5 easy ways to shed weight | Bi(e)tter Health tip

The big con about working in software is that this is a ‘s(h)itting’ job and we attract fats very quickly into our bodies. I fell to the gluttony trap and sedentary lifestyle and started feeling very heavy and dull. I was consuming lots of sugar which made me more inactive and lazy. Once I was not able to get down and touch my feet which triggered that I needed to do something about my body. Following is my before / after photo in which I had lost 16 kgs in 6 months. I talk about my process and tips I followed to be where I was in 5 steps.

Me Before / After

QUIT SUGAR

I quit Sugar for more than a year completely. I didn’t take an iota of sugar in my body in any way. No chocolate, no sweets, no cakes and not even home-made sweets. If I really got a craving, I would eat organic jaggery in my tea or anything else.

WORKOUT

I started to workout daily for at least 20 minutes. This automatically increased and I started doing more and more exercises on my own. Probably this is a mental thing and the body becomes accustomed to it as the time goes by. By the 5th month, I was doing 150 crunches a day which was uncalled for at my age of 38. We need to do reasonable exercises daily to feel good in some way. You can follow this app which is great in terms of giving balanced exercise experience.

DAILY CONSUMPTION OF HEALTH DRINK

Drinking a homemade health drink in the morning in an empty stomach eases out the metabolism. I didn’t believe this much before I started. I prepared this drink based on this Youtube tutorial and was consuming it everyday without fail. It really did wonders and I started to see the effect as time went by.

Preparation - Grind some fennel seeds, carom seeds, cumin seeds, flax seeds and some cinnamon and create a rough textured powder.

Consumption - Mix one teaspoon of powder in hot water and a little bit of lemon juice. Drink on an empty stomach to see the difference in a few days.

INTERMITTENT FASTING & DIET

I completely stopped eating at night. My schedule was to eat between 10am - 7pm. I stopped munching unnecessarily and resorted to eating less. Although my diet didn’t change much, I had completely stopped eating RICE. I was eating a lot of pulses, millets and fruits to compensate.

IMPROVED SLEEP SCHEDULE

For us software folks, it is very difficult to manage sleep. We work with people in different time zones and it becomes really difficult to avoid work at night. But when you have to lose weight, you need to tune your body for enough sleep. My sleep schedule changed to 11pm - 5am. I had never done this ever during my working career and it was a drastic change but I started feeling so much better. Although the change was disruptive, it helped me a lot.

So, those were the tips I used to shed my fat. I hope this helps people who are trying to do so and achieve results in due course.

Zindagi

Random creation while evening walk..

ज़िन्दगी कैसी है, तेरे मेरे जैसी है

बारिश की बूंदों की तरह नाज़ुक,

एक अल्फ़ाज़ में पूरे आयत के जैसी है;

मेरे सांस में तेरी हवा के जैसी है,

ये कुछ नहीं पर एक छोटी पहेली जैसी है।

ज़िन्दगी कैसी है, तेरे मेरे जैसी है

ग़म और खुशी के अश्क,

इसके वजूद में इंटो के जैसी है;

इनका बंधन एक नवरंग है,

ये तुम्हारे काले और सफेद जुड़े जैसी है।

ज़िन्दगी कैसी है, तेरे मेरे जैसी है

हर मौसम के हम है आशिक,

मेरा हुनर, मेरी रचना के जैसी है;

ये इन्कलाब मेरा मेरी ज़िन्दगी से चलता रहेगा,

कैसी भी हो, ये सच्चाई के जैसी है।

Re-start!

It's been a while since I wrote anything and I have started to feel a void inside me as writing gradually eroded from my life. This year I have promised myself to do more art, write more stuff and get healthier and wealthier at the same time.

I had a fabulous start to the year as I made my first Artwork in quite sometime. Thanks to an inspirational pic posted by a friend on Instagram. Quite surprising that I can still do art is relatively lesser time which means I need to practise and do more.

Garlic Chutney Rajasthani style

This is one of my favorite chutneys and I am always thrilled in eating as well as preparing it too. :D

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoon Coriander Powder
• Cloves from 3 full Garlic bulbs which should be peeled
• 5 Green/Red Chilles chopped
• Coriander Leaves
• Mint Leaves
• 4 Tomatoes chopped
• 2 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 tsp Red chilly powder
• 1 tsp Pavbhaji Masala
• Salt as per taste

Cooking Method

Add the coriander powder, garlic cloves, chillies, coriander and mint leaves and tomatoes in a mixer. Grind the mixture until it becomes a thick paste. Once done, keep the paste aside.

Now, boil some oil in a pan (kadai) and add cumin seeds. As soon as the seeds start to crackle, pour the paste in the pan. Add red chilly powder, pavbhaji masala and salt to the chutney. Keep stirring while added and keep the flame to a minimum. Cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and stir for 5-10 minutes until the oil separates from the mixture and is visible on the top.

Voila! The chutney is ready.

Note: If you want to make it more tangy, you can try adding dry mango masala or chat masala.

For Love!

So I have decided to move on and start my own studios.
Determinant Studios it is. :)

P.S.: I am looking for a partner to work with who has passion for creativity.