Eat to Live or Live to Eat?

04 Aug 2016 60 Comments

by Ritu in Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Eat to live or live to eat, growing up, Healthy Eating

All this healthy eating… it’s set my mind thinking…

Do we eat to live, or live to eat?

It stands to reason, that the majority of us eat to live doesn’t it? If we didn’t have nourishment, then we wouldn’t be here.

If we lived to eat, we would all be rolling around, obese, and probably dying way before our time…

This only really came into my mind as I was cooking my dinner for today. Hubby Dearest decided he didn’t really fancy anything overly healthy, but I stood my ground and said I would stick to my plan, and then sort him out with whatever he wanted.

As I sat eating my healthy homemade food (Lamb kebab, quinoa stuffed mushroom and salad) he glanced over at it, with a look that didn’t say “YUM!” but rather “Nah, I don’t think so!”

Was it really that unappetising?

Was I making myself eat something awful, all in the name of living a healthy diet? Was I eating to live?

It doesn’t look that bad, does it?

No. Not today anyway!

There have been times though, in my life, where I have attempted to eat things that were not for my taste-buds, but meant to be good for you, so I tried. You gotta live, right? But it felt like I was making myself suffer, in order to look good.

From various fruit and vegetables, to herbal teas, I forced myself. But I couldn’t do it. That time of my life, I think I really did Live to Eat. I was in my prime. My weight wasn’t an issue, Mummy Tummy was a thing of the future, not yet experienced.

I would eat all sorts of rich foods, takeaways, drink soft drinks, and alcohol, without a care in the world. It was a wonderful time! But I guess all good things come to an end.

My metabolism changed with my age. I had 2 children. My body changed. I could no longer eat like I used to. I was unable to exercise in the same way, and even if I did, it wasn’t working like it did before. And I was definitely Eating to Live. I needed energy to cope with these two boisterous children, a job, and general family life.

But I was eating the wrong stuff.

And coupled with my general lifestyle, it was not good for me. So, I piled on weight, and found myself stuck with a jelly belly, wobbly bum, cellulite, bingo wings, and a double chin. No thigh gap visible here y’all!

But the good thing with getting older is that generally, you get wiser. And with that wisdom, I realised that I can try the ‘good for you’ food, and I can learn to love it too.

Currently, I am experimenting with different healthy recipes, some I have tried before, some new to me, but it is different to my recent diet.

And yes, I am definitely Eating to Live now, Eating to Live a healthy life, for my family, my children, and most importantly, for ME!

And as I become accustomed to some new flavours, some maturer tastes, I think, I may be actually Living to Eat too… because I have started to enjoy this good stuff, almost as much as some of the naughty food too!

I believe that in general, we all go through both phases, Eating to Live, and Living to Eat.

Which phase are you going through right now?

Live to Eat

Eat to Live

I’ve Only Gone And Instagrammed Myself!

04 Aug 2016 48 Comments

by Ritu in Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, instagram, Poetic RITUals, Social media, techbitch

Well I’ve done it, kinda climbed into the more modern era!

I downloaded Instagram a few weeks ago, finally deciding I needed to see what it was all about. And Snapchat.

I’ve been reading a book called Techbitch by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza. It’s about an old skool fashion editor coming back to work, after a lengthy sick leave, to find her position has been all but usurped by a young, tech savvy harridan, Eve, who wants to do away with print magazines, and have apps for everything instead.

In the book, Imogen, the unlikely heroine, goes through a huge metamorphosis, learning the ways of the tech world, and embracing all the social media out there, beyond Facebook.

It was a great read, by the way, I finished it within a day!!

Modern chick lit with none of the wishy washy romance, but a good storyline!

Where was I? Back to the point in hand!c I feel a bit like Imogen, clutching at my FB account. I know where I am with that! Twitter is there for the blog. I still don’t quite grasp it, but it’s there! I use Whatsapp. LinkedIn is all linked up.

So I decided to try old (new) Instagram… What fun! I’m all about the filters and hashtags now!!!

Snapchat is great for immediate entertainment for the kids, but I won’t use it properly.

But HELLO INSTAGRAM!

I’m loving it!

So, if you are an Instagrammer, find it in your hearts to follow lil old me!

@phantom_giggler

Just like my Twitter handle – @phantomgiggler

And Facebook my page – But I Smile Anyway

And, (shameless plug!) while I’m at it… Dud you check out my poetry book, Poetic RITUals? It’s got 5 five star reviews so far on Amazon.co.uk!

Click Here to go to the Amazon of your country to pick up a copy, paperback or Kindle, and if you do, please let me know what you think! The Look Inside feature is also activated, so you can have a glance, try before you buy, if you like!

Then there is my Author page you can peruse if you like too!

Oh, and Goodreads too!

Have a fantastic Thursday Peeps!

Walking My Way Fit!

03 Aug 2016 53 Comments

by Ritu in Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Walking My Way Fit, Weight Loss

Firstly, can I say a huge thank you to you all for liking and commenting on my post yesterday about my Weight Crisis?

I have been inundated with lovely words, and so much encouragement from you all, I feel I will make it! I will do this, slowly but surely.

I have decided I will do a weekly update, called Walking My Way Fit, as I have decided that this is going to be my main mode of physical exercise. I love to walk, and we have a playing field literally a minutes walk away from the house, with a marked running/walking perimeter. Perfect!

I have been really good today with my eating too, considering I had to start my daily nutrition late as I had to have a fasting blood test.

Seriously, though, the queue for the blood test was ridiculous! I got there early, hoping to beat the rest, but when I got there, the ticket number I pulled was 42! But in all fairness to the Phlebotomy crew, they whittled the patient number down pretty quickly, so I was able to get out and come home (after some sneaky shopping!) I bought one of those arm phone holder thingies, and a teeny tiny micro towel, as in this humidity, I do tend to glow/perspire/melt during any exertion!

I managed another walk, over 3km this time, and drank different herbal teas all day, or water, with sensible snacks. You can see my breakfast, above, and my salmon and greens dinner. I had a chicken salad for lunch.

So, I’m not doing too badly, am I?!

I shall keep you updated, if you are interested, and see how my walking goes! Might even throw in a bit of hula hooping again too… that big old hoop keeps looking at me, saying “Come on, you know you want to wiggle those hips around!”

Until tomorrow, my wonderfully supportive Blogily! I appreciate each and every one of you! 🙂

Weight Crisis!

02 Aug 2016 109 Comments

by Ritu in Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Map My Walk, My Fitness Pal, Weight, Weight Loss, Yikes!

About 18 months ago, I made peace with myself. I decided that I wasn’t going to chase that elusive 9 1/2 stone, and that toned tummy. I had reached my happy weight.

Happy!

And that was great! I was hitting 10 stone, and fitting into all the clothes I wanted, I felt good.

I’d tried extreme dieting, done various exercise regimes, like the 30 Day Shred… but it wasn’t possible to keep it up. I had even done daily weighted Hula Hooping!

This was fun actually, I should try it again!

Then teaching happened, and along with an extra 3 hours a day at work, my pressure levels rose, my stress levels were higher, there was no time for exercise, and my eating pattern went haywire.

I still ate three meals a day, I didn’t have time to snack at work, but I was drinking more tea. Instead of one cup, with one sugar, in the morning, and herbal teas during the day, I started saying yes whenever I was asked by my colleagues, and one cup turned into around 4. My evening meal got later and later, and sometimes I wasn’t eating until 9.3o or even 10pm! And the worst thing, we had resorted to more takeaways than I wanted.

Ritu sure loves her food!

I knew I was putting on weight. My clothes started to feel really tight, I was uncomfortable in whatever I usually wore. My lethargy was getting worse again, despite taking my Vitamin D supplements.

It was the straw that broke the camel’s back when we had the photo shoot in Finland. The pictures were beautiful, it’s just I had acquired a double chin! And my face was looking decidedly plump.

See! Case in question!

I was still in the middle of term, there were reports to be written, new children to visit, and all sorts so I made a decision that, come the summer holidays I would make a conscious effort to try and improve my lifestyle. On purpose, I didn’t weigh myself. I didn’t want to know!

Today I went for a routine check-up at the Dr’s surgery. BP was fine. Then he asked me to step on the scales… Had he taken my BP then, it would have been through the roof! I knew there would be bad news on that set of scales, I just didn’t want to have it confirmed.

And it was BAD! I am 72kg, which is over 11 stone! That is the heaviest I have ever been!

In fact, the Dr was concerned, as the last time I was officially weighed, I was 2 stone lighter! When the scales hit near that weight last time, I had literally just given birth to Lil Princess, so there was a good excuse.

Officially overweight!

I was ashamed! How could this have happened? Speaking to my Pops today, even he said that he didn’t want to mention it to me, but that I had looked more ‘cuddly’ last week…

So I made that decision. I had to do something.

I invested in some detox tea last week, and had started drinking it, causing a few headaches, and a day of dodgy tummies, but that was settled.

Bootea

I had made a conscious effort to eat better and was cutting out excess carbs like white bread, chapattis and pasta. Eating lots of fruit, and healthier alternative snacks…Sorry Malteasers, I cannot look at you at the moment!

So, when I got back from the Dr’s I downloaded the My Fitness Pal app so I could log my food and (any!) exercise. Then I found the Map My Walk app too.

Right. According to the Fitness app, I should be aiming to consume 1200 calories daily to aid a steady 2lb a week weight loss. And after logging my food today, I was already over by 200 calories!

So, when I got home from my in-laws, I promptly took the kids to the Gurdwara playing fields and did this!

I went for a brisk (well, brisk for unfit me!) walk for half an hour, and nearly walked 3KM! Go Me!!!!

Hot and sticky, I showered, then got the kids ready for bed.

It felt pretty good, having that walk. I need to do that regularly.

Pops even gave me another one of his ayurvedic tips. When walking hold your ring finger down with your thumb on both hands. It activates various functions, like the liver and kidney, and helps promote the weight loss too!

Now I am fighting cravings… it’s the pull of the late night snacking that I have got into the bad habit of recently. Tomorrow I am having a fasting blood test first thing in the morning, so I can’t eat or drink anything other than water for 12 hours!

But I CAN DO IT!

I know I won’t get the toned tummy again, that would take a lot of work, but if I can get myself feeling slightly like myself again, that would be perfect.

Here’s to a healthier Ritu, and I hope to update you with good news in the near future!

Have a good week all!