That was twice that I wrote a long long post that was eaten forever by EP. So now I have decided to compose in word and do a little copy and paste.
It’s been a really short, exciting 6 months filled with lots and lots of work and a little travel as well. I have been focusing all my energy on getting Sigma’s big project off the ground and I am doing EVERYTHING for it – from discussing the plans, to placing the purchase orders, to following up, to payments – everything. It’s great because I have free hand and a great deal of responsibility, but it does get a little lonely sometimes when I feel there is so much more to do and I’ve barely begun. It’s also pretty sobering to realize that there is such a significant investment in the bet that my leadership will pay off. Hmm… I don’t think I’ve quite put it that way before.
On the weight front, I just completely ignored my plans of losing the weight permanently this year and pushed myself head first into work. When I returned from visiting my sister in Dubai, I was shocked to see that I was now heavier than I have ever been in my life. I also realized that I really have not been able manage my nutrition and my weight myself. So I went to a nutritionist.
A friend of mine had been to her already and had lost 10 kgs from lifestyle correction. I was starting Shravan (a month in the year when I don’t eat meat or drink alcohol) so it was the ideal time. Suman advised me, not to change the things I had been eating (aside from my horrible chocolate addiction), but change the quantities and, more importantly, the timing. I haven’t been completely religious about following a diet but, aside from a minor setback this week, I’ve lost four kgs! Plus I have a lot more energy than I did before, I can work out longer and I feel so much fitter.
Suman has also given me my latest addiction – a pedometer. You know the psychology – you wear it and then, to make sure that you have done enough steps in the day, you walk when you are on the phone, walk when you are talking to someone and basically, just stay more active. I have to do 10,000 steps a day. Most days I exceed the requirement, but when I don’t work at it, I realize that I can’t slack and get my steps in as well.
Today is a little difficult for me. Since Shravan finished and I can now drink alcohol, I found myself drinking after ages for two days in a row. It has done my stomach no good at all. The diet I am on now also reduces my acidity levels (which are really high because of stress) but it hasn’t helped me counteract the alcohol. So I am off it for the foreseeable future.
I think this post has really exceeded the size of the normal post. More later J
Ok I wrote an EXTRA LONG blog explaning where I've been and what has been happening with my life and the stupid site has erased it. I'd totally forgotten this site did that sometimes.
So I'll post more about what I've been up to later because I am hungry and need to have some lunch.
I'm back! I had a wonderful holiday in Thailand. Phuket was fantastic - we stayed at a beautiful resort, the weather was perfect and we did some awesome sight seeing as well. Bangkok was great too. It's amazing that the city which used to be just like Mumbai some years ago has gone so far ahead. It is incredible! G wanted to do almost no sight seeing in Bangkok (a point of contention between us) but we ended up shopping our hearts out.
I went there with the thought that nothing would fit me, and it almost did not, but they did have larger sizes this time. I was shocked to see that I have actually graduated to almost a 36 waist. We bought some great stuff, but I am determined to have all of it become way too loose for me pretty soon.
The food was fantastic too. We didn't eat too badly - in fact we ate really well, but the killer was that we were out partying every night and we ended up drinking LOTS of beer. When you are sitting on a perfect white sand beach with beautiful blue waters, what can you do, right? ;-) And when they offer you champagne on the aircraft, you can't exactly say no, right? G and I enjoyed our last business class flights as I am leaving my job and will no longer be entitled to flying business (that is the part I will miss).
We've made loads of resolutions, but the most important of them is that we are giving up alcohol for a month. It is just too easy to go out and have a drink with friends every other night and we really need the detox.
I haven't weighed myself yet because I found the weighing scale missing from my room when I got home (the mil must have borrowed it) so I plan on weighing myself tomorrow morning for the (shudder) results of a week of an extremely good time.
Right now it's back to the schedule and I have to figure out a whole new schedule for myself soon because I am doing my last 5 days of notice starting monday! Hurray!! Woohoo!
I was really good and even did a kickboxing session this morning.
I hope the walking and touristy things we do in Thailand will offset the food. I've been told the food there is awesome. For the time that I am away I've uploaded some nice pictues of my family, including one or two from the wedding. Hope you like it!
This weekend past has been so emotional, so exciting and so very positive. I went down to Goa with my parents and brother to meet a consultant who is going to help us with refurbishing our plants there.
The plants were built in 1983 and 1993 when our family business was doing really well and they have been shut down for the past three years or so. It was so difficult to walk through the rooms that my father designed himself and see them full of machinery, but so still. After seeing this place I really got an idea of how my parents must have felt over the past three years and how devasted they must have been to have to close down the plants.
The last three years have been particularly traumatic for my family - first the business sufferred because of embezzlement, then my dad had a second bypass operation, then my brother had a life threatening accident from which he took ages to recover, then my sister and I got married and moved away. I've been able to go through these years relatively whole, but seeing the husk of the beautiful factory in Goa really brought forth a lot of emotions I hadn't dealt with yet.
My sister couldn't join us, but the whole family sat down and spoke about our actions going forward. We've laid down plans, we've thought out strategies and we are going to get the business going again!! My brother and I are so positive about this and i really feel like I am committing to a really major change that is going to completely reshape my life. I feel like something momentous has occured.
I can barely wait to finish serving my notice period at my current job and get on with my life. I really feel like things are going to turn all the way around.
But, before that, G and I are off to a much deserved holiday Bangkok and Phuket. We leave on the 14th and go straight to Phuket where we will celebrate my 30th Birthday (on the 16th) and the beginning of a new me.
(In the meanwhile, while in Goa, I didn't eat too well, but didn't eat any bebinca, and though I didn't exercise, I spent two whole days at the plant walking around for 5-6 hours continuously. Hopefully that will be ok)
I wasn't sure whether I should be thrilled or annoyed when I stepped on the scale this morning. First of all, my scale does not love me and doesn't give the results when I work for them and second, I'm not even sure the scale is accurate. I know it's about right because I checked my weight on the fancy schmancy scale they have at the club and it's in the general vicinity of my home scale.
Anyway, it turns out I was a whole 1/2 kg down. Thrilling... Annoying... whatever - at least it's a loss.
I was really hoping that a bit of hard work this week would make me not so guilty when I go off to Goa tomorrow morning for work (but who can resist the food there??! or the bebinca!!) and to Thailand next week.
I'm also in a really strange place at work. I'm leaving and my work load is decreasing but I'm going through some pretty strong emotions. I've spent so long here that I am not even sure how well I will perform under different cicumstances. I'm also a bit depressed - but I totally attribute that to PMS.
So my dear friends, you probably won't hear from me this weekend, but I will be back Monday with an update. :-) Hope it's going well for everyone!
PS: Does this new site look and feel a bit odd? I'm not sure I like all these thin beautiful chicks on the top of the page.
I've been having some trouble getting back into the swing of working out. Last week was pretty pathetic - I only managed to work out every other day and those days required some serious effort.
As I sit in front of the computer, I wonder why I haven't pushed myself to exercise when I really love it. When did I start telling myself that it was a chore? I thought I'd left that attitude behind years ago! It was really hard to wake up in the morning last week too. It's amazing how lethargic you can get when you have a break in your routine.
On Friday I tried out a power yoga / pilates class in one of the gyms here - I thought my legs were strong from kickboxing, but this class seriously tested my staying power. I'm STILL sore and it's Monday! I wanted to enroll for the class, but it turns out that the gym is shutting down and shifting and no one knows where it will be going. I think I had better stick to the club gym until I'm sure.
I've also found this salsa class and today I am going to call them and ask them for a demo class. I love to dance! G sucks at it, but he's willing to learn. I'm quite excited about this. My brother, Tj, has been learning salsa for a year and a half and he loves it - he's taken up all kinds of ballroom dancing now (personally, I think he uses it to meet girls but it's incredible how much his coordination has improved and stiffness has gone down since he started) .
Tj is religious about everything in his life. He is a goof, but when it comes to work and exercise and nutrition, he's bang on. I am going to be working with him soon and am going to have to hear a lot of lectures on weight control and nutrition (he's also a certified nutritionist) and I really hope I will have the grace to listen to his advice not to hit him on the head with the closest heavy instrument. Who listens to their kid brothers anyway??
The workload at my current job has gotten lighter - I just stopped getting stressed out and Dad has already sent me proposals to read up and comment on! This Friday I am off to Goa for work (no bumming around for me) and the next week we are on our way to Bangkok and Phuket!! Wooohoo!! I am so in need of a holiday!!
This week has not been too brilliant in terms of eating - but I have got so much accomplished in terms of getting my life back in order.
I voted in the local elections today and then went to directly to my Dad and brother's office. I'm returning to the family fold. Dad needs my help and I'm really sick and tired of working for someone else. I want to see the fruits of my own hard work and I am ready to take the risk! Plus, I owe it to the family to return to the biz and use my qualifications to it's best benefits. This business must survive my generation as it has the past two.
We've been going through a bad time, and there is so much to do, but I'm feeling upbeat and optimistic. I feel so happy and so thrilled to be starting on this exciting new venture! This year is going to be such an immense transformation! I know there's going to be lots of obstacles and lots of diplomacy needed as well, but I'm up to the challenge - I hope.
Workout wise I haven't been doing so well - been just so busy and by the time I get home it's 10 P.M. and I am knackered. But my kickboxing instructor has returned from a week away and I am so very happy because kickboxing is a GREAT way to start my day. I feel so good and then I feel inspired to work out in the evenings as well.
I can't wait till my notice period is up. In the meanwhile, G is planning a fab vacation for us for my 30th birthday in Bangkok and Phuket. It sounds pretty exciting! I am almost 30 and I am determined for this to be MY year!!
Last night was the last event in this social season - thank the lord. It went pretty well for me food wise as well because I ate a healthy dinner before I left for the show and didn't snack there (though I did have a very nice cranberry cocktail).
The only thing was - this last event was one of these big time fashion shows with the latest designers exhibiting their way overpriced and under-interesting designs for the next wedding season. I have discovered that there is absolutely nothing like a fashion show to make you feel inadequate and miserable when you are already feeling fat from a weekend of indulgence (see last blog).
So these super-super-thin, super tall women were strutting around in super over embroidered and super expensive (though not particularly imaginative) clothes. Flash bulbs were going off everywhere, pseudo-celebs were giving various channels sound bites and scenes of the party (and the revelers) were being beamed all over India.
Great! Just what I absolutely needed. Now can you blame me for the cranberry cocktail??
We went house hunting this morning and couldn't find a single nice apartment that fit into our budget (and I thought our budget was substantial). I did see some really fabulous "inspirational" apartments though - six bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, office, staff quarters, security, trendy address.. wow! Sigh... one day when my body is slimmer but my pocket is a lot fatter...
I've enquired about the pilates/power yoga class at a gym I used to use. It looks interesting and I am going for a demo class tomorrow. I really hope I like it - I'm really going to need it to push myself some more.
I've also found out that I have to travel for about a week in the second week of February. Part of that is for work, but part of that is because G and I want to go to Malaysia for a week or so for my birthday. I'm quite excited and I really hope it works out!
Tonight I plan to work out and then sleep by 10. I really need to get caught up on sleep. I am so very sleepy at work.
I actually haven't blogged here in over a week! The last week was dreadful for me in terms of self control and I really missed everyone here! In fact, I have been dreading getting back onto EP because I have been so very bad.
My lovely sister visited home from Dubai all of last week and we have had a really fantastic time. We've been at weddings and events almost all of last week, but the whole family took time out to have dinner at my house and at my parents' house too. It's been so much fun, but realy bad in terms of exercise (only ONE day in the past week), food (all those dinners - I totally lost control) and work (I took the whole week off to spend with Kobi and we had a long weekend here anyway).
I didn't record food, I didn't monitor alcohol - I pretty much did nothing right. But do you know what? Other than the time I really enjoyed spending with Kobi, I felt bloated and lethargic the whole time. I think I am coming to realize that my body doesn't feel much good unless I've used it right. But I need to make that push to use it right on an everyday basis. This is one battle I've got to fight no matter what...
I've got to reacquire my drive from the end of last year. The good thing is that G is really into it as well now (thanks to all the weight he's put on) and that will really help.
The real inspiration for me should be my sister. When she came back from college she weighed something like 90 kgs - she weighed more than I did. She controlled her diet and exercise so well, she lost about 30 kgs and has maintained it for 5 years now. To see the change it wrought in her is incredible and I want that for myself as well. Today, even though she does not obsess endlessly about food and exercise, she has a definite understanding of what is too much and I know she is going to be working her butt off to lose the kilos she's put on this past week.
So I'm starting anew today. Please send all kinds of weight loss energies my way!!! I know I can do this - I just need a push!
but it's incredible how much his coordination has improved and stiffness has gone down since he started) .