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New Year Resolution!

Written by

Manjula Jain

in

 

I am looking forward to 2010! The New Year is about positivity and new beginnings. And that means a resolution to actually follow through with! Last year my resolution was to organize the house and give away items that we do not need, i.e. decluttering! I think this was an achievable realistic resolution. So last year I did a pretty good job of uncluttering the house and it felt great!

 This year my resolution is to lose about 10 pounds I gained when I started making my cooking videos for You Tube. I know this is a resolution many people have! The problem is that diets just do not work for me. I have tried many times and have failed. Heavy exercise is not an option for me either.

 I examined my eating patterns and daily routine to see if I could come up with a solution. After much thought, these are the ideas I came up with.

  • Eat three meals a day using small plates – without going for seconds; enjoy two small snacks a day such as fruit or tea. This means no snacking throughout the day which I love to do!
  • No food after 9:00pm (except water)
  • Drink more water
  • Every morning do some light stretches and breathing exercises.

 

I’ll keep you posted on my results. With that, I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Comments

12 responses to “New Year Resolution!”

  1. Cliff

    I love you New Years resolution, that would be great!. With regards to weight loss i myself, tried to avoid food rich in carbohydrates. I tried to loss weight by acquiring some of the great exercise recommendations from my PT.

  2. SarahS

    Dear Mrs. Manjula,

    I just found your site and love your recipe and videos! You made every dish seems achievable! I can’t wait to try many of them since I’m trying to cut back on meat and increase my vegetable intake. I commend you for your resolution and it is very doable! I’m also trying to lose the 5 lbs I gained from the holidays!
    Some tips I’d like to share:
    1. Physical activity for 150 minutes/wk (2 hrs and 30 min) is the recommendation for adults. You can spread it out in a week. As for me I speed walk for 30 minutes for one day. I’ll break it up to 20 minutes in the morning and then add 10 minutes later in the evening. Or, sometimes I do 10 minutes increment for a total of 30 minutes.
    So, you can do it in 10 minutes increments but not less than that. Please ask your doctor before starting any exercise regimen.

    2. Eat more vegetables and fruits. Feeling adventurous? Try new items. Farmers Market usually sells veg/fruits that can’t be found in grocery stores.

    3. Take time eating your meals and don’t eat on the run. Try to get rid of distractions (tv, radio, etc) and savor each bite.

    4. Use smaller plates as you have mentioned is an excellent idea!

    5. Lastly, don’t give up if you don’t see changes right away. Making changes is hard but your body will adjust and you will feel the difference by making these changes. I always feel good after my daily walk! 😀

    If you like more information you can check out these websites.

    http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=6805
    http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/index.html

    Hope this helps! 😀

    Sincerely,
    SarahS

    1. Manjula Jain

      Hi Sarah,
      Thank you, some good advice.

  3. SS

    Hi Manjula Aunty,

    Happy new Year. Good luck with your resolution. Something I have often read is that 1 mile of walking gives you most of the benefits as 1 mile of running. So I would suggest that other than dietary changes you could just add walking a few miles every day or every so often in the week to your lifestyle! Get yourself a 10$ pedometer! Every little bit helps! 🙂 Good luck!

    Regards,
    SS

  4. Forest

    Hey Manjula,

    Good luck with 2010 and your resolution, it would be great to see some health conscious recipes coming up. This is the first time I have realized you had a blog so I shall be following along from now.

    I love your YouTube videos and have been watching for a long time now. We even made one of your dishes fro our New Years Eve dinner.

    I moved to Cairo, Egypt a few months ago and am now having trouble getting some of the spices but am managing to get by.

    Thanks,
    Forest.

  5. Rashmi Malhotra

    Some time back I resolved to acknowledge all good people I came across and I’m living upto it by thanking you — for all the efforts you take before sharing any recipe. I read all about how you came out with the perfect method and ingredients for your eggless pineapple cake and put it to good use yesterday along with your tip on stewing fresh pineapple.

    You’ve trashed the word” Trade Secret ” which most matronly figures around me have used, even insisting that I keep it to myself. Thanks to cosmoplitan life we’re exposed to so many alternate cooking methods and if we’re lucky enough, are able to put them to practice because most mothers and mothers- in- law maintain that theirs is the best. The Internet is a wonderful medium for selfless people like you and of course eager learners like me.

    An interesting fact is that you manage to find the right substitute for an out and out Indian ingredient and cook the way you want to. So many of our Indian realtives living abroad for more than a decade haven’t stopped cribbing about how they crave for Indian food or how they can’t use spices in their cookingbecause neighbours and colleagues resent it. I wish these people come across your website and learn that its possible to have your cake and eat it too!

    I’m a North Indian as well and now feel at liberty to alter methods and ingredients for traditional Punjabi dishes. My husband and daughter don’t complain and I am glad to see the fuel as well as oil saved. The saviour is the humble pressure cooker.

    Whether it is whole pulses, lentils or some vegetable ( like bottle gourd, yam etc) I simply pressure cook all of it it without even sauteing the masala. A recent find is that mustard seeds can be popped on a hot tawa (covered) so no oil for the seasoning either. As for relatively delicate vegetables like cauliflower, karela etc, I combine them with potatoes and the dry masalas toss them and pressure cook them in a separator/ container. Here too no oil is required and only the number of whistles or time needs to be experimented with.

    Beyond thirty, ladies usually start having weight issues and a separate exercise regimen may not be possible for all ( even for a working woman turned homemaker like me). I think these methods at least curtail weight gain while we’re sruggling to shed what we’ve already piled on.

    My daughter and I sit through your videos together like we’re jointly attending cookery classes. She joins me in wishing you lots of happiness and success in the year ahead.

  6. Les

    What a coincidence to see this post today!

    My 2009 resolution was to become a minimalist. I spent this year donating unessential items in my house to the Salvation Army. I must have shed a
    third of my belongings and don’t miss any of them.

    I’ve a fan of this site for almost a year now. I had no idea Jain vegetarian
    cooking could be so good and yet so simple.

    While making your delicious Chole recipe for lunch today I made a resolution
    to become a vegetarian for the New Year.

    “Eat Food, not too much, mostly plants” will be my theme for 2010.
    I look forward to your recipes to help me through the year.

    Good luck with your resolutions and I wish you a healthy New Year.

    Les

  7. Jaya

    One trick that can be a big help in losing weight is to not have junk food in your house to start with. If it’s there, you will eat it so don’t bring it home in the first place.

    While cleaning out the house, be sure to include the kitchen! Once it is cleared out of high calorie, high fat foods make sure you don’t buy them again.

    Healthy food choices AND portion control are very effective weight loss techniques.

  8. sree

    Hi Manjulaji,

    My resolution for this year is to lose weight. My problem is that I eat a lot of sweets. I try to control it but not been very successful. Please do share with us your ideas and food recipes for a low fat diet . When we know that others are having the same resolution as ours it gives us more encouragement .

    Have a wonderful New Year and may all your hopes, dreams come true.

    Thanks
    Lakshmi

  9. Likes2Eat

    Good luck on your resolution. 10 pounds is a very attainable goal. I’ve found that eating about 5 really small meals, or 3 small meals and some light snacking helps keep me from over-eating. It’s also supposed to help raise your metabolism.

    I, too, de-cluttered our house in 2009 and it really does feel great. I haven’t missed one thing that I got rid of.

    Looking forward to more of your great videos and recipes!

  10. Vidya

    Hello Manjulaji, I am a regular reader of your food blog and I loove your videos. Your recipes are awesome!

    Your mention about your last year’s new year resolution has been such an inspiring one. I think I am going to adopt it for this year. Thanks very much for the idea.

    I would like to wish you and your loved ones a very happy and prosperous a very blessed new year. Keep rocking!

    Regards,
    Vidya

  11. Ralph

    Regarding weight loss.
    I’ve been trying, lately, to adapt some of my favourite recipes to use less or no fat.
    As you do such great stuff I windered if you’d like to think about showing us some low fat ideas? How can we replace the ghee etc.?

    Happy New Year from the U.K.

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