Stay healthy. Stay happy.

"I just need to drop those last 2-3 kgs, and then I'll be happy/satisfied with my weight" - said almost every other person I've ever talked to, about nutrition.

Guess what? Being healthy has nothing to do with how much you weigh. So do yourself a favor and lock up that nightmare we call a weighing scale!
'Healthy' means how you feel about yourself, how fit you are, what your stamina level is and so forth.

A friend of mine suggested I write this blog about some tips and basics of nutrition. I could drone on for hours on this subject, but I'll try to keep this to the bare minimum.

Foods You May Want To Avoid:

• Fats - Yeah, the ultimate enemy right? Not quite. Our bodies actually DO need fats. But the good kind of fats. The ones that will actually help you lose weight! Things like: avocados, nuts, lean meats, olive/canola oils, flaxseeds, cheese, peanut/almond butter, sunflower/pumpkin seeds, etc are all really good for you! In limited quantities, ofcourse. What you want to really minimize eating are foods like butter/margarine, cakes/cookies/pies, red meats, deep fried foods, hydrogenated oils etc. Those are definitely your enemies. 
• Sodium - Why reduce sodium intake? Because it retains water and that makes you look bloated! Not to mention, it is associated with higher blood pressure. So do yourself that favor. 
• Refined food - It makes a BIG difference when you switch your favorite white bread to wheat bread. Or eat food made from whole grains, compared to white flour. Why? Because refined foods lack the fiber, vitamins, minerals that whole grains contain.
• Alcohol and Smoking - You must have heard this SO many times, you're probably tired of reading this again. But really, your body will thank you in the future if you reduce (if not stop) both of these. 

So then what DO you eat? And how?

• PLENTY of water!!! Almost 2-3 liters per day! Again, you must be tired of hearing about the goodness of water all the time. But as a nutritionist, I couldn't stress on this enough. Drinking a lot of water helps, in every way possible. Trust me :)
• Fruits. Eat 2 fruits per day! Start your day with 1 and then eat the other one between lunch and dinner. But dont consume any after 6 or 7pm. 
• Vegetables. They have so much goodness in them! ALL of them do. So incorporate lots of veggies in your daily diet. Vegetable juices, salads, sabzis, however you like them.
• Pulses. Your mom used to force you to eat your dal everyday for a reason. A damn good reason, that too. There are so many pulses to choose from (rajma, chole, moong, channa, sprouts, etc). Pick a new one each day if possible. That's where you get most of your protein from. Watch your hair and nails get stronger and glossier within days of eating adequate protein ;)
• Drink your milk. Again, most of us were forced to, in our childhood. I know I was! But we all need that calcium and Vitamins D and A. 
• Variate. Pick different fruits, vegetables and pulses everyday! Dont get into a boring routine. Go surprise your body and it will surprise you! Color matters in nutrition too, so pick from a WIDE range of colorful foods. :D
• Eat something every 2-3 hours. Never go hungry! If you're on the move, carry something with you. Doesn't have to be a complicated meal. Just some mixed nuts, or coconut water or even a block of cow cheese will do!
• Workout. Even 30-45 minutes 4 times a week is good enough, for a beginner. Just as long as you get your heart rate up. 

There are so many more things I can come up with, but these are some good starter points. 

Just remember 2 things: when it comes to health, always think long term. Short term diets and all those crash-crap is never the solution. (Infact, that will make you put on more weight later on).

Also, the happier you are, the healthier you will be. Too cheesy right? Lol, I know. But its true!! Try it out ;)

This thing called Love

LOVE. 
That extremely powerful 4 letter word that can make or break a smile within seconds. And I say 'powerful' because for many people it is a reason to live and for many others it is a reason not to. 


We've all been in love at some point in our lives. To all those people who have already found "love" in their lives, congratulations! I hope you realize how lucky you are :) 
And the rest of you, who have been hurt or lost your loved ones or are are still as clueless as a dim bulb, about love... I feel you! 
I know its not easy to wake up each morning with a smile on your face, ready to start a new day or to even get through the entire day when your self esteem or feelings are on an all time low. 

So whats the easiest remedy to this? Simple! Forget about those that hurt you and move on in life. So easy, right? Obviously NOT. If you are someone who can actually do that.. hats off to you! But most of us fall in love only once. And if you're somebody like me, you fall in love strong and hard, for real and for life. So for you, undeniably, moving on is the hardest thing to do. Because you're human. And you have this thing called a heart. And these things called feelings. 


Then again, this doesn't mean that your life is over. It also doesn't mean that you will never love again. Ever heard that time heals all things? Start believing strongly in that statement, if you dont already because it is one of the truest thing I have ever heard.


Think positive and creative. Think about all the things you can do in your life instead. Here's a few things that always help :

• The very first thing - try not to loathe that person. This is the first thing we do. They hurt us, so naturally they must be bad people. Worthy of being run over by a truck or falling in a lake and drowning in its water. Sigh, no. Nobody intends to hurt someone. Someday you will see why whatever happened, happened for the best. Just have some faith :)
• Turn your frustration/depression into something creative. Find something you love. It can be anything! Writing, sketching, painting, composing music, poetry, dancing, singing.. whatever works for you! Go out and do what you love doing. You never know - you might end up publishing a book or write a song and become famous! :D
• Get busy at work. Or college. Pick up a good book and read it. Being busy will keep your mind off things.
• Spend more time with friends and family. You dont essentially have to go partying or drinking. Just talk to people who can help you! Everybody has something to share. Discussing your matters with somebody helps you feel better :)
• Hug people more often. Why this helps? Nooo idea. But it does. I guarantee that :D
• Dont wait for happiness to hit you on your face. Go hunting for it yourself!! Infact, try to find happiness in every little thing you possibly can.. sunshine, rain, butterflies, ice cream, tequila. You know, whatever makes you happy ;)
• Feel like crying? Go do it. Cry all you want! No, I'm not being a bitch. It really DOES help make you feel better!

Whatever you do, however you cope, its up to you. Nobody can understand and feel your pain better than you, yourself! 
But dont blame Love for your pain. Love isn't painful! Love doesn't hurt. What hurts is separation. And being lonely. And losing the ones you love. Dont confuse all this with love. Because the truth of the matter is that Love is the only one thing that is powerful enough to make all the pain disappear. It makes you realize how beautiful life really is. It makes you feel alive! <3

I'm not saying that you should agree with me. But just once, think about all the happiest moments in your lives.
All those moments were your happiest only because you had someone to share them with! So, with time, dont be afraid to fall back in love. You never know when you'll find your own "love" :)

Change... Is Good

So you wake up one morning and say to yourself, "Great day! Guess I'll do something fun."
And then you end up sitting in front of your laptop all day watching stupid movies, eating chips and checking your Facebook practically every hour because you're almost too lazy to get your big butt out of that bed.

I've been trying to pick up a sport or a new hobby (like sketching) for months now! I get all excited initially, go out and buy the necessary equipments, but eventually I chicken out. Each day, I convince myself to do something new, but nothing happens and that cycle repeats.

Why do people resist change so strongly? Beats me!
When big changes happen around us- we often scream, rant, rave, cry or argue. Nobody looks at the positive side of it. Nobody feels the excitement of something new about to happen. Maybe it is because we think we are not in control of ourselves, our lives, our realities.
Somebody said right, "The fear of the unknown is one of the greatest fears."

Well, sometimes change is good! Its new. Its different. It gives a new direction to a monotonous life.
For some, change is inevitable. For some others, its more of an option. Whatever it is, go ahead and accept it!
Do something new and unpredictable each day. Take a different route. Change a few habits. Dont be afraid to do something crazy. You dont know what or how your tomorrow is going to be like. So might as well live like you've got nothing to lose.
Wake up. Feel the excitement of something different.
You never know how many people you will amaze or inspire in the process!

How To Be Happy :D

I've been seeing a lot of people around me who are so serious all the time, anxious and tensed about what is going to happen. It sort of bothered me a little so I decided to come up with a short 'How to be Happy' note. Dont get me wrong, I'm not giving out advices, neither am I a professional or anything. This is just out of experience and something I try to follow, myself. For the most part, it works out pretty fine! Try it - it might make you feel better! :D


Be Optimistic - It never hurts to hope for the better. The entire world could tell you that something might not work out for you, but that doesn't mean that it absolutely wont. Hope for the best and see how that changes things. And then go back and tell the world that they were wrong!


Be Laid Back - Be calm and laid back. Dont let things overwhelm you - that will just make you more nervous and anxious. Be slow and do one thing at a time. Just relax. Tell yourself that it will be fine. Remember, its not the end of the world.


Follow Your Heart -  Do whatever the hell you want! There's no stopping you. Walking down a street, if you feel like singing out loud or dancing, do so (that doesn't mean you make a total idiot out of yourself). Do what you feel is right for you. Be confident. Dont let the 'what ifs' and 'buts' cross your mind. 
For example, if its raining outside and all you really want to do is to get drenched with your best friend/sibling, just get out there! Dont sit around thinking "what if I catch a cold?" or "what if my clothes get messed up?" 
Blah blah, you can always wash your clothes and there's a reason why cold/cough meds are manufactured! :D


Talk To Friends - Always stay close to your family and friends. We all find people we can trust in. Talk to your friend or your mom (or whoever you're comfortable with) on a daily basis. Tell them about your day, ask them about theirs. Talk to them if something is bothering you, or if something is making you happy! The more you open up to a person, the more confident you will be. Keeping your worries bottled up inside you is only going to make you more stressed out and upset.


Dont Complain - I've seen people constantly complaining about their life, their jobs, their friends etc. Sitting around complaining is only going to make you look like a whiny little baby. Look at the positive side of it. Always know that there are hundreds of people out there who are probably going through the same thing that you are, if not worse. You're not the only one with a terrible luck. Its probably just a phase, try not to think much about it. 


Smile - Just be happy all the time! You dont need to look for a reason to be joyful, just smile like you've got no worries. It elevates the mood. Be more positive, compliment others, apologize every time you err, be cheerful around others. Happiness is contagious - you never know whose day you light up just by smiling and being happy! :)

The Crazy World of Pharmacy

I went to work yesterday after an extremely long break and I had almost forgotten how silly some people were! The day was going great until about noon and then it started to get kind of hilarious/annoying/stupid. Here's why -

12.30pm

Customer - Hey I need to get a refill for my mom.

Me- Sure, what medication does she need?

Customer - I dont know. Its a tiny white colored pill.

Me - Umm, Ma'am. There are a lot of white colored pills in this pharmacy. Do you know what its for? Maybe I can look into her profile and see.

Customer - I'm not quite sure. I think its for her muscles.. or her bones.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.15pm

Me (on the phone) - Walgreens Pharmacy! May I help you?

Customer - Oh great! Are you guys open today?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.40pm

Old Customer (on the phone) - I bought some medications last night and I have some questions about them.

Me - Sure, what can I do for you today?

Old Customer - I got some Ventolin and on here it says "Quantity - 18" but I only see 1 bottle in this bag.

Me - Um, Ma'am. That quantity is in grams. It comes as an 18g bottle.

Old Customer - I see. And then my suppositories. They're not very effective.

Me - Lets see. Are they breaking into pieces or melting before you use them?

Old Customer - Oh no no. Thats not the problem. They're in a single piece and proper shape.

Me - Are there some parts of the foil wrapper being stuck to them?

Old Customer - There's a wrapper around it?!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3.00pm

Customer - I heard there's a new product, I forgot what its called now.. But if you take it before eating your meal, it doesn't give you gas.

Me - I think you're talking about Beano. Its that little bottle on the last aisle right there. *Pointing to where it is* 

Customer (goes to look for it and comes back to the pharmacy) - I couldn't see a price tag for this. Can you tell me how much this is?

Me - Sure, let me scan it.
Its $6.99 for 30 tablets.

Customer - Pfftttt. I think I'll just fart instead. *Leaves*
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4.45pm


(For about 30 mins around this time, we were having some issues with our insurance transmitter. It was taking longer than usual to bill the patient's insurances. At that time a customer walked in with a new prescription and decided to wait until we solved the problem with our system. 10 mins later, another guy walked in with a prescription)

New Guy - Can I wait for this please? I'm in a hurry.

Me - *explained the insurance transmitter problem to him*

New Guy - Oh, thats fine. My insurance is not going to cover for these tablets anyway. I'll just pay cash for them.

Me - Sure thing. If you wanna have a seat, I can have this ready for you in about 15 minutes.

First Customer - What the hell? If you can fill his medication, why cant you fill mine?

Me - Sir, because he's paying cash for his tablets. We're still trying to fix our system so we can bill your insurance for you.

First Customer - This is ridiculous. I'm paying cash for my medicine too! Just go and get my stuff ready.

Me - Are you sure you wanna pay the retail price? You dont wanna go through your insurance?

First Customer - Just get my stuff ready for me, dammit!

Me - Fine, give me about 10 minutes alright?

(10 minutes later)

Me - Alright sir, yours is ready. Your total is going to be $32.75

First Customer - WHAT? But my co-pay is only $5.00! Why are you charging me so much, Young Lady?

Me - Sir, you just said you wanted to pay cash for your medicine since our system is still down.

First Customer - Yeah! I've got cash. See? *Pulled out a $5 bill and waved it in my face*

Me - *cannot think of what to say to this Dimwit*

First Customer - This is ridiculous! You guys cant do one thing right. I'd rather go to CVS!

*stormed out*

Awesome

All the awesome things have been happening in the last few days:

-Roger Federer won the Men's Final! That man is insane (and a genius, ofcourse). This was his 4th Australian open and he has bagged about 16 Grand Slam titles so far. Damn.

-Aamir Khan and AR Rahman just won the Padma Bhushan award! Ofcourse, Aamir was a previous recipient of the Padma Shri and AR Rahman has won multiple awards in the past, including the Oscar. But I think that the Padma Bhushan is still a big deal for both of them! Congratulations to them :)

-Apple finally introduced their IPad last week! I haven't really had much time to check it out but by the look and sound of it, it's about to become a huge success as soon as it releases in March. Ofcourse, I trust Steve Jobs to come up with something new with every single device.

-My very first SNA (Student Nutrition Association) meeting, earlier this morning. I sort of woke up thinking it would be a drab, but it turned out to be quite interesting. We had the opportunity to interact with a well-known Research Dietitian from MD Anderson and she was the most cheerful lady I have seen all semester!

-And ofcourse, the last thing - My 'Alien' Sketch! (For those of you who dont know, I've taken up sketching to keep me occupied now and then) I dont care if people think it was a stupid idea to sketch an Alien, of all the things that I could possibly sketch. But what the heck, I think my Alien is damn cute! And plus, he has these awesome little horns on his head too! Come on, you've got to love it :)
I'll put its picture up here soon enough!

Your Worst Nightmare!

I tried hard to write a sane review for 3i, but I couldn't come up with anything that the rest of the world hasn't already stated. Check IMDB and you will see a gazillion reviews. So I'm dropping that idea.

Instead, being a Nutrition major, I thought of doing a brief write-up on food. The kind of food you would want to throw away in trash. You probably know most of them. But I'm still listing the Good-to-Know facts. Here's the list, check it out -

1. Cheeseburger 

 Quite self-explanatory if you consider the two pieces of white bread, all that cheese, fried and fatty red meat, mayonnaise, salt. This little sucker could give you upto a 1000 calories. Not to mention, a shit load of Saturated fat*. Imagine that! You may wanna think twice before you jump on a cheeseburger the next time.






2. French Fries

The staple food of all Fast-Food junkies. Yumm. Who can resist those starchy potatoes deep fried in oil, right? Trust me, if you cant resist them, the least you might wanna do is control eating them. They are your worst enemy. Fried in saturated oil, these fries increase your bad cholesterol and puts you at a high risk for developing heart diseases. And ofcourse, it makes you real fat!

3. Starbucks Venti

The largest size of a Starbucks coffee, with 2% milk and whipped cream is more than 'just a cup of coffee'. It is recipe for disaster, with 15 grams of Saturated fat* and 500 calories! The next time you hit Starbucks for coffee - try reducing the cup size and take the whipped cream out of your coffee. Will do you good!

4.  Pop Secret Kettle Corn

Eat an entire bag of this and you will have consumed 18 grams of Trans fat**, in other words- artery clogging junk. And ofcourse, all the calories and sodium this pack claims to offer are of no good. Instead, try Orville Redenbacher's Movie Theatre Popcorn. It comes with no Trans fat** and way lesser cals.

5. Baskin Robbins (Large) Chocolate Oreo Shake

15 minutes is all it takes to sip down this drink, which promises 2600 calories, 135g of fat and 263g of sugars! Twenty-six-hundred-calories. 600 more than what an average person requires in an entire day and 3 days worth of Saturated fat*. I dont see why this drink isn't banned already. If I were you, no matter how skinny or not, I would stay a mile away from this catastrophe.

6. Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream  

Yet another disaster, which increases your Saturated fat*, bad cholesterol, unnecessary calories and what not. It also helps clog your artery walls and definitely not something you want to carelessly throw down your stomach.

*Saturated fat - The bad kind of fat and typically solid at room temp, eating foods rich in Saturated fats increases the level of cholesterol in the blood - which in turn, raises your chances of developing heart diseases. It is not recommended to eat more than 16 grams of Saturated fat per day.

**Trans fat - Also called 'partially hydrogenated oils', this is your worst enemy and a total nightmare for your body. Raises your bad cholesterol, helps develop Type 2 Diabetes, several heart diseases and Stroke. Not recommended to eat more than 2 grams of Trans fat per day.

The First Step

So this is my very first Blog. Obviously, I don't even know what to write about but I'll scribble something anyway!

The last few days have been pretty much crazy and cold for the "normal" standards of Houston. A bright and beautiful morning starts out at being -1 degrees Celsius! And the temperature only gets worse as the day progresses.

I hate winter. Period. All that it does, is compels you to stay indoors all the time and makes you watch the same movie for the 3rd time in a week! Not very cool, if you ask me. But then again, there's nothing else you can do, specially when you're barely working and on a break from college.

I tried cooking some Fried Rice and Noodles today. They turned out pretty clumsy, actually. Everyone at home claimed them both to be "pretty good". But who were they kidding? I caught the look on their faces. Every single face clearly said 'next time this girl tries to cook anything at all, please notify me ahead of time so I can make alternate arrangements'. Lol. I dont know the first thing when it comes to cooking! Rather, I just dont care.

But then again, I'm not one of those predictable girls you see out there! I hate cooking, not a big fan of make-up, dont give a shit about fancy shoes or clothes, cant stand Britney Spears, loathe people who are plastic and I dont understand why people cant be straight forward all the time!

Is it really THAT difficult? To be straight forward?

I think it should be the easiest way of life! If you like something, you like it. If you dont like something, you dont like it. How easy is that? Why pretend and eventually repent? I dont understand the concept behind it. Its definitely beyond me.

Anyway, I was reading the news from Australia, a while ago. Okay. Yes. Maybe I'm jobless, but so what? :p

The news is ridiculous! Another young Indian was set ablaze by some Australian guys! Similarly, last week a Punjabi dude was stabbed to death in Melbourne. This is freaking insane!!

Why are Indians being robbed of their lives in that country? Or any country, for that matter? I've heard of identical cases in other countries too.

So... what? People dont like Indians? Bull crap. Maybe they're being racist?

Or maybe they feel threatened by Indians, in employment and other fields. Possible, since a lot of Indians are more educated and qualified. And I must add, the ability of Indians to survive in Alien lands under any given circumstances is pretty incredible and invincible!

Whatever might be the reason, I still dont understand why Indians must die without a reason. It seems improper and unpleasing.

There's so much absurdity in this world. So annoying.

I hope they work out their issues asap!

Fingers crossed.