Diksha Chhabra’s story of weight loss is a journey of hard work, patience, and a lot of determination. At the age of 29, she weighed 96 kilograms as she suffered from Polycystic Ovary Disease (PCOD) and hypothyroidism.

She was jolted out of her comfort zone when her college friends expressed their concern to see her gaining weight and that was the moment she decided to address the issue. “In college, I was an NCC cadet, an athlete, and a dancer. Nine years on, my friends were shocked to see me so overweight,” she shared with Hindu.

Now a fitness trainer, a nutritionist, and a model, Delhi-based Diksha shared how she transformed herself into the being the best version of herself.  “Earlier, I juggled between a nine-to-five office job and my family. My husband is in the Army and I was raising my five-year-old son by myself. My mother-in-law was battling cancer. I had so many things happening in my life that I forgot to take care of myself. I slowly developed depression and insomnia.”

She quit her job as a school principal in January 2016 and moved to Gangtok to be with her husband. Unable to understand how to tackle the issue, she was confused between the right diet and exercise. “I made many mistakes. I ate less and did excessive cardio exercises. I lost 18 kilograms in the first six months but had loose and saggy skin around my waist and under my arms. I was always tired and even had blackouts, thanks to my improper food habits.”

Eventually realizing the importance of a balanced diet, she enrolled herself for a certification programme in nutrition and went on from being a vegetarian to including fish and meat to her diet for a natural source of protein. Following this, she hit the gym and underwent weight-training to tighten her muscle and skin. “This helped me drop my body fat and gain muscle mass, giving an impression of a toned body. I lost another 12 kilograms and felt good about myself.”

During her journey of transformation, Diksha garnered a lot of attention from her followers on Instagram. “I started to get a lot of followers. There were many people who connected with my struggle. I also received requests from people to help them with their training and nutrition.”

What started as a personal project turned out to be a help for others struggling with weight issues. After her immense success, she launched her website in November 2017 that offers customized diets and workouts to her audience. “It is important to know a person and his or her history of health. What works for one may not work for another. In the past one year, I have worked with more than 200 people. One has to understand that transformation will not happen in a day. It is a slow process, but one will definitely get results with patience.”

Today Diksha is an inspiration for thousands of women. She became the 2nd runner up of the Mrs. India Earth 2017 contest.

H/T: The Hindu