2017

The year that was.

Looking back, I made great progress in some core areas of my life last year. My health had been of particular concern for the past few years, especially post-delivery where it seemed like a constant battle with my hormones and physiology in general. Constant exhaustion, lethargy and irritability were huge hindrances to my day-to-day life and tasks. My behavior was off the charts, every now and then I wondered who I was. I was torn between all the desire to cook and feed and run the home everyday beside a full time job vs the reality where I was just exhausted all.the.time. I was very displeased with my own self. When my doctor seemed to just treat my symptoms and put me on a new dose of medication every 3 months, I started investing a lot of time and research into my own health and came up with a few possible lifestyle/ diet changes.

I wanted to take my health into my own hands, and started a journey with that mantra. I am a believer in food for and as medicine. Having been raised in a plant-based diet, I earnestly believed that a wholesome plant-based diet can restore my good health. I believe in green goodness. With that I started consuming a green smoothie everyday. With just the right amount of ingredients I settled upon this smoothie as my go-to breakfast every weekday. (Weekends, I try and make Indian breakfast for the family). I started consuming whole grains like brown rice and quinoa taking turns with white rice as well. My lunch typically consisted of one vegetable, one curry or lentil dish and some carbs. My go-to dinner became colorful salads. Thanks to the Husband who came up with very good combinations for salad dressings, I ate a rainbow bowl for dinner. What I did not expect of the salads was how full they kept me through the night.

The other significant change I made was to incorporate yoga into my daily routine. One of my good friends introduced to me to Yoga with Adrienne which I hesitantly tried but have been hooked to her since. I love how playful and unpredictable the sequences are. It is not “death by sun salutations” like a lot of yoga classes I had been to. I could have been doing this for a month or so when I felt my body slowly change. Having never been an active/ sports person ever, I could feel shapes in arms and my abs tightening. Once I experienced it, it motivated me to do more of these. I grew to love it so much that I started my day with yoga every morning.

While the diet and yoga helped a great deal, I also tried to pack in a good 8 hour sleep every night. I started going to bed at the same time everyday. Over the course of a month or so I started noticing higher energy levels which also helped me wake up an hour earlier than I typically did. This one hour gave me some much need me-time as well as helping me get the day’s cooking done. This single aspect, cooking fresh meals everyday, has been a top priority item for myself and I never thought I will get to a point of doing it consistently, yet, here I am. I have been doing this for the last 6 months and if I could continue this long, you could say this has become a habit. Somehow this ritual of  cooking for the family everyday fills me with immense happiness.

I figured it was not about weight-loss but about being fit, for myself and for my family. It also dawned on me that I needed to manage my energy instead of managing my time. Subtle shifts in thinking such as these helped me made me build better habits. And boy, was I glad I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight after only 3.5 years! With all this additional energy I also kick-started a couple of personal pet projects which have been taking slow but steady shape. Hopefully I could write about them one day.

2017, in all honestly, was a marvelous year for my own self. I can’t wait to see where 2018 takes me.