Upgrading Car with Quikr NXT

"You will get your car on Tuesday", the servicing folks informed me the other day when i had given my car for servicing. "But why Tuesday. I need it on weekend", I asked them back. "It is quite an old car and there are too many fixes to be done. So it will  take time", the servicing guy replied. I had no option but to leave it in their hands to get it up and working good. 

This Maruti Alto was my first car that dad had gifted me when i graduated. Back then it was something that i used for all my commute. Travelling in local trains and buses had stopped since i had got my car. I would go long drive with my friends in my car and what not. But now after 6 years, this same car was having some  challenges. I had to give it servicing every 3 months and now after marriage and having kids it seemed a small car too.  If my in laws or parents came to visit us, we could no way fit everyone in this car and go outside anywhere. There has been several instances when my husband has asked me to sell this off to a bigger car that would be helpful for everyone. 

Looks like finally that day was coming near. The other day when i was talking to my friend about this, she recommended me to check out Quikr NXT app for selling this car and getting a new one. I had not heard that Quikr had launched an app as well and was curious to try that. The same day i downloaded the Quikr NXT app and was exploring its features. I was surprised that they had a chat feature where we could interact with several buyers or sellers at the same time. This was awesome as it will not only hide your contact details but also you could check the chat history for the price quoted or the photos shared. 

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Firstly i started with placing an ad for selling my car by sharing the photos and the details. After that I started checking the ads of those selling cars so that i could upgrade to a new car. I found details of a Ford Fiesta car that felt suitable for my needs. I immediately requested the seller to share more details of the car. In the meanwhile i got a person who showed interest in buying my car and wanted some photos. I really liked that buyers and sellers could talk with each other at their suitable time and ask more details about the product without requiring a single phone call.  

Later in the day, i gave the requested photos of my car to the interested buyer and also got more details of the Ford Fiesta car from the seller. I shared the details with my husband and he was totally fine in getting a used car provided it was in good condition. He was glad by the Ford Fiesta car and asked if we could drop a visit to personally see the car before making a final deal. I asked the same to the seller and got a similar idea for my Maruti Alto. I asked the prospective buyer that he could drop a visit to personally see the car if he was interested before purchasing. I got positive response from both sides. 

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The next day itself husband and I went to check the Ford Fiesta car and liked it. We finalized the car deal with the buyer. Towards evening, the prospective buyer of my Maruti Alto dropped in to check my car and was happy to purchase it for his son. Although i was sad on letting go of my Maruti Alto, i was excited on getting the Ford Fiesta. I am thankful to Quikr NXT for their amazing features which helped us upgrade to a bigger car easily.

This post was written as part of IndiBlogger Happy Hours campaign topic on Get a better Car with Quikr NXT!

Movies That Inspired Me !!

The theme in this week's Fit Dish Link Up (hosted by Jill and Jessica) is to talk about the movies that have inspired me . For a movie buff like me, this is one perfect topic. There are several movies that have inspired me to take up running. It shows the challenges they faced and the how they faced these un-ending challenges relentlessly. Many of these movies can help change your mindset and inspire people to do wonderful things.

Here are top 3 movies that have helped inspire my interest in running and in making health and wellness a priority of my life -

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1) Spirit of the Marathon : This was one of the first movies that got me interested in running. The challenges faced by the five runners in the movie, their training and all the other aspects totally moved me and inspired me to give a try on running and add running a marathon on my bucket list.

2) G.I. Jane : I loved this movie so much that i guess i have watched it several times. My earlier notion of cardio is enough for weight loss was proved wrong after watching this movie. I am impressed by how they help making us understand that fitness is getting strong everyday that helps push past your own limits.

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3) Chariots of Fire : I totally love the inspiration that comes from that movie. It has awesome music but the most intersting part is that it's based on a true story.

Saturday Walkday 8K !!

This weekend has been really hectic. We have been househunting and saw a few houses last week. After that there has been several discussions happening with friends along with us doing our research. On top of that, i have been working this weekend leaving very less time to workout and rest. So i have been getting up late this weekend and catching on some sleep.

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I have started the 30 Days of Yoga With Adriene challenge along with my walk/runs. So far i feel accomplished to have completed week 1. The challenges are around 30 minutes which is ideal time for me. I hope to improve on my flexibility and stretches by this challenge. 

On Saturday i had a 5Km walk for a long evening walk. Too much of sitting in front of the computer made me feel tired and i needed a break. Hubby had to go out for some photography work. So I copied the audiobook of You Are a Badass from my computer to my Ipod. Then i plugged in my headphones and got started. 

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I planned to walk around our apartment. There are series of apartments beside mine and a whole loop of the circuit would be about 2 Km.  So I started walking through the entire loop listening to the audiobook and getting some good reading and walking at the same time. 

I was curious with the title of the book and saw many good reviews. It started off very nice and within no time I completed one loop of 2 Km and started all over again. In between i was so engrossed with the book that i went for another loop and completed 6KM. Its funny how an interesting book can make you so engrossed and keep walking without realizing time. Now I just had to take a turn and head back home and i ended up walking my 8 Km walk in an hour with some good reading !!!

Linking with Healthy Diva Life, Running and Reading, Her Heartland Soul, and Life of Meg !!

Weekly Workout Recap and Menu Planning - 22 Feb

Good Evening! This week has been quite hectic. Hubby and I went house hunting and saw a couple of flats. We have been discussing on and off about getting a house this year and have started baby steps in the search. We have been doing our research and talking to friends and parents on their views. It is so funny that there are so many things involved that you need to keep in mind while doing house hunting.

To add to it, i was working both days this weekend as well. So i am really tired after a hectic week. I started the 30 Days of Yoga With Adriene challenge.This is the second challenge that i am doing this year after doing the Tone It Up Love Your Body series challenge.I have been pretty bad with flexibility and stretching and got to know about this yoga challenge from some bloggers.  I hope to continue with this challenge all through and stick with the schedule

Weekly Workout Recap :

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Monday (2/16) - 5Km Walk,  Day 1: Ease into It
Tuesday (2/17) - Day 2 - Stretch and Soothe
Wednesday (2/18)  - Day 3 - Forget What You Know
Thursday (2/19)  - 6Km Walk, Day 4 - Yoga Has Your Back
Friday (2/20) - Day 5 - Feel Alive
Saturday (2/21)  - Day 6 - Six Pack Abs, 8Km Walk
Sunday (2/22) - Day 7 - Total Body Yoga

Weekly Menu Planning :

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Breakfast :
Vegetable Omelette
Peanut Butter Toast
Oats

Lunch:
Coconut Rice
Capsicum Rice
Mint Rice

Snacks: 
Sprouted Green Gram
Fruit Salad
Vegetables and Hummus

Dinner:
Carrot and Roti
Cauliflower and Roti


Linking up to Jill Conyers for weekly recap and menu planning !!

Bedtime Rituals !!

"Shhh..dont you make any noise. She is trying to make Nitya sleep", my worried mother said to me as i stepped in to my house from a busy work day. This was like a ritual every night. Every night by the time i get back home by 9pm, my sister would have taken my niece to her room to make her sleep. Then I heard my sister singing the weirdest of lullaby songs to my 3 month old niece Nitya and this went on for an hour. And then it was totally calm and silent. This went on for many days. 

This seemed a very interesting sight. But putting a toddler to sleep seemed like a very challenging task a parent has to face. There were days when my sister would put her effort of 1 hour of singing and with great difficulty put my niece to sleep only to see that she has woken up in another 2 hours disturbed by a wet diaper. So it was time for diaper change. 

By then you are also almost in half sleepy state. After you change the diaper, you have to  spend another 30 minutes putting her back to sleep. After another 3 hours, it is time to feed her and she wakes up again. Ohh my..what a disturbed sleep pattern. The story continues the next day and so on.

Did i miss telling that the lullaby song needs to be changed frequently too :) Yeah !! These toddlers somehow come to know if this same song is sung everyday and continue playing around while you are singing and putting them to sleep with great difficulty. So my sister would plan singing different songs or have a schedule like one song per week and this worked for her to keep my niece guessing and make her sleep.

My brother in law on the other hand has a totally different strategy. He takes my niece to the bedroom one hour before the bedtime and puts her on the bed. He creates a bedtime mood and then its totally dad-daughter time. Its all giggles and cuddles time. To anyone who happens to watch this, it appears as the most interesting conversations happening between them. Sometimes the conversations also turn into funny stories which my brother in law tells her. Finally it works for him and after her daddy time, my niece goes to sleep. It seems a very cute ritual but this is what works for him to put my niece to sleep.

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While discussing about these rituals with my mother one day, she happened to tell me that as a kid my favorite bedtime ritual was being rocked in a cradle. My mother would have to keep rocking it until i fell asleep in the motion. In between when the cradle stopped rocking, i would get up instantly and they had to continue rocking it again till i would get back to sleep

 I am simply amused at the different rituals each kid has to fall asleep. While these apply to all parents, the strategy of finding the best ritual is still a challenge. As they say to each their own. If it works for you then nothing better.

This post was written as part of IndiBlogger Happy Hours campaign topic on Bedtime Rituals !!

A Manifesto !!

Have you ever written a manifesto? A manifesto is a declaration of your intentions and beliefs. It reflects what you stand for and your core values. When i came across today's theme, i found it quite interesting. 

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This is totally different for someone who was in a totally different frame of mind 2 years back. What was the difference now. Back then i used to take care of everyone except me. I would take myself for granted. I would not make time for myself. I never set goals both personally and professionally and passed each day as it came. Where did this lead to? No where ! That is the truth. I was just dragging on with no direction.

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All this until that day came when i set my mind to start walking for my health. Little by little those tiny steps added up in so many areas. Initially i would walk for a specific time frame as i had to get back to doing household chores. Then it slowly gradually improved to counting my steps and walking to a specific count each day. These were nothing but tiny goals that i had set and was on my way to achieve them. They may look small but the compounded effect of that impacted a lot of areas.

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I started keeping tiny goals in my life. I started to get more clarity and focus on my days. Overall my life has improved so much for the good.

Linking with Jill and Jessica for the awesome theme !!

Live The Life You Have Always Dreamed Of!

Merriam-Webster.com defines Bucket list as a list of things that one has not done before but wants to do before dying.

Having goals gives you clarity and focus in life. If you do not set goals, you would just be passing your day without any direction. A bucket list is a number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime. It is a reminder of all the things we want to achieve in our lifetime .

This is top 5 things on my Bucket List that I would do if I were BefikarUmarBhar. It is the list of all the things I want to experience and feel accomplished.

1) Travel to all the 7 continents : Traveling — I absolutely love travelling. I love excitement, adventure and variety that i get from travelling. It is one of the activities that the single best activity that makes you go out of your comfort zone and teaches you new things. You get to meet new people, get to learn about different cultures and experience the wonderful things around you in the world. I am thankful that both I and my partner love travelling. I have visited couple of places in Asia and America.  I look forward to visiting new places such as Australia, Canada, Germany moving forward.

2) Getting Lost in Los Angeles : There are tons of interesting things to do in Los Angeles that i just want to be lost in doing them. I love the idea of hiking near the Hollywood Sign. Adventurous activities like whitewater rafting on the Kern River is another thing that i am excited to do. Recently i had seen one of my friends kayak around Channel Islands and since that that has also been added to my list to do in Los Angeles.

3) Learn to surf in Bali : On our last visit to Bali we came across this beautiful activity which caught my eyes and since then i have this added to my bucket list. Bali is a dream destination in Indonesia, with famous places like Padang Padang and Uluwatu where you can find the best waves in the world for all skill levels. We had some helpers doing it for us but the idea of me learning to do it myself sounded equally exciting.

4) Throw tomatoes at La-Tomatina : Ever since i watched the Bollywood movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, the La Tomatina tomato festival has been on my head. The highlight of the festival is the tomato fight which takes place on that day. It is a fun festival where thousands of people throw tomatoes at each other for that day. It looked exciting and something that i added to my list.

5) Trekking in the Himalayas : Ever since my husband told me his adventures of trekking in the Everest base camp, i am super excited about trekking in the Himalayas. The Himalayas have always been the most renowned trekking destination in the world. Imagine trekking in the snow peaks  and glaciers at extreme temperatures which will definitely be a challenge to the trekkers and it all requires to use your mental strength and courage to get through.


With IDBI Federal Life Insurance, Have you made your choice to be #BefikarUmarBhar?

For more details visit us at http://bit.ly/BefikarUmarBhar.

This post was written as part of IndiBogger Happy Hours campaign topic on Befikar Umar Bhar !!

Recap of TIU Love your Body challenge !!

This weekend has been pretty exciting. We had my parents at our place. We went for a walk in the evening and i did the Love your body Yoga in the morning. On Sunday i took rest and prepared for the week ahead. This week was the final week of the Tone It Up Love Your Body series and I am happy to have been consistent and stuck with this challenge.  

There has been a lot of learning from this challenge. Loving my body is something I always struggle with, and several activities as part of the challenge were really encouraging. This challenge started off at the right time when i was looking to tone up after new year's day. The cardio challenge between New Year's day and Valentine's day was something that helped me continue my walks and run in combination with strength training routines.

Recap of TIU Love your Body challenge :

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1) Love My Body :
This was something that i really struggled with.  This is something that I need to continually work on.Several activities throughout the challenge like self talk, writing letter for yourself, pampering yourself really helped me with this aspect.

2) Clean Eating :
Although it is preferable to follow the Tone It Up Nutrition plan, i did not follow the plan. However i did eat clean most days and allowed myself to cheat on date nights. This helped me achieve a 80-20 balance.

3) Complete #100byVDayChallenge :
I consistently kept up with my walks, runs and HIIT and wanted to somehow complete this challenge. When i checked back, i was thrilled to realize that i completed 168 miles, which I am pretty happy about within 6 weeks!

Overall, I am very happy with my results from this challenge. It was the perfect kick-start to 2015 and am proud to have stuck with this challenge.

What next :

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While doing the Tone it up yoga, i realized that i had to work on my flexibility  and yoga was the best way for it. After reading several bloggers and my friend Jill, i came to know of the 30 day Yoga With Adriene challenge and decided to go with this challenge for a month along my walks/runs to improve my flexibility.

After my first challenge on toning, I am excited to see where the program leads me and hopefully gain a lot more confidence in improving my flexibility!

Linking with Healthy Diva Life, Running and Reading, Her Heartland Soul, and Life of Meg !!

Weekly Workout Recap and Menu Planning - 15 Feb

Good morning! I had a wonderful time with my parents this week and had been MIA on my blog too for some days. I really wanted to relax and spend some time with them.On Wednesday, it was my cousin's wedding. So it was a fun gathering to meet all my relatives. We attended the wedding and quickly left for work. My parents stayed back at their place and came back yesterday morning. So i got to spend this weekend with them too. Finally it has been time for them to leave tomorrow. We went for walking yesterday at my favorite botanical gardens and they loved it. Today has been low-key mostly with them preparing for their travel and me preparing for the week.  

After taking much needed rest last weekend,  I bounced back strong. I continued doing my workouts without any break. This week was the final week of the Tone It Up Love Your Body series and I am happy to take everything I have learned throughout the series into the rest of this year. I am thrilled to have been consistent and stuck with this challenge. 

Weekly Workout Recap :

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Monday (2/9) - 5Km Walk,  KettleToning, Toned & Sexy Abs
Tuesday (2/10) - 6Km Run, 3 moves for a sexy back, Sleek & Slender Abs
Wednesday (2/11)  - Hump Day HIIT, Toned & Sexy Abs
Thursday (2/12)  - Date Night cardio, Love your arms and abs
Friday (2/13) - Love your body HIIT, Love your abs routine
Saturday (2/14)  - Love your body with Yoga, 6Km Walk
Sunday (2/15) - Rest

Weekly Menu Planning :

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Breakfast :

Vegetable Omelette

Peanut Butter Toast

Oats

Lunch:

Spinach Lentil Vegetable Rice

Capsicum Rice

Mint Rice

Snacks: 

Sprouted Green Gram

Fruit Salad

Vegetables and Hummus

Dinner:

Broad beans lentils vegetable and Roti

Cabbage and Roti

Linking up to Jill Conyers for weekly recap and menu planning !!

Sunday Walkday 5K !!

This weekend has been pretty exciting. On Saturday we had our weekly date night and went to an awesome place here which served yummy tofu chilly and we enjoyed it with drinks.On Sunday, my parents came over to my place for a week and i plan to relax, refresh and enjoy time with them. 

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I really wanted to take it easy this weekend. I was feeling sick and tired and my body was pleading me for a rest. I hate to miss my workouts because it makes me feel guilty later. I love my workout time and look forward to it everyday. So i replaced my Sunday runday with a 5 Km walk. 

On Sunday i had a 5 Km walk on my schedule, I decided to sleep in a bit and walk in the evening. The temperature was in early 20's here. My parents came here today. So i got to spend the morning with them and also take the much needed rest. After a light lunch followed by snacks, i was all set to get my 5 Km done for that day. Best unexpected part of it was when hubby told he wanted to join me for the walk. So i was really excited and got started.

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We planned to walk around our apartment. There are series of apartments beside mine and a whole loop of the circuit would be about 2 Km.  So we started walking through the entire loop reflecting about last week and goals for the current week. Hubby being the tall guy had to walk slowly to match my steps :)


Within no time we completed one loop of 2 Km and started all over again. I discussed my goals with hubby and he gave his suggestions. We were so engrossed in talking that another 2 Km went by. Now we just had to take a turn and head back home and we completed my 5 Km walk in 45 minutes !!!

Linking with Healthy Diva Life, Running and Reading, Her Heartland Soul, and Life of Meg !!

Weekly Workout Recap and Menu Planning - 8 Feb

Happy Sunday ! This weekend has been pretty exciting. On Saturday we had our weekly date night and went to an awesome place here which served yummy tofu chilly and we enjoyed it with drinks. I love that i get to eat right most days of the week and then get on those cheat meals on my weekly date night which balances it out. On Sunday, my parents came over to my place for a week and i plan to relax, refresh and enjoy time with them. 

Last week my body was really giving me all signs to slow down with my workout. So i replaced my sunday runday with a 5Km walk. I hate to miss my workouts because it makes me feel guilty later. I love my workout time and look forward to it everyday. It feels so strange being addicted to working out daily which is something i would dread doing some years back.  I am still going strong with the Tone It Up Love Your Body series. With Valentine day around this week, i am super thrilled to have consistently followed the challenge.

Weekly Workout Recap :

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Monday (2/2) - Love your body with HIIT, Bikini abs routine
Tuesday (2/3) - Cupids Cardio, Bikini Yoga
Wednesday (2/4) - 5 Km Walk, Love your booty routine
Thursday (2/5) - 8 Km Walk, Love your Arms and Abs workout
Friday (2/6) - Jump your heart out workout, Love your total body routine
Saturday (2/7) - 5 Km Walk
Sunday (2/8) - 5 Km Walk

Weekly Menu Planning :

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Breakfast :
Vegetable Omelette
Idlis
Peanut Butter Toast
Oats

Lunch:
Spinach Lentil Vegetable Rice
Lemon Rice
Capsicum Rice
Mint Rice

Snacks: 
Sprouted Green Gram
Fruit Salad
Vegetables and Hummus

Dinner:
Broad beans lentils vegetable and Roti
Okra and Roti
Cauliflower and Roti

Linking up to Jill Conyers for weekly recap and menu planning !!

Five Friday Favorites - 6 Feb

TGIF...I am really glad that today is Friday. This week my body is really giving me a tough time. It is really giving all possible signs to slow down and rest. For the last 2-3 days I have been feeling very exhausted these days. I wake up in the morning totally tired. Today morning i just did not want to workout. But i somehow tricked myself to do it today so that i could take rest tomorrow. I had to pause the video and stop multiple times during the workout but i still pushed through and completed my workout today. I need to definitely rest this weekend. But tomorrow i have some house cleaning planned to be done. On Sunday my parents would be coming in to stay for the week. I plan to spend some time and relax with them so that i make through my workout strong next week !!

Let me get into my 5 favorite things this week! 
1) Quote :

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 I really had to push past my pain to get my workouts done for the past few days. I took multiple breaks but kept going slowly.But at the end, i completed it and felt accomplished.

2) Workout :

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 After 1 month of following the TIU Love your body challenge, my body is finally asking me to slow down and showed all possible signs for last few days. I get up exhausted every morning. Today i had to pause multiple times while working out and push myself to complete. 

3) Food :

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This week, I continued eating fruits for 5 days but for 2 days i missed eating them. But i am happy to have had atleast for 5 days. I ate this oatmeal dish that i found totally awesome. I sprinkled dry-fruits and musseli on it. It was crunchy and tasted wonderful.

4) Movies :

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This last weekend the hubby and I saw the movie My Boss's Daughter.Although it was released in 2003, i never got a chance to see that movie.  It turned out to be an awesome romantic comedy. 


5) Moment :

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After 2 weeks, i and the hubby went for a date night last weekend. I really love that we plan to have a date night every week. Hubby leaves it on me to plan this every week. So i really try my best to make this happen every week. This weekend we went to a barbecue cuisine and had a nice time together. I did indulge in some cheat meals there but i always follow the 80-20 rule and know that it will be back to normal from the next day. 

Linking up to Eat Pray Run DC, Mar On The Run, You Signed Up For What?, Fitting-it-all-in, Housewife Glamour, Jill Conyers, Running 4 Cupcakes, September Farm, The New Mrs Adventures and The Good Life

What's in my gym bag !!

Happy Workout Wednesday! My workout for the day started off with a 5Km walk in the morning followed by TIU Love your booty routine. I love getting my workout done immediately after waking up so that i do not need to worry about it the entire day.

I do most of my workouts at home. But on days when i get up late, i do workout at the gym at my workplace. I wanted to share some of my must have items that I keep in my gym bag at all times. I seriously couldn't live without most of these items! 

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1) Deodorant : 
Some people earn a reputation for body odour and I don’t want to belong to that club. As i am one of those who sweat a lot, i make it a must to always carry a deodorant in my gym bag. 

2) Hand Towel/Tissues :
It is a basic courtesy to carry tissues to the gym to wipe off your sweat. You do not want your sweat to be dripping on the gym equipment which will be used by someone else. 

3) Music Player:
I love listening to good tempo workout or an audio-book while in the gym. It gives me focus and good boost to keep going through the workout. 

4) Water bottle
This one is a must have for me. It is a basic rule to consume a sip of water every 10 to 20 minutes while doing high intensity workouts. If we can carry our own water bottle we are thanking out body by staying hydrated and also save time by making frequent trips to the water cooler.  

5) Hair ties- Though i have short hair, I make sure that my hair is nicely tied up while working out. The last thing i want while pushing through a workout is hair falling on my face and making me lose the flow. So i always make sure to carry some bands. 

6) Lip Balm/Chap-stick - Working out in a gym can leave your lips dry. A simple lip balm can solve this. w

7) Facewash:
After a tough workout , the pores of my skin open up, giving rise to acne. I carry a basic Garnier face-wash to wash my face to take off the sweat.

8) Fresh set of Inners :
For someone like me who drips fully of sweat after a workout, it becomes mandatory to change the inners immediately after workout for feeling good. There have been some days when i used to not get a fresh pair to gym and i would get red burning areas around my thighs due to sweat. So i always make sure to carry a fresh pair.

Linking up for Workout Wednesday and Wild Workout Wednesday !!

Go out of your comfort zone !!

If you know me well, then you must be knowing how much i love walking and any form of cardio workouts. I call myself a cardio girl. For some reason, i would feel that when i walk briskly or run, i sweat a lot and only then i think that i have worked out. That is how i slowly managed to lose my weight. 

Agreed that i lost weight but i did not have any strength nor was i toned. I was on my goal weight but i would have huge thighs and bat wings down from my arm. Initially i ignored them but later as i came to know about strength training workouts and toning routines, i started to move incorporate them into my regular walking/running routine.

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To start something new, i tried adding Tone It Up routines occasionally. Then they announced start of their TIU Love Your Body Challenge which started on Jan 1 for 6 weeks. What a perfect timing it came at. I started to strictly follow their workout schedule and incorporate strength training and toning routines. 

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Initially it was not at easy for someone like me who did not know to do the movements properly. You would not believe but i could not do a push-up properly. Firstly my upper body strength is weak. Secondly my form also went wrong. Slowly and steadily with practice i am now able to do them on my knees. I am still on my way building strength and waiting for the day when i would do full push-ups. So while doing the TIU workouts, i  would pause the video several times to do the move and then complete the workout. It was completely a new experience for me as i would rarely sweat during the toning workouts. But i knew it is working as i would wake up sore the next day. 

Overall i realized that performing a muscle toning exercise type workout will improve muscular strength, increase lean muscle mass and density and improve muscular endurance. Muscle toning involves regular exercise that targets specific muscles and gives them the workout they need to become lean and healthy. The obvious benefit to toning is achieving a lean, attractive body.

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So with my goal in mind to tone my body, i have stuck strong with the TIU challenge. In the last 4 weeks that i worked on this challenge, i lost a total 12 inches which is awesome to me. After completing the TIU challenge, i am planning to start the 30 day Yoga challenge which will be another new thing for me. So i plan to continue this journey of incorporating strength training to my routine, i am going out of my comfort zone and do routines which i have never done before. But as the saying goes - When you want something you have never had, you have to do something you have never done !!

Linking with Jill and Jessica for the awesome theme !!

Sunday Runday 5K !!

This weekend we had plans to go for a date night to a movie but sadly that did not happen and we had to move it to next weekend. We ended up going for a long walk together. 

On Sunday i had a 5Km run on my schedule. The temperature has been getting a bit warm here. Morning when i woke up, the temperature was 18. As we had been for a long walk yesterday, it was a much required for my body to relax from the week's workouts. So i was all set to get my 5Km done for that day. The best part about having a 5Km is that it gets done before we even start to realize it and the workout is done. I updated my playlist with an audio-book of Developing the Leader Within You by John Maxwell. Since reading books is one of my goals for this year, i am trying to take advantage of listening to audio-books while commuting or while going for a run.Next i had my running clothes ready on Saturday itself. So it made me easier to just get ready and get into my running shorts on Sunday.I quickly changed from my PJ's, put on my head-phones, laced up my shoes and went out. 

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I planned to run inside the botanical garden. I just love running inside this garden which has one loop of 5Km, So I can run through the entire loop through the serene greenery with birds around along. The run started out smooth. The music and the warmth gave me a good kick-start.

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I crossed half way at 2.5 Km and made my way back again.The audio-book was awesome and i completed 2 chapters. It was definitely inspiring and I just love all of John Maxwell's books on Leadership. I thoroughly enjoyed my run listening to the book. Before i realized i completed my 5Km run in 37 minutes !!!

Linking with Healthy Diva Life, Running and Reading, Her Heartland Soul, and Life of Meg !!

Dream it, Do it !!

In our life, there has always been times when we might have wanted to do different things. But we never did due to lack of awareness or sometimes sheer laziness. For some of the things we just kept waiting for the right occasion and never made it a priority. Sometimes what we wanted to do changes over time and then we lose the desire to do them.

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We dream to do a lot of things but never have the guts to fulfill them due to lot of reasons. But somewhere at the corner of our mind, these dreams keep daunting and make us guilty and uncomfortable. Instead think of it the other way, if we had worked to fulfill our dreams how happy and accomplished we would have felt. 

Personally, even i have a lot of dreams not being fulfilled due to lot of reasons. I always keep wishing If only I had a second chance. But that is something which is not guaranteed. Then why leave it undone. If we dream something, there is a purpose behind that and we should not put it off for later instead do it then and there.

If i had a second chance, here are few things which i wanted to do earlier when in school -

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1. Exercise and eat clean
From my childhood, I have always been a chubby fat girl. Everyone used to pull my cheeks and i loved being that way. As time passed, i thought that was how we should be. I did not know anything about exercise and would eat any junk like potato chips and fast food frequently.  By frequently eating fast food, i kept putting on weight. As i graduated from college and started working, i continued the habit to eat fast food as it would save time. By then my weight was already 75Kg and came under overweight category. I started falling sick frequently and started having health complications. It was during that time that the doctor advised me to totally stop eating fast food and start exercising. He scolded me for not taking care of my health for so many days. 

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2. Have a hobby
From school days, we have been forced to join the rat race. My world used to revolve around studies and school. I never thought that there could be any use of having a hobby. I thought that was just for time pass. But overtime, i realized that hobbies are definitely required to refresh you from the monotony of life. I had always been good at doing arts and crafts. But i did not pursue it beyond what was required to be done for school because i was lazy and found all excuses to not do it. 

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3. Pursue higher studies in US
From my engineering days i always wanted to pursue higher studies in the US. At that point of time, i really did not know why i want to go there. Maybe because everyone around me was doing that. So i had this deep desire to go to US for my MS. I had started my preparation for it too. But in my final year, we had campus placements in college and i got placed with TCS. From that day onwards, my focus and desire to go to US started getting diverted. Some even advised me to work for 2 years and then go for higher studies with work experience. So hearing everyone, i dropped the idea of higher studies immediately and joined TCS. But little did i realize that those 2 years would fly into 8 years and here i am still with that unfulfilled desire hoping to go to USA one day !!

When we keep postponing things, we do not get anything out of them. Do not post pone things!  Do it right now! Because life doesn't always give a Second chance!

“This post is a part of the #SecondChance activity at BlogAdda in association with MaxLife Insurance”.

Weekly Workout Recap and Menu Planning - 1 Feb

Happy Sunday ! This weekend we had plans to go for a date night to a movie but sadly that did not happen and we had to move it to next weekend. We ended up going for a long walk together. 

Can you believe that we are already into February! Whew !! January simply flew off. New month means we need to set new goals and reflect on previous month and learn from them.  I am still going strong with the Tone It Up Love Your Body series. With just about 2 more weeks to go, i am super thrilled to have consistently followed the challenge.

Weekly Workout Recap :

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Monday (1/26) - INSANE CARDIO followed by Love Your Legs & BOOTY!
Tuesday (1/27) - 5 Km Walk, Tightened and toned arms, 3 moves for a sexy upper-back 
Wednesday (1/28) - KettleToning, Love your body Yoga
Thursday (1/29) - 5 Km Walk, Arms and Abs workout
Friday (1/30) - Tone It Up in 30 routine
Saturday (1/31) - 8 Km Walk
Sunday (2/1) - 5 Km Run

Weekly Menu Planning :

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Breakfast :
Vegetable Omelette
Finger millet Pancake
Peanut Butter Toast
Oats

Lunch:
Spinach Lentil Vegetable Rice
Lemon Rice
Capsicum Rice
Red bean lentil vegetable rice

Snacks: 
Sprouted Green Gram
Fruit Salad
Vegetables and Hummus

Dinner:
Carrot and Roti
Eggplant and Roti
Cabbage and Roti

Linking up to Jill Conyers for weekly recap and menu planning !!

No Fikar, Chat Quikr !!

Online classifieds website Quikr makes it very easy to sell your products online. It allows you to post free advertisements of your product. You could even sell used products and get a good price for it. 

While this was good, there were some factors which used to worry me -

Details : For someone who wants to purchase a product, it is not easy to get many details in the advertisement. Few details which are of the buyer's interest may not be provided in the advertisement.

Privacy : From a buyer's perspective, if proper details are not provided in the advertisement, they would want to contact the seller. This makes it mandatory for the seller to reveal his contact information and share it to the public where by there is no privacy. Also It gets overwhelming when the calls come at inconvenient times. 

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However recently announced the launch of a new feature, called Quikr NXT, which allows buyers and sellers to connect with each other in real-time. The feature also enable users to chat with multiple users and share images.

This is definitely an awesome feature. As i read about it, there seems to be many more cool features which makes me install the Quikr NXT app on my smartphone.

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Privacy: With enhanced privacy features, Quikr NXT allows users to chat using the website or mobile app. This means users can choose to make a listing private, which hides their email ID and phone number on the site. now the seller does not have to share their contact details with anyone. The only point of contact becomes their Quikr ID, and they can use Quikr NXT to chat with people using the app on your phone, or on the website.Not everyone wants to share their contact details with unknown people. So this is really awesome feature.

Chat and Chat History : Chatting has many advantages over calls. While negotiating for a phone call, it is not easy for a seller to remember each buyer's negotiations. Likewise for a buyer, if there are multiple sellers selling the same item it is not easy to remember the price quoted by each seller. That is where chat comes helpful. If the conversations are done over chat, user does not need to keep notes of all transactions and can easily go to the chat history to check the price. 

Photo Sharing: Sharing photos are easier on chat than on emails. While having a conversation through email, if the seller has not provided all views of the product and the buyer wants some specific photos, he would have to email or call the seller and the seller would then take his time to send the required photo. Overall this is time consuming. But if the conversation happened through chat, sharing photos is more faster and easier. With Quikr NXT the seller can easily click and send the picture required for the product in just a few seconds over the chat.

For details about Quikr NXT visit http://www.quikr.com/

This post was written as part of IndiBogger Happy Hours campaign topic on Get Quikr NXT!