Well hello my faithful friends... do I even have any left out there? Thanks to some very persistent and encouraging gal pals (yes, that's you Ms Lakhani) I have bellyflopped back into the land of blogging. I know you're enjoying that lovely mental picture I just gave you. I can't even being to explain why I took such a long hiatus from this world... suffice to say I'm baaackkkk. You ready for me?
So I have absolutely no idea where to start. New year, new beginnings, new fat I have found chilling on my body... yeah what a great start. So, I begin 2012 with a promise to myself and my 2 followers that I will attempt to write weekly.
When I first fell off the wagon of blogging, a good friend of mine had advised to write about my struggles and challenges with sticking with Moti girl, or to focus on how hard it is to stay motivated. But I didn't heed the advice of the wise and the more time that passed, the easier it became to put it off even more. The next time I checked, six months had gone by sans blogging and I felt like such a loser and a quitter. I need to follow through and hold myself accountable. It wasn't so much about the dieting and losing weight, it was about making a lifestyle change that stuck. Plus, the routine of blogging weekly was so great for my soul. I wasn't ready for all the changes that came my way once school was over. I didn't manage all the different hats I was wearing and more importantly I didn't prioritize very well. So I plan to ameliorate that and hope to do it with your help. :)
Unfortunately or maybe luckily my scale's battery is dead, so no picture today. However the scale will be back this weekend and I will snap a picture and throw it on this blog on Monday next week. I leave you today with one word and that is HOPE. I HOPE to keep up with blogging. I HOPE to make better choices and I HOPE that I won't bore you to death with my ramblings of all irrelevant things. Until next time... this is your Moti girl signing out.
Hey there friends, Moti Girl checking in on this beautiful evening. How are you all doing tonight? I'm chilling, enjoying my Laker game and am desperately trying to suppress the dire need to violently place a muzzle on the Hubby's mouth. He is the biggest Laker hater in existence and I just want to punch him in the face right now. Yes, I have a lot of pent up aggression, but his constant heckling and jabs at Kobe Bryant bring out the worst in me. Great the Lakers lost. Man I need to go sedate myself now. In honor of the Fish and his hating ways, I am adding a small video clip from a few months ago when the Lakers and the Heat played, so you could get a glimpse of the torture I have to endure on a daily basis. Enjoy all you Laker haters out there... it ain't gonna last long. Can anyone say 3peat? :)
Anyways, back to Moti Girl... So this week was filled with dessert temptation galore. So Baskin Robbins had their 31 cents scoop day, food blogger extraordinaire Azmina Aboobaker http://www.lawyerloveslunch.com/ came over with deliciously exquisite mini cheesecakes (also special shout out to Seher who brought over a beautiful flan, but I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it) and my hubby surprisingly brought home a delectable box of Belgian Hazelnut Chocolates to celebrate my last day as a berkeley student. I don't know how I am suppose to watch my caloric intake when every other day I am tempted to turn into a dessert Pac-Man and just gobble everything in sight. I know I sound like a broken record, but as long as I get a little taste of something. Luckily for me, the day Azmina came over, it was obviously free day so I actually ate the whole thing. It was ahhhh-mazing. I urge you to check out her blog. It's fun to read, witty and she has some really great recipes. Check it out now!
Mini Cheesecakes
(Photo courtesy by Azmina Aboobaker http://www.lawyerloveslunch.com/)
I went roller skating this Saturday with my family in San Ramon at the Golden Skate. I haven't been since my 21st birthday. Wow! It was hilariously fun and brought back so many happy memories from my middle school days. I think it's high time to do a GNO there with the ladies... maybe a retro night? I can't believe I just used the word retro. OMG How old am I? 32 is any of you are wondering. Needless to say, it was a very memorable time and the fact that Leila was soooo incredibly happy just made my day. I only fell once and it was only because I got all brave and tried to bust a move while skating and landed flat on my back. Yes, it was ridiculously funny. I woke up the next morning feeling like I got tossed around in the dryer. Note to self: it wasn't skating with the stars... I need to check myself before I wreck myself. Trust me I did. :)
enjoying 31 cent scoop night
I haven't really done anything extraordinary this week. Just trying to eat well, drink lots of water and get some exercise in whenever I can. Besides the fact that I have one final on the 9th, I am feeling quite good. No stress. I feel weird that this journey of completing my undergraduate is finally over, but at the same time I'm happy that all the hard work, the sacrifices have paid off (aH). Anyways, I don't feel like being a sap today, just wanted to share my 2 cents.
Well here it is...
I lost 0.8 pounds
I didn't lose as much as I would liked, but still going in the right direction. Until next week, this is your Moti girl calling it a night!
Hello Blog Readers, your one and only Moti Girl here to give you the 411 on my mission to extract the fat from my body . I can't believe it's already been three weeks since I've been on this mission! It's actually been a decent week, no real complaints. Well on second thought, maybe a few grievances, but all in good fun. I finally feel like I'm getting into the swing of things, in terms of controlling my need to stuff my fat face. :) I know I just gave you a lovely mental picture. Enjoy! I think a lot of my self-control this week has to do with the knowledge of how many calories there are in certain foods. Again, moderation is key. One bite of something totally satiates the moats in me. So why not? I indulged in Yogurtland's Devil's Food Cupcake Batter and died went to Moti Hell. Yes, calorie wise, it's not too bad, but after tasting it I wanted more than 1 measly ounce. I felt like putting my mouth under the yogurt dispenser, holding the lever down and just guzzling as much as I could before I choked. Yes, I might shed some pounds and make better food choices, but the Moti Girl soul will live on forever.
Things that annoyed me this week: (Moti Girl rants)
Skinny broads complaining about their non-existent fat around their waists. Seriously, I am hard enough on myself, I don't need nor want someone else to imply what a water buffalo I am compared to you. When you are pointing out your fat, can you please consider your audience? I'm all for everybody working on bettering themselves, but just be conscious of how your words can be perceived and how it can effect another. Can you talk about you losing the fat around your waist when you are around another waif-thin friend like yourself? Thanks! I certainly would appreciate it and will refrain from punching you in the face, in my head. That way I don't feel like a giant elephant next to you? Just a thought. For example: my whole life (ah) I have been blessed with pretty good skin. I never really had any pimples nor zits and I will be completely honest I hate washing my face. When I get a random pimple here and there and the drama queen in me seeps out, I always consider refraining from whining about it around people who have struggled with skin care. Just out of consideration. I hate the way the 'Fat' thing makes me feel... why the hell would I do it somebody else?
Secondly, to the people who walk around naked in the Gym bathroom... why? O-M-G!!!! Why must I have the vision of your naked body, fit-or-not branded into my memory? As if the vision of my own out-of-shape body in front of mirror isn't enough to scare me for a lifetime, now mixed with yours I might as well just keep slapping myself till the memory falls out of me. I get it, your comfortable with your body and you don't care what anybody thinks. That's fine and all, but there is nothing wrong with a little (a LOT) of modesty.
Lastly, to all the a-holes who lie to my face and tell me that I don't need to lose any weight and that "a little meat doesn't hurt", get the hell away from me pronto! That's the nicest possible way I can phrase that. Um, really? Do I even need to rant about why I found this comment so offensive? I would like to be clear, if I haven't been so already, but I am doing this not only to lose weight but to have and maintain a healthier lifestyle. I'm sure vanity has a little to do with it, but mostly it's because I don't want to suffer with heart disease nor diabetes. Losing some weight might help me with my confidence and I want to be in shape. That's it. What the hell is wrong with this? Simply put, being a 161 pounds with a height 5'3 is not good. So quite lying to me, it's not about being polite, consider using phrases like "good for you" or "good luck". Maybe these people were trying to be polite because they didn't know what to say, but it really has an opposite effect. Just my two cents.
My daily uniform
As I was getting ready to write my post today, my 100-questions-a-minute daughter decided to inquire about what exactly a blog was. I tried to give her a short answer and be done with it, but a million additional questions followed. So I showed her and told her what I was up to. Her response was "That's cool Mom, you should take a 'before' picture so that when you lose the weight you can remember what you looked like." Damn, she is a know-it-all smarty-pants just like her dad. So I took the advice of the wise-one Jr. and had her take a picture of me. I don't know if it's because she was sitting down and I was standing on the ottoman, but it's not a bad picture. I don't look as obese as I normally do. Phew. :) On a side note, this is my daily uniform/outfit-du-jour 24/7. I live in jeans, t-shirts, kicks and a sweatshirt. I will refrain from any further details because it reserved for my fashion faux pas posts-to-be.
Great things this week:
I discovered Fage. Um, can I just say it is by far the yummiest snack/breakfast ever. So filling and delicious! You can't go wrong. I found it at TJs and I fell in love. I have been eating this a few times a week with a banana and I am totally full. (I think my stomach really did shrink). It's strained Greek Yogurt with Honey. (thank you Wadalawalla for this tip)
The gym doesn't seem as daunting of task as it used to be.
Homegirls that come through with great healthy recipes (Doof) to add to my meal planning and ones that hook up yummy food and bring it to your house when least expected (MKL). I'm gonna be redundant, but I am only able to do this because I have a great support system. So thank you!
So grateful for FREE DAY! I got my grub on Saturday night and then felt so sick I wanted to throw up so badly, but settled for dry-heaving instead, which is even worse. Yes, my eyes are definitely bigger than my stomach. Note to self: my stomach shrunk, so calm down on free day. :0)
*Highlight of the week* I got down to "Dus Bahane" in my Zumba class. I got such a kick out of jamming to a Desi song. I hate admitting it, but it was very entertaining and unexpected, but I felt like such a dork singing along to the lyrics. Dorky Desis Unite!
Now, for what we've all been waiting for:
success I am now 2.6 pounds lighter
I am (ah) 2.6 pounds lighter. Who would have thought? Well I think I have rambled on enough today. I love the comments... keep em coming please. :) Thank you all for reading my nonsense, this is your Moti Girl throwing deuces. XOXO
Salutations my friends, Moti Girl here checking in for duty after a VERY long Week One. Holy crap, I did not think I would make it. I would like to start off by saying, that this by far has been one of the hardest challenges I have ever undertaken. Yes even more than school. Basically I have set myself up for utter failure so the whole world can watch in awe my eventual demise. Alrighty then, now that I have the dramatics for this post out of the way, I will continue with the importance of this week.
Challenges:
Motivating myself.
Making better food choices.
Not feeling bad that I can't have certain things.
Getting my fat butt to the gym.
my 100 calorie dessert
Things I learned:
I don't have to forgo dessert completely. One night I had small bowl of blueberries, pieces of mango and pomegrante (antioxidant fruit salad) and a few of the other nights I treated myself to my new favorite Trader Joes 100 calorie dark chocolate bars. It's yummy, completely satiating and the one bar is more than enough. Best part it's a $1.99 for a box of 5 Belgian Chocolate Bars. Come on, that's a steal and if you aren't into dark chocolate, then they have milk chocolate too. I went with the dark to capitalize on the antioxidants.
Did you know that there are 240 calories in 2 tablspoons of Olive Oils?!!! YES! I know my jaw dropped too. With that being said, it's great for us and has lots of healthy fats and is awesome for our skin and our hearts (Thanks Saimah)
Moderation is key. I mean I can't have ice-cream and girls scout cookies along with a huge helping of lasagne, but I can have a little to just appease the Moti Girl inside me, so I don't feel completely deprived.
Everybody needs a free day to eat whatever the hell they please and NO counting calories. Hopefully the week leading up to this day will automatically make me a little more cautious about my greed. There is no need to stuff my fat belly to death but then again I also don't need to starve myself either. I will never be a skinny girl that's for sure and quite frankly, I don't want to be. I just want to lose a good amount of weight and eat better. Khalas (That means, that's it/the end/ it's done in Arabic) A little bit of my Dad sneaks in here and there. Anyways the free day is either Saturday or Sunday. It's my choice, depending on what my social calendar for that week looks like. This week I went to a friend's birthday dinner at Sultana in Menlo Park on Saturday so I chose that day to kinda splurge. Can I just add that I had THE most delicious meal ever. I had the Pomegrante Kebab and it was to die for. It was grilled lamb and beef kebab rolled with spinach over garlic yogurt and topped with a pomegranate sauce served with rice. I honestly inhaled it as if I was being held hostage and hadn't seen food in weeks, but I also was generous and shared one of the kebabs with Fish and my brother in law Ausaff and surprisingly I was full. Maybe my stomach did shrink? One could only hope.
Family, friends and fellow bloggers encouraging comments have really kept the positive energy flowing and quite frankly, this is what got me through this week. As cliche as it may sound, but when people really believe in you, your confidence soars. SO THANK YOU!
Pomegranate Kebab at Sultana
I have been dreading the weigh in all weekend and mostly all day today. All I kept thinking was what if I didn't lose weight? What if I gained weight? OMG what jack ass I'm gonna look like after this. What if this was all in vain? After I shut up the pessimistic Moti girl inside me, I realized that I am a little too hard on myself and that this was my first week and that whatever the scale reads, doesn't matter (really). For the first time, I'm doing something about it. About damn time too!
My day today
My day today continued
Without further adieu, here it is...
Yes some success ah! Well at least I didn't gain anything. I lost 1.4 pounds. Not too shabby, if I must say so myself. I'll be honest, I thought the 3 gym trips and my soccer game, plus the deprivation of food, would amount to much more weight loss. But my nerdy husband aka the know-all-about-fitness made sure to remind me, that that's not realistic nor healthy to lose 5 pounds in one week. Yes Oh Wise One, I concede. Woo hoo, I need to go buy a chocolate milkshake from Baskin Robbins now... just kidding. Ok well my work here is done. Feel free to leave a comment or two or follow me thru my journey of exiting my Moti girl Land. This your Moti Girl, peacing out.
Hola! Moti Girl here... So the madness called my life continues, with my kids' alternating sicknesses, looming midterms, all the upcoming events that keep my head spinning and the mountain of laundry hanging out in my living room to remind me what a wonderfully capable housewife I am. As if all these things weren't enough, I have finally decided that I want to bid adieu to the fat that has comfortably taken residence all over my body.
inside my pantry
A few months back, I placed a bunch of note cards all over my pantry and refrigerator to help motivate me to be more conscious of what I was putting in my mouth. Suffice to say, I just don't even see the signs anymore. For your viewing pleasure I have littered this post with these reminders so you can also laugh at my futile attempt. :)
The Facts: 24 hour fitness loves club members like me who have been members since 2004 and have probably utilized their facilities about 10 times, over the span of the last 7 years. I have an unhealthy obsession with eating, I love food and the fattier the better. (Maybe not completely true, but I mean come on now, the good stuff always has all the bad stuff in it). I will never have the svelte, super-bionic metabolism that my hubby is so blessed to possess. I wish I could eat 10 meals a day and not gain a single pound. I find working out in the gym mundane and rigid. I have tried Zumba and I love it. But really who has the time to go an hour before the class starts to get a pass so that you can actually partake in the class? LAME. I like being active and playing sports, but that to me doesn't feel like working out, it's fun and a total win-win! But who the hell has time to organize a soccer/basketball/softball game with friends with our crazy schedules on top of our crazy kids' schedules? Good lord. So right now gym is my only real option.
For the last 8 years and much to my utter dismay, my Mom and Dad have now affectionately been calling me "Moti". "How are you, Moti?", "Where are the kids, Moti?" and "Wapas, agaye, Moti?" (You're back, fatgirl?). There is no malice or ill intent with their use of the word, it's just that I have gained some weight since I was last 23 years old, so why not point out the obvious? Ironically, my younger sister Amina's nickname growing up was "Moti" because of her ravenous love for milk when she was a baby. Cue the 'Moti Girl" song, my clever little brother Mishal substituted the words 'Macho, Macho Man' out of the Macho Man song with the words 'Moti Girl' and anytime Amina would annoy him, he would bust out with the Moti Girl song complete with a waddle-wiggle dance and puffed up cheeks. Think the Stay Puft Marshmallow man from Ghostbusters trying to get his groove on. That's what it looked like. Anyways, now that mongrel (love you Mishoo) has transferred singing this lovely song to me. Yes I am that lucky! Ok fine I will leave the realm of denial and admit that I have gained a lot of weight since my the years of my prime.
inside of my fridge
The Plan: I'm going to take my life back now! I am going to use my blog as a means to motivate my ass to do something about it instead of expressing my incessant displeasure. So the plan is to post a picture of my weight from my scale every Monday. Yes, Fish if you are reading this, get ready to shit your pants because you will finally see how Moti I have become. For the last 9 years of our marriage I have successfully been able to avoid exposing my weight to him. Yes, of course I'm embarrassed. What woman wouldn't be? But, not anymore. You know what, it is what it is. Hiding the number doesn't mean it's not true. This will force me to FINALLY do something about it, or be the laughingstock of the Internet, well, maybe just in the eyes of my 14 faithful followers. (thank you guys :) btw)
Lose It App
So I begin by ridding myself of spanx forever (a little white lie, maybe not forever but it sure sounded good), being honest with myself about how much I weigh, setting a realistic goal of shedding 30 pounds by the end of summer, eating better foods and incorporating exercise to my weekly regimen. I plan to use my Lose It app to help stay under 1200 calories a day. Work out 3-4 times a week with my homegirl Amina (you still on board mkl?) and I should be able to lose 2 pounds per week. Realistically, I know I will have days that I just can't stay under my calorie count or I might want to give up altogether but I will definitely try my hardest and I believe this epiphany/blog posting will bring me success I crave. I resume playing soccer in BAWSL this week, so hopefully that will allow me to stay on track. I will record my progress every Monday and conclude each posting with a picture of my weight loss/gain on my scale. Now if this doesn't work, well holy crap I'm not sure what will. It's about the journey right? Are you guys with me? It is either I am incredibly brave or ridiculously stupid, either way the only thing I lose besides my dignity is my weight. (I'm hoping at least)
Daym, OK so I have some work cut out for me but I am up for the challenge. Please feel free to comment and let me know what works best for you. I could use all the help I can get. This is your Moti Girl signing out... xoxo
