pune – Dumbbells and Drama

Fitness

“Muscles are not for girls” And Other Things Girls Who Love Lifting Are Laughing About

I absolutely love the drama that comes along with the fitness journey. Initially, all that I heard would make me mad. Then I learnt to take a step back and observe, and now, I laugh. Everyone has their set of opinions, but these right here, these are the real gems. Sometimes it’s fun being a woman in the world of men, keeps us all entertained. Thought I’d share some of them with you. Please note – I have at some point said/done all of this, got my point across, and had a great laugh. Point being- you do you girl, go get that booty, go get those gains, go lift that bro who thought he could mansplain this to you. Amen. Gym Bro *sees girl at the gym* – Oh you’re here for your cardio? Yup, not going near those weights, no no, they say they turn you into a…

Fitness

From Skinny To Strong #TransformationTuesday

This #TransformationTuesday I thought I’d share a quick recap of my fitness journey over the last 4 years. It’s been a journey full of sweat, pain and tears. I’ve gone from “I need to be skinny” to “I need to be strong” and that I believe is the biggest transformation in my life. I have made a ton of mistakes (more on this blog post) and I have learnt life lessons from them. I have met some of the best, most humble people on this journey. I once treated food and exercise as punishement. Today, I understand the nourishment value of food, exercise, and recovery. Injury taught me patience. I learnt the importance of good sleep and rest. I learnt to love my body, but it took me quite a few years to get here. Sharing with you some of the major points in my fitness journey (tthose of you who…

Fitness

Do Not Let Them Make You Feel Guilty For Taking Out Time For Yourself

All those who’ve been with me on Instagram over the last 2 months know that I plan to focus on mental as well as physical fitness, starting this year. As promised, here I am with my two bits on mental health. I have so much to share with you, but I am not sure where to start from. Learning how to disconnect and tune into some ME-TIME is what I think works for starters, I plan to document my experience with mediation, yoga, social media and trolls, and a lot more later. Do feel free to write in if you want me to address certain topics, I’d be glad to do that. Before I start, I’d like to give some context to this article. I’ve been focusing a lot on disconnecting from the internet. Being a blogger and a digital content writer, this gets difficult. We live in a world…

Fitness

Ignoring The Warning Signs- How I allowed stress to take over my life

I’ve always been proud of my multi-tasking skills, and considered my ability to prioritize work as one of my strongest skills. While I enjoyed the confidence and the recognition my skills got me, I forgot to account for the fact that too much of something is harmful in the long run. Allow me to share with you a personal story about how I let stress take over me. But it isn’t really that simple. To help you understand context, I need to rant a lot more than usual. Bear with me. I could have finished this off with a “Reasons why rest is important” but a story of a personal failure always leaves a better impact (so my Google Analytics tells me about my posts in 2017) Freelancing left me insecure. Freelancing is tough for a bunch of reasons, all of which depend on one personality trait- discipline. Thankfully I…

Fitness

#Diet- Pre & Post Workouts with Storia Foods

All those who follow me on Instagram know that I recently tried coconut water and some shakes from Storia Foods. Those of you who tuned in late, I shall tell you all about it in this blog post. Before I start, let me reiterate my views on diets, fitness and overall well-being. I am no one to give you nutrition gyaan since I do not know a lot about this field myself. What I experiment with on a personal level is after effective consultation with my folks (who are doctors) and a few friends who’re studying nutrition. I train 6 times a week, and do not take any supplements for my gains. I concentrate on eating home cooked meals, keeping a close check on pre workout and post workout meals. Storia Foods sent me a bunch of products to try out, and this is what I feel about them (I…

Fitness

Boulder Shoulder!

I am back with another workout post (#MondayMotivation FTW!) This one is something I tried out at home last week because I was running behind schedule as far as my writing was concerned, and I had not stepped foot inside the gym all week. This workout is a quick, basic and super duper easy HIIT routine that I combined along with some basic shoulder moves. Take a look at it, try it out on a day you’re running short of time or don’t want to leave the comfort of your home. Print it out if you want to because you totally can :) Note- I did this after a 3km brisk walk. Add in some jumping jacks and high knees to warm up before you start your HIIT. Also, do not forget to stretch! Monday Motivation has been served. Have a fabulous week :)

Fitness

Please Don’t Be A Gym Bully- A Request To Fellow Fitness Enthusiasts

“You must be into cardio” they ask me as I shake hands with my new gym acquaintances. “No, I’m weight training” I say, and am met with a somber nod and an occasional hmm. I’ve noticed those side glances they exchanged too. The conversation has abruptly ended, and I make my way towards the weight rack, conscious that every step I take is being intensely scrutinized. All that beast mode enthusiasm has disappeared too, and I suddenly find myself faced with a simple question- should I be doing this at all? Sounds super familiar, doesn’t it? Congratulations, you’ve been noticed by the gym bullies and you’re officially a part of the gym world. This feeling was quite common a few months ago, and of course I learnt to deal with it, but it’s the attitude of those gym-goers that irks me till date. Fitness is a positive community of people,…

Lifestyle

Mad House Grill Pune- A Legacy

These days it’s quite a task figuring out where to dine. For those of you who are new here, long story short, I have now moved over to the dark side. This dark side boasts of heavy weights, HIITs, 10km runs and a lot of healthy eating. I am consciously making diet plans, trying my best to follow them, and of course minimizing all the eating out. Before you assume we gym folks do not know how to have fun, I’ll have you know that we have our lovely cheat days, 1:00am nights and parties every other day. Balance is the key, and once you get the hang of it life gets easy. With restaurants introducing healthy food in their menus, trying to get this balance has got easier lately. Joining the list of brands that the #fitfam will always be thankful to is Mad House Grill, an establishment critical…

Lifestyle

Mixed feelings at the launch of Mandarin & Mircchi, Pune

The team behind Sassy Spoon and Baraza have opened a third property, Mandarin & Mircchi, inside the premises of Ishanya Mall. Taking its cues from the public that is torn between choosing from the Chinese and Indian cuisines, Mandarin & Mircchi decided to gift us the best of both worlds, perfect for those times you cannot decide if you’d rather settle for some fish tikka or chilly chicken. I checked out this new place last week at the soft launch, and here’s what I have to say about Mandarin & Mircchi- AMBIANCE This new establishment is located right next to Baraza (even before entering I had made a mental note to keep this as a dinner option for those weekends we head to Baraza) and appears to be fine dining. You walk in to a space that has been creatively customized to showcase the amalgamation of Oriental and Indian elements.…

Fitness

I Doubled My Food Intake To Get A Well Defined Core

This year has been great so far, and as far as the fitness journey is concerned, if you follow me on Instagram you’ll must have realised how I’ve opted for lifting and gains earlier this year. I have gained a whole lot of muscle mass, and I have also moved up to a size 4 now, but I don’t have any regrets. My muscles are pumped, I’m sore 3 out of 7 days of the week, my glutes are beginning to pop, and life looks really good right now. As I said, no regrets :) I have concentrated on eating clean, eating smart and working out. Lifting weights burns a lot of calories, so in order to keep the gains going I’m eating well too. So does that mean I do not have a hard core anymore? Absolutely not! In fact my core is stronger, and definitely more defined than what it…