It’s all about YOU!

It’s been a really long time since my last blog. A lot happened in the meantime which I might mention here on the blog one day. Hope all of you had a wonderful start. Jan is almost gone and how are you guys keeping up with your New year’s resolutions?

I have started this  year full of energy and excitement, determined to enjoy each and every day. Do things which would make me happy, experiment a bit and basically not worry about what others think about me.

So ….

• If you think you are fat and unfit then lose weight, change ur diet and exercise more.
• If you are unsatisfied with your job, then go and find another job
• If you are bad in managing ur money then learn how to control ur expense
• If you want to be a model/ singer/actor then go and explore ur options
• If you love to travel then DO it.

Keep in mind that you are doing something which YOU want to do, NOT because you want to please someone else (parents, friends, children, coworkers, society …).

In my entire life I never felt this much of positive energy. I got inspired by the first movie I watched this year. Like most of us, I was also very tired on the 1st of Jan, so decided to stay home and chill.

After little bit browsing  and checking FB,  I ended up on an online movie portal and  chose  the latest Malayalam movie they uploaded. Malayalam is a language spoken in India to be precise in Kerala.  Watching  movies online gives me a guilty conscience, but sometimes you don’t have any other choice if you are abroad.

Yes, yes and yes … I know you are waiting to hear the name of the movie. The movie is called Rockstar.  If you understand Malayalam then you have  to watch it. I have  never ever seen a Malayalam movie like this. The movie is about a young independent woman and a young musician.  Oh well.. I know what you are thinking now and can imagine how you are rolling your eyes… A man sees a woman, they fall in love, jumping around trees in the alps, singing and dancing Benny Lava style and live happily ever after.  Sorry guys, I have to disappoint you. It is a romantic story which portrays very deep and intense emotional drama. The real star of this movie is the Story itself.  I loved each and every dialogue in this movie. My favorite dialogue is when Eva responds in a conversation to her mum and maid: You don’t have to get married to have children. It reminded me a conversation between my mum and me.

The script writer Rajashree Balaram beautifully captured the independent thoughts of today’s spinster professionals. The continuous fight with themselves to be independent,  to be different than the older generation, the confidence to express to the world what they think and confronting the conflict between fact-based  judgments and moral values.

Such a brilliant story in the hands of, one of the most renowned directors in the industry, VKP sir, it  certainly  created magic on the screen.

After watching this movie, I was so excited and decided to pm (private message) VKP sir, Siddarth Menon and Rajashree Balaram. The experience I made there,  will  be summarized  in a separate blog because a lot happened there.  Got catfishes,  had a real small chat …

End of the day watching this movie inspired me to set goals for this year. My New Year’s resolution is very simple: enjoy the life to the fullest and not to be worried about others.

I even came up with a nice romantic story. A good friend of mine and me even thought about filming it, me in the lead role. HAHAHA…. all my friends who are reading this, is most probably ROLFing. Yeah me in a Movie ***@@@@???!!!!

On this note I wish you all a very Happy New Year.

Xoxo

Bengal grams, Oats, Quinoa & Co

M y last blog post was 25 days ago, where I shared my excitement about becoming an almost vegan. Now after 1 month of being sort of a vegan, I would love to share my experience  with you guys. First of all I never thought I will be able to follow it for such a long time. I never did any sort of fasting before and never avoided non veg. Chicken was an inevitable part of my meal, couldn’t even imagine life without chicken. It may sound a bit weird but I always had some sort of chicken almost every day.

I haven’t visited my aunt for months, so yesterday I paid her a visit. As soon I entered her house the appetizing smell of perfectly spiced, delicious, mouthwatering chicken curry welcomed me. Oh boy, what am I going to do? I couldn’t resist the smell. So I decided to have chicken curry and fried rice for lunch, after all it’s just this one time I thought. Trust me guys, I couldn’t wait to mix  fried rice with the thick gravy and enjoy the perfect symphony of spices in my mouth. You won’t believe what happened next . As soon as I saw the chicken piece on my plate my appetite was gone. I simply couldn’t bite into the piece of meat. I was shocked and surprised at the same time. End of the day I just had rice with some vegetables. I was so proud of myself and said myself:  “You passed the toughest test, very well done my dear“.

You might be wondering what a lazy person like me eats these days. Like I mentioned in my last blog (Almost a Vegan), started with quinoa… now pleased to add almond mil, oats and Bengal grams. I am getting good in preparing vegan food, still have to go long way. Once I master few recipes, I will definitely make a  vlog about it.

Transitioning to  a vegan is difficult. Each time if I mention I am a vegan, people raise their eye brows, or make jokes about. This weekend a friend of mine told me something like this. “Now it’s anyways too late. You are not going to look better”.  I know he meant it in a funny way and his intention was not to hurt me.  Most of the time you find less support from people around you and because of that your social life might suffer a little bit. But hey , all you need is a strong will power and then everything is possible. End of the day it’s your life, it’s your body and YOU decide what you want to do.

Becoming a vegan means to me  eat clean,  consuming minimally processed  food, increasing fiber consumption and final adding more fresh fruits and vegetables to my regular diet. By doing so my digestion is perfection which means no bloating and I feel more energized during the day. And I feel young, fresh and vibrant. Oh well I think that’s coupled with my fear of aging and my birthday is in 28 days.  Most probably I am trying to convince myself no matter what I am doing, it’s good for staying young.  Anyways I hope you guys  are not worried about grey hair and wrinkles.

Till then Keep Calm and Stay Healthy!

XoXo

Almost a Vegan

I met an old friend of mine last week, and it’s no surprise we talked about weight loss. After all she was in good shape compared to the last time I saw her, where she had gained a lot of extra pounds due to constant business travel and bad diet. All she did was modify her diet. She is a Vegan now, oh well a 95% vegan.

After our conversation, I realized, with minor tweaks to my current diet – I’d  be a vegan too. Her story  totally inspired me.  So I decided to cut out chicken, eggs, honey and butter. Now I’ve completed 1 successful week of being a vegan, I mean almost a vegan.

A vegan doesn’t eat anything that originates from something that walked, crawled. Flew or swam, but that’s not all – a true 100% hardcore vegan shouldn’t wear leather, wool, silk or down. That’s why I am calling myself ALMOST A VEGAN. I love silk and I can’t say no to my bags and shoes, could  you?

My body accepted the change pretty well. Off lately, I am free from digestion issues, feel quiet energized and am loving it. Explored Quinoa and made my first dish with it. I hate to cook and  that’s because no matter how hard I try, I end up burning stuff. All I know is how to make chicken,  basmati rice, sausages and of course instant noodles. Now I am trying new recipes and  for my surprise I am not burning them. And the shocking fact is, that they come out well. My body seems to like this change and I noticed that I love chickpeas, okra , quinoa etc. Have even come up some really interesting cooking ideas. If I should continue this journey then one day I might do a V-log about my new favorite recipes.

I know all this sounds really promising and very easy to follow, but it isn’t. Yesterday night all I could think about was my favorite Pizza. Hmmm… the crispy thin pizza crust, the melted Mozzarella topped with the finest spicy Salami, garlic and black olives ( oh no….I am  thinking about it again). I almost dialed the number, thank god somehow I managed to control my cravings. I am quite sure one of these days I might fail and opt for a treat. Then again I guess it’s a slow journey and I have to take persistent baby steps.

My next weigh in is on next Saturday and I am eagerly waiting to see how my body has changed. There are so many questions popping up in my mind like: How much fat percentage I have lost? Did I gain on muscle mass? Am I following the right diet? Do I need to increase my Activity level? Do I need to decrease my sugar( carbs) intake? I guess in my next blog I will have answers to this questions. And keep in mind, with baby steps as long as I don’t gain – that’s fine  🙂

Till then Keep Calm and Stay Healthy!

XoXo

The Metabolic Typing Test

For the past two and half years according to my food log I was eating healthy. Almost no carbs, a lot of healthy protein, drank almost 2 liters of green tea every day; Basically I was following a low carb high protein diet. And Yes, occasionally I had my devious meals like yummy burgers, Chicken biriyani, Pasta etc. Even though I was eating “healthy”, I was not losing weight. You know how frustrating it is, right? 

I really don’t remember who told me about it, but somehow I got to know about the Metabolic Typing Diet. Listen guys, did you know that each of us are so unique that certain foods react on each of us differently?Oh well, I didn’t.I was shocked about my Metabolic Typing test result because my body needs carbs. I felt like hit by a truck. My ideal meal should consist of 50% carbs, 40% protein and 10% fat. I shouldn’t consume dairy products, red meat,theanine and caffeine at all. I know what you are thinking right now or I can imagine your face expression. All the GREEN TEA I had was for nothing .

Based on my experience, I would suggest anyone who wants to lose weight or improve their lifestyle to do the Metabolic Typing Test. There are so many different diets out there, and we spent so much money on them without even knowing if it’s the right diet. Apart from being lazy one of the many mistakes I made was to go with the flow. I assumed all the so called “healthy” foods, which I know through hearsay, were going to do the magic on me. The fact is, it is wrong to think about nutrition that one diet is right for everyone.
Each one of us has a unique Metabolic Type. Eating the right foods in the right amount will make us feel great and improve our metabolism. Metabolic Typing Diet will help to achieve and maintain ideal weight, conquer indigestion and ultimately improve one’s lifestyle.
The first step towards weight loss is to know your body and to give the right fuel to it. In other words, the first item on your checklist should be Metabolic Typing Test ☺ . If you don’t match your nutrition to your metabolism, how are you going to lose weight? Oh well, all this sounds nice and I started to follow the plan. It was really nice and I could see the first signs of success but you know what happened. Remember 5 steps ahead and 10 backwards. Once again I am back on track.

Concluding this blog with a famous quote of Arnold Schwarzenegger: “Failure is not an option. Everyone has to succeed”

Until next time, I am signing off – Keep calm and stay healthy ☺

Day 4 – Keep Calm and Stay Healthy

Today’s assignment is to publish a post I‘d like my ideal audience to read.

Once I gain experience in blogging and improve English writing skills, I will certainly blog about fashion, travel experience, violence against women, restaurant reviews and random thoughts.

For today’s assignment though the first thought that came to mind was Healthy Weight loss. For more than 2 years I am trying to get back in shape. By now I am an expert in Do’s and Don’ts of weight loss. As we all know talking about something and giving advice is very easy, but to convert theory into action is very difficult. Yes, I am guilty of preaching water and drinking wine.  It’s not like I haven’t made any progress, indeed there are some visible changes. One of the biggest problems I am facing is staying focused and motivated. It’s like 5 steps forward and 10 steps in wrong direction.

There are so many diet programs out there, from starving yourself to 24hr of diarrhea. Somehow I am not a great fan of diets. The little Smurf inside my head is telling me, it’s the wrong direction to go. I guess everyone needs to find their own path.

Along with healthy eating habits and regular exercise, I wanted to achieve my goal. I love Pilates and EMS training. I don’t want to brag, but I have the BEST trainers in town. These young, vibrant ladies are just awesome (Oh well, I will blog about them another time). Unfortunately I decided to take a break.  Remember 5 steps ahead and 10 backwards.

2 things I love the most are bags and sunglasses. So I said to myself, if I manage to have a healthy life style and reach my target weight, I will present myself a Louis Vuitton and a trip to New York or Dubai on my Birthday (btw. It’s on 30^th Nov).

Falling back and losing motivation, are very common problems, and I am sure there are other people fighting the same issues. I want to address this blog to them, come and join me on my journey to a better and healthier life style.

Until next time, me signing off – Keep calm and stay healthy 😉