Srishti Kumari

Tag: healthy choices

  • Show Up

    Because You Need To

    Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

    Sometimes, you only need to show up. Yes, that’s it. Just show up. Show up, because you owe that to yourself. No matter when your day starts and when it ends, show up for that one thing, for at least that one hour you need to.

    Many times, we don’t need inspiration or motivation, but momentum – the one thing that makes you sit and do your work, and get it done without thinking much about your relevance in this universe. Yep, it’s true!

    And I have started quietly loving this version of mine (very recent though), and my loved ones, where they have such clarity of their goals that whatever happens throughout the day, including the emotional ups and downs, they show up. They just show up when they are required to without any fuss.

    You want to read more? Read a few pages, or just a single page every day from any book you want to read and explore. Just one page every day. I’m pretty sure you have that much time.

    You want to write more? Do you feel like you have nothing to write when you sit in front of your laptop? Fine. Start with how your day has been so far. Just start it. Scribble the story, and finish your rough draft. Now you have a draft ready to edit and publish later.

    I know, you have 100s of ideas, headlines, storylines, and content pieces saved in your Google Docs, in your Notes, in your LinkedIn and Instagram saves, and in your Medium and Substack reading list. Oh, and the one in your private WhatsApp chat (with yourself)!

    My dear writing friend, I know you have all of these, and you still wait for inspiration. You need action. Just start scribbling that one blog piece, and the story will come to you. Show up for the sake of your sanity. Please!

    Has health gone downhill? Want to be fitter and more confident? Then show up. Move your body. Outdoor walk, indoor walk, walk on treadmill, deep breathing exercises, basic beginner-level cardio & strength training, dance workout – do anything in the world you can do.

    Just do it. Do it at least for half an hour 4 times a week. It won’t give you a celebrity-like figure, but it will break your inertia, your initial resistance, your lifelong wait for motivation, and you will finally feel the process happening through you.

    When a few pages read every day brings you to page no 300 in a 400-page book, or when even 30 minutes of everyday walk builds your discipline and mental strength to keep going on in this journey ahead within a month, then you actively start to focus on the momentum, not motivation.

    Yes, motivation is important. But choosing to do the things that move the needle, that’s a game-changer. And I can say this from my experience that sometimes doing less is more – just make sure that you show up for the things that get you into the flow you need to be in.

    Inspirational content is superb to watch, but small changes made every day, out of clarity and intention, can inspire like a dozen motivational talks can never.

    I hope you got my point.

    Note: This piece was originally written for my LinkedIn post, but it exceeded the character limit, as you can see, so I edited and shortened my LinkedIn post a bit, and this is the original version.

    I hope you found it useful.

  • Outdoor Walks Have Their Own Place

    In my heart somewhere.

    Photo by Emma Simpson on Unsplash

    Really, walking outdoors is fun. It’s actually great. And if the weather outside is amazing, then one should take full advantage of it.

    Yesterday evening, after many days, in fact months, I went on the terrace for my evening walk. The weather was great. The air was a bit breezy. And I had a good half an hour walk.

    I enjoyed my walk a lot more than I usually enjoy my regular treadmill walks indoors. And the difference was really something big. I could feel my whole body moving differently and a bit more freely compared to my straight standing posture on the treadmill.

    Sure, I do enjoy my treadmill walks, and I have been continuously walking on a treadmill for the past two months or so, almost every day. It’s great. It helps me to have the proper sweaty walk and great cardio. But the outdoors is also fun.

    And I have decided that now winter has almost ended, so I am going to have a mix of both types of walk in my everyday life. I think it’s going to be more interesting, fun, and beautiful.

    I am excited for my outdoor walks. What about you? Don’t wait too much. Spring is in its full charm right now. Go, have a walk outside. It’s good for your health and longevity. Don’t think too much now. Just put on those shoes and go. You will enjoy it.

    Happy walking. Happy living.

    Take care.

  • Home-cooked meals

    And my love for them

    Photo by Abhishek Sanwa Limbu on Unsplash

    I am noticing one thing. As I am growing older, I am more and more inclined towards home-cooked meals. For me, now, the Ghar ka khana is ultimate heaven.

    Although since childhood I have been that kid who used to eat home-cooked meals only, and chips, biscuits, icecreams, or samosas were the things of the weekend. I was never that kid with a junk food habit.

    But there was one more thing. I was also not the one who used to eat ghar ka khana happily. Actually, till age 8, I can remember I was the kid whose parents really struggled to feed her. I was very thin, usually sick, and an underweight kid then. Mummy papa tried many things, but it just didn’t work. I hated eating veggies and used to throw them in the dustbin. I had no liking for any fruit as such. Daal I didn’t like, roti, and rice I used to eat with a little oil and salt. Yeah, that was me. And bread? I used to like bread, jam, or bread with ghar ki malai then.

    Mumma papa got me a few medicinal syrups so that I can feel hungry and eat proper meals, but that wasn’t very helpful either. Yes, samosa, maggie, noodles, icecream, chocolates, chips were all my occasional friends then. Occasionally means once a week or every two weeks here.

    I was 8 when I got admitted to my hostel in Banasthali in the 4th standard. It was the year 2005.

    There, things started changing. We had fixed meal times, and we had to reach our mess on time for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. We used to take our plates, and our wardens used to serve us the meals. There, I started eating healthily. I don’t know what it was! Was that the effect of community, because we used to go together for our meals, sit with each other, eat and talk, and sometimes talk a lot and eat while we talked? I don’t know!

    I kind of started eating like a healthy kid. The hatred for veggies took a bit of time to go, and it had to go because there I couldn’t throw my food in the dustbin so easily. I had to finish my food properly. And then, the variety of food, the taste, the menu was fortunately very good in my hostel. Sure, the hostel food goes through its own share of downs, but those few days were nothing compared to the tasty meals we had and enjoyed during our hostel days.

    I developed my liking for eating healthy and normal ghar ka khana because of my hostel days. I know it might sound ironic to many of you, but it’s true in my case. My health got better. I went from an underweight kid to a healthy BMI girl over time, and it stayed very well during all those years there.

    Then, after coming to Delhi for my college studies, I naturally became inclined towards ghar ka khana as I started living with my parents. And then, I kind of started admiring and loving Mumma’s specialities more and more. I remember those were the days when I used to think that I had missed a lot of my mumma’s food, and now I am going to make up for all those years. Yes, I used to eat in my college canteen as well, and that was the time when I fell in love with momos, but ghar ka khana had become the ultimate satisfaction by then.

    Today, I am not living in my hostel or with my mom permanently, but one thing I am grateful for is that I have fairly developed the taste and a lot more liking for ghar ka healthy and tasty khana. And honestly, I am grateful for this liking.

    Yes, I do have my KFC chicken burger, momos, and chocolates, and cakes, but I have intentionally brought them to a few cheat meals or day outs in a month. They are occasional. Ghar ka khana is the regular thing for me.

    I hope more and more people start including more home-cooked meals in their lives. I know it’s not easy every time. Especially when you are not good at cooking, it is difficult. And many times, you have a time crunch as well. However, taking a step towards making this happen is a hundred percent worth your time. I have no doubt about it.

    Give it a try, my friend.

    Eat healthily. Live happily.

    Take care.

  • I Actually Forgot

    That, it’s happening!

    Photo by Arek Adeoye on Unsplash

    Sometimes life surprises you not by sending you a gift, but by reminding you of a gift you once prayed for. You got it, and it has become so natural that you almost forgot it.

    While scrolling on my phone, I saw a YouTube short. The theme was around heavy thigh girlies and their everyday dresses, clothing, and lifestyle choices centred around the theme.

    You know what, after a few seconds, I remembered how my PCOD and unusual weight gain had made me a heavy, fatty thigh girl, and how, for the first time in my life, I felt my inner thighs rubbing against each other. And this was not a very happy feeling for me. This change was something very unusual that I faced in my late twenties, around two years ago.

    And I remember the days when I wanted to get rid of the experience of my inner thighs rubbing against each other. I had PCOD, weight gain, tiredness, and a lot of unusual fatigue. And being a no-gym, no regular exercise girl made the change a bit more difficult on a personal level.

    But I started doing one thing. I incorporated walking. Simple walk. Evening walks on my terrace — anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour, and I continued this religiously for several months. For several months, I used to wear my lower and a t-shirt, put on my shoes, and head on to my terrace with the smartwatch on my wrist.

    No pressure. No specific goals. Just a decision to move my body. Preferably to walk, because I find it very easy, simple, and doable on most days.

    And now, after the more or less regular walks, continuously for more than one and a half years, my slim-fit high waist jeans that once stuck around my thighs and I had left any hope of wearing that again, fitted me beautifully just like before.

    I was surprised, and shocked at the same time! I kid you not when I am saying this. I wasn’t expecting this change at all. I had given up on my favourite jeans.

    Results like these compel you to stick to your seemingly very simple habits every day. And it has made me more aware of the benefits of simple habits like this in our everyday lives.

    Starting small, keeping it simple, making it fit in our schedule very easily, showing up with a lot of love and care we deserve from ourselves, and enjoying the process along the way. This mindset shift brings the desired transformation.

    Getting properly in my old high-waisted jeans and not feeling the inner thighs rubbing at every step are only two visible changes. Walking has also made me positive, optimistic, creative, and reflective in beautiful ways.

    Walking kept me alive. It keeps me alive.

    Try walking. You will naturally start to feel the physical, mental, emotional, and your creative health and well-being only getting better and better without any noise, pressure, strict diets, gym workouts, and calorie counts.

    Happy living.

    Happy walking.