Celebrating four years of marriage with a small vacation

Hey guys!Brace yourself for a long exciting post with pictures and all!

I have got so much to tell you. I had a great weekend celebrating four years of marriage at a remote beach in Kannur, Kerela. It was exactly what we needed, fit into a decent or shall I say low budget and also smuggled into the three day weekend. I came back to work, rejuvenated, even despite the humid uncomfortable train journey back where we realised the second class train berths were not designed to accomodate a parent and a toddler.

We celebrated our marriage anniversary at the Taj, Kovalam, last year and while that was doubtlessly a splendid experience, the budget of holidaying at the Taj did not exactly suit our pockets, this year! I simply love beaches and while I was scouting for the closest beach holiday we could get from Bangalore, chanced upon Kannur as an increasing popular international beach destination. The virgin beaches of Kannur are simply pristine that obviously the term God's own country for Kerela is totally  justified. Sometimes sitting on the breezy shore I wondered if there was indeed a life beyond this small town where the politics and economics of the world were at logger heads. But the beauty in there was sufficient to let me forget about it for the short three days that we were there.

We had booked ourseves at a splendid homestay that offered us good kerelan food, was comfortable though simple and was gave a breathtaking view of our smallness when compared with the massive ocean ahead and even muted the million voices in the sound of the crashing waves.

Ofcourse we were excited, even though we travelled by sleeper class train and the tickets were not confirmed till the last moment:

Chittu was pretty scared of the ocean and only wanted to be carried on the first day:

Ofcourse there was some hammock fun:

We also made it to a Theyyam performance, and I'd say we were too lucky. The costumes were awesome:

I finally fulfilled my dream of running along the beach. I ran along the waves on the first day. On the second day I ran along the village trail path! Ofcourse the voice in my head kept wondering what people watching me might think about the size of my butt, but in the big picture, even the size of my butt is pretty miniscule, no? And that was the FIRST time I exercised on vacation EVER!

I also got an ayuvedic massage done, while the kind Scientist watched Chittu and kept him entertained.

Since Kannur is the land of the looms, we ventured on a super crowded bus into the city armed with only my extremely poor malayalam speaking skills. But the handloom stores were shut because of the closing of the financial year! Bummer on that!

And we also hiked along some paths to a secluded cove. We tried to teach Chittu the joy of playing in the sand and also got some great views of the ocean ahead!

I could not help but think that I did not look fat. Even at 77 kilos of weight! Whatever!

Despite al the fun we had I am glad to be back home and back to being in charge of the kitchen! From a weight watchers perpective:

• I did not overeat! there was little opportunity to!Ofcouse I OD'd on the cookies I carried for Chittu. But nothing too massive!
• I took a 30 minute run on both days! And stayed pretty active too!
• My weight showed 77.8 kg this morning! Oh well! Shall we just say I seem to have mastered the maintaining act!

That was our weekend! Hope you guys had a good one too!

Dilli ki Sardi :)

Back from Dilli,which I found cold, cheap for great daily wear, chatted a lot with my friend from college, crass -from a Marwari wedding, classy for the wide roads and spectacular fly overs, a city with great street food and totally chilled out, because the vacation did us plenty of good!

Ofcourse there are pictures. We did the usual - India Gate, Rashtrapati Bhavan & Janpath. We attended the wedding that was the main purpose of the trip and did some soul soothing street shopping at Sarijini Market. Ofcourse, we sneaked in a visit to Chandini Chowk's parathewali gully where I indulged in shallow fried Khoya parathas that only running a full marathon can possibly burn, had aloo chat on the street side of Shankar market and tasty Italian fare at Big Chill. We also made it to dunkin donuts where I discovered heaven in the toasted cream cheese bagel and realised that the donut had a soft butter filling. Yummm.

Did I miss that we also did a day trip to the Taj Mahal - which I found resplendent in beauty and ashamed that my country men did not do enough to protect the monument. Sometimes I am disheartened by the way we treat our property.

Ruddu had great fun playing with the pet doberman of my Friend. And while I dont really get physical with dogs, I enjoyed watching them both play. I could also not stop marvelling at the fresh red carrots, crisp white radishes, the healthy cauliflower, the green peas and the different kinds of fresh greens.

The fog which never seemed to lift from the city gave a romantic twist to our vacation - our first step into the north of India. Obviously, we want to go back to Dilli and discover more cities with contrasting landscapes, food and cultures. I will leave you with some pictures.

I feel like  an escapist if I did not tell you that I have forgotten the E of exercise and the R of running. The 10k is imminent and I must admit I have not prepared as well as I ought to have!

 

PS: Sorry guys this post was to have come up last Monday - but I ended up with a bad wheezing bout that still continues, a skin infection for which I got medication and just a little dazed out me. I should get back on track soon!

Wah Taj?

India Gate- the horizontal stripes are a mistake?

Chittu - best friends with a Doberman?

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!

Blogging from Amreeka - Week 1 - The beginning, Jet lag and Santa Monica

Our flight was delayed by a total of eight hours. Four hours at Mumbai and four hours at Newark. Needless to ask, the toddler and I were desperate to reach a place we could call home, and change out of the clothes we had been wearing. Also the washroom on the flight really scared the toddler and we were in a need of a proper bathroom as well :)

24 or morehours of international air travel, sounds so fancy. But ugh! Really? The food on the flight is bad. Economy travel is not the greatest pleasure in life and  oh my god add a toddler to the equation and you might just end up with an explosion! Then theres customs and immigration, and the possibility of smuggling a bomb aboard the flight! Like really?

We arrived at Los Angeles airport to be greeted by the Husband, collected our baggage, which to my surprise had all reached safe and climbed into the car. The toddler was petrified at the speed at which the Scientist was driving and kept asking him to slow down!

I however, dozed off through most of the drive, and hit the shower the moment I got home. The needful calls were made to convey to  people that we had arrived in good shape, and the husband set the cooker with rice so that we could have a decent hot meal.

I cannot remember what exactly I did on day 1. Oh yes we went to an Indian store to get some cooking essentials. Since the apartment was fully furnished with an microwave, toaster, blender, refrigerator et al I have been able to cook meals when necessary! Coming back to the Indian store, I was kind of annoyed by the look of it and the Hindi hymn that was playing in the background!

On friday, we went to a local mall, where I was hungry and crabby and ended up buying body cream from the body shop! One, namely the Organge cream  got taken during the security check at the airport and I have not yet finished mourning over its loss!

Saturday, we went to the Getty centre which was a museum of art. Honestly, we would have enjoyed it better without the toddler, but we did not really have much of a choice. Luckily we did not as I expected, get thrown out by the museum people for the toddler running all over the place like he was on a sugar high! We left after eating some overpriced ice cream on one of the beautiful lawns in the Getty!

We then headed to the Santa Monica beach and third street Promenade. The propspects of shopping made me more attracted to the Promenade than the beach. After coffee at Star Bucks, where I fell in love with the Chai Latte, Chittu began to cry out of being jet lagged, Indian food craving and basically being annoyed with his parents for strutting around a foreign city with no regard to his baby needs :( His wailing lead us to get the hell out of there and back home, and my shopping dreams for the day came crashing down but  after 2 pairs of pretty looking footwear in my size :)

Blogging from Amreeka - Part 2 & Happy birthday to me!

Happy birthday to me! My 28th. My first ever trip outside the country, and the whole month of August is a birthday everyday. I wake without the pressure of having to work out (duh!thats not good for me, but still), don't have to go to office and many times wake up with the excitement of being a tourist. I must confess this feels so good. Too good, to be true, in fact.

I must also confess, that I have given up on weight loss for the moment, and shall revert to my good ol life once I get back. I shall try to give you an overview of my sights and activities so far. I shall do that in multiple posts, because I cannot do it all once. 

I am sorry about the sporadic blogging, because though I intend better, this blog simply reminds me that I have not made it to my goal weight by goal date.  So I guess I got hard work to do this coming year ahead. I shall begin with the 10k run of the Kaveri Trail Marathon. I am doubtful if I will do in fact, because I might just be part of a Dance recital on 21st September. Honestly, I decided to shoot a try. Thats the only way I will rededicate myself to healthy eating and working out after this month long vacation. I am freaking out as I type this, but I am going to try my best!

I shall  leave you with a latest picture of the overweight me :

I 

Some awesome-ly fun news from me!

Now that my passport is stamped and the tickets are booked, I am going to cross all my fingers and my toes and touch the hardest piece of wood in my house and say this:

I am going to the US on a month long vacation. I am going to fly out from Bangalore to Mumbai early wednesday evening and will take a late night flight from there to the USA.

Ahhh Finally. Its hard to keep a secret from my blog :)
As you can tell from the tone of this post, I am excited. I have never been to another country before, and am totally looking forward! And what better way than to coincide with my birthday! My 28th birthday, dearies!

Obviously, I shall endeavour to atleast not gain weight over the following month although I am totally planning to enjoy cup cakes, american pizza and fro-yo! I am also planning to exercise and run and generally be very active. But plans can always be grand? Yes?

This was the reason that was giving me a lot of stress, as I managed to get the visa only on my second interview. I was predictably nervous and anxious and that was possibly leading my stomach to produce Hydrochloric acid by the gallon!

Oh yes, if there is anyone out there willing to meet me, I am going to be in California and also in New York for a short time! So any of my secret fans in that part of world???? Do let me know and I will be more than willing to meet up and be pompous about my weight loss journey this far! That apart, just in case the said fan is not Indian, I will also be kind enough to discuss the elephants and camels of my country!


Yes, I am hoping to be able to update this blog regularly, just to ensure that little voice of weight loss in my head stays alive!

The week that was - Celebrating three years of marriage and a great holiday!

Since all good things, come to end, my holiday did too! The Scientist and I celebrated three years of marriage at the Taj, Kovalam a removed beach in Trivandrum, Kerela, and it was a a good way to celebrate. The Taj lives up to its reputation of fine hospitality and treated us well for our vacation.

We had taken a week off work, and first packed off to Chennai, where I was to attend a cousins baby shower last Sunday. I fished many compliments for weight loss :). Monday was spent in the company of my grandmother, who is the the only remaining part of my childhood summer vacation memories. Monday was also the day, the Scientist indulged the shopper in me to some very pretty sarees, pictures of which will come later. We took the flight out of Chennai on tuesday afternnon, and landed amidst never-ending coconut groves on the coast of the Arabian Sea in Trivandrum, Kerela. 

My plans of eating sensibly, exercising and keeping my food journal was lost somewhere deep in the ocean or high on a coconut palm :)

With a beautiful beach, grand buffets and a luxurious room, even little Chittu was not demanding about venturing into the city. We however did not miss the ancient Padmanabhaswamy Temple and many kilos of banana chips.

I weighed myself this morning and saw 80.2kgs. Up from a low of 78.6 kgs. I will go back to the gym tomorrow morning  and revert to my healthy ways after grocery shopping in a few hours from now.

Regular blogging will resume tomorrow.

I will leave you with some pictures, while I catch up with unread blogs.

Chittu - the master writer - He's obsessed with pens and pencils :

Above: Anniversary cake and Below: Anniversary Decorations: courtesy my sweet little Brother who has great organisational skills :)

Chittu at play : A branch from a coconut tree

 Yours truly : posing before the wild, angry sea

 Family pictures at the Taj and the following one at the temple entrance, saree and all :)

Chittu at play in the airport 

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 :)

Why is getting back to routine so difficult after a measly two day vacation?

Getting back to routine after even a two day holiday seems so hard. While I am watching calories and exercising control, I am still waiting to hit below 80. Weighing scale showed exactly 80 sometime last week. But no luck of the seventies. It is getting a bit annoying especially after how regular I have been with my workouts. I should get back to tracking, since I have not tracked since last friday!

As planned I hit the gym this morning and did a good 45 mins of cardio - 30 on the elliptical and ten on the treadmill. I continue to be wary on the treadmill, and do not run/ slow down at the first hint of any kind of pain. I do not want to consciously end up in an injury.

Well, that's that. I have nothing else to say. Gym clothes are laid out and refrigerator is well stocked. I shall persist with trying to achieve my goal.

I'm heading to bed early tonight :) 

Whoa!!! What A weekend at wayanad!!

It all began when Maami had to take a day off - Friday. The Scientist volunteered to take the day off and take care of Chttu, while I went to work. Since home is very close to my office, I could come home to feed the little guy.

Enter : a little idea in my head. Why don't we head to a weekend destination? We chose the picturesque Wayanad, and set out on Friday afternoon. The distance is about 300 kms, but given the two way NH 212, the entire distance, with some breaks for the motion sick baby took us a little over seven hours. Chittu suffers pretty bad motion sickness especially in our little hatchback.While I went to the gym on Friday morning and totally planned not to overeat during the trip, it was a resolve that I eventually did not stand by! I will let pictures do the rest :

That's Chittu and me - excited as we set off

Saturday saw some awesome trekking at Edakkal caves, Wayanad! That work out was unexpected and unraveled a world of confidence, about my physical abilities, post my dual fractures.That trek also made me feel less guilty about the breakfast of poori-bhaji I indulged in.  The view atop was breathtaking!! Chittu trekked as well :)

After a boatride in Pookot lake we headed back to our accommodation, and Chittu and I walked around the farm house a bit.

We finished an early dinner and hit the bed.

We left for Bangalore on Sunday morning after breakfast in the garden,

stopping for lunch at Mysore. Then a boat ride at Ranganthittu bird sanctuary. Apparently the painted storks and spoonbills had flown all the way from Alaska!!

We returned home and headed for pizza. Its become a tradition for us to have pizza when Maami takes a break :S

Overall, this weekend was awesome as I have begun to feel alright about how I look in pictures. I was able to do some decent trekking, without losing balance and falling or my body hurting like I had been beaten up! Overall, I think I have come far from where I started both mentally and physically. Only, I need to get atleast another 13 kilos off my body :P

Alright, I've got back into the groove.Will hit the gym early morning tomorrow. Night guys!

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! 

Home Alone- Day One , the Holiday Update & Salangai Oli

My 4 days of sanctioned “alone time” has begun. I flew back into Bangalore this morning to a temperature of 11 degrees. First thing I did was to weigh myself. Scale read 81.8 kgs. I wandered about barefooted, freely  in the house with icy tiles, leaving the coffee mug on the table, without worrying that the toddler will reach for it/ topple/break it. I had tea and khari, made a simple lunch of roasted cauli, beans, green peas and carrots, carried an apple and some walnuts to work and eased into the weeks routine.

I have watched my food over the “holiday”, except for a family dinner last evening, during which I had a cheesy pasta bake and white chocolate cold-shake. But otherwise I dealt with plentiful availability of baked goodies with laudable control and sensibility. I might not make it to my New Year’s Goal of reaching below the 80 mark. But hey! I’m close, and working at it ALL the time.

So, the music season in Chennai is in full bloom. All the sabhas and cultural associations are showcasing the best of music, dance and drama. There’s good food too, for, what is enjoyment without culinary satiety?

Here is what the Scientist and I did:

• Watched a Bharatanatyam recital of Shobana at the Narada Gana Sabha
• Listened to mellifluous Nithyashree  
• Ate yummy food at Gnanambika’s counter in the rear space of Narada Gana Sabha
• And had a good time bonding with family

It’s a microscopic bit of all that is going on in the city. But that’s what we could fit in, without feeling too guilty of abandoning little Chittu with his grandmother.

As I sat in the amphitheatre waiting for the curtains to lift to Shobana’s recital, I caught glimpses of the danseuse’s pink “alta” stained feet – clad with the “Salangai” (Ghungru) promenade the stage, spanning it to get the feel of the size. The “Salangai oli” or the “sound of the anklets” is one I hold close to my heart. It is in that Salangai oli I find true happiness. Its sweet divinity brings me great joy. And hearing its jingle on that day after many days brought back to me a yearning – that I want my feet clad in it again. I might not be a good dancer. But it is the language of dance, which brings me closest to God. And while on the threshold of the new year, it is my wish and desire that I would be able to dance again.

Chennai in December

A quick peek to say we are taking off to Chennai today to enjoy the music season. Since Chittu has displayed a keen ear for carnatic music, we are expecting to give him the taste of a live concert. I will back to work on Tuesday, while the Scientist and Chittu will continue to soak in beautiful Chennai in December. So I get four days next week all to myself without baby, Scientist or Maami.

I hope to watch my eating. A little nasty voice in the back of my head expects that a holiday will mean bad food choices. I hope that will not happen.

On that note, happy hols dear readers!! What are your holiday plans?