Since last year, that is 2007, my motto has been to lose 40 lbs. I have lost 20 lbs so far and I have 20 more to go. I am noting down my diet and exercise regimes below, so as to keep track of where I was, where I am right now and how far I need to go.
When I started I was 167lbs, I wasnt this heavy always but most of the times have been a big girl, if you know what I mean. After transitioning from India to US, post-marriage, the weight kept on piling. On hindsight, I think the main culprit was peanut-butter sandwiches, eating out quite often and not seeing the potion-size. But I have to agree that this weight gain has been a boon a disguise, I have never taken better care of myself and have never looked and felt better.
Having a slow metabolism, my main problem has been food intake. I remember doing intense gyming (I will write in later what all I included in my gym sessions) and then not taking care of what I ate. This is a very wrong thing to do, it only helps in piling more weight and in places you wont like. I did gain a few pounds because of this and then it happened, my India trip for my brother's wedding. Each and every person said I had become fat, my husband looked younger than me, etc. Suddenly you realize there are so many things people can tell you when you are over-weight, the dictionary is endless. Not only that, my worse nightmare were clothes, old clothes didn't fit me, my tailor (always on my team) too looked horified to measure me up. But the only thing he said (and believe me it struck like lightning) was dont worry, next year when you come thin down. I was now resolved to do anything I could to cut down on the additional weight I had put on and reduce further.
Meal that I am following since a long time is as follows:
1. Beakfast - Oat meal + soymilk
2. Mid-morning snack - Any fruit like apple or banana
3. Lunch - Vegetable (Indian sabzi) + 2 chapatti
4. After 3 hrs - Another fruit or yogurt with active cultures in it
5. Evening snack (I am not completely happy about this part) - Tea + biscuits (I think this is junk really, but need to find a replacement)
6. Dinner - Vegetable + 2 chapatti
My work out looked like this:
Monday: Full body weight training, 9 exercises in all, 2 sets each with 15 reps for each exercise in each set.
Tuesday: Cardio - Treadmill/Elliptical/Cycle
Wednesday: Cardio
Thursday: Full body weight training
I must admit, I am happier doing weights than anything else. When I started with cardio, I was apprehensiible about Elliptical, now I totally enjoy myself on it. Even on a treadmill, I generally used to walk at the speed of 3 mph at an inclination of 10. I could notrun for even 2 mins in Feb 2007, today i can run for 30 mins non-stop on a treadmill, running outside is still a problem I have to tackle.
I followed this religiously for a year and lost about 20 lbs. It seemed losing weight was easy. This is when I got stuck with weight plateau. It is a condition where your weight doesnt fluctuate, it remains constant. For me, there was a 2-3 pounds fluctuation but I roughly remained 148 lbs.
This weight plateau has been going on for 4 months now, people say maybe this is my actual weight and I cant go further down than this but I have some other plans, I have resolved to do better, finally I want to win this race against weight.
This is the modification I have made since a week now 10-May-2008, I will further update this blog if it works out:
Diet:
The main problem I see in my diet is evening snacks and dinner. I eat junk and do late dinner. So here is the solution (which I think should work), I am going to cut on biscuits and eat milk + berries. For dinner, I have started eating only salads, cucumber, tomato, carrot with a little salt/pepper and cilantro. Lets see if my weight plateau puts up a fight!!!!!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Konkana SenSharma
I have become a huge fan of this Indian Actress. For late comers, Konkana is daughter of renamed Bengali Actor/Director Aparna Sen. She has acted in number of Bengali, Bi-lingual and Hindi films.
It so happened that I saw two of Konkana SenSharma's movies on the same day - Aaja Nachle and 15 Park Avenue. There is a scene in Aaja Nachle where Konkana's character has to audition for a role in a play. She is shown dancing on the tunes of the song "Babuji zara dheere chalo...", that scene is mind-blowing, it is hilarious and looks like the renowned actress is comfortable making fun at her own self, such an important trait for an actor. The scene is worth the entire film's money.
15 Park Avenue, the more I talk about this film the better I like. Konkana is shown as a schizophrenic in this film. The film made me realise how difficult it must be for people to cope with a world which does not exist for most of the other people living in the outside world. Imagine, you are constantly seeing someone, someone so real, you can feel their prescence, talk to him/her, yet everyone else will say the person does not exist. A world within another world. Konkana has acted so well, that I could literally feel the pain and agony of a schizophrenic, the helplessness to convince people what they are feeling is real, when in reality it is not. Full marks to even Shabana Azmi for enacting a very complex character of a sister who is mentally and physically drained of the responsibilities she has to carry.
At times I feel there is a dearth of opportunities and there is so much of cut-throat competition then there are women like Konkana SenSharma and Shabana Azmi who make genX actors look silly to the core. There is no competition at all if you are at the very top.
I totally am bowled over by her...
It so happened that I saw two of Konkana SenSharma's movies on the same day - Aaja Nachle and 15 Park Avenue. There is a scene in Aaja Nachle where Konkana's character has to audition for a role in a play. She is shown dancing on the tunes of the song "Babuji zara dheere chalo...", that scene is mind-blowing, it is hilarious and looks like the renowned actress is comfortable making fun at her own self, such an important trait for an actor. The scene is worth the entire film's money.
15 Park Avenue, the more I talk about this film the better I like. Konkana is shown as a schizophrenic in this film. The film made me realise how difficult it must be for people to cope with a world which does not exist for most of the other people living in the outside world. Imagine, you are constantly seeing someone, someone so real, you can feel their prescence, talk to him/her, yet everyone else will say the person does not exist. A world within another world. Konkana has acted so well, that I could literally feel the pain and agony of a schizophrenic, the helplessness to convince people what they are feeling is real, when in reality it is not. Full marks to even Shabana Azmi for enacting a very complex character of a sister who is mentally and physically drained of the responsibilities she has to carry.
At times I feel there is a dearth of opportunities and there is so much of cut-throat competition then there are women like Konkana SenSharma and Shabana Azmi who make genX actors look silly to the core. There is no competition at all if you are at the very top.
I totally am bowled over by her...
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Memorial Service
I attended my first memorial service in US on 16th March 2008. It was held at St. Andrews Lutheran Church. The deceased person was the son of my husband's colleague. His name was Daniel. A mere 37 years of age. There were so many young people at the service, emphasizing the fact that the person who departed was too young to have gone away.
The service started with Dan's very talented friends playing guitar. The music was soulful without one missing note. After that the Priest read a sermon from the bible. This was followed by speeches from near and dear ones. There were close friends saying how special Dan was and how special he made everyone feel. He was always the first to help someone, he also went to New Orleans to help out the Katrina victims. His elder brother spoke with a teary eye. His speech was too much to handle. He cried and cracked jokes about Dan. It was evident he was going to miss his brother for a long time to come.
At the end of the service, there was a march, where everyone comes out and you can meet the person you have come for. We met my husband's colleague and she hugged us and thanked us for coming.
This memorial service had a lasting impact on me. It was very surreal and peaceful, just how a memorial should be. I equally dishearten in the way these services are treated in India. The part where I come from, (God Forbid) if you are one of the close relatives of the person who passed away, people will sit next to you and cry deliberately and its customary to cry with them. I think this just steals away the last serenity and respect we can ever give to the deceased. The person who has left is never remembered at his best, which I think is sad.
I have never seen Dan and probably will not know him ever, but that day I cried, I cried for the people who are going to miss him. I remembered him and was a part of his group of friends as much as his best friend. May god bless his soul and may he rest in peace.
The service started with Dan's very talented friends playing guitar. The music was soulful without one missing note. After that the Priest read a sermon from the bible. This was followed by speeches from near and dear ones. There were close friends saying how special Dan was and how special he made everyone feel. He was always the first to help someone, he also went to New Orleans to help out the Katrina victims. His elder brother spoke with a teary eye. His speech was too much to handle. He cried and cracked jokes about Dan. It was evident he was going to miss his brother for a long time to come.
At the end of the service, there was a march, where everyone comes out and you can meet the person you have come for. We met my husband's colleague and she hugged us and thanked us for coming.
This memorial service had a lasting impact on me. It was very surreal and peaceful, just how a memorial should be. I equally dishearten in the way these services are treated in India. The part where I come from, (God Forbid) if you are one of the close relatives of the person who passed away, people will sit next to you and cry deliberately and its customary to cry with them. I think this just steals away the last serenity and respect we can ever give to the deceased. The person who has left is never remembered at his best, which I think is sad.
I have never seen Dan and probably will not know him ever, but that day I cried, I cried for the people who are going to miss him. I remembered him and was a part of his group of friends as much as his best friend. May god bless his soul and may he rest in peace.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
But I will not leave the fight halfway.
"How can I forgive them?" - these are the words of Bilkis Bano, one of the many victims of Godhra Riots.
It is such an irony, I was looking online for a cocktail dress to wear at my company's party and in another window I searched for Bilkis Bano. Isnt it a paradox, on one side of life is a girl like me who is independent, a face of 'Rising India' and on the other side is a girl who is 5 months pregnant and is getting brutally raped by folks she has known since childhood. THESE INDEED ARE TWO FACES OF INDIA. And however big our growth is with impressive GDP number, the fact will remain we are a country which is illiterate and inhuman and violent.
Here is the full story of Bilkis Bano:
http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/feb/26guj.htm
Reading this story, I couldnt help asking myself, are we humans yet? How can someone rape a helpless pregnant women? How can someone kill her 3 year old daughter? Bilkis Bano was the sole survivor in a camp of 17 people.
She stands tall today fighting for justice. She is a brave women. May God give her all the glory. Yesterday Supreme Court convicted 14 of the accused to Life time imprisonment. Is that enough? How I wish each and everyone of them was castrated and left to die!
This leads me to thinking, what would I have done? If I were someone who could have helped Bilkis's family to hide, would I have helped her? Would I have faced the wrath of a whole mad village? What would I have done?
If I were Bilkis, would I have fought for justice so long? Would I have courage to face all the threats? Wouldnt I have simply embraced death being so utterly humiliated? I hope everyone can ask this question themselves and come out with a good positive answer.
If there were any grain of truth in the fact that curses come true then I curse each and every one of her accusors from the bottom of my heart, to suffer as she did.
It is such an irony, I was looking online for a cocktail dress to wear at my company's party and in another window I searched for Bilkis Bano. Isnt it a paradox, on one side of life is a girl like me who is independent, a face of 'Rising India' and on the other side is a girl who is 5 months pregnant and is getting brutally raped by folks she has known since childhood. THESE INDEED ARE TWO FACES OF INDIA. And however big our growth is with impressive GDP number, the fact will remain we are a country which is illiterate and inhuman and violent.
Here is the full story of Bilkis Bano:
http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/feb/26guj.htm
Reading this story, I couldnt help asking myself, are we humans yet? How can someone rape a helpless pregnant women? How can someone kill her 3 year old daughter? Bilkis Bano was the sole survivor in a camp of 17 people.
She stands tall today fighting for justice. She is a brave women. May God give her all the glory. Yesterday Supreme Court convicted 14 of the accused to Life time imprisonment. Is that enough? How I wish each and everyone of them was castrated and left to die!
This leads me to thinking, what would I have done? If I were someone who could have helped Bilkis's family to hide, would I have helped her? Would I have faced the wrath of a whole mad village? What would I have done?
If I were Bilkis, would I have fought for justice so long? Would I have courage to face all the threats? Wouldnt I have simply embraced death being so utterly humiliated? I hope everyone can ask this question themselves and come out with a good positive answer.
If there were any grain of truth in the fact that curses come true then I curse each and every one of her accusors from the bottom of my heart, to suffer as she did.
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