Being Deserving!!

.....Its an early day tomorrow, but as I lie in my bed sleepless at 5.00 Am wondering about.. how most of the time I  take alot of things for granted.


No! Its not even that, its about how petty some things seem to be when the fear of something worse can happen creeps into my paranoid mind.

Those arguments over..now which seem like trivial issues with my hubby.
Those plans of buying stuff or were to go this weekend.
Those insecurities I let myself feel as a wife, as a mother, as a woman.
Being at times inflexible with my parenting methods or being a bit too strict with my lil one.
Those inabilities or failures from my past.
Every single thing I usually fight over in my mind about me that isn't good enough.
Those ridiculous do s and don'ts  I subject my little one too.
All these just seem crap such a waste of this beautiful life I have been gifted. Why cant I feel like this every time? Why cant i be content and happy and satisfied with who I am.

This is not just about acceptance of who I am and what I have in my life....but beyond that, its about embracing what's given to me...with so much love. Its about being deserving of these beautiful gifts...beautiful relationships...
Every night I pray and thank this divine power for thinking I deserve this kinda happiness in my life.


Today I realised I had to add another sentence to my prayer....its promising to be that person everyday who deserves to enjoy these wonderful experiences as a Wife, Mother ...daughter..a woman etc. Respecting its value.


Everything given to me is for a reason and I need to live every day proving to myself that I deserve to keep this....and nothing else is more important than the people I love in my life and everything else in between is just white noise.

The journey of rejection, frustration and tears to HOPE!

I'm not gonna start with the usual “My life was like this….” Or “ I was so fed up…..”rants! There's no need of that now and it's all in the past so will come right to what I wanna share and it is about these 4 little Ds that helped me to get where I am with my struggle with my weight.



The Ds that took me through my toughest phase:



Decision:



Nothing can change if you can't decide to make that change and when I say decide I mean like no more procrastination…..get that ass up and get to it. Your word has to have value, by saying “ I'm gonna workout from tomorrow or say I'm going to be better with my food choices from now on” but still stick to your usual self who are you lying to ..... no one but yourself.  As I read something once


“You can change for the better only when your will to change is stronger than the your will to be average or same”.


This decision happened to me 2yrs back and the very next day I registered for a 5k marathon and everything else is history and haven't looked back from then.



Determination/ Dedication:



This all comes down to your will power. As a mother I feel at time certain feelings or emotions are heightened than before not sure if others feel it. Before I was quiet a determined person but after becoming a Mom I found these super human power of determination and dedication in areas I felt very strong about. Many a times I have failed and given in to temptation or laziness but I have always tried to jump back on track with my inner voice taunting me of the first D the decision I made to change.



Discipline:



This is something we even teach our kids, discipline in every area. Then why is it tough for us  to follow it when it comes to our health. Anything and everything in life requires discipline. Disciple is for me is not about being rigid in my choice but being practical. Making the right choices that works for you and sticking to it. But also not going over board and pushing oneself with crazy diets and skipping meals. Being honest and realistic is the need here.





Diet:



It's wasn't until recently that I realised how important one's nutrition is for your overall success of reaching your goals. I had a lipoma surgery at two places on my thigh after this I couldn't workout for two months ( HIIT was what I was doing before surgery and that was something to be avoided at all costs). I could feel the fear of putting on weight all over again creep in. But I made up my mind to beat it and took it up as a experiment to prove whether the theory that 70% of our weight loss comes from what we eat and 30% is the workout.


And I'm not kidding it really did….with just 15-20 mins walk each day…I controlled my portions, ate very sensibly. Had my cheat days too. My body is reacts more to vigorous workouts like HIIT. Walks just help to an extent but really doesn't help me lose fat which I have noticed before too. So the weight loss I did experience then was everything to do with my food. I took this new found lesson and put it into practice even after I was able to get back to my regular workouts.






Here you have my dear Ds that I swear by till date. They are so interconnected one can't work without the other. The biggest and most important I have learnt in this journey is to never give up and it can be done.


I am sharing this to who are in the state I was two years back….even if I can help anyone 1-2 %,  I will consider it great. If this gets you to start your weight loss journey from today…..wow that would be such an awesome gift that you can give yourself.



Do remember not to get carried away with the Kgs and pounds that you lose or gain. Though I lost lot of Kgs the shocking part is my body fat percentage is still not in the acceptable range. And that's what I'm working towards being healthy with a healthy BMI and body fat percentage and increasing my endurance and strength. This is a life long commitment I intend to keep. And I'm sure many of you feel the same and all the best to that….keep the faith and don't lose hope.







PS: here's a .....pic thought it may help those who need to see to believe :)

Quick Healthy Dalia Kheer

Serves: 4
Cooking time: 20-25 mins

Ingredients:
Dalia/ Broken wheat: 1 cup ( pressure cooked till soft)
Ghee: 1/5 cup or more depending on how rich you want the kheer
Milkmaid: 4 tbsp
Chopped Roasted assorted nuts: 2 tbsp ( I used cashews, walnuts, raisins)
Jaggery: 3-4 squares powdered
Sugar: 2tbsps
Milk: 500 ml

Procedure:

• Add ghee in the Kadai or a deep bottomed vessel. Let it be on low flame, Add the Dalia to this and mix and fry for few mins till a nice aroma emanates.
• Add all the milk and stir continuously so that the lumps are dissolved. ( be careful while adding the milk it may splash)
• Add the powdered jaggery and sugar. Mix well for few mins let it cook.
• Add all the milkmaid and strip well and make sure no lumps are present. 
• Check the taste to determine the sweetness of the kheer, according to that you can add more jaggery or sugar and to make it more rich you can add milkmaid as well.
• If you want the consistency to be thinner then you can add more milk.
• Once the kheer reaches the right taste and consistency add the chopped nuts. 
• You can also add cardamom powder if you like. 
• Serve hot or Warm- in case of kids! 

This as always been a winner with my daughter and anyone who comes to my place or at potlucks!

Quick, Quick make it Quick Mama!

As a mom being quick always comes handy.

Like:-

• Quick games to distract your toddler while you realise you entered the forbidden chocolate aisle in the supermarket.
• Quick ways to get her to eat that last few bites of food before you pass out after the 1 hour ordeal.
• Quick ideas on how to get your toddler out from the park/ play area before the staff lock you both inside for the night and it turns out to be your worst nightmare and your daughter's fantasy. 
• Quick strategies to get your toddler to wear clothes that you want her to wear and make it look like it was her idea.

And last but not the least and at times the most important Quick recipes for the energy sucked out Mom to make for a hungry, cranky "I want instant gratification now" 2.7 year old!

Talking about Quick Recipes stay tuned to my next post on few Quick Recipes to make for your hungry monster without breaking a sweat, a finger nail or your head.

And will share my Quick tips too related to the above , even if it helps a teeny weeny bit I will be happy I passed it on.

Mommy the Juggler!!

Mommy the "Juggler"!

In my days of working as an HR professional at a leading newspaper company, I learnt that "multitasking" was the effective way to get work done in turbo drive. Later I read an article that actually multitasking isn't a good thing....but let's take that up for some other day. 

Once I became a mom to a very sweet baby....who in the earlier days made me feel I had mastered this art of feeding and burping and napping and mashing food etc....I mean "Why do women make such a fuss about being a mom" was my thought. This was only till this sweet innocent baby became the kiddy version of Dora the explorer and decided to explore and conquer anything and everything new in her path then did I realise what was in stored for me. 

Flash forward today...my little explorer is now all of 2.6 yrs old and the exploration still continues only now it comes along with a million to zillion questions some with multiple choice if I'm lucky or on my unlucky days i will be thrown questions on my answers and it never ends.....so with all this yakkity yak...me the old multi tasker had to bring in my old skills the skills I learnt that help me deal with frustrated employees and media guys...and apply it here... of course with tweaks. And so I became Mommy the Juggler! 

And I'm getting quite good at it.....at times I can catch myself cooking a meal while keeping the groceries as I'm answering my little quiz master...it seems all so natural....Ah..we Mommies what are we made of I wonder...I'm sure we can put any professional juggler to shame. 

With great powers come great responsibilities they say (more like Spider-Man 's grandpa).....I say with a rambunctious toddler comes great juggling powers! 

To all my fellow mommies out there...happy juggling! 

A quick guide to become a Fit Mommy!

A quick guide to take that first step towards being fit!

Now don't we all want to lose weight and stay fit. And if you can achieve that without breaking a sweat won't it be the icing on the cake. But that is not going to happen.

Losing weight and keeping the weight off is definitely a challenge especially if you're a busy mom,  but its not impossible. With the right balance of diet and exercise you can always achieve your ideal weight.

1. Lets take a look on how one can lose weight through a simple excersise schedule:

-Choose the right time to workout either it's early morning or before hitting the sack, which ever suits you but stick to it.  

-The best way to lose weight is to burn more calories then what you consume ie to create a calorie deficit.  Eat in moderate and burn more by increasing your physical activities. 

-Few of the best ways to lose weight and get toned is a High intensity interval training, brisk walking and swimming.

2. A quick schedule to lose weight effectively:

-Start your morning with a 30 min brisk walk. 

-In the evening take a 45 min HIIT class or an aerobic class.

-If you have the energy go for a 15 min walk or a 30min swim before dinner. 

3.The secret of losing weight is to maintain a balance of diet and exercise:

-Plan your meals ahead so that you don't end up binging on forbidden foods.

-Eat more vegetables and add more fat burning greens like broccoli in your daily diet.  

-Consume more Fibre and nuts. 

-Fruits like blueberries and cranberries have antioxidants that help your body clean all the toxins and melt fat as well.

-Drink a lot of water and green tea.

4. Adopt a positive outlook:

- Apart from eating right and exercising you need to also keep yourself stress free.  - 

- Mediate each day for few mins.  Keep calm, take your required snoozes daily. 

- Join a yoga class to help you learn how to eliminate stress and develop a positive outlook.

Losing weight is a challenge which can be  achieved by thoughtful eating and a effective workout 5 days a week.  Also it's important to keep our mind healthy and think positively.

All the best to a healthy happy lifestyle!

Supermommy's Battle of the Bulge!!!

My ongoing battle of the bulge!!

Bulge would be the understatement of the year! My weight as always been in the vicinity of 58-60 kgs and it stayed that way with a good workout and some conscious healthy eating.

Everything was going fine until Boom! I peed on a stick and it turned out to be positive.....of course it wasn't an unplanned one, hubby and I had been planning to get pregnant and it was one of the most happiest moments in my life and to think I would feel that way standing in my loo of all places.

And so I was pregnant and ignorant to the fact that my life was gonna take a 360 degree spin....I mean I thought then its just a baby, I mean how bad can it possibly get right?.....( well now I'm typing this very sentence with a screaming attention seeking toddler who's making a mess of the entire living room). Hahaha was I in for a reality check.

Well I m gonna save that story for some other time....right now I just wanted to share my story about my weight gain and weight loss ( yes in the end I did lose some)!

So on my very first examination I remember clearly weighing 60kgs and I felt the ideal weight gain is 12 kgs and I think if I'm 72 I'm sure I can lose it at my pace post pregnancy and hey what is the big deal....I'm pregnant there's a living being growing inside me that should vouch for some extra brownies ( quite literally.... ain't those yummy).

Hence after my 3 months of severe morning sickness....I was back to actually being able to look at food and even started craving for it with vengeance. So an extra plate of chicken wings here and an extra plate of creamy pasta and pizza there.....I had bought myself a golden ticket to Fattynation.

On the day of my delivery I weighed 84kgs making it a total weight gain of 24 kgs in 9 months.  Well my baby girl was born and  weighed 3.43 kgs and every other issue or problem  just vanished and all my mommy duties started immediately. I lost weight initially but  eventually I saw myself  at 82 kgs once again. 

Life was all about breast feeding, diapers, calming a colicky baby at 3.00 am with no sleep in the last 24 hours was excruciatingly challenging and mentally  draining. Losing weight was not on the agenda at all.

I don't actually remember when I got serious about losing weight but I do remember the reason, it was for my baby girl....I felt the best gift I can give her is a healthy fit mother who can take care of her every need and not give an excuse to not be able to run outside with her or take her swimming or cycling and that's when it happened.

I took part in my first marathon the "Bengaluru Midnight marathon" after only one month of walking ( ya i could not run because of my weight my ankles would ache) practice. I ran my 1st 5 k within 50 mins and that was huge a achievement for me. And I never looked back since then. I have been running marathons ever since and completed another 2 more and also did a crazy Skyscraper dash where I ran up 830 stairs up the World Trade Center in Brigade Gateway which I did  in 11 mins. I started working out 3 times a day at this amazing place in Jayanagar, its a HIIT class and you got to believe me it works. The first few days was a huge challenge...I would curse myself for doing this but I'm glad I did.

It's  been 10 months since the day I ran my first marathon and started my workout journey....I have found a new me, a new drive, a new motivation....to be healthy to claim my body back, its not just about the numbers on the scale but I care about my endurance, a strong core and a having a good stamina and of course a healthy body weight.

And it's just the start.....

(PS: just in case you did wanna know the number.....I lost 10-11 kgs in this duration and I'm all set to push the next 10 kgs ).

If you find yourself in the same situation.....just remember you can do it....don't give up and fight for it, no one can help you but yourself.

Excuses never got anyone anywhere!!  All the best....

Do subscribe to my blog to keep you abreast in my journey towards my next 10kgs weight loss!


And how can this story be complete without a before and after collage right :) !!!!! And a pic of the certificates of my marathons till date!!