Food preparation

Food and managing food is one of the most important changes I had to make when I decided to get healthier. 
Is it easy? No.
Is it manageable? offcourse…
Compared to many I have it a little easier because T and me both have the same food, I don’t need to make separate meals, we are both ok with repeating food and most days we have very simple meals.

Lot of people ask me how I do it and my answer has always been the same 'I plan'. Every Friday or Saturday morning I browse my favorite blogs for recipes for the following week. I usually plan only for Monday to Friday. I narrow down 3 main meals and 2 breakfast options and 2 snack options. I make my grocery list and usually Sunday morning we go grocery shopping. Sunday evenings are my cooking time. I will prepare our snacks, breakfast, sometimes I make stews & soups for the week. I even make the marinades, salad dressings for the week if I can. Then during the week all I do is marinade the meat/fish in the morning before work and bake it once I am back from the gym in the evening while my food is baking I prepare my vegetables, sometimes I bake/grill vegetables in bulk other times I make salads which barely take 10 minutes to prepare.

If my planning is done well then you will find me in the kitchen for less than half hour on a weekday not more.

Here is a list of things that makes it easier for me
My usual breakfast is baked oats with fruit and nuts, I make two different batches for the week. My usual snack options are protein balls and egg muffins again I make about 12 each. I always have Greek yoghurt, apples, oranges and bananas around for snacking.

If I don’t plan then my food becomes simpler. Sometimes I might not be able to make my food in advance then my snacks change to fruits and carrot sticks. My breakfast changes to cottage cheese with protein nuts and oats.
I know which recipe websites work for us so most of my recipes are from the same websites. I don’t waste too much time looking for my weekly recipes either, I know what works best for us and that’s what I stick to. I usually try new recipes over the weekend or when I really have more time on my hands.
I stick to recipes with similar ingredients: this is just so I am carrying less stuff back from my shopping trip and it's easier to manage. For example if I have sweet potatoes then my week will definitely include sweet potato mash, baked sweet potatoes and sweet potato patty. Finally for  my dessert I also chop and freeze bananas and grapes.


In short:
Step 1: find recipes (stick to tried and tested)
Step 2: Make grocery list (always keep fruits and carrots around for snacks)
Step 3: Shop
Step 4: Sunday evenings are for chopping, baking, breakfast and snack preparation
Step 5: Every day just do the finishing touches before eating (not more than 30 minutes in the kitchen)

 I don’t think it can get easier than this or maybe it can but this works for me. The only time you will really see me in the kitchen is on a Sunday evening when I am doing my food prep. I hope you find this post helpful, how do you do your food prep?

 

Keep Reading I will Keep Writing      
Tanvee

Unpleasant flashback

I debated a lot before actually writing this because I don’t usually like to discuss negative stuff but after a bit of thinking I realized the same situation can be looked as a learning point (everything has a positive side you just have to look)

Like I told you all I changed my gym with my new membership I was given a free session with any trainer and I chose somebody who specialized in kick boxing. My session was fun, I really enjoyed kick boxing more than I had imagined (I will write another post all about kickboxing and my new Muay Thai class). Anyways the session was good and then we sat down for consultation which was also OK he told me I would need to lose around 6 kgs the minute I heard that number I was in shock.  I know I am not perfect and I have a long way to go in terms of my fitness journey but I was still shocked to hear 6kgs...anyways I told myself that could be one of my new goals but it cannot be my focus because personally I don’t like focusing too much on the weighing machine just because then I tend to move away from actually improving in my fitness and only focusing on that number...

So after this consultation though I was not in a very happy frame of mind but I continued my usual training and then I had the same trainer come up to me when I was training with my friend/fitness buddy (she is definitely more fitter than me) and he compared us which was a big blow to my confidence. In my mind I know my fitness level and I also know my fitness buddies are way ahead but when somebody else comes and compares you it’s a completely different feeling..I didn’t know where to hide. It bought back very unpleasant memories from when I was a fat kid and was compared to my much thinner friends by other instructors

I couldn’t believe that even after coming this far in my journey somebody could make me feel the same way I felt when I weighed my maximum...for some time I didn’t know how to react, I was angry, I was upset, I was really frustrated with myself..I didn't feel good enough...finally after lot of thinking I decided I wasn’t the same person anymore the old me would never go back to face the instructor the new me will go back, I will focus on my goals and not let somebody's opinion stop me...

I am going to keep going back, I am going to give my best and I am going to reach my goals even when some people doubt me...I am going to do what I set out to do!!!

How would you handle such a situation?  or would it not really affect you?

Keep Reading I will Keep Writing     

Tanvee

Strength & Weakness

Stop focusing on weakness

Work on your strengths to reach your goals

All of us irrespective of our weight, our fitness levels have our own special strengths and along with these strength we have our own weakness that keep pulling you back.  Personally I have noticed how both my strength and weakness have affected my fitness plans.

One of my biggest weaknesses is my fears which held me back and still do, maybe not as much as they used to but they still do. So many times I have not done stuff or delayed doing something just because I am scared. I am not even sure scared of what..I worry I won’t be to do something, sometimes I worry people are judging me other times I worry about doing something wrong and hurting myself, I have no idea why I worry so much but I do...anyways I have noticed this weakness slows me down a lot so I have been thinking a lot about how to get over this issue.

Overtime I realized if I focus on my strength it helps me suppress my weakness. For example one of my biggest strength is not giving up and consistency. So every time I get scared to try something new because I am worried about failing I remind myself if I keep getting back up every time I fail and if I am persistent I will get there and that’s how I have been overcoming most of my fear of failing. Another weakness is fear of people judging me and this I handle by involving people who support me, they are my strength. So if I know I have been avoiding something because I am worried about people judging I tell my friends who are stern enough to point it out till I go ahead and do it.. 

List all your strengths and weakness see if you can counteract your weakness with your strengths, it's working for me. I still have my weakness but my strengths are helping me reach my goals.

Keep Reading I will Keep Writing  

Tanvee

Injuries and a new lesson for me

In December I was constantly broken (injured). I hurt my knee, I sprained my right hand in both cases the pain was bad. I was limping and I had to take pain killers just to sleep.
One of the main reasons for both these injuries was not listening to my body and pushing myself more than my body could actually take. I was trying to do too much too soon.
I busted my knee trying to do box jumps. I was introduced to box jumps sometime last year...I was working out with a few friends and box jumps was in our planned routine but something held me back. I was scared I would fall flat on my face this fear of falling stopped me from jumping so while everybody else around me was doing box jumps I used it more like a big step, I couldn't even jump on the lowest box. So box jump was one of my goals. It was more about a facing my fears.Then the other day I saw somebody do box jumps and he had the box aligned with the wall that made perfect sense for me (I was surprised I had not thought of this before) this was a perfect way to prevent me from having a face-plant. So I went and tried my luck at box jumps and after my first few successful jumps I got more confident and added a squat each time I landed then I got over excited and continued doing about 100  box jumps all this was after I had finished my leg session (so my legs were dead even before I started the jumps) anyways I was very happy, I was dancing in my head 

 

(I was jumping like the little penguin in my head)

Finally I was able to conquer my fear and one more goal from my list was crossed off but within a few hours I was limping because my left knee was hurting so much that I could barely lift my leg off the ground . For 2 days I could  barely walk and finally when I was able to move I realized I could not run because every time I did I could feel pain in my knee...so I had to change my entire routine. I have still not got back to using the treadmill at the speed I used to sprint because it's still not completely healed lesson learned!!! 

Finally my thick brain has understood that I need to stop and not get carried away. I always knew you have to listen to your body but till this incident I think I was trying my luck but now I know...if I get carried away I will be pulling myself back.
This post is all about reminding you and reminding myself to stop pushing. I hope all of you have more sense than I have and I hope all of you never ever injure yourself. Take care of yourself only then will you be able to check all the goals from your list

 

Keep Reading I will Keep Writing  

Tanvee

New Gym..New workout

I changed my gym. New gym, new people it was both exciting and scary. A week before I started at my new gym I was scared, I doubted my decision to change gyms because in my old gym I knew people, I had gone for most of the classes and overtime it had become my comfort zone. So as the day to start going to the new gym came closer I started getting a little anxious. 

My new playground

When the day finally came I went to the gym and that’s when I realized how much I have changed in the past year. I was comfortable even in the new environment, there were lot of new machines and I was confident enough to read and try them or ask one of the floor instructors how to use them.

That got me thinking what changed? In the past year my weight has not really changed much, I am in maintenance mode so that can’t be the reason...the one thing that has changed is my Attitude (I have a long way to go still but I have also come a long way)

This time when I entered the gym I entered with an attitude to improve, to learn new stuff. I did not think a lot about other people in the gym or about making a fool of myself. I went there with one intention ‘To improve’ and the more I focused on that the more I enjoyed myself.

I was OK with making mistakes, I was OK with being a new comer and I was OK with being a student to anyone who was better and I was OK with being judged. I literally told myself ‘Tanvee you planned to change the gym because you wanted to try new stuff, because you wanted to become better just keep that in mind’ and that’s exactly what I did and I am so glad I did this.

Things to keep in mind next time I am out of my comfort zone

• Always keep focus on why I am doing it 
• It’s ok to make mistakes – I am there to learn and improve 
• Don’t compare!!! Don’t compare
• Try new stuff (don’t say no just because I am scared of people judging or not being able to do it)

Hope you find this post useful :)

Keep Reading I will Keep Writing  

Tanvee 

Blah day!!!

Some days just don't start right, like today did not start on my usual happy note :( everything seemed to go wrong..I woke up later than I had planned to, my scales were not very friendly and my gym buddy backed out last minute..
So I sat there upset and not feeling very good about myself, I was doubting myself and my fitness journey. I was complaining and then T said to me 'I am surprised at the way you are behaving, you sound just like you used to when you started this journey...' I  needed those exact words because it reminded me how far I have come and that I don't ever want to go back to where I had started. I have come a long way not only with my fitness but also my attitude towards life so when T said it sounds like I am going back to square one I had to stop what I was doing...I had to step away from my own negative thoughts so that I don't go in a downward spiral and that's exactly what I did
I told myself...
It's not easy, It's not supposed to be easy (I can do not easy, I can do it, I can do it, I can do it)
Bad mood, low self confidence can never be my excuse
If the scale is not my friend the gym definitely needs to be my best friend
I love being the consistent one, I love being the one who keeps going and I blindly believe in hard-work for me there is no other way.
After all my self pep talk I got ready to sweat it out. 2 minutes in the gym changes everything for me, my focus shifts from scales to challenging myself. I change from not feeling good about myself to thinking about how to improve and at some point I stop thinking, I only focus on my breathing and how my muscles feel (I can't stress over how much love it!!!)

Anyways workout done I feel so much better and I smile all the way back home :)

Keep Reading I will Keep Writing  

Tanvee

Trying to find the right balance

I have heard a lot of people complain about 24 hrs not being enough I find 7 days not enough :). My problem is deciding a good workout plan, I don’t feel like giving up on any of my workouts and this results in me working-out minimum 6 days a week. Which OK but sometimes I get really tired, my poor muscles are sore if I skip one of my workouts then I am in more trouble because somehow my mind doesn’t let me skip a workout I have this need to cover up my missed workout by adding that workout to some other day. This way either I lose out on my rest day or more often than less I do an extra work out on one of the other days and the cycle of tired muscles continues

I feel like I want it all, I want to improve my strength, I want to  become a runner, I want to try new classes and I am not willing to give up on any of my classes, I have already stopped zumba because I can’t fit it in my schedule any more. 

My week looks like this (most of my sessions are 45 minutes)

Running (2 runs at normal speed, 1 interval training and 1 long run)

Spin/RPM (twice a week: Tuesday and Thursday)

Circuit/Body pump (once a week: Saturday)

20-30 minutes Hill training (once a week: Saturday)

Weights: 3 time a week (excluding body pump/circuit)

One day Rest

There are some new classes in the gym that I want to try without giving up on my above schedule, doesn’t seem possible, so I am looking at creating a better and more productive plan. Somebody suggested instead of weekly plans I should spread all my workouts over two weeks..

What do you all do? Do any of you go through this or am I the only weird one?

Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 

Tanvee