30 day calendar of Healthy Eating Part Uno!

Finally i decided its time to take up a project as my readers' block is here to stay! So it was time for me to now take my health into my hands (which somehow always was; and i never bothered).

The first thing i concentrated was on what I am eating. I wondered is there something like eating right for being fit? All the books and articles about the topic lead me to eating food for weight loss or starving for weight loss. The idea of weight loss repels me, I am happy with what I am. I want to eat to be fit. As 'D' says "fitness is not a trend; its a lifestyle".

After a lot of research on nutrition, minerals & vitamins needed for the body to function well, I decided to change following habbits of mine:

•  Eating three heavy meals a day
• Loading up on Carbohydrate rich food like Rice, Bread
• Avoid processed food. Actually throw them out of the house.
• Mid afternoon heavy duty snacks & tea in office with some gossip.
• Midnight snacks. 

Instead I started implementing these ones:

• Eating five small meals a day
• Restricting Carbohydrates to 30 gms per day.
• Increasing the good 'fat' intake. Yes! you heard it right. I said increasing fat intake. 
• Increase intake of vegetables, fruits, nuts & seeds. 
• Green Tea/ Infused Tea/ Kashmiri Kehwa thrice a day
• Keeping a food diary & tracking my meals. 

After 30 days of rigorously following this i felt a huge difference. I was more active, happier, slept better. Actually slept around 8 hrs a day; which was impossible seeing how I have always been an insomniac. I no longer feel anxious, angry or sad. My mood swings have reduced a lot and Guess what! Even 'D' has noticed the change in me. 

Only by implementing this i gained around 1 kg. Wait!!! Hear the rest; I also lost around 1.5 inches all around. Just by eating right. Almost Magical. :) 

A Blessing! Ceralip Lip Repair Cream

How Ceralip helped when no other lip balm did the trick.

What La Roche Posay says about this product:

CERALIP LIPID-REPLENISHING LIP CREAM

FRAGRANCE-FREE, PARABEN-FREE

Reconstitutes severely dry, chapped lips, and can be used after medical treatments. Restores skin comfort. Fragrance-free, preservative-free, CERALIP minimises the risks of intolerance.

Ingredients:

CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE

PPG-5 PENTAERYTHRITYL ETHER

PEG-5 PENTAERYTHRITYL ETHER

BUTYROSPERMUM PARKII / SHEA BUTTER FRUIT

CERA ALBA / BEESWAX

HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL

SILICA DIMETHYL SILYLATE

GLYCINE SOJA / SOYBEAN STEROL

CITRIC ACID

BHT My Views:  I suffer from severe chapped, dry & cracked lips which are extremely sensitive to sun. Plus had a bad lip allergy after my trial & error with Faces Lipsticks and had to visit the dermatologist. That's when i was introduced to Ceralip with certain other medications. I am strictly against using any kind of topical steroids, so i skipped the medication and just used ceralip for around 2 days and WHOOPIE my lips became fuller, dermatitis vanished and lips were super hydrated. That was last year! I have finished three tubes of Ceralip Lip Repair Cream since then.  The Lipids in the cream promotes cell regeneration and maintains it. I do not have to worry about finding the best lip balm in the world any more, since i have found ceralip already. It is a translucent formula which looks exactly like Petroleum Jelly and is non-sticky, Fragrance, Paraben & preservative free. I never leave home without Ceralip in my bag! The only drawback is that it is a bit on the expensive side and can be pocket pinching most of the times.  Cost: INR 590/- Availability: Mor Medicals (Hyderabad), Oliva Skin Clinics (Hyderabad) & online (Amazon & Junglee) Ratings: 4.5/5

A persian dish with a bengali twist!

So i saw this cookery show on TLC about this Indian-cum-Kenyan-cum-British lady who looks gorgeous but fails to impress as Nigella or Jamie Oliver does. But she made this dish with eggplant that i kind of took a liking to. I did some of my own experiments to it. Here it is.

Sauteed Persian Eggplants with Pomegranate:

Ingredients 

1 medium eggplant
2 cups yogurt
Some fresh Mint
Some fresh Coriander
1/4 lime
Bulbs/Seeds of 1 Pomegranate
Mustard Oil to saute
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon corriander powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon honey

Start by de-seeding the pomegranate. Dont worry get your hands dirty!!

Love the passionate red color. 

Remove half of the seeds and keep aside. With a spoon crush the other half a bit. Crunch Crunch. Add Honey, chopped coriander leaves, mint leaves, juice of 1/4 lime, salt to taste & whisked yogurt. 

After mixing it all it will turn into a beautiful baby pink color with a dash of green here & there. Somehow my iPhone turned the pic to a weird creamy yellow.

Wrap it in a cling film and store it in the refrigerator to cool for 45 mins. Till then we slice up our eggplant (1 cm each approx.), add the salt, turmeric, paprika, corriander powder. Toss it or Mix with your hands. I used my hands. Keep this also in the refrigerator for 20 mins. 

After 20 minutes, Keep a skillet on the stove at medium heat. Here comes the bong twist - Pour some mustard oil and saute these eggplants. Two mins on each side will do. Arrange it on the plate the way you want to and garnish with those bulbs which were kept aside.

Drizzle with Yogurt Pomegranate dressing and Ta-Da it is ready. I love how the coolness of the dressing balances out the pungent flavor of mustard oil. 

Hope you like it.