song of the road

1. Drink 2+ liters of water - yes.
2. Sleep 7 hours - yes.
3. Have low fat dairy - yes.
4. No carb at night - yes
5. Stick to planned meals - mostly yes. The salad packed for evening went a little bad. I had a bit of snacks from cafetaria which while healthy was very less. So back home had a bowl of curry and a bowl of low fat yoghurt. No damage done.
6. Work out 3-5 times a week - Did not go to gym yesterday.
7. Work on de-stressing - The work is piling up as usual. So a little stressed. Need to devise ways to be more efficient.
8. Blog everyday with a status - done.

1. Drink 2+ liters of water - yes.
2. Sleep 7 hours - slept about 6.5 hrs.
3. Have low fat dairy - not done.
4. No carb at night - not done
5. Stick to planned meals - not done. Did not have food from home. Nothing was planned.
6. Work out 3-5 times a week - Did not go to gym today.
7. Work on de-stressing - Good. Went out with a co-worker. He talked and gossiped. It was cool. Had a chat with bro and s-i-l when I came back. Was not very stressed yesterday.
8. Blog everyday with a status - done.

1. Drink 2+ liters of water - yes.
2. Sleep 7 hours - Just made it.
3. Have low fat dairy - had my one piece of cheese of about 60 cal. .
4. No carb at night - done
5. Stick to planned meals - almost done. Had a grilled cheese sandwich after gym instead of my regular protein shake.
6. Work out 3-5 times a week - Went to gym today. Did 20 mins on the treadmill and 5 mins on a new elliptical and about 2 mins of cycling. Well, the new elliptical was very tough. The one I use normally was not working. I couldn’t survive more than 5 mins on the new one. Should be able to do more next time. So the work-out was about okay. Plan to do only cardio till I leave for UK.
7. Work on de-stressing - Not bad. We had the meeting. I came out more or less unscathed. My manager did not screw up my team. I have to give up one girl sometime in next couple of months. Compared to the damage I was expecting this was nothing. In fact my manager wanted to take away 1 out my 3 super-acheivers and give to V. But V was an idiot and let that slip out of his hand. I may still need to give up this guy later. Not ideal but I can live with it. V made some noises about it was not fair to let me have all of the good team (which I had built by the way) but wasn’t listened to much. So I am okay. I mostly listened to in the meeting and did not say anything stupid or emotional at all. I can stick on to doing my job well and let it be for the time being. I was seriously stressed before the meeting - all stomach ache, shivers, chills etc. But was so relieved afterwards. Almost lightheaded with relief. I cannot really let my guard down but this battle has been won. Thank you everyone (especially Round for being so nice, empathetic and literally holding my hand). I wanted to eat something badly afterwards. Sort of held on and sort of didn’t have much opportunity till late evening when I had that cheese sandwich. I could have done without it perhaps but can’t bother to feel too bad. It was sooooo yummy - the smell of butter and grilled cheese was awesome.
8. Blog everyday with a status - done.

Today is not going to be too good. I have to meet a friend after work. So no gym. He has specifically wanted to go for pizza. I either would have a small one or try to order a salad. I would invite some snaryky comments if I order salad plus I would love a pizza more anyway. So let’s see what I do. Maybe I would read a few of your blogs before leaving and gather the willpower for salad. I wouldn’t mind eating the salad at all. It’s just awkward to order salad. No one normal (in our stupid standards) orders salad when eating out. Anyways, enough on that. I came to work at 6 am to attend a class happening from NY. The instructor didn’t turn up. So no class, no packed lunch, no chickpea salad (which I am getting bored of - need to think up something different this weekend - maybe I will make veg chilli and freeze it). I think my meals won’t be super-healthy today. Will try to stick to the straight and narrow as much as possible. Meanwhile will think one day of slightly higher calories will rev up the metabolism and actually help me lose more. See I have no lack of excuses to slip.

Guess I have been too stressed last few weeks with crazy amount of work and V. I just cannot feel too worried about the fact that today won’t be a very good day. I will take that as an improvement to my tempearment and move on. I will be back with my boxes and gym bag tomorrow.

Love you everyone. Hope you all are doing well. I will try to do a quick check on your blogs. If not today, I definitely plan to check on each of you on weekend. Best of luck!

1. Drink 2+ liters of water - Drank just about 2 liters. I think I will drink a few more sips now.
2. Sleep 7 hours - Plan to do. slept about 6.5 hrs last night.
3. Have low fat dairy - had one piece of cheese of about 60 cal. Need to buy some other brand. This one though low cal, is high salt.
4. No carb at night - done
5. Stick to planned meals - almost done. Had one stupid cookie which was not tasty. neither am I all that crazy about cookies. more on this later.
6. Work out 3-5 times a week - Went to gym today. Did 45 mins on the elliptical. Need to get hold of my regular trainer. The work out was good but not that sweaty.
7. Work on de-stressing - Hmmm. I would say I managed plenty well. I almost fell asleep at work once. I have a meeting at 10 tomorrow where my team would be split. That hurts physically. I made lists on why I would be okay and how I rock. I need to get through tomorrow gracefully. I know how much I am hating to give up some of my guys. But that’s not the end of the world. I cannot screw up things here by being unprofessional. I almost went to have a masala dosa (savoury thin rice pancake with spicy potato fillling) because I was worried and was feeling sick. Then I was told about the meeting tomorrow. I was hit so hard that I actually turned back and picked up my packed from home snack of chickpea salad. It was plenty difficult to eat the salad. I kept on feeling like throwing up. Then I had too much work and later left for gym. So today is over. Tomorrow will be too. From the big picture view I am really freaking out over a non-issue. Wish my heart would understand.
8. Blog everyday with a status - done.

1. Drink 2+ liters of water - Drank slightly more than 3 liters. I think it is only the heat and not my blood sugar acting up. Anyway will get the report tomorrow. I do hope to be within normal. I have been quite good food-wise this last month.
2. Sleep 7 hours - Yet to do.
3. Have low fat dairy - 200 ml of buttermilk.
4. No carb at night - done
5. Stick to planned meals - done
6. Work out 3-5 times a week - Went to gym today. Did 30 mins on the elliptical and then walked for 5 mins. It’s been a long-ish break. Need a few days to be back in to the groove.
7. Work on de-stressing - Done. The working out helped a bit. In the morning wrote down the things I have achieved in my current job and the things I want to achieve. That calmed me down a lot. Also V was on leave today, so that was a surprise reprieve. (I know how that sounds, I am working on the issue).
8. Blog everyday with a status - done.

This is how I fared on my plan on the first day

1. Drink 2+ liters of water - done. It is sooo hot here, not very sure if this was enough.
2. Sleep 7 hours - done.
3. Have low fat dairy - 200 ml of buttermilk.
4. No carb at night - done
5. Stick to planned meals - done
6. Work out 3-5 times a week - nope
7. Work on de-stressing - Done. As in I was a bit nervous about going back to work on Monday - both a mix of generic Monday morning blues and my current stress. Did some positive talking to self. Have a working strategy to how to tackle this. Will have to bear the rest. Plan to work out. That should help a lot.
8. Blog everyday with a status - done.

Today is May 8. My weight this Saturday is 169 lb.

Goal #1 - 165 lb
Goal #2 - 155 lb
Goal #3 - 147 lb
Goal #4 - 138 lb
Goal #5 - 130 lb
Goal #6 - 120 lb

Then I would have 6 weeks there

Plan for first 3 weeks

1. Drink 2+ liters of water
2. Sleep 7 hours
3. Have low fat dairy
4. No carb at night
5. Stick to planned meals - low carb, more protein, more veggies, some fruit
6. Work out 3-5 times a week
7. Work on de-stressing
8. Blog everyday with a status

I am 4 lbs away from my first goal. Would like to meet that before going to UK. In UK, I would love to lose weight but would be okay to maintain.

Every Saturday I will rate myself to see how I did on my plan and may tweak the plan a bit. Also will weigh on Saturday.

Would need a new plan once outside Mumbai. Because not sure if I will be able to cook. Almos every weekend I will be out. Hopefully won’t be too stressed. I think I will play the first week by ear and make as healthy choices as possible. After that I should be able to make a plan. Do want to work out when there - 3-4 times a week. Else workout DVDs or walking.I think I will have to give running outside gym a chance. Because for only walking to have any effect - I would need to walk for like 4 hours. I know loads of folks lose weight only by walking. I feel that they either do a tremendous job on their dieting or they are at the beginning of their weight loss journey. I feel walking won’t cut it for me. Running should - as I hate it.

I need to work on de-stressing. Mr. V would be here and he would be screwing my happiness periodically. That can’t be helped. To be fair - he also can’t help it. He is also caught in a bad situation and he can’t go against his nature. My boss has caused this situation. Most likely he didn’t have a choice too. He often seems to favour me. Maybe I am mis-reading the situation, but it does seem so. So the key to the whole thing for me is to hang on to my sanity. I cannot come across as an unbalanced negative person. They will shake their heads and say “she is good but cannot handle a little difficulty”. The work is really so much that a little split would only help me. I think the only thing that is bothering me is that V would like to take away some of my current team. I don’t want that. I love my team and it physically hurts to think that I have to do without some of the good guys. My boss has sort of agreed that it wouldn’t be fair to give away my hard work on a platter. But that meeting is yet to happen. I am not quite sure I would be able to win that battle. I hope to. Anyways whatever happens I should be okay. I will try my best to keep all the good performers to my side. Then I will have to move on and make the best of it. Actually the hardest part is there cannot be moving on. Both V and my then-ex-team-members would be around and my peace would keep on getting disturbed. But that really is whining too much, isn’t it? I mean I must have that much toughness and detachment to be able to deal with it. It’s not for me to run the whole world - I mean the tiny piece of the world at work which has like 15 people in it. I need to read some good books on chilling out and inceasing mental toughness. And focus on weight loss and some other long pending personal projects. Things will be okay. If they are not okay, I will still live and happily too. I am going to work my 11 hours a day and what I can do within that is good, what I can’t I am not going to worry too much. I will work on devising ways to delegate and make things more efficient but I am not going to brood over it.

I am already feeling a lot better after writing all that down. I think I will spend some time everyday to blog to clear my head.

Love you all ladies. Hope you are doing well on your quest to good health and happiness. My best wishes are with you.

I am in with Round’s spring focus challenge. I do plan to focus a bit more on my weight loss. Things have drifted a bit. I am still positive that I will make it. I will make my goals this weekend.

I called in sick today. The stress and crazy schedule of the last few weeks have caught up. More so the stress of Mr. V. Most of the times I feel I have made my peace with the situation. Then it keeps hitting me again and again. I know I will be okay. But for now I am immensely tired and quite dispirited. Reading loads. The obsession with google reader continues.

I need to gather my wits a bit to continue. Hope that will happen this weekend.

How do all of you put up such rocking titles for your posts. All I can think of are - “Hanging on”, “Checking in”, “Well…” and occasionally “Beside the point”. Oh well. Let me see if anything pops to my mind by the end of the piece.

I am bang in the middle of the implementation. We would be working nights tonight and tomorrow. After that things should settle to normal to an extent. Well, not really - but no harm hoping, right? Tons of things that I have been neglecting in last few weeks would need to be done. Then the trip to UK end of May. Preparations for that. Since we would be in UK for about 6 weeks, wanted to get serviced apartments as accommodation. Looks like that may not work for the whole trip. In a hotel where all we would perhaps be able to do is to make tea - diet would get tough. I would need to look up cheap raw food options. Salads are going to be my friend. Salads are not my strength yet. Maybe that will be one positive change that would come about. Let’s see. I am going to do everything reasonable to stick to eating healthy. I would need to try eating some new things too. Well, being predominantly vegetarian anyways limits choices to an extent. So challenges ahead. Also how to find a gym nearby which will let me work out for a few weeks for not an exorbitant fee. I am not good in walking or running outside gym. I am too self-conscious plus I will slow down continuously. I need a moving belt below my feet to keep me moving. As the last option, I would take a couple of workout videos with me. But I would prefer a gym where I can put in cardio effort regularly.

The last week has been a mixed one. I had zero exercise. For most part ate well. Almost all days were hairy at work. Could not eat for long periods. Got very stressed. My whole body is aching with the stress and worry. But anyway the job is getting done and I am learning a lot. Also the satisfaction of getting the job done is immense too. So back to eating - most times made healthy choices. One night came home late - very tired and a bit dispirited. Had another mini binge. Again not too many bad things but some sweets etc. Had a headache next day. In fact had a row 3 or 4 headaches last week. Downed some pain medications. Then next Saturday my right palm and fingers swelled some. The skin was tightened and it was mildly disturbing. It went down after a while. Maybe it was too much stress, too many pain medication, too many cups of black tea or the lack of exercise. I have checked. I have not gained any weight. Hopefully can lose some by end of this week. I have been trying to drink enough water. I think I did manage to do that most days last week.

What I need more of and must work on is enough sleep. I ate badly only because I was tired and could not sleep. I read somewhere that proper and full sleep is a must. Lack of sleep causes unnecessary hunger. Just sleeping can cause weight loss. It is soooo hot in Mumbai these days. Need some rain soon. We have not bothered to put an AC in our home. So the nights can be very hot. What I need to do when I am back from work is to take a shower immediately. That helps in cooling down and brings sleep and washes away some stress. I instead open my laptop to catch up some updates on my google reader (this is becoming a bit of an obsession) and keep on and on till literally my head drops off on the keyboard. I end up eating sometimes at this time. So I eat more, sleep less, gain weight and am tired next day and more tea and some times pain medication. So sleep I must. I think the shower would do the trick. Will try that this week.

I have got awfully hooked to google reader. Mainly I have subscribed to many fitness/weightloss feeds. They keep me focussed. Also I have got connected some generally interesting blogs on humor, writing and India. So I have always too much to read and catch up on. Not a very bad situation as such. But the organizer person wants to not see so many unread items there. But I can’t get myself to unsubscribe too. I read a few favorite blogs and the 3FC blogs first thing when I find time. The rest I read as and when I find time. My reading fiction has taken a backseat for now. Annie’s post reminded me that I have a hill of files and papers to be sorted and filed. They are stacked on a chair in my bedroom. Need to get around to that. Hopefully this weekend. I have time today but no intention. Definitely a guest cannot come to this room. I need to devise a way to stay clean and organized with minimum effort.

Love to you all beautiful ladies. Let us all stick to the path leading to our goals and enjoy the scenery on the way.

If No One Ever Marries Me

If no one ever marries me –
And I don’t see why they should,
For nurse says I’m not pretty,
And I’m seldom very good –

If no one ever marries me
I shan’t mind very much,
I shall buy a squirrel in a cage
And a little rabbit-hutch;

I shall have a cottage near a wood,
And a pony all my own,
And a little lamb, quite clean and tame,
That I can take to town.

And when I’m getting really old –
At twenty-eight or nine –
I shall buy a little orphan-girl
And bring her up as mine.

by Lawrence Alma-Tadema