Watermelon Cucumber Salad Recipe

A best quickie salad to make and staying cool in the summer – This Recipe surely rocks!! J: Watermelon Cucumber Salad.

Preparation:

-          2 cups of diced seedless watermelon

-          1 cup of halved lengthwise and finely chopped English cucumbers

-          1 green chilly

-          ¼ cup of finely chopped red onion

-          Mint (Optional)

-          Salt as per taste

-          Freshly grounded black pepper

-          Finely Chopped Cilantro (this should absolutely be little, I used leaves of 1 strand)

In a large bowl mix all the ingredients.

 

Serve it on a plate and garnish with cilantro. Enjoy the chilled watermelon and cucumber salad. Yumm!!!

Calorie Count: 60 Calories per serving! Fruits and salads never disappoint me!

Have a great evening!

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And just an excuse to get away with!

Like I mentioned in my earlier post, looking into your past photographs surely inspires you to keep moving – If you were overweightJ. In case, you were slim enough then I still suggest keep on the comparison. This surely makes you feel what you were? , Where you are heading? Is it good to be here? And where do you want to be? Few juggles of questions and pictures are surely a booster.

Last Year this day – 26^th June, we visited Payson in Arizona. This was the time when I felt I was over board on weight and frame. Looking at the pictures made me felt ridiculous of myself. Like you can see I was way too broad when compared to now. I surely like the difference now!! 2nd Picture is from early this month clicked just before dinner with friends!

Here is where I would like to point out the usual statement pours in when a person is putting on weight – “He/She has got broad structure you see, hence this is not overweight but the structure”. "She/He has got a good height, you can afford to have extra 10lbs on".

Trust me!! I am not buying these statements anymore. I was under same impression that I am broad till I got myself back. I was told that I have a good height and broad structure but that doesn’t mean you can have the liberty to put on weight (20 to 30 pounds more than your ideal weight??) No way!!!

Please do not confuse your figure with the tolerance of muscle and fat on it you can have.  Yes! The structures of every person vary as we know the different types of body structure. The frame is generally understood by comparing 2 things – Shoulders and Hip! You can fall under any of the frames below.

But “broad, wide, good height, you can afford to” Please stay away from these excuses and work towards perfect health, ideal body weight and healthy lifestyle.

 Good luck!

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Cantaloupe Milkshake with Raspberries!

Scorching summer reminds me of few things: Cotton, Floral and Fruits! It’s 5 in the evening, too hot to get out of the house and I need a chilled drink to cool myself down.

Here’s is my savior: Cantaloupe Milkshake Topped with Raspberries!

This is a best way to cool yourself down, fill your empty stomach, a perfect snack for people who are on diet and best way to beat your sugar craving!

Preparation:

-          Halved Cantaloupe

-          1 cup of crushed ice

-          2 cups of Fat Free Milk

-          Handful of Raspberries

Blend the first 3 things.

Serve it in a glass and top it with Raspberries. Yes! I am aware that many of us crave for sugar but I am balancing it out with Raspberries. This way I am keeping myself away from Sugar and can fulfill my sweet craving with sweet and soft raspberriesJ.

Calorie Count:

My take is - less than 120 Calories per serving. However, the best thing to notice is its - fruits and fat free milk. J You can bottoms up 2 of them and survive the whole evening J

Cheers!!

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Healthy Bite 17: Chicken Kadai

It’s a great recipe to eat with Indian Bread/Naan. But I love eating it just dry without any bread. A perfect light recipe for dinner containing 225 Calories per serving.

Preparation:

- Marinate the Breast Chicken pieces in a mixture of spices for a day: Salt, Paparika, 2 green Chilies, Lemon, Garam Masala (Homemade mix of spices), minced garlic and low fat Greek Yogurt.

-Stir fry the chicken pieces in a tablespoon of olive oil, till the chicken pieces are brown or lightly cooked.

-Until the chicken is being prepared. Stir fry the slices of a mined ginger and garlic, 1 Big Onion, Green Chilies as per your taste (in case you need it to be more spicy), green bell peppers and once brown add slices of 1 tomato in the end along with the Chicken (that is being fried in another sauce pan) and salt to taste.

-Cook over medium heat for 5 mins, add cilantro and serve hot.

Bon Appétit!!

Have Good Day!!

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Healthy Bite 16: Chicken Shepherd's Pie

This recipe was a interesting trial. To begin with veggies and baked chicken was an apt for dinner. The calorie per serving is 251 (Serving Size: 1 Cup), a perfect blend of health and taste. Can be served with lemon dipped shallots and spicy salsa.

Preparation:

- Preheat Oven to 375 Degree

- Combine 1 ½ of Chicken Broth, fat free, lower sodium and 1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour. Keep whisking.

-Stir in chicken, dried thyme, vegetables (green chilies, bell peppers, corns, cilantro or whatever you wish to eat) and cook over medium heat for 5minutes or until mixture thickens as shown in picture below.

- Pour in chicken mixture into an ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine potatoes (mashed) and 1 egg in a bowl. Spread over chicken mixture. Sprinkle with pepper. Bake it for 20mins or until puffed and lightly browned.

Bon Appétit!!

Have Good Day!!

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Yoga Poses that strengthens your Abs!

In a way most of the poses engage a complete body involvement in any yoga pose. However, if you are at a point where the belly is much concern then I guess this is worth a try. These poses strengthen and tone your abs

Note: Please DO NOT perform this without consulting your doctor. Please do not impose these poses right away if you are not in any flexibility exercises. Please consult your doctor first!

To begin with:

- Navasana/Boat Pose:

For an average person who is not much into Yoga, Pilates or any Flexibility exercises, this pose can be nightmare.

In the beginning, it is utmost difficult to perform. I have carried out this pose half way through like below while I practiced Pilates.

This shows effect on the muscles as shown below in the picture, the body starts shivering after 20secs and that's when the pose starts working. Yes! When done almost every day as a routine this works very well!

- Ustrasana/Camel Pose & Bitilasana – Marjaryasana (Cat – Cow Stretch)

Back Bending Exercises like Camel, Cat-Cow are the best Yoga poses one can perform. Not only they tone your abs but they work out on you back/spine too. I came across these poses while I suffered back pain in 2006. My Physiotherapist suggested Cat-Cow Pose to be done almost every day.  

Camel Pose:

Cat - Cow Pose:

- Adho Mukha Svanasana/Downward Facing Dog & Plank Pose:

Whenever I asked my brother, Which is the best exercise for toning belly? The answer was just one – Plank! The best ever asana one can ask to work on belly is Plank pose. I performed this while I enjoyed my Aerobics classes in Hyderabad last year before my wedding J. Last evening, I have started this pose again. I am being very careful in performing my poses/asanas as my knee is still strengthening lest you would have seen my pictures. When I am in good shape and have better knee strength. Trust me! I will post my pictures performing them.

Plank Pose:

Downward Dog Pose:

- Surya Namaskar Pose:

This was & is my favorite asana, engages the whole body. This involves the downward facing dog pose and Cobra Pose. Hence a couple of sets of Suryanamaskar and your day can’t get any better. One picture says it all!

Have Good Day and Happy Exercising!

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Admiring the Local Art & Craft!

I have always been that way – Admiring Locals!!! Anything that is artistic or originally handmade piece of art, my heart goes gaga for it and I cannot help to stop myself than grabbing it at right moment.

I guess I have this love for art from my mom. I remember when she appreciated the local aluminum arts, well embroidery decorative pieces, the wonderful carved wood pieces and the sigh of grabbing them always when she passed by the local arts. I just felt the same sigh last week.

There is always something beautiful about handmade pieces, it keeps be wondering about the creativity, simplicity and talent that locals withhold. So last week, like always I visited farmers market, I then had a walk in the art & crafts section too. These are things that I grabbed:

1.       The first and foremost thing that I fell in love was with the Rodger & Marsha Fletcher’s - “Wood Burning Art”. I just couldn’t help but to gaze at all the pieces. The beauty of precision and the talent that I don’t think I have ever heard or I am going to in near future. Honestly, it’s a shame not to notice such beautiful art. It took us 5 seconds to decide that we are buying it.

The frame is made of the wood that is dated earlier than 100 years, aesthetic touch at the bordering and the beautiful precision of wood burning design on the panel is just apt.

Depiction of the piece is a lookout from the window and the things containing on the desk. This is my favorite buy!

2.     Followed by Handmade Medium sized Tray. Yeah!!! This is tray which I used it has fruit basket too. The width and the height of the tray is impressive and the make it just perfect to hold that heaviest of fruitsJ. OK! The 2 bunch bananas?? It’s not me! My husband have his own reasons to love banana J

3.     The beautiful and simple make of the wooden truck - is my husband’s choice, he wanted to have something artistic on the TV stand. So here’s the spotless simple beauty.

4.     At last the from Carol Rice’s Shop - Whistle and Compass made on the wooden piece. Beautiful chiseling on the wooden bark is just heaven to feel. Again, this was my husband’s choice. However, the best part of this shop was that they have walking sticks for old ones with whistling facility. How much better could this get. I really wish I had few pictures to share the artistic make of the walking sticks, stable to hold the elder well and very elegant make. I guess, the best use of the whistle is during the camping &/ hiking in case you are lost J.

Till then these artistic pieces decorating my home at right placesJ. Purpose of this post is to encourage you to look around and grab some stunning pieces of art.

Enjoy! Have Good Day!!

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Healthy Bite: 15 - Grilled Protein for Dinner!

After the motivational weight loss post I did some good job of getting myself back on track. That called for another couple of pounds off my body J YAY!!!!

Coming onto the quick recipe,
I find weekends or dinners to be really boring because:

A. I am not great fan of eating late in the night.

B. If I do, it better not be heavy post 7 PM.

C. I want to keep up quick & light recipes in the night for my husband. J

So, here’s a pack of protein recipe for you guys and guess what its grilled. Even better!!! I have made both veggie and non-veggie: Tofu & Chicken Breasts!!

I marinated these a night ago with the spices shown in the picture below.You can use the same spices for both Tofu & Chicken!

1.       Minced Ginger, Green Chilies & Cilantro

2.       Freshly grinded black pepper

3.       Olive oil

4.       Salt & lemon

Next day, grill the Tofu and chicken by spraying oil on the grill. I used Canola Cooking Oil Spray!

Serve the steaming grilled Chicken Breasts and Tofu with Wine J

Yum yum J …… Bon Appétit!!

Have Good Day!!

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Going Flat!!

I was and am a big fan of High Heels but not pointed ones though. I love my bones J no intention to get them wrecked very soon. With low back pain I try to restrict high heels. But I surely love them and plan to wear them often again once I am off the knee inflammation hook. Till then I don’t mind exploring FlatsJ.

Flats are favorite choices for Mommies, Big mates, and Senior citizens.  They are happily worn during spring, summer, long walks, vacations, beaches, and other casual visits.

Now since summer has kicked in and you need to have some flip flops, ballerinas or sandals. So, I started off with shopping 2 ballerinas this morning. I was very disappointed with the choices of colors I could have. I was looking for some bright colors to buy but they did not have my size 10L. This has always been an issue, any how I grabbed the below shoes. I can make out the comfortness of a shoe just by looking at it. I don't know if it's my sensing power or just the hunch. Till date I have never proven to be wrong and I am sure these won't dissapoint me either (I can make that out just by looking at it) Aint they beauty? ;)

The first one reminds me of Missoni Prints, it’s feminine, cute and just perfect subtle colors.

The second one looks pretty elegant and classic. I never had black and white ballerina before. However, this was NOT my first choice. My first choice was Green & Navy as shown below.  But size issue cropped up and I opted for black & white. I think it wasn’t a bad idea either. GC Shoes and Henry Ferrera are very unique, simple yet stylish designing. I wanted to mention these 2 designers because the colors look just perfect for formal wear too. What do you think?

 

Now, you can either buy these from GC Shoes straight from their website here or try other discounting websites too like I did. The pricing is on little high end, over 35USD I consider it to be high for 1 reason shoes in my feet never stay for longJ. Hence, I always opt at good pricing than over the average i.e. around 20USD. But the make surely seems like investment, To ladies who have the tendency to keep their shoes for long this is a must have. For Henry Ferrera, I guess you got google for the discounting sites as I could not find their website.

Enjoy the flats!! J

Have Good Day!!

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Weight Loss Motivation Tips!

We all need it in order to achieve our goal. Goals vary as per the individuals and their identities. For a working woman it’s different than that of a housewife.  At the moment I am not working and I am enjoying every moment of it because this will never come backJ. It’s my knee inflammation that is holding me back in any many ways lest I would have hiked 3 difficult trails by now, I would have started to learn breast-stroke swimming style, I would have invested 2 hours playing tennis every evening against my husband, I would have bought myself a bike and enjoy it every now and then.

Perhaps life had its own plan. No regrets that I am unable to do all the activities above. I will very soon – To ensure this I invest 1 hour everyday massaging my legs and knee with hot oil. I stretch, practice yoga and battle my cravings in order to maintain a healthy diet and routine. So, I need to motivate myself every hour.

Anyway, my friends drop in messages asking how I motivate myself to lose weight. Well, the fact is I struggle too. While I have 11 pounds more to lose I learned one thing for sure. It’s NOT easy to keep yourself motivated all the time. After the long weekend trip I hogged quite a good amount. I felt bad that every effort I put in would go in vain. However, I always compensated my overeating with next 2 days strict diet.  Now, that’s important one should know when to stop. However, after a week of struggle, I have planned to re motivate myself and kick off a strict diet all over again with latest additions of yoga postures.

Again I cannot stretch myself too far as my knees are just healing and I am in no mood to get them down again. J

So here are my few learning and tips to motivate you during weight loss:

1. Always have a picture of yours with perfect weight around. This helps a lot!!! At least to me it does! I use my old pictures as my desktop saver as it kicks my motivation factor up again. Here's my picture 5 years ago, 18 lbs down I should be back to the scale of 2007. Ya ya I was very simple girl. That's how punjabi girls grow simple and slimJ

2. Have a realistic goal to “Why I need to be fit?”: this works even better as seriousness prevails. My realistic goal is - I want to be close to my ideal weight before I conceive J!  Well, there’s no need to be ashamed or shy on discussing this. It’s part of our health and life. Every lady extends the family and should look for better tomorrow.  More the fit the better!! 

Picture taken from here

3. It is MUST to achieve your goal: because if you are at worst situation of weight gain, you know you did come back once and you will again. By this I mean, I lost 18 pounds and if I gain the same post-partum I know that I have been here before and I can reduce back to my current weight. It helps you mentally to know that – “you have done this before and you can do it again”.


4. Slim down the dressing: That’s right reducing the size of tees or jeans you buy while reducing weight . This adds more fun and zeal to further fitness. I opted for skinny jeans & jeggings which I never did before. I find myself blessed to wear them knowing where else to reduce and how far have I come. J

I would like to share my experience here – I hated A&F store as I could never get into even the largest size of the tees. It always thrashed down my excitement of shopping. I decided never to enter the store again. Trust me I never entered A&F store ever again until recently as it’s my husband’s favourite brand. While he was trying his stuff, I pulled out a large size tee keeping in mind that since I have lost few inches I should try one of these. When I got into the L size of A&F I felt like I conquered A&F empire! The L size was little loose to me J that felt out of the world. I can only say one thing here – “You should experience this!! It's an ultimatum that cannot be expressed in words”.  And now I feel blessed to visit the store and shop any tees or jeans J happily. Trust me everything is possible. Here’s a pic wearing A&F Tee & Shirt. They are loose fit because i like to keep my casuals comfy J

5. Talk to your friends: I have many pretty girl friends who think I did a good job. Talking about weight loss surely motivates you and your friends. You can also have a group or a friend where you can share your diets and discuss your weight/inch loss every week. This absolutely helps!

6. Exercise at least 3 days a week: that’s right! There is absolutely no necessity to run in to gym every damn evening. That will exhaust you and eventually you will end up eating moreJ. I carry out upper body exercise 3 days a week only.

A. It makes me responsible as its only 3 days and I tend not to skip.
B. Do not exert yourself as this should be a routine post weight loss too in order to maintain well.

7. Weigh every alternative day: The truth is I weigh twice a day, early morning and before sleeping. This will be asking of too much hence every alternative day is alrite. This will help you to keep yourself on track and every .5 or 1 pound loss pumps up your zeal to achieve your goal.

8. Last but not the least - Be HAPPY!!! Always be happy and enjoy the spur-of-the-moment. Things take time so learn to deal with patience.

Well, I really hope this post with few tips help you to motivate.  Good Luck and my best wishes!
Have a good day!!



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