Sunday o’ Sunday

Sundays are always busy. Social commitments, grocery and planning for the week! I try to keep it packed so never get the Monday Blues! A busy mind never thinks blue J

One of our friends had a baby shower today. And, I wore a saree! Trust me, my fetish for sarees is greater than the love of Chaat 😛 So, don’t be surprised if you stumble upon a saree related section on this blog. It’s a forever passion! My friend looked lovely too and wore a traditional green saree with a pearl nose ring (nath).By the time we came home it was tea time already.

Over a hot cuppa ginger tea, I tried to evaluate the asset value of this weekend (usually do that to keep a track of my eating out or things to be accomplished next week which could not be done the past weekend).

So flipping through my phone updates I noticed that it isn’t an usual Sunday of the month. It happens to be Mother’s day today! Wishes & Blessings showered from all over the world on all my social networking engines. The intrigued me was overwhelmed with happiness and sadness both. Happiness because of the warmth and love exchanged, shared and expressed. The sadness comes from the fact that we only manage to do so once a year. Sometimes, I so want to pause and retrospect on such things.

My POV is we must appreciate little gestures of our near and dear ones without waiting for a particular day or time of the year. If you really value someone, don’t hold yourself. It does sound a bit of a crazy idea to some, especially for people who really know me. Because of being emotional (Read as fool by my friends) I have been brutally hurt so many times. Old habits die harder. I take a long time to attach and involve myself into someone (only child syndrome), the detachment when time comes is difficult for me. But, girls I hear you- working on getting better 😛

Came across this article and was touched! My blog stands up for such women of honour! They selflessly work towards a better world!

I know that it’s not possible to acknowledge everything and everyone, but again we live in the world of twitter, facebook, myspace, pinterest etc.

Motherhood in particular is a commitment for a lifetime, never ends or ceases. Celebrate it for life with family and friends!

On that note,let me remind you-the grind begins tomorrow! Journey to awesomeness-from fat to healthy and sloppy to energetic Watch this space! I m looking into the future all geared up! Are you? Don’t gaze,just go for it!!

Celebrate The You in You!

The hourglass mommy is my journey beyond limits of motherhood and maternity. It’s about me, mine and many alike.

In the quest of motherhood and demands of family, this is a concise, comprehensive imprint of the world within me in the midst of conflicting and highly persuasive world on the other side.

Every role that a woman plays she is articulate. I believe in enjoying each facet of every role that walks into my journey and achieve …(wait for it J) perfection!!

Much before motherhood and wifedom came in life, my journey was so carefree, Aai (my mother) would take care of the upkeep of the house and my diet while my Baba (my father) brought the Moolah home! Being an only child born to an extremely ambitious man, I had an opportunity to visit more than 11 countries across the globe and experience delightful bites of distinct cultural as well as culinary genius.

A health freak (believe me, its true!) at heart I walked 12kms a day and ran the rounds of the gym at least 3 days of the week with strict diet control. The diet used to be nothing fancy, just simple home-cooked vegetarian meals dressed in optimum oil content. Though, I must admit that there is something about my Aai’s style cooking that made modest of the foods taste exotic. Haven’t you experienced something just so pristine? I can imagine you folks already thinking about those aromatic meals dwelling around mother’s kitchen. Though a daddy’s daughter, I began to respect my Aai’s culinary talent much later in life that shall remain forever.

Btw, I was never too thin to be invisible. Mine was a healthy figure.

Soon after a princess wedding in Bombay, we-myself and my husband Rohan moved to the US. Surfing recipes through allrecipes.com, Manjula’s kitchen, Vahchef ,Joy of Cooking, Cooking with the Dog ,Tarla Dalal & Sanjeev Kapoor and Aai (my mother) I gradually mastered the art of cooking. As I grew fonder of the new found passion, experimenting with the various delicacies from other cuisines became a part of my “Chopped” Challenge (inspired by the food network series, watch this space for more on it!!).

The problem with excessive “tummy time” (pet puja :P) is that it starts reflecting on your tummy and quickly on the whole body. I should have been watchful, but   I wasn’t. I believe in “karma”, so instead of sobbing, we decided to take charge. Author and Nutritionist, Rujuta Divekar’s book “Don’t lose your mind, lose your weight” changed our perspective for good. The mere portion control and change of habits made a huge difference on our health as well as weights. We lost a whooping 100lbs together! We rejoiced and continued to maintain it for until we were pregnant.

Tummy time expanded with regular rounds of “bhel” (a savory/chat snack made of puffed rice and loaded with spicy chutneys) and “Sabudana Khichadi” (Savoury peanut tapioca/sago ideally made in rich clarified butter “ghee”)! I only put on a lot of weight in the last leg of my pregnancy, from someone in 70’s to a 100kgs Momma!

Like every other optimistic parent I hoped for a smooth delivery (Courtesy: Bollywood movies:P).Totally a myth! I delivered after 26 hours of labor, had fever, my son had the umbilical cord around him, stuck his hand out, and graced the world facing up! I was hard bent of having a normal delivery and would not let anything in the world change that! Finally, a very risky Vacuum aided-no C-section delivery happened! Rohan, my better half stood through 26 hours and was horrified! My husband in total conviction told me, he would prefer no more kids for us! The doctor was still sealing me up and I said, this is all worth a second time! I stand by my conviction still! The pain, the sweat- nothing in my memory! Wiped clean! Our son brought the colour of enchant into our lives!

I am a believer of natural healing. A mother needs time to heal. It’s a tough ordeal to accept the new you. It takes a while, but once you learn to love yourself, it gets simpler! The challenge is to work with the new shape and size in order to get healthier.

I lost nearly 36 kgs of my pregnancy weight by perseverance, dealing with plateaus and weight-loss spurts. But, a mother has a busy schedule. In the epicenter of such a schedule, a regularity optimization for herself slacks off! I regained 15lbs of my weight back in the last year and half. My motto is again simple-go natural and healthy. Not a fan of extreme diet fads.

A diet regimen that works for me is a combination of various so called perfect diet programs. But, it’s very subjective and matter of personal choice.

So, this blog is my journey into getting an hourglass figure without any extra minutes 😛 You are welcome to join, support and bless me!

Ahh, one more thing, being a foodie and a lover of arts as well as aesthetics, I m going to share recipes, commentary and Gyan on everything under the sun!

Starting this blog on Mother’s day, enjoy the bliss of motherhood! The hourglass sure awaits your experiences !!