A lazy morning

I got up as early as 6.40 AM today. I had enough time to go for exercise, but couldn't do that. I really enjoy my morning exercise and is very disappointed that I couldn't make it today. But its OK for me as it was for Serah that I had to skip my exercise today. Serah is not keeping well and she wanted me to stay close to her. Hopy she will be fine by tomorrow.

As for yesterday's diet , I should say I am very happy with the way I handled it. I usually take some fruits to office to have in the evening so that I can avoid the oily snacks or the ice cold fruits that are available in our cafeteria. We were running out of fruits and I didn't get time to stop and purchase fruits because of my hectic work at office. I am skipping non veg for a month and so the evening fruit bowl was my comfort food. I was very disappointed that we didn't have any fruits at home to take to office. But I cut up some carrots and cucumbers to take to office. Though I didn't enjoy it as much as my fruit bowl, it helped me to keep away from the greasy snacks from our cafeteria.

I am feeling a it lazy as I didn't exercise today. No hopes for exercise in the evening as we have a hard time at work  and will be coming back as late ar 9.30 PM from work. Hope I could make it up tomorrow

It feels good to be exercising

Yesterday was a hectic day at work. But still I was able to stick to my diet plan. The only deviation was the half dosa and chutney I had around midnight. Siby had gone to a late night movie with his collegues and came back by 11.00PM. He didn't have dinner from outside and wanted me to make dosa for him. I was kind of half asleep when he came. I was a bit irritated that I was interrupted from my sleep. But I was happy that he decided for the better option of having dinner from home. I wasn't feeling hungry at all. But the paper thin dosa and tchutney tasted awesome which tempted me to have half of a dosa with some chutney. I was a bit disappointed with this. But its OK..No one can be perfect.

I got up at 6.30 today morning, but slept again till 8.00. I wanted to get up at he next snooze of the alarm which is at 6.45. But I had switched OFF the alarm by mistake and culd wake up only at 8.00. I was a bit late , but I didn't wanted to cancel my plan to exercise. So I dressed up fast and rushed to the treadmill to repeat yersterday's run. It included 1.5 minutes brisk walking and 30 seconds running for 20 minutes. I must say I felt really great to be exercising. It was't tiring or boring for me, but I was enjoying it from beginning till end. I wanted to do it for more time. But then decided not to do that as I may stress my body. The one thing that I alwaya try to implement with regards to my weight loss is
                                    "Slow and steady wins the race"
Hope it helps

Catching up

It has been almost a month since I posted here. The main reason was that I slipped  from my diet plan in between and was embarressed to post it here. But one thing I am happy about is that I continued with my plan irrespective of the slippages in between. I am still sticking to the diet plan. I could follow it perfectly on weekdays but tend to cheat on weekends. We had a few guests and celebrations in between and I used to slip from the diet plan on those days as well.

It has been almost a month since I started with this. The fact that I could follow it atleast on week days gives me immence confidence. I understand that failures are inevtable and if I am able to continue and make progress ireespective of it , then I am on the right track.

With regard to my exercise, I made some progress there as well. I have been exercising everyday though it was only brisk walking for 20 or 30 minutes. Today's exercise included brisk walk on the treadmill for 20 minutes. I used to hate running on the treadmill and always tried to run outside, but lately I have started liking treadmill. Off to work, See ya all in the evening with another post

Day4 - Another Great Day

I had a very relaxing start today. I slept till 8.00 AM in the morning. My plan was to get up early in the morning and start with yoga today. But I could sleep only by 12.30 AM last night because of some laundry work and I thoght I deserve a decent amount of sleet considering that today is an OFF day at work

Today's eats

Breakfast
Today's breakfast was neerdosa with green peas, carrot and potato curry. Neerdosa is made by making a thin batter of rice soaked overnight with enough water, some coconut and salt to taste. We had two idiyappams leftover from yesterday. I opted for those two plus one neer dosa and .5 cups of curry for today's breakfast. I prefer idiyappams over neer dosa because idiyappams are lesser in calrific value because we make idiyappams without coconut though the traditional idiyappams involve coconut

Mid morning snack
I didn't have anything for midmorning snack except for two grapes that Serah had offered me from her plate.
I wasn't hungry at all. One of the reasons was that the breakfast was wholesome and filling. Another reason was that I was very busy in the morning finishing the rest of the laundry work.

Lunch
We had a late lunch today. We had lunch by 1.45 PM. I was hungry by 1.30 but Siby wasn't feeling hungry at all as he had drank two glasses of juice by 1.00 PM. He wanted to have a very late lunch but later he compromised to have the lunch at 1.45PM. Inspired by yesterday's dinner, I replaced some of the rice with puffed rice. Today's lunch included .75 cups of brown rice, 1 cup of puffed rice, 1.25 cups of boiled mixed vegetables and about one serving of fish curry with coconut. It was very filling. In fact I struggled a bit in the end to finish it.

Evening snacks
I wasn't feeling hungry at all in the evening. But has been tempted constantly to eat something as I was at home and has easy access to many healthy and unhealthy snacking options. I had about 1 cup of papaya and half of a robusta banana for an evening snack.

Dinner
My Plan for dinner was puffed rice and boiled vegetables. But I was irressistibly tempted with the unakku kappappuzhukku (A dish made with dried tapioca, coconut and a few seasonings) and the fried sardine. I had little less than .5 cups of kappappuzhukku and half of a medium sized fried sardine. I had half of a neer dosa and around .5 cups of boiled vegetables also for dinner

Post dinner Snack
I wasn't hungry at all after dinner. But I was constantly feeling like not satisfied and wanted to eat bits and pieces of something or the other. Then only it struck to me that I didn't have tea today. Instanly I knew that a cup of black tea would be the remedy for my discomfort. I have a packet of green tea with me at home which my MIL had given me. It actually tastes more like a very lightly brewed coffee than tea. I like its taste very much than the usual green teas available in the grocery shops. I know its better to drink green tea without sugar but I need sugar in my tea. I took a hot cup of my special green tea with 1 tsp of sugar and I was instantly refreshed.

Water consumption
When I am at work I usually drink water at my seat from a bottle which I know is 1.5 litres. So it is easy for me to keep track of my water consumption during working days. But when at home we all drink from the same container. So it is bit difficult to have a measure of my water intake. But I know I might have drank not less than 2 litres of water today because I was frequently rushing to the water container.

Exercise
Today's exercise included 30 minutes of brisk walking outside and 15 minutes of brisk walking on the terrace. My work out buddy was also with me all the time during my walking. She was kind of tired of walking and was playing on her own at the terrace.

I am very happy that I was on track for four days and could take control of my food than food taking control of me

Day3 - Started with a sore throat but ended up with a sweet little workout buddy

I woke up today morning with a sore throat and running nose. Yesterday’s ice cold fruit bowl has done its job on my body L I was very disappointed with that because being sick was always been an excuse for me to slip from my diet plan. But I was determined not to do that today. I took at most care to get rid of sickness. As usual steaming had done onders for me and I was kind of fine all day.

 Today’s eats

Breakfast

Breakfast was eaten at around 8.30 AM today. I actually packed my breakfast to office as I left to office as early as 7.20 AM in the morning. Today’s breakfast was 4 medium sized idiyappams and .5 cup of leftover kadala curry from yesterday.  It was a wholesome and filling breakfast that I was damn sure that I will not be hungry before lunch time and it turned out to be true. I also had a cup of black tea with 1tsp sugar at around 8.00 AM soon after I reached the office. I normally try to avoid drinking tea or coffee in the morning because of the sugar that I am adding to it. But today I felt I could treat myself with a hot cup of refreshing black tea considering sore throat and it really helped in curing it.

Mid morning Snacks

I didn't get much time yesterday to plan and pack enough healthy snacks and ended up in having ice cold fruit bowl from canteen. So I was super cautious about it today. I sliced and packed a medium sized mango and one small papaya which was around 2 cups in total. I took two robusta banana as well. Though I wasn't hungry at all I ate a few slices of mango and papaya by 11.00 AM just out of boredom as we didn't have much work in the morning. I had one of the banana at 12.00PM. This too was truely out of boredom and not becuase I was hungry.

Lunch

I had my lunch by 1.00 PM today. Todays lunch included 2 cups of white rice, 1.5 cup of boiled vegetables with a homemade healthy seasoning and 1 piece of curried fish. It was vey healthy and filling.After the lunch also, I was pretty sure that I will not be hungry in the afternoon. Before my diet had started, a typical lunch of mine included around 3 cups of rice, .5 cups of curried vegetables and 2 pieces of curried fish. I used to go into a sugar comma right after my lunch. If I had eaten lesser , I would be hungry from 2.30 PM. Comparing with that this was a major win for me.

Evening Snacks

The thoght of a having a box full of slices of sweet and tasty fruits made me little tempted throughout the afternoon. But luckily I could make out that it is not real hunger. This is one of my experience in many years where I use my real sense to find out if it is real hunger or just a craving. Since I was completely aware of it , I could comfortably control myself from eating. I had half of the fruits at 4.00 PM and I finished  with the rest by 6.00. I returned one of the robusta banana back home as I was in no need to eat it.

Dinner

I had the dinner by 7.45 PM. I made healthy choice for dinner today. I usually eat 1.5 cups of rice for dinner. Today I replaced it with .5 cup of rice and 1 cup of puffed rice.I choose it because the dietition in service at our office had once told me that puffed rice is a good option for those  who are trying to shed their extra pounds becuse it adds up the volume but with lesser calory content.The side dish for the dinner was half a cup of the leftover boiled vegetables from lunch. I was actually a bit apprehensive about replacing 1 cup of rice with puffed rice. But today's dinner turned out to be very very delicious. I would like to try it again.

Post Dinner Snack

I am very happy to say that I didn't had anything for a post dinner snack and I am not planning to eat anything untill I go to bed.

Water consumption

I was mainly sipping on hot water in between to releave my sore throat. I actually didn't drink much water in the day time. But I drank around 1 litre of water after coming back from work

Exercise

One major progress that I made today was cick starting of my exercise. I did briskwalking for 40 minutes in two intervals. I managed to have the first 20 minutes of brisk walking by getting down from the bus at a stop before and walking to my house after work. I was determined to have a decnet amount of work out today. So I headed to the terrace of my apartment to have another 20 minutes of brisk walk.Another great news today is that I got a wonderfull work out buddy while exercising on the terrace. It is none other than my sweetie. I took Serah also along with me while going to the terrace thinking that she can play there and I can exercise. She was super excited when she saw me walking so fast and  was running behind me everytime

Overall , everything was awesome today. Hope I could wake up to another great dayt tomorrow 

Day2

I woke up happy and content today. I was very much impressed by the way my first day of diet has been.I know it is very natural to succeed in the initial days. But I think a good start would be a motivation for me to stay focussed for the coming days

Today's eats

Breakfast
Today's breakfast was Puttu and Kadala curry. This is one of the favourite breakfast combo in my household. This is very healthy and wholesome. For making puttu , powdered rice is smeared with lightly salted water. Then a little amount of cumin and some coconut also is added to this and steamed over a steamer.Kadala curry is nothing but curried chickpeas. This combo provides enough carbohydrates and protein to cick start a day with. I had 1.5 cups of puttu and half cup of kadala curry.

Mid morning Snack
We were a little bit busy in the morning. So I couldn't pack my mid morning and evening snacks as I had planned. All that I could manage to pack in a hurry was around 1.5 cups of papaya and two big carrots. I thogut I wouldn't be hungry before 12.00 PM today since we had a very good breakfast. But I was wrong. I was super hungry by 11.00 AM and wolfed down all the papayas.

Lunch
Though I had the papayas at 11.00 I was  feeling hungry by 12 again, but I was in no mood to eat the carrots. So I had lunch by 12.30 which is kind of early for me. I usually have lunch by 1.00 PM.The lunch included 2 cups of brown rice , cucumber pachadi and mixed veg stirfry with coconut. The lunch with two cups of rice was actually not enough for me. I was still hungry even after my lunch. So I had one carrot also post lunch

Evening snacks
I was feeling really hungry in the afternoon. I am actually not sure if it was real hunger or craving for something sweet. what I could say is I was uncomfortable and was craving to eat something sweet. I didn't have any fruits with me at that time. So I tried to ignore it by putting  all my concentration into my work. It kind of worked for me till 3.00 PM. I really felt that I deserve a cup of black tea with 1tsp sugar. I took my tea thinking that I would be comfortable after taking the tea. But I was wrong again. The comfort lasted only for a few minutes. I somehow kept myself controlled till 5.00 PM by concentrating more on work. I rushed to the canteen at 5.00 PM and had a fruit bowl. The fruit bowl included slices of Pineapple, Apple, guava, cantelope and watermelon in bowl. It was actually a treat for me as I was craving for some fruit from afternoon. But I would not prefer to go for it every afternoon because some of the fruits were straight out of the fridge and I felt like biting into an icecream. I would prefer to bring fruits from home for an evening snack

Dinner
I reached home by 7.00 PM and had the dinner immediately as I was kind of hungry again. I had 1.5 cups of rice, 1 piece of fish curry and some mixed veg stirfry with coconut. This was a very satisfying meal for me and I didn't feel like eating anything after that. There was a major temptation for me in the form of a chicken cutlet and a cream bun which my husband bought while coming from work. I didn't even tough it and I was highly impressed with me for that.

Post Dinner Snack
I am feeling slightly hungry now and planning to munch on a robusta (another lesser calory variety) banana before going to bed. I don't want to take the risk of starving me and quitting the diet plan.

Water consumption
I drank around 2.5 Litres of water today. But I was running to the rest room very frequently because of the weather. I will be reducing my water intake a bit tomorrow

Exercise
The sad part of today is that I didn't do any exercise. I was constantly planning for execise whole day today but I couldn't squeese in some exercise except for a 10 minute slow walk which I wouldnot consider as an execise.

Hope I could stick to  my diet plan and make some progress on the exercis epart tommorrow

Before Pictures and Day1 of my weight loss journey

We had a few functions including my parents in law’s 50^th wedding anniversary and a cousin’s marriage to attend at our native.It was a great get together opportunity for us as all six of Siby’s siblings and cousins live in  different places around the world and it is very rare that everyone come home at the same time.

Everything was good, but the sad part is the pictures taken during these functions.I was looking miserably fat.I knew that I have put on weight ..but never realized that I have grown this much horizontally. The photos were actually a shock for me.



The first comment from all those who care for me was that I have put on weight and need to work towards reducing it. I always wanted to reduce my weight but somehow my dieting and exercise gets stopped by one or two weeks. But this is the limit. I should not get fatter than this and should be working on reducing my weight. So today is officially my first day of diet and exercise. 

Here comes one more before picture which I can use to compare later when I reduce my weight.

Today’s eats.

I have read in many places that the diet that you are choosing for weight loss should be something that you can live with forever. If not it is very likely that you are going to slip from your diet plan.

Breakfast

I had the breakfast by around 9.00 in the morning. Three Dosas and chutney.I usually eat 4 ro 5 dosas for breakfast. So I was very doubtful in the morning whether I will be terribly hungry by 11.00 and  going to canteen and end up having some junk food. So took two bananas and a cup of grapes to office as a mid morning snack.

Mid morning snack

I wasn’t as hungry as I expected by 11.00. So I waited till I get hungry to attack on my mid morning snack. I was uncontrollably hungry by 12.00. So I wolfed down the two bananas. I choose the variety Palayamkoden which is less in calory compared to the other banana varieties. Initially I thought the bananas will not be enough for me and I may attack on the grapes too. But I was a winner here. I could satisfy my hunger with the bananas and save the grapes for the evening.

Lunch

I had the lunch at 1.00 PM. The lunch mainly included  Brown rice, Fish curry, veg stirfry with coconut and bread fruit curry with coconut. Today's lunch was a bit of heavy so I think I can reduce the amount of rice tomorrow.I was craving for for something sweet right after the lunch. So I had half of the grapes right after that.

Evening Snacks

Evening snacks included 1 cup of black tea around 3.00 PM and the remaining grapes at 4.00 PM. It was a miracle that I could limit my evening snacks to only this much because I used to be super hungry in the evening and fill myself up with loads of oily snacks from canteen.

Dinner

 I was really hungry by the time I reached home at around 8.00 PM. I wanted to have a heavy dinner beacuse that was what I used to do before. But I didn't want to follow that today. Had two palayamkoden bananas for an instant hunger releif. The dinner is eaten at 8.30 PM which included 1.5 cup of brown rice, cucumber pachadi and stirfried veggies with coconut.

Post Dinner Snack

I had a big carrot while preparing this post. I may or may not have one more carrot before going to bed.

Water intake

One thing I am very proud about me with regard to diet is my water intake. I usually drink a lot of water. But today it was a little less. I drank only 1Litre of water today. I would like to blame the whether for that. It was raining frequently and is very difficult to drink more water in such climates.

Exercise

I must say that I hardly did any exercise today except for a 20 minute slow walking. But I am perfectly OK with that as today is the first day.

Overall I am very much happy with the way may first day have ben. I need to plan little more to have  helathier food and squeese in some execise

A warm welcome to my world

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to Anu's Healthy living blog !

I am Anu, a 27 year old working mom living in Cochin India.I am working as a software tester for the past 6 years.I am happily married to Siby and we are blessed with a 2 year old daughter Serah.

Since I am at work during the day time, Serah demands me to be with her all the time when I am at home. I love playing with her, listening to her and watching her learning new skills.

Cooking and eating is the most effective tried and tested stressbuster and antidepressant for me. My husband also loves home cooked food and encourages me to try new recipes.

My real passion is gardening.I want to grow all possible vegetables, fruits , herbs and spices required in my kitchen by myself. But right now we are living in an apartment and the only possible open space which I can utilise for gardening are the two balconies.

Fitness and healthy living is the need of the hour for us. Siby is having high cholesterol and I am overweight.We need to incorporate some healthy living into our lives

You will see a bit of all these in this blog.I want to share my happiness,interests, aspirations , struggles and everything with you through this blog. So let's start our journey together. Be with me through all the seasons

Luv,

Anu