Mayavi Khandelwal was obese and a chronic diabetes patient. Despite being a multi-talented person and owning a flourishing chocolate business, she led a painful life as she struggled with multiple health issues. She consulted a natural health practitioner and made lifestyle changes, this turned out to be a turning point in her life. She got rid of all her ailments and excess weight. She has been leading a healthy, medicine-free life. Read on to know her inspiring story!

Mayavi Khandelwal

56 years, Entrepreneur

Mumbai

My health condition was hitting rock bottom

This was way back on 2013, it was past 10.25 pm on a rainy July night! I wondered if I should call this diabetes reversal doctor so late. The meeting with my family physician hadn’t been very nice and he had said I should go straight to the hospital. He said if I did not, I ran the risk of a stroke! My fasting sugar was 290 and post lunch was 370. My blood pressure was 200/110. I was terrified when he told me to go to the hospital. The thought of being injected with heavy doses of medicine and insulin was very scary!! I lied to him and said I would go to the hospital when my husband came home from a meeting.

I decided to explore an alternate approach

I went home and called a dear friend who lives in Pune and she gave me the number of Dr. Pramod Tripathi, the diabetes reversal doctor. I called him up as I was too anxious.

A soft spoken voice answered the phone and heard me out for the next 5 minutes. Then he asked me to sit down in a comfortable position and listen to him. He said nothing would happen to me and that I should just relax and follow his voice. I felt very relieved after the 10 minute meditation and slept well through the night. Dr. Pramod said he was in Kolkata for a couple of days and so I could join the next class happening on 4th of August 2013. I started the lifestyle change on 6th of August.

I was struggling with recurrent multiple issues

Let me tell you the issues I was facing besides the alarmingly high sugar levels and hypertension. I had hypothyroidism, vertigo, severe and frequent migraine attacks, eczema alternating with asthma, skin allergies, a chronic cough for which I had already been through 2 biopsies, pain in the knees, cervical spondylitis. I would keep getting cold cough and fever every 3 to 4 weeks. With high doses of antibiotics it would settle for a couple of weeks and start again! Another chronic issue was severe acidity.

I was taking medicines as if it was a snack every morning and evening. I would take at least 2 sachets of antacid every night and could hardly sleep for 3 hours every night. I was always tired and was completely exhausted by 12.30 pm. Every night instead of thanking God for all the good that happened I would request him to let me die in my sleep. The thought of another painful day was too much to deal with.

I started to make some lifestyle changes

I weighed between 92 and 94 kgs but had come down to 87 by almost starving myself. With my weight of 87 kgs I could barely walk 200 meters. But I was determined to follow Dr. Tripathi’s advice and that’s exactly what I did! I changed my lifestyle.

• I stopped eating all animal products like milk, butter, cheese, paneer, curds etc. Instead of that I was eating curds made from peanuts, milk made of almonds or soya, cheese made of cashews.
• I started eating a lot of raw greens, fruits and vegetables.
• I ate more sprouts and seeds. I ate jowar and bajra instead of wheat and brown rice instead of white polished rice.
• In short I ate whole plant based food - no processed food at all, it was dairy free, sugarfree, oil free, gluten free and organic! (organic is what helped me to reverse hypothyroid!!)
• Along with that I started walking and then climbing stairs for anti gravity exercise.
• And for inner transformation I started meditating.
• My B12 levels and D3 levels were very low, so I was put on supplements to begin with.

I started to heal gradually

• Within the first 3 days I realized that I had not taken the antacid even once.
• Around the 10th day my knee pain had magically disappeared. I was sleeping well and feeling active through most of the day.
• For 3 weeks now there wasn’t any migraine or a cough and cold. No vertigo either. And now my skin was clearing up and I generally felt happier.
• By the 20th day about 60% of my diabetes medicine had stopped. And on 3rd of September I had found FREEDOM FROM DIABETES!
• And a year later the BP medicines, that I was taking for 27 years were stopped and then the doctor put me off the thyroid medication too. Being completely off all medicines is so liberating!

Weight loss happened automatically

I weighed almost a 100 for the longest time. And even before whenever I lost weight I always put on more than I lost. My weight dint just come back, it came back with friends! Before making the lifestyle changes, I had given up on my weight issue and resigned to the fact that I would die fat and sick and ugly! But with the new lifestyle I lost the first 18 kilos in the first 3 months. And thereafter a total weight loss of 27 kgs!

From breathlessness to running marathons!

For years I couldn’t walk even a hundred meters as I would get breathless and my feet and legs would hurt. I did not walk for the first couple of weeks but after that there was no stopping me! I would wake up fresh and want to go for a walk at 5 in the morning. And as if that wasn’t enough I would feel I had springs in my feet that kept me bouncing. I had found back the spring in my feet after more than 3 decades and now I wanted to fulfill my dream of running my 2nd Half Marathon after more than a decade.

I started training for the marathon with a group near my house. Initially it was tough and I found it difficult to cope with the others. But in a few months I was able to run 5 kms without stopping. This was an achievement for me. I did my anti-gravity thrice a day and started yoga thrice a week. I lost more fat and looked slimmer as my muscles were getting toned.

I learnt it was important to be mentally strong as well!

My journey from 87 kg to 67 kgs has been a special experience. I have learnt so much about my own body and its in-built ability to heal itself! I learnt that it’s not only my body that has to be healthy but also my mind needs training. I had a lot of negative thoughts that sabotaged my success. I would like to share one such incidence here.

When I had finished 12 km of the marathon there was a point, there was a stage and there was loud music being played. My head and heart was throbbing and a thought crossed my mind that what if I get a heart attack here. I slowed down and started walking. I was in time to complete the 21 km in 3 hours but this one silly little thought just slowed me down. I finished it in 3 hours 20 minutes. I was very upset about it. And as luck would have it I saw a video of Dr. Bruce Lipton, the author of Biology of Belief. He spoke about how our thoughts rule everything and by changing the way we think we can change our health!

I was inspired to start my health food venture

Dr. Pramod and his super half, Dr. Ritu, taught me how to plan my meals, how to create the yummy food and how to get physically active. Inner transformation was given as much importance and I see now how it helped me to be where I am today.

I remember telling Dr. Tripathi that I would not be able to eat boring, boiled tasteless food. He suggested that since I was very fond of food I should create recipes and make some delicious food. I enjoyed this challenge and realized that this was my calling. I thank Dr. Pramod for having me cater to his events in Mumbai. It gave me an opportunity to start my new business called My Pure Path. I started in September 2013 with catering and within next 2 months I started cooking classes as well. I have enjoyed every moment of learning and still do as I love to teach others how to cook all this whole plant based food!

About My Pure Path

My Pure Path is a completely dairy free, oil free, processed sugar free, mostly gluten free and organic company. We are a meal delivery service, catering service and have products like khakharas, cheese, butter and ice cream to name a few.

I can vouch for the impact of following a healthy lifestyle. Dr. Pramod and Ritu I can’t thank you enough. I feel very proud to say that I haven’t had even as much as a crocin in the last more than 5 years! I now run three 10 km and a half marathon every year. I now practice yoga thrice a week and run the other days!

I wish everyone would follow this kind of a lifestyle. It helped my mother to reverse chronic lymphocytic leukemia. She also reversed her lung condition and started climbing stairs. She is much fitter than people younger than her!

Conclusion

From that day in 2013, I can’t believe I have really come this far. It is indeed a realization of how we can actually choose to be in health!

If you feel inspired by my story or wish to speak to me, please do email me on [email protected] or call on 9820026264. I am on a mission to help people get healthy and am happy to share whatever I know.