Thursday 31 January 2013

Chicken Soup with butternut squash

Ingredients
Butternut squash (chopped 1 cup)
Potato (chopped 1 cup)
Celery
Onion
Carrots (chopped 1 cup)
4 Chicken legs
Chicken broth cube
1/4 cup Tomato puree
Water
Salt and Pepper
Pasta (optional)

Method
1. Season chicken with salt and pepper, add to hot oil and cook for a few minutes till golden brown
2. Keep the chicken aside, to the same pot add all your vegetables and cook for about 7-8 minutes
3. Add water, tomato puree, chicken broth cube and chicken, cook on low heat for 1.5 to 2 hours
4. Remove the chicken, shred it and keep it aside. Blend the veggies.
5. Add everything back to the pan and cook till it comes to a boil.
6. Add pasta (optional)

(Hope you enjoy it, next time I will post some healthy dessert recipes)

Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 
Tanvee
(I found this recipe here  http://www.laurainthekitchen.com/all/episode.php?episodenumber=228 )

Wednesday 30 January 2013

Slip ups...can you still be on track?

Making plans and setting goals is like second nature for me if you were to see my plans or my goal list you would definitely say I’m crazy or at least you would expect to meet a different me J but me being me my plans keep changing because I keep going off track...even with my fitness/weight loss plan you will find so many plans and so many goals..I have actually lost track.
There were times when I missed the gym because I thought it would rain (I just needed an excuse), at times I would not eat healthy...my plan would go flying out of the window as long as I could get a new plan and start fresh I always got back on track..
But this was not always the case, there used to be days when I would make plans...mess them up and then cry over my mess. I would waste days begin upset with myself, I would try and find somebody to blame...’it was not my fault everybody decided to go out for dinner , they just don’t understand’ or ‘it was not my fault I had more work to finish’ . The blame game and crying would just pull me back a little...so if I had gained 1 pound for my mess...you could add another 2 pounds for the time I spent being upset. When I had no one else left to blame and being upset with myself was not getting me anywhere I would get back to making a new plan and then start my new plan from the beginning of the coming week or maybe beginning of the coming month. Basically one small mistake of mine would get dragged for over a week and one small pound would add up to a few more, it was tragic!!!
So now what I do is I give myself a fixed time to be upset..I can’t not be upset/angry with myself if I mess up so I usually give myself only an hour to think about what went wrong and then I sit down and change my plan accordingly, but my new plan always start as soon as I figure out I have messed up.
So now a days if I miss the gym...I cry for a bit, then think about what I can do to improve my situation...usually I land up doing some exercise video at home and increase 5 minutes of gym for the rest of  the week..that way I cover my mess and I'm back on track...If I eat more, I think about how much more and then I either increase my exercise for the week or I reduce my calorie intake for a day or two this way I'm back on track and I don’t take a step back...instead I divert a little and get back in line
I believe ‘It’s OK to mess up as long as you are willing to start fresh as soon as you realise you have messed up(the key words being 'willing' 'fresh' 'soon')
What do you do when you don't keep up with your plans? how do you get back on track?


Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 
Tanvee

Tuesday 29 January 2013

Something for your Core


(As usual the exercises have links for you to get an idea)


Move four steps ahead in a push-up position move four steps back in the same position
(Walking in a push-up position)

Start in a push-up position and go into a plank position (this is a combination of two exercise, if you find it difficult use the halfway push up)

You can make each of these exercises difficult or easier depending on your fitness level, initially I think your focus should be on maintaining the form and doing each exercise correctly so that you don't hurt yourself.
you can decide the number of repetition and sets depending on your comfort level. ***please don't forget to warm-up/cool down before and after any exercise

I would also like to point out I'm no fitness expert these are things I learnt along the way of my weight loss journey by surfing the internet and going for fitness classes.
Let me know how you liked these exercises? Did you find them useful?
Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 
Tanvee

Monday 28 January 2013

Something for the hips

(I have added links to most of the exercises mentioned below just for you to see the correct form of doing the exercise)


Squats 

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Lunge (stay in lunge position and twist)

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Front kick
Squat and knee raise (raise you knee to the opposite side)
Circular kick

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Lie down on your side and your raise leg

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You can make each of these exercises difficult or easier depending on your fitness level (I will tell you how to make them difficult later), initially I think your focus should be on maitaining the form and doing each exercise correctly so that you don't hurt yourself.
You can decide the number of repetitions and sets depending on your comfort level (I started with 2 sets of 8)..***please don't forget to warm-up/cool down before and after any exercise

I would also like to point out I'm no fitness expert these are things I learnt along the way of my weight loss journey by surfing the internet and going for fitness classes.


Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 
Tanvee

What's your story?

I was watching one of Oprah’s life class it made so much sense to me. I felt it would be nice to share it with all of you.
It was about how most of us create a story for ourselves and at some point this story becomes our identity. If in our story we are not good enough it can pull us down..so it is very important to change our story to create a story based on facts and reality...rather than feelings and emotions..
For me one of my stories was ‘I was a girl who was fat and I truly believed the day I become thin I would be the happiest person, but I also thought I was unlucky because I loved food and hated running/exercise’ because this thought constantly played at the back of my mind I never gave myself a chance to try new things, I always pushed things I wanted to do for later (I would always push for the ‘When I become thin moment’)..I was not good at taking compliments because I felt I did not deserve them till I became thin...and I feel because of this thought/story I wasted many years of my life..I would not go shopping, I would not join my friends for games because I said I did not like running/playing...I would say I did not like dressing up because I thought it was a waste till I became thin.. (my list can go on..)
The funniest part of this is that I continued to believe in this story even when I lost weight it took a while for me to change my story...I did not magically become confident and start trying new things just because I was thinner...in the back of my mind I was still waiting for my ‘thin moment’ I would still push things for my thin moment....
So how did I change my story...I started concentrating on what I had achieved, I started focusing on how far I had come...every now and then I would go back to my old story but as time passed I have started to think better...now my story is ‘I was fat...I loved food..did not enjoy sports but I worked hard to become healthy..(I’m hard working :) ) and in the process I found my love for running and pushing myself...I love pushing myself’
Every time I have a negative thought or a negative story pulling me back..I sit down and think of the facts, based on these I make a new story for myself..(It’s not always possible..Sometimes it takes more than just sitting down once...but I have one  thought that keeps me going ‘I believe if I work hard I can change my story and I know I can work hard )
Do you have stories? Do you tell yourself you are too busy to workout, Do you tell yourself are too fat to be happy? Do you tell yourself you can't run because you have always been scared of the treadmill or of running alone?
Do you have a story that affects your life? Do you think changing your story will help you? Do you think if you had a different story you do better?

Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 
Tanvee

Thursday 24 January 2013

Chickpea soup (hope you like it)

Ingredient:
Olive oil
Onion
Celery
Cummins
Tomatoes
Garlic
Vegetable stock/ chicken stock
400 gm chickpea
100 gm broad beans
Lemon zest
Lemon juice
Coriander

Method:
1. Add onion, garlic and celery to a pot, cook for about 10 minutes
2. Add Cummins and cook for another minute
3. Add stock, chopped tomato and chickpea
4. Season with pepper and salt
5. Cook for about 7-8 minutes 
6. Add broad beans, lemon juice 
7. Cook for another 2-3 minutes
8. Finally garnish with coriander and lemon zest

Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 
Tanvee
P.S (I found the recipe here http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1499/moroccan-chickpea-soup)