31 Jan. 2011

Today's the 7^th day since I started and I'm still not getting on track with the exercise and wake-up schedule.

The good part though is that I'm finding the food discipline quite OK to follow. Today in office, in the evening, somebody offered to get wada-paav* which is one my absolutely favourite foods…I could eat it morning, noon and night :) Knowing this, my colleagues asked me if I wanted to eat some. I promptly said 'No' and it didn't bother me too !

Here's the update:

Exercise update:

15 minutes     Exer-cycle

Food update:

9:00 a.m.      1 cup tea + 3 slices toast-butter

11:00 a.m.     1 cup tea

1:00 p.m.      2 phulkas + 1 bowl raw tomato vegetable + 2 tbsp curds

3:30 p.m.      1 cup tea

8:15 p.m.      2 phulkas + 1 bowl methi vegetable

Tomorrow's target will be to get up on time and exercise for at least 45 minutes. Let's see how that goes. Will keep you posted.

*Wada = a spicy boiled potato filling in a gram flour cover, obviously deep-fried 

Paav = bun.

30 Jan. 2011

Comme çi comme ça day today.

Nothing too wrong food-wise. Not too satisfactory exercise-wise. Timings were totally off.

Here's the update:

Exercise update:

15 minutes     Fast cycling on the exer-cycle

Food update:

9:00 a.m.      1 cup tea + 2 vegetable patties

2:00 p.m.      1 sandwich i.e. slices of bread with cucumber and tomato slices + a handful of roasted peanuts

8:30 p.m.      1 big bowl of aamti with 1 poli in it.(Aamti = Split-pigeon-pea thick soup and Poli = round, flat bread made of wheat-flour)

Tomorrow is Monday…I begin the work week…that is some relief for me since that will bring some regularity into the food schedule as well as exercise schedule.

29 Jan. 2011

Ahem…not so pleased with myself today…but nothing too bad either.

Weekends are going to be troublesome, I can see.

A friend and her husband were going to drop by for a while at about 11 in the morning. So we thought we'd have a late breakfast. So naturally, lunch was late. None of the food today fell in the regular category and one thing was a little sinful too. The one thing that I did manage was to eat the last meal for the day before 7:30 p.m. And, I did manage to sneak in a fifteen minutes of the exer-cycle too. It is not much…but better than nothing.

Here's the update:

Exercise update:

15 minutes     Fast cycling on the exer-cycle

Food update:

9:00 a.m.      1 cup tea

11:30 a.m.     4 small dahi wadas

2:30 p.m.      2 eggs' omelette + 4 slices of bread

7:30 p.m.      1 cup tea + 5 small slices of cake (that I baked this afternoon!*)

*Why did I have to bake cake ? I had a lot of homemade unsalted butter that is the best medium for cake and so I was meaning to make it for the longest time. Finally I got the opportunity today. But, what I'm now doing is that I'm giving away the remaining cake to my Mom :)

28 Jan. 2011

I'm pleased with myself today :)

I woke up earlier than yesterday (not at the target time…but I'll get there) and thus managed to exercise.

Also, in the evening, I had gone out with a couple of colleagues to grab a bite (they wanted to), but I didn't eat a thing. First we went to a canteen that's on the ground floor of our office building. They ate some dahi-puri, shev-puri and pani-puri, but weren't satisfied. So we decided to go to a small place that is about 100 metres walking distance from the office building. We walked there. There they ate grilled cheese sandwich, ragada-puri and bhel. They repeatedly offered to share with me. I truly love all these things and yet I steadfastly refused. Seeing that I am sincerely making an effort, they were very supportive.

When we returned from there, a colleague remarked that he would have to walk up the six flights of stairs to office to work off all that he had eaten. I said I'd join him. Eventually all 5 of us walked up those six flights of stairs. I climbed up at a steady pace, neither too fast nor too slow. I was slightly out of breath when I reached. But it didn't matter because I was so happy…not only did I exercise in the morning, but I exercised a bit in the evening too.

Here's the update:

Exercise update (I feel so good writing this today) :)

5 minutes      Warm up

15 minutes     Fast cycling on the exer-cycle

10 minutes     Crunches (40), Leg raises (16), Side leg raises (16 each leg), Scissors (16), Butt toning (16)

2 minutes      Cool down

Climbed up six flights of stairs (evening).

Food update:

9:00 a.m.      1 bowl shevai kheer (sweets replacing a meal before 11:00 a.m. is OK according to the dietician I used to consult when I was doing aerobics)

11:00 a.m.     1 cup tea

1:00 p.m.      2 phulkas + 1 bowl tondli dry vegetable + few slices of cucumber

3:00 p.m.      1 cup tea

8:00 p.m.      2 phulkas + 1 bowl laal math (leafy vegetable - dry)

There's one thing though…I was feeling a little sleepy in the morning and tremendously sleepy in the afternoon between 2:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. although I had slept for 7 hours last night. Let's see…if this pattern continues, I'll have to investigate.

I like my current pattern of eating because I don't feel starved at all. Even before I began this routine I used to eat the same quantities. The only difference between now and then is that I have stopped eating outside food, fried stuff, sweets and I stick to my dinner time, no matter what. I'd like to make few variations to the menu, staying within the boundaries, and I'd like to better manage it all.

Well, there is always room for improvement. Tonight I'm going to sleep earlier than yesterday. Au revoir !

27 Jan. 2011

I slept late last night and consequently woke up late this morning. Naturally, the axe fell on the time allotted for exercise. But, I made sure I compensated for it.

So here's what I did…

Exercise update:

I climbed the 6 flights of stairs to office. Then I walked down right away and then walked back up again.

Food update:

9:00 a.m.            3 plain dosas, no chutney, no sambar + 1 cup tea

11:00 a.m.            1 cup tea

1:00 p.m.            2 phulkas + 1 bowl potato, onion, tomato curry + 2 tbsp curds

4:00 p.m.            1 cup tea

5:30 p.m.            2 slices of guava

8:00 p.m.            2 phulkas + 1 bowl green peas curry

So, I did well with the food today - no forbidden foods, I managed the timings too. Now I should stop passing off climbing stairs as exercise. Today it felt bad to read that. So today I am going to sleep early. This will take some getting used to !

Oh yes, there's one more improvement…although slight. Today I drank 1.5 litres of water in the day. Yes, yes, I know it's nothing to gloat about…but if you know my history, you'll know why it's big for me. Until a couple of years ago I used to drink barely 500 ml of water in a day. From that time to today, it is a big change for me. Eventually I'll reach 2.5-3 litres in a day, as is prescribed.

So, that's all for the day…see you tomorrow...with an actual exercise report :)

26 Jan. 2011

It is Day Two and I am yet to settle-in with the plan. I guess it will take some time, but I will keep at it…one day at a time.

So here's the update for today.

Exercise update:

20 minutes of walking.

Food update:

9:00 a.m.       1 bowl shevai upama + 1 cup tea

12:00 p.m.     Grilled fish (salmon) + lettuce, olives, red bell peppers salad + 1 scoop of ice-cream

4:00 p.m.       1 samosa + a handful potato chips

5:30 p.m.       2 cups tea + 1 bread-patties

10:30 p.m.     1 cup milk

ALERT ! Ice-cream, samosa, chips, bread patties.

Looks like I have sinned big time today…today being a public holiday, TH and I spent all day outside watching movies and eating out. I must be very alert on weekends and public holidays.

It doesn't feel very good to read all that I wrote above. But then, it is just as well…I'll remember how it feels to read that and not do it in the first place so that I don't have to write and read it later. Sigh !

One step at a time :)

Today is the first day of my 'Journey to the Land of the Fit'.

I am a hard-working person. Sincere in everything I do. I voluntarily take up tasks (even challenges) for myself and finish them within time while maintaining good quality. Honest.

Sounds too good to be true ? It is :) There is just this one thing that defies all that I said about myself above.

My Waterloo is “exercise”. I have never been the sporty types. I was always inclined towards reading, writing, singing…none of which, you will observe, involves much physical activity. Till the time I was in college, I was slim and fit. Of course, the fitness may well be due to youth since, even then, I hardly ever exercised ! But my weight was a few kilos less than what is prescribed for my height. As I began working in a desk job, I started to put on weight. Today my weight is eighteen kilos more than what is prescribed for my height. Read all about it on the "What is this all about ?" page.

First I acknowledged that I have a problem. Next, I acknowledged that it needed to be cured NOW ! Naturally, the next question I asked myself was "What am I going to do about it ?" I decided upon a goal within a time frame, analysed what I had going for me and what would create hurdles in my path. Then, as an added measure I stated, in black and white, the consequences of not following the course I am charting out for myself and also the rewards I would reap if I did. There ! Now, I was prepared to move forward.

So I came up with a Plan of Action. It is a four point plan. I tried to keep it simple.

Finally I decided that I wanted it out in the open that I was embarking on this personally very important project. Read here why I want to blog about it.

All this, I did yesterday. Here's an update of the actions I took after all this planning.

 

The good news was that the TH (= The Husband, for the newcomers to this blog) agreed to be my gym buddy.

 

And here's the not-so-good news - last evening I went to two good gyms in my locality and made enquiries and they are both way out of our budget. Momentarily I felt dejected because right at the outset I faced a hurdle. But I recovered quickly and now I have decided that I will exercise at home. I have an exer-cycle. A good friend has made a chart of exercises for me to do. I remember all my exercises from when I used to do aerobics. I know what care to take while exercising. I am equipped.

 

I woke up late this morning and didn't have the time to exercise. I felt miserable that right on the first day I was failing. All the time I was cooking and getting ready for office I kept thinking how I could do something that would qualify as exercise. I know that it won't be enough, but I don't want to go without exercise even on a single day. Then, while driving to office, I got the answer.

 

Exercise update: Walked up six flights of stairs to my office.

 

Food update:

 

Yesterday -

Managed dinner before 7:30 p.m.

At 10:00 p.m. drank half a cup of warm milk.

 

Today -

9:00 a.m. 2.5 Thalipeeth + 1 cup tea for breakfast

11:15 a.m. 1 cup tea

1:00 p.m. 2 phulkas + 1  bowl veggies (raw tomatoes, potato, tondla) + 1/2 bowl rice

7:00 p.m. 2 phulkas + 1 bowl veggies (palak + potato)

Overall I drank 1.5 litres of water in the day.