10 Benefits of a Bowl of Papaya for Breakfast

It is a well known fact that papaya has a huge cache of benefits asociated with it. Together with green tea - papaya is the most revered of food that nutritionists and dieticians recommend. And with good reason.

The 10 Benefits of Papaya

 Reason # 1 to eat papaya

Unlike many other healthy food - a rich ripe papaya tastes like heaven. Its sweet and slightly sour taste provides just the required kickstart to a glorious feeling throughout the day. For a sustained diet of any food - it has to taste good - papaya has that going for it in loads!

# 2 - The fruit is available throughout the year. So it can form a part of any dietary plan in any season.

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 # 3 - Its health benefits are myriad. It contains an enzyme Papain that helps in natural digestion.

# 4 - A bowl of Papaya can provide about 10% of our daily requirement of natural dietary fibre and helps in clear bowel movement.

# 5 - It is a rich natural source of Vitamins A, C, E and flavonoids like Beta carotine  and thus a rich source of anti-oxidant nutrients. These vitamins strengthen the body immune system and what better way to get them then from a natural and easily available source? Papaya similarly has anti-inflammatory properties because of the presence of its unique enzymes.

Check out the Papaya Nutrition content here

Papaya Nutriton Content

# 6 - Lower Sugar (than Mango) - A small bowl of papaya (100 g) contains about 43 calories and 8 g of sugar. Compare it with Mangoes. A 100g intake of ripe mango will have about 14 g of sugar and 60 calories. (all nutrition facts from google search results ) Thankfully mangoes are a seasonal fruit! It is advisable not to take more than 20-22 g sugar in a day. Am not sure if natural sugar is ncluded in that, though.


# 7 -  Beauty Benefits - Papaya is a good source of natural food for a healthy skin. While a dab of mashed papaya can make a good skin pack and skin lightener, the vitamin A in papaya ensures a clear skin tone and good eye sight.

# 8 - Low Sodium, Potassium Rich - The low sodium content of Papaya is a major boon as it prevents water retention. Potassium in the fruit helps control hypertension.

# 9 - Unripe papaya is frequently used as a meat tenderizer while cooking meat dishes - like mutton and lamb. The enzyme papain breaks down the tough meat fibres and makes cooking easier. However the unripe papaya should be eat cooked as direct intake of the enzyme could have adverse effects.

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# 10 - Eating the bowl of papaya has other periphery benefits like healthy hair, good eye sight, clear skin; papain is extracted from papaya for dietary supplements, raw papaya is used everywhere from a face to a hair mask, to a wound soother.

I am really however not sure how many of those periphery benefits are supported by science and facts. Papaya has been touted as a great weight loss enabler. The only way I can see papaya helping to lose weight is because it makes a filling zero cholesterol meal. Be sure to continue counting your sugar when you eat a load of ripe papaya based diet.

I have been having papaya for breakfast for the last so many years and i like to believe it has helped me be a healthy person. It makes a wonerful and healthier filler when you want to nibble on chocolates or chips.

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Papaya definitely needs it be added to one's diet.

Maa Durga vs Cyclone Phailin

Maa Durga has her task cut out for her on this Ashtami 2013. As the devotees gear up for the much anticipated Durga Ashtami Puja - there is apprehension, fear, belief, resignation in the air.

The demon is around the corner. In the shape of a whirling, swirling juggernaut of a tornado that looks ready to uproot everything in its way. This omnipresent Goddess,  the embodiment of power, peace and motherhood - the killer of Mahisashura and all the evils that the demon personified - will she be able to vanquish this massive demon?

I can feel the people still hoping that the Goddess will somehow sway the demon. Together with our belief in Lord Jagannath we believe in this Mother Durga towards whose worship we plan and look forward to throughout the year.

Cyclone Phailin is a tangible monster with wind speed currently at 160 mph and around 400 kms away from landfall. It is showing all indications of a Supercyclone. But I still hear questions like - is it truly coming? Why is there no wind or much rain yet? Phailin is a tangible swirling mass of wind and condensation with no possible (or visible) reasons not to strike as predicted. We havent got the wind yet because we have been warned a lot in advance. The wind is coming and fast.

Two Supercyclones in the space of 14 years? Just when the trees have started to grow back and thrive after the massive devastation of 1999? Just when memories of the devastation and the chaos that followed have begun to heal? Not possible. The Maa will somehow thwart it. Hopefully not at the cost of swerving and sending it to other states.

Belief is a strong and strange thing.

Prayer for you Maa

Ya Devi sarva bhuteshu Matri rupena samsthita
Ya Devi sarva bhuteshu Shakti rupena samsthita
Ya Devi sarva bhutesu Shanti rupena samsthita
Namestasyai Namestasyai Namestasyai Namoh Namah

How to do Suryanamaskar (With Illustration) - Health, Fitness, Meditation and Prayer

How 12 Rounds of Surya Namaskar is all your Body Needs

Surya Namaskar or the salutation to the Sun God has long been accepted by Indian culture to provide a deep aligning of the mind, body and spirit. these asanas passed down from ascetics and refined by yoga Gurus has been practised for centuries early in the morning as a form of salutation to the Sun God Surya.

The modern day or current popularity of Surya Namaskar can be directly attributed to Sr sri Ravi Shankar and his Art of Living good living cell - as the popularity and following of Pranayama by millions can be attributed directly to Baba Ramdev.

How to Do Surya Namaskar


The Surya Namaskar yoga consists of 12 asanas in an inviolable sequence

# 1. Stand with your palms together (Namaskar pose) and your feet together in Pranamasan

# 2 Ardha Chandrasan-  Lift the arms up and back in a slow fluid movement so as to stretch the entire body. Keep the arms close to the head and push the pelvis slightly forward to stretch better.

# 3 Bend forward from your waist to touch the mat

# 4 With both palms on the mat, move your right leg backward with knee on the floor. Left foot should be between the palms and head tilted looking up

# 5 Take the left leg back, keep the arms straight, feet on the ground in an inclined plank

# 6 Parvatasana - Raise the hips up while looking down. Palms and feet are on the ground. The position as the name suggests is like a mountain or an inverted "V"

# 7 Lower the knees, chest, chin to the floor. Raise the hips slightly.


# 8 Bhujangasana - Raise your chest and look up like a cobra. Back should be in an arc.

# 9 Repeat Parvatasana - Raise the hips up while looking down. Palms and feet are on the ground.

# 10 Go to position # 4 with the alternate set of feet - right foot at the front and the left leg stretched back.

# 11 Position # 3, ie bending forward from the waist while touching the ground

# 12 Same as position # 2 - Ardha Chandrasan - arms raised up and the body stretched outward.

End with the Namaskar which is the start of the second leg of one cycle in which you move the right leg forward first in Step # 4

Check out the illustration of Surya Namaskar .

600 Calories on Treadmill - Tum dee dum

I worked out 600 calories on treadmill today. This is by far my BEST EVER effort on a treadmill. I had done 600 calories one roughly 10 months back when I was preparing for the marathon. However then since my concentration was on jogging - I couldnt log much calories even though I worked out longer.

Today's workout log

Calories Burnt - 600 cal
Workout - walking on incline on treadmill
Distance covered - 5 kms
Time - 50 mins

Maximum incline - 13
Maximum intensity - jogging for 1 min at 7 km per hour speed on 13 incline.

Followed this workout with some crunches, leg press and 6 minutes on the Vibration Plate

Feeling - good!

This workout came about after losing around 1.5 kgs this week because of an upset stomach which compelled me to a minimal diet. I feel positively lightweight and timble toed ;-)

Sandra Bullock - Gravity and Age Defying Fitness

I just read the review of Gravity in which Sandra Bullock plays a lost in space astronaut. At 50, Bullock is getting rave reviews for her yummy appearance.

Bullock was always one my favorite people on screen. With this performance (which I will be sure to watch) my admiration for her has gone up a notch or two. Just one generation back - 50 was considered to be irretrievably old. Male actors have transcended the 50 years barrier with meaty roles for sometime. Women havent been so lucky. Good roles yes - but "gravity" defining roles at 50 - cant remember any!

Bullock's role which must have demanded a load of stamina is a tribute to her fitness. Sandra trained specifically for her "weightlessness" in the movie. She admits she pushed her body to the extreme during training.

Read about how Sandra trained for Gravity here.

Bullock's fitness regime is apparently a combination of dance routines for cardio, yoga and pilates. She revealed on Today Show to Jay Leno recently that she does kick boxing and rides a bike whenever she can and runs when she is in Austin.

Sandra Bullock Workout Regime

Sandra's workout by as prescribed by her trainer Eden Paul includes
Squats
Reverse Lunges
Push ups
Dumbbell Workouts
Scissor Kicks for those killer abs
Side Lunges

Sandra reportedly has been working recently with Simone De La Rue at the Body by Simone Dance Studio on
Yoga, Pilates and Dance Cardio. She apparently puts in one hour every day six days a week with Simone to get her killer looks.

The number 1 in DVD workouts at Amazon


Best of Fitness DVDs

Sandra Bullock Diet

What diet does Sandra follow? Sandra apparently maintain her looks and fitness by a healthy eating habit. She has revealed at times that she doesnt have a specific diet plan as such but avoids junk food. She apparently cheats a day a week.

Jillian Michaels 30 day Shred

Such an example of health and fitness coupled with true beauty and acting skill - deserves a shout.

Keep it up Sandra!

Download Tom Clancy Books on Kindle and Amazon

Tom Clancy, RIP (1947 -2013) will no longer spin out best selling spy books and thrillers. The author of the popular Jack Ryan books died in Baltimore. Clancy's first book "The Hunt For Red October" was endorsed by none other than Ronald Reagan as unputdownable and according to Clancy got him into the best selling list for the first time.



Read more about the popular author here.



http://news.yahoo.com/best-selling-author-tom-clancy-died-age-66-152101522.html



Get Tom Clancy's books here


The Hunt for Red October [40th Anniversary Edition] – HarperCollins AU



Download Tom Clancy's books for Kindle here

The Hunt for Red October (Jack Ryan Book 1) - Kindle edition by Clancy, Tom. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Lalu Prasad Yadav - Birsa Munda Jail Inmate

You can love Lalu, you can hate him - but you cannot ignore him.

For those who don't or cant delve deep into the murky world of Bihar politics, Lalu was a fascinating figure. The ultimate kingmaker.

Many in the nation held an aversion to Lalu during the scam days, his belligerent ways, his "I am above all laws in Bihar" attitude - and similarly many more had more or less replaced those images of him with those of a "successful minister", a kindly outspoken avuncular person, someone who understood the grassroots, family values. Especially when it became known he was not becoming the PM in the near future.

Lalu playing holi in dhoti, Lalu cooking for his family, Lalu in HBR and Lalu spouting truly secular values somehow managed to outweigh in the public's mind the very audacity and volume of the fodder scam. Of course in recent times the audacity of the multi thousand crore mining and 2G scams have somehow dwarfed the few crores Lalu apparently pocketed. But Lalu can be said to be the original Godfather who didnt care about how far and how deep he looted the nation without remorse or shame. A fact which he tried to mute later with a change of image and an able bureaucratic backup.


As the shutters come down on the fifteen year old fodder scam - we the hoi polloi wonder - will we see more justice and get better deliverence from the rabid politicians who rule us? It took a revengeful Deve Gowda who wanted to squash his king maker to ensure CBI registered the scam. So will this very system of unholy democracy ensure the politicians biting each other and giving each other up - to ensure deliverance for the common people? Maybe this venal politics will serve a better purpose than a squib of a jan lokpal bill! Again that means - a different party has to come to power every few years to trip up the corrupt in the previous regime.

Anything...to help us poor countrymen.

Even though Lalu is still the most fascinating and loved of all.

A Healthy Run - That Was Not Healthy!

A 5 km run is just going to be a stroll in the park, right?

Wrong. If it has been organised by Apollo Hospital, if the runners are made to wait for an hour after the schedule of the run for the numerous guests, chief guests to stroll in, if there is no line marking the starting area - that the DJ co-ordinating the run has to shout herself hoarse, threaten, cajole, plead to get the runners into a supposed starting line which had already been changed twice, if there is absolutely no water along the way, if... the list goes on.

I am talking about the Run for a Healthy heart Run organised by Apollo Hospital Bhubaneswar on 29th September to mark a Healthy Heart day.  If "organised" is a word that can be used for the event.

The saddest part was there were many young children and older people who had come with such enthusiasm. It was touted as an everyman run. But apparently they forgot to provide water. I completed the near 5 km distance in 35 minutes, my son in 30 minutes - and if as claimed by the organisers the water was finished on the way - was it only provided for the professional athletes? For God's sake - we are not talking about fancy stuff that runners need - just water.

It was okay for me - but what about the 1000 odd casual people who had strolled in for such a run seeing the delightful ads? How can dehydration help a heart? Or did Apollo spend all the money for the event on the ads?

I guess it is a mistake being lured into such events by the general noise.

The only heartening thing about the run was the participation and general discipline and enthusiasm of the runners - despite everything.

And of course it didnt rain!

Weight Loss - Working Tricks and Tips - FREE

Let me be clear. Running one marathon doesnt ensure weight loss (other than temporarily). Weight Loss is a function of just one thing...well two actually.

• Proper diet
• Consistent exercise

Nothing earthbreaking about it - is it?

Proper diet could be a 1600 cal diet per day. If one is above 70 kgs and leads a moderately active life, the body expends near about 1800 - 2000 calories. So following a 1600 calories diet per day regularly should ensure that one loses weight.

Another factor that I have discovered that ensures weight loss is consistent exercise. I have discovered (yes it is a discovery because otherwise there wont be so many health fads) that people who regularly walk in the park while chatting are healthy and lose weight eventually. I include chatting because that gives the right impetus to walk. And consistent walking for one hour daily ensures weight loss.

The above is versus people who go on sporadic diets, take on gym membership and go may once a week for some hardcore training and change and follow various fitness fads. Result - for every kg of weight loss they put on weight.

Another thing going for the walk in the park is that it is an activity that can be done daily right onto old age or the eighties. It will be very difficult to walk on the incline or run backwards on a treadmill during the sixties unless one is abysmally fit.

A Simple Diet Plan

WHAT is a proper diet? A proper diet means eating a good breakfast, a regular everyday lunch with colours, less oil with loads of vegetable and a gluten free dinner before 8 in the evening. Simple, right?

A 1600 calorie diet  could be divided up into four 400 cals diets in a day. Or it could be measured        (1600 * 7) in a week. If you decide to fast on a single day or just take maybe 400-500 one day of the week - you can have a bit of fun other days!

So if you have like me tried all weight loss tricks and your weight goes up and down like a yoyo, you are well into your forties - STOP EXPERIMENTING and just take a stroll in the park.

Weight and BMI Update

Weight - 74 kgs
BMI - 28.9

Verdict  - Overweight bordering on Obese

Does Dhoni's Stake in Rhiti Means Anything?

Mahi owns 15% stake in a Sports Management Firm. So what? The stake at first glance seems to be just a business investment (which unfortunately has the potential to be a business misadventure.)

Let me get this right.

The sequence seems thus. Rhiti takes on Dhoni's management for a considerable sum. Meaning it manages Dhoni's career, endorsements, public appearances, off cricket activities, etc. As any successful sports management firm will do - it has also signed on a few other promising cricketers like Suresh Raina, Ojha, R.P. Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, etc. Fine so far.

Dhoni - with money to invest - buys a stake in Rhiti. Its a minority stake. Just 15%. It means Dhoni doesnt take decisions. He just shares in the firm's bottomline. The only thing I can see here is Dhoni is backing himself. Make no mistake, any firm which has Dhoni's portfolio is going to be a huge success. So Dhoni backs himself to make the firm successful and buys a stake (I am sure as per the advise of his business advisers).

Now we come to the issue (non -issue) that the media is making out. Dhoni sits on the selection committee. So does that mean Mahendra Singh Dhoni will jeopardise the performance of the team by approving the selection of players that Rhiti has on board because Rhiti manages them? How will it help Dhoni? Will the 15% stake in Rhiti's profit be more than the endorsements that he will lose if the team loses? At last count Dhoni endorsed 22 firms. He is apparently more popular than Shahrukh Khan. Why? Because he is a winner. He gives his all for the team. He is dedicated, still simple and honest as per popular opinion. Will he risk all that to make Jadeja's or Raina's career. And Raina is not even in the test team. Suresh Raina despite his obvious talent has not recently been a part of the Indian team. The likes of Rahane, Murli Vijay, Pujara, Shikhar Dhawan got their chances - Raina didnt in the just concluded Test series against Australia. Apparently Raina has a shortcoming against the rising ball. That's funny - since most Indian players have that shortcoming. Remember Virender Sehwag?

Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev have all had majority stakes in Sports Management outfits. Has it never been in conflict with their other duties as selectors, mentors, coach, etc. So why Dhoni now? Dhoni being a VP at India Cements is being touted as a crime now. But isnt that Srinivasan's conflict? Dhoni is his Company's VP. He is the BCCI President. Does follow logically he will make Dhoni the Captain of India, right?

It seems its just the way of the media (and former cricketers) and people to bring down celebrities after hoisting them high on a pedestal. And Dhoni after being thrown really really high on to the ether world is finding the fall all the more harder. For nothing. Not on current evidence. But these stories will not go away unless Dhoni just decides to let his considerable income sit in a bank!

5 Reasons Why Chelo Kebab is Not Nasi lemak

A few days back I had an amazing dinner of Chello Kebab at perhaps the World's most famous restaurant serving Chelo Kebab - Peter Cat in Park Street at Kolkata. During the course of my post prandial musings, my thoughts flew to another favorite meal with amazingly similar "apparent" ingredients but an entirely different result - the Nasi Lemak from Malaysia.

Both are complete meals with chicken, vegetable, egg on the side with rice at the centre. And thats where the similarities end between the two meals!

Nasi Lemak has flavoured rice as in Chelo Kebab. In Nasi Lemak, the flavour comes from lime leaves and lemon grass - while in Chello Kebab the flavouring is from butter and the smell of basmati rice.

Chicken is the main ingredient of Chello Kebab as the name suggests. It comes in the form of awesomely rich, grilled, minced chicken kebabs - whose ingredients and secrets go back perhaps 300 years or so. You also get barbecued chicken on skewers. The chicken in Nasi Lemak is a side dish, normally chicken rendang (a red red chicken in gravy - cooked with coconut) or simple fried chicken.

Chello Kebab may have a piece or two of cucumber on the side - but it is not accompanied by anchovies and peanuts as in Nasi Lemak. The other vegetable in chello comes barbecued with the chicken.

Eggs too come differently. While Nasi Lemak has a boiled egg served on the side, Chello Kebab has a poached egg placed delicately at the centre of the rice - with a dollop of butter near it.

And perhaps the most critical non-similarity! Chello Kebab is a princely meal, however meaningless the royal terminology may be in today's egalitarian world, loved and revered by people who have partaken of it at Peter Cat. Nasi Lemak is street food at its best, served in wrapped pandan leaves at street corners, for breakfast, lunch and dinner at most local restaurants and everywhere else in Malaysia - similarly loved and revered!

So enjoy both!!!

Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2013 - I Completed the Full Marathon!

Mumbai Marathon - Date 20.1.2013
Status - Completed
Distance - 42.2 Kms
Time - 7 hrs  approx

The goal at the top of this blog says - I need to complete a marathon. Happily thats done. My revised goal is to do a marathon in under 5 hrs 30 mins nw! Unfortunately due to an extremely busy home life I wasnt able to document much my marathon preparation in this so called "fitness blog" of mine. Thats mostly because my fitness efforts have been sporadic rather than systematic! But I still ran the marathon. And finished it. And am still in one piece. Here is an article detailing my marathon story.

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Going to Mumbai for a marathon??? Why??? This was the standard enquiry of incredulity from friends and family alike. I really wanted to go for the half marathon. I shifted to India end of June 2012 from Malaysia. By the time I found out about the marathons in India and discovered the SCMM website, the registration for the half marathon was over. So I enrolled for the Full Marathon instead. Dont ask me why, I was not remotely prepared for it. Enquiring with the organisers made me realise that the confirmation for the run would only come mid Dec.

I go to the gym fairly regularly. I run a couple or more miles and do some weights for my leg muscles. My entire long distance running amounted to one formal 10 km run and a couple of informal group runs of the same distance. By the time I registered it was the second week of November (I think a couple of days before registration closed) and I meant to start training in earnest. Really. It never happened. With two school going kids and almost no domestic help, shifting woes, training never took off. All I could manage was going to the gym 3-4 tmes a week max. 7 kms was the longest I could cover in training. There was never time for more. Finally in desperation I started walking stairs in January to build endurance. I built it up to 60 floors of climbing and descending at a stretch before stopping the week before the run. So on the day of the run, I had no idea how much I could cover. 42 kms seemed an impossibility. I was confident of doing the half marathon distance at least. I decided to enjoy the experience to the fullest, however.

And enjoy, I did.

It was exhilarating just to be at Azad Maidan early in the morning. I couldnt believe I was finally at the starting point about to run a full marathon, with my kids and husband in Bhubaneswar 1500 kms away!

I started the run a bit behind the 5.30 Bus (the pacers that took you to the finish in 5 hr 30 mins) but realized I couldn’t afford to follow their pace if I meant to complete. So I deliberately fell behind and soaked in the atmosphere while clipping along. The noise, music at Marine Drive, the sea at Chowpatti with the fishing boats, the early half marathoners crossing me, Haji Ali, very filimisque in the distance, the suburbs skyline…ahhh. I am not a Mumbaiite and these typical Mumbai sights seen early in the cold morning while actually running – let me tell you nothing can beat the experience. I am sorry to say, doesn’t sound professional, I even stopped and took pics. I am so glad I did. Because I plan to compete against time the next time round and there might be no time for pics!

Then came the most tedious stretch of my journey – the Worli Sealink. The sealink looks a dream from the distance and I had been really keen to run on it. Just imagine – running on the Worli Sealink before getting to drive on it – when the road has been cleared for you! But the stretch did get monotonous. The only relief was the lead pack of Kenyans crossing between 15-16. They came after a pilot vehicle and helicopter and ran by at a flash generally leaving me agape. I was so stunned at their speed and grace I couldn’t even get the mobile up for the pic. Kipketer crossed by me and I got to read her nameJ Savoring hose moments of wonder got me across the sealink – but not before a cramp happened at 18. Never having run a really long distance – I was not familiar with the crippling feeling of a runner’s cramp. I settled down at the side of a hoarding and did a few stretches, applied the small tube of Volini so fortuitously provided in the running kit and felt good enough to continue.

At 22 I messaged my hubby that I was half way through. I realise the message has been sent at 9.10. I was not really keeping track of the time during the run. 3hrs 20 min for 22 kms while taking pics, cramping, seems pretty fine to me! At home I don’t even start a run without the ipod – here I had covered 22 kms without using it! I plugged it on to my ears and continued still feeling okay. By 29 I was feeling bad – real bad. My legs were totally cramped by then. That got relieved only after the 30 k mark when I got some Religare sprayed on the muscles. It worked like a miracle and I made it till 35 walking, jogging alternately. 30 k was done at 10.40 when I again messaged hubby informing him of the status.

35 km till the end was a nightmare – relieved only because I was running with a co-runner. After 38 we realized BMC had taken down the markers, even though the markers at the other side were still there! It seemed a long long distance before finally the turning to Churchgate came our way. Kingfisher water stalls were still on the road – but not much else. Churchgate to Flora Fountain was a bad – especially when one had to ask directions. But the longest stretch was from the Fountain to the Azad Maidan gates. A paltry distance of hardly 1 km seemed to go on and on. We had to ask the way all along in our dazed state, the roads were really crowded, the sun was blazing down and I was dragging and limping along alternately. The last 7 kms took more than 2 hours and I could only cover it with the thought that stopping was not a choice after coming so far.

After reaching the Maidan I realized that Finishers medals were still to be had. I was really thinking all would be shut down and the organizers would have packed up! But the finishers just ahead of me egged me and said “go and get the medals”. That literally infused new life into my oh so tired limbs! I ran to the stalls, picked up the medal and for some moments I was feeling as fresh as a 1 year old – as if I could go for miles and miles more.

Sitting in the car for the trip to my brother’s house brought a reality check. I hadn’t done the post run stretches while I was still standing, so couldn’t move, I had huge blisters on 8 toes and well I just wanted to go to sleep for ages.

But what the heck – I had completed a marathon and plan to do it all over again! For someone who was obese and a couch potato till 1.5 years back, a Mom of 2 starting to run after 40 years, I have come a long way…

Day 1 Marathon prep

18th December - I jogged 5 kms on the treadmill in 40 mins. then did a walk jog routine on the incline for 20 more minutes. My aim was to jog for 40 mins non stop. Achieved.
Total calories - 400. Time - 60 min. Distance - 7 kms.

Finished with some stretches.

19th Dec (morn) - some light stretches and leg muscles workout.

Tip of the day - Never stretch cold muscles - you might pull some. Do a light warm up before any routine.
Plan to jog 5 kms today evening. Lets see.

Gym And So On

Afterahectic

SCMM Mumbai Marathon 2013 - Here I come!

Mumbai Marathon - Here I come!

My registration for the Mumbai Marathon has been accepted. i am to run 42 kms - wow wow...boo hooo.

Scared shit. three things can happen.

i can complete the course in a time of 6 hours plus (most preferable)...but better than Katie Holmes timing ;-)
i can quit after the halfway mark...i feel i can complete half the course
i can fail to show up...most deplorable. But i do tend to get sick with nervousness before any major event. even though the event is for fun. even though the event is just a self test of mental and physical fitness. even though the result is meaningless. wimp :-)

Why Not To Watch Jab Tak Hai Jaan - Shahrukh Khan

and Katrina Kaif, and 90 minutes less and a few less bomb diffusion and a few less accidents. Whew!

I went through the torture that was Jab Tak Hai Jaan last night. It is hard to believe that the director of movies like Lamhe and Chandni ... could have given us this 3 hours of drivel packaged as a movie. Most reviews have been muted in their comments I guess out of deference to the just demised patriarch of YRF - Yash Chopra. Never mind - Yash Chopra will be much remembered and loved for Trishul, Deewar, Lamhe, Silsila, etc - and he would prefer not to be associated with JKHJ.

Shahrukh Khan spans ten years in the movie. It was an awful sight to see a near naked wrinkled Shahrukh posing as a 25 year old in some of his risque poses with Katrina. He looks (and acts) closer to his 50 years! Will Shah Rukh be as delusional as Dev Anand and prefer to act the romantic lead ( maybe give a new definition to the evergree hero) even in his 70s??? Hindi movie heroes really cannot age gracefully. The female leads have made the transition. And play and look their age. Look at Rekha, Madhuri, Juhi and of course the current darling Sridevi! And look at Shahrukh and remember Amitabh in Mard and a host of other nineties movie...till he returned as the patriarch. A Dabangg is ok in your mid and late 40s  - definitely not a crooning, mushy Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

Shahrukh Khan has the opportunity. He should have gracefully made the transition 4 years back after Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi or Chak de India. Even a Don is preferable!

It should be a rule in Bollywood not to give pretty female leads who cant act, more than 10 minutes of screen time. If you thought it was a torture watching Aishwarya for 3 hours - just wait till you catch Katrina in JTHJ. She is pretty - that is granted. But putting her histrionics skills under the microscope for more than 2 hours. Please - I still shudder to remember last night's agony. She is definitely NOT a Kajol, Vidya or Rani. More than 10 minutes of watching Katrina's "acting" will definitely lead to indigestion.

A song like Saans from the AR Rehman group? WTF? Its like you go to a exclusive do expecting caviar and end up eating tikka masala at a Punjabi wedding. I have nothing against the music - but its like something you have heard everywhere. There has to be some atrophy in the maestro's repertoire if one song "Challa" had to be repeated 4 times (at least).

Just a few days back I was thinking that - thank God Hindi movies no loger pair up a heiress with a rickshaw wallah. I was obviously wrong. Heiresses can get paired up with beggars in Hindi movies - albeit in a slicker package than in the eighties. And this brings to mind the question -  if Shahrukh had so much cash stashed away - why wasnt he opening his own restaurant? After all the same cash enabled his slouchy, lazy, inexperienced in the food business, definitely simple friend to become a millionare. I have nothing against any class of people - i just like to watch stories that remotely make sense...that's expecting too much I guess.
If you go to a so called "family movie" with a universal rating with 6 - 10 year olds - you definitely dont expect dialogues like "i want to have sex with all accents of people (a very bad translation of the actual dialogue , am afraid)." This from a girl who is shown to be extremely cool. I mean... I am old fashioned and I want my movies to be properly labelled. Jab Tak Hai Jaan definitely deserved a PG - 13 rating.

Is there any reason to watch Jab Tak Hai Jaan? Well 10-15 minutes of the film are actually worth watching. One of them a dance. A few minutes of Shahrukh and Anoushka's perfect dive into a  freezing Ladakh lake. So just get someone to edit those parts and put it on youtube. No need to go through torture.
Rating - 1/2 out of 5

This blog has also been published by me at Xomba.com
http://mamamia07.xomba.com/jab-tak-hai-jaan-far-superior-movie-without-shahrukh-khan

www.procamrunning.in/scmm/ - Register For Mumbai Marathon 2013

You can register for Mumbai Marathon at the the website
http://www.procamrunning.in/scmm/

The registration for the Half Marathon is closed. However the Marathon is still open for registration. Enjoy the run!

The marathon page has a number of tips for runners. So even if you are not joining the marathon - you can prepare according to the schedule for fitness and training for a future run. Its always difficult to start from zero to run a marathon. The training schedule is for people who have had some running / walking experience as the first run/jog/ walk is 4 kms.

If you are starting from zero and wish to participate in a long distance run - my advise is just start with small steps - run 800 mts the first time - without giving up. Just let not the distance of 42 kms daunt you. Keep increasing till you are at the 3-4 kms level. This may take 15 days to 2 months depending upon your fitness level and commitment. But the fun and a feeling of achievement is guaranteed! And maybe you can run a marathon in 6-8 months.

Mumbai Marathon Registration

Oops - the registration to the Standard Chartered Half Marathon at Mumbai is already closed. I dont understand the Mumbai Marathon page. There seems to be a Quota system for ladies - but how does one register for it? Is it still open for the Half marathon? Apparently information is not easily available unless one registers and pays up. I mean its just the webpage for a Marathon - for us dumb runners - not an application form / webpage to the MIT for the geeky types! All Info should be clear. The navigation through the Mumbai Standard Chartered Marathon page is a bummer - period.

Do I dare try for the Mumbai Full Marathon?

I have been putting in some effort at the gym the last 3 days. Though not in any way good enough for a marathon.

Thursday - 530 calories in 1 hour, followed by muscle training and a steam bath.
Friday - 450 calories from a 6 km trip on the treadmill in 50 minutes. More running than walking and climbing.
Sunday - 3 kms in 30 minutes and just about 200 cal. Followed it up with some weight training.

All the marathon training schedules say that I need to put in at least 20 miles a week. I seem to be at the 10 miles a week level still. I do think i can complete a half marathon. Not at all sure about a Full Marathon though.

Kindle Fire Review

As a proud owner of one of the earliest versions of Kindle (when it was just a simple ebook reader for book lovers - with epaper / eink- technology) I have always tried to keep up with the latest models of Kindle. So it was with some awe and frustration of the head nodding kind that I saw the launch of the latest version of Kindle Fire. Kindle is no longer just an ebook reader from Amazon. With Kindle Fire, Kindle is prepared to go the distance to be a complete tablet. Amazon itself is slotting it as "A Tablet from Amazon" and "More than a tablet". The biggest plus point for Amazon's Kindle Fire seems to be the new HD screen. The sizes, options and features come in a mindboggling range. The screen sizes range from 7" to 8. 9 " and the storage space from 8 GB to 32 GB. The highest end model is enabled for 4G technology while there is Dolby audio in most models. The price range is equally wide - from $159 for an entry level Fire model to $ 499. The lowest priced Fire HD model is $199. One thing may bug book and movie lovers - ads on your screen.
Go to this Amazon Kindle page to find out more about all the Kindle versions,

Kindle Fire Latest

A Game of Badminton

It was time for a game of badminton. Got to play 3 games with a friend. Good bit of running and sweating and full body cardio. The best thing about playing baddy is that you have to do it with a friend - so not boring! Followed it up a 1 km run. Ended up with a headache the next day. Wonder what that was for? Scared me - waking up with a migraine middle of the night!

How much Calorie Does Badminton Burn - 30 minutes of badminton would burn about 200 cal.

Here are some interesting facts on the health benefits of playing badminton.

http://www.badminton-information.com/health_benefits_of_playing_badminton.html

Way to Diet

Reading about all these diet plans has made me terribly hungry!

I have zeroed down on two options after some initial research. Taking a weight loss supplement like amway  / herbalife, etc or going on a lemonade diet.

Diet supplements are apparently high protein low carb products which supplement your meal plan. Let me check out more on the exact content fibre content and price of the products.

A lemonade diet seems to be a much cheaper option - only needs harder work. Drink fresh lemonade every day with cayenne pepper and maple syrup. However I have to see whether maple syrup and cayenne pepper are available on the shelf in my town! While internet may have wiped out the distances between continents and you get as much information in New York as in Nuaghat - there's still a long way to go in getting physical products conveniently...sigh. What could be the Indian and locally available substitutes for maple syrup and cayenne pepper?