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 !!!!