Eat more to lose more?

Check this out...
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/20-superfoods-for-weight-loss-212436

Quinoa, goji berries, buckwheat... wtf can I get some of that stuff???
Guess who's gonna be hitting the health store asap.

while on the topic of super foods...

Pomogranet... a tiny 8 oz bottle of this luscious fruit juice costs an arm out here...
and to think of the numerous trees we had growing in my childhood home - 10 Nowley Ghar.
I could have cared less to eat one of them.... hated the hard seeds and thot' of them shrubs as weeds... thorny branches and all!

Custard apple... papaya.. mango...coconut...lemon...fruit trees grand mom planted all over our property...and lovingly cared for by her and mom!

the cloyingly sweet perfume of jasmine... 3 varieties of them... baby pink rose bushes...december flowers... kanagambaram...red techi... champangi...kodi champangi... fill my heart when i think of home.
will my li'll girl ever learn to string flowers on a thread and wear them in her (gelled n plastered down with coconut oil) braided hair?

hot summer days... playing with the neighborhood kids... cricket and hide n seek being an all time favorite.. followed by 4 corners, badminton...

not to forget the broken glass windows by budding batsmen... only to get 'grounded' by grand mom... whole afternoons... we had to not just stay indoors but take a NAP! used to be my most dreaded time out!
it is only now on being mom to 2 kids do i get why my mom so wanted us to nap!
There are days when i longingly fantasize about both my kids going down for a 2 hr uninterrupted nap while i indulge in a midday siesta ... sighhh!!!! if wishes were horses.. n pigs could fly...!
sleep used to come so easily to me as a teen... I remember sleeping round the clock literally... wake up in time for lunch... skipping b'fast altogether... well i was also 90 pds and skinny as a stick!!
those days ain't coming back too soon baby!

visited Nowley Ghar with my sis Jones and Ryan this time when i went home... just in time to take some pics which will be savored for many many years to come... here's a picture n a video as well.

PS: the last room i try to film is my bedroom ...which i of course 'had to' share with my 2 sissies all 10X10 ft of it!!! :) i think it helped us build life long bonds with each other...
which is why my kids share a room ... at least until one of them complains that is!

Seen here is the mango tree of which i have eaten at least a minimum of a 1000 mangoes my entire life.. and that's just me... it bears THE most luscious mangoes i have EVER tasted in my life! legend has it that my mom's dad sent the family a basket of mangoes from Salem one summer n someone ate one of them n chucked the seed out the window which then eventually grew to this magnificent tree that has easily borne fruit to feed 500 people over its entire life span!
note to self... ask mom what the breed of mango is called next time i yak with her.

kahan se shuru karke kahan aa paunchi mein...
its 10.47 and its back to the grind stone tmrw being Monday n all..

shedding pounds...

a major challenge most folks face in life! I am kind of an expert on the subject.

After all I did shed a collective 76 pounds over the last 5 years!

I gained 40 with Rehwa's pregnancy and 36 with Ryan.

Six months after I had Rehwa I had lost only 20 pds of the 40 i had gained and I was in size 12 jeans. I signed up for Bikram Yoga. The studio was right in the basement of my office building... which was kinda convenient.

Boy! was I in for a HOT ride! 90 minutes in 120 degree heat!
After my first class I could feel every single muscle ache n creek... even muscles that I didnt know exist!
After just 3 classes I had dropepd a whooping 3.5 pds! Who-hoo!

In 12 short weeks I lost the 20 pds I was holding on to! Not all from practicing BY tho'! I did try exercycling / other kinds of work outs and ALSO a major cut down on my calorie intake.

With Ryan I thot the magic would work again!
Not so lucky! Its 2 years since his birth and I am still holding on to about 4 pds. Tho I am the same size all over as before. Go figure!
I am not complaining... just annoyed that it hasn't been easy this time around!

My major source of encouragement has been sparkspeople.com An amazing web site with articles that really help me stay tuned to my goals and even work out routines.

In addition I took up Pilates.. and I am a fan!
Swimming / free weights / gym... done it all! I carry my 30 pd toddler every chance I get and my biceps are real lean and muscular!

I have realized the reason for the slow weight loss after my second pregnancy has been my love for food.
I am a major evening time snacker and I find cutting back at sunset has helped me shed pds easy!

My friends and family compliment me allt eh time on my wt loss...
All said and done... I am not there quite yet...

132 pds - Thats where i will find my 'Peace of body'

September is already here!!

was it just me or did August fly by like a gust of wind..?

  
 
Ryan turned 2 and my lill boy wore blue jeans for the first time!




  Rehwa went back to school... all grown up and in grade 1! New shoes..new jeans ... new backpack and all.

sometimes I want my kids to hurry up and grow up...other times i want them to stay lill for just a wee bit longer.

Ryan's losing his chubby cheeks and the chubby rolls of fat on his thighs.
I won't have a 1 year old baby anymore....wahhhh!

Cute film...

while browsing an unrelated website I came across this post by a dude called Vinay:

A 1-minute *SILENT* film ("Hi") I wrote/directed is showing online and competing in Toronto Urban film festival. It's a silent film because it will be also be showing Saturday(09/06/2008) in the Toronto subway television screens. (too much noise for the commuters to hear anything)

It only takes a minute to see! They will select the AUDIENCE WINNER based on the vote. Please VOTE for my film.

http://www.torontourbanfilmfestival.com/node/312

Ryan

My lill Rino... the lill whirlwind in my life!

Ryan Lakshay Prem - means 'Young Royalty' 'Aim' 'Love'

Must say life has never been dull after he came into my life.
Full of charm... cutest smiles ever...never ever still (even when asleep!)... needy... whiny... super jealous... strong and brave - that's my lill son'na.

I swear no kid else would have so many nick names...
Rino T Rino, Jolli ram, Mr Chabakker, Dhum, Shaitan, Gentleman, Golu, Bread basket, Laddu, Gunda-cha d gunda-cha, Rascala, Chunky Monkey...the list continues to grow.

his name has been so mispronounced as well..
ri-yaan, ray-an... my poor Mom - Ryan is a major tongue twister for her!
I have been easier on raising Ryan that i was with Rehwa. I guess it's the mommy experience kicking in.
With rave even a spike in temp. would have me rushing to the pedi. n monitoring her temp. by the hour. With ryan I have built a lot a trust on tylenol / motrin to do its job.
Also with rave i would fly into a panic if God forbid she had a fall.
I have learnt to not make such a huge deal of falls / scrapes... and yes that's helped Ryan be much less of a sissy!
he has had some major knocks..hez 22 monhs and already has a chipped front tooth to show off for his heroic tumbles.
he hardly cries..picks himself up and gets rite back to whatever he was doing w/out so much of a whimper!
Hi-5's to me on that!

Food - can a toddler really be that much into food... you think?
Ryan has such a sophisticated palate and cookin for him is like trying to please one of the most discerning chefs on food network!
and yes i am put on the grill about what's cooking EVERYDAY...
first the husband and now the son! bah! :)
Ryan - can't ignore him even if u want to... loving cuddly and vivacious... my sweet boy!

Life sure is worth it!

Rehwa

Rehwa... my diva...my first born... my first ever 'doll' and the center of my life (err....at least until my lill Rino came hurtling into my life!! lol!)

Calista Rehwa Prem - her name means 'Most beautiful' 'Ancient name for river Narmada' 'love'

Rave... everything about her is special... she is my first born after all (i now understand why my oldest sis gets so much attention!!!)

She was so amazingly beautiful as a baby... roses and cream complexion and chubby as a cherub!
I often wondered... is she really mine?

she was mostly a calm n content baby... and EVERYTHING about her went according to the books. well I was mostly a book parent... all the reading I did kinda helped raising her pretty easy AND fun!

She could spend hours feeling the satin ears on her teddy rattle n sucking on her Binky staring into space!

Which had me rushing to the fabric store to but a yard of satin n make her a pillow with satin tags ALL around for her to touch n feel! A couple of hours later of painful hand stitching and embroidering with 'Rehwa we love you' on it I presented it to her with a big 'ta-da' only to receive a blank look from her.
hmmm... not the exact reaction i was looking for...never mind she may take to it over time thought the first time mommy... but alas.. many failed attempts at trying to get her to 'love' the pillow, it now lies trampled on in the garage (the big indoor dumpster!) haha!

when she was ready to sit up... she was happy sitting still in one spot watching the world go by...
my sis Jones even labelled her 'bai-so' (marathi for old aunt - i think)

Even now she is more of a thinker and enjoys mind related challenges much more than physical activity like t-ball (which I signed her up for this spring... n must say she didn't enjoy AT ALL!!!) Oh well... at least she tried!

At 7 months - she picked herself up on all fours and was crawling in a day.

At 1 she was speaking over 20 words and could point to all objects in an alphabet book! She learnt to talk faster than she could walk! There was my cue on how her brain was going to shape out to be!

At 18 months she was into stringing 4 / 5 word sentences!

At 2 she got a 'learn the alphabets' vtech toy at her birthday... which was actually a toy for a 3 yr old. She took to it immediately and would spend hours together playing with the talking toy. within a couple of months and much to our amazement she had taught herself the alphabets... the sounds it makes... and the order in which they are... and also how they looked!
My child... A genius - A child prodigy - ivy league at 15 - brain surgeon or a rocket scientist at 20 - Nobel price at 25....dreams on the proud mommy!! LOL!

Potty training - she figured it out in less than 12 hours... she was 2 yrs n 8 mnths and ready to start pre-k. I did have help from my cousin Niru who was visiting.

When Rave puts her mind to something she picks up the skill in under a day! that's how amazingly fast and adept she is!

I have learnt not to push her tho' and give her her space (which she needs a LOT of) to grow!

Rehwa - skinny shy n lanky... always curious... a thinker... creative and sensitive... mostly an easy and helpful child... loves her baby brother dearly...very loyal to her friends / toys she likes... my sweetie... big time drama queen...n yes - (one of ) the love of my life!

Sometimes you do need to 'Ask a scientist'

Even as a baby Rave was more of a thinker n 'happy to be by herself' kinda kid...
which made life pretty easy for Prem n me to raise her.

The tricky part came when she put her noggin to use to ask me some amazing ?s
- Mommy where does the sun go at night?
- Mommy why are clouds grey?

and her latest... while dropping rocks into a puddle of storm water she asks...
- Mom why are ripples always round? and why are there so many ripples?
her latest ? had me googling ASAP.

Here's a nice web site to quench your kindergardner's thirst for knowledge

http://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/education/ask/search.html

boy it sure answered some ?s I have had rumbling in my head since I was a kid.
n-joy!

new 8 'natural' wonders of the world

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080709/sc_livescience/eightnewnaturalwondersnamed

Hi y'all... bright n sunny summer day here! can't wait to get off of work n pick up my kiddies from the sitter! Rehwa my five and half year old amde me a pretty bracelet yesterday which I am proudly showing off today! and Ryan my almsot 2 yr old adds new words to his vocabulary everyday!