Lighter by 11 lbs!!

Yes, thatz me. After six months!! I had gone for my well check to the doctor's tody and was completely taken by surprise when he told me this!! Espcially because, I hdn't been working towards weight loss. All my efforts this past half year was to lessen my neck, shoulder n back pain. If this is what the side effect is, then I am loving it!!

So let's jot down what different I did these past six months, so that I can try to stick to these changes, making it more as part of my lifestyle to remain fit and healthy. To speak the truth, After this revelation, I have become a little ambitious and want to come within my BMI range in another six months.

Here's the list, not in any order.

• Made exercising a routine, despite the pain. Did: aqua, yoga, pilate, walking, running plus P.T.
• Involved kids with me. They kept me motivated.
• Morning breakfast: fruits (usually a banana) and a cup of milk
• Dinner no later than 7 p.m. 
• For some reason, If I get late for dinner, skipped carbs. Sometimes, replacing dinner with a cup of milk. (This I did, coz mostly My pain us aggravate so much in the night that I didn't feel like eating. Turns out, a plus fr weight loss)
• Made a rule of not eating out for the entire family, more than once a month. Most importantly, stuck with it. (Again this rule was made coz of different reasons, but contributes majorly)
• Lots and lots of water intake. With driving kids around throughout the day, I used to forget to carry it with me. Now, I keep a crate in the car all the time. And keep myself hydrated.
• Switched to gluten free bread. This was done coz we had noticed that the wheat breads were leaving us with a bloated feeling soon after.
• Introduced lots of fruits in the diet. This was done to encourage kids, turned out beneficial for me too.
• Minimized sending DH to the grocery store to a great extent, especially to the Indian Store! He has this habit of getting calorie-rich food items just coz they look new and interesting.

These are all I can remember for now. Hopefully, will enter the next year with these healthy habits as an essential part of all of us.

Do you have any suggestions/ideas that worked for you?

Rant to myself

When I had my little girl in my arms, all I had wanted to do was to love her, nurture her. I had gone looking for a daycare for her, so that I could resume work, I was totally enraged with how they had dealt with my five-month old baby. That one episode had made me decide to extend the break  a little more and wait until my girl was one yr. After a year, i had several interviews lined up, and things were looking good, until, those very companies started firing and called me up to know either the interview was cancelled or hirings were frozen. A talk with the insiders had confirmed that. The recession had just started. 

As a clear and positive thinker, that I used to be then, I was determined to use the enforced sabbatical to have another baby(as we had always wanted two kids) and then, again, start looking for work once the little one would be around eight or nine months. This way, I was avoiding any more maternity leaves, after whenever I start working again. And of course, my kids were sure to get the best possible care available in this world - their mom's! 

Things took a turn, after another year and me, who always had a control of my life, a well-balanced head on my body couldn't get back in charge of my very own life. Events happened year after year, and my so-called one year sabbatical, turned into five. A once- positive and cheerful me has turned into a gloomy, screaming , discontent person. Totally opposite of what I had ever seen myself to be. I totally totally adore my Girls and love being with them. My having my own personal ambitions, detached from them, doesn't cease that very fact. My career plans, my thoughts about me that don't involve them, or doesn't revolve around them doesn't make me selfish. I enjoy my time with them, but am not wrong  to want a little extra - time just for me. Then why am I being told so by people around me.? Why am I perceived to be different? Why am I told to be content in my own shoes? Why should I pretend to be when I am not? when what I actually want is design and custom make my own?? 

And then this accident had to happen, thwarting all my plans to start afresh this year! When I had planned to look fr sponsors and jobs, I was looking for the lawyers and therapists and what not. When I should have been preparing for interviews, I was trying all sorts of remedies to alleviate my pain. Amongst this all, I grow restless as I see the applicants quota reached. I sense a failure - in me, in not trying hard enough, in leaving what I had in hand years ago. But that's my feelings, those are my emotions. How can they be wrong? They are just what they are.  I try to fill myself with optimism, but I can't. I try to push happy thoughts in my mind, but cannot. I try going with the flow, let things be, but only for a while. Why do I sound  like a teenager to myself?  Huh, I  think I should stop now.