Good good day....

I am feeling good today... I ended up taking a really long break! The problem is once there is a break it is difficult to start again... So I decided to bite the bullet and start running. 

I used a different app today because the other one we were using is available only on Apple devices... So I decided to use couch to 10k app today. It started off fine. Today I had to run for 90 seconds and walk 2 minutes for a total of 30 minutes. The first two rounds went fine... N then I started to huff and puff. That's when I realised that I was breathing with my mouth. I remembered that P says breathe in every 3 steps and breathe out every three steps... After that I did fine... In the third round of running/ jogging, the back of my legs, the area between the calf and the ankle started hurting... And I know there is nothing I can do about it except making sure that I have a good warm up and cool down routine. After I finished the run I met a friend and his dog... so sat down and talked to them for a few minutes before heading home... 

Listening to music helps me when I am running and also I realised it puts me in a really good mood... I came back home happy and energetic... I had energy to run around the table and play with Shelby, something I had stopped doing altogether in the last few days. Felt good to spend time with her... I also danced a bit with her.... It felt good to have that energy. For breakfast I decided to have boiled eggs and mango shake... but the mango shake was so heavy that I could not eat the eggs. Planning to have an egg salad for lunch... I think I will blog my recipe :D

So yeah... here's to a good day!

August... Here I Come...

So thought of an update with regards to my journey on being a fitter healthier person... I realised that I don't do very well without a concrete goal in mind and a lot of motivation. Unfortunately for me, my motivation for exercising does not come from within, it is all extrinsic. I need people in my life to motivate me... N mind you I am not talking about the negative kind of motivation, that just puts me down. It has to be the supportive, understanding kind. Yes, I know it is a lot to ask... from anyone really. Cause I can get quite nasty when I feel I am being pushed in to a corner or when I think I am not getting the kind of support that I need.

Anyways, so for the concrete goal, I chose (actually not just me, but it's a friend, her hubby n my hubby too) to run a 10K in August. So this friend of mine... M n I are training with the help of an App. I don't know the name of the App right now. Will look it up and post it here. And the good news is that we are on week 2. Though I must say, today was killing! I have no idea how I completed the training. I think I was dying little by little. My breathing definitely needs to improve for me to do better. In comparision week 1 seems easy... I feel good though.

Now the main problem that I am facing is that I am at home all day long and I cannot help but snack. And I don't just snack... I eat unhealthy stuff. Today was really bad in that department. But I also know the problem. I did not have breakfast today. And I was really hungry by 10:30. I ended up having my lunch at the time. And from then on I kept eating what ever I could find Its 6:45 pm right now and I feel like throwing up. I ate too much. I think I am also realising that sugar isn't great for me. I eat sugary stuff and then an hour later I feel nauseated and I feel very heavy. It is not a good feeling at all. I need to ensure that I have more fruits at home on a daily basis and most importantly have a decent breakfast on time every morning in order to set the right tone for the rest of the day.

The other thing I thought I needed for this plan to work for me is to have some sort of an external support system (seriously aren't I enough???). But I realise that I cannot always count on others to be there for me. Although I have to say that M is a great support, she and I have been struggling with our weight for  sometime now and for different reasons. But she is there whole heartedly for me and I hope to be a similar support system for her. We motivate each other. Apart from her, I need to work on motivating myself and being there for myself. I don't think anyone else can be there for me as much as I can for myself. What do you think?

Noodle Salad and Peanut dressing

Guess what... I completely forgot about my last post. I did not remember that I took a decision to become a fitter person and that I decided to publicly record my journey... What a fantastic start to me being healthy!

I don't think there is a need to state the obvious, and yet I have to do what I think is absolutely unnecessary... Although, in my head right now I am quite sure that I don't want to beat myself up for not following through. Honestly, it's easy to wallow in self pity and even easier is to put myself down and berate me for not keeping promises I made to myself. It is quite easy. So yes... things did not go as planned. But for all the things that went wrong, here are a few things I did accomplish in the last 3 and a half months.

• I walked 3 kms in the SBI pinkathon and finished the walk in about 30 minutes
• I wrote and submitted my practical log book and assignments for my MA Psychology course from IGNOU
• I went on an amazing holiday with my husband and stayed in a place that was on my "to do once in a life time" list 
• I fired my cook and have now started cooking all our meals at home

Not bad I think! 

So about the cooking at home part... I have to make easy lunches and dinner. I don't do elaborate very well. Even when I am cooking for a big group of people, I will make 4 to 5 dishes but they all have to be simple. I do not like complicated. No wonder I don't cook Indian food as much. I always felt it was boring. But in the last few weeks I have come to realise that I do like to cook Indian food as much as I love to eat it. It's just that I hate the elaborate prep work that goes into it. So, I have help now, she cuts all the veggies especially the leafy stuff and makes cooking a breeze for me. I have been doing a lot of lentils and rice and even pesarattus. And I am loving the food that I make these days. So for lunch today I made my husband's favourite, 'ambali'. Will put down the recipe some time later. For dinner I made a noodle salad. I am sorry for the crappy picture... I did not think I was going to post it on the blog. Although this did go onto my Instagram account. 

So for today's dinner, It was as simple as it could get... Now I live in Hyderabad... And here is when I miss living in Pune... I miss all the fresh produce I was able to source for this kind of cooking. And initially I hated it, but now I simply make substitutions and make do with what I have. So! I had roasted capsicum leftover from yesterday and I wanted to use it up today. Also I had carrots and cucumbers that I hadn't used in some time now. I decided to make a easy peasy salad... A go to dinner option at home. Prassi loves salad dinners and so do I... especially in this scorching summer heat. Most evenings I don't even feel like eating. But cold salads are enticing and make me hungry. 

For the salad:

• three small carrots julienne
• two english cucumbers julienne
• a handful of alfa alfa sprouts
• red and green bell peppers roasted on a naked flame, cleaned and cut up in strips
• half a pack of cooked udon noodles

Dressing:

• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp soya sauce
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp honey
• a heaping tbsp of peanut butter
• handful of roasted peauts
• 3 cloves of garlic

So mix the veggies and the noodles in a bowl. For the dressing i just bunged all the ingredients in a blender and added a little bit of warm water from the noodles and blended till it was all mixed up... it need not be smooth. Always remember to taste though, it is easier to make the changes in the dressing before we add it to the salad. You can add jalapenos or any other pickled chilly. I tossed the dressing with the noodle mixture and added more coarsely ground roasted peanuts and lots and lots of coriander. I did not have spring onions though... That would have made a nice addition. Also toasted sesame seeds. You can even add some thinly sliced apples or pomegranate or orange segments. Its completely up to your taste buds. But I have to say... it was great on its own... N we have enough left overs for my husband's lunch. So yay! I don't have to cook early in the morning tomorrow.

of new year and new plans

Woah!!!! New year already!!! Been almost two years since we moved to Hyderabad. And I finally feel like I am fitting in.
Most importantly, I don't miss Pune as much anymore... except when we want to buy wine! Why on earth is wine so damn expensive in Hyderabad! Last time we went booze shopping was for my birthday party. N we bought just one bottle of wine... and in that moment I really wanted to be in Pune... forget about the price, the options here are so limited. Can't wait for our annual trip to Pune... or maybe this time we could go to Bangalore... get some good red wine.

For the last couple of months I have been struggling with my weight a lot! That adds to the already building anxiety of not having a job, of not having babies and general life... Actually, I am lying... I have always had body image issues. As it turns out, I am very good at repressing things that I don't know how to deal with and pretending that they don't exist. Last year someone told me, that they loved how I don't care about my weight and that I dress they way I want. I do that because I don't think I acknowledge how much weight I have put on and the fact that I am fat. No wonder, when I see my pics in a camera, I am shocked! I blame my husband and tell him that he does not know how to take pictures. I am and have been living in denial!

So, this year I hope to change all that and embark on a new journey... Day one was today. I did not go that great, I did have a few problems, but I am hoping that by the time the month is done I will have ironed out the kinks. I am wring this on a public space and am hoping to find some kindred spirits, who feel the way I do... I plan to write at least once a week of all my ups and downs. Mind you, I have had quite a few false starts lately and am hoping that this wont be one of those...

I have to make this beginning count!