Those Extra Kilos

I am a sceptic. When Chun Mun metamorphoses into CM Stores, and Kapur di Hatti into KDH, I feel that the proprietor has much to hide. That's the way I felt when Vandana Luthra's Curls & Curves took the code name of VLCC. What's more, one outlet appeared to be opening every week in the city. Daryaganj, Faridabad _ as you read this, another one is being opened in Gurgaon.

Getting ready to laugh at ladies who lunch not wisely but well, wrinkle my nose at sleaze, and marvel at the gullibility of some of the people some of the time, I set out for that farthest VLCC branch: I didn't want to be caught out in a tissue of lies later.

 

The VLCC gym at New Friends Colony looked too squeaky clean to be sleazy. Never mind, I consoled myself, the weight-loss programme is bound to be filled with dubious food packets at extortionate prices. It wasn't. I wanted to speak with someone who would confirm my worst doubts. The assistant clinic manager met me. VLCC charges for every kilo you lose while on the programme. Every sitting at an inch loss machine is extra. Your ideal weight for your height is subtracted from your own weight. I was humbled to know that I weighed 15 kilos more than I should. The programme is two-pronged. Nutrionists ask you about your lifestyle and doctors examine you minutely. A diet chart is made out for you. You visit twice a week for sittings at the machine which was described as a vibratory one which increases your basal metabolic rate.

The catch is that it's easy to lose weight when monitored, but difficult to keep it up. I'm discounting what the managress told me about knowing so much about calorie charts at the end of the course that it becomes a lifelong habit. VLCC also has gyms, the use of which is charged separately. Smart but hardly a malpractice. There's no sleaze, no preying on gullibility. I know because I've just signed up for a Rs 10,000 package for five kg off and five sittings at the machine. At the clinic that's farthest from my home and office.