Tuesday, March 24, 2015

A Kings breakfast with a Kellogg’s twist



Hunger pangs,
It’s the moment when you are most likely to sin. A snack full of sugar and salt, deep fired goodies etc. is all what you feel like reaching out for. Don’t let yourself get to that stage... Always fuel up before those rats rumble, not to mention before the migraine takes over.

There are bazillion myths around breakfast and snacking. Either we skip it completely or we load it with all the wrong food. The best advice that has stayed with me is by Dr. Phil when I saw him on the Oprah show. He said, when after a full night’s sleep your stomach is empty and craving for fuel. When you skip breakfast your body goes in to an overdrive and the organs feel that since they are starved, they are dying. So now your body is in a survival mode, so the next bite you eat, gets stored as fats. This is because your body is saving up for survival.

Imagine putting your body through it every morning. No matter if you eat a healthy lunch that salad isn’t going to do you any good as your body will store it as fats. A strong building needs a strong foundation, and that is only possible if you start your day with a healthy wholesome breakfast...

But who has the time???
Am sure we all are guilty of putting our priorities ahead of our breakfast, there is always a school bus that is waiting, the presentation that isn’t finish and the 8.30 local that we just can’t miss. Where is the time??

Make time; get up only 15 minutes early than your usual time. You don’t need anything fancy, just simple things that you can put together in a jiffy. Trust me your gut will love you for this. Prep up at night, make mental note of the menu for the next day, so that you don’t waste your time puzzled. And if you are still looking for inspiration, why not log on to Kellogg’s you tube channel?  https://youtu.be/XzB1mruGC78

There they have a whole list of recipes that you can whip up in a jiffy and are loaded with goodness. The best part of the video are that they are simple, can be made form ingredients found at home but also do justice to your palette.

My personal favorite was a smoothie made with cornflakes. Such a perfect breakfast on the go, for the days when you really are in a rush. With so much information available at your finger tips, you just have no valid excuse to miss the most important meal of the day. Log on to: https://www.facebook.com/anaajkanashta and start planning...

Make sure you hit me back with a list of your favorite breakfast recipes from Kellogg’s.
Happy snacking!  




Sunday, March 22, 2015

All Things Happy.


PMS…
A 4am message to my friend… Am dying, it reads. Can’t take it anymore, hate my life. Nothing ever seems right. Hate it that you are so far away. 

Gosh I can’t sleep, I want a cupcake. May be I need to pee, or maybe I can hold it back. After a constant struggle between me and my bladder for fifteen minutes the score is, bathroom-1, me- 0. Why do I even bother…

Am turning into a crazy insomniac… need to avoid coffee.
Back to texting… more sobs; I don’t know what’s bothering me. A’my equally demented friend replies…

A’: Disha I love you sweet heart, today and forever…
Me: Even when am old and wrinkly, on an adult diaper and wheel an oxygen tank where ever I go?
A’: Off course, even in an ICU
Me: Come to think of it you’d be in a bed next to me in a five star retirement home.
As a comeback, she sent me and image that wasn't appropriate for this blog…

While my husband happily snored away, our bizarre little conversation had me cracked up. I forgot all about my hormonal depression. I was happy I had her…

Then next morning, the timing couldn't have been perfect. A prompt from Coke arrive asking me to jot down things that make me happy. I need that introspection to keep a check on my emotionally torn self. And man this list helped…

To me happiness is….

#A perfect pani puri… I am a chat girl. It’s my comfort food. The perfect balance of flavours that can never be achieved by a pretentious bowl of pasta.

#A kiss on the forehead. Don’t get me wrong, French is also good, but a kiss on the forehead tells me that I am his princess.

#A chocking hug from my 5yr old munchkin when I pick from school. The best feeling in the world.

#A decedent slice of warm, well made chocolate cake. With a Scoop o French vanilla on the side. What makes it more awesome if I have this whole dessert to myself .I don’t call my blog ‘I don’t share desserts’ nothing…

#A good steal, be it a good pair of boots with a tongue wagging 70% off or a pizza with a buy one get one offer. A good deal never fails to excite me..

#A rom-com, a bowl of caramel popcorn, with my favourite pajamas on. This beats a night at the club hands down.

#A stay at moms, where the entire afternoon is spent lying down in her lap and catching up on the family gossip. Not the mention the yummy food she stuffs you with.

#A good hair day. It can instantly transform my mood from grumpy to gorgeous in a flick.

But nothing beats the feeling I get when my kid runs up to me every once in a while, announcing that am the best mum in the world…
Bliss…

Am happy I made this list, certainly helps my put my priorities in order. It only proves that I don’t need Prada’s to keep my happy, little joys are just enough to get through those rough patches.


I went from man, my life is a wreck, to gee am blessed, in one blog post.


All things Happy...




Saturday, March 14, 2015

The Roof Top… #LookUp Stories



New Zealand 2008, our honeymoon.
They say it’s the best phase of our lives…
They aren’t wrong…
We courted each other for 4 years…
After a lot of Bollywood style drama, we finally tied the knot. Now when I look back I can’t stop blushing... we were so naïve back then, so innocent, so blinded by love, so far away from the realities of life… We couldn’t keep our hands off each other, a whole 8GB card was exhausted with in just two days of our 20 days honeymoon, thank God they didn’t have selfies back then!

Franz Josef, a quaint little small town in New Zealand at the foot hills of the Fox Glacier is a popular pit stop for tourists. I still remember how beautiful our little hotel room was. There was barely any walking space around the bed, one step and you would land up in the bath room. But there was something homey about it. It bought us closer than ever before…

The next morning we took a helicopter ride up to the Fox glacier. It was just breathtaking… I was a snow virgin and the glacier was like magic to me. While posing for pictures, I twisted my ankle and fell. I remember sitting down on my frozen bottom and crying like a baby.

I was skinny back then; my husband picked me up and kissed the tear that rolled down my cheek. He took me directly to the helicopter and flew me back to base. On reaching the hotel he arranged for an ice pack and some pain killers. The way he looked after me was just endearing. By evening, the pain got a little better. At around 7pm there was a knock on our door. The guy at the door said that it was about time and we shouldn’t be late.

He escorted the puzzled me to a narrow little allay way that lead to a flight of stairs. It was the hotels owners’ house and he was kind enough to grant us access to his rooftop. On the roof to there were two pool chairs laid out with a warm blanket and a bottle of bubbly by its side. I was bowled over by this amazing surprise, with a little sparkle in my eyes, I looked towards him in awe, but he said that the real surprise hasn’t even begun.

He sat me down, cuddled me up and was constantly looking up towards the sky. Suddenly faint little sparkle appeared out of nowhere. I looked up at him; he kissed my forehead and told me that this whole setup was for our private little show of a meteor shower.

The dazzle lasted for about 45 minutes. We didn’t talk much, didn’t exchange Mills and Boon promises. We didn’t need language; his warm secure embrace was message enough. A message that was loud and clear… till eternity…

6years and counting…
Marriages aren’t easy,
We have our share of differences, but when things get tough, I go back to the roof top…
It helps me #LookUp.

Inspired by the #LookUp campaign from https://housing.com/.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

#LookUp, not behind..









Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
-Barack Obama




#StartANewLife
It’s so easy to get comfortable. The minute you get comfortable, you stagnate. Convenience is the key to your down fall. This truth applies to all the facets of our life. For instance you get comfortable in a relationship, a job, a career etc. You know that you are dead inside. You want to break free, but you still stick around because it’s convenient.

The thought of confrontation is what unnerves us. The confrontation with our selves, with our loved ones and the world around us. I too was a lazy snail. A snail that was happy living under the rock. Safe and secure. Sure when I looked up at myself in the mirror, my eyes were hollow and my heart was screaming for a change. But all I did was splash some water, put on a fake smile and went on with my life.
But for how long… My daemons caught up with me. Faking it, become more and more hard and something was slowing down my pace. Either I could let this thing break me or I could break away from it.

That day…
I waited for dad to come back home. At the dinner table my entire family was busy in my wedding frenzy.  I have an announcement, I said. They all froze and stared back at me. I broke into a sweat, but there was no second guessing my decision.
I don’t want to get married to Amit, he is not right for me, I said. My Mom almost fainted, my brother thought I was joking but it was only my Dad who was still looking at me for answers. He sat me down, handed a glass of water and asked me to pour my heart out. I told him everything….How he always pulled me down, I was never good enough for him, and how he always compared me to his other friends. When he held my I didn’t feel the spark but I always felt like he was tugging me along. I can’t be happy with him I announced, I need to find my true self first…

He didn’t say a word, my dad. Got to the phone, to call it all off. Just two months before the wedding, you must think am crazy to have realized it this late. But it’s hard to muster up courage for change sometimes. Am glad I did… it’s better to breakout than live a life of convenience and regret...

I flew to Canada for an internship program with a Design firm. I found my true calling, found the man of my dreams, someone who respects me… I wouldn’t have had this all if I had dreaded change.
Am glad I,
Looked up and not behind. 

This post is inspired by  https://housing.com/.