I read an interesting article about food. It talks about our obsession with "Fat-free" food.
We all want to be fit and healthy but we keep forgetting that we need fats also.
I think changing the focus from healthy food to nutritional food is what we all need. Well, thats my perspective on food.

I have been running for the past 11 years now and have been competing participating in races for the past 3 years. I have been obsessed with fitness for a while now. It is a big part of my identity and my lifestyle. I love every thing about it. It is a journey. I eat EVERYTHING. Crash diets are not for me and I realized that a long time ago. The fact that I have a sweet tooth does not help either.

I am at a stage in life where I need to lose a few kilos to improve my half marathon performance. I made some conscious decisions last year and the outcome has been great so far. I think I have hit the wall now. Some might argue that a runner does not have to do anything to lose weight because you know running does it for them. It is a myth. Running might help newbies in losing weight but for a seasoned runner (I am taking that liberty here) it gets difficult. Your body starts storing extra water, muscle weighs more than fat and all that jazz. The biggest challenge is that you are always hungry or what I like to call #rungry.

Last week I decided to take matters in to my hands. I have decided to go for a self imposed clean eating challenge. I know it is going to be super difficult but I gotta do what I have to do to reach my target and what better way than to blog about it?

So I will try and post recipes of my dinner. My days are smooth without any issues. I am very disciplined through the day. Sometimes I just go ballistic after my dinner and eat whatever I can. Stress eating is another one of my problems.

Some ground rules that I have set for myself are:

1. No Alcohol
2. No Refined Sugar
3. No substituting honey for sugar
4. No chocolates on rest days or easy workout days
5. Only 2 squares of chocolate allowed on heavy intensity days
6. No Junk food
7. No Biscuits (Another bad habit that I have recently picked up). Only 3 biscuits allowed on heavy intensity days
8. Ice cream only allowed if I am running more than 13Kms
9. Protein with every meal
10. Less portions and 7 meals in a day
11. Eat cheat meals every once in a while

So lets start from yesterday:

Mexican Bean Salad:

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Boiled red kidney beans
1 yellow pepper
1 shredded carrot
1 onion chopped
1 cup broccoli
1/2 cup baby corn
1/2 cup sweet corn
Garlic pods chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms finely chopped
Dried rosemary sprigs

Dressing
1 sweet lime freshly squeezed
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Soy Sauce
Pepper
Chilli Flakes
1 tsp Vinegar

Guacamole:
I used the standard Food Network recipe

Method:

In a pan heat a little oil and add chopped garlic pods and when garlic starts turning golden brown add mushrooms, rosemary sprigs and saute well.
Add yellow peppers and all the other vegetables one by one with broccoli at last.
Add beans and mix everything

Mix all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl, mix well and pour it in to the pan. Mix everything well.

Serve it with Guacamole..



Ciao..

I love food. No surprises there. When I talk about my love for food it is not just the eating bit that I appreciate. I love shopping for groceries (Which is mainly online these days) also. When I was in Germany I made sure I visited Farmers market every week for  fresh produce. I create and construct recipes in my head. I come up with ideas, pairing of ingredients and then the task of executing my idea. I do this everyday.

When I moved in with Archana and Deepal back in 2006 I realized the importance of cooking for oneself. Before that I was mainly dependent on tiffin services. Every now and then I hear people moan that they don't like cooking for one person. C'mon how could you not love yourself enough to go through that process. I love cooking and the numbers don't matter anymore. Thankfully fitness is a major part of my life and it has only helped me in my cooking and the choices that I make. Almost Everyday.

The other day I was talking to a friend when she suggested that I share recipes, ideas and tips that I use on a daily basis. She wanted me to bring together my two passions - cooking and fitness. Her suggestion made sense and I have decided to blog about that as well. Let's see how I get on with it.

So please go ahead, read and share your thoughts.. I have decided to kick-start this series with dressings and Sauces.  My preferences keep changing. It is quite a seasonal thing for me. My favorite five dressings/recipes these days are:



1. My favorite dressing these days is Sweet Lime Chilli Dressing
Method: One fresh lime freshly squeezed, 1 tablespoon dark Soy sauce, Chilli Flakes and 1 tsp Honey. Mix well and toss veggies in this dressing

2. Date and Tamarind Sauce: This is my latest obsession after Priyanka shared her dessert recipe with me. Her dessert was too good to be true so I flicked the idea for creating savory dishes.
Method: Soak tamarind and then extract the pulp, mix a tsp of Date sauce with chilli flakes and sea salt
It works really well with chicken

3. Orange-Yoghurt-Dill dressing: Squeeze a fresh orange (I used Mandarin) and mix it with thick yoghurt - 1/2 cup (store bought). Whisk well. Add Dil, Lots of Garlic, Salt and a bit of olive oil. It works like a charm and goes really well with chicken

4. Coconut Milk Dressing: Mix skimmed Coconut milk- 1 cup (I use - Homemade by Dabur), Soy sauce - 1 tbsp, chilli sauce - 1tbsp, Peanut butter - 1 tsp, Garlic- Finely chopped and mix well

5.Plum Sauce: I know I should posting about all things apple now. I am not yet done with Plums though. I love this fruit for the kind of variety that it offers.
Method: Chop plums and then caramalize them in a heavy bottomed pan and add soy sauce (1 tsp) and chilli flakes. It goes really well with chicken and can also be used for marination

What do you think? Yay or Nay?

Ciao..