Finally a movie that sends out a powerful message to India
and hopefully soon, the world.
When I got to know about a Telugu movie called ‘ Size Zero
‘, it stirred an instant interest in me. The very name of the movie ‘ size
zero’ took me down memory lane, through the last 8-10 years of my career as a
holistic nutritionist and practitioner in the field of lifestyle medicine.
And so I got down to watching this movie to see if the
message was one that could inspire people and viewers or was It just another
movie with a message and show that would further depress already depressed
people, when it comes to their weight, figures, physiques and health. Would it
be a message that encourages young girls to behave ‘ possessed’ by their weight
and health and the whole ‘ size zero’ crap, or to accept themselves the way
they in a true and loving sense.
I’ll be honest. The thought of watching the whole movie was
daunting. I’ve never really watched a Hindi movie till date (some mental block
for reasons I am still to find),
so a Telugu movie? But yes, like I said the name of the movie motivated me to
find out just what this story was all about.
I was impressed. This is a movie that every woman and person
out there including teenagers, need to watch. Finally a movie that sends such a
beautiful message about health, the body, feelings and emotions, acceptance and
the fact that life is larger and more beautiful than just chasing the ‘ size
zero ‘ craze.
Over the years I’ve had moms and dads come to me with their
daughters who were in the age groups of 16 - 19 with desperate pleas to ‘ get them thinner’, and when I
asked why such a goal, the answer was always the same.’ We need to get them
married ‘.
Now I’ve practiced for a lot of my career across the US and Europe
and I really never got such a goal with such a bizarre reason behind it. But
these mums and dads were serious and out of curiosity I asked why such a goal, it’s
not like their daughters were obese, they were regular normal pretty girls. The
answer was’ they need to be thin or it will be difficult to find a man to marry
them’. …Seriously? And over my years in India, I found that the Indian woman
strives, loses their minds and health over trying to get thin for a man, and
Indian men? I fail to see even a little bit of effort (I am not generalising
Indian men and women, this is my observation for a large number), so you have
this thin Indian girl or woman with an unhealthy looking man with a huge pot
belly, and really?
Indian men expect their women or brides to be thin? And mind
you this runs across even the most affluent and educated families across the
country. So basically, a woman is accepted mainly because of her figure and
everything else is secondary, things like who she really is, what she wants to
be, what makes her comfortable, her feelings, her emotions… and just imagine if
a girl cannot have that ‘ size zero ‘ figure because of reasons beyond her
control, that means she will be rejected? What an awful feeling, to be rejected
because you could not have the right figure, and while parents and people
around will tell them, ‘ its part of growing up, it will make you stronger’ the
girl gets further depressed, eaten away inside, stronger yes, probably in a
more rebellious way.
I cannot stress on the number of depressed young girls,
young married woman, women with kids, who come to me with health problems
ranging from PCOD, diabetes, skin and hair issued, to cancer, emotionally
stressed beyond imagination. Most of this stress stems from them trying and
having or wanting to be like someone that the media projects as sexy,
beautiful, hot or luscious. Society has become the biggest promoter of a ‘
false ‘ and ‘ fake ‘ way of living, health and defines the’ human body’ and ‘
looks’ in such a false way.
People have forgotten how to accept themselves, love who
they truly are, in their own skin. They have forgotten how to respect
themselves. The benchmark for progress is never themselves, but some one they
saw at a party, or in a movie, or in their own friends circle, and most of them
want to be someone and look like someone other then who they truly are. So the
latest exercise or diet program in the market will be the one that some movie
star or model had adopted, and the country blindly follows that thinking if
they do the same, they will look like that star.
I love the message that this movie projects. Slim doesn’t
have to mean beautiful. You can have fat too, and be beautiful, we all know
deep inside of us that beauty lies in the heart and is projected in our outward
appearance. You can have a super slim woman who looks stunning on the outside
but on the inside, you have a insecure, lost, depressed heart, always working
so hard to maintain that figure, because she believes that it’s her figure and
the way she dresses that earns her respect and love. And I can promise you,
there are so many lost girls and women and men out there who have such poor
body images of themselves that they can never ever be happy, as long as they
continue trying to be and look like someone that they are not.
I love the fact that the movie brings out an image that
there are no short cuts to health, fitness and weight loss. Recently at the
launch of my book with Shilpa Shetty, The Great Indian Diet, which is now a
number 2 bestseller across charts in India, Mr. Amitabh Bachan, Varun Dhavan ,
Anil kapoor, Manish Paul all agreed that there is no short cut to health and
fitness or a good or great body. It takes discipline, knowledge, and simplicity
to get what you want. If there is ever a pill that you come across that
promises to burn fat or help you lose weight, you need to be so carful and wary
of it, because weight loss can never be achieved thru a pill. That pill will
destroy your health and the health of your vital organs in the long run. Weight
loss is multi factorial and hence needs a multi factorial approach. Most of it
required a strong mind and goal and then a balanced approach to exercise, nutrition,
sleep and managing stress. That’s how you achieve weight loss and a fab body.
Mind – Body connection.
2 days ago Shilpa Shetty and I were in Goa to address the
Asian YPO summit and Shilpa got asked a question about her hour glass figure
and if that’s the message she is trying to send out to women, that they should
all have a figure like that. He answer was simple, she was blessed to be born
with that figure, but over time she realised that women don’t just want to be
accepted and loved for just their figure, for something just physical and what
makes her feel complete is the fact that she enjoys eating well, exercising,
being a business woman, being a hands on mum. She loves the person she is and
that’s the most important part of life, health and living.
When I consult with women across
India, its unbelievable the amount of time they spend on their body and health.
Working out twice a day, crazy diets that rob their day of time, as they need
to keep eating every 2 hours, their daily to do list had so much to do with
their goal of achieving some perfect body or seeking that ‘ number’ that they
want their weighing scale to show them. All this leads to depression, character
change, change in behaviour, loss in self-confidence and self-esteem. Some women
and men tell me ‘ when I achieve a body like ‘ that’ il be happy’ ..Sadly that
will never happen, because the human mind always wants more and more and when
they achieve that body, someone with a better body will come along and then
again, they slip back into constant struggle, want and depression.
I must congratulate the writer,
director and the entire team of the movie. I totally believe that real impact
messages like these, can reach the masses thru movies and books, and that’s
what India needs right now…we need to break out of this trap that the media,
movies, songs, social media and magazines have entrapped humans in. Again, I
repeat most issues today stem out of insecurity, fear, the want to be someone else,
the want to be better than others, the want to be accepted and loved at any cost and on grounds
that are more material than heartfelt.
If you get accepted and loved because of your body only or
if that plays the major part of the decision when marrying someone, I can
promise you it’s the worst decision ever, for that man and that woman, for we
all know that time stops for no man or woman, and the body and looks will
change no matter who you are and how much wealth you may have, but what will
always remain is the heart, feeling emotions and true love, this will last a
lifetime. Ever seen a truly happy man or woman? The way they smile, laugh and
have fun? It’s beautiful, despite
the body they may have
You guys have brought that out beautifully,how loving and accepting yourself totally brings about self-esteem and self
confidence that ultimately takes you to what u want…being yourself is the most
beautiful way to be.
I truly hope this movie gets produced in all languages. Its
what we need to make a healthier India and world, its what we need to empower
girls, women and men to feel better about themselves, love themselves and
realise that the most beautiful and good looking and sexy you is YOU.
Luke Coutinho – Nutrition and Lifestyle medicine,
Integrative Healing.
Author and co-author of India s current bestseller – The Great
Indian Diet, with Shilpa Shetty.
