In the last two posts we tried to help you understand your eating patterns and plan your meals effectively as per the existing patterns. But in order to start eating healthy, this is just the analysis and mindset preparing part. Now it’s the time to hit the Bull’s Eye. Yes, in this post we shall be covering how your existing eating patterns can be transformed into more healthier ones.
There is plenty of information available these days, about health, food, nutrition, wellness. And the major cause of worry is that most of the information is contradictory and even misleading. Hence it is very important that we do our research and adopt things that can actually be beneficial. So we’ve tried to cover the basics in the following video, which can help touch the fundamental concepts and how they can be implemented in daily busy routines.
Healthy eating is the buzzword today. But instead of getting overwhelmed by the excessive overflow of contradictory information and fads, let’s understand the basics and make it achievable in our daily busy routines practically. These 7 little habits can make a big difference.
Cooking food and above all, thinking what to cook can really be a daunting task. And we all face that. Especially on normal working days, when everything has to be cooked and packed in the morning itself. And dinner is cooked, once you’re all tired after the day’s work.
A few years, when we got married, it became almost a Herculean task to settle into the new regime, new set of responsibilities and managing work and home both. Seeing me so irritated due to my inability to conduct things orderly, a wise friend advised me to plan our meals.
Now in addition to having a home and full time jobs, we have 2 kids too and this simple habit of Meal planning has made our lives way easier. But it hasn’t been always so smooth and effortless. I kept on planning our meals weekly and of course, did my own mistakes.
The first one was, of course, to expect that we’ll plan and just follow. In real world, it doesn’t happen. Your plans change, moods change, situations change. Hence, the plans have to be sturdy enough to accommodate those unprecedented things.
I didn’t know our own patterns and was planning perfect and ideal meals, which of course, became difficult to handle and practically impossible.
I struggled with where to plan our meals – on a soft copy or a piece of paper. A soft copy is limited our screens only and printing it always is not possible. Piece of paper takes time and looks so raw to an organized freak like mine. Ultimately, I devised a printable format and it worked for me.
And yes, the format kept on evolving. I couldn’t settle with a ready made format. Since I use separate apps for shopping list and don’t really make lists of existing inventory, I removed those things from my format. Then conditions like pregnancy, lactation and ever evolving eating patterns of our family, pushed me to include various mid day snacks, morning drink, fruits etc. to the meal plan format.
Eventually, I realized we don’t have to build up restrictions through meal planning. We just have to make our lives convenient, by making groceries available for what we intend to eat and accommodate our cravings, healthier foods, junk foods, dine outs leftovers etc. in the plan itself.
In this video, we have tried capturing all these learning and bring out a handy set of 5 tips which can help you plan your meals better, if you’re looking for that.
How meal planning can help you save your time and stress everyday! How you can organize things a little better, such that eating well becomes effortless!
For a copy of the printable meal plan shown here, please type your email id in the comments. We’ll make sure it reaches you in the shortest time!
And we all know that Health is 80% food and 20% exercise. In order to be healthy, is the foremost requirement. But at the same time, Food is our comfort, an experience, a fun for most of the foodies like me. And most tempting foods, not so healthy.
That is what I call Dilemma of a Foodie. Here is a video made by us to explain where we often lag behind, in spite all the pure intentions and then discuss a few steps that helped us in the past few weeks.
We are living in a weird time right now, aren’t we? I don’t think many of us have ever experienced something of this sort in our lifetimes.
All my adult life, I used to think that going viral is a good thing. Corona-virus (COVID-19) just ruined the metaphor.
Anonymous
The pandemic has not only posed a collective “Pause” on the planet, but changed drastically almost everything – the way we live, the way we work, the way we think. Things that were difficult to even imagine a month back, are a real time scenario today.
What this phase is teaching us?
While the public places are quiet, our homes are bustling with love and warmth. Parents are engaging their kids and protecting them from the weirdness in best possible ways. Friends and families are connecting over video calls to flush the negativity out. There is a distinct wave of fun and laughter over social media to lighten the spirits. Looking at this it seems, we as a humankind are learning a lot.
But the biggest lesson perhaps is, that our Health & Well-being is of paramount importance. The whole world has stopped together pertaining to the risk of this pandemic. In normal course too, our poor health can stop our world altogether. This is not a new invention; you must have seen such examples in your life earlier as well.
While “Staying at Home” is the noblest thing we can do for a greater good, there are several ways people are adopting to cope. And the best part is, we are still connected through internet and can uplift each other in these testing times, when panic is just a small side-effect.
Our passion for a healthy living
This gives us further motivation to pursue our passion, this endeavor at expressbywords – to pursue a healthful lifestyle for holistic well-being. That’s where all medical advice concludes. That is the best favor we can do to ourselves, lest we get into never ending cycles of prescriptions and treatments. That’s the only way to live our best lives, till we are alive.
Well! we could have done this quietly too, in isolation, as we were practicing till now. This journey gained pace during my first pregnancy. We just took our doctor’s advice of adopting a healthful lifestyle, a little too seriously. Like all other parents, we were concerned for the well-being of our unborn child and didn’t want to give him/her anything less than the best. So throughout, we maintained an active lifestyle, went for regular checkups, improved upon our eating habits and other lifestyle choices too.
But once our daughter was born, we realized it should not be just a 9-month affair, it should be a way of life instead. Ever since, we kept on learning various ways and means of focusing on our holistic well-being, especially while combating the challenges of a fast paced life, being working parents with full time demanding jobs and a nuclear family.
So we decided to share this journey, to talk and practice more of it. We realized that this world needs collective efforts. My heart aches to see young people putting their health at a back burner in order to fulfill their dreams and aspirations.
But things are getting better now. We personally know many friends who are pursuing fitness very religiously. There are many who keep sharing their innovative healthy recipes; many who leave no table unturned to ignite the positivity around. In a survey by Quartz India, it came out that nearly 48% Indians aspired for a healthy lifestyle over other aspirations.
This inclination will definitely have a knock off effect on their personal happiness and even productivity. The one message that we want to communicate is that health is much more than a fad. It is more than a diet plan or a workout or a magic pill to be your best self overnight.
It is a lifestyle that should be approached holistically – not only weight loss or digestive issues, not only hormonal imbalances or stress management. It should cater to all dimensions, beyond the numbers, beyond the body image. We all know what’s right. But to bring those real lasting changes, we need discipline and motivation. And it will be easier, if we pursue that together.
I’m sure you must be receiving a plenty of messages since morning today. Messages celebrating womanhood, the ones that acknowledge the strength and beauty of being a woman. This is the day when the whole world suddenly realizes how important women are, what pain do they bear, what all roles do they play. And most of them tell you to follow your dreams and just keep going.
Just in case you are all jazzed up and are going to spend another one year proving how unstoppable you are, how much you can handle; just pause for a moment. Whatever strength and capability nature has blessed women with, it’s an age-old apparent fact. Nobody needs to prove it. But in today’s already chaotic and hurried world, it’s much more important to slow down and be mindful of what choices you’re making. After all, that’s what defines what you’re heading for.
Once she stopped rushing through life, she was amazed how much LIFE she had time for.
Unknown
So this Women’s day, set off for a journey towards your Well-being. Almost everything can keep going, even if you slow down and decide not to burnout yourself. In a Health talk at our office last week, we discussed all aspects of women’s health. There I realized again, that up-keeping a healthy lifestyle can keep most of the problems at a bay – hormonal imbalances, fitness issues, diseases, depression, anxiety etc.
In fact, all aspects of women empowerment can be taken care, once women start caring for themselves adequately and standing up for themselves. Whether it’s taking time out for a workout or a quiet time to sort their thoughts; indulging in more fulfilling endeavors or just getting a sound sleep. Giving themselves a priority, is only going to enhance the productivity of not only the women, but entire families and workplaces too.
And if all the men start supporting women in their wellness journey by helping them carve time for it (rather join themselves too and take care of their overall well-being), things can be way better. Empowerment begins from the families first. Just talking about women empowerment at work, won’t help. It will only be another superficial and hypocritical thing. When men start supporting participating in families equally – cooking, raising kids, running households, earning & fulfilling dreams; they will certainly have reasons to spend more time with their families, which includes prioritizing the woman’s career. This will set equal standards and opportunities at workplaces.
So, I urge all the men and women to come up together and set off to their wellness journey for a better world around – filled with more fulfilled, happy and healthy people. Women who care for themselves well enough, can support other women too in their well-being. We need to create an environment, where wellness is not considered a luxury but a basic necessity.
So where are you in this journey? Have you already started off or are still thinking of making the first move? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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