Hi! I’m Gauri (rhymes with dowry). I’m a 25-year-old naturopathy student and writer living in Melbourne, Australia. I’m a vegetarian health nut with an unfortunate weakness for chocolate and stress eating. I’m 163cms tall (5’4″) and weigh 60kg (around 130 pounds). On paper, that doesn’t look so bad. However, a very nasty, but honest, body composition machine told me last month that 38% of my total body weight is fat (30% is considered the upper limit of acceptable). I am what my nutrition lecturer likes to call ‘skinny-fat’ — I appear skinny (well, slim), but if I had a reasonable amount of muscle, I would probably register as obese.

The classic skinny-fat person, I look like this in my clothes:

But this is what’s underneath:

For me, though, this journey isn’t about weight loss. I have a metabolic disease, hyperthyroidism, which is currently in remission (hopefully for good!). Hyperthyroidism is a disease where, when you tell your friends that it leads to rapid weight loss, the initial response is “Lucky!”. But the weight loss includes the breaking down of your muscles, and is accompanied by a rapid resting heart rate, palpitations, chest pain, weakness, anxiety, and depression. Oh, and an ugly swelling in your neck. So, as you can imagine, weight loss and health aren’t necessarily linked, in my mind at least.

So, what is my goal? In a nutshell: to give my body what it needs to thrive, through food, exercise and natural medicine.

I will do this by:

- Providing my body with ample, good quality macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, fat) in the required quantities, as well as the micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) it needs for optimal functioning;

- Consuming fresh, vital foods that delight as well as nourish me;

- Doing cardio and muscle-strengthening exercise as often as possible — no set plan yet as I’ve been unwell and am not up to exercising right now;

- Finding better ways to deal with stress than eating chocolate;

- Enjoying the journey, and showing women that a healthy lifestyle is achievable, fun, and a gift — not a punishment!;

- Updating you weekly on my progress: what I’ve been eating, my stress levels, my sense of physical and emotional wellbeing, the occasional full body shot, and any insights or helpful tips I can come up with that might help you on your journey.

Do you know of any resources — books, websites, blogs, etc — that I should look into? What’s your favourite kind of exercise?