song of the road

Made only a little bit progress. Did not feel ill whole day today. There was enough to drive me mad at work today. Think did go mad a few times. But handled well. Not too stressed. The last meeting where UK boss was there could have gone better but can live with it. Will do better tomorrow. Had been quite positive whole day today. Maybe I will do the adoption soon. I feel very good about it.

Need to plan my food a little bit better. I did not slip a lot today but could have done better. Would do better. Maybe I will sign up for a 6 km run this January - dream run in Mumbai Marathon. That would be really good. I think signing up will start in September. There is enough time to practice.

Goals

1. Drink more water. - I have drunk 7 cups of tea and 2 cups of water today. Not good.
2. Get 7+ hours sleep. - should be able to manage 7 if I go to sleep in 5 min.
3. Eat sensibly. - Not totally sensible today.
4. Try to blog more regularly. - well, yes.

I need to slide back in to the groove. Things have been all right but could be better on weight loss front. I have been sick or not very well last few weeks. Had flu twice. Once had to leave work in the middle of the training and went to the emergency (I wasn’t that unwell but couldn’t get a doctor in the middle of the afternoon). My digestion is out of whack still. Need to see a doctor on that. Must get around to that on Monday. Hopefully it is something fixable easily. A gall bladder stones problem hangs above my head. That needs to be faced too. Anyway, I have not been very hungry and had not had much outside food. I am at 164 and haven’t gained anything. Haven’t lost anything either. Now need to start eating better and start working out. I am planning to give myself another week before I start working out. Meanwhile stick to easily digestible (read less protein) and low fat food.

My plan then is to

1. Drink more water. (I am not doing well in that front for some weeks now. Must improve.)
2. Get 7+ hours sleep. (Have been doing well there, just because I have been very tired.)
3. Eat sensibly.
4. Try to blog more regularly.

Because

1. I want to look good

2. I want to wear pretty clothes

3. I want to have more energy

4. I want to be more attractive

5. I feel I will be more confident

6. I will feel accomplished

7. My diabetes will be almost cured

8. I will have lovely legs

9. I will look good in pretty glasses

10. I want to feel good

11. It would be getting back to people who I feel had rejected me because of my looks

12. I will be beautiful AND intelligent

13. I may be able to try some sports

14. I may be able to try dancing

15. I would look good in a Sari

16. I would look good with proper makeup

17. My hairstyle choices would increase

18. I would feel more sexy

I know some of the reasons are silly. Also surprised that I could not think of more reasons. Since losing weight is such an all consuming wish, shouldn’t I have felt that more things would change. In fact I had to stop and stretch at the end of that list. I think I like myself quite a lot actually.

Back now after 6 weeks of fun, adventure, work? Did enjoy my trip to UK thoroughly. Let me see, I visited Leeds, London, Doncaster, York, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Bournemouth during my stay there. I met Round and walked all over London which was beyond awesome and deserves a separate post and photos. I met my uncle and aunt whom I have met about thrice in my whole life and they were pure sweethearts. Then I met my cousin (their son) whom I have met once when I was 5 and he was 3. He was very sweet and very interesting. Also I was favorably impressed by him even before I met him only because he studied in MIT. I know, bragging, but can’t help. Then when I met my UK project mates in Bournemouth, they were so nice to me. My manager and her hubby took me around for a whole day in a camp-a-van (a large van which can be used for camping as it has fridge, stove, bed, lockers - can’t hide how much fun the van seemed to be, I would love one). Out of the 10 days in Bournemouth, I went out for drinks and dinner with folks (not the colleagues from Mumbai) about 5 times or so which is a record for a recluse like me. There was not one weekend when I was home reading and resting. Every Saturday I picked up my backpack and went somewhere except on the Sunday when I met my cousin. I can’t believe how well we got on, we spoke for ages as if we have always known each other. I went to Edinburgh alone and enjoyed immensely. All in all, I was happy as I never expected to be.

And to cap it all, I went at 165 pounds and came back same. Can you believe it? Well, I did walk a lot on weekends and some during weekdays. Had to carry a heavy laptop bag. In Leeds cooked and ate mostly healthy food except for a moderate obsession of Doritos with gaucamole/hummus. In Bournemouth ate a huge breakfast at the hotel and the rest of the day ate quite less. Drank beer and cider all days I went out in Bmth. Somehow it all worked out and I didn’t gain any weight.

And I am back now. Happy to be home. Buying a new apartment in outskirts of Mumbai. Would start the l0an pr0cessing in a few days. Should move to the new house by early next month. Lots to do. Things at work looking good. Have settled down to a not-so-comfortable-yet-in-it-truce. Somehow feel confident and at peace. Boss seems to be favoring me a tiny bit. Got a hike too, as I joined this job at a salary much lower than my peers as I had left my last job without any and did not negotiate when offered this one. I was not particularly bothered about the lower salary too. Somehow this happened on its own as a market correction thing. My boss rooted for me and got this done. This is the part where I should be getting scared that things are going a little too well and bad times must be around the corner. Well, there has been a few downs too which hasn’t been big deals and have bothered me very less. And I feel strangely calm. So I am just being in my peace and we will see how life unfolds.

Back to health now. Got a cold from the climate change. It is raining heavily here. Mumbai looks green. My view will be gone in a few weeks. The new apartment doesn’t have such a view, nor such gorgeous windows. But it does have a biggish (by Mumbai standards) terrace which should do very well. There is a gym in that apartment. Also I got a call from my elusive trainer which is a good omen. I have also joined the Summer Focus group - summer diet buddies.

My plan of action is as below. Hopefully I will be able to stick to most of it.

My current weight is 165 lbs. I would like to be 155 lbs by labor day (7th Sept) which is 8 weeks away. I would love to touch 150 lbs by then but 155 would be very satisfactory.

Things I want to do and track

1. Work out 4 times a week
2. Drink 2+ liters of water daily
3. Sleep for more than 7 hours
4. Eat a good breakfast and no carb at night
5. De-stress and be happy
6. Blog 3 times a week

things are not so good in the weight loss front. I have gained 6 lbs. 2/3rd of my good work wiped off as of this morning. The only good thing is I have been consistently upset about the loss of healthy habits. Maybe I should let go and enjoy more. I am enjoying quite a lot. But not been able to stick to my habits formed with so much care.

1. Drink 2+ liters of water - Partially yes. Most of the days I am able to do this. Though it is difficult in the new office. I recognize thirst pretty often. It is bad. I have strayed from having more protein to more carb. I am sure my sugar is up and hence the thirst. working on it. 
2. Sleep 7 hours - Yes. I think I am sleeping about 8 most days. Still not completely settled down to the time zone here. Plus the constant worry that I am neglecting work. Also the ever presence of sunlight is a bit distracting. But still sleeping deceltly well.
3. Have low fat dairy - Nope. None. Have bought some skimmed milk but yet to drink it. Not a fan. No low fat cheese around either.
4. No carb at night - Nope. None. My roomie eats a normal dinner. Plus she is my subordinate at work. She is cooking mostly. I have not been able to set up alternatives. Nor have been able to say no. Actually that is wrong. I can say no. But I didn’t have any better option. Also felt like eating a somewhat proper (really? it is so carb heavy. no it is all carb completely) dinner. Must do something here - at least for weekdays. This I believe is the biggest contributor to my weight gain. 
5. Stick to planned meals - Doesn’t look possible at the moment. I mean I am eating regular meals. Can’t say they are particularly unhealthy. Too much bread though.
6. Work out 3-5 times a week - ha ha. Well, on second thoughts I walk to work everyday. That’s about 20 mins. Have been on two around 1 hr walks day before yesterday - one on city center and other by riverside. Both awesome. And a few 15 mins walks to buy lunch. Anyways have gone and got a card for the gym in this apartment’s sister apartment. Definitely want to go and sweat some today evening. MAybe that will lift the funk a bit.
7. Work on de-stressing - Hmm. I am feeling so low about the fact that most of my weight loss got wiped off. The dresses are tight again. I wish at least this had not happened. Work is as usual i.e. I am not doing enough. Hope the working out today evening would work. I feel I am not particularly good company for my roomie - do I really need to stress about that too??
8. Blog everyday with a status - Nope. Don’t see happening. Will try.

Quite a whiny post, eh? To sum up - yes I am sick about the weight gain. I do hope a few workouts and good sleep will get me back somewhat. Because agree that I have eaten carbs but I really have not eaten too much. I have not eaten anything fried. I have managed to not try out the new brands of crisps here. I have eaten only 3 meals. Anyways enough on that. Things will be okay.

What has not come out above is I am enjoying Ebgland quite a bit. I love how long the days are here. Unbelievable. This is one thing I would love to have back home. I used to go to work early morning and never saw the sun on the way back. Now I see the Sun so much more. Then the weather. It’s super now. The roads are so clean and buildings beautiful. I have taken some snaps. Would take some more. We went to the city center during lunch one day. It did seem that whole of Leeds have come out in the Sun. It was an exceptionally nice day. It was vibrating with life. I need to explore the shops a bit later on. The riverside walk was very sweet too. I would be meeting round in London tomorrow. yay!! I am going to my uncle’s place later tomorrow evening. Should make another trip to London next weekend again. Hopefully would try to go to Yorn and/or Lake country. Then there’s Bournemouth and maybe a shortie to London again. We would go out for dinner and drinks a few times too. So all in all - a very happening trip travelwise I think.

Writing all this down has helped considerably. Feeling a lot better.

Hope you all are doing much better. Wish all of us a lot of good luck and good intentions.

1. Drink 2+ liters of water - Yes
2. Sleep 7 hours - Yes.
3. Have low fat dairy - yes. Had 2 packs of buttermilk.
4. No carb at night - No. Had a sandwich about 9:30 pm. So this is not fully done. But because it was still about an hour before bedtime, I am not too upset.
5. Stick to planned meals - Mostly. Had that grilled cheese sandwich again. Instead of chilli. So not much problem calorie-wise, I think. Had one piece of sweet and a tiny cookie as well. So not the best but okay.
6. Work out 3-5 times a week - not done. Again was way too tired. Literally felt burnt out last night. If I work out today, it will be 3 times this week and I will meet the goal barely. 
7. Work on de-stressing - Listened to music at night to fall asleep instead of eating to beat the stress. Apart from that one thing, was very stressed.
8. Blog everyday with a status - done.

The stress is too much. The work load is too much. Still more changes in work. Do not really see how and when it will go down. So need to devise ways to beat the stress and to keep calm and feel as cheery as possible. Only reason I sometimes don’t feel like eating well is because I am too tired or worried or scared. Otherwise I think I have made a dent on being healthy. Or maybe I have spoken too soon. Anyway, this weekend I want to think of ways by which I can manage stress at work.

How are you all doing? I hope you are having much more success than me. A big hug to all of you.

1. Drink 2+ liters of water - Yes
2. Sleep 7 hours - not today. Should be able to clock in 6.
3. Have low fat dairy - yes. Had the buttermilk.
4. No carb at night - done.
5. Stick to planned meals - yes.
6. Work out 3-5 times a week - yes. had another 12.5 hr day but made it to gym too. Today morning’s intense heartache helped. The same old elliptical and 30 mins but on increased intensity interval. Heart rate did go up a lot.
7. Work on de-stressing - Was very stressed in the morning but that ended positively as I think I have now made a dent. Have got things started at many places which should get results.
8. Blog everyday with a status - done.

1. Drink 2+ liters of water - Yes
2. Sleep 7 hours - plan to. Had about 6. need to do some catch up soon. feeling very sleepy this morning.
3. Have low fat dairy - yes. Had the buttermilk.
4. No carb at night - done. NO.
5. Stick to planned meals - mostly. NO.
6. Work out 3-5 times a week - not done. was too tired at the end of the 13 hour work day. really wanted to go to gym but need to work a lot tomorrow too. That wouldn’t have worked out.
7. Work on de-stressing - not much. Went to work early. But got caught up with some issues and spent about 4 hours on that. And then had back to back meetings forever. Still loads left to do. Need to go early tomorrow again. Curiously I am not much thinking about it.
8. Blog everyday with a status - done.

Not a very good day. But quite okay. Well, that was what I wrote last night. Then I had, let me see - piece of cheese, two tiny protein cookies (tasted like crap), big bowl of noodle soup with a lot of noodle and tons of salt, one more small but at least delish cookie. It was sooo stupid. I am feeling sick this morning (not emotionally so much but physically sick - got up with headache and bad feelings in tummy). Somewhat better now. But I still feel unrested. I couldn’t have my usual breakfast and had it at work - no major damage there. Anyway, what’s done is done. It was so not worth it. The noodle soup didn’t taste all that good plus I was reading so I didn’t notice the taste much too. Note to self - next time take a bath - it is way more pleasant. Of course my weight has jumped back to old friend 169. That’s not bothering me too much. It will get down again. What’s bothering me a bit is why didn’t I try to go to sleep straight after a bath or maybe some music to calm myself. I was quite happy whole day that the scale did show 165 lb (my goal #1 - I wanted it to stay for a few days before making it official). So I asked myself if I did this to sabotage my weight-loss. I don’t really think so. I think it was the stress I carried home from work. So anyway, not only for weight loss but for some peace and health, I must stick to my no-carb at night. It keeps me much saner. At least this has been a good lesson. Rant over and back to work.

1. Drink 2+ liters of water - Yes
2. Sleep 7 hours - plan to.
3. Have low fat dairy - yes. Had the buttermilk. Tasty and low cal. I read a great article some time back. Really plan to find and link it. They mentioned an experiment where it was proved that increasing intake of dairy helps in getting more fat out of your body through bowel movements. Hence the fixation on dairy. Though milk/cheese is otherwise very good too.
4. No carb at night - yes
5. Stick to planned meals - yes.
6. Work out 3-5 times a week - done for today. Spent 30 mins interval on old elliptical. So not that intense but okay.
7. Work on de-stressing - have too much work. too little time to get into everything. need to find time to plan. meanwhile fire-fighting everywhere. will have to sort it out. somehow that 30 mins workout gave me a high. felt much better post workout. I am somehow not quite sure it was the workout.
8. Blog everyday with a status - done.

I was weighing myself today morning. It showed 166 lb. Yay!!! If I can keep things within control this week, who knows I may see my first goal (165 lb) this weekend. That will be really cool. It is okay if it doesn’t happen. I normally lose weight super-slowly. (It is 168 lb for the Spring Focus roundup. This could be a bit of a fluke. We need to see for a few days).

The idea of spreading out your goals was nice. It would be an achievement to meet the first goal. Whereas the big goal is so far away, thinking about it is a bit worrying. A lot of hard work to do. But I would get there 1 lb at a time. Also I am now in to “ovreweight” from “obese”. So that is a good thing too.

By the way, I have opened an account in f1tday and trying to log my food and activities. It is a bit of a struggle as not much Indian foods are listed. I have been creating custom foods like mad. While searching for calorie values saw a few more webpages which perhaps is better than the one I have chosen but they are paid. Let me stay with this one for a while and let me see if it helps and perhaps I can move over to a paid one or maybe not. So anyway I am adding up ingredients etc to figure out calories and since my measurement is not that accurate, the calories are quite approximate. I am hitting around 1800 one way or other. Some things may be a little low calorie if I break them ingredient-wise. It will need some more work and getting used to. Also time to log everything. I am hoping this would help that little bit more.

Wish you a good week ladies.