14 OCT. 2012

Yesterday I had gone to see a play and it was wonderful and terrific and fabulous and all those good things. I was very entertained and very pleased when I returned home.

However, the only not-good thing about it was that it started at 9:30 p.m. and finished at 12 midnight. By the time I met all friends in the play and those who had come to watch and came home, it was 1:00 a.m. and I slept at 1:30 a.m.

But, here's a good thing...I didn't go to sleep dreading today morning and the exercise. I just knew that I would do it !

So, I did go to the walk and here is the report card:

Walked 5.64 kms.

Breakfast 9:15 a.m.: 1 bowl Kellogs Special K with milk, 1 slice of Banana Walnut cake

Lunch 2:00 p.m.: 3 small phulkas, 1/2 bowl matar usal, 1/2 bowl moong dal, 2 veg cutlets, 1 slice chocolate
Tea 4:00 p.m.: 1 cup tea
Tea 7:00 p.m.: 1 cup tea

Dinner 9:00 p.m.: 1 big bowl of bhaji out of non-spicy paav-bhaaji. Did not eat paav.
Slept at 12:30 a.m.

Guess what ? Today being Sunday, I decided to check my weight. Wonder of wonders ! I have lost 1 kilo ! Can't stop grinning :D

13 OCT. 2012

Today something amazing happened.

When I woke up this morning at 6:30, I discovered that there was no water on any tap in the entire house. There was just some in one bucket to barely suffice for brushing my teeth. I had a workshop at 10:30. I had planned that today I would go for the walk as soon as I got up, then on returning make some notes for the workshop, bathe, get dressed and go. This no-water thing threw a spanner in the works, and as I discovered later, it was TH's and my negligence in reading the notice board that caused this situation. The society had announced in advance that the water tanks would be cleaned today and hence all water would be drained out and we were advised to fill up water at home. Neither TH nor I read this notice. TH went off out of town for his shows yesterday afternoon and will be back on Sunday. So yours truly woke up to a no-water situation. No, this is not the amazing thing I mentioned earlier :)

So, at times like these it pays to stay within 10 minutes driving distance of your parents. So I just took off and went to my parents' place to bathe and have breakfast. No, neither is this the amazing thing I mentioned before.

The only problem in this plan was, it would not leave me any time for the walk. I had other commitments in the evening. That meant no exercise today. So here's the amazing thing. I actually got angry that I would not be able to do my precious exercise today ! All the way to my parents' place I cursed myself for not having read the notice board. When I reached, Dad looked at me and immediately asked, "What's the matter ?" Right away I raved and ranted :) He had a solution for it ! I had forgotten that Dad exercise daily on a Stepper...they have one at home ! I was so happy to know it.

So today, instead of walking, I exercised on the Stepper. I did use the pedometer to see if it recorded the steps. It did. It also showed how many kilometres those steps would make. I know that while calculating the kilometres while walking, it counts the steps and the calculates on the basis of my standard distance between steps. Today, the standard distance may not have been the same, but I think the effort was greater because at the end of the workout I was sweating much more profusely than when I walk. So I'm going to record those kilometres. :)

Report card:


Walked 4.09 kms.

Breakfast 9:00 a.m.: 1 cup tea, 1 paratha without oil

Lunch 2:30 p.m.: 3 jowar bhakris with a blob of white butter, 1 slice of dark chocolate

Dinner 7:30 p.m.: 2 idlis with big bowl of rasam, 2 tablespoons jeera rice

Slept at 1:30 a.m.

I am terribly pleased that my mindset is rapidly changing to become pro-fitness...I got angry that I couldn't exercise...I was pleased to find that I could...that is something for somebody who didn't like exercise at all ! 

I was telling my Mom and I truly believe that this is not a temporary, flash in the pan thing. It is a permanent change. I'm determined to make it permanent, if it isn't ! :)

12 OCT. 2012

Today I had no problem getting up. This is definitely a first !

What I have discovered is that I find it difficult to get up and right away go for the walk or to the gym. So what I did yesterday as well as today was that I woke up early and cooked lunch first. So by the time that was done, I was wide awake or energized or whatever and felt like going for the walk.

Today I reached the park just a couple of minutes later than yesterday but it was much hotter. Nonetheless, I was feeling more energetic than yesterday. I had a good time walking.

Report card:

Walked 5.05 kms.

Breakfast 9:00 a.m.: 1 bowl Kellogs Special K with milk

Lunch 1:00 p.m.: 2 chapatis, 1/2 bowl green peas usal, 1/4 bowl kofta curry, 1/4 bowl assorted veg

Tea 3:30 p.m.: 1 cup
Dinner 8:30 p.m.: 1 guava, 1/2 bowl Kellogs Special K with milk

Slept at 11:30 p.m.

11 OCT. 2012

Since I slept at 12:30 a.m. last night, I knew I'd have a hard time getting up today. More so since I had skipped the exercise yesterday and had decided to move it from evening to morning.

As expected when the alarm went off at 6:00 a.m., that very familiar old feeling of "not today, I'll go tomorrow" crept up on me and I hit the snooze button. But, wonder of wonders, 10 minutes later I was up and telling wanting to go for the walk. This has never happened before. I always had to coax / scold myself into going. Today was a refreshing change as much as a big surprise.

So I got up and went for the exercise. I had decided that I would not be over-ambitious. So I walked at an even pace and not too fast.

So here's the report card:

Walked 3.74 kms.

Breakfast 9:00 a.m.: 2-egg frittata with corn, coriander and mozzarella cheese

Lunch 1:15 p.m.: 2 chapatis, 1/2 bowl kulith usal, 1/4 bowl potato veg, 1/4 bowl assorted veg, 1 bowl clear soup

Tea 3:30 p.m.: 1 cup

Dinner 8:30 p.m.: 2 chapati, 1/2 bowl kulith usal

Slept at 12:00 midnight

Food was definitely better than yesterday but I must sleep on time. That goal is not being met.

I think (and hope) that something has radically changed inside me. I will no longer shirk exercise.

Looking forward to going for the walk tomorrow. 

10 OCT. 2012

Today was interesting. I was feeling very relaxed in my mind since I had decided yesterday that I would skip the exercise today instead of Sunday since I had been over-zealous yesterday. I ate well all day. And then came dinner and suddenly I found myself succumbing. So it's kind of like a double crime. I didn't exercise and I broke an unwritten food rule and a written one as well. 

So here's what I did and ate:

Walked 0 kms

Breakfast 8:30 a.m.: 1 bowl Kellogs Special K cereal with milkLunch 12:45 p.m.: 2 chapatis, 1/2 bowl cauliflower veg, 1/4 bowl assorted veg, 1/4 bowl rice, 4 slices cucumberEvening snack 5:30 p.m.: 1 dateDinner 8:30 p.m.: 1 chapati, 1/2 bowl cauliflower veg, 2 fistfuls of peanuts (some boiled and some roasted), 1 coffee chocolate
Slept at 12:30 a.m.

After all of this I am dreading tomorrow. In all my earlier bouts of fitness, skipping a day always meant skipping the next day and the day after that and so on so forth.

Fingers crossed.

9 OCT. 2012

I achieved the food goal; Somehow I felt very hungry mid morning as well as around tea time. So at both those times I are a fistful of 'saleechya laahya' (puffed jowar flakes, I think).

I rushed through all work at office at a mad speed, drove home quickly, gobbled down dinner and rushed to the park for the walk and walked for 4.33 kms. I was drenched in sweat at the end of it. Today it was very difficult. My periods started  this morning and today was just the second day of my exercise. I ought to have taken it easy. Instead, what did I do ? I walked more than yesterday, at a faster speed !

Naturally, when I reached home, I barely managed to do a couple of light tasks, like putting away the washed dishes and dried clothes, after which I literally slumped to the ground in the drawing room and got up only to go to the bedroom to sleep.

So here's the record:

Walked 4.33 kms

Breakfast 8:00 a.m.: 1 bowl Kellogs Special K cereal with milk

Mid-morning 11:45 a.m.: 1 fistful saleechya laahya

Lunch 1:00 p.m.: 2 chapatis, 1/2 bowl tondli veg, 1/4 bowl green bell pepper veg, 1 bowl clear soup, 1 bowl buttermilk

Evening snack 5:00 p.m.: 1 fistful saleechya laahya

Dinner 7:30 p.m.: 1 chapati, 1/2 bowl tondli veg

Slept at 11:15 p.m.

Note to self: Please don't go from no exercise to too much exercise overnight !

A new beginning...yet again :)

Time and again I have begun exercise and diet control in all earnest and failed each time. 

The latest attempt involved enrolling in a gym in June. Yet, till date I haven't stepped foot inside it even once ! I have paid hard earned money for it. They even called me twice in the last four months asking me when I planned to go. I gave them a date and never turned up. I didn't feel the slightest guilt or shame. I don't know why. The further I delayed going to the gym, the further my resistance increased, in fact. Now I feel I just can't face the instructors. I feel embarrassed. When I shared this feeling with somebody, they said, what't there to be embarrassed about ? Its your money and your health. Just go.

In the meantime, I had just let myself go. I sensed that my weight had slightly increased too. Controlling what I eat was never a problem - that comes easy. My struggle has always been getting up early and going to the gym - getting up early being the key words. Due to my schedule of work and theatre, early mornings were the only time I could spare for exercise and I just can't get up early.

Somehow for the last one month my fitness, my health, becoming slim have all been on the mind...and firmly stayed there. No action. Then last week suddenly it seemed that I was being given gentle nudges, soft signals far too many times by the Universe for me to ignore. One blogger whose blog I've been following for long has suddenly been gifted a gym+personal trainer by her husband and she has started writing about how she's doing at the gym. From  the comments on one of her posts I landed on another blogger's account of her weight loss journey. I bookmarked it to read it on Sunday at home. Come Sunday, I was watching NDTV and came to know about their initiative on fit cities. The previous day, I had received a story in my email about how an 80-year old man decided to train for a marathon and eventually ran one. Then I read the bookmarked blog right from the day she began her blog, till date. The lady started at 100 kgs., is now at 77 kgs. and plans to reach 67 kgs. ! Suddenly I felt some kind of hard feeling, like resolve, taking over my mind.

I downloaded a pedometer app on my phone, loaded songs in the mp3 player and set out to walk. I walked fast for a while but later I had to walk a little slower due to  some pain in my hip joints. I walked for about 2.75 kms. I guess the pain might have been due to walking on the uneven road. While walking I resolved that I would be dead serious about it this time. This is like do or die. I'm not stopping till I achieve the ideal weight. It also meant recording everything I ate and my daily exercise. When I returned home, I took out a beautiful handmade paper notebook TH (TheHusband) had gifted me long ago. I started by writing about my struggles so far and my new found resolve. Then I made an intent sheet. I wrote down my goals for October 2012.

Yesterday too I went to another park with a nice walking track and walked 4.10 kms. While walking yesterday I decided that I will walk on tracks in parks this week and next week onwards I will go to the gym. I will initially, till I become comfortable with the environment there, do a combination of cardio exercises for a minimum of 30 mins. Gradually I will go on increasing my gym time and work.

Also I will eat mindfully. I will avoid, maida (all purpose flour) based stuff, sweets, rice.

Thus I have restarted my journey to becoming fit and slim.

I am going to record my progress here as well as in my fitness journal. Eventually when I feel a little comfortable with myself, a little confident, I shall open this blog to readers. For now it will be my private online journal.

Today's weight: 71 kgs.

Target weight: 52 kgs.

TO LOSE: 19 kgs

So, my October goals are:

1) Exercise 6 days a week

2) Last meal of the day before 8:00 p.m.

3) In bed at 11:00 p.m.

I started recording yesterday. So here's the record for 8/OCT/2012:

Walked 4.10 kms.

Breakfast 9:30 a.m.: 1 bowl of upma + 1 cup tea

Lunch 3:00 p.m.: 6-inch tuna+green bell pepper+olives sub sandwich, 6 inch open pepperoni toastie

Tea 5:00 p.m.: 1 cup tea + 2 biscuits + 1 piece orange choc + 1 coffee choc

Dinner 9:00 p.m.: 1 guava

Slept at 11:30 p.m.

Today I am going to leave office early to be able to accommodate my walking time in the evening. I am not having to force myself mentally to do it. This is a refreshing change. Hope it is lasting. Fingers crossed.