Day 5: Success

Ah! Finally! Did my much-awaited 30-min and 425 cal workout. Life is good.

Lunch was bhindi, nutre-nugget, two rotis, and the usual. In future, I'll try to be less repetitive :).

Day 4 & Breakfast

Breakfast yesterday consisted of an omelette made from two egg whites, a bowl of daliya, and some lassi. Then we headed out to the mall, where two hours of standing/walking (and some trying out of clothes) must've burned some calories too :). Came back to eat a not-so-healthy lunch ('cos there was a lot of aloo and some white rice). Then there was tea in the evening with one parle-g and one mathri. But after that I fell asleep (although the plan really was to work out). Woke up very late, had dinner (2 rotis, lauki, and nutrenuggets), then went back to bed. Yes, fail again.

Tried to experiment with this morning's walk a little by sprinting towards the end. Then realized I was one round short! So walked half and jogged half. It seemed plenty to bring up the heart rate, especially in the heat (after the jog I felt that my face was burning). Finished a 500-round of kapalbhati, along with the usual neck/shoulder stretches.

Came back home, had tea, then did yoga for almost an hour. It felt good to do all the exercises I could remember - the body felt active and energized. Ended with 5-mins of anulom-vilom.

Breakfast was quite a sight - the table was laid with what one usually sees in health ads :). Boxes of oat bran and corn flakes, non-fat milk, boiled egg-whites, wheat bread with tomato/cucumber sandwiches, and bowls of raisins, walnuts, and almonds. I took what I thought was my normal intake, but found it impossible to finish! I think the whole grains were activating the leptin. Phew.

Hopefully this day will be a success.

Day 3

was not a success. It went well until the evening. I slept before chai time, tired out from my visit to town, and kept sleeping until dinner time. Woke up to eat, and couldn't resist going back to bed for an hour. Woke up just in time to realize I had a conference call with my advisor, and then managed to stay up to watch a disappointing game (esp beat ger).

So, no evening workout yesterday :(. Day 3: FAIL.

And then

got conned into eating an egg yolk cos it was cooked with the egg white. Sigh. Anyway, the rest of the food intake included:

• a bowl of daliya with almonds, raisins, and walnuts (lots of them)
• one wheat toast
• salt lassi

I feel full!

Still at it...

So far so good - morning walk check, exercises/pranayama check, chai and one rusk check (though I picked up a second piece and then put it back), also did a bonus 5-min morning workout on the elliptical that burned me 65 calories.

On track and with a bonus. Good job, good job!

Day 2: Success

Phew. Managed to stick to the routine (with much help and prodding from mom and dad) and did my second evening of elliptical workout (20 mins, with some additional annoyance towards radio one for playing random songs and even more random ads). This is after a healthy lunch of two rotis, little rice, no aloo (gobhi, matar, kadhi, and dal instead) and then 3 small slices of mango. Now for some energizing nimbu pani.

Thank you, God!

Still on track

After a most pleasant 45-min morning walk, I had one cup of chai with one piece of rusk (instead of the usual two). Got in my back exercises, yoga (though minimal), and pranayama as well. Breakfast included 1.5 bowls of daliya with almonds, walnuts and raisins, the white of one boiled egg, and a generous serving of papaya. Now I'm drinking a glass of salt lassi. Satisfactory so far, yes?

More endorphins!

Just spent another 18-19 minutes on the elliptical. Tuned in to a radio station that was oh, so bad, I wanted to strangle the folks running the station as I worked out. Irritation rose sky-high as I wondered - how on earth can people run such random songs? What are they thinking? Aren't they just outright sadistic?

Oh well. All things come to an end and this did too. I'll sleep easy tonight. Let's hope this day can become representative of the entire summer now.

And with a vengeance!

Just had a long chat with Mom and Dad at lunch, and have decided the following:

• to walk every morning
• to use the elliptical every evening
• to have one mango a day
• no rice for dinner
• no full-fat anything!
• no other desserts
• daliya (with oats) for breakfast
• one boiled egg (without the yellow) at breakfast, too
• less is more!

Lunch was kadhi, nutrenugget, and beans-aloo. I tried to avoid the aloo and ate everything else. Two tiny rotis (without ghee) and a little rice. Can do better!

Back!

I'm back! A sustained (though not considerable) effort at getting fitter over the last three weeks has brought me back into the groove of wanting to revamp my food/exercise habits towards better health and fitness. More than anything, it's the endorphins that seem to have done the trick. A morning walk at 5.30 everyday, in addition to even just 15 minutes of pranayama find me quite a bit of peace and calm for the remaining part of my days. So let this be a fresh start.

This morning it was raining outside (yes, we had our first monsoon showers yesterday, and they were breathtakingly beautiful, as always) so I decided to use the elliptical for half an hour. Was listening to the radio and it helped to go for one more song and then one more song :). And then when I thought I was done, they played Tu jaane na which kept me going for another few minutes. Drenched in sweat, I took an invigorating cold shower and then did back exercises and pranayama for about half an hour. Feeling awesome, still. I hope this is the start of an addiction. Keeping fingers crossed.

Popat

After a fabulous (and very, very wholesome) dinner at N's place yesterday (soy, paneer capsicum, and chana dal), I was all set for boot camp this morning. Woke up at 4.50 first, then realized I had more time, so promptly went back to sleep - a little too complacent about my ability to wake up on time. Unfortunately, the alarm collapsed because the phone was dead. I woke up to find that it was 6.06 and saw no point in going so late for boot camp. Instead, headed to the gym for a solid hour's workout which still feels wonderful. The plus, of course, was that the elliptical had a cable screen and I was able to watch an entire episode of Desperate Housewives on it. Not only was the workout painless, I learned that DH is not all too bad either. The lesson in today's episode - to not be too quick to judge - was entirely welcome and worth a thought. I also slipped in a few minutes of pranayam after stretches. Yay.

Breakfast consisted of chai and an exotic omelette (with egg, onion, tomato, mint, and some spinach/sour cream dip). Two heavily grained slices of bread made it even more healthful.

Barely Alive

No boot camp for two days now. Tuesday destroyed me and Wednesday did little to regenerate. I was sore in the abs, calves, hamstrings, glutes, arms, shoulder, neck... you get the picture. When I did decide to turn in, I realized there was no way I was gonna be up for boot camp this morning. And yes, the one plank I tried to do this morning proved me right. I will, however, admit that my core does feel stronger now, even after just five sessions. I suppose pain never (or seldom, to be safe) goes unwarranted. I'm still plenty sore, but will go tomorrow, come what may.

On the food front, let's go back to Tuesday now. Dinner was at Gather, a new organic restaurant in Berkeley. It was so awesome and so very Berkeley. I helped myself to tiny portions of the starters - mushrooms and asparagus, then had a chick-pea cake that was vegan and gluten-free. There was also startlingly good wine to go with the meal - a glass of California syrah.

On Wednesday, breakfast consisted of unhealthy gyozas (I meant to eat only 4, but 5 fell into the boiling water and I had no choice). For lunch, I had veggie quesadillas (with a salad on the side) at the FSM cafe. Also a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. Dinner was home-cooked again - lauki dal with eggplant (and rotis and rice).

This morning, I tried my hand at making cold coffee, but the coffee was all wrong - Seattle's BEST, but not the instant kind. What was meant to be a shake ended up looking like a black/white oreo-like concoction (without the taste). I suppose the plus was that I ended up consuming all that milk, for a change. Breakfast was good ol' almond butter and banana. Lovable as ever. Sigh.

Lunch was at good ol' CP - rajma, chili paneer, and 3 rotis. Also had one tea this morning at Starbucks, and now a fantastic non-fat latte at Red Rock (that is 9/10ths done and looking mighty photogenic right now).

OK, that will be all folks. Dread to think of the impending weekend and what it might do to the diet again .

Keeping Up...

Last Friday's boot camp was rigorous indeed, and the weekend provided considerable relief! As for food, the meal at Google was healthy healthy - a plateful of salad with fruit for dessert (if only salad and fruit were always so tempting!). Friday was also a cafe kind of day - with the first half spent at Red Rock and the second at Epi Cafe. Dinner (before the live action shorts) was at Cafe Del Sol and not a meal to boast of at all.

Saturday, ahem, saw a brunch at Amber (and the spread was quite impressive). I certainly recommend the mint lemonade there (off menu and entirely perfect). Dinner was 1lb of food at Whole Foods - a quick meal before Avatar (which was amazing, btw). We also tried some Vietnamese iced coffee Saturday evening and is highly recommended for when you really desperately need a pick-me-up.

Sunday morning saw a brunch at Vik's - half a kathi, half a bhatura, and half a cuppa chai. With the Oscar party in the evening, health went down the drain :). The samosas were delicious, as was the food from Mehfil, but it's a good thing that Oscars come but once a year.

Monday's breakfast was a leftover samosa with chai (no boot camp, unfortunately, since I had my presentation in the morning). Lunch was with V at Chipotle - a veggie bowl with some unhealthful components. In the afternoon, I treated myself to a hot chocolate at the machine in the ischool kitchen (for $0.25!). The dinner was the real clincher though - lauki dal, guar beans, and veg. fried rice (with half a cup of orangina). Two gold stars there :).

Boot camp this morning killed me though - I am sore all over, as I usually am after every session. No doubt it will get worse still tomorrow. The push-ups, planks, step-up lunges, weight exercises destroyed me today. Came back, showered, and slept like a baby for an hour after. [Point to note: my alarm didn't go off today, because my phone magically decided to turn itself off overnight. I did however wake up at 5.09, anticipating the ring a minute later.]

Breakfast was the lovely and comforting almond-butter sandwich again, with a cup of chai that unluckily got fed twice as much sugar as it needed :(. Lunch will consist of the glorious leftovers and 2 rotis. A 'normal' cup of chai is much looked-forward to for the evening.

2.5: A Magic Number

Yesterday's lunch consisted of leftovers - rice with dal and eggplant. The eggplant was a little too salty for my taste, but at least it was home-cooked. The afternoon snack consisted of a cup of orange juice (fortified with calcium and vitamin d) but no chai after all. I felt motivated to cook dinner and hunted out some besan which, it turns out, was 2.5 years old but still edible! The resulting kadhi was pretty good, (recipe right here) though maybe not perfect. On the adjacent burner, I cooked aloo with pudina and tamatar. Perhaps a little on the too-sour side, but still pretty good. The white rice was mixed with a bit of brown, more for psychological satisfaction, I'm guessing, since it really was a rather small bit.

This morning's breakfast consisted of the usual - almond-butter toast with half a banana and chai. In an hour I shall treat myself to more of the kadhi and aloo. Yay :).

As for working out... I shall help myself to a walk to and from campus, but for all practical purposes, today's my off-day :).

Catching up!

After last Wednesday's post, the tummy did a little rumble and threw out everything. As a result, the earlier post can probably be ignored :). The evening saw a banana-and-milk snack, and dinner consisted of a home-cooked chana-and-mushroom dinner with steamed rice (thank you, a). Boot camp died though, for the next couple of mornings. And food kinda crossed over onto lets-not-talk-about-it territory. And then a prodded this morning after which I felt motivated enough to get back on track.

Let's start with yesterday then (since the weekend can really be considered to have gone to the dogs as far as fitness is concerned). After a crazy boot camp session that saw me do more push-ups than I have done in my life altogether, and about 500 squats (in addition to other pain), breakfast was a healthy almond-butter sandwich with chai. Lunch was pretty perfect - a healthy veggie pasta bowl with one small slice of bread (and for <$4, no less). After a small snack of 4 veggie gyozas with my evening chai, I had home-cooked eggplant and dal for dinner (2 rotis and rice).

Today was especially awesome for how it began, and deserves special mention. Though I did wake up in time for boot camp (I also woke up at 1-something, 3-something, and 4-something just to make sure I hadn't overslept) and head down there, we found it was raining much too much for an outdoor workout. It was still only 6am, and though I coulda headed straight for bed, I was a good girl. I went to the gym for a 45-minute workout, including stretches and back exercises. Came back, took a nice long shower, and then fell into deep and wonderful slumber until 9am. Oh, it was heaven!

Also this morning, I indulged in a mint/onion/tomato omelette with toast (it was excellent!). Of course, all this writing is making me hungry and I might just go in for my second cup of chai now.

See you after lunch!

Red chilies can be avoided

Just ate leftovers for lunch: gobhi and dal with (unfortunately white) rice. In addition, it became necessary to consume lots of water and oj to set out the fire that the whole red chili i chewed and swallowed ignited. One realization, also, was that it's good to eat in a small bowl. This limits the size of a helping, and one rarely goes into threes anyway.

Breakfast was once again an almond butter and banana sandwich with tea. This time two cups of tea, though. On days when one must meet the advisor, everything goes. Quals proposal is being outlined as we speak.

The after-effects of boot camp are being felt, as I cringe when I walk, raise my arms, or even just move my shoulders. Time to use the foam roller and become fit in time for day 2.

An Indian Dinner

of punjabi chana paneer and yellow dal, along with 1 roti and a serving of rice. no nan, no lassi. self-control leads 1-0. but maybe non-indian food next time would be healthier. or a place that serves whole wheat roti. oh well.

Still here...

1 Non-Fat Latte

Lunch at Epicenter

1 Spinach & Mushroom Empanada
1 Corn & Sweet Plantain Empanada
1 Cup of Butternut Squash Soup

Why didn't anyone tell me that empanadas were fried?

Boot Camp Day 1

So much for trying to sleep early, I got to bed only after 11. Woke up at 3 something first, in a state of panic, thinking it was past 5, then went back to bed. Finally woke up at 5.20, changed and left the house to get to the park at 5.56. There were four of us today, in addition to Kristi the trainer/coach. I realized that I was the only newbie though, and felt a little lost to begin with. Not for long, for the squats began soon after. We did various kinds of squats, lunges, side lunges, forward lunges, dips, weight exercises, etc. It was all pretty perfect, and the sun rising over the bay in the red, red sky made it a highly pleasing experience. But then, perhaps I should wait till the soreness ensues! Right now, invigorated is the only word that comes to mind.

Breakfast included one cup of adrak chai and an almond butter sandwich using whole grain bread, with half a banana cut up in between the slices. Nutritional content is listed below:

Trader Joe's Almond Butter with Roasted Flaxseeds (Crunchy and Salted): 7g of protein, 16% fiber, 2% carb, 26% monounsaturated fat, and 25% ALA omega-3.

Milton's Original Healthy Multi-Grain Bread: 10g of protein, 14% carb, 24% fiber, 2% monounsatured fat, 50% thiamin, 40% B-5, 60% B-6, 40% B-12, 40% zinc.

Half a banana: 5% carb, 6% fiber, and 9% C.

[The question now, of course, is how long can I keep this up?]