A saturday spent just as I like it .....

I had a lovely saturday !!

I wanted to just chill and have fun and feel good.

Morning was lovely, cool and chilled and spent on couch with tea. newspaper, cooked breakfast, pleasent breeze blowing in from terrace and a relaxed frame of mind.

One of my cousin brothers is getting married in 2 weeks. He was in town for his last minute clothes trials and just be here to meet his fiance. While he did his trials with my aunt and her family, I got a hair cut and an awesome hair spa. Made me and my hair breathe :)

Had a very late lunch at about 5.30 pm and went and bought some lovely shades. My eyes are running this weird eye infection that is turning out v irritating just by the being continous. I am recommended some powerful sun shades. I ended up buying a super expensive pair.

The day was completed with watching a movie in a theater just behind our house.

All in all a nice day :)

How was your day / weekend ?

Piercing !!

I am super excited !! Got my nose pierced :)

It was not one of my bigger aspirations but the way it happened was sure amusing.

Friday evening I went shopping with my aunt for my cousin brother's wedding. She has been wanting to get nose pierced for years and since a shop which does piercing just happened to be closeby, we went in. She got a lovely nose ring put in and looked super hot !!

I had no intention but somehow while just asking and deliberating with the shopkeeper if I should or should not and if it will even suit my face, he just did the deed !! Took less then 30 seconds and minimal pain :)

I put up the pictures on my fb page and some people liked it while some were wondering as to what was the need. For myself I loved it. It was just something that made me feel good so why not ?

What do you say ? Here are the pictures....

Back after a hiatus...

I am back today after a break of 16 months.
They were some of the most difficult months of my life. I lost the one I thought I loved and who I thought loved me back. However, I believe now it was all for good. No point crying over spilt milk ;)
I had tremendous issues in my job, gained back the entire 50 pounds I had lost.

Hopefully all that is the past now ! I am back to stay. I survived some of the unbearable times ( believe me, no melodrama here) :)
Some of my blogger pals kept me involved in life by their writings. And as a thanks to them, I will try and write fairly regularly.
Thank You God and Thank You Blog Pals........ May you always have an amazing life. Thanks for being my support.

Birthday Weekend

This is my B'day weekend.
Being born on the 4th of July, I share it with US and a fellow blogger Isabelle. Happy B'day to you Isabelle !

Introspection on my b'days is a usual thing for last 5 - 6 years. I always end up evaluating what I did in past year and what I should be doing in the coming.
In the coming year, I am very much after changing my single status. Thats the gift I need from God and I need all your best wishes !

I love birthdays but find it v sad to grow one more year still a single woman.
I know, I have a happy full life but it would have been nice if I had that certain some one to share the special days / moments with !

On a happy note, both my sisters and my adorable niece are coming over to celebrate by bday. They are coming 2 days early and will continue to be in Delhi till 6th. On 7th we all drive down to the hometown to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday !

It is after 6 years that all 3 of us are together and I am really looking forwards to the weekend with delight !

This time last year, I was struggling to keep up a relationship which was taking its last breaths and that too only because I was giving it resuscication.

My ex's mother and I shared our birthday and she really hated thatso much so it is not hard to imagine her hating me sharing her son's life :)

However, on this birthday, I have no worries about things like past year and I am really looking forwards to spending the day with people I love the best.

Thank You God for a WONDERFUL family. I do not say it often enough but I am doing so now.

Thank You so MUCH !

Living Life in Reverse

The last few months have brought me plenty of news and an epiphany.

Friends and acquaintances are getting new jobs, quitting old ones for new ones, quitting old ones for restlessness or starting their own businesses or moving things to the next level.

Former proteges are growing up and proving it.

Almost everyone I know from my circle is switching jobs, cities or countries; some moving closer to their dreams, others entrenching themselves in sinful living.

Summing up, everyone is moving forward.

I, on the other hand, seem to be living life in reverse.

When I was four years old, I was gripped by an existential question, Who am I? I would ask this question to everyone I met. People would point to their bodies, their hearts, their heads and I would drive them up the wall by saying, but that’s your body, who are you?
Now, at this age, I have almost started feeling as if a man is what bags & shoes & make up he / she uses.

As an eighteen year-old, I religiously attended classes and saw myself in NASA as an outstanding scientist. As a professional these days, I giggle, make jokes & dream myself in exotic vacation places.

Moving up in life? I quit a fabulous consulting job to become an over worked banker in a second grade bank (I am not kidding, I mean it !) as I thought it was a great move.

From Dom Perignon to two-buck chucks has been a lovely ride indeed! Almost as much fun as my weight loss !

Till I was 16, I used to keep my hair really really tied up. I thought open hair was a sign of bondage, of submission to tradition, of conformity to male ideals of beauty.

My subversive streak did not last too long. Two pairs of shoes in one month. I now drool, literally drool to look a hot babe. Why am I becoming shallower with every passing minute?

At 13 I had read Maxim Gorky’s Mother twice and knew Russian revolution like the back of my hand. Now, I know the Russians and Americans but stay away from any revolution unless its in fashion or makeup area.

Is Delhi to blame? If so, Soon, I might evaporate into nothingness.

At times I wonder, are you allotted just a certain measure of maturity? What if I used it all up as an annoying over-smart kid? Do I resign myself to a lifetime of finding joy in bubble wrap, silly crushes and chocolate cookies?

My current weight status

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been struggling with my weight for almost past year and a bit more.
I have been working out since November 2008 but I did take a lot of breaks in between but those breaks only made me eat more to cover the times when I was working out. So, effectively I worked out for an year.

In this work out year I lost 22 kg from the 102 that I had accumulated. It was not easy. For a person like me who loves not exercising it was a great effort. It was an even greater effort on my trainer's side who continuously kept working with me on this marathon effort. I need to loose another 14 kgs to be good according to my bone weight.

When we began, I had trouble walking even 500mts in one go.

My trainer for the first week took me round the park for 2 kms of walk each day just to get my rusted muscles going. It was grueling to say the least.

In week 3, we went to start skipping and small jumps and crunches.

Week 5, she started me on basic aerobics and lesser weights of about 2 pounds.

I was completely immobile after my work outs for the first 5 weeks. I would just reach my office and plonk on the chair and even bio breaks were a living hell. My whole body ached in places I did not know I had. I had lumps in chest, cramps in calf muscles and killer pain in my shoulders. To say the least, I was in living hell. Only one thing kept me going and that was that I knew there were very high bets against my loosing weight. Everyone I know of, thought and believed that I was on one of my whims and it would be hardly any time before I would quit. My trainer says when she began with me, she was v sure I would not be able to keep up looking at my raging fitness level :)

She had prayed to God that if I am unable to cope, I should say No to her by myself instead of her telling me that she will be unable to make me loose any weight.

All I can say is that it took every little effort on my side and hers to continue the hard work. At the end of 2 months, I was 7 kgs lighter and looking loads better. It was a terrific triumph.

I continued on with the work out but the weight loss then got slower and slower. I started deviating from healthy eating and good eating habits. Since I was paying by the class, I started taking breaks and very frequent ones. There came a time when my trainer told me in May 2009 that we should take a break from the work out as she was not happy with me.
That same evening, I went though a totally unexpected break up. I thought he and me were going well and we were heading somewhere when his parents declined his marrying me. I know it is not a known phenomenon to the western readers but in India, parents play a vital role in marriages. I was devastated. Utterly and completely. It was like two of the biggest life supports had fallen off.

I did what any sane person would do and convinced my trainer to persevere with me. I had to privy her to my state of affairs, no other way. We did keep at working out though with long gaps of 4 - 5 days in between but just did not let go of the work out completely.
In January, February 2010 we took a complete break as my trainer was traveling to Australia for pleasure. We got back in serious business from 1st March 2010 and have done intense workouts these 4 months.

The problem is now my weight has got stuck, what should I do ? Are there any ways to get over the weight loss plateaus ? Any diet I should follow (I am a vegetarian) ? Anything that I should do, do please let me know...... I am at my wit's end and need your help...

Weight Loss

For past year or more, I have been making a consistent effort to loose weight and live a much more healthy life.
It has not been an easy task. I weighed a whopping 102 Kilo grams and was just not physically active. The house help system in India coupled with a very hectic work life ensured my complete lack of good health.

It all changed one day when I was in Tokyo for a week on business and was going through the snaps a colleague had taken of me.
I looked huge, almost obese and really unfit !
I was very concerned but I am very good at stubbing out inner voices. I put the inner voice down and went on with life as normal.

It was when I was in Singapore with my youngest sister for a business cum pleasure trip, I realized that I was getting grossly tired just crossing the road and had to continuously sit myself down for either a drink or a nibble every 15 mts. That was a real eye opener. I knew I just had to do something or my heart will collapse of over pumping.
I looked ghastly in all my pictures. It was a washed out, tired an significantly unhappy self that I saw in them.

I got back and took ages to think what I can do. Someone suggested diet centers. Others suggested Ayurveda centers where they put you on fresh lemon and warm water only for 15 days and you end up loosing weight. I did not want to go the easy way out i.e. cutting on food and eventually loosing all muscle mass and charm.

A family friend suggested using "Personal Trainer". It was expensive, way too much but having her meant I would be forced to exercise 5 days a week even if I did not want to. Those were her conditions. She said she would charge me per class and I need to do 5 days a week with her.

I started with her and believe me when I say that it was quite some challenge.
I will be writing of my fitness regime to motivate myself and continue with it. I have lost a decent weight but I need to keep working hard to be where I want to be..

So, be tuned....