Aargh! Not another diet! There- I've said it for you. Nobody wants to hear about diets in the season of eating excesses and I'll-have-a-small-shot-of-vodka-in-my-alka-seltzer-to-prevent-hangover drinking. But bear with me, while I make a confession of sorts. I am addicted to.... FOOD. So much so that I was prepared to quit modelling in order to dedicate myself to full-time feeding. You see, I have run the gamut of the yo-yo dieting syndrome: gain weight due to a penchant to eat large quantities of delicious Khana, lose weight (and my sense of humour) through a dramatic decrease in yummy food intake, only to pack on more pounds than I began with, when I resumed eating enough to sustain the life force of more than a single-celled creature. Diet had become worse than a four letter word for me. As Garfield, that most sagacious of cartoon cats, puts it, ``Diet? It's `die' with a `t'''.Somewhere in all the buzzword babble of the last decade, the word `diet' has become a sign-post which proclaims: ``You are entering a food deprivation zone'' whereas the original deprivation of the word refers to food intake. Now, how food intake came to mean food deprivation is one of those Discovery Channel-type linguistic mysteries that I haven't time to ponder over here, but as far as I see it, human existence can be divided into two distinct time periods-BC, or Before Caring what you put in your mouth and the correlating effect that it has on your body and AD, or After Dieting, where you care too much about what you feed on. The corresponding speak terms are party season and New Year's fallout. And never the twain shall meet. At least, not in this dimension.
Then I stumbled into the Zone. Inspite of the spaced-out name, the Zone is a diet that makes a lot of sense. It helps you find the ground between BC-AD extremes where models like me formerly feared to tread. And it works. At least, it has worked brilliantly for me. In case you think all models belong to the don't-hate-me-because-I'm-thin-without-any-effort sub-species, I'm the exception to the rule. When I eat too much, I put on weight. Simple. To make matters worse, I'm a bit of a discipline-challenged individual, which means I can't stick to a diet. Besides, sprouts are not my scene. So what's a poor girl like me to do? Eat and enjoy life, or maintain my figure?
Revelation of revelations, in the Zone I can do both. If you want all the details, pick up Mastering the Zone by Dr.Barry Sears, published by Regan Books. You'll have to place a special order, but it's worth the effort. Having said that, the principles of the zone and accompanying description of digestive processes doesn't make for particularly scintillating reading. Which is why I'm not going into the actual mechanics of the diet here. I recommend you read the book. Once you grasp the theory behind it, the Zone is highly portable (meaning you can eat out a lot), adaptable (as diets for the next millenium should be) and flexible (read indulge!). As we all know too well, it's impossible to conquer cravings forbidden. And this where the Zone scores. It's about looking smashing and feeling great. Denial-free. And fat-free. Perfect for the Party Zone.
So don't procrastinate until 1999 to do your but-I-did-fit-into-this -last-week damage control. This Christmas, forget that new ensemble that hides all your bulges-treat yourself to great health and fine looks instead. By living in the Zone. That's something you can't put a price on. Extortionists won't be able to either. Perfect.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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