Break your fast

Everybody knows the importance of having a good breakfast, since its the meal after a break of more than 6 hours. But many of us forget about it and just go about our morning routine with just the morning jolt of coffee.
A good breakfast will keep you energetic and make your day much better. Some things to remember for your morning.

An egg in the morning is good and for those on a diet plan eating one in the morning, will help you eat at least 100 calories during the day.

Drink your hot beverage after you've had a drink of water in the morning.

Keep a banana or apple or some cut fruits or something easily accessible as you are going about your morning routine of getting kids ready and their lunch bags.

Try to have your breakfast within an hour of waking up. I try to keep some cut fruits next to me while I go about my morning chores. This keeps my hunger in check and I can easily decide my morning breakfast.

Its okay to eat a fruit along with our Indian breakfast. I prefer to eat the fruit before the meal so that I eat less calories during each meal.

The easiest breakfast that I love is :-
crispy plain toasted whole grain or wheat bread - 2 slices
Cut banana
Crunchy peanut butter.
Spread peanut butter on warm bread, place the cut banana inside and eat it. Its a complete breakfast and you wont need to eat anything for at least 3 hours after that (depending on your activities).

If you wish you can either drink a glass of fresh juice or eat a fruit. I prefer to eat fruit rather than drink juice.

Remember a goo start in the morning is very important and that will keep all systems in check too.

Happy tummy provides happy face too... Its like when we say "the baby looks happy when tummy is full". Its the same concept for adults too. Don't miss your breakfast it ain't worth it...

Healthy weight...

Struggling with weight is a problem for many. Most of us would have tried diets, gym memberships, crash diets and so on...
With back problems my physical activities are very much restricted and I have been gaining weight inspite of being careful about what I consume.
So a good friend and I started to look up ways to detox and start to lose weight like get a head start to it. Last week we came upon the GMdiet which seemed a bit easy to follow. But it was no walk in the park. Felt hungry more and a couple of times we had to eat regular food. By the fourth day atleast hunger was less and now the hunger pangs are much less.
So now started to work on a way to make sure i eat healthy, but reduce the amount of calorie intake.
Its a fact known that 3500 calories = 1 lb. There are quite a few apps that help plan and calculate calories for the day.
One of the best apps i like is "loseit". I planned my target food intake to be within 1000 cal per day.
First I had to make sure my daily intake does contain the daily requirement of nutrients that I need.

Morning:-
A big glass of warm water
Coffee or tea with milk - (small cup)
or a glass of 2% milk

Breakfast - a whole egg
              - small orange
              - 1 slice of whole wheat toast (no butter) with a tbspn of peanutbutter      
or
              1cup of any fruit of choice
               and an apple
Atleast 20 oz/ 600 ml of water

Mid morn - green tea or black tea  (caffeine free)
mixed nuts -a few just to take d edge of the hunger if needed
Another 20 oz of water before lunch
10 almonds, 2 tbsp of sunflower seeds or flax seeds, 10 pistas, 10 raisins (mix and keep)

Lunch -
eat a few pieces of ur favorite fruit first
Mixed green salad (use dark green ones) or
steamed veggies or stir fried veggies (use minimal oil, use seasoning but not too much of anything just enough to flavor your meal)
Use a small spoon or fork to eat.
may be add a whole wheat roti/ tortilla or half a cup of cooked rice (cook the rice on cook top and strain the water out) reduces the starch intake.
if vegetarian - add a small cup of lentil soup or dhal to ur diet
if non-vegetarian - add half a cup of grilled chicken or 4-6 oz of tilapia or salmon grilled or broiled or steamed
20 oz of water
Evening -
1 cup of coffee or tea or even a good cup of milk
some snack of choice

Dinner -
20 oz of water
something light but filling

i prefer to stick to indian dinner because thats when everybody is at home and eat together

2 dosas without oil
chutney or sambar( no coconut chutney)
3 idlis
2 rotis with any side dish of choice.(no potatoes, no cream, no heavy gravies)

you should tweak your dinner quantity and choice of dinner by making sure that you have it at least 3 hours before bedtime.
one hour before bedtime drink another 20oz of water.

I am gonna keep making lists of meal options that I create and along with recipes too..
Hoping to stick to it, get healthy and lose weight.