Friday 30 August 2013

Fun Friday (relaxing break - Brighton)

This is what we did to celebrate T's birthday, we had a bank holiday the day before his birthday so we celebrated in advance by going to Brighton and just relaxing. Surprisingly both of us finished our workouts early in the morning before we headed out, we had lots of fun...T did what he loves doing the most - sleeping I did what I love the best posing ;)


Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 
Tanvee

Monday 26 August 2013

My exact thoughts during this morning's jog


Check running plan...7k 40minutes....7k 40 minutes....(during my dynamic stretching )
Start jogging...
Will I manage, maybe...maybe not...do your best...check distance at 20 minutes
Breath properly tanvee...inhale (1234) exhale (123) ohh god breath properly tanvee...inhale (1234) exhale(1234)......
What all do I have in my to- do list, I should plan ....write to a friend, blog, cook, read...get ready for the week...ooh god upslope, today I don't want to stop..I know I can jog without stopping, my legs hurt more during RPM...I know I can manage this slope, it’s not much...Breath properly tanvee...inhale (1234) exhale(1234)...slope done yay!!!!
Should I check my time? No just run till you reach half way then check time...
I am already feeling tired...I hope I don't get a side stitch...breath properly.tanvee inhale(1234) exhale (1234).... Please don't get side stitch...please please...Finish halfway in 19 minutes I have one minute to spare...should I walk? No run what if you get tired later?
Run run Tanvee run...ooh....so many people running on a bank holiday this early in the morning, I thought I would be the only one...get more disciplined tanvee..
No stopping till I reach the end of my lane...ooh I reached the end, should I stop? No continue till you reach home ...check time...I have 2 more minutes to complete 7k run tanvee run...run tanvee 2 minutes its possible for you to complete your run...finally 7k over 41 minutes... 1 minute longer than planned....damn...next time I better finish 1 minute early.

What do you think about while jogging outside? I noticed most of the times I am focusing on getting my breathing right, I count to make sure I don't take short breath, I have to actually keep reminding myself ;) are your thoughts more interesting?


Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 
Tanvee

Thursday 22 August 2013

What is so different this time

All of us on this fitness/weight loss journey have been through our set of obstacles, we have all faced failures, many of us have been yo-yo dieters personally I could never stick to a plan more than a day sometimes I would quit after a single meal..so what is different about this time? How did I manage to reach a point where I am comfortable with making healthy choices? I have listed the first few that come to my mind

Be prepared
Planning and being prepared, it’s always good to know what to expect. Everything in the reality checklist is important. It helps me when I have everything straight no frills attached, if I know how much effort I need to put in or if I know not to always accept a scale victory I will be less disappointed which inturn will keep me moving, but instead if I am expecting to fall in love with exercising from day 1 or if I expect to lose weight every single day I might be discouraged when things don’t go as planned.
I used read about people who could think while running and loved it, when I started my running I was expecting the same thing and I was in for a rude shock I could not think at all most of the times I felt like I was dying because I had never done it before, now that I am used to exercising I have started to enjoy it but initially it was more about staying consistent without bothering about how I felt while doing it.

Acknowledge you are trying to lose weight and become healthy: 
Most of my life I wanted to lose weight but I never shared this with anybody, infact I tried to hide the fact so if I made plans of exercising or eating healthy I could never keep them up because whenever I was surrounded by people I would go back to my bad habits just because I did not want people to know. My exercise time would always be either very early in the morning or very late at night such that nobody would see me but I could never keep this routine up. The minute I told people, the minute I accepted that I needed a change, I could make healthier decisions about the food I ate and exercise I did. I could be more open about my decisions so I wasted less energy on what people thought and more on my health

Healthy food does not have to be boring: 
When I started my weight loss I was a food addict, I loved food, I enjoyed eating I could even say it was a hobby, so going on diet was usually difficult just because diet sounds boring, this time what I did was focus on what I enjoy most about food, I enjoy different textures in my food, I enjoy if my plate is colourful and I enjoy different spices. So that is exactly what I incorporated in all my meals. For breakfast I eat eggs most days but sometimes I make vegetable frittata, sometimes I add a side of spinach, mushrooms and carrots. If I have oats I add nuts and fruits (no sugar, the fruit adds the sweetness and nuts gives it added texture).My food is simple but it still is interesting. I roast my chicken with different marinade or spice rubs instead of adding the dressing. I add fresh fruit to my yogurt, have frozen banana instead of ice-cream. I think I can stick to healthy eating because I don’t feel deprived I don’t feel like I am on diet.

Strike a balance between your comfort zone while slowly expanding your comfort zone: 
One very important thing about improving in any aspect of your life is getting out of your comfort zone but for me it also about striking a balance. I remember the first time I went jogging I was very embarrassed because I was horrible and I could not get myself to go back to run, instead I started exercising at home behind closed doors (this was also outside my comfort zone because I had never exercised before) and then slowly after I got a little used to exercising I went back to jogging and then I could keep going back. Remember when you start your journey just getting up exercising and eating healthy is getting out of your comfort zone so take small steps, I prefer getting out of my comfort zone such that I can keep getting out and keep moving forward, make it challenging but not horrible, you should feel good after you are done not depressed, sad or embarrassed

Focus on the positive: 
You can’t fit in a new pant size every week nor will you see the scale change everyday instead try to focus on other positives, small things like saying no to chocolate, or running for a minute longer or making a healthy choice at lunch, skipping cream on your coffee. Each one of these small things counts towards getting you closer to you goal and each of these choices is something to be proud of because all of them take effort on your part. It's not easy to say no to icecream when all your friends are having one, it's not easy to go to the gym when it is raining outside but you did it anyway and that counts. If you can learn to feel happy about these small changes you will try to repeat your decisions the next day and the next day till it becomes a natural choice, because it makes you happy in a different way
There is lot more I can add to this list but then my post will become really long, so let's keep the remaining for some other time :)
Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 
Tanvee

Monday 19 August 2013

Reality check

This post is about the reality of weightloss/fitness journey (this is not to scare you but knowing these things might help you be prepared for your journey ahead)

It’s not easy : if it was easy, if it did not make your muscles hurt or if it did not take a strong mind start making the right food choices, I would have never been unhealthy. It is difficult because becoming a couch potato is easier than getting up and going for a walk or a jog, so if you start with thinking it is going to be easy you will not be able to keep up because you will not be prepared to put in the hard work.
Be ready to fail and make mistakes: Whether it is the first time you are trying to get healthy or the nth time you are getting back on track you need to be prepared to fail, you need to be ok with making mistakes and ok with knowing that sometimes it will take longer than expected to achieve your goal. Why am I telling you this? a lot of times just because I did not see the expected results I would give up , giving up always takes you two steps behind instead if I would have moved ahead, pushed harder, I would definitely be in a better state.
There is no other way but hard work and being prepared to get up as soon as you are knocked down
Don’t expect everybody to understand : having support is a big part of everybody's fitness journey, I know that because I used to be one of those people who could not enter the gym alone because I was so uncomfortable about my weight but expecting everybody in your life to understand and be happy about the changes you are making is crazy, just because you choose not eat out or plan not to have a fizzy drink doesn’t mean everybody in your family has to follow your plan, if they do good for you but if they don’t you still have to focus on what you need to do instead of blaming them for your bad choices or waiting for them to join you.

The biggest support you will ever have is yourself; you have to be willing to be strong enough to support your fitness journey
Fitness is a lifelong journey : If you are looking at a fixed goal or time line, I am almost 100% sure you are going to get back to where you started from, you can’t say I have reached my goal weight I am done, you have to be willing to make this change for life, constantly working towards improving. You might have reached your ideal weight does not mean you can stop, the minute you go back to your old habits you are going to go back to your old self . I feel you should always look at this as a long term plan in which reaching your optimal weight is one of the milestones but not the final one.
It’s like if you can run a 5k you move towards a 10k then half marathon then marathon, then improving your time and you keep going, changing your goals and constantly improving.

Be ready to make healthy living a normal part of your life and not a temporary solution to your weight
T said this was little harsh and would scare people but it is the truth and I am sure all of you are strong !!!!
Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 
Tanvee

Thursday 15 August 2013

Message that made my day


Last evening when I got back from the gym I was greeted with this message on my fb
I have not stopped smiling ever since I read this message. My first message of this kind, this message is from a friend whom I spoke to last in 2006, we have not really been in touch except for very few facebook messages/updates. Imagine my surprise when I see her message in my inbox and imagine the joy of reading that she was inspired through my blog :)
Ever since I have lost weight, started this blog I have been called crazy/obsessive for being so much into fitness and health I am learning to handle that but a simple message of appreciation makes me more determined to continue being a health freak ;)
Thank you so much N ,
Hope all of you have a great day 

Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 
Tanvee

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Learning the Basics (Food)


This post is all about learning the basics about our food, because it is the first step in this direction I have made it very simple (keeping in mind my post on simple& real), no complicated terms. As I/we progress I will keep adding more details

Carbohydrates



Fats


Michelle actually got me interested in all this (especially the good fat part) I found it extremely useful :)  Hope you all found it useful too. Next time more details.


Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 
Tanvee