The Colourful Citizens of Gymistan

For all of you who wonder why I love my job so much, and why I spend a lot of time on the gym floor… look at whom all I get to hang out with…

The One Rep Wonder: Well, to say he does only one repetition is unfair. He may only do only one rep of the weights exercise. But he faithfully chases it with 20 repetitions of self-admiring glances in the various mirrors around him. Lift… look, look, look.

Little Ms. Look-at-me: The number of eyeballs she gets is directly proportionate to the calories she burns. When not making a spectacle of herself on the gym floor, she can be found practicing 'appealing' work out poses and expressions in front of locker room mirrors.

Muscle Man: This one dresses to impress. Or so he thinks. His V-neck spaghetti tees have put many a hot girl and her cleavage to shame. Unlike the One Rep Wonder, he’s is not content with self-admiration. As is clear from the frequent invitations to feel his muscles.

Ms. McSteamy: She certainly works up a sweat. Her fitness studio of choice is the steam room, and she knows every sizzling secret to weight loss through wet heat therapy.

Mr. Flappy Shorts: He likes to hang loose. He also likes to hang about all over the place. He has never heard of athletic support for men. Or even underwear, it would seem. Things we wish he wouldn’t do: high kicks, knee ups, wide squats and any yoga asana that requires a parting of his legs.

Aunty Q: When she has to know, she has to know. What exercise is this? Why are we doing it? What muscle does it work? How do you spell that? Will it make me lose weight? There is no wrong question. There is no wrong time to ask a question. Etiquette be damned! Exercise can wait. But her thirst for information has to be slaked immediately. 

Diet Diva: A is for Atkins, B is for Blood Group Diet… this girl knows everything there is to about diets. She has done them all. An expert. And she’s still 20 kilos overweight.

Wannabe P.T.: Not content with making body himself, he generously offers advice to anyone within earshot. If he’s working out in your vicinity, then rest assured your technique is wrong… but he will correct it; your diet is wrong, but he’ll give you a food plan; your workout partner is wrong… you should work out with him instead; the gym is wrong… you should join the gym he is starting as soon as he gets enough personal training clients.

Now you know... ;)

*Picture borrowed from a blog called Wobbly Bloggy... got to love the name :)

Quiche me please

I fell in love with the idea of ‘quiche’ the first time I tried one. First of all, it’s got a quirky sounding name. And it’s a symphony of eggs, cheese and any filling your heart desires in a delicious piecrust. What’s not to love?

Here’s one of my favourite quiche recipes. Mushroom and Spinach quiche. Makes one 9 inch quiche.

For the pie crust:

1 cup Maida

1/3 -1/2 cup cold Butter cut into small cubes

1 pinch Salt

Cold water

Cling film

For the filling:

2-3 Eggs

Cheese (how much depends on how cheesy you want it)

1 packet Mushrooms 

Onion (optional)

Half bunch Spinach 

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Chilli flakes (optional)

Oven setting: About 170 degrees centigrade. Preheat please. 

The Pie Crust

This took me a little practice to get right but is quite easy once you get the hang of it.

Place the maida in a big bowl. Add the salt.

Cut the butter into smallish cubes and drop it into the maida.

Using your fingers mix the maida and butter together till the dough resembles crumbs. You should feel tiny lumps of butter in your mixture. 

To this, add cold water one tablespoon at a time, mixing the maida and water till the dough just about holds together in a rough ball. You don’t want a smooth mixture like chappati or puri dough. Let it remain a rough, but held together.

Wrap your mixture in the cling film and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. This is important and is the difference between a hard crust and a flaky delicious crust. I learnt this the hard way :/

Roll the (rested) dough flat (I like using the marble counter of my kitchen). Use flour to ensure your dough doesn’t stick to the counter. Roll out to about a 4 mm thickness and a little bigger than your pie dish.

Place the rolled piecrust dough into the pie dish. Line the pie with butter paper and weigh it down with rajma or channa. 

First blind bake the pie crust. This is basically baking the crust a bit before adding the filling, so that the filling won’t make it soggy later. The rajma/channa will ensure that the pie doesn’t puff up in the centre.

Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Then remove the butter paper and rajma/channa and bake for another 5 minutes to ensure that the bottom is cooked.

Weigh the crust down for blind baking

After blind baking

The Filling

Sauté the mushrooms with butter and onions, or just boil them with salt if you like. When done, let the mushrooms cool.

Lightly sauté the spinach with garlic and add a tiny bit of salt to taste. Let this cool.

In a large bowl, beat 2-3 eggs, depending on the size of your pie dish. Add salt and pepper. Chilli flakes for some extra punch. If you're feeling really wild, add some fresh cream :)

Grate some cheese and keep it ready.

Into the pre baked piecrust, spoon in the spinach and mushrooms. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the veggies. Finally pour the beaten egg into the pie, letting it settle between the veggies. Careful not to overfill.

Bake this in the oven till the egg is firm and starting to get golden on the top, The edges of the piecrust should be golden brown.

Allow the quiche to cool, before cutting and serving.  Tastes great with a fresh leafy salad.

Enjoy J

*Blind baking pictures courtesy http://www.thekitchn.com/

Belly Bottoms

Crunch, crunch, crunch. And yet that damn lower belly bulge stares back at you. Much as it did a million crunches earlier. 

The lower abs are sneaky. They cleverly maneouver their way out of most of the traditional ab exercises we subject our bodies to. So while our upper abs are getting harder and tighter, the lower rung stays put.

Here’s the good news. Lower belly fat, or subcutaneous fat, isn’t so bad for you, if you’re within a normal body weight range for your height. In fact, in some cultures it’s considered quite sexy. But then, we’re our own worst mirrors. And this little imperfection is unacceptable.

The bad news is that its one of the hardest things to get rid of.

Hard, but not impossible.

Here are some things I’ve learned about deflating the lower belly:

• A trainer or website may give you a million exercises for a flat belly. But understand that no amount of physical exertion or exercise is going to shred fat unless it works towards lowering your overall body fat. This can only be achieved through a combination of healthy eating and exercise.
• Eat for your body. Diet has become a bad word. I use the word in the context of eating to suit YOU. If you’re really active, don’t eat too little. If you have a sedentary lifestyle, don’t eat too much. If you work out a lot, give your body carbs for energy. Carbs are not all bad. And too much of protein is not good. Not feeding your body correctly, starving yourself, going on fad diets will ensure that belly fat becomes a permanent fixture. Be kind to yourself when it comes to food. Otherwise your body will end up storing even more fat.
• MOVE. Belly fat loves inactivity.
• Try Yoga. Surya Namaskars and asanas such as the Paschimottasana (Seated Forward Fold), Naukasana (Boat Pose), Uttanpadasana (Raised Foot Pose), Dhanurasana (Bow Pose) are excellent for tummy toning.
• Don’t forget the lower ab workout. Crunches only hit the upper abs. While these won’t kill the fat themselves, these exercises are great to create a calorie deficit for fat loss, while working the lower ab muscles: Leg Raises, Hip Lifts, Reverse Crunches and Scissors
• Water! Drink 8 to 10 glasses of water… this is not counting your workout time hydration. Without hydration, the body isn’t able to effectively digest, metabolize and flush out the fats we consume.
• Accept that there are no shortcuts J

(For anyone considering liposuction, statistics show that without an active lifestyle and decent eating habits, all that lard is just going to come back.)

Keep Calm and Push Up

The push up. The press up. The dip. Call it what you like. It’s one of the best things your body will ever do. And one of the hardest to master, in the beginning. Particularly for us girls.

This single exercise shapes the shoulders, triceps and butt while strengthening the chest. And incinerates calories. Win-win.

Us ladies, we’re perfectionists. We’d rather not do a push up, than do it all wrong. So here’s a rough guide to how we can rock ‘boy’ pushups and make them look good!

1.     Start with wall pushups. Graduate to counter pushups. (Wall pushups are killer for the calves too) This will make your upper body stronger and prepare you for the full push up. To start with, do as many as you can before you fatigue. Then set a goal. Take breaks but complete your set.

  Wall or Counter Pushups: Hands wider than shoulders. Lift your heels and drop your chest towards the wall. Push the wall away to return. Drop heels. Repeat. 

2.     Next try knee pushups: Form is everything. Keep your hips low and pushed forward. Anything else is cheating. Complete your pre-determined set. (If you need, get help with your form. I've posted some pictures, but you can't see yourself when you're belting out a set. Your body needs to learn what the correct posture 'feels' like.)

  Knee Pushups: Keep your hips low and forward. Drop your chest between your elbows. Press the ground away to return. Repeat. 

3.     Alternate between knee and full push ups: Try a full push up. Even 1 is great. Get on to your knees and complete your pre-determined set. ALWAYS complete your set.

  Full Pushups: Hips are low. Belly is braced in. Hands are wider than shoulders. Keep the chin tucked in. Drop chest down. Keep the elbows in towards the body, and not flying outwards. Press the ground away to return. Repeat. 

4.     Before you know it, you’ll be doing more full push ups than knee pushups. Keep training till you reach the goal you set for yourself. After that… there’s no turning back.

As a former fearer of pushups, I know now that our bodies are much stronger than we think. And the ‘f**k-yeah’ feeling you’re left with, every time you achieve a milestone, is so much better than any pain or soreness you’ll ever feel.

And to my friend who wants to hit 35 pushups by 35, I’m rooting for you J

*Pictures courtesy different websites I researched and Google baba. I don't own any of them :)