Where’s the honey, honey?

“It never works! No matter how hard I try.”

My adamant brain argued with my hopeful heart.

My heart was the optimistic one, it believed I could lose those oodles of kilos I’d put on over the last few months. Thanks to the ghee laden Indian desserts, cream laden curries, the crunchy comforting packets of junk food and the deep fried non-vegetarian starters.

If only I had a control on my taste buds. I repent the countless times I convinced myself that this was the ‘One last bite’ I would have and ‘Will start dieting tomorrow’. Alas! Tomorrow never comes alas!

It’s not just about not eating, dieting is about eating the balanced healthy diet to match your body type and lifestyle. (And by balanced diet, having a chocolate donut in each hand does not count ;P )

Think about the countless number of diets you have tried. The Aktins, The Paleo, The Vegan, The Fruit, The Smoothie, The Juice, The detox… I could go on and on and you still wouldn’t lose a pound!

The science might put things into perspective that this particular diet maybe particularly beneficial for you, however, when you really go ahead and do the diet, things may not go ahead as planned. Crash dieting is not a healthy way to lose weight. In fact the fad that crash dieting is, does more harm than good. Crash dieting is said to be harmful for the skin and bones, causing one to lose essential nutrients that a body needs to function with.

So what is the answer?

One must remember, healthy eating is not a fad, it is a lifestyle.

Remember, the golden rule: don’t diet just to lose weight, lose the junk lifestyle and switch to a healthier lifestyle.

It took some time for me to understand this fact. Even switching to healthier substitutes for some foods that we crave for. Example: Oily junk food, Sugar, Refined flour, etc.

The healthier and sweeter alternative to sugar is honey. Whereas the healthier alternatives to oily food is baking, roasting them; for refined flour is using whole wheat flours.

Apparently one teaspoon of sugar amounts to almost 16 Kcal!

On researching on the net further, we can find many good healthy uses to honey. For instance, Dabur Honey’s website www.daburhoney.com that dedicates to the benefits of honey, not just as an additive, but as a use in various recipes that can bring out an interesting taste and flavour in the Honey Diet. If you’re thinking that it’s only desserts that will use honey, you might be in for a sweet surprise! And who has designed these sumptuous dishes? Why Michelin Starred Restauranteur and MasterChef Vikas Khanna of course!

I’ve incorporated the habit of adding honey into my green tea or lemon juice instead of using the granular white sugar.

I’m consciously switching to a healthier lifestyle. Are you?

Cricket - A sport that connects Indians

In a country like India, where cricket is synonymous to a religion, it is perhaps considered sacrilege to ignore a match that India is playing in.

Cricket is in the blood of perhaps every Indian in India or on the surface of the planet. Regardless you play the game or not, Sachin Tendulkar is the ‘God’ of the game called cricket. Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev are historically celebrated and Sourav Ganguly and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are worshipped – even the ground they walk on.

An India – Pakistan match ignites patriotic passion in every Indian to their motherland, regardless of whichever desolate corner of the world they maybe in.

The incessant discussions, the fantasy leagues, the pre-match analyses, discussion of the match tactics during the match, the post-match post mortem analyses, the name-calling, player heckling, jibe throwing behaviour that is a part and parcel of this addictive madness.

That is the power and magic of cricket. Truly a sport that unites.

I believe each Indian has a fond memory associated with this revered and celebrated sport.

For instance,

Do you remember going to your neighbours place and huddling up to the television set with your friends just to watch the match on Doordarshan?

Do you recall you and your sibling/s fighting over the television remote to keep cricket match over any daily soap or entertainment program? You may try to make peace by switching to the soap after a wicket has fallen.

Or imagine if you were in another country where cricket was only considered as an insect and there is an India – Pakistan match on. Imagine trying to dash out for countless ‘loo breaks’ in middle of an important business meeting and the collective look on your colleagues’ faces when you return smiling back into the room.

These little memories build up our nostalgia. However fond the memories are, we love the game to the core.

But these times are long gone.

Today’s fact paced life, every second counts – even the time spent on the video to load. For a person like me, waiting a couple of extra seconds for a page to load when on an important website can drive me to the edge. Yet when I watch cricket, I make sure I am updated with the game scores via real time on Twitter.

I just checked UC Browser that has this unique way to connect us to the game without missing out or losing our connect from our real game – LIFE.

By surfing fast and quicker, we not only enjoy watching and experiencing cricket but also don’t miss out on our daily tasks.

Moreover, for cricket fanatics a convenient space called UC Cricket helps to connect to the match wherever they are with features such a LIVE scores with auto updates. 

So say Goodbye countless loo breaks!