanked out completely.

Our dear college buddy, Raghav was no more. He was in his 40s… so I could not come to terms with the fact that something of this sort could happen to him. 

This news shook me completely and for once forced me to look at myself in the mirror… what I saw was alarming… here I was with a swollen face and belly breathing heavily…  it’s a common human trait that the loss of your near and dear ones makes you more sensitive and responsible towards your own health in general. This was when I decided to have a complete medical checkup done the very next day which I have been avoiding for the last 3 years.

23rd October 2017… 7 pm

There was a peculiar tension in the air which reminded me of the day when my board results were out. Reports came and I realized all my health parameters were botched up and there seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel.

Damage was already done… I somehow tried to control my nerves and decided to visit my family doctor first thing the next day and thus began my fitness journey.

After going through my reports and customary checkup of my health stats the first word my doctor uttered was SUGAR. He then went on to explain to me various after-effects of high sugar and summarized by saying it acts as a slow poison in your body if not controlled can lead to many fatal health disorders. He asked me to follow a strict sugar-free diet along with other medications and restrictions on food intake and regular exercise.

With a feeling of a defeated soldier, I stepped out of his clinic. My mind was racing but somehow my heart was not accepting the fact that I need to follow any diet…  For a foodie like me who feasted on sweets in all forms following a sugar-free diet was beyond imagination. For once I thought of forgetting this entire episode as a bad dream and continuing my routine as it is. That’s when I was reminded of my friend’s demise and for once, I made a decision of following this sugar-free diet.

While making a decision in itself is a challenge, more challenging was to execute it. The absence of sugar and sweets from my daily meals started affecting my overall behaviour. I became more impatient, irritable at times and was not at peace with myself. This was somehow not working for me and that’s when I decided to have heart to heart conversation with my family doctor. I visited him a little late after the normal clinic hours and spoke to him at length about how impossible it was for me to stay away from sweets and how the whole thing was impacting my behaviour. He patiently heard me out and offered me a lifeline called JAGGERY. For a person who is a foodie and has a sweet tooth, this came as a breath of fresh air. To overcome and at the same time satisfy my sweet cravings my doctor asked me to have jaggery in limited quantity. That was the first time I understood the health benefits that came with Jaggery like increased immunity and control of many health disorders that come with ageing.

I had a ray of hope to fulfil my sweet cravings in the form of Jaggery came as a big relief… I had never imagined that Jaggery would be the light I was searching for at the end of the dark tunnel

It’s been more than 5 years since that dreaded Sunday… My life has undergone a 360-degree change. All my health parameters are under control. The best part is I have got control over my cravings. The person who took an effort to move from one place to another within the house has developed a passion for marathons and in the process won 40 medals over the last 4 years. Today I am proud to see myself in the mirror… I am happy to see a fitter me… Today I am in love with myself…

Having said all this I can’t forget the guiding light that my family doctor showed me in the form of Jaggery to overcome the dark tunnel of my life.