How I Stay Motivated!

Beyonce runs with a painting of the Oscar award in sight, to motivate herself to stay in shape.
Now if someone with as Godly a body as Beyonce needs motivation, so do we!

Needless to say, we're all either sick, or just plain lazy, pushing out woes onto "tomorrow".
I haven't even started my workout plan for week 1 yet, and so, I will, from tomorrow :D
Nonetheless, here are some really effective things I use, to keep myself motivated. You'll find an amazing array of stuff on the internet. But here, this is just a list of the things I do to stay focused, and I hope this can help some of you!

1. Keep your workout gear out, and in sight, so that you see it as soon as you wake up!
This will put the idea into your brain and hopefully, you take the first step!

2. Workout first thing in the morning. Psychologists say, that if you deal with the hardest job on your list first, not only do you have the rest of the day free, but you also bask in the glory of accomplishment!

3. Take before pictures of yourself! Strip to your desired level of nudity, and take those pictures. Don't hold your stomach in, don't flex anything. Just take the picture. You know those before after pictures you see on weight loss commercials/sites? This is gonna be yours!
This is by far my biggest motivator. It helps stay positive rather than fussing over my weight or measurements. This really shows me a difference. Because you keep seeing yourself everyday, you don't see a difference in your body, unless you compare pictures. And trust me, the joy is incomparable!

4. Look at other people's Before after pictures. This is my second best motivator. I love looking at people being all fat and disgusting and then Bam! A whole new person. Sleek muscle, tight abs, sweaty pumped up chest, the works.  All you need to do, is google weight loss before after.

5. Watch people work out. Exercise channels, on youtube, or on shows that specifically focus on weight loss, like the Biggest Loser, or Lose it with Jillian or Mtv's I used to be fat, I really love them all. Again, watching the whole transformation process, and looking at people work out so hard gives me an adrenaline rush, and I try to channel that into my own workouts.
My fave- Mtv's I used to be fat, and Lose it with Jillian!

6. Hot guy pictures. No, I'm not being a pervert, but I get more enthusiastic about looking at a ripped guy's picture or watching him workout than I do with a female. I guess it's because I've never wanted to be a stick thin model, but preferred having good muscle tone and curves instead, so the whole act of putting on muscle, and the power that the male body portrays appeals to me.

7. Pinterest board. Yes, this is a girly thing, but it really works. I have a pinterest board only for health and fitness and it's the one I use the most. Whenever I am low on motivation, I go right there and browse through pictures and articles I had previously saved.
Pinterest is an app that can be used on your computer as well. It gives you a wide range of pictures and tutorials and articles and saves them for you on different boards. You can do this as you like, and have private boards as well. I love this because it saves me memory on my phone and laptop!

8. Buy smaller clothes. This doesn't mean you start buying size 6 if you're a size 16. But a size 12. Keep it within reach, and get something really hot, just so you know where you need to fit in and how.
My first motivation was a super hot teal blue leather mini skirt in a size 10. I was a size 16 and I fit into it 15 days after I began working out. But I did fit into it comfortably after a good month of starting. I was impressed with myself that day. Ahh!

9. Wear tighter clothes around the house. Yep. Stuff that doesn't fit your bum, that clings to the rolls of your stomach, that highlights your thighs, the white pants that make you look extra big, that sleeveless top that makes your arms look like giant fins. Wear them all and shame yourself on looking that way. Give yourself a reality check. Try to focus on getting really fit and making those clothes look good!

10. Imagine! This is the fun part. Everyone wants to lose weight for whatever reason. Some to make themselves happy, some to look good, some to be able to buy a certain size of clothing, some to get noticed by a babe, and some to make their ex jealous. (You can actually make them feel like they lost out on alot. Reeeeeeeally.) Imagine that happening. And you, in your finest clothes, with your hair all clean and shiny, face beaming with happiness, and your body, lean, thin, muscular, however you want it to be, right there in that moment, impressing everyone!
People who are naturally thin have it easy. People who have gone from fat to thin get way more attention. Trust me, I know!
My vision was always of me wearing a good dark wash jeans and fantastic black heels with a basic white tank top and a white blazer, straight hair, and sunglasses on my head, walking into Aqua at The Park. Irrelevant of the company or the audience, I just wanted to go there and chill by the pool and look really hot. I don't know how this came into my head. But yeah. It never happened, but I was pretty happy with the shape I was in!

11. Music! This doesn't need to be explained. Play some Pitbull,a little bit of Gaga, some Afrojack,and some Chris brown, with a generous splash of Guetta and you should be in the mood to run miles more than you should!

12. Have multivitamins, and fruits and veggies. You usually feel dull and lazy if you're lacking these. I hadn't had mine for a month but started two days ago. I feel different immediately. You need multivitamins to help you stay focused, healthy, and energized!

 Take care of yourself. I call this page FIT movement, not thin movement, because more than how you look, what's important is how you feel. Let's all get together and be super healthy!

How to Measure Yourself for Weight Loss

Measuring your body can be the best way to track weight loss.
It so happens, that your weight can fluctuate on a daily basis, depending on your water intake, the time of day you check your weight, among other factors, making it frustrating and difficult to know what your actual weight is.
The obsession with the scale is not healthy. You fixate on a number, you feel unworthy, and you constantly think about where you need to be.
When I was younger, my weight was 65. It was pretty good, but comparing myself to the other kids in my class, I felt like my weight was on the higher side, although it was normal per my height; which was a foot taller than the other girls. :3
So to avoid the confusion and the negative feelings, Please check your BMI instead.
This is your Body Mass Index, and is a way to determine what your ideal weight is, based on your height. (You can find it on google with a simple bmi calculator).
Although this too, can vary, depending on your bone weight. Some of us are just big boned, and even if we lose a bunch of weight, it will still be high cause our bone density is.

Which is why, I always recommend that you should measure your body instead. What happens when you workout and tone your body, is that you gain muscle and lose fat. Muscle is heavier than fat. Denser. So even if you do lose alot of fat, and gain a little muscle, your weight shows an increase. This happens even when you eat properly and workout alot. This is NOT a bad thing, it's just a little hard to process and people get confused when they do everything as per plan but gain weight instead of losing it. More muscle simply means a leaner and fitter body, more strength, and everything in proper shape. I love toning my body, and building muscle, and no, if you're a girl and you build muscle, you don't look like a boy. You just look super toned. (Jacqueline Fernandez, as compared to Johnny Bravo)
So I recommend checking your measurements instead of weighing yourself. All you need is a measuring tape. Like the one that tailors use! You must have one lying around somewhere.
Here are some pointers to help you measure correctly:

• Ask someone for help. It's always easier to get it done than to do it yourself. If you're shy then do it on your own!
• Make sure you don't leave space, and it's comfortable secure around your arm or whatever you're measuring. 
• Please don't trick yourself and take tighter measures. You're the only one that's losing out. Yes, I speak from experience. :D
• Don't hold your stomach in while you measure it. This will cut off 2-3 inches. Leave it loose, see how far it distends, even if it falls to the ground, leave it be, and measure it. This way, you'll see how far you really need to go. Similarly, all other body parts, do not flex or hold tight. Relax.
• Measure yourself in ONLY ONE UNIT. Either cms or inches. This will help avoid alot of confusion. I will suggest inches, as they are less alarming. But do what you need to, acc to the scale you have!
• Don't use approximations. If you have an additional inch, write it as so. (ex. 33.5 inches)
• WRITE it down. I can't stress this enough. Keep a separate book with all your health related details including weight, measurements, pointers, everything!
• Measure yourself on ONE SIDE everytime! Left arm, or right arm, but always, just that one. Not necessary to do both. But the main thing here, is that both our sides are different, as our bodies are not completely symmetrical. So avoid the confusion!
• Make sure you do this Naked. You really don't need to be wearing something unless someone else is helping you.
  Measure the thickest part of whatever you're measuring. Fattest part of your arm, or calf, or the widest point of your bum should be where your tape hits.

Here are some images to help you know what to measure:

                          


     Note:   Images taken from Google.    


So boys will measure their neck, upper arm or bicep, chest, waist, butt, thigh and calves, all at their widest parts.
Girls will measure their upper arm, bust, chest, waist (thinnest part of your torso), stomach (belly button level), butt, thigh and calves, again at their widest parts.
There is no rule as to how much your measurements should be. They vary according to your height and what you prefer. You can google what your measurements must be! This is just so you can track progress more efficiently.

I hope this is clear, Good luck!

I've gained weight and I don't want to lose it

Lets be honest here. We're not losing anything but time.
We're sneaking in chocolates when no one's looking, attending birthday parties and half heartedly protesting against eating the cake that we
shove into our mouth first chance we get, because well, it's a birthday. We're eyeing our friend's sugar laden iced mocha frappe with extra whipped cream
and chocolate sauce, pretending not to look at our own sugar free black coffee/green tea/decaf herbal tea as if that would make it disappear.
We're all doing it.

This was week 1. We were supposed to go sugar free and eat in abundance and ignite our rapturous metabolisms with green tea and change our lives and our worlds.
But there was some fasting, and eid celebrations involved. There were some ganpati festivities to attend. There were a hell of a lot of birthdays; hello September.
And so, for many of us, week 1 was a disaster. Good thing it wasn't too hard. Which makes me wonder what fate awaits us all in future.
All I did the whole week, was watch criminal minds on my laptop, roll in bed, hunt for chocolates and eat them alone. I skipped meals, I didn't eve look at  green
tea. I basically led the life of a wild animal. Hunting, gathering, hibernating. Now someone shoot me.

I've gained almost as much weight as I had initially lost. This time last year, I started with replacing my three hour strict workouts with rest periods. I had recently started taking
anti anxiety medications which were giving me headaches. And I had to let them go away. Days turned into months. Slowly, the diet started getting out of hand.
Shifting from India to Saudi Arabia, gave me access to unlimited food, of every kind, at all times. Indulgences turned into necessity. I did start working out
again, but never as strictly. I got back to a healthy balanced diet, but everything went down the drain with ramadan, and the abundance of food that it brings,
along with forceful relatives who pretend to be offended if you dont eat enough to burst at your seems. Of course. Then I joined work. Erratic timings, too much
work, no time for healthy eating or working out. Followed by a month long vacation in India, where I ate everything from bachpan ki yaadein to nani ka pyaar to
outside food. I wanted to enjoy my vacation and not think about weight, I knew I could lose it when I got back.
But I'm back. And I don't want to lose the weight, but I want my fit body back.
I've convinced myself I don't need new clothes because I didn't fit in my thin sizes when I went shopping.
I haven't picked up the contour brush yet, but I've brainwashed myself into thinking I look better when I'm chubby.
I have even gone to the extent of making fun of people right back when they call me fat, instead of feeling ashamed or feeling determined to change it.
The word 'MOTI' has returned into my life, and I do not give a flying fish.
I am bigger than most of my friends, and some new ones don't recognize me from the thin pictures, but I remain unfazed, wading my way, open mouthed,
through a sea of junk food and immobility.
My goals were to have abs by the end of this year.
And now I've gained too much weight for that to happen.
Is this my fault? Despite the long list of excuses, yes. Absolutely.
Could it have been prevented? Yes. Gaining weight shows dereliction from proper diet and activity.
Is it okay to be fat? Yes. But it's not okay to take your health for granted, to neglect yourself, to put yourself in poor health, be weak, to look bad,
to not take care of yourself, pretend like you don't care about your appearance, to act like you love food more than you love running on the treadmill, to
try to justify to yourself that life can still be fun, that I'm still happy, I've got people who love me despite my weight, and to put myself last.
It's not okay.
This was never about other people in the first place.
It started with appearance, with wanting to look better, thinner, hotter. To have the kind of body people wish for. Then it started feeling good.
Looks took a back seat. Then it was all about the feeling. It makes you feel accomplished. It's a victory. It's a hard thing you're doing. But you're
doing it for you. You have endorphins flowing in your veins with all the exercise. You feel amazing, although you're drenched in sweat. You know you're
better than the others complaining about their huge butt while just sitting on it. You know you're better than you were yesterday. And that's what it's about.
The crunches start feeling good, you look forward to lifting weights, running makes you feel like you're high, you start FEELING healthy. You start
feeling happy. Then you want to be stronger. You have milestones. You want to run as much as people in marathons do. You want to do a video without stopping to breathe
like the people in it don't, you want to be fitter. You love being healthy. You want it all.
From wanting your stomach to look flat, you want it to be tighter, and the muscle tone to show. That is what you want.
And that, is why I need to get my butt on the treadmill and trim it.
And so do you.
We've all lacked. It's not the first time. It's your last.
It's now or never.
You're in this with me, and I'm here.
Let's do it together.
Follow the same week 1 pattern for 3 more days, starting today.
This time,follow it. To the letter.
Then lets jump to week 2.

No matter how much I write, you're the one who needs to do it. This isn't school, we aren't babies. It's your life. Your body. Your health.
If you're still not feeling it, get naked, stand in front of the mirror.
How are you feeling about it now?

WEEK 1

This first week, our plan will be very basic. I'm assuming everyone is starting from naught, not doing any physical activity, or taking care of your food intake, because I definitely am not!
I laze around at home, roll in bed all day like a pig. I need to know others are like me!
So I've been out of the habit, and mostly everyone must be at beginner level.
Let's take this week to just fuel up and prepare for the oncoming weeks where everything from our diet to our workouts will kick ass!
I just want you all to make very few changes in your current daily routine.
There are just four things you need to be doing this week:

1. Avoid All Sugar
2. Eat 5 meals a day
3. Drink Green Tea
4. Exercise.

Details
1. SUGAR- Diabetes, Mood swings, addiction, heart disease, obesity, slow metabolism, ALL caused by consuming sugar.
Replace with honey, agave nectar, stevia (I do honey).
This is the best thing you can do for yourself in the long run.

2. EAT 5 MEALS A DAY- Eat whatever you want, whatever you can. Don't count calories or anything. Just eat. Eat breakfast, beg your mom to give you lunch, go out and get some, or order whatever, but just eat.

3. GREEN TEA- Have 2-3 cups daily. Hot or cold, however you like.
I love mine with honey and lemon. You can add ginger too. You can basically add whatever you like.


4. EXERCISE- This is making your body get used to what you'll be up to next week. Building stamina, improving mood, metabolism and teaching you discipline (we all need that).
Get your clothes off the treadmill and dry them somewhere else, bring the cross trainer out of the store room, get your cycle out of the garage, clean it out, stock your playlist and get to work.
I want you to work out for 30 minutes every day. Early morning, evening, whatever, whenever.
Just get on it, and work.
Go swimming, do in place jogging, take your dogs for a (fast) walk, climb up and down the stairs,  if not, then just step up and down one step like aerobics, get your old aerobics class moves into action, do some squats, do some jumping jacks, and if nothing else, switch on Bollywood mode, and dance like crazy. Make sure you do this when your doors are closed so as to keep others alive.
You can belly dance, you can watch a video and follow it, you can do whatever you like.
I dont care what you do, if you look like a fool, just move. If you stand in one place snapping your fingers calling it movement, imagine me punching your face.
You need to push yourself. Make your heart race!
Just 30 mins. It's 2% of your day.


Apart from these things, remember whenever you're starting this, weigh yourself early morning, after you go to the bathroom, before you eat anything.
Weight is not a good indicator of progress, so measure your body. A chart will be provided in another post. To me, this is the most important measure.
Also, check your bmi. This is important as you can learn how fit you are depending on your height!
Keep your water intake in check, drink 3-4 litres a day to not burn out,
And drink a glass of water or warm lemon honey within 15 mins of waking up.

Baby steps, big improvements!
Now that you're aware of the basics, lets begin!
May your fat be replaced by luck! :D

I DIDN'T WANT TO BE FAT ANYMORE!

I was fat. Not obesely rolling around like a barrel, but yes, fat, like a plump pigeon.
I wasn't a fan, but I didn't know how to get rid of it, although I would do some run of the mill exercises in my room before I slept, but who knew where in place jogging and 20 skips would get me? Straight to my bed, out of breath.

I was in expanded shape, fluffy and flabby. I had a heavy lower body. Being fat wasn't just about being overweight.
It meant starving myself the whole day to have one huge meal at night, it meant wearing alot of black, layering clothes, making me feel like a 40 year old, wearing kurtas that hid the wide hips,boyish baggy clothes that would make me look like an autowala, and later be recognized as a tomboy.

It meant never having a hairstyle that didn't make me look funny with a body like a bowling pin. 

It meant being the "XL" one in an "XS" majority, in India. It meant coming back hungry from parties so as not to be seen as the fat girl eating.
It meant not sitting on someones bike for the fear of it tilting backward,knowing you're the reason why an auto wouldn't be able to ride an upward slope, not being comfortable in airplane seats, and not being able to walk a few paces, or climb a flight of stairs without panting like a rabid dog.
I would contour the shit out of my face to make it look skinny back in 2010. Before it became a trend, it was a daily necessity for me.
I would overcompensate for being fat, by doing good makeup, so that people would only see my face.
I was tired of being called "cute", the kind of cute reserved for teddy bears, bunnies and chubby kids. Not the kind of cute used for a girl,pretty, dimples, hair flying about, sweet sugary smiles and stomach butterfly inducing good looks. I wanted to be that, not a bunny!

I knew I looked good, there was still some kind of weird confidence that proclaimed,"So what if you have a fat body, your face is fine. You'll be fine".
And that fat became a layer of protection against the cruel world, where I would feel safe, I would feel like I only had that fat to get rid of, and I would be perfect. It was secret confidence. It was strange that I was never insecure, probably because I knew I had nothing to lose (except weight!) But it did hold me back from alot of things, like swimming class (which I loved, but I never hung outside the pool, just got into the water as soon as I changed into my suit), I skipped PE sessions, and avoided taking part in any games that involved running, that would make a spectacle of my gloriously inelegant body fat. I also avoided going to the gym, fearing I'd have  to bounce and jump around with all my excess weight in front of a bunch of random people.

Let's not forget how much an overweight person sweats.

Bejesus!

I avoided any kind of physical activity as a result of the consciousness.

I didn't like being called "the fat one.. not fat, plump", in pictures, Tired of being told on more than one occasion that I'd look perfect if i lost weight.
Although I was the good looking one in that group I hung out with, but only the fat made me take a step back, from entering a place after my friends, to standing behind in the pictures, comparing the expanse of my chunky thighs when I sat with other people, and quickly placing my bag in my lap to hide it. It meant thinking I was anchored to my fat; in more ways than one!

I wouldn't get approached by guys, that was an advantage to me personally, but just the sheer size difference between a supersized me and the skinny dudes of India, was disappointing yet funny.The thought Marriage or anything physical was deeply disturbing as I would have to expose what I would work hard everyday to cover up.I wore my abaya everywhere, and being long and black, it hid everything I pretended didn't exist. 

It's very sad how an amazing life, all the dreams,everything I was and was yet to be, was being anchored down by something as stupid and temporary as fat. In the middle of 2012,the year the world was meant to end on Dec 21, I had decided my goal for the new year- to be hot.
I'd had enough of being huge, making fun of myself, that little distance between me and perfection always stabbing me, grey- sallow skin, unhealthy lifestyle, being overly conscious, but more than everything else just the sheer will to be hot overtook everything else.

It wasn't for the way people were talking about me, it wasn't because the boy I liked said I was the best looking girl in the city but needed to lose weight, it wasn't because of the rishtas my parents were searching, and it definitely wasn't to make anyone jealous, or to compete with anyone.
It was only for me.
So I spent about six months researching everything, and as per my goal,put my plan into action in January 2012, when it all started, and changed my life. 

In two weeks I lost 15 inches overall, and I got called something I was never called before- Hot!.