Keeping healthy after a binge :(

One big Indian wedding over the last 2 days saw me 2kg heavier than before. Quite disheartening for sure and useless thoughts of regret abound regarding that yummy paneer tikka masala and those servings of ice cream and delicious gulab jamuns that I gulped down. A soft admonishment from my brother and father about how my arms are plumping up weighed down my heart again.

However, this is neither the first nor the last occurrence of a binge followed by weight gain and regrets. It has happened to me before and I am certain it will happen again. I gain weight easily but to be honest, I do lose easily too (of course provided I work it off physically). So I figure that the regrets weigh me down more than the food because they leech out my enthusiasm to eat healthy and work out.

Finally, I gathered myself up and managed to do a 30 min dance workout which I prefer. And once I got going and sweaty, I felt so much better! I was all set to do my regular set of 40 hindu squats and eat a small and healthy dinner. Yay for me!

Which dance workout I prefer? This one:

Thanks Bips! Readers, if there is a dance workout you personally prefer, kindly share it with me via comment down here. Maybe I’ll find a couple of other favorites to help me get some variety.

Fresh popcorn at home

These make one of the yummiest and healthiest snack you can have when you are trying to eat healthy but you just don’t want to eat a fruit or a salad as a snack. Also, once you are used to the fresh ones, the store bought popcorn will never do for you, but that’s okay.

So, I make mine in a 2 litre pressure cooker which is present in any Indian home anywhere, but you can use any vessel with thick flat bottom and a lid with a steam vent. Generally, its bottom should be just wide enough to let all the corn to get the heat and oil evenly.

I pour in 2 tsp of oil and 1/4 tsp of salt and put the cooker over medium low flame. then I pour in 1/2 cup of corn kernels (regular cheap ones you get in the supermarket NOT “act 2 popcorn” or some such thing). Swish the kernels around so that they are coated with the oil and salt. Close the cooker lid without the whistle and listen. Once the popping sounds are about 5-6 seconds apart, it is done. Switch off flame, wait for 1 or 2 minutes for the popping to stop completely and open carefully. Dump the sweet smelling snack into a bowl and enjoy!!

Oil free papads

I am the biggest fan of Kerala papads or “pappadams”. I don’t think any other can compete with them ever. They are just crisp salty crunchy fragile perfections. However, they have to be deep fried and there is no way around that. They are also not good for an overweight person to crunch down on.

So to my rescue comes “Mother’s recipe” papads. These come in many types and flavors but I usually go for “punjabi masala papad” or “moong dal papad” and I just dry roast them in the microwave. It is easy, just spread them out in the microwave without overlapping and switch on. According to the power, and the quality, it may take different timings, so the practical way is just to watch them from the oven door. Once it all looks cooked with tiny bubbles all over (it may brown slightly), just switch it off noting the time. It may take as little as 30 seconds or 1 minute. So keep watching… and eat without guilt! 🙂

Weightloss and me

Current program start date: 5th Dec 2015

Starting weight: 68 kg

Medication: Himalaya Ayurslim 2 tablets twice a day after meals

Exercise: 30-40 Hindu squats

Diet: No diet really, just trying to eat more healthy food and less fried food

Current weight: 66.5 kg

Let me explain about myself:

I am quite lazy and I love food. I hate treadmills and long repetitive workouts. Ever since I passed out of college and started working, I have moved from my 55 kg approximately body to a body which ranges from 60-70 kg. Currently my weight is 66.5 kg. So with my height of 5’2″, I fall firmly in the overweight category and have been in it since 10 yrs now.

I lose weight pretty easily if I go for dance workouts but I got a knee cap injury which makes it risky to do them. Recently I started a routine which seems to be working for me, so I will share it here.

I eat normal food, diets never ever worked for me… I love my food very much. The max I can get myself to do is limit my fried food to say 1 fried pappad at lunch or microwave oven roasted pappads. And I don’t purchase junk food much. I might put them in the shopping cart but I walk around until I can give them hateful glances and put them back on the shelves before billing. I love mayo and cheese spreads, but i resist picking those up either and satisfy myself by buying cheese slices. I read somewhere that harder the cheese, less unhealthy it is and 1 cheese slice a day is not really unhealthy etc..

So since my delivery(I have a 2 yr old baby girl), I had been eating a bit more (possibly due to breastfeeding), though I did not put on weight. My baby constantly kept my weight between 61 and 62 kg. However the breastfeeding stopped few months back and my food habits did not change, so I gained weight. Also trips to India increase my binges and my weight increases by around 2 kg per fortnight i spend in India.

I will try to post weekly updates on my weight or changes in my regime.

On 03/01/2016, I achieved 65kg with this regime, and then a wedding happened. Now I am back to 67kg, but I wont give up. Am getting back on my routine now. Here is a post regarding that:

Keeping healthy after a binge 😦