Dare I Eat That!

"You are what you eat'! This adage couldn't be truer and I very recently witnessed a very compelling testimony of this. After my kids and I left to India, for about four weeks DH cut out rice, sugar and bread completely and stuck to a diet of different kids of vegetable and fruit salads most of the time. Salad dressings were used minimally and even cheese was not included. He has been eating oatmeal regularly for breakfast for the last couple of years. Barring a couple of work lunches, he followed this regimen quite strictly. He worked  most of the time and didn't exercise. At the end of the four weeks he got his blood work done and the results were stellar. His total cholesterol and all other parameters- LDL, HDL, VLDL which had been not so great in the past, were all now spectacular, I couldn't be happier. In particular triglycerides ( healthy range < 150) which had been almost 350 previously had dropped down to 105.
       The day after his blood draw, he went for a week long official trip to the east coast. During this time, most of his meals were with coworkers and he could not adhere to his diet rules of the past month. Soon after he traveled to India and ate to his heart's content for two weeks. Half the time we ate at restaurants and even home meals were mostly special occasion fare-  sweets, fried snacks and delicacies were the staple for 2 weeks. For two days we stayed at a resort where we had sumptuous buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
As we were talking about how much we have been eating and what an assault we've dealt on our stomachs, DH kept exclaiming that his weight and cholesterol numbers may all have been sabotaged by this endless feasting. I replied saying , 'Why don't you just go get your blood work done again? If 4 weeks of careful eating can produce wonderful results, let's just see what 3 - 4 weeks of binge eating can bring!'. He initially dismissed it but actually went ahead. It was exactly one month since the previous time he got his tests done. As expected most numbers had moved south in varying amounts from the initial healthy figures. The triglycerides had shot up to a shocking 210 from 105. Without undermining the importance of physical activity, it was really eye popping to see the immediate effects that diet can have on one's health. That refined, processed food, sugary treats, white rice and white bread, oily salty snacks can wreak absolute havoc on one's system in such a short time, taking the triglyceride numbers up by a whooping 100 points was astounding to me. Whether good results can be gotten in as short a time as four weeks or not for most folks, worsening one's numbers is neither too hard nor does it take much time. Now I am scared as hell to go have my numbers tested!

(S)motherhood in motherland!

Long time, no blog!!!!
Phew! Just saw my previous post is dated Dec 2011.
Unlike ever before I am on an extended break in India with both kids who are enjoying their time with both sets of grandparents. With two kids it's hardly a vacation. I find myself only doing my everyday parenting duties and then some - heat rashes, some 90 odd minute lunch sessions, meltdowns and tantrums, nursing and pumping, poo-poo and pee-pee calls that come just as I finally sit down to take a bite, a clingy infant, a highly self-willed toddler - managing my kids all by myself sans my spouse is proving more difficult than I initially imagined. I have a lot of help from family members, but kids and their issues mostly get relegated to mom. A few family get-togethers and social gatherings have given me some change and the kids some fun. Managing kids at two different age levels round the clock is extremely challenging. The emphasis is on 'round the clock'.
       With great difficulty I put my little one to sleep and in less then fifteen minutes, a loud cry of  'bendekayi, urlikayi, carrot, tomato...' from an enthusiastic vegetable vendor has him sitting upright blinking. It starts with milk in the early morning and then flowers, tender coconuts, corn cobs, vegetables, fruits, greens etc go in a procession almost through mid-day. Then comes the ice cream truck ringing his bell more persistently and moving more slowly in front of houses with little kids like ours. Couriers and sales people selling everything from kashmiri carpets to household cleaning products join in. And the odd alms seeker with a ear splitting gong accompanied by a bull excites my daughter so much, she waits with a coin jumping excitedly while he's still four houses away.
These days every time we visit a relative's house, at a chosen moment DD will come and whisper with hot air into my ears ' I want to change into my paavadai and blouse, and perform a dance now. Come change me'.  This happens when she receives a gift of  pavadai or is already attired in traditional wear. And this comes when I am in the midst of a diaper change or consoling a wailing DS or some such difficult time. No amount of explaining with words and quick eye movements are of any help. Before I can sigh, she'll run into a bedroom in the host's house. I uneasily explain this sudden entertainment activity to the perplexed folks. The generous hosts are happy to play audience. DD also insists I carry out the duty of announcing aloud ' And now a dance performance by .....' .  At this, she comes sashaying out and breaks out into some funky combination of classical dance, indian film dance and some general monkeying around accompanied by gibberish that she sings herself. It's amusing and I sometimes find myself smiling even amidst my acute distress. I turn my head to see DS perched on my waist ready to put a small jasmine flower (that he has somehow plucked when pulling my hair) into his toothless mouth, I react swiftly by wresting it out of his fingers, he launches into an alaap adding music to his sister's performance!
       After all this is resolved, as I make some convo with the hostess in their kitchen or when I just emerge out of a bedroom after feeding or changing DS - I turn to see DD reaching for a delicate figurine in their living room/ carelessly handling a glass cup of juice/ reaching for a sofa cushion with fingers stained in chocolate mess!!!!!!!!!!  I am subjected to so much stress I need to get my blood pressure checked. Night sleep is punctuated by shrill nightmare cries and waking up for feeds. There's even an owl atop a high rise building close by that hoots at all odd times in the night.
    Just like how the japanese  keep a shark in their fishing tanks to keep the fish alive and fresh, these everyday challenges drive me to the brink of insanity and bring me back leaving no room for boredom to set in. Without sounding cheesy, I must say - when I see them fast asleep in disorderly positions with hardly any reasonable room for me to lie down, I do feel that time is fleeting and this phase will be over sooner than I'd like it to!  The harder I tighten the grip of my fist, the more the golden sands of time slip through the cracks!
Happy mother's day!