Garlic-Lime chicken

Ingredients
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp coarsely ground pepper

Method:

1. Mix together soy sauce, lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and mustard.
2. Marinate the chicken with the above mixture
3. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Remove chicken from marinade and sprinkle with pepper.
5. Grill the chicken or cook in a pan over medium temperature

Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 

Tanvee

 

Dieting Vs Healthy Eating

The other day I was talking to my sister, we were talking about fitness and she mentioned she was trying to lose a few pounds. She is not really overweight but she wants to tone up, we were just brainstorming thinking about what she can do. She is one of those who loves to dance, she does kick boxing so she is good when it comes to being active but she also loves food. Her eyes actually light up when she talks about food, so when our talk shifted to food this is how it went

Sis: I don’t want to DIET, I don’t want to live without eating
Me: Who said you have to live without eating? Who does that?
Sis: Everybody who wants to lose weight first goes on a DIET...

That’s what got me thinking, it’s true when you first think about weight loss DIET is a word that just tags along. There are so many diets with promises and great reviews, which is very confusing especially for people like my sister and me. For us the word DIET means starving and going hungry, so it scares us or sometime we try it and give up very soon...
In this post I wanted to share why I don’t believe in DIET instead everyday Healthy Choices makes more sense to me.
What is healthy eating? How do I decide if an option is correct for me? I just ask the following questions

Is it long term?
Whenever I see any article related to weight loss first thing I note is if it is something I can manage lifelong. If I try the cabbage soup diet will I really be able to keep up? 7 days of cabbage soup will make me go crazy and what happens after the 7 days? I’m sure if I go back to my usual eating I’m going to go back to my usual weight. If I’m asked to supplement a meal with some shake will I really be satisfied??
If it is not long term, if I can't do something life long (because continuing it will harm my health) I personally will not even try it.

Do I have to starve?
Usually when we speak about dieting the first thing that comes to mind is ‘I have to start eating less’ this is true you might have to start eating less but the key here is deciding how less?? If I eat only 500-800 calories a day I will not be able to function, how will I manage to put in energy for my workout? How will I concentrate at work? Our bodies need energy (not too much energy) but we need energy to go about our daily life.
If you are starving yourself you doing it wrong. Either ask a nutritionist or use one of the online applications to decide what the correct calorie count is for you.

Do I have to give up on food I love?
Dieting scared me because I thought I will have to give up cookies or Indian sweets. If I force myself to look away each time there is a cookie around I know I would feel deprived, frustrated and irritated. How can I be the only one celebrating my birthday without a cake?? Or how can I always eat carrots when I want to try the new ice cream flavour?
You don’t have to give up anything completely but you should not get carried away either. It’s all about balance. I still have a cookie once in a while, but I make sure my other meals are healthy or maybe I exercise more to balance it out. I try new desserts but I share them. Basically I have not forced myself to give up anything completely but over time I have learned to include it in your healthy lifestyle.

Do I have to only eat tiny bites and tiny portions?
If I eat only tiny portions I’m going to be hungry all the time, instead I decide my portions based on how healthy my options are. So if we order a pizza instead of having 2 slices, I have ½ a slice and I have a nice portion of homemade salad. So I’m not left feeling hungry just because we ordered pizza and I’m not miserable either because I did not exceed my calorie count.

Is Counting Calories and Measuring lot of hard work?
When I first heard about counting calories and measuring food I thought it would take too much time but now I do it all the time even when I’m outside I count my calories (it’s really not that much trouble). Initially you might find it difficult to keep counting your calories or measuring your portions.
I think it is a very good habit and the best thing about measuring food and counting calories is after sometime you get an idea so you don’t have to always look for a scale before taking a bite because you begin to get an approximate idea

What do you think? Is healthy eating a better option than dieting? Or do you still prefer a quick fix?

Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 

Tanvee

Spin (fitness class)

I would stand outside the door looking at all the people in the spin class, they all looked so focused and strong just looking at them was intimidating for me. It always looked like great cardio, the music and energy in the room always pulled me closer, as usual I started with my preparation. I looked online read about spin classes and got a little more scared, everything I read pointed out to how difficult spin class is, or what torture it is to your legs or how uncomfortable the spin bikes are...basically I was more scared to enter after doing my prep work but I knew I had to go because every article had one common sentence 'Spin is a great workout'.

So first things first I went and bought myself new workout (Spin) pants, next I spoke to my gym receptionist to find out if there were any beginner's spin class (some gyms have these) unfortunately for me my gym did not have a beginner's class though I was assured it would be ok. Next I booked a class and reached about half an hour early. I know half an hour is too early but I wanted to talk to the instructor, pick my bike, try all the adjustments and feel comfortable before the class actually started

The bike adjustments were not difficult; you can adjust the seat level, the handle level and the distance between the seat and the handle. I checked if I could sit and pedal comfortably and also if I could stand and pedal comfortably. My bike set, water filled, towel in place I was ready to spin.

As soon as it was time to start the instructor dimmed the lights, the music came on and we started with a few stretches (on the bike) I was scared I would fall off the bike but I managed :) .

Now for the actual spinning exercises we started with reducing the resistance real low and pedalling very very fast I thought I would fly away (lol) then we were asked to increase the resistance and stand up and pedal. This is what we continued for 45 minutes but we added different hand movements to both position (seated flat, seated climb, standing flat, standing climb and jumps). The instructor took us through different intervals each at different speeds; different resistance and we kept alternating our positions for different counts (confusing? Hope not)

 I enjoyed the class a lot, it was good cardio and the best part is you can push yourself as much as you want or as little as you want. You control your resistance and rpm. Once the music starts time goes by real fast, every bit of my leg muscles felt the pain but I was ok the next day, I could still follow my regular workout plan without any problems and now I’m so in love with this class that I’m increasing it to 3 days a week (I think I need more days in a week to manage all my classes, my gym and my workouts)

Things to remember for your first spin class:

1. Go early play around with your bike a little, try all adjustments make sure you are comfortable in both sitting and standing position. Spin for a few minutes before your class starts, it’s like warm up before warm up ;) 
2.  Don’t get scared, it’s usually dark inside nobody can see you :), you can decide your own resistance and speed. 
3.  If you think a spin class is going to be too taxing for your body take up a class on a day when you have nothing else planned, or take up a class such that the next day is your rest day. (I did my first class on a Sunday) 
4. In my class there are people who leave after 25-30 minutes, so if you think 30 minutes is enough for you, you can walk out, just don’t forget to stretch 
5.  Choose the right outfit, remember you will stretch forward while spinning, avoid wearing yoga pants I prefer wearing  tracks that are either calf length or tight at the ankle. You can buy gel seats or padded shorts just in case 
6.  Don’t ever stop pedalling suddenly; I think it jerks your knee. Instead if you want to stop increase your resistance this will make you stop gradually 
7.  When you are supposed to stand up and pedal make sure you increase your resistance before standing up. 
8.  Go for at least one class before you decide it’s too difficult for you, I’m sure most of you will go back (I did, I keep going back ;) )

Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 

Tanvee
(I have linked www.spinning.com if you want to read more about the different spinning techniques)

March Challenges

March Challenges and February update

1.      Wake up at 5.30 (sleep early)

2.      Try the whole life challenge (just for 1 week)

3.      Study as planned (I’m working on a plan right now, fingers crossed I hope I can stick to it)

4.      Continue the previous challenges

February was ok, I hope March is better. This month I really hope I can study, it’s difficult to study when you have no exams and no deadlines :)

February and January Challenge update

1.   Wake up at 5.30 am on weekdays (managed a few days, I always land up sleeping real late so that’s something I need to work on)

2.   Study 1 hour every evening (didn’t manage doing this even for one day, I'm going to try again this month )

3.      Go for two new fitness classes (done – will post and update soon)

4.      Drink more water - 2 bottles (done) 

5.    Gym 5 days a week (done)

6.      Meet up with friends (done)

7.      Publish 20 blog posts (done)

Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 

Tanvee