A break and travel plans :)

Apologies to those who ventured here and found no updates. I guess I just needed a break from calorie counting, running and body pump. January gave it to me, in different forms. I found various reasons to do none of the above - valid and invalid!

 

I guess its high time timeI  buckle up with running atleast given that the 10 k is a month away! Even though the highlight of January was the overeating I did at a friend's wedding, I am not beating myself up over it. Its over and I cannot do anything except pick up lessons.

 

I guess the biggest challenge is up my sleeve. We are going to Delhi on a four day trip for the Scientist's colleague's wedding. We will stay with a close friend of mine from college. I sure am excited to meet her and a bit nervous too. Nervous for a host of reasons including whether she will judge my size, my husband and my cracked heels. I am also nervous as always when I travel with the toddler. The cold in delhi also scares the Madrasi in me a bit.

 

We are packed and all set to fly out tonight. Usually entering the airport sets off a switch in my head which allows me to eat anything in sight. And the vacation mentality as well. I wish I will stay sane this time and ofcourse I will update :)

 

Have a great week ahead and I will be back on the other side of the weekend!

Post wedding fatigue

Back to work time, after the awesome wedding celebrations!!!

Its always hard to get back to routine, no? And even though I had crossed my heart about getting this morning's run, I decided to take it easy and sleep in. Minimal sleep was had the past week and I just could not shake it off. Plus its always glorious to be back home in your own bed and your pillow and have your own bathroom back, right?

Not so bad food choices were made. I really took it easy on the food, and was able to stay well in control most of the time. My weight has stayed the same, I guess. But the only problem now is quite the supply of the wedding sweets. I will have to keep my defences up! And I will go to the body pump class tomorrow. The Bangalore Ultra 2012 - where I'll be doing the 12.5 k run is less than 20 days away! Yikes !!!I better get my act together!

Facing my trouble areas!

My alarm was set to 5 a.m for this morning. Before I knew it I was cardioing my way through my work out. Yes my muscles thanked me profusely for having given them some work after a long break. I enjoy working out.

But my hard work is easily thwarted by poor eating ways. I went right back to poor eating over the vacation. I polished off more than half the anniversary cake and found myself fighting far too hard to stay away from the dessert section at the buffet. Although we did stay away from the buffet itself most meals, the cake and the carbohydrate overdose won over my will power and I conceded to gaining 1.5 kgs in 4 days. During my stay at Chennai, however, I behaved impeccably and food was just fuel.

Much damage was also done in the Saturday evening and Sunday following our return. Pizza, burgers and icecream was not refused. Vegetable and fruit supply was low. Banana Chips were singing lilting romances to my name.

Food wise, today was not bad. But not as good as it was immediately before the vacation. I don't believe I was stupid enough to squander away my hard work!I was craving sugar as I began typing out this post. But writing this down has  lifted the fog from my mind. My goal is clear once again. And I vow to do all it takes to win this battle against food!

I have logged back into my food and weight journal. And I'm off to lay work out clothes for tomorrow morning. Afterall, what matters is not those few days I mess up. But how fast, I can get up, dust my butt and get it going in the right direction!

Right guys?

Packed bags.

Note to self:

Ok. The vacation is here. You must enjoy enjoyself, as you are going on a real vacation after very very long. You deserve one. And you know there is an added ocassion too. However, please don't let it turn into an unlimited sugar party that lasts for a week. Eat sensibly. Restrict eating to meal times. Please think before you eat, you do not want to work on getting out of the enormous eighties once again. You know the option of having some sort of exercise is always available, and I'm proud that you've packed your running shoes and work out gear. I trust you will make the best of this break.

Note to readers:

I will be off for a week. We will however be carrying laptop and ipad, and be accessible to internet most of the time. Will post if I find the time and reason. Stay tuned for the holiday update next Sunday :)

A Whirlwind weekend that lasted for four awesome days

Last week, my weekend began on Thursday morning. We did a road trip to do some temple touring and the ritual of Chittu’s second tonsure. The trip was simply fantastic, the stay comfortable, the travel smooth and the darshan at all temples was soul food. At Chidambaram, I hit a new found love for Lord Nataraja – the lord of the cosmic dance. All in all, we returned home on Saturday night – tired, but happy troopers. The belt where we went visiting is so rich in Hindu heritage that three days is too little time to cover even important temples.

Sunday, that is yesterday, was the day of Chitrasanthe 2012, an annual one-day exhibition of art, in the form of paintings. A whole road near the plush golf course is cordoned off to host the exhibition, which is a visual treat. We made some purchases as well, thus making the last weekend, a very expensive one!

All my plans of sensible eating got thrown out of the window on day one of the tour, and I had my little food party. The scale this morning said 82.2, but that is with some water retention in my feet owing to the travel. I of course, got right back on track by hitting an empty gym early this morning. The stiffness my body had developed from the car travel has been eased by a beautiful session of cardio, and soothing stretches. Did I just say that? Wow!

So, I am about to begin February just as I began January, weight wise. Working out at the gym is the change that I have made this month. And may be, I will wait until the 1^st of February to have a more reasonable look at my weight. Of course I will do a monthly round up post to sum up January.

I have a question for my readers. Do you think my posts are long and verbose? Or do you prefer if I sneaked in some pictures? Please leave a comment, and please feel free to be honest. But be nice, will ya?

Last weeks exercise schedule & holiday eating plan

This post is from my mental drafts:

You know I've joined the gym. My exercise schedule last week looked like this:

Monday : I took off

Tuesday : 40 mins cardio ( treadmill + elliptical + stationary bike)

Wednesday: Strength Training (Chest, Back & Arms)

Thursday: 40 mins cardio ( treadmill + elliptical + stationary bike) & iron man

Friday: Strength Training (Lower Body – legs)

Saturday: 50 mins dance aerobics

This week I expect to miss Thursday, Friday & Saturday because we are going on a temple tour. So I compensated by working out on Sunday and have been able to do so on Monday and Tuesday despite have a sick child.

My huge worry is how well I would be able to eat during the travel. I plan to carry some fruits, cereal and granola bars so that I will not be tempted to stuff myself with carbs over the next three days. When I’m on a holiday, my brain tends to think it is licensed to demand a triple scoop sundae every hour. Usually my eating party begins at the airport.Needless to day, I  gained weight over the last  Diwali and New Year hols.

This time I have mentally been telling myself that a holiday shall not mean unlimited treats. I have been in a weight plateau for almost a month, and I certainly do not want to begin February on a heavier note. So I have a plan:

The plan is to figure out my own breakfast & dinner and enjoy lunch with the rest of the family avoiding/minimizing white rice, sugar and oil. Let’s see how well I do. It's just a three day break!