One Step at a Time

It has been awhile, since I wrote for the blog. Many things are happening in my life… A breather today was welcomed with open arms .

So how are things going for me? Pretty good! Lost a bit of weight in last month. And now 15 days into Ramadan, more weight loss should happen.

So what’s my current weight? Hey, you know I hardly measure myself on the scales. So how do I know that I have lost few kilos? The fit of my clothes says it all. They are bit loose than before, my wedding ring glides easily onto my finger and I can feel the increase in my energy levels. The whole process wasn’t easy for me though.

All along, I took small steps and achieved victories at each step. And trust me, these small victories have been good motivator for my weight loss journey. Few baby steps and good habits at a time made way for healthier me.

Earlier I tried various ways to shed pounds, but I burned out too easily. After some good soul searching, I decided to take small achievable steps. Did you know that it takes about three good weeks to establish a habit? I found this when i was pushing myself religiously, sometimes once/twice a day to do my yoga exercises. Besides working out at home, I would look forward to my classes. Yoga helped me calm down and enjoy ‘me’ time, which was rare.

Before starting yoga, I was not sure how to get started. So I sat down with my list of changes and chose weight loss as the first change. I haven’t been able to do a makeover in my entire diet, but it is happening in bits and pieces.

I feel confident each day with my renewed sense of energy. I am positive that I will be able to check off all the items on my list for change soon.

Have you hit the Weight Plateau?

You did the right exercises, ate the right foods, and controlled your portion sizes, but still the scales did not budge. Isn’t it extremely frustrating, when scales stop co-operating?

Just because you haven’t lost weight, avoid the temptation to drown your sorrows by taking extreme measures such as skipping meals or excessive workouts. A weight plateau is no reason to give up on a healthy plan. Instead, it could mean that you’re ready for something more.

The numbers on the scales don’t tell us all that is needed to assess fitness levels. Calm down, regroup your priorities and consider other ways to measure your progress. It’s time to see health rewards elsewhere other than on the bathroom scales.

Monitoring numbers such as body fat percentage, waist-hip ratio, BMI, blood pressure, heart beat rate, cholesterol and stress levels and improved overall quality of life denote positive change in the weight loss efforts.

Few ways to trace your progress:

Keep a daily journal of your fitness activities, measurements, dietary needs, sleep and your day-to-day feelings.

The fit of your clothes is the best indicator of how is your body shaping up with regular exercise and healthy food habits. If your clothes hang looser in all the right spots unlike earlier, then your weight loss program is effective

Test your fitness level to measure your muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance, stamina and flexibility. Repeat these tests at regular intervals and compare the results. Difference in numbers should tell all.

Stalling in a weight loss program is natural. A plateau means that your body needs a change in the intensity, frequency and/or type of workout. The ideal way to get over weight plateau is to bring about small changes in kinds of exercises, speed and intensity of doing them.

I too, have reached weight plateau many a times and frankly it is uninspiring. But my fitness success is not measured by bathroom scales alone. Fit of the clothes and finger ring, increase in flexibility, stamina and energy levels to do various things gauge my weight loss progress.

Happy Stretching

I’m sure you all must have heard that it is good to stretch before and after your workouts. Do you know why? Simply because stretching reduces the risk of injuries, keeps our body supple and more resilient in the long run. It helps in improving blood circulation, reduces wear and tear, relieves tension allowing you to relax and hold your body in a more balanced way.

Stretching exercises are not meant to strain muscles. There are various stretching exercises targeted at major muscle groups. Focus should be on arms, legs, abs, back and neck. A light body warm-up is a must.  Start your stretch by taking a deep breath, continuing as far as you can without pain (for 20 seconds or a minute) and then slowly breathe out. Be sure never to bounce while stretching!

Stretching exercises are ideally performed in sets of three for 30 seconds to one minute. Eventually, you should listen to your body. It’s best to include a variety of stretches, holding them for as long as you can and releasing yourself from the position when you feel the pain.

If you exercise regularly, perform stretching exercises daily. Having a diary with a list of stretching exercises targeted at major muscle group ensures that you stretch all the muscles in your body.

Interval Walking

If your regular walking exercise has become boring and drab, add intervals to your regular walking plan to make it more interesting.

Interval walking is all about walking briskly, faster than your normal pace for short time period followed by recovery period of walking at your regular speed.

Before you start with interval walking, few minutes of warm-up like strolling and stretching is a must as it allows your muscles to warm up.

Determine your interval levels. Start with short periods of brisk walk followed by a longer period of recovery walking.

When you start the first interval walk, walk at twice the speed of your normal pace for a minute or two. Start by adding one or two five-minute high intensity intervals to your walk to build your stamina. Gradually increase your period of interval walking.

Maintain good posture while walking. Hold your abdominal muscles tight; lift your chest and keep your chin parallel to the ground. Keeping your arms bended at 90^o helps you walk at a faster pace than your usual speed.

Slow down to allow your body to recover from your strenuous workout. The recovery interval should be about twice as long as you’re walking interval.

Once you’ve mastered interval training and enjoyed the benefits, you might be tempted to push yourself to do even more. Avoid doing so as your body needs to rest and recover.

+ves

Interval walking burns fat and calories and challenges your body to prevent it from hitting a weight loss plateau.

It improves your cardiovascular fitness. Faster walking means your heart beats faster, showing a higher demand for oxygen. That strengthens your heart; increases your blood flow and improves you’re overall fitness level.

Do the Duet!

Getting a like-minded partner for exercising daily is a great way to keep the motivation strong and achieve fitness targets faster.  A friend, an acquaintance or anybody who shares the same time and venue with you for workouts should be welcome.  The main criteria is to share the passion to workout and get fit.  While it may appear a tad tough initially, you will be able to identify such a person sooner or later.  Having a partner for your daily workouts has various benefits such as -

-Motivate each other
-Complement one another for various exercises
-Keep a tab on the other
-Push you to do a bit more
-Encourage you
-Appreciate your efforts
-Give you that much needed morale booster from time to time

I have a “walk” partner with whom I enjoy my brisk walks regularly.  We share the same love for long, brisk walks and have done it long enough to have experienced the wonderful benefits of the same.  Apart from sharing the benefits of  walk, we end up sharing a lot of thoughts and ideas on various topics as well.  Going for a walk with my partner does wonders for me both physically as well as mentally!

My Journey of the Lost Pound

I remember I had weighed myself last in mid July, when I had take my lil girl to the doctor. At that time I was a whooping 72 kgs. Seeing the scales tipping above 70 made me disappointed. I was piling up weight around my waist and doing nothing about it.

When I became a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom), I had decided that I would go for regular walks early morning. But my laziness scored over my exercise plans. So the whole of summer was spent twiddling thumbs and cursing myself on weight gain. Then came the rains, so going for walks was out of question. I tried dieting, but pounds were gained rather lost. So crash diets did not work for me. Next i tried to skip one meal, mostly dinner. I would have a glass of milk and fruits before bed, but this lasted only for week. Every two days, at night, i would curse myself loudly for being fat and not losing weight and this would irritate my hubby to no end. He would always encourage me to go for walks, do stretches, etc, and he still does continue to do so.

I saw a silver lining in the form of Yoga. I joined yoga classes run by my friend. I told her to show me all the asanas for tucking in the tummy. She has dutifully shown me easy warm up exercises and asanas for abdominal area. Going to yoga thrice a week is the only consistent work out for me. I tried getting up early in the mornings to do yoga, succeeded twice only, so i changed the timings. I do the breathing exercises mostly in the night before sleeping.

Being a mommy blogger, I am a member of DMC and I came across a post from Kay on her journey of weight loss. I bounced this idea to one of friend, who is also wanting to get in shape. So we both decided to have a work out blog.

Writing for this blog is really motivating and also since we post our efforts at exercises, I make it point to do some kind of exercise daily, either walking, pranayam, yoga. And I always start my day with my prayers (namaz – it is also another type of workout) and a warm water glass with a tsp of honey and 4 drops of lemon (an instant detox).

I have increased my walking by doing all the shopping for groceries, errands like bank work and other small stuff. Climbing three floors, thrice a day had never been so fun .

If you had read my previous post on chores for curves, I have started doing a very mundane household chore – sweeping. Its been two days. The time taken to sweep the two rooms and passage area is approx 30 minutes.A workout in this form, early in the morning is really good. Squatting and bending while sweeping gives a good stretch to my abdominal and lower body especially the waist down.

Yesterday at my yoga classes, I got a chance to weigh myself. And I was so happy to know that I had lost 2 kgs. Now that I have noticed the loss in weight, i realized that my clothes have become loose slightly. I am very upbeat about the whole workout regime and blog.

Wishing all the best to Sindhu and myself in our endeavor to keep ourselves in fit and healthy.