Something new...

So, I got a new phone. Knowing my luck ( or not) with phones, I am looking at any instant for something to happen to it. Its just so difficult that I do not know how I am going to make peace with this new gadget in my hand. I worry too much, but with my history of phones, I think I have all the right to be super worried!

An with a new phone, I am trying my hand at some fitness regimes. Gone are the gaming days, so now all I need on my phone is the Flipboard, some social media and some trackers. The latest trackers that I am looking for is a fitness one. I started to use Nexercise, but I do not like it, prmarily because, it does not have the simple floor exercises to log, and it expects me to be doing some complicated like Aqua jogging, Ballet, Burpees, Disc Golf and what not. This is one of the top downloaded apps on Play Store, but doesn't seem to work for me. Or maybe I should try it out a little more, I do not know.

Image Source: http://kansan.com/media/2012/10/apps_alee.jpg

I am going to be using a few fitness apps and going to compare what I am using, liking and which one I am going to stick to eventually.

1. MyFitnessPal Calorie Counter
2. Lose It
3. Sworkit
4. Nexercise

Sworkit is a circuit training app and it syncs to MyFitnessPal, which makes it all the more a perfect combination. So, I shall be using these and coming back with what I like and also what is the kind of exercises which I like to do.

I started with the Calorie Counter, and I decided I do not want to do it. I have done my fair share of counting and I thought that in my head if I know that I am not eating junk, and I am eating good food on a regular basis, I am allowed to eat whatever I want in between, maybe just on the weekends. That should help in my counting in the very passive sense.

Lose It again being on the Calorie counting route, I decided I did not want to do this either. But, I must add that Lose It was a far more beautiful and user friendly app as compared to Calorie Counter. But for me, maybe some other day.

Sworkit and Nerxercise I have been using regularly for the past 2 weeks and the ease of logging workouts id very high in Nexercise, and the range of exercise options seems very nice in Sworkit. I still have not figured how to use them in conjunction though. With this added responsibility of logging workouts, now I have started aiming to exercise more regularly as I need to input the data. This might be a new app fad, which might wear out, but nevertheless till it lasts, I am getting some workout done!

When you hit the gym...

Last year around this time, I made a pact with myself that I shall be getting fit and I want to make sure that I have a dose of exercise every day teamed with a light nutritious meal for dinner everyday. The gym started and has been in full swing till Nov 2012, but then I just stopped. Now, I have started to get back to my gym routine after close to a three month hiatus. I would not put it that travel and the holiday season was the sole deterrent, but also the schedule which the trainers keep imposing is something which made the whole gym visit a drudgery.

I do not know about many, but I am a person who likes someone to tell me the right way to do things, but I would like to do the things as I please. A schedule makes me feel like I am being forced to follow the set of instructions and I am slacking if I do not meet the requirement for the day. I do not believe that is the way to fitness. If you wish to keep yourself fit, first and foremost you need to believe that YOU need it. And it is YOU who stands to gain. Hence I very strongly believe that YOU need to research and find out about your body and figure out what is working for YOU. A gym instructor I believe, will not be able to figure this out for 20 odd people he would be training at any given time. I, for one, have tried the schedule which they prepared for me to the T and the only effective change in my body was toning of muscles and a greater stamina. I still felt that I did not have the flexibility which I was intending to gain. Now I do not know if this is because of the stretches being insufficient or was it because I was not pushing myself enough. I have also seen many folks who are so in love with the gym that I wonder how is it that they do not get frustrated with the routine that they have. This time when I started back with the gym, I decided that I shall do a mix of cardio and weight training as what the trainers had suggested, but I shall do the weights as per my wish. Which are the different muscle groups I wish to work out that day and push myself to what I can achieve. I will not be carrying around my schedule and working myself crazy trying to achieve everything which has been written on it.

One week of this routine and I had a few trainers coming and asking me whether I would want a schedule prepared for me and if I have something which I am following. I expected it, but this quick, maybe not. I informed them I am going to do as I please and workout to my understanding as my only aim is to keep fit and exercise, which can be achieved I believe doing pretty much anything. They were obviously persistent why it is important to have a trainer and a schedule, but this time I have decided to stick to my stand and try whether this is something which will be working out for me.

Something else which I have been contemplating is a group exercise routine, maybe in between or on all days. I am not sure whether I would be able to stick to the timings of a group but that would have so little for me to think and just workout for 45mins and be done. Also, some trials I attended, I saw that the pace is great in group sessions. Questions and questions... I need to decide on what will work soon!

Image Source: http://rentneighbor.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/948833.gif

Oatmeal crispies

I have had some Oats lying about every since B stopped having Oats porridge for breakfast. I personally am not a very big fan of oats, so I do not have porridge or the upma variety of Oats. I prefer my simple Kellogg's if I am to have a cereal for breakfast.

The past three months have been few of routine, workouts and measurements. I have been very regular at the gym and I have been trying to tone my body up and get rid of the pregnancy and lactation effects ob my body. In spite of the gym, one of the key factors for a very minimal differenece on the scale was courtesy a very bad eating pattern, and on consulting a dietician, there was really nothing wrong in what I was eating, just that I need to organize meals. That is where these delicious crispies came in. I needed a morning meal prior to my workout.. so that I can follow it up with a good lunch once I am back.


I came across this recipe when I was scurrying about the web in search of how to make some small brinjals/egg plant which I had. I chanced upon Kath's blog and then not only the brinjal but these oat crispies were also tried. They are the perfect morning energy bars and in fact with the walnuts in them, they would be quite nutritious too. I added a little raisins too along with the walnuts, and I think any nuts would be wonderful with oats. Might try almonds and raisins for my next batch.

Here is the recipe. Also do check out Kath's blog for some great meal plans.

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 beaten eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1½ cups (180 g) flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon soda

3 cups (360 g) quick-cooking oats 

½ cup chopped walnuts

Method

1. Thoroughly cream the butter and the sugars together. (I mixed them at medium speed in my stand mixer for about 5 minutes.)
2. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well.
3. Stir together the flour, salt and soda. Add the flour mixture to the dough and mix well.
4. Stir in the oats and chopped walnuts.

5. Shape into 2 or 3 logs and wrap with wax paper. refrigerate overnight. You can also put the wrapped logs in freezer bags ad freeze for later use.

6. This would yield about 3-4 dozen crispies :) baked at 180 C for 10- 12 minutes.

Post-partum

Recently I have been trying to figure out what really works for post-partum weight loss. Since, I have stopped breastfeeding Tee, I have seen that there is a gradual increase in the waistline which seems to be working on, and the sooner I get to work on it, the better.

Firstly, I started to analyse what is the main difference in the food habits, and I realized that something which has been happening is that I seem to be having a heavier dinner than before pregnancy, and this is something which may not required. And, as I thought about it, I realized that regular heavy meals have been the norm when I was pregnant, and that is still being continued, even though I do not seem to need it. A heavy breakfast, and decent lunch should suffice. Keeping dinner light and early is something which I like to do. A reason for having the heavy dinner also might be attributed to the late dinner which has been happening off late. B works late, which means dinner also shifts to a later time. I snack in between and end up not having my meal on time, and also filling myself with unwanted ( but tasty) stuff.

As a new year deal with myself, I have decided I shall allow myself only 200 gms of any tasty tit bits in any form through an entire month. I do not think I would survive a complete deletion of these said items from my diet forever, but I would certainly want to cut down on these things. And once I have cut down to this level, I can have whatever I please in the limit set. I do not need to look out for the low fat and substitutes. Its been almost half a month and things do seem to be doing well for me till now. I have not given in to my cravings and I am saving my allowance for the latter half of the month. This reminds me of my pocket money during school days, and how I used to save it for the last week of the month, where I would have a lavish snack in school knowing that come next month, I would have some money to spare again.

Another bit which I gathered while reading up on post-partum weight loss was that there is a clear loss in muscle quality which needs to be built up, and that can happen only with exercise and strength building exercise to be specific. Saying this, I am not a very big gym fan, so I do not keep to my routine and I also do not end up giving in my full at the gym, hence, it takes a fair bit of time for the effects of a good gym workout to show on me. I did find another alternative, Pilates and Yoga classes. Good toning and weight loss as an added benefit, but foremost fitness! But, they are a tad too expensive I would say though I really badly need the workout. I have been just vegetating in front of the laptop and having my meals. If you count in looking after Tee, that would still not require so much energy, at least not the good stretches which I am looking forward to. So many things I want to do and I have no clue how I would be getting things into action. I keep telling myself and everyone around I do not have the time. Frankly speaking, I mean to say that I do not know if I can spend any time away from Tee. I do worry a bit too much and I wonder whether it would actually matter so much. Anyhow I need to start doing this as that is the only way I would get back to work also in a few weeks, albeit part-time.

And now we start

After all the rant, a good friend decided I need to help myself. She shared with me this site, and me think its a great start with the limited time that I have. In fact even if I do manage to take out time, I really would never know when would that be. For such an erratic routine, this is just perfect.

Now to start with this today. I've been adviced to pick up random dailyy routines n see which is effective and do-able for me. I also do not want to unnecessarily exert myself, and cause any further issue to my back.

Another thing which is going to be a motivational factor is that apart from the weighing scale, I am also going to record physical measurements. This should be able to give a better outlook on results.

I shall keep an update on how this goes from now on.

The rant

I do not know what got me into this mood, but nevertheless, now that I am in it, I plan to rant. So, in case you are not interested in one, I gave you a very fair warning. 

I have had it with my wardrobe. If you will say, thats every woman's pet peeve, then now you may please close the window. This rant is going to continue onto this very topic itself.

Every year, I think I need to get a fresh set of clothes, and I want to more importantly discard so many of those which I have been wearing since ages. 

Does any of that ever happen? Never! 

I just end up disposing a few of my stuff, in fact just those which are faded and have reached the very end of their lifespan. And since I did not dispose off anything worthwhile, I do not feel the NEED to buy stuff in large numbers. So, which results in me buying just a few ( read 1 or 2 ) pieces of clothing, and calling it quits for the time being. And for the great hours spent in the process of shopping, I always never have anything to show for it.

And to say, the last 10 months have been even more irritating as I can not shop even if I wish to. Till then, it was that I did not find the items interesting or that they were too highly priced ( I shall come to this later). But, this time it was that I can not shop because I do not know whether I shall be able to wear any of these things as time goes on. I am not sure what would be my fitness level, and I know the practical me would say, I should wait for another 6 months before I decide to do any amount of shopping. And even then the question obviously would be do I just shop for new stuff, or can I go ahead and buy expensive stuff. Maybe, I am being pessimistic, but when do I decide that now I shall be not able to lose any more weight, I really have no clue. And with the present situation where I am unable to exercise or control my diet, the question really is will I be back to normal? 

Anyways so there is my rant… and my great desire to shop not really going anywhere!

2 Ds

Driving... yes I am back to it, and with renewed vigour post marriage, so that I can get around to as many places close by on my own. And, also that in case of any emergency, I need to be sure that I am confident enough to drive through any kind of traffic. I have been driving in regular traffic, not the peak hours though, but it has certaiinly been an improvement over the way I drove before. And, the most important thing, I do not cringe every time a vehicle overtakes my car, or they honk for me to clear the lane for them to speed away. I just stay put if I feel that I can not do anything, and wait for them to realize that I am a new driver and hence they should be slightly accommodating.


Dieting.. I am starting today on it again, in fact I feel ashamed to be saying this, but I have been very irregular with my diet regime. But, one thing I do know is that I need to feel good about myself... which would also translate into I want to feel that I look good. There are times when that doesn't happen and then the diet and gym starts off on full rigor. I understand that these two are not going to give me any instant gratification, but it is a start to a healthy living. In my current lifestyle, I know that I do intake more calories than that is required for my body. This is the reason I try to track all my food and physical activities using www.dailyplate.com. I think it proved very useful for me as seeing the rich food which I was eating helped me cut down and also strive to include more physical activities so that I can eat a little bit more of more liked stuff !!  Yes... I know..I am dieting but there are some foods, read chips and fried stuff, which is impossible for me to avoid completely from my diet. Anyone I guess would agree that eventually you do live to have the small joys of life... and my small joys would be contained in a packet with fried potato slices laden with spices!

Onion & potato sandwich spread

With my new found fitness and healthy eating bits, I have started having quite a few sandwiches. I use a store bought sandwich spread. I realized that they usually have quite a bit of mayo, cheese or eggs to make them all creamy and nice on the whole grain wheat bread, resulting in a not very but nevertheless fatty sandwich. So I decided to make my very own sandwich spread :)

Onion potato sandwich spread

Ingredients
1 medium sized onion grated
1 medium sized potato grated
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Hot tomato Sauce

Method
Mix both the grated ingredients in a microwave safe bowl, and mix some olive oil, salt and pepper and place in the microwave uncovered for 3 minutes. Remove the bowl and add some tomato sauce and mix thoroughly to make a thick spread.

Spread on healthy breads and munch away!

Dinner Time

Recently I have started cooking my own meals for dinner. No cook to come in to do the dinner preps, nor eating out almost every other day. I also thought that this would be a very simple way to ensure less fatty ingredients and to ensure a healthy intake of food in line with my health regime off late. I need to try a variety of items to ensure that there is a variety at the dinner table and also so that nothing overshoots my calorie limit.

This means I usually Google for a decent healthy recipe around 3- 4 PM and then follow to make a mental checklist as to what I would be required to pick up on my way back home.

Monday: Baby corn and Capsicum tossed
Tuesday: Batter fried Lady's finger ( that is not exactly calorie counting friendly!)
Wednesday: Spaghetti
Thursday: Paneer Burji
Friday: Soup and crackers
Monday: Pasta Salad
Tuesday: Pasta salad with more veggies and crackers also

Oh! Did I not mention that weekends are kitchen break days ( only for dinner) :D

Salad nights

The past two days, I have made simple pasta salads in two different variations for dinner. They are healthy and light, along with a good mix of nutrients. I specially loved the fact that you can add almost anything that you would eat in an usual dinner into the salad, and we would be reducing the calories in the salad form of meal to a great extend and retaining the nutritional value. 

Day One: Cooked fusili, ridge cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, cottage cheese, salad dressing, salt and pepper.

Day Two: Cooked fusili, chinese cabbage, cauliflower, baby corn, carrots, bell peppers, baby potatoes, tomatoes, salad dressing, salt, oregano and pepper.

I had to use the same dressing ( Italian Vinegar) in each of the cases, but I have decided I need to get a food processor so that I can make some dressings on my own too.

Here I found a great link to key ingredients for a pasta salad. 

A Pic 

Colourful Lunch

A healthy post with carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms and tofu topped over steaming rice!

Fitness Fervor

After many failed attempts when Roop came up with the plan that we need to have a group to motivate, and ensure we all stick to our plans, I was 'Oh so happy'. Then slowly started to dawn that its going to be a hell lot of hard work!

The name we ended up coming up with Fitness Fervor, all fitness and nothing else. I think its wonderful initiative, all the members have so many ideas, tried and tested ones and also some which we come across else. The plans and efforts everyone is making shows that there are so many folks in the same boat, and their dedication and efforts only pushes me towards the goal that I shall be setting for myself every week.

There will be a weekly goal, diet restrictions which are to be followed ( as per what suits/does not suit each person). We set a goal, then review it next week, and alter and reset for the new week. I think its a wonderful plan! I am so looking forward to doing this correct this time around! We shall be counting calories, and watching the burning calories too. I shall be doing that at The Daily Plate. All in all, we see what everyone is doing, and going on to achieve which makes the fighting spirit real strong. And as Roop says, there is also going to be public humiliation if you detrack! *Yikes!

Tomorrow is my first day up from the bed at 7 AM and hitting the gym after a long 2-3 month break and infinite fat being loaded on me! I started with my diet watch program yesterday. I have done this before too, so initially you tend to have the rumbling stomach, but after 2-3 days, your body just starts to adjust and realize the deal involved!

I need to do this! I am too young to be unfit!