My Weight Loss Lessons for 2014

   After struggling for a few months I am back to 130 lbs size 4 !!!  It feels really good to be able to fit back into my skinny jeans without bunny hopping into them like a rabbit :-)  A few more inches to lose and I will be back into maintanence mode. Honestly, this has been my most difficult weight loss journey in my lifetime. Ten years ago losing weight was a piece of cake. But not anymore :-( It took many hours of practising the right excercise routines and fine tuning my diet to come this far. I learned a few lessons on the way and thought I will share it with all of you.

  First and foremost watch out for the sweet treats. It is the joy of christmas indeed but please be careful with the holiday treats. I ruined my health last year by over indulging in cakes and sweets during the 2013 holiday season. Don't underestimate the damage that refined sugar can do to your body. Beyond just empty calories remember sugar is a silent killer !! A picture is worth a thousand words. The picture below says it all. 




   I admit I did have a sweet tooth. I got cured of my sugar addiction when I went for a cruise during summer. I got so sick of all the deserts they served in the cruise that I never felt like looking back at the cakes and desserts again. Seriously a sugar overdose cured my sugar addiction. Every time I see a dessert I always remember how much damage sugar can do to my body and I shy away.

   The next important aspect of weight loss...DIET, DIET, DIET....no crash diets but a sustainable, well balanced diet. A well balanced diet is key to losing weight. In 2013, I ruined all the gains I made by intensive excercise routines by eating out frequently and following a poor diet. This year I reversed the cycle. I decided to cook more at home. I spent time planning my meals and prepping ahead. This allowd me to reach out for healthy meal options when I was hungry and not junk. Don't just fall for fad diets. They are not sustainable and you will gain back the pounds you lose in no time. You need to make your diet plan sustainable and practical.

  Start your day with a good breakfast. Do not skip your breakfast no matter what. I started adding more protein to my breakfast so I had less mid morning cravings. I eat 3 egg whites and 1 egg yolk with a slice of sprouted whole wheat bread 2-3 times a week. Starting the day with protein really made me feel fuller for longer duration. Egg yolk is a very nutrient dense food. As long as your cholestrol levels are in check one egg yolk per day is okay. There are many ways of cooking eggs - veggie omlette, hard boiled eggs or sunny side up. I love my eggs sunny side up.
 

Another of my favorite breakfast meals is steel cut oat meal with blue berries and almonds. Not rolled oats but steel cut oats. Steel cut oats are less processed then rolled oats. This is my favorite comfort food. Steel cut oats is full of soluble fiber and takes longer time to digest. So it keeps you full for longer. It also lowers cholestrol. I toss in a few blue berries and almonds into my oatmeal. Blue berries are rich in anti oxidants and almonds are high in vitamin E. This makes a perfect breakfast for cold winter mornings.You can drizzle a bit of natural honey as well. I cut out honey to reduce sugar and just added more blue berries.




Another favorite breakfast dish of mine is Adai. Adai is an Indian pancake made of lentils. If your a lazy bum like me  and you live in the Bay area you can buy Shastha Adai batter from the Indian stores. Along with Adai I have spicy coconut chutney or an Indian protein spice powder mix called "podi" mixed with olive oil.


 


  When I am in a hurry to get to work and have no time to sit down and eat breakfast, I would quickly pack a sandwich made of sprouted whole wheat bread, avacado, smoked salmon and super greens. You can substitute the smoked salmon with tofurky if your a vegetarian. This is also a very filling option.





  For lunch and dinner, I started cutting down on carbohydrates and started filling my stomach with sprout salads before starting the main course. I substituted quinoa for rice as often as I could. Sprouts made a huge difference to both my mental and physical health.

 Yoga and Ayurveda highly recommends sprouts since they are high in prana a.ka. "life force". Foods with high prana help in promoting good physical health and mental clarity. For the main course, I would have 2 chappathis and curry like rajma, kadhi, chicken curry, palak tofu (instead of palak paneer) or shrimp masala. Some days I would also have quinoa and stir fry vegetables. Most importantly I would be careful about my portion sizes. Eating salads before my meal helped me to reduce my chappathi intake from 3 to 2. If I had to eat out with friends or colleagues I would choose health conscious restuarants that publish the calories values of their meals like Panera breads, Denny's etc.

  The next important thing that you need to do is excercise. In our busy lives it is really hard to find time to excercise. But when we develop an excercise routine that we really enjoy we try to arrange things around it to make it happen. This is how I made it happen in my life. So find an excercise routine that you enjoy. This might be a bollywood dance class, zumba class, hiking, swimming or working out with a personal trainer. I have written enough about the importance of strength training and developing a strong core. More importantly keep changing the routine, so that your body constantly comes out of your comfort zone and sheds pounds. Don't just do the same set of excercises or physical activity over and over again. You need to cross train for maximum results.

  I try to workout 3-4 times a week. I hired a personal trainer with whom I train 1-2 times a week. Personal training is an expensive affair but when you hit a plateau and your desperate to shed some pounds, personal training is a worthy investment. My trainer is awesome. She helped me in correcting my form in several excercise routines. She gave me written logs of all my exercise routines so I could practice them on days when I was not training with her. My personal trainer would also constantly change my routine so that my body never got accustomed to a set of excercises. This ensured I was never in a comfort zone. On days when I was not training with my trainer I did the Less Mills strength training class twice a week in my gym. If I could find more time I used to go hiking, swimming or biking with my family. But most weeks I could only workout 3 times a week and that was just good enough. There were many weeks when I did not lose pounds but I lost inches. Working out helped me build lean muscle. Plus excercise is a natural mood booster. After an intense workout the endorphin rush made me come back again and again.
 
   I hope my blog encourages you to stick to  your health goals in 2015. Make a committment to yourself that you will be a healthier person. Good health is a precious gift. As the years roll by you will be grateful that you invested in your health early on in life. Find like minded friends and find workout routines that you enjoy. As you become leaner and toner, your self esteem and confidence will improve tremendrously. Good luck and best wishes !! Have a Happy, prosperous and healthy New Year !!

Why you need a Strong Core ?

In our fitness journey we are often so obsessed about just losing weight that we forget to focus on strengthening important muscle groups like the core muscle group. Many people mistake the abdominals for the core and have the misconception that a few crunches would  help in gaining washboard abs. Core training is much more than just doing abdominal crunches. 

The core muscle groups consists of the following muscles in the front:

• The External  obliques which run diagonally from the ribs to the pubic bone. They provide power for upper-body rotation;
• The Internal obliques which connect your lower ribs to the pelvic iliac crest. They aid rotation and twisting, but their primary role is stabilising your core and spine;
• The Rectus abdominis which is the flat band of muscle that stretches from your sternum to pelvis, aka.  “the 6 pack muscles” or “washboard”;
• The Transverse abdominis which is the strip of muscle stretching from lumbar region to pubic bone, nicknamed as “TVA” or deep abs.

The posterior side of our core is our back which comprises of the following important muscle groups.

• The Erector Spinae, aka “ the lower back” – it is not just one muscle, but a bundle of muscles and tendons. It is paired and runs more or less vertically. It extends throughout the lumbar, thoracic and cervical regions, and lies in the groove to the side of the vertebral column. It functions to straighten the back and rotate it to one side or the other;
• The Glutes which is the muscles inside your butt.

There are several benefits of core training besides developing flat washboard abs. Core training improves overall athletic performance, posture and balance. The core muscles are the sturdy central link connecting the upper and lower body muscles Whether you’re hitting a tennis ball or mopping the floor, the necessary motions either originate in your core, or move through it. Therefore weak or inflexible core muscles can impair how well your arms and legs can function.  Properly building up your core cranks up the power. A strong core also enhances balance and stability. Thus, it can help prevent falls and injuries during sports or other activities. Core training also reduces and prevents back pain. 

So how do you go about building core strength.  If you like to workout on your own then add then start doing a few receptions of the following exercises. 

1) Front Plank

2) Side Plank

3) Bridges

4) Front Abdominal crunches

5) Side Abdominal crunches aka Bicycles

6) Mountain climbers

You can google the internet for complete core training routines. I found a lot of useful material available online. You can also design your own fitness routines by using Fitness apps like Fitness Buddy, Abs, Ab Workout, Instant Abs and Full Fitness. 

You may have known by now that I am a huge fan of Less Mills fitness classes. Less Mills is a company from New Zealand that designs various kinds of fitness classes. These classes have specific routines and choreography. The music tracks and routines are changed on a regular basis. Fitness instructors undergo specific training to become Less Mills certified instructors. The Less Mills classes are offered by several gyms under the Less Mills banner. I have tried several Less Mills class and my favorite and most challenging class has been the CXWorks class. It is a 30 minute class that focusses on working out the core muscle group. Don't let the video scare you. It is a tough class but the instructors also do offer options for all fitness levels. After I started taking the class and regularly doing core workout my strength and balance improved tremendously. Do check it out !!

Think in terms of inches not pounds !!!

  Fed up that I was not losing weight as fast as I could, I started skipping dinner and limiting my calorie intake as much as I could. I was actively doing strength training so my metabolic rate was high. I kept feeling hungry all the time and I just kept telling myself "Burn the fat, burn the fat". Pretty soon I was 10 lbs lighter :-) I was so proud of myself. But the bubble got popped when my personal trainer took my measurements again. My trainer was surprised with the results. I had lost 6 lbs but my body fat percentage had increased significantly. She was so surprised that she did the measurements twice. But the results were the same each time. She told me I had burnt up the muscle mass that I had built very quickly.  My trainer had always told me about the importance of feeding the body just enough calories and eating as clean as possible so that it can continuing burning fat and building muscle. I confessed to her that I had been skipping meals when possible. This explained the muscle loss and body fat percentage gain. I was putting my body on starvation mode.

	Weight	Total Inch Loss	Body Fat %
6/14/2014	146 lb		22.9
7/16/2014	145 lb	Lost 8 inches	19.8
8/25/2014	139 lb	0 inches	27

In spite of my hard work the reason I had not been losing much weight in mid july was because I had gained muscle mass. I had lost inches but not pounds. I got frustrated because the bathroom scale was not tipping in my favor. So when possible I would skip dinner and have a light breakfast. This was effectively putting my body in starvation mode. When the body goes in starvation mode it will burn up the energy that it can use up most easily which is the glycogen stored in the muscle. As a result gradually the muscle mass also dissappears. The body tries to increase the fat reserves because it is going into starvation mode !! That is why by late August I had lost weight but my body fat percentage had increased. The weight loss was not reflected in July because I had built my muscle mass and lowered my body fat percentage. Remember lean muscle is much more denser than fat so it weighs much more than fat. Here is a visual comparison.

The most important take away lesson I learnt was to stop thinking in terms of pounds and start thinking in terms of inches. The goal is not just to lose weight but to be fit, healthy and strong !! On of my class mates in the Less Mills Body Pump class was a true inspiration. She was a Japanese grandma around 65 years. She did not have a single strand of black hair on her head and she would regularly do strength training 3X times a week. Believe it or not the Japanese super grandma would do bench presses with 40 lbs on the barbell during the Less Mills Body Pump class and I am almost half her age but I would struggle to do the chest track with just 25 lbs on my barbell. She was a living role model of good health and clean living. A true inspiration indeed !!

Start building muscle today !! Many women fear that strength training would cause them to bulk up. The truth is that women can't naturally grow massive muscles like men do, it would take heavy weights, hours of dedication, the right nutrition, even years to get lean muscle definition and you still wouldn't get bulky. Men have more testosterone than women, that’s why they can build more muscle than us, and still, men will have to work hard for a long period of time, and eat right to see the muscle gains they want and maintain it. So women don't be afraid of strength training !! I have seen some really strong women in the gym who are really lean and toned. 

There are several benefits of building muscle mass. The more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism. So this means you are burning more calories even while sleeping, as your body needs to use more calories to fuel your muscles, which helps you to burn more fat!  Resistance exercise can reduce bone deterioration and build bone mass, preventing osteoporosis. It has been proven to have a positive affect on insulin resistance, resting metabolism, blood pressure, body fat and gastrointestinal transit time, factors that are linked to illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. So don't just obsess about your weight loss goals and get into fad diets. Make fitness and healthy eating a lifestyle choice. Good luck !!

What happened after more cardio, more protein and less carbs ?

   This is a follow-up to my post :
http://www.fit-and-fitter.com/2014/06/more-cardio-more-protein-and-less-carbs.html

  So what happened after more cardio, more protein and less carbs ??  I am at 139 lbs, size 6 now. I have lost about 10 lbs since I started this journey. The weight loss has been extremely gradual. But most importantly it was not entirely  because of just more cardio, more protein and less carbs. I learned a lot of interesting lessons on the way. Allow me to fill you in with the details.

   I just got back from 2 week vacation to Alaska. One week cruise and a one week road trip. I don't know how many of you have been on a cruise. But OMG it is a food lovers paradise. Truly a culinary extravaganza !!! The meals are included in the cruise ticket. The food options are unlimited. You can choose from fine dining or buffet. Every meal is an culinary bonanza. Here are a sample of the desserts that were just served on just one meal. And for every meal for all the 7 days there were different kind of desserts. You can pick whatever you want, how many ever times you want. It is all included in the ticket price.

Oh boy, oh boy it was a feast !! I was drooling. This was 2nd cruise and I knew what to expect. I was dreaming about good food even before the start of my vacation. I anticipated a weight gain so for two weeks before my cruise I also skipped my dinner. When I was on the cruise for the first three days I sampled all the deserts I could. But then gradually I got sick of it. I started noticing the effect it was having on my body and my mood. Refined foods definitely cause an insulin spike. It made me feel dull and drowsy. Some of the ingredients in the desserts especially the sugar free ones were triggering migraines. Slowly the desserts started to sicken me.  End of day three, I was cured of my craving for desserts !! I did not even take a second look at them for the rest of the cruise. On day four, I started to crave my home cooked food and salads. I learned a very good lesson on the cruise. I realized how refined sugar sets inflammation, sugar spikes and migraines in the body. Now I don't even take a second look at desserts !!!

  After the cruise I gingerly checked my weight. Thankfully I  did not gain any weight from my vacation. I got sick of desserts and came down with a very bad cold and sinusitis. I exercised on the ship when I could. When possible I used the gym in the ship. It had the most beautiful view !! Imagine jogging on a treadmill looking at spectacular scenery through panoramic windows and catching the evening sunset as it fades in the horizon. Truly blissful experience !! Sadly very few people took advantage of it. While everybody was soaking in the top deck trying to gain a view of the glaciers. I was able to view the glaciers while jogging on the treadmill in the gym. The gym room was totally empty !! Here is the view of the glaciers from the treadmills in the gym.

Hudson glacier, Alaska

   To loss weight there is only one simple formula - you need to burn more calories then you consume. But when you workout a lot you get very hungry and eating the wrong choice of foods will completely reverse the effects. This is how I went from 140 lbs to 125 lbs and then back to 150 lbs. So how do you go about boosting your metabolic rate and lowering your calorific input. It is a tough balance.
   
     In my experience nothing boosts metabolic rate like strength training. During cardio you burn calories only during the cardio session but when you do strength training you burn calories even after the session. During the strength training routine your muscles develop micro tears. Your body needs a lot of calories to heal the injured muscles. This is what causes the metabolic boost. The process also makes the muscles much stronger and leaner. Muscles are metabolically more active. So the more lean muscle you build the higher your metabolic rate shoots up. Women often fear that they would bulk up or gain muscular definition if they do strength training. Trust me that is not going to happen for a long time. It is not easy to bulk up.  Some of my gym instructors are incredibly strong and lean. Start with a program like Less Mills Body Pump. If you don't want to start with a program like Less Mills. Try to develop your own routine. Make it a full body workout. There are lots of cheap apps that will instruct you on good strength training routines. Don't keep doing the same strength training routine over and over again. Keep modifying the routines. There are lot of good exercises you can do with just your own body weight. The more muscles you recruit during your workout the more effective will be the boost you see in the metabolic rate. As soon as I stop strength training for a few weeks, I have seen my metabolic rate also drop down. I feel less hungry. But the moment I restart the program it comes back with a vengeance.

   On the nutrition front I tried to reduce my carbs as much as I could. But I failed. On a few days my sugar level dipped down and it made me feel tired and fatigued. Having fruit juice or carbohydrate instantly made me feel better. I am not a dedicated meat eater. Eating meat at every meal made me feel sick. I am an Indian and for Indians meat has always been a luxury food item. I started filling my stomach with salads before I ate my main meal. That helped me reduce the serving of my main meal. I was careful about the salad dressings I would use. I would usually make a simple salad with sprouts.  I also started added whey protein, nuts and flax seed to my fruit smoothies. Whey protein is a milk based protein powder. So perfectly fine for vegetarians to use. I switched more to complex carbohydrates like sweet potato. I started adding sweet potatoes and tofu to my stir fry. Adding a small quantity of sweet potato to my stir fry made me feel fuller. Sweet potato is a complex carbohydrate, very rich in vitamin A and beta carotene. I would always have protein for my breakfast.   And the days I did not workout in the evening I ate a very light dinner, mostly a broth based soup like Indian beetroot rasam or vegetable soup. I try to have smaller frequently meals then larger, less frequent meals. I realized that this approach keeps my hunger in better control.  I also always carry a protein bar in my handbag. Whenever I am hungry I try to snack on my protein bar.

    Coming to the cardio part....I still do cardio. I would love to be a good runner. But unfortunately running always triggers migraines for me.  I have noticed that when I start running my heart rate really shoots up. I measured it with a chest strapped heart rate monitor. Continually working out at a higher heart sets off a migraine for me. So I do the elliptical in the gym. But more than cardio in the gym, I really love hiking, swimming and cycling outdoors. Swimming is an excellent, non impact, full body cardio. It feels so refreshing to take an early morning swim. I love to hike. Walking among the tall trees, taking in fresh mountain air and sometimes listening to the sound of falling water is so soothing. The giant trees have been silent witness to the world for many decades. Walking in their tall presence, listening to the sound of water dwarfs my life problems. I have found hiking to be a very humbling experience. During the hiking trail I realize that there are so many myriad life forms in this world and we are merely a speck in the giant universe. I try to use every opportunity to enjoy the outdoors with my family. Biking in Anchorage, hiking in Denali after gluttony on the cruise ship !!1 Here are some pictures of my adventures from Alaska.

Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, Anchorage, AK.

I have been losing weight slowly and steadily. It has not been an easy journey. A lot of fine tuning and planning has been needed. I lost a lot of weight but I ruined all my gains with bad food choices. I have evolved and matured. I am consciously making good dietary choices and trying to make it life style choice rather than a binge diet.
   

Recruiting your family to fight the bulge !!!

  You need to recruit your family to fight the battle against the bulge. All of us lead very busy lives and its impossible to cook separate meals for each and every one in the family. If we do not integrate healthy diet and regular exercise as a part of our lifestyle trust me our weight loss would only be temporary. I often hear young mothers saying, "I don't have time my kids are very young".  I have a young child and I understand the challenges. For a moment step back and observe how little toddlers play. They keep running around and doing the same repetitive movements to strengthen their muscles. Kids do all the exercises that we do in gym and much more !!! Monkey bars are the equivalent of pull ups, playing tag is the same as interval training, climbing up and down the steps is intense cardio..the list can go on !!! Nature has given us the intelligence to build and maintain healthy bodies. But we have wrecked it by our mindless habits. You need to reverse this by making conscious choices to integrate healthy diet and routine exercise in your daily lifestyle.

   In my experience you cannot be successful at this unless you recruit your family in this process. Fortunately my son is very active and my husband is quite athletic. But our interests always did not match and we had to work around it to make it a part of our routine. My husband loved sports but abhorred the gym. I was not good at sports so I was not very found of playing sports. Both me and my husband love hiking, but my son did not enjoy it as much. So finding the right combination was a challenge. Over the years I have figured out how to maneuver this situation. Playing with young kids can be a great workout. As a family we always try to play with my son and his friends. Trust me you can get a mix a good mix of cardio and strength training by playing with young kids. When you play kids you will have loads of opportunities to do interval training, steady state cardio and strength training. I posted some tips on how to workout with kids. I don't mind repeating the same information just to drill the point across.

1. Play tag with your kids. It is interval training right there.
2. Try to do leap frog races with your kids. Excellent for the thighs !! 
3. Carry your kid piggy back and try to do squats. It is strength training. I do it with my son. He is a good 50 lbs. It is a nice way to bond with your child too. If you have two kids even better !! Use the older one for squats and the younger one for bicep curls. The kids will love it !! The best part I love about doing strength training with kids is that after sometime the kids will run away. No strength training class will offer you this benefit..
4. I love to go hiking with my son. He rides on my back and goes on rambling on. On longer hikes I try to get one of his friend for company. 
5. Try super man with your kids. Very good for your core workout.
6. Kids love working out with a pilate ball. You can do a lot of effective exercises with a pilate ball.
7. Girls love to dance !! Why not try a Zumba video with your little princess. 

      In the end it was easy to recruit the little boy in my workout routines. I just had to be like him. It was a little more challenging to recruit the big boy aka my dear husband. Our interests did not match. He loved sports and I was not good at it. So we had to make compromises. My husband loved playing badminton, volley ball and soccer. He did not like gyms much and loved competitive sports. I changed my strategy. Sometimes I joined my husband and son in their soccer sessions. Couple of our friends formed a volley ball team and regularly played matches. It was a nice way to socialize and burn some calories. We joined a badminton club and played badminton regularly. In the process we also taught our son to play badminton. We tried find families and friends who loved hiking. We tried to hike regularly with a few other families. My son loved the company of kids on long hikes and I tried to make it like a nature walk for the kids. Constantly changing the routine made sure my body did not because accustomed to just one kind of activity. Our son inspired us to learn swimming. Both  me and my husband decided to take swimming classes and we are really happy about our decision. This is a life long skill. Swimming is an excellent full body, non-impact cardio.  My son feels encouraged to swim because he knows he is a better swimmer than his mom and dad. We try to go to the community pool when possible. 

    

 By and far by biggest victory is in making my husband toe along with me to all my Less Mills classes. One day on Mothers Day as I was leaving to go to the gym, my husband groaned that I spend more time in the gym then with the family. I shot back at him and told him "Why don't you come and spend some time with me in the gym". I got my husband a free 3 day pass and on Mother's day I made my husband try out his first Less Mills Body pump class. He grunted and groaned through the class. He felt intimidated that the woman were lifting much heavier than him in the class :-) The man's ego was triggered :-) After silently enduring body pain for 2-3 days, he told me he was impressed with the body pump class. He decided to join me for the next few sessions. And then I introduced him to Less Mills Body Combat, taught him a few other routines my personal trainer had taught me, went swimming with him in the gym and finally he became a gym rat like me :-) We still do a mix of indoor and outdoor sports but doing this as a family has made it much easier for us. During our family gym time, my son spend his time playing in the kids club. Luckily my gym, 24 hour fitness, has a nice kids club. It is economically priced and my son loves going to the kids club. So problem solved !!

   Enrolling your family in a good fitness routine is only part of the battle. Nutrition is an important aspect too. Now how do you go about getting them to eat healthy !! My family has picky eaters. My son can't handle spicy Indian food, I love spicy non vegetarian and my husband is a pure vegetarian. So in the limited time I have how do I ensure that everyone eats healthy !! I keep my home cooked meals simple, healthy and nutritious. Nothing fancy and elaborate. I plan ahead. Since my husband is a vegetarian he loves salads. I try to make salad everyday. So both of us have salads for lunch. Eating salad before my meal helps me keep my carb intake low. My son loves more of bland Americanized food, so I make both of us sandwiches for lunch. I have always encouraged to make my family eat whole grain carbohydrates. So whole wheat bread, quinoa and brown rice have become our staple diet. I make sure nobody skips breakfast. Starting the day with a good breakfast will jumpstart your metabolism. I usually cook steel cut oats for breakfast and add blueberries, almonds and honey to my oats. Of late I have also started feeding my family eggs for breakfast. Eggs are very rich in nutrients and if your cholesterol numbers are in check one egg yolk per day is permissible. I use ripe avocados as a spread on bread instead of jam, butter or cheese. I introduced avocados to my son when he was a toddler and today avocado sandwich is his comfort food. I usually bake fish fillets and chicken kabobs, so I don't have to spend time baby sitting it in the kitchen. Weekends are reserved for elaborate Indian curries and biryani. I am still fine tuning my cooking process. But in the end it boils down to some simple meal planning. You need to try and see what works and does not work for your family. So if you want to fight the bulge for good, recruit your family and make healthy life style choices. Crash diets will only lead to temporary weight loss. Make healthy eating and regular exercise a life style and you would not have to battle the bulge for long. 

 
   

What happens when I don't get enough carbs and protein ??

This is a followup of my blog post yesterday. I cannot emphasize enough about making good nutritional choices while exercising intensely. I am a living example of how the gains made by an intensive exercise program got completely negated by poor nutrition. Yesterday morning I started the day with egg and portobello mushroom curry. No carbs for breakfast. I did not feel hungry till 1 PM. Then I ate moong and moth sprout salad. By 3 PM I got hungry again. I just had a few protein bars at office so I went to the vending machine. Without a choice I got 2 lunchables loaded with preservatives and salt. The ham was so tasty, I ended up having two lunchables with a  few slices of cheese.

I was still hungry :-( So I had a GNC protein bar. Most of the protein bars taste yuck and this was the only bar I have liked so far. It is supposed to have 15 gm of protein and comparably less sugar.

Nope..Not good enough. Damn it..my body was demanding a full meal. I realized that as much sugar levels were dropping down I was craving more sugar. I came back home after battling an hour of sluggish traffic...all ready to eat a full meal. Luckily my mom had prepared quinoa and tofu curry. I tried to control my portion size. So ate as less as I could. Even after a cup of south indian coffee I did not feel great. Finally I gave into my craving and ate a 3 squares of cadbury's. Duhhh....Yes I know I violated my first rule...But instantly I felt better. The sugar in my blood had spiked.

As I was winding down to go to bed..I was still feeling hungry. My husband came into the room with a banana and I could not resist. I told him I will have half and ended up eating the whole banana. Though it was a healthier choice then sweets, bananas are also loaded with sugar. A correct serving is only 1/2 banana. My personal trainer had specifically told me to avoid carbs especially during dinner time. Her theory was that it gets stored right in the belly. 

When I initially started a high protein diet, I completely avoided rice and switched to quinoa. A couple of times I felt extremely tired. I realized right away that something was not right with me and talked to my doctor. A blood test revealed that on both the occasions my sugar was below the normal range of 70-90. It had dipped below 70 on both the occasions when I felt extremely tired. 

I was referred to an endocrinologist but fortunately cleared of any disorder. I asked her if it could be because of going on a high protein diet. She told me the body should still be able to use glycogen reserves and not dip down. She said she would have to test me further when I was in such a state. Fortunately I never have had low sugar again and I am doing okay so far. 

So how do I carry on an intensive exercise program, reduce my calorific intake and still feel good. I brainstormed and came up with some guidelines. I don't know how successful I will be. But I will find out in a few weeks:

1. Salads are not enough for lunch. I do need a little bit of carbs and sufficient protein. This will help in preventing the onset of sugar craving. Carbs remain our primary source of energy. Stabilizing the blood sugar is very important in feeling energetic and not succumbing to any cravings throughout the day. 
2. Starting the day with enough protein is extremely important. I started the day yesterday with an egg and this kept me full till lunch. But  I messed up my lunch so I ended up craving carbs.
3. I need to have an array of healthy snacks handy. Here are the choices I came up with. 
1. bananas. 1/2 banana would be a good source of potassium. Yes they are rich in sugar but it should be okay. 
2. apple and peanut butter. Peanut butter is high in protein and apples have negative calories. Meaning they provide lesser calories than the calories that are needed to digest
3. Deli meat free of preservatives. For vegas tofurky is an option. 
4. Chaas : Chaas is very filling and cooling for summer. I usually blend together a little bit greek yogurt, mint, coriander, jeera and salt. Trust me it feels so good to have this. I find it so much better than the sugary, greek yogurt cups available in grocery stores. 

Any other suggestions are most welcome !!!! 

I woke up today and ran for 2 miles around Central Park in Fremont. I felt so good running around this beautiful lake, watching the sun rise and ducks quacking.  But after 25 minutes I start feeling the onset of a headache. My heart rate monitor showed that my heart rate had been sustained at 180. This is the maximum it should be for my age. I am still working on reducing this. Hopefully it should become better after a little more practice. I came back home famished. One egg, one slice of whole wheat bread, 3 slices of deli meat, 1/2 banana and a bowl of moth and moong sprouts and I am still hungry !!! I think it is the effect of the almost zero carb diet I had yesterday. I am going to keep stepping up my effort on the cardio program and fine tuning my diet. Let's see how effective it is at burning my fat reserves. I will keep you posted !!

  

More Cardio, More protein and less carbs.

Today morning I stepped on the weighing scale with great trepidation. I topped the scales at 146 lbs. Drat... I have been working hard the past one month and I have barely lost weight. I have heard people losing 4-5 lbs per week and after so much hard work I have lost only 4 lbs in a month. I felt demotivated. I need to burn some of my fat reserves. What am I doing wrong ? And where do I need to change ? Here is what I have decided to stick to for the next two weeks:

Nutrition:

1. Absolutely no sweet treats and fried savories. Yes oh yes...Good bye cake, chakilli, pizza, fried bhajji. I would eat clean during the entire week but when I meet friends and family over the weekend, I would end up eating something stupid and ruining all the hard work. Last weekend I was guilty of eating heavenly Bundt cake and delicious carrot halwa. 
2. Increase my protein intake. Yesterday I did not have enough protein for breakfast and I started looking for something else to eat mid-morning. Today I had an egg omelet with portobella mushroom and even after 3 1/2 hours I am still not hungry. So  will make sure I have enough protein for breakfast. 
3. Decrease my carb intake. I have almost stop eating rice and switched to qunioa. Qunioa is a very healthy grain. It is technically a nut. Among grains it has the highest protein content. It contains all the nine essential amino acids. It also has high fibre. Plus it contains magnesium, manganese, vitamin B2 and iron.
4. Salads : How can I forget salads ? Now I really hate the usual garden salad options. So finally I learned to make a salad I like.  This is usually what I have before I start filling my stomach with carbs. Moong and Moth Sprouts salad : Mix moong, moth sprouts, soaked almonds, kale, spinach, chard (mixed super greens from sprout), carrot, cucumber, blue berries and red grapes
5. Season with : Himalayan salt and Shan chaat masala
   Dressing: 1/2 orange and 1/2 lemon.

Exercise: 

1. Increase my cardio. I have been doing more of strength training. They say cardio is better for burning overall fat. Strength training does zoom up my resting metabolic rate but then I find it hard to reduce my calorie intake. So I am going to scale back a bit on the strength training and go up on the cardio. Mind you I am not giving up strength training but I am going to scale back a little. So what are my cardio options ? 

• Swimming - I joined a new swim class to perfect my swim strokes. I will be swimming for an hour every Saturday morning. I love swimming. It is an excellent, non-impact, whole body cardio. I got motivated to learn swimming when my son started his swim lessons. I started learning it about 1 1/2 years back and I think it is one of the best skills I gained. Probably after I finish a sweaty cardio session in the swim, I will jump in the pool to do a few laps and cool off. 
• Running - I have never been a good runner. I have a chest heart rate monitor and I noticed that my heart rate zooms up to 180-185 every time I try to run even at a very moderate speed of 5.5 miles. For my age 180 is the maximum it should go to. I will still do running for 20 minutes 2X a week. 
• Elliptical - It is a pretty good alternative to running. Non impact. 20 minutes of elliptical before my running session would warm me up enough. So 2x a week 20 minutes of running and 20 minutes of elliptical. And if time permits will cool off in the swimming pool and do a few laps. 
• Cycling - I love cycling outdoors. I have a hybrid bike. But I am yet to find a good biking trail. I like to bike around the lake in Fremont Central park. But the trail gets pretty crowded and its hard to bike there at a good speed. Until I find a good biking trail, it is suspended for now. 
• Less Mills Body Combat class - Now this is a great option. It is a martial based cardio class by Less Mills. If you are ever mad at somebody this is an excellent class to go to. At the end of the class you would have dissipated your anger and burnt more than 600 calories. You can get more info at http://w3.lesmills.com/sweden/en/classes/bodycombat/about-bodycombat/. Here is Body Combat sizzler. I really love this class. 

Less Mills Body Attack Class - Another great Aerobic class. It is a sports inspired cardio workout routine. It focusses more on plyometrics and interval training. Here is the sizzler.

• Hiking - Wish I had the time for it. I used to hike Mission peak regularly but I do not like it anymore. It has a steep uphill ascent and a steep downhill descent. The downhill descent really hurts my knees big time. I want to hike Berry creek trail in Big Basin national park. It is one of the most beautiful trails in Bay area. It is a 12 mile loop with three unique water falls en route. There is nothing more tranquil then hiking through the giant redwoods listening to the sound of falling water. Maybe I will go there next weekend before all the water dries up. Probably make it a family picnic. Here are some pics from my last hike to Berry creek trail. I really loved the trail !! 

I will keep you posted on how much the increase cardio makes a difference to my weight loss journey. I am sure I can lose more pounds if I start a cleansing diet or fast. But I don't think it can support my correct activity level. And hey the goal is not just to shed pounds but to get fit and fitter !!!!