Overcoming the anti cooking attitude and a wholesome bajra roti for you!

The old me used to be a lazy person. Lazy to cook specially. I used to think that cooking is a laborious, boring and useless activity which is given unnecessary importance. I believed that when any kind of food one wants is available in the restaurants, cooking was a waste of time!

Things got into perspective when I had gained an unhealthy amount of weight during pregnancy and post that! Once I had a toddler whose nutrition I had to take care of, cooking became a necessary evil. I still did not like cooking, but came to understand that it was the only way I could ensure that we as a family ate healthy and stayed healthy!

Then as I embarked on weight loss - I was constantly faced with the challenge of eating something that was low on calories , yet high on taste! I discovered the joy of the cooking healthy challenge! As we went along I modified even more - I began to make more soups, cook different types of pulses and also began experimenting with different grains!

Brown rice khichdis, broken wheat "fried rice", different kind of parathas, whole wheat pasta
are now dished out of my kitchen with a lot of gusto! Chittu also gets a staple breakfast of a combination of various millets made into a porridge on a regular basis!

One of my readers also suggested that I take to millets in its various forms. When I was grocery shopping, my eyes chanced upon "bajra flour"(pearl millet flour) and I grabbed a packet without thinking much what I would do with it! I have heard of bajra roties being made and so I decided to experiment.

When I kneaded the bajra flour, I ended up with a brittle textured dough. So I could not roll the chappatis like I roll the regular wheat roties. So I added some wheat flour to it and kneaded with some warm water and made flavourful roties with it. Yes my roties were not too soft. Little on the crisper side and I topped with a bit of ghee too! But both- the husband and toddler loved the roties:

Bajra Roti with Tondli subzi!

How to make bajra roties:

Take bajra flour and wheat flour (70:30)

Add salt

Knead with warm water into chappati dough consistency

Add 1 spoon oil in the end

Roll with rolling pin

Grill on tava like a regular roti

Serve with a smidge of ghee (clarified butter)

Other pointers:

I will try to add some onion/ grated carrots/ grated radish/ cabbage or other veggies the next time

Read the nutrition info for bajra here take a look at the iron content & the fat too!!

The satiety is pretty high!

These rotis are on the chewy side and you'd have to spend time chewing it. So you really cant wolf down too many at a time

I loved the rustic texture of these rotis. The smell of the ghee infused rotis really made me feel like I was eating the healthiest meal in town!!!

 

The weekly work out update, ProtineX review & the recipe promise

Yep! I am keeping my word. My work out  schedule this week looked like this:

Sunday, Monday & Tuesday - I skipped the work out for the reasons I mentioned here
Wednesday: Lower body strength training &
Thursday: 30 minutes on elliptical & 15 on treadmill
Friday: Upper Body strength training
Saturday : dance aerobics group class

Now for the Banana-Black Grape-Strawberry smoothie that is my new found obsession:

Ingredients:
 one red banana, about 10 black grapes and 5 strawberries
2 teaspoons of ProtineX powder
1 cup of curd and half a cup of milk



Whisked everything together in the blender and tadaaa :)



As I said its a new obsession. I feel like its a treat and with no added sugar it is. Two teaspoons of protineX have approx 45 cals. The above will make two servings.And that's about 160 calories per serving. I don't how well it will last in the fridge and so I just drank up the whole thing :P

Sorry about the poor picture quality. But I took the pictures on my iphone 1.

ProtineX - Product review - you can find the calorie break-up here. When had in my shake, it tastes pretty ok. There is 8 grams of sugar per serving, which is not too bad as well. But I might just try the diabetic version next time out of curiosity :). As is apparent from the name it is also a good source of protein. It has also not affected my weight loss attempt. So, the product is pretty good, though a wee bit pricey :)

So my promises have been kept. My eyes are shutting down. I am looking forward to Sunday. How about you?

Midweek update

O.K. So where were we? Yes laying out my clothes for the Monday work out. Well, it turned out I did not work out on Monday or Tuesday because of the monthly cycle. I did not feel up to working out both days, though I waited until the morning to decide if I felt like it or not. So, I hit the gym this morning with a new found vengeance. Today was strength training day - lower body & legs! I returned home feeling great with quivering thighs.

Remember the time I bought a box of Getrim? Well, its finally over now. And I replaced it with a box of ProtineX, since I'm doing strength training and all. 

My experience with soya milk, has not been good so far. I tried it earlier on in my weight loss process, probably early 2011. I found I was not losing weight when I had soya milk. Hence I stopped. However, I continue using soya flour in my Chappati dough and make a curry out of Soya nuggies ocassionally. Its not a daily affair though! 

I made a smoothie using - milk, curd, a banana, strawberries, few black grapes and Proteinex for an evening snack after work today. Review coming up soon :) with recipe & picture!!

Honestly, I've got a lot to say, but if I pour it all here in one post, it is going to be very disjoint. So I'm going to wind up. Gym clothes are ready for cardio day tomorrow :)

Somedays, like today are good - when I've eaten on plan, worked out well, cooked good food for my family, spent time with the toddler, had a decent day at work and don't feel like crashing out by 8p.m. Also, remember my goals for 2012. I have begun to make some progress on three points on that list. But that shall remain a secret until the finished stamp is marked on it!

How is your week coming along?

And another whirlwind weekend

That's the first weekend of February gone by. I had an awesome weekend with pelnty of family time, healthy eating and much needed rest.

We began Saturday morning after breakfast at home finishing up some much procrastinated paper work relating to the house we just bought. I also dropped by my almamater to find out when I should begin thinking about school admissions for Chittu. Man! we're that far along already? High alert begins in October this year , I learnt, when schools make applications for admissions available. Thoughts about that later!

We returned home in time for lunch, feeding Chittu and getting him to sleep. We then met an old freind of mine from school, and fished compliments about my weight loss so far. I wore jeans after possibly three years (or maybe even more). I tried my old jeans to see if I fit and I did!Yayy! It feels great when good work is rewarded. We came back home for a simple light dinner, and hit the bed. Saturday, the gym was closed for maintenance, so guess who did not exercise :)

Sunday morning, I hit the gym, while the enterprising Scientist finished  veggie shopping for the week. After a good cardio session I returned home stopping enroute for some home-supplies. I chanced upon some star fruit at the store and bought it. I have never eaten the fruit before and googled to find out how to. How much I use google!

After lunch, I curled up beside Chittu and napped an entire two hours! The work-out was a good one. I woke up, tried a bit of the pretty looking star fruit and decided it was good stuff for a mere 30 calories per fruit. We then headed to a Shiva temple where Chittu had fun watching fish and tortoises in the temple pond, enjoyed Pani puri on a road side stall, and once again headed home for dinner.

No outside food this weekend. I am really working hard to get below the 80 mark, can't you tell? How was your weekend?

10 Satisfying Snacks that will not ruin your diet

Many times, I find myself raiding my pantry/refrigerator for something to eat. This could be  just about any time of the day, meal time or not. I genuinely intend to eat something healthy/wholesome/not laden with calories.

 I have made below a list of foods that is not what I include as a part of my daily diet, but do allow myself, without causing me to binge eat. I have also mentioned along side the store from where I buy it, and the calorie information also, where I can. But I must quickly add that those store details are Bangalore centric/specific, because that is where I live.

Anyone who is looking for a snack that will not invade/knock down their diet may benefit from this.

1.    Fruit Flavoured Yougurt (please note: this is not low fat/sugar free):

I first got this at the Nandini Milk Parlour. They come in two flavours: Mango and Strawberry.

But better than this is the one I got at the Nilgiris Stores. More Flavours. Excellent to taste. But you must ensure to stop at one cup. ( one cup=100 gms= 91 calories)

2.    Weight Watchers Apricot Spread

Products under the “weight watchers” brand is now available in India. You can replace this for Jam on your whole wheat toast. Or like me, have one spoon of it with your curd. It satisfies a Sugar Craving.

Bought at Godrej World Food Store, CMH Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore

One tea spoon = 22 calories

3.    Laughing Cow Low Fat Cheese Wedges

This is good at satisfying a cheese craving. You can add it to your soup/steamed veggies/ fruits or just peel the wrapper and eat. Yum.

It is vegetarian as well.

Bought at Namdhari’s/Nilgiris, Bangalore

1 wedge = 30 calories

4.    Organic Peanut Butter- No sugar Added

I bought this at Jaivik Mall, Bangalore. The ingredients it lists are just peanuts and salt. No hydrogenated oil. But this must be eaten in small quantities. I use it as a dip for my carrot/cucumber sticks sometimes. Or just pop a teaspoonful in mouth, and then pretend there is no more left in the bottle. It is very tasty, and beware, or you will have downed half a bottle before you know it.

5.    Hummus

Another great veggie dip, made of chickpeas. Hunt online and you will find many recipes. I got a prepacked box of Hummus at the Godrej World Food Store, CMH Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore. Yummy. You could also spread a layer of Hummus on a whole wheat Chappati, top it with veggies of your choice and lo! You have a wrap.

Try this, and then tell me that going on a diet means eating food that tastes bad. That myth is busted!

6.    Khakra

Again, a snack which warrants portion control. I will suggest you should just take one Khakra on a plate and enjoy. DO NOT EAT STRAIGHT FROM PACKET. It will all be gone before you know it.

1 khakra (whole wheat) = 70-90 calories.

7.    Nuts

Omega 3 is the latest health food :P. You get it in nuts. Eat Almonds/pecans/walnuts/ peanuts in MODERATION. Measure out portions. DO NOT EAT FROM JAR.

8.    Roasted Gram

This gives satiety, if you are craving a salty snack. Packed with protein and free of oil. I have begun to have this handy.

9.    Hershey’s Sugar Free Chocolate Syrup

Add it to cold milk and relish. It has an artificial sweetner. But sure does a good job satisfying a chocolate craving. I first bought this at Namdhari. But am not able to find it any more L

10. My Secret

I try to buy those highly priced fancy fruit like kiwis, plums, peaches and pears that are imported. That gives me the feeling of eating an exotic food, that is all natural and packed with healthfulness. Trick and treat!!

That is a long post already. I will stop. Will be back later.

Stuck at this weight?

Hi! We are six days into December. I think days have been halved or something! 


I have been super busy: sick baby, under the weather me and loads of other stuff. I typed out this post last week (friday), but could not edit and publish: 


 There are some days I wake up, make tea for the husband and me, play with the fresh-from-bed Chittu, cook breakfast and lunch, pack the husband’s lunch, turn the washing machine on, weigh myself, smile at the loss, exercise, shower, dress, have breakfast and get to work. But then I have days like today, when I am recording a gain, despite eating good and exercising, for a week now. I’m distracted all the time -wondering, if I’m going to be stuck at this weight all my life. I want to cry even. Then I read some blogs, like those on my side bar, and pep talk myself ” I’m being good to my body. The weighing scale should catch up.” But still I am hoping to see some light tomorrow.

In the past year or so, I have paid close attention to my body. The South Beach Diet, made me realize that the more sugar I eat, the more I crave for it. The South Beach Diet also taught me that although cooked white rice and  chappatis may have the same amount of carbs, the huge difference for me is that eating white rice, results in a craving for something sweet in about 2-3 hrs from when I ate. Staving off the craving is mighty hard. Especially, since I can even eat plain sugar straight out of the jar. Eating whole wheat flour chappatis, instead does not do that kind of thing to me. Neither does broken wheat (dalia). Unfortunately, neither gives me the satiety that rice gives.

In my weight loss journey, I first cut out the rice entirely, for two weeks that is, as the South Beach Diet mandates. Later I added whole wheat flour/broken wheat into my diet. On days I ate white rice, because I was either lazy to make or feeling too sorry for myself for eating “diet food”, I just ended up feeling really lousy for binging later or have had to try very hard to fight the cravings. So, white rice is not my best friend.

Brown Rice. What is it?

Lately, I have come across brown rice. It basically is unpolished rice.

Where to buy brown rice in Bangalore?

In Bangalore, I bought Organic Brown Rice at Jaivik Mall, Lalbagh Road. Rs. 42/- for a kilogram.

How to cook brown rice?

The way to cook it is that it needs to be soaked in water about half an hour before cooking. Then, cooked the same way you cook white rice. I cook rice in a pressure cook, and that suits the brown rice just fine. One just needs a few tries to settle with the amount of water to cook it in.

How I eat Brown Rice?

Since I am trying to adhere to a south beach diet way of eating, I had it with the rest-of- the-family meal.(Sambhar and plenty of veggies either sautéed or curried). I also reserved a little bit of rice so that I could have my “curd rice”. You know the way with tam-brahms? We love our curd rice! And so, I feel far from deprived. It is filling (because of the high fibre content), and has not caused me any cravings.

So that’s a new food discovery for me. Am looking forward to the week end. I love my mommy time with the little fellow.

Any new food experiences you would like to share?

PS:Please note that all the above are the blog owner’s individual experiences. The blog owner is not a nutritionist/ doctor, and is not liable for any untoward experiences of any reader of this blog.


Edited to add: Weight read 83.9 today. Yay!

The Weekend Update

Whoooosh!! Did you hear that? That was the sound of last week going by. And I almost did not feel it.

I remember being in college, when all my friends had a boy-friend, there were days which I thought got stuck in the freezer. Those were days, I’d spend walking vigorously because otherwise, I would not be able to sleep at night. Marriage has thankfully given me a loving husband and a beautiful baby. And hence, I wonder if time just got eaten by a time eating monster.

The last weekend, was spent in some compulsive bread eating that I indulged in. Yep - read it right. We bought a lovely fresh multi grain loaf at Breadworks on Lavelle road.  It had a nutty flavor contributed by flax seeds and pumpkin seeds, I think. Just a bite, and my mind seemed to meditate on the ways and means of consuming the entire loaf. I also had, decent if not large servings of rice for dinner on Saturday and lunch on Sunday. The surprise was however that we went to an engagement ceremony on Sunday night, at which I ate nothing but a cup of coffee, but of course returned home to hunt down the last of the remaining bread.

So that is a good thing about shopping sensibly. When I have no rubbish to eat at home, even the worst thing I can do to myself is overeat healthy stuff, which is far better than polishing off sweets or fried snacks. And hence there has been no weight gain. Just a tiny bit lost.

On the exercise front, Saturday I did a high intensity work out on my elliptical. Yesterday, I woke up with a headache. I did not want to do much. But I did a good half hour of Pilates. The effect of which, was that this morning, I woke up to achy-breaky thighs, and hit the elliptical again. So far, so good.

Getrim has become intolerable again though I only replace 2 meals a week with it. I vow not to buy another box. My refrigerator is stocked up with lots of veggies and the grocery shopping included many varieties of dried beans. So, many of my meals are planned in my head to ensure a good week ahead. And suddenly, I have begun to take pleasure in these little achievements. I feel a wee bit more in control.

Splenda and Getrim are my new best friends!

Yes. For those who don't really understand, Splenda is the name of an zero calorie artificial sweetner, and Getrim is a low calorie meal replacement drink, details of which will follow.

That is how serious I have been about losing losing weight. At the doctor's office in September 2010, after having a baby and fracturing both of my feet, I was terrified of stepping on the weighing machine. I think it showed a whopping 100.8. Man where had all that come from? At that time, I was still recovering from the Caesarean section and fighting with constant pain and sweeling in both my feet. The doctor said: "It's a trap. Your feet will heal slower because of your weight. And to lose weight, your feet are not strong enough for exercise. " Those words nearly killed me.

Nearly a year later, today's weigh in showed 85.7 kg. Going by the measure of BMI, It still is classified as obesity for my height. But I have nearly 15 kg less to lose to get to my target weight.

So I have replaced Spelnda for sugar in my morning tea. I was really apprehensive about doing it. But since I don't like my tea too sweet, it took just a wee bit of getting used to. Now after 5 days, I am totally alright with it.

This morning I opened the box of getrim that was sitting in my kitchen the last two days. The last time, I tried the vanilla variant. I drank it everyday for about 5 days. Then I started feeling nauseous every time I saw the box. So, I have made two changes this time. First I bought the choco mocha flavour and have decided to replace a meal with it once every few days, when I feel I don't have the time or ideas or ingredients to cook up a healthy meal. Today is day one. I had it at about 9.30a.m., and am not starving until now. Lunch time is in about 30 minutes. So, I think the satiety level is good. Just have to suck up to the not-so-good taste.

Alright.That's the update for now. Watch this space for the lovely things about weight loss and healthy eating.

Adios!!!