8 NOV. 2012

All the fatigue got better of me this morning. Without any guilt whatsoever, I decided to skip the walk today. I was sooooooo tired and needed to sleep and that's what I did. I woke up at 8:00 a.m. feeling so fresh ! Continuing with trend set in the morning, I went all out and ate whatever I pleased without feeling guilty. After a month of strictness, this was my reward to myself, I decided. Tomorrow onwards I'll go back to my exercise + diet control routine.

Report Card:

Walked 0 kms. today

Breakfast 9:00 a.m.: 1 bowl Kellogs Wheat Bran with milk

Lunch 1:00 p.m.: 1 bhatura, 1/4 bowl chhole, 1/2 bowl butter paneer masala veg, 4 slices of cucumber, 2 bowls veg biryani, 2 gulabjam  

Tea 3:40 p.m.: 1 cup tea

Dinner 6:30 p.m.: 1 cup tea, 1 bowl upama

Slept at 11:30 p.m.

7 NOV. 2012

Today, as I had decided yesterday, I walked at an easy pace and managed to complete the 5 kms. I'll admit that I was feeling a wee bit tired in the last 1.5 kms. and I decreased my speed further in those 1.5 kms.

Report Card:

Walked 5.03 kms. today

Breakfast 8:30 a.m.: 1 bowl Kellogs Special K with milk

Lunch 1:00 p.m.: 2 chapatis, 1 bowl brinjal veg, 1/2 bowl assorted veg, 4 slices cucumber, 2 bowls buttermilk

Tea 3:40 p.m.: 1 cup tea

Dinner 7:00 p.m.: 2 chapatis, 1/2 bowl brinjal veg

Slept at 11:15 p.m.

I was feeling tired and sleepy all day today. I kept drinking water. I also ate handfuls of saleechya laahya (I think they are jowar puffs/popcorn/flakes) thrice during the day because I felt I must be hungry and not realising it. Nothing helped.

I have a huge weekend coming up - three shows of my play in Mumbai. I return to Pune in the early hours of Monday and leave for my week-long vacation to Kokan on Tuesday morning. All the preparations for these things have been weighing heavy on my mind and time. Also, our company has the entire Diwali week off by not taking some holidays in the rest of the year. So the week before we break for Diwali is the most hectic week of all in office. Perhaps all that fatigue is accumulating.

6 NOV. 2012

I forgot to set the alarm last night ! As a result I got up with a start at 7:00 a.m. I had promised everybody at office that I would take idli-chatni for them all today. So I just couldn't have managed going for the walk and then preparing idli-chatni for all and reaching office on time. So I skipped the exercise in the morning and decided to go in the evening. I left office early, went home, gobbled up dinner and went for the walk.

Report Card:

Walked 5.00 kms. today

Breakfast 9:30 a.m.: 5 small idlis and 1 cup of tea

Lunch 1:00 p.m.: 2 chapatis, 1/2 bowl simla mirch veg, 1/2 bowl assorted veg, 4 slices cucumber, 2 bowls buttermilk
Tea 3:40 p.m.: 1 cup tea

Dinner 7:00 p.m.: Slices of 2 boiled eggs sprinkled with salt

Slept at 11:30 p.m.

I did something special today during the walk. Since a very long time, a couple of years to be precise, I have wanted to be able to run without hurting myself. I was always afraid of hurting my knees or ankles because I am so heavy. So I never did. I even downloaded a 12-week program to enable you to run 5K in 12 weeks, but never followed it. Since I started exercising seriously about a month ago, I have been wanting to run but somehow I never did. But today evening when I started the walk I was feeling quite energetic. So I thought that today I might attempt to run. And I did. I did a short burst of 100 metres first. I saw that I could do it and also that even though I was short of breath, I could still continue walking at the same speed as before the short run. After the first short burst I decided that if during further rounds, I felt I could do it, I should do such short 100-metre runs. And I did. In all I did 6 such 100-metre runs within the first 3.5 kms. After that I decided I would walk the remaining 1.5 kms. since I would be exercising within 12 hours i.e. tomorrow morning.

I also decided that tomorrow morning I would take it easy. I would complete the 5 kms. but walk them at a pace that I felt comfortable. I would not strain myself.

I'm happy that I can run :)

5 NOV. 2012

Since I slept late last night, I had trouble getting up today. But I did go for the walk and I got a pleasant surprise. My dearest friend M was walking in the park. She was there before me. We walked a couple of rounds together and then she had to leave. Those couple of rounds that I walked with her just flew by. After that I had no trouble completing the remaining rounds :)

Today cute grandpa is back to his previous uniform - yellow shirt and brown pants. Since the last 2 days he is not wearing his black hat. I wonder what happened to it. I miss it ! :)

Report Card:

Walked 5.41 kms. today

Breakfast 9:30 a.m.: 4 small idlis and 1 cup of tea

Lunch 1:00 p.m.: 2 chapatis, 1 bowl spinach-masur veg, 1/2 bowl assorted veg, 4 slices cucumber, 2 bowls buttermilk
Tea 3:40 p.m.: 1 cup tea

Dinner 7:30 p.m.: 1 big bowl spinach-masur veg

Slept at 11:30 p.m.

4 NOV. 2012

Again today I hit the snooze button a couple of times and woke up at 6:45 a.m. wanting to sleep some more. It's that time of the month ! Sigh ! But I have decided that I am not going to allow myself any excuse. So I went for the walk. The initial 1-1/2 kms. were difficult. Later I settled into a rhythm and finished my 5 kms. much easily than expected and in the usual time.

After that I popped in at Mom's to weigh myself. I had not weighed myself on last Sunday and I was hoping that I have lost 2 kgs. within the last two weeks. But, the weight loss is 1.5 kgs. Now I'm hoping it is due to water retention ! :) If by next Sunday this doesn't sort itself out, I think I'll have to up my game. Perhaps my body is settling at this 5 kms. thing. Let's see.

Today too I saw one mongoose :)

Report Card:

Walked 5.30 kms. today

Breakfast 9:30 a.m.: 6 small idlis and 2 cups of tea

Lunch 2:30 p.m.: 8-10 dates soaked in 1 bowl of milk

Dinner 7:30 p.m.: 1 big bowl of tomato soup, 1 guava

Slept at 12:00 midnight

3 NOV. 2012

Again last night I didn't sleep well. Now I am constipated...the medicine worked too well :( I woke up this morning at 6:00 a.m. but hit the snooze button on the alarm a couple of times and finally sat up at 6:45 a.m. I just didn't feel like going for the walk. My mind started to veer towards the "excuses" territory....I am ill, I didn't sleep well, etc. Then I started thinking - I could walk in the evening today and then walk in the morning tomorrow. Tomorrow I have nothing planned for the day. So I could take it easy and rest if exercising within 12 hours on Saturday and Sunday proved to be too exhausting. Thankfully I came to my senses quickly and decided to go for the walk right away. The only concession I would allow myself is that I would walk at a comfortable pace and not push myself too much if I can't take the strain. I also decided to walk the usual 5 kms. instead of the 7 kms. decided to compensate for the two day lapse in exercise.

When I reached the park and started walking, for the initial two kms., I just didn't feel comfortable. I could neither find a rhythm nor walk fast. Gradually however, I picked up pace and found a rhythm.

Of course I felt very good once I was in the park and breathed in the fresh air, felt the breeze, saw the trees :)

One very interesting thing happened at the park today. While walking along one patch of the park that is next to an empty patch of land overgrown with shrubs and bushes and some trees, I spotted a mongoose family of 6 huddled together on a small mound of earth ! It is so rare to see a mongoose, let alone 6 at the same time ! They were looking very cute with tiny shiny eyes. There was one tiny baby that was continuously scratching itself. It had the shiniest eyes.

All in all, although I was a bit reluctant to go for the walk, I am happy that ultimately I did go :)

Report Card:

Walked 5.03 kms. today

Breakfast 9:00 a.m.: 4 small idlis and 1 big cup tea

Tea 10:40 a.m.: 1/2 cup tea

Lunch 2:30 p.m.: 4 crisply toasted slices of whole wheat bread topped with spinach and corn and grated cheddar cheese and blitzed in the microwave for 2-1/2 minutes

Dinner 8:30 p.m.: 1 big bowl of mixed salad with 4 slices of salami randomly torn to pieces drizzled with home-made salad dressing and 1/2 a glass of wine

Slept at 10:15 p.m.

2 NOV. 2012

I woke up this morning at 6:00 a.m. feeling very weak. No upset tummy now, but terrible weakness. Without any guilt I decided that I'd not go for the walk today. Tomorrow is Saturday and I will compensate by walking 7 kms. each on Saturday and Sunday. Since I have had two days off in this week, I shall not take Sunday off.

Report Card:

Walked 0 kms. today

Breakfast 8:50 a.m.: 4 small idlis with 2 tsp chatni and 1 big cup tea
Tea 10:40 a.m.: 1/2 cup tea
Lunch 1:00 p.m.: 2 chapatis, 1/2 bowl potato-onion dosa veg, 1/2 bowl assorted veg, 1/2 bowl daal, 4 slices cucumber 
Tea 3:40 p.m.: 1/2 cup tea
Dinner 8:00 p.m.: 2 big idlis in sambar, 1 cup coffee

Slept at 11:30 p.m.

1 NOV. 2012

This morning I woke up with a terribly upset tummy :( Still, I thought, let me cook first so that the body will get warmed up and then may be I can go for the walk. But after I was done cooking I was still not feeling good. I had an uneasy feeling and my legs felt like jelly ! So at 6:30 a.m. I decided to lie down for 'just 15 minutes'...and I'm sure we all know what happens after that ! I woke up straight at 9:00 a.m. ! I was still not feeling good. But there were important tasks in office and so, very reluctantly, I got ready and went. So no exercise today. In office I tried to have a normal lunch. But after that the stomach ache started and I had to make some visits to the rest room :( I was very drained out in the evening when I returned home. I just didn't feel like eating anything either. 

Then TH told me a recipe to stop all the 'trouble'. Take two slices of bread and toast them crisp. Take a boiled potato, make slices and put them on one toast, sprinkle some salt and cover with the other toast. Eat this sandwich and you'll quickly be perfectly fine. To tell you the truth I absolutely didn't believe that bread and potato could help. Yet, I wanted to feel better. So I did as told and, wonder of wonders, I got better !

Report Card:

Walked 0 kms. today

Breakfast 8:50 a.m.: 1 bowl Kellogs Special K with milk

Lunch 1:00 p.m.: 2 chapatis, 1/2 bowl daal-palak, 1/2 bowl assorted veg, 1 bowl soup, 4 slices cucumber 

Tea 3:40 p.m.: 1/2 cup tea

Dinner 8:40 p.m.: 4 slices of toasted bread, 1 boiled potato

Slept at 11:30 p.m.

There's something I must admit. It felt soooooo good to eat bread after so many days ! Previously I'd have bread for breakfast almost 4 times a week. Since I started the exercise and mindful eating, I stopped all maida products. Although, yesterday's bread was whole wheat bread, I always think that it still contains some maida. I realised I actually missed bread ! :)))

There's something I'm a little angry about. Its been almost a month since I started this journey. I started it because I want to be healthy and fit. I don't like it that I fell ill. I'm not supposed to fall ill when I have actually begun taking care of my health ! I shared this with TH and he said, don't link unrelated things. You ate something that didn't agree with you and so you are ill. That's all there is to it. It would have happened even if you weren't taking care of your health. I do agree with him of course. But I am somebody who absolutely cannot tolerate being ill. I'm sure nobody else does, but I'm a little more irritable about being ill and not fully functional. It is like an interference in my life. So I've decided that tomorrow will be absolutely the last day when I'm ill.

I want to go for the walk tomorrow. But if my legs are still feeling weak, I may not. I want to be perfectly fine before I launch myself back into the full-fledged exercise routine. Let's see what happens.

31 OCT. 2012

Last night I was very tired very early in the evening...almost by 8:30 p.m. I could feel my energy had drained out. I started feeling cranky and snappy. Thank goodness there was nobody around to snap at ! :) I guess it must have been because I walked 5 kms. the evening before and in almost 12 hours I walked another 5 kms. My body didn't get time to recuperate. I also had trouble falling asleep even though I was so tired.

This morning too I had trouble getting up. I was awake from 6:00 a.m. but I just didn't feel like getting out of bed. I finally got up at 6:40 a.m. !

Report Card:

Walked 5.18 kms. today

Breakfast 8:50 a.m.: 1 bowl Shevai Upama, 1 cup tea

Lunch 1:00 p.m.: 2 chapatis, 1/2 bowl cauliflower veg, 1/2 bowl assorted veg that included 1/2 a boiled egg, 2 bowls buttermilk, 4 slices cucumber

Tea 3:40 p.m.: 1/2 cup tea

Dinner 7:30 p.m.: 1 chapati, 1/2 bowl cauliflower veg
I kept feeling that dinner was incomplete. Finally at 9:30 p.m. I ate 1 boiled  egg slices topped with cheese slices and blitzed in the microwave for 30 seconds

Slept at 12:00 midnight