So it’s almost 3 months since I embarked on my “get-my-life-back-on-track” resolutions and there have been a few changes since then. I’m not going to lie they were definitely quite challenging, but some were strangely much easier to do than others. I have the least amount of will power than anyone I know.

1. Still moving that booty

This has been the most fun for me as I didn’t realise how much I missed spinning till I got back into it. I moved to do a more intensive class which absolutely kills, but I definitely feel great after the class. Getting my behind there is a bit more difficult, but once I get there half the battle has been won. The best thing to do to keep you motivated is to get yourself a gym buddy because then neither of you want to disappoint the other by not showing up.

I do an intense class of spinning once a week (twice a week if I’m lucky) depending on my work shifts. Spin is more than just cycling on a bicycle, you do resistance training and it’s intense cardio that definitely gets the heart rate up. Different trainers do different classes, I’ve been for ones that focus on high hill training and I’ve been for ones that even include arm weights whilst you cycle – this requires a bit of co-ordination. The classes I take are Rs.700/- for a 50 minute class and because the class I go for is quite in demand, I need to book the class online atleast 1 week prior.

2. The quest for flawless skin

I have become scarily addicted to skin care and spent numerous hours researching and scrolling youtube to find skin care products that will suit my skin type. One of my favourite you tubers who has my skin tone (we use the same MAC and fenty beauty foundation shades) is Deepica Mutyala. Going through a lot of her videos has helped me find some products that suit my combination skin tone. She also just launched a company and website focused at us “tinted” girls called livetinted.com. Her slogan is “my skin is not a trend” and her aim is to make a platform where all girls of different colours can find shades that would match their skin tone.

I try very hard to stick to my morning and night routine, but yes I am only human and so I do fall short sometimes. My morning shifts start at 7 am and so to cleanse, tone, apply essence and spf that early is a bit of a task that requires extra effort on my behalf. My night routine takes a bit longer and if I’m doing a night shift this does not happen because I have no time to cleanse, tone, apply essence, serum and a moisturizer (plus I use a face massage – yes I am that extra!), so only the 1st two steps get done really. My main issue was hyper pigmentation caused by mosquito bites that I’ve scratched and by threading/plucking too much. After implementation of my skin care routine, I can honestly say that my skin feels and looks much healthier. Even my fiancé who sees me almost everyday began to complement my skin and says he notices a difference now that I’ve actually started cleaning my face (the shame, I know). My facialist also has been amazed by the reduction in the size of my pores and that my sun spots have reduced in size so I haven’t been scolded by her for this whole year!

I will be blogging soon about my daily skin care routine including all the products I now swear by for clearer skin.

3. Going green is so good

Who’d have thunk it? I actually love vegetarian food. I do have at least one vegetarian day a week, but in addition to this I’ve started actively having more vegetarian meals during the week. Soft tofu, jackfruit, okra, eggplant and beans are my favourite – especially when curried. I’ll be uploading my favourite tofu curry recipe soon.

I tried a juice cleanse – which is you basically don’t eat any food all day and only drink the juices given to you. 3 days prior to cleansing it is recommended that you wean yourself off all heavy carbs, coffee and alcohol. Big challenge! Let’s just say my will power is crap and I had really bad withdrawals (headaches) so halfway through I had to stop. So do it with caution and remember it’s more a mental battle than a physical one.

4. Fasting cannot come faster

So interval fasting has also been a bit of a challenge especially because of my need for coffee. I basically try to eat before 8:00 p.m. and then only have lunch around 12:00 noon so then it’s 16 hours done. My coffee addiction though is quite challenging because I genuinely feel like I cannot function without it and so I do have my morning coffee. Black coffee is too strong for me and also gives me headaches so I have to take milk with my coffee. For me it’s easier to interval fast on days that I do day shifts, because my mornings are so busy with ward rounds in both the NICU and postnatal ward that I don’t feel hungry and only end up having my meals after 12:00 noon.

My nutritionist bestie did tell me however that there is no point doing it just a few times a week because you need to condition your body into changing and this isn’t going to happen if you keep going back to eating normally. This is still challenging for me though so I do not do it more than 2-3 times a week.

So as you can tell, I’ve done pretty well with my resolutions, but it’s still a challenge and I have to motivate myself to do it. I do feel better and healthier though so I don’t feel like I will want to go back. Plus it’s lent and I’ve sworn off all sweets (except once when I had to do a cake testing to decide on my wedding cake flavour!). I’ll do a 6 month update when the time comes, wish me luck!