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 !!
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 !!
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