1 Feb. 2011

Today was a copy-paste job from yesterday. I HAVE to break it before it crystallizes. Exercise duration HAS to increase.

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 cauliflower vegetable + 2 tbsp curds

3:30 p.m.      1 cup tea

8:45 p.m.      2 phulkas + 1 bowl cauliflower vegetable again + 1 tsp raw mango pickle

As it is, from the 3^rd to the 6^th of February, my food timings are going to be totally off since I am going to Mumbai for shows of my plays. Of course, what to eat and exercise will still be under my control and I'll ensure that at least that is well taken care of.

Sigh ! I so envy those who have a naturally lean physique :(

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 !