Post Pregnancy Weight Loss - 1

As an overweight person one of my concern during pregnancy was to get back my pre pregnancy weight. At 84 kilos, 70 kilo sounded like sweet heaven to my years but it also looked like a distant dream. I felt so bloated and huge that getting back in my jeans seemed impossible.

There is a very beautiful thought in Buddhism "In the world of prayers nothing is impossible, nothing is unachievable, so pray. BUT prayer alone does not do anything, with your prayer take some action(how ever small) towards your goal". SO I did pray for my weight loss and I took (no matter how small) steps towards my weight loss.

1. Reading weight loss articles - We all do that but the question is how many of us follow the advise. There were two suggestions that touched a chord with me. One said that its possible for a woman to lose up to 75% of pregnancy weight within 3 months of delivery just by eating healthy (you can read it here) and the second said "remember the feast is over the day your child is born." These two thoughts were pasted in my mind and they did help me to carve my own path to weight loss.

2. Starting With the obvious - During pregnancy I did eat high calorie food that I carved for, so the first step was saying no to obvious high calorie foods. I used to love eating vada pav and chole bhature and my weekends were reserved for craving indulgence, so step 1 was to stop indulging in such kind of foods.

For two months I avoided eating out. I was not allowed to exercise for 2 months so to get in the weight loss I had to concentrate on my diet. Whenever I want to get in the weight loss with less exercise this is what I do and it always works for me. Once I get in the weight loss I do allow myself to eat out once a week.

3. Post pregnancy traditional food - My friends, my family and everyone around me wanted me to eat ghee and panjeeri(made from lots of ghee, sugar and dry fruits). This was like coming face to face with my nightmare. There I was all prepared to lose weight and there they were all prepared to tempt me with the most delicious fattening foods in the world.

I called up my aunt(who is a gynecologist), she told me that it is not necessary to have lots of ghee. She suggested 3 natural lactation agents 1)Broken Wheat(daliya), 2) Milk and 3) Papaya. She also suggested that instead of having dry fruits in ladoos or panjeeri, I can have a handful of almonds.

I always knew that lot of ghee is not required after birth and it was a relief getting it confirmed from a doctor. I never gave up ghee, I have always eaten it in small/moderate quantity BUT I was against the idea of consuming it in large amounts.

Quick Panjeeri Recipe From my MIL - I point blank refused to eat sugar and ghee, so my MIL came up with a very innovative Panjeeri recipe. She roasted all the dry fruits in microwave (instead of frying them in ghee). She used equal amounts of wheat barn and semolina (roasted them in small amount of ghee). Added all the traditional spices, very less sugar and grounded dry fruits. She made Panjeeri in 1/4th amount of ghee and sugar.

Quick Tip from my aunt - Ghee is required to bind the ladoos so instead of binding them keep the mixture loose. Sugar is added to make the ladoos taste good, so decrease the amount of sugar.

I did have my Panjeeri for first 40 days but only 2 table spoon as a small mini meal.

4. Post Pregnancy Cravings- I thought cravings were only for pregnancy but I was hit by major cravings post pregnancy.

One visualization trick I learnt long back was to imagine eating yourself healthy food. For example, when you go out and you start thinking "I am going to have pizza for dinner today", 90% of chances are you will have a major urge to eat the pizza and you will have it.

Instead it was suggested to start thinking of having something healthy (idli instead of pizza) and the urge to eat will be shifted to idli instead of pizza. I had tried it during my weight loss period and it did worked for me. The best part about thinking tips is that you do not have to pay a dime to try them.

This time around I tried this trick again. I thought about eating lot of healthy stuff, planned my healthy meals and I did found myself having healthy cravings. I had a huge craving for avocado, bottle gourd(lauki) and eggs along with these good cravings I did develop vampire sweet tooth. As a rule if the craving is healthy I honor it and if it is unhealthy I dealt with it in the smartest way possible.

I am still trying to deal with my sweet tooth. A piece of jaggery after my meals seems to do the trick for me.

5. Post Pregnancy Diet for first 2 months- As I stubbornly said No to any high calorie food my MIL came up with really good nutritive recipes (which I will share shortly) of daliya khichadi and vegetable roties.

My sample(not exact) diet for first 2 months was

Breakfast - 5 soaked almonds, 1 veg/egg/avacado sandwich (made of two big size multi grain breads) with tea.

After 2 hours - 1 banana. 2 bananas a day are a must for me. One I have in morning and one in evening. I have never changed this habit of mine.

Lunch and dinner - 1 bowl vegetable daliya with lots of dhal, 1 green vegetable, bottle gourd raita and salad(made from boiled sprouts, grated carrot, cucumber and salad leaves)

I had severe craving for bottle gourd and for two months I ate bottle gourd raita with every single meal.

Evening - 1-2 Vegetable roti with tea.

I cannot drink milk to save my life, so it did not figure in my diet.

6. Dealing with Hunger pangs -Breastfeeding is always accompanied by hunger pangs, so its best to be prepared. I always opt for fruits, boiled sprout salad, jhal mudi (bengali style bhel) or dry fruits(within my daily limit). When the hunger strikes hard its very easy to lose control. Denying food during breast feeding was not an option for me so I simply opted for healthy food options.

7. Getting back to exercising- After 2 months I started with my elliptical but my stamina was zero. I could only manage to do the elliptical at resistance load 1 for 10 minutes. I felt exhausted after 10 minutes of my exercise. I did not push myself. My first week target was to do light exercise for 10 - 15 minutes. Only after 3 months I had enough stamina to do my cardio exercise for 30 - 45 minutes.

8. How did the weight come down - I weighed myself the day I came back from the hospital and I was 78 kilos at that time. I still felt pregnant with a huge belly. As I was very strict about my eating choices the weight started melting, also with time body gets rid of the excess water. I came down to 75 kilos in next 25 days. I cannot think of anything special that I did except for eating home made less oil food for 2 months straight. I was 72 kilos at the end of 2 months.

72 kilos stayed with me for sometime and it was very difficult to break that plateau. Once I completed 3 months I increased the time and intensity of my cardio exercise which got my weight down to 69 kilos by the end of 4 months.

9. Yes breastfeeding does leads to weight loss - Before my pregnancy I always used to read about how calorie consuming breastfeeding is. I agree to this point now. I did not do anything special for my weight loss. I only opted for healthy food combined with some exercise (only after 2 months), so breastfeeding did played a major role in my weight loss.

A woman does burn calories while breastfeeding, the only problem is that burning calories leads to hunger and if you are not careful with your calorie intake you can end up gaining weight instead of losing it.

10. What will happen to the baby if you don't eat fats - Your baby will be healthy and fine. I fail to see any nutritive value in ghee laden parathas and sweets. Don't let aunties and relatives tell you about the health of your child. Your pediatrician knows best so consult him.

Where I stay my baby is due for a complete medical checkup every 2 months, where they monitor his height and weight and he is in the healthy range.

11. Where do I stand now with my weight,exercise and diet - Now my weight is between 68-69 kilos. Right now my aim is to try to lose 500gms/1kilo a month(I am in no hurry).

I can no longer eat lot of food instead I keep eating small amounts every two hours.

Break Fast - Same as before. Sandwiches on most days.

2 -3 hours after BF - 1 banana

Lunch - 1 big roti with sabji, raita and salad. I would love to include lot of things here but I get time to cook only this.

Evening at 5 pm - 2 rusk with tea.

7pm - Handful of dry fruits with apple/banana.

Dinner- 1 big roti with lentil/beans or any protein, raita and salad..

If I am hungry in between meals then I opt for fruits most of the time. I eat rice only on weekends. I try to make daliya(broken wheat) whenever possible.

My diet and hunger levels changed past one month. Though I eat only 1 roti/chapathi, my roties are made with different grains,seeds and grated vegetables which makes 1 roti quiet heavy.

As for my exercise I try to manage 5 days a week but sometimes its not possible. I alternate my workout between elliptical and treadmill(on alternate days). I have also started jogging on a very slow speed on the treadmill.

As always with my weight loss once I achieve my set goal I give myself some easy space till I set myself a next target. I was very strict about eating outside, now I do have outside food once a week(can no longer avoid it)

Continue Reading

Post Pregnancy Weight Loss - 2

Few Suggestions and Recipes from my side

1. Listen to your hunger - If you are really hungry then you will eat a simple meal of roti and sabji, if you find yourself wanting to eat only fried food then its not hunger.

2. Nutritive meals - Make your meals as nutritive as possible with small or moderate amounts of fat.

3. Quick Meals - Keep easy quick meals in your fridge. I always have sprouts which I steam in microwave. It just takes 5 minutes. I can then prepare sprouts sabji, add them to my bhel or just have them with lemon and cucumber. They are healthy and take care of hunger very well.

4. Easy Tiffins - I used to carry paneer-peas stuffed grilled parathas whenever I was out shopping. As a new mom my body did demand food and if I did not carry a tiffin with me I always ended up eating lot of junk food. Stuffed parathas are easy to prepare and are mess free.

5. Vegetable daliya khichadi - This always works for weight loss and is very healthy too.

Ingredients

A) 2 tablespoon daliya/broken wheat + 2 tablepoon split green mung dhal.

B) 1 tsp ajwain/carom seeds.

C)1 tsp til seeds

D) Grated ginger

E) Finely chopped carrot and french beans (or any vegetable of your choice).

D) Salt to taste

Procedure - Pressure cook all ingredients with water to make khichadi. Consistency should not be very thick or runny.

I used to eat 1 big bowl of this khichadi with my sabji, dhal, raita and salad. Khichadi was just a replacement of roti. It really fills the stomach.

6. Vegetable roties

A) 1 cup wheat flour

B) 1/2 tsp ajwain/carom seeds.

C)1 tsp til seeds.

D) 1- 2 tablespoon finely chopped coriander.

E) 2 tsp grated ginger (you can add more if you like)

F) 1 grated carrot (or 1 cup grated cabbage)

G) Salt (optional)

Procedure

Make a soft dough using milk if possible and make roties.

These roties are extremely flavorful. You can have them with your meals or enjoy them with your tea in evening.













7) Multi seeds roti - I have now started adding flax seeds, onion seeds and til seeds in my plain roti flour. They are nutritive and add flavor to a simple humble roti.

8)Multi grain roti - These roties are not very soft, they are chewy and I like them this way. You can mix and match bajra, jawar, sattu, soya, ragi flour. I also add oats to make roti flour.

9) Salad works - I was not a salad person before but now they are a must have in my meals. I cannot have salad before meals, I like to eat it between my meals along with my roti and sabji.

10) Lovely Thalis - A bought myself a big thali with separate sections. The idea is to fill it up to have a complete meal and its easier to wash too.

The first two thali have stuffed raw papaya roties and the third one has a multi seed roti.

11) Planning- We all know that if we fail to plan then we plan to fail. Its very important to have a road map. You know what are your boundaries, your constraints and your priorities, so plan within your limits to achieve your goal. Just running head first towards weight loss will not achieve anything, so plan your diet and exercise according to your taste and convenience.

 I have jotted down everything that I can think of right now that worked towards my post pregnancy weight loss. Please remember, that I am not an expert and my diet is based on what I am comfortable with. The diets mentioned in the post are sample diets i.e the things that I remember eating, I tend to eat every 2 hours (it can be a cucumber or a carrot or a fruit), I eat alot but I stick to healthier options.

Remember, the weight loss journey as always will be very frustrating and extremely disappointing but it will make you do things that you would have never done, it will teach you not accept things you do not like, it will force you not to bow down before things that you do not want. It will make you look beyond yourself to see what you are made of and to achieve what you always wanted to be.

The Game of Healthy Weight Gain

I was on a happy vacation when I discovered I was pregnant. I started on a very shaky ground when I also discovered that I was 5 kilos over my lowest weight (which was 65 kilos).There I was standing on the weighing machine, staring at the number 70, the ground underneath me not only shook but also moved is an understatement.

The below picture is NOT taken during my pregnancy. This photo is taken around 2008 when I was 86 kilos and growing.This picture was a reminder of what I have been fighting all along and what can I become if I am not careful about my pregnancy weight gain. What I was, what I am and what I can be were the three questions I always kept in mind.


I embarked on the journey of my life time where my aim was NOT to lose But to gain weight.

My pregnancy journey in short.

First Trimester - There was nothing much I could do in this period. I was not allowed to exercise. I felt terrible nausea and was on bed for sometime due to vomiting. All I could manage to eat was bread and butter and I lost few pounds.

Second Trimester - Sunshine returned in this trimester. I felt hungry, I liked few foods and I returned to my senses. On an average I was supposed to eat 300 calories above my normal intake. I invested my time in eating home cooked healthy and nutritive meals and I returned to my 30-45 minutes exercise routine. I followed the rule of eating at home during the week and indulging my craving on weekend. By the end of this trimester I gained 6 kilos. I weighed 76 kilos.

Third Trimester - In my 7th month I experienced hunger as I never experienced it before. I was hungry most of the time. I ate and ate and ate. The only rule to eating policy was to eat at home and not eat free calories like biscuits, chips, ice creams instead I ate mutltigrain roties, sprout bhel etc. I gained most of my weight during my third trimester, towards the end I was 84 kilos. A gain of 14 kilos was considered healthy by my doctor.

Diet that I followed : I am a very lazy creature and I tend to eat any thing that is easily made and quickly consumed. I kept my meals as simple as possible.

Breakfast-  5 soaked almonds were must. My breakfast was usually veg/egg sandwich with a big cup of tea. I did craved for Sago/Sabudana so I used to make microwavable sabudana khichadi which consumes less oil. If I felt like eating poha or upma, I added lots of veggies to it.

After 2 hours- Apple or a banana

Lunch - 2 roties with sabji and raita. It was a conscious decision on my side not to eat rice every day. I kept rice for the craving days.

Evening - Handful of walnuts with tea. Depending on my hunger I would either opt for a multigrain roti OR sprout bhel with green chutney.

Dinner- Same as lunch

I ate nutritive filling meals and there was nothing very fancy about it. Simple rule, eat whatever you want but make sure to eat low calorie version.

I chalked out few rules for myself which I followed to the T in my pregnancy.

1. Better to be Silly than sorry - I always consulted my doctor regarding my doubts which included my questions about weight and exercise. Keeping your doctor in loop is not only good its common sense. No question is too small NO doubt is too silly.

2. Diet Busters- Most people advised me "Not to Diet" during pregnancy. I really don't understand what does NOT to diet stands for. When I lost weight I ate healthy and never stayed hungry and I refuse to call this lifestyle as dieting. During my pregnancy my rule was to eat healthy food. When hungry I could have easily opted for a samosa, burger, french fries BUT I chose to eat roti-sabji, fruits and eggs, which are not only filling but are also healthier.

I have seen people (and I am sure most of us have) who eat tub of ice creams, chips, loads of fat just because they are pregnant. There is nothing wrong in indulging yourself but with my weight issues I just could not afford to be a part of frequent indulging philosophy.

3. Call of the carvings - I wanted to enjoy my pregnancy by eating all the sin food BUT I also wanted to be in the healthy weight range. So I made a rule. Week days were strict home cooked meal days and cravings were to be addressed on weekend. I made a list of my cravings and every week I enjoyed one craving guilt free.

I felt like eating vada pav every single day, had I done that I would have easily crossed my weight limit, instead I ate it on weekend. I never for once felt deprived during my pregnancy, if craving is there then it will be fulfilled on weekend. The guilt free craving encounter kept me motivated to eat as healthy as possible during the week. Just because I was pregnant did not mean that I had a "all that I can eat" free pass.

4. Late Night Tiffins - My hunger level started to rise during my second trimester.
As my late night hunger pangs started, I used to quickly go and have a big tomato cheese sandwich. After few days I realized that I cannot do this on daily basis, so I came up with late night tiffins. I kept a box of roti-sabji, litti,vermacili ready in the fridge. As long as it was tasty I was happy to eat it at night.




My night time tiffins helped me to avoid instant 2 minutes noodles, chips, biscuits, namkeen, cheese and bread and what not.

5. Exercise- My habit to exercise before pregnancy helped me to stay active during my pregnancy. It was a personal decision, which was made solely on my research, to pack my bag and go to gym. Throughout my second trimester I did treadmill and elliptical at low speed. I did 30 -45 minutes of cardio workout.

The reason I opted for treadmill was that I felt( and it is solely my opinion) that treadmill provides a smooth walking space, there are no sudden jerks and surprises. Elliptical and treadmill both are considered pregnancy safe.

While exercising I was super conscious about my body indications. I did not let my body dehydrate and over heat. I never once pushed myself, if I felt tired I would immediately stop exercising.

I was asked to stop exercising after my 7th month which I did but I was active doing my house work and doing shopping for the baby.

6. Knowledge - It always helps to understand things. We live in an era of easy knowledge and I see no harm in making use of this knowledge. I read as much as possible about healthy weight gain and exercise during pregnancy. All the articles and books that I read helped me to shape my path. Knowledge is the most powerful tool that we can use in our weight loss journey.

7. De bunking the myths - I have seen people eating junk in the name of pregnancy. One common belief is to eat whatever you feel like, I did that too BUT I also kept a tab on the frequency of such treats.

During my last days of pregnancy, there were suggestions to drink ghee with milk, so that the baby comes out easily. The thought of such deadly combination and the amount of fat it will accumulate was horrifying. I am fortunate enough to have an aunt( who is a gynecologist), she told me that the place where the baby comes out and the place where ghee and milk are digested are different. There is no connection between loads of ghee and easy baby.

Some suggested that keeping brick of ice cream in the fridge is a sure shot cure for acidity, I agree but it is also a sure shot way to gain fat.

I stayed clear from such myths, in case of any doubt I consulted my doctor(and my aunt).

As a simple rule, where my weight and diet during pregnancy was considered I did not listen to anyone except my doctor.

8. Maternity Clothes - I refused to buy clothes tagged as Maternity. My fear was that because these clothes are so comfortable I might keep wearing them.

I opted for large size clothes. I bought really few of these dresses because there was no way I was going to keep them after my pregnancy.

Just after my delivery I could not fit back in my old clothes and I just had handful of dresses to wear outside. I refused to make any new purchases for my new big size. Wearing few clothes over and over again was just my way of reminding myself of what I was trying to change, what will happen if I did not work towards my vision and what awaits for me if I work a little hard to chase my dream.

I never had a pregnancy wardrobe(apart from extremely few large size clothes) and I do not have a post pregnancy wardrobe as I fit right back in my old dresses.
The best part about healthy pregnancy weight is that you lose almost half the amount right after delivery and with little effort you can lose the remaining.

Remember, when you are dealt the cards you don't like then the only way to play the game is to give your very best shot and to play as if you can never lose.

You might also like to read - The Last Laugh

The Last Laugh

Once upon a time when I was a little fat girl, me and my cousins got involved in a tug fight. My cousins were pulling and forcing me to stand on the weighing machine at the railway station And I with all my strength was trying to run away. In the end I gave up and took the challenge to stand on the machine,braced myself for the coming attack. I was fattest of them all and everyone wanted to laugh at my weight. When the weight slip came out of the machine there was a pin drop silence from my cousins, curiously I took a look and burst out laughing. The machine just showed 20 kilos ( which I definitely was not). I kept laughing and dancing in front of them for a very long time. For all these years this incident stayed with me because it taught me the power of the last laugh.

When I got pregnant, most people told me that with a tendency to gain weight, 20 - 25 kilos of weight gain is normal. I should not expect this weight to go easily, in fact it will be very tough for me to lose weight after delivery because hunger levels do increase while breastfeeding. Every time when someone commented on the impending weight gain and how I won't be in a position to lose it, the railway weight machine incident flashed in front of my eyes.

During my pregnancy I gained 14 kilos and 4 months after the delivery I managed to lose all the weight plus an additional kilo as well (in total 15 kilos). When I stood on the scale one 31st December I just could not stop myself remembering my day at the railway station, just could not stop myself from laughing out loud.

Somewhere in my life I discovered that its not others who decide my fate, its just me alone who calls the shots and decide my destiny.

The one who laughs last, laughs loudest and longest because she knows that no one can take hard work away from her and hard work is the only thing in life that always always pay.
Just after the delivery




Wearing my old jeans felt like a distant dream

 

Finally the Jeans are back on.


Remember, when underestimate your strength then you and me we both know, who will be laughing in the end.

A very happy new year to all of you. This new year don't forget to chase your dreams.

PS: And yes I am back to blogging.

A Pause

Couple of months back I discovered that a small tiny creature is growing inside me.

Few days back I came face to face with the one who resided inside me for 9 months. I came face to face with the boy I instantly fell in love with. When I held him in my arms and I looked into his eyes, I felt as if the whole universe has stopped, nothing mattered more than the two beautiful eyes that stared right back at me.

I am pausing this blog for few days but I will soon return with stories about my pregnancy and my struggle to lose weight yet again.

How will this fatchic Mumma lose weight again is the question yet to be answered.

Introducing Baby P to the whole new world.

The Roti Maker

One of the most important aspect of sustainable weight loss is to concentrate on diet i.e to cook tasty low calorie food. As we all know that life is not always very rosy and once the honeymoon weight loss period is over a sudden realization, that you are spending most your time cooking food,hits home hard.
Common sense told me that I should reduce my intake of simple carbs and move to healthy complex carbs. In past I used to take rice for my lunch to office because it was easier to cook. With roti not only I had to knead the darn dough but also have to roll it, wait for the pan to get hot,make it and finally wash the utensils as well. Its next to impossible for me to make roties in morning, I am really lazy at that time of the day to do anything except eating my breakfast.

I came up with methods like preparing roties for a week and then reheating them in microwave which I still agree is a good way if you have less time on your hands. I prepared my husband's lunch box at night(with sabji and roti and all). I continued doing it for a long time but the charm of fresh hot roties always haunted me. Roties prepared in morning remain soft and fresh till lunch but the problem was that I hated rolling and making them at that time of the day.

Then one incident made me the proud owner of the magic cooking wand. I had called few people for dinner and right at the time of rolling out roties the gas cylinder gave up on me. I had no idea what to do with so many hungry guest waiting for dinner. Suddenly my friend told me not to worry, she asked her husband to get the roti maker from her house. I stood there and watched the magic work, we finished making steaming hot roties for 10 people in maximum of 5 minutes. I was super impressed with the result. The roties that we were making were the ones that we eat during fasting (Navratri time), if you have ever made these roties you will understand how cunning they are, how difficult it is to roll and cook them. On that day, at that time I made up my mind to purchase a roti maker.

Ever since I got my roti maker I have stopped making roties the traditional way. What I like most about this machine is the ease with which I can make different kind of parathas YES parathas with extremely less oil. The steam and the heat help the parathas to cook evenly and whatever little fat I apply on top gets evenly spread.

You can do lot of variations with roties, from simple milk roties to grated veggie stuffed roti, just let your imagination run wild. All you have to do is knead the dough, make the dough ball, press the damn machine and viola roti is prepared.

Points that impressed me about this machine

1. Quick preparation time. For my husband's tiffin I can make the roties in matter of 2 minutes and they stay soft till lunch.

2. No washing of utensils (thank god).

3. Variety of roties that I can make. Sometimes carrying a tiifin of roti and veggies is not possible, so instead of eating lunch at office canteen a healthier verison would be to take stuff parathas (wrapped in a foil) which can then be eaten with market bought curd.

Few of my preparations

1. Payaaz Paratha

 

2. Methi Paratha

3. Oil free thin Khakras

4. Multi Grain Roti

5. Lauki Thepla

 Now the big question - Will you lose weight if you buy a roti maker.

Ofcourse Not. Roti maker simply helps you to make variety of roties faster. If you have less time or the task of rolling out roties and waiting for the pan to get hot seems boring to you then give this machine a try.

How much does it cost - 1500 rupees (approx).

Which brand should you buy - Any brand which suits your budget and is durable.

Please read the Disclaimer

Disclaimer

The products reviewed under the review section are products that helped me in my weight loss journey or made it a little easier. I do not endorse or guarantee the products. They are just simple objects that helped me to save time when I was in a rush or gave me an alternative route to achieve my goal.

Weeks to Weight loss

Most part of my life I attempted to lose weight and with every attempt I failed, with every failure I got confused and I became sure of the fact that I will never lose weight.

After trying endlessly for many years there came a point where I gave up and accepted that I am fat and will be fat always. When you accept then you become what you accepted.

There were times when I wanted to attempt weight loss but had no idea how to start it and how to continue it with success. There were endless diets and suggestions flowing from everywhere, any random person thought it was a great idea to give me advise on losing weight. But the problem was I was not the person others wanted me to be neither was I the person who could give up food and stick to a strict diet. I was me, simply lazy, like it or hate it but that was who I was and I was not willing to change.

I did try following few diets and I gave them up in 1 - 2 days max, I could not bring myself to live a life where I had to give up a complete food group.

After long years of struggle, the most sensible thing that I did was to work my way to weight loss according to my likes and dislikes and my choices of food to eat and to stay away from. My life, my control and absolutely my call.

Lot of diets ask to say NO to dairy but I cannot imagine my day starting without tea, its not that I cannot give it up but more importantly I don't want to give it up. I was very firm of the fact that I am not going to give up food groups that I like, I have one life to live and I would like to enjoy it with food.

I did make adjustments and negotiations and opted for healthier versions of my favorite dishes. I finally found a way of life where I neither felt hungry nor deprived.

So if you are confused how to start your weight loss OR have given up on weight loss try these week by week pointers, they worked for me, may be they will work for you. Trying is free of cost and it won't hurt.

Week 1 - Detoxifying - I always cringed at the word detox diet because it meant giving up on most of the food that you eat and worse it might even suggest that you go on only fruits for a week. I never was good with any detox diet BUT I have my own version of detox diet and mind you its damn difficult as well.

In the detoxifying week you have to say NO to any kind of junk food. You will have to say No to biscuits, fried namkeen, fried food, chaats, outside restaurant food and of course sweets. What you get to eat is your home cooked meals, have your roties, daal, sabji, rice, bread sandwich. We all know the obvious culprits called as junk food, just say NO to them.

Sounds simple, its not. There will be always that one biscuit that you will end up eating OR a handful of namkeen that you will be tempted to eat OR a piece of cake from someone from office OR a big weekend party.

Staying away from high calorie food is a very difficult task because even if we want to stay away we are surrounded by a society which will hunt us down and make use eat what want to avoid.

How do you prepare for the week - Most of the time we are aware of the life schedules. For example I always know there will be some party on its way every alternate weekend. So its best to prepare yourself in advance. Don't store junk food in your house, give that piece of cake to someone else and if there is a party eat dinner at home and keep drinking lots of water at the party, so that your stomach is full and you are not tempted to eat the food. During the party nibble on small amounts.

Think about it, most diets ask you to give up food that is part of your daily basic diet, here you get to eat your home cooked food, all you have to do is stay away from the food that even you know is bad for you and your weight loss.

If you slip - Its ok just don't repeat your mistake and continue with your plan.

Weigh yourself at the end of this week. Depending on how much junk food you used to eat you will see the changes in your weight. Even if there is no change, your body will get over the addiction of eating that
"something fried and yummy ". This week will teach you how much you are addicted to junk.

Mantra of the Week - Eat Healthy.

Week 2 - Starting the diet - I met someone recently who told me that her diet and appetite is not much BUT she is unable to lose any weight. I know this person and I know she eats normal portion size but still weight gain was there. She went to the kitchen to prepare some yummy upma for me and herself. When I went inside the kitchen I could see the onions and potatoes being nicely fried, I took the cooking utensil and drained the remaining oil in a separate katori, to my horror there was half katori of oil in that upma for just 2 of us. And thats where the culprit hid, her sabji, her breakfast are all drenched with oil.

1 tsp oil is 120 calories, imagine how much calories she was adding to her meals.

So be aware of your oil. I make my dishes in less oil, there is no pouring of oil instead I measure and use 2 tsp. Food does taste good with less oil, all you have to do is give less oil cooking a chance.

Also in this week you will have to give chance to Salads, Soups and healthy Raitas. When I say soup I mean a big bowl of any lentil. Get creative with your plate and try to eat as healthy as possible.

This week get introduce to the concept of bulking. Salads and soups bulk up your meals and you feel full with less amount and less calorie food.

Start with smart switches, for example its a known fact that rice does lead to weight gain So if you are fond of eating rice, start with alternate day plan of having rice one day and roties the next day and don't forget to bulk up your plate with salad and soup bowl.

Mantra of the Week - Beware of Oil and bulk up your food.

Week 3 - Opting for smart carbs - Vegetarians do tend to eat more of carbs and I don't see it going away from my diet. The best way to cut down on carbs is to make smart choices like, opting for multi grain roties and opting for daliya instead of rice.

There are few typical dishes like daal, rajma, chole which I love to eat with rice. I decided to follow once a week rice schedule in my house. So I ate all those dishes with daliya (broken/cracked wheat), I liked the taste. Once my sister saw my strange combination of daliya with one of my favorite dishes and she asked "How does it taste?? How can you eat this". I told her to taste and see herself and she ended up liking the taste.

 Most of the time we don't try because in our head we convince ourselves that certain food combinations will only work. So get adventurous, think about it, if you start liking daliya, rice threat will be over for life.

Week 4 - The cut down - Portion size does play a role in weight loss and this week you should train yourself to eat smaller meals. I eat smaller lunch and people comment "How can you eat so less?", the thing is I eat again in next 2-3 hours.

Try a lunch plate of 1 multigrain roti, sabji, daal and salad and you will certainly feel full. After 2-3 hours have a bowl of salad or fruits. By following smaller meals every 2-3 hours you will feel full and satisfied, there will be no breaking down at the sight of the food.

If you are making these changes in your lifestyle then you will for sure see difference in your weight. You can follow this plan to start your weight loss, once you see the scale moving down you can then think of other ways to get yourself going.

Its important to weigh yourself at the end of each week to understand your progress. Remember, you will not lose all the weight in just 4 weeks, this will just get you started.

Few hard facts of Weight loss

1. Exercise - Yes I know most people hate it but exercise is a must, not only for weight loss but for your health as well. Think of exercises that appeal to you, it can be dancing, swimming, yoga etc. If you cannot do anything then just go for a walk. Walking works wonders. If you cannot go outside for walking make use of your balcony or terrace. Take up something that you will stick to throughout your life.

Exercise is a best ME time, shut your worries, house, kids, husband out of your mind and just move out and dedicate 30 -60 minutes to your body and soul.

2. Cooking - The only downside of weight loss is cooking. I make quick meals but still I have to cook. If you have a cook then train her to make meals according to you else Google up quick low calorie meals. Depending upon how much you like cooking, you can devise a plan to invest the amount of time in kitchen.

3. Craving - Yes cravings will be there. When I started with weight loss I used to avoid any fried food at all cost. I used to tell myself, let me lose so and so amount of weight and then I will enjoy this without guilt. If I really craved for a samosa I would target 1kg weight loss and then would enjoy my craving in moderate amount guilt free.

Never take the kiss of death, that is, never say you are giving something for life. If you are fond of eating some junk food then instead of eating it every alternate day or week come up with a negotiation plan.

Negotiation plans always work, for example, losing 2 kilos and then enjoying dinner at your favorite restaurant. You might have read about negotiation plans in magazines and health books and the truth is THEY WORK.

4. Will I gain back the weight - Stop worrying about gaining the weight back and start losing the weight. I see so many people worrying about weight bouncing back even before they start weight loss. You cannot predict what you have not yet achieved, so stop worrying and start losing.

Leaving you with a short story - Once upon a time there was a little girl who had no friends and who always failed in her class. Once her grandmother came to her house and gave the little girl a magical necklace. She told the girl that whenever you want something, just hold the necklace and wish upon it. With the wish you need to have faith in yourself and you have to put in extra effort to make that wish come true. Without the faith and extra effort the magical necklace will not work.

The little girl was sad because no one came to her birthday party, with her birthday around the corner, she wished for lots of friends to come to her party. She started tirelessly making beautiful cards for her classmates and then went with her mother to invite her classmates. This was something she never did before.

Lots of girls turned up on her birthday party and the little girl was very happy. She understood that the magical necklace works for real all she has to do is have faith and put in an extra effort.

She then wished to come first in her class and started putting in extra hours in her studies, slowly she became the topper of her class.

When the little girl grew up she became a well known doctor and when someone asked her how she achieved success in such a young age she replied "I have a magical necklace which gives me everything I wish for, all I have to do is have faith and put in an extra effort in achieving what I desire."

All the little girls out there, you too have the magical necklace and it works with faith in yourself and an extra effort towards your goal.

 

You might also like to read - Starting Project Weight Loss

Oats Spring Rolls

We all know the nutritional benefits of oats and I am always looking for ways to add these beautiful white pearls to my diet. Unfortunately, I could never bring myself to eat gooey oats cooked with milk, I just don't like them cooked in the traditional way.

I came across this recipe in a magazine, it made use of mayonnaise and cheese. What got me interested in this recipe was the idea of wrapping saute vegetables in a thin oats crepe which did not look gooey at all.

The first time I made it I had all my doubts about the taste until I took the first bite. The oats crepe is like a simple dosa which can be enjoyed with any kind of chutney and if you are more adventurous then go ahead and experiment with stuffing it with fabulous veggies and paneer. I found it simply delicious and it passed the "Husband likes it" test too.
 

Ingredients

1. Finely chopped veggies.
2. 1 cup/katori oats powder, just grind oats in a grinder.


3. Tomato ketchup.
4. Soya Sauce (Optional).
5. 2 teaspoon oil.

Procedure.

1. Add water to oats powder, add salt and make a smooth thin batter. If you keep the batter for sometime it tends to become thick, so if you want thin crepes then you might need to add little water now and then to adjust the consistency.

2. Make think crepes using less oil. Cook them well on both side. When I pour the batter I add few drops of oil on top side and cover the pan for sometime. These crepes can be sticky so make sure to use a good non stick pan and flip them only when bottom side of the crepe is completely cooked.
 

 At this point you can simply enjoy these with a chutney.


3. In a pan saute the veggies in Chinese style i.e throw in ginger and fresh chopped veggies in 1 teaspoon oil and cook them on high flame. The veggies should be crisp and cooked, in the end add the salt and the sauces of your choice.
 

4. The drill to make a roll is simple. Apply tomato sauce  on the crepe and assemble the veggies and the firmly roll.
 


 5. Cut into diagonal pieces and serve.
 
The only downside of these spring rolls is that they are not firm so you have to be careful when you pick a piece, apart from that they are fabulous in taste and nutrition.

Its good to be a little messy sometimes.

Enjoy!!!

Broken Wheat (Daliya) Upma

I was searching for a power packed complex carbs breakfast which was traditional in taste like poha or upma and also went well with tea. My search lead me to this recipe.

We all know the benefits of broken wheat (daliya), combine it with some gorgeous looking veggies and cook it in the style of a upma and you have a delicious combination which makes a great dish. Ever since I made it for the first time I ended up making it regularly.

Ingredients

1. Finely chopped veggies of your choice. My choice you can see in the pic. French beans, small finely chopped potato, finely chopped onion, green chillies, green peas and finely chopped cabbage.



2. 1 katori/cup broken wheat/daliya

3. 1/2 tsp sugar.

4. 1/4 tsp turmeric.

5. 1/2 lemon.

6. Salt to taste

7. 1 tsp mustard seeds.

8. Curry leaves.

9. 2 tsp oil.

Procedure

1. Soak daliya for the time you are preparing the veggies.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they start crackling throw in onion and green chillies and saute for 2 minutes. Add the potatoes, mix well and cover. It takes 5 minutes till the potatoes are almost done.

3. Add the french beans, cabbage and saute well. Cook for 3 minutes. We want the veggies to be crisp and half done.

4. Drain the water from daliya and add it to the veggies, mix well. Add sugar, salt and turmeric and mix well. Keep stirring the daliya for 2-3 minutes. What we are trying to do here is to roast the daliya with the veggies and evaporate the water(if any is there).

5. Add water. The ratio of water : daliya is 2:1. So for 1 cup daliya use 2 cups water.

6. Cover and cook till all the water is evaporated. I use frozen peas so I add them when the daliya is cooked. They tend to be sweeter this way. If you are using fresh peas then you can add them before with other veggies.

Squeeze the lemon.

7. Enjoy.

This is one of those dishes that taste good even when it is cold. So it makes for a perfect lunch meal.

 Quick Tip:
If you want to make it for your office and you do not have time to cook this lavish breakfast then you can prepare the mixture at night. You can do the preparation till step 4 and keep the pan in the fridge. In morning all you have to do is light the gas, add water and cook the daliya. It takes maximum 10 minutes.

The Moti Weighting Factor

I have always been asked that how I kept myself motivated and committed to loose weight. There were people who complained that they loose motivation and give up on weight loss.

In this post I will share the things that got me started on my path to weight loss. What inspired me, what motivated me and what kept me committed.

The wake up call - Renne Williams, who was also known as a half ton mom. I came across her story on you tube and that video made a great impact on me. She was such a beautiful woman but she was an invalid because of her weight. It was easy to say that she suffered from a rare condition where the weight just keep increasing but a little research on her back ground showed that she started off with being over weight and somewhere she lost control of her diet.

She denied that she ate more than was required but there were reports that she would eat till her stomach hurt and would consume 8 burgers. She went through a gastric bypass surgery and died after the surgery at the age of 29. She was too young to die and no matter how I look at this story one thing never escaped my conscious and that is she got morbidly obese because of her eating habits.

Being trapped in your own body is a hell that only fat people are aware of.





When I saw the video I told myself that I would never let food control me and I will be in control of the food that I consume. This story marked the start of my weight loss journey.

You are what you eat - This is a TV series featured on BBC. I started following it on you tube. This series helped me analyze my own food habits.

In the series the dietician arranges on a table all the food consumed by a person in a week. People would start crying when they see the amount of junk on the table. It was very hard to believe that how much crap a person can eat in a week.



As an exercise I visualized everything that I ate in a week on a table and do you know how the table looked

1. 5 sandwiches with cheese.
2. Unaccounted amount of rice
3. 3 burgers with large french fries
4. Unaccounted amount of cold drinks and sweets.
5. 3-4 Nans plus the restaurants dishes.
6. 1-2 pizza
7. Unaccounted snack like potato chips, fried crisps
etc.
8. Pasta and 2 minutes noodles.

I used to eat out mostly during the week, grabbing a burger and french fries after work was a ritual followed by dinner at restaurant.

The list above is just a short version of what I used to eat back then and to be honest I never realized that my diet was so high in calories till I visualized it as a bulk.

Before I started with my weight loss I regularly watched the show and I was amazed how much crap can we as humans can really eat. This show made me analyze my own diet and as a first step to right diet I gave up eating outside food for a year and experienced the wonderful changes that came along.

Who can motivate you best - No one but yourself. You will have to find a way to keep yourself going. For me it was the desire to wear good clothes, clothes that I wanted to wear NOT the clothes that I wore just because they fitted me better. I was tired of going to plus size stores, I never liked the designs but still bought the clothes because that was the only size that fitted me best.

Down in dumps - If I tell you that you will feel motivated to loose weight each and every second of your weight loss journey then I am not being honest with you. At least twice in a week you will have demotivating bouts, where you will just hate your body, question why are you pushing yourself so much, hate the world, hate yourself for being fat and will feel angry and frustrated to exercise.

It used to happen to me as well and I always used to talk about it to my sister and my husband and as a tape recorder they used to tell me the same thing over and over again but that same thing used to uplift my spirits. Talking to people dear to you does help.

Sometimes, just going for a fresh air walk used to help as well. Down in the dumps days will be there and you will have to find your own way to step out of the mess.

What does it take to lose weight - A good pair of walking shoes, healthy diet and strict allotted time for yourself. An hour walk outside my house did the trick for me and I still follow the one hour 'ME' time, I give a damn for the world during this hour. Its dedicated to me and my body no one can share this time with me.


The Cup of Commitment - Being strict for one day and letting loose on the second day is not by any means commitment. I have never been committed in my efforts for weight loss and had always failed miserably.

This time around I told myself either I won't start BUT if I am starting it I will make sure to struggle till the end. This thought made me get out of my house for a daily walk.

There is always a small voice that whispers inside us, in most cases we choose to ignore the voice. Whenever I wanted to ditch my efforts towards weight loss this voice always whispered about my start and finish commitment and it kept me going.

There are no tricks to be committed to something, either you try to push yourself and adopt this virtue OR you can choose to fail over and over again. Choice is always in our hands.

There were times when I didn't even attempt to loose weight because I knew I was not committed and would fail all over again. The thing is you never know till you start. Don't give up without getting the real feel of the experience, just rejecting the thought because you think you have a meek willpower is not a good idea. Attempt weight loss no matter how low on willpower meter you rate yourself, like me you never know how much can you surprise your ownself. Those with the weakest willpower often come out as strongest.

Keeping the fire alive - Reading health articles, weighing myself weekly and recording the result and experimenting on different aspects of weight loss kept the fire alive for me.

You can achieve whatever you want but the first step of achieving is to have faith in yourself and believing in yourself. More often than we realize we have very little faith in our own capabilities.

Remember, there is only one person who can never ditch you and that is YOU YOURSELF. There is only one person who will stand by you always and that is YOU YOURSELF. Then why not give this person some credit, why not believe and have faith in this person. Why not give this person a fair chance by believing that she will win no matter what.

Its time to stop rating this person low, stop criticizing this person and stop telling this person that she cannot achieve what she desires.

Give yourself a chance by believing in yourself and you will be amazed by YOU YOURSELF.

Beware of Mother Hen

As a woman this is one syndrome I relate to. To me a mother hen syndrome is the constant need to feed food to anyone in sight. Mother hens prepare breakfast and during breakfast think about lunch and then during lunch think about dinner. They not only love to eat but they also love to feed.

There is nothing wrong with mother hens apart from the weight issues they might face OR worse when they force feed a constant dieter like me. When you visit a mother hen, there will be a non stop supply of food and she will force you to eat everything on the plate. Frequent association with mother hen will definitely pronounce doom to your weight loss program.

How to do know if you are a mother hen



1. When you constantly talk about food.

2. You constantly serve your guests with food, forcing them to eat even when they refuse.

3. Thoughts of food takes the center stage.

I once did fall under the mother hen category but I snapped out of it when I figured out that there is more to life than food. Now, I do offer food to my guests but I respect their refusal.

Dealing with a mother hen

There will be a constant reminder of how less you eat and you should leave dieting for at least this one particular party. BUT once back home from Mother hen's house if you feel terribly bloated, want to rush to the loo (to download everything that you ate) then its time to be firm. Mother hens do not take NO easily, they will forcefully keep extra food on your plate and nag you through out the party to eat.

The best way is to stand your grounds and firmly refuse to eat. It will surely break their heart (and probably yours too) to see the food going to the dustbin BUT believe me no one need that much food and once or twice of such crude act will send the signal straight.

Ideally I would like people

1. To respect my decision to eat or not to eat.

2. I am no size zero, neither I am starved nor deprived. I do not need constant advise to eat oil laden food.

3. I fail to see how out side food/oily fried food can be nutritious. If my preferences are home cooked food then it does not mean I am on a strict diet. It just means I have certain food preferences, period.

There will be no dearth of people who will perform the forceful food feeding act. It will be very hard to say NO to them out of love and respect BUT somewhere you will have to draw the line, set your own boundaries and your limits.

At some point of time you will have to say NO and make sure that others respect your NO.

Lentil Veggie Pancakes.

Whenever I am searching for something which is high in fibers, low in calories and carbs, I always opt for lentils.

Mixed veg dhals, lentil soup and lentil pancakes are instant hit with me.

I have done a version of lentil pancakes in one pf my past posts here and here.

The pancakes that I am going to talk about today make for a great breakfast with a boost of protein and veggies. They taste really good and keep you full for a long time.

Ingredients

1. Same quantity of yellow mung dal bean and channa dal. You can mix and match the lentils. I sometimes use white urad also.

2. Mix the lentils and soak overnight. Next morning drain and wash well. Grind to a fine smooth paste. Add water accordingly to make a smooth paste (neither thick nor runny).



3. 1 small onion finely chopped.

4. 1 small tomato fine chopped.

5. 1 small bowl paneer crushed.

6. green chilies finely chopped.

7. 1 bowl french beans finely chopped and steamed. I add little water in the bowl and microwave for 3 minutes and I get steamed french beans.

8. Salt and black pepper to taste.

9. Finely chopped green coriander.

Procedure

Damn simple.

1. Heat non stick pan with few drops of oil. Stick to 1 tsp oil for 2 pancakes.

2. Now pour the batter on the pan. Do not add lots of batter and make the pancake thick, come on we are on a diet and we cannot blow it by eat huge thick pancakes. SO keep the thickness of your pancake medium.

3. Arrange the veggies on the top of pancake. Sprinkle salt and black pepper. Also sprinkle drops of oil over the veggies (so that when you turn the pancake the veggies will get a crisp texture)



4. Once the bottom side is cooked, flip the pancake and let the veggies cook for 2 minutes. The veggies are cooked if you are able to move the pancake.



5. Server hot.





Treat your hunger with tasty low cal food.

Enjoy!!!!.

Baked Vadas

Whenever I visit the market the fried vadas call my name and the temptation is very hard to resist. Once the vada is safely in my stomach, the guilt seeps in and the realization of the amount of oil just consumed in one fancy moment. There is also this uncomfortable feeling which stays for an hour, the feeling when the system tells us that we have just eaten something really heavy.

In my case heart rules the head and tongue rules everything. In short I have to listen to my temptations sooner or later where food is concerned.

SO, I went and bought myself cupcake and muffin plates, not to make muffins and cupcakes but to make vadas and bhajiyas, with the proper crunch and the crisp but of course with less oil.

Ingredients

1. You can use any type of lentils. Here I have used equal portions of white urad daal and chaana daal. Soak them overnight, next morning drain and grind to a smooth mixture. Add salt to the mixture while grinding.

2. 1 handful chopped french beans.

3. 1 grated carrot.

4. 1 cup grated cabbage.

5. Feel free to add any other veggies you want.

6. 2 tsp oil(to make 12 vadas).

Procedure

1. Add the veggies to the lentil paste.

2. Coat the muffin tray with oil.

3. Use your hands to arrange the vadas in the try.

4. Drop oil on top of each vada.

5. Pre heat the oven at the highest temperature for 5 minutes.

6. Pop in the tray, vadas are done in 15 minutes. You can inset a knife to see if the vadas are done (if it comes out clean they are cooked from inside), they should be firm and crisp.




7. Enjoy!!!!. Hot cup of tea with lovely hot vadas, what else we need from life.