On Board the S.S. Healthrow

You may be wondering with a title like that, I may be writing a post on my latest travel escapade, probably on a luxury cruise liner, sipping champagne on the deck, the ship steady on the lapping blue deep, south of the Pacific… well, I could totally make one up but it remains a dot on my calendar – a possible future vacation.

S.S. here stands for several things and how YOU perceive it.

A little bit of Soul Searching

… Getting in Ship Shape

…….Syncing Synergies

…………Collecting Salvation Sundries

My journey has been on the S.S. deck for a while (and in retrospect, for all 4 meanings). It has seen me transition from Heal & Throw to the indisputable Health Row.

Heal and throw was a cycle. I hopped on – hopped off innumerable flights (metaphorically as you will see) in the past. Travelling within India, from our vibrant coastal regions, to the royal State, to the North and South, and going beyond our borders to South East of Asia and the West, finally landing up in L.A. where I seem to have a bit of a breather. Yes 99% of the travel did involved food and wine. Well in my line of work it is a stagnant feature. I was constantly binging, messed up my thoroughly chalked out schedule with endless nights of debauchery, one which I had promised to curtail on speeding past every birthday.

I am not regretting any choices I made professionally and am currently part of. The media world fuses with the food world quite easily for me and my excursions are usually aboard kitchens, bars, new openings, old ones renewed, conferences, conclaves, friends, family and … more cooking to feed! This world is an entertaining as it is absorbing and you can easily lose yourself in a black hole of extravagant indulgences, heady consumption’s and exaggerated no-sleep cycles.

At one point it was all consuming, I was running my blog, my contributions to publishing houses, my consultancy, collaborations, my engagement with every possible brand opening (PR, New Restaurateurs, Old Chef Friends, FAM trips… ) and working a 9 to 9 which left me no time to squeeze in a self-introspection on what all of this was doing to my body. I had stopped going to the gym (with excuses from not being able to find time to a sedentary lifestyle, to traffic… well traffic is a valid one!) and let alone slowing my metabolism, I was surreptitiously building in me what we call today ‘lifestyle diseases’.

By mid-year last, I was visiting doctors and having blood drawn just as much as I was parking myself behind the bar of a visiting Michelin star brand bartender and downing blood red Negroni’s.

I had been handling this lifestyle since 9 years like a pro. So why was the body suddenly cowering and reacting by driving thoughts to ‘stop’ either mentally or physically? With a few repeat experiences it dawned on me to retrace my steps a bit and introspect. I was healing myself and then throwing it all away.

Yes, I did go to the gym for a month (but the darned traffic got the better of me) and heard of fad diets from intermittent fasting, to keto, to cleanses and yoga retreats. It was overwhelming and I started to think that either I would have to give up my career or do something drastic to change things around and keep it.

The one thing I learnt when I used to park myself in L.A. was routine. Everything worked like clockwork for me. There were fun moments, family moments, discovering F&B spaces and writing, having time to cook, eat clean, work-out and go to bed early.

It was fixed, meditative and meaningful. It was disciplined.

When I would return from my travels, it would be back to chaos. I started changing by slowly containing my desire to be a part of every single engagement which came my way. If I was reviewing a cocktail showcase I would keep a teaspoon in hand and taste from every offering, If I was part of a 20 coursed meal, I would apologize to the chef right at the very first course saying I do this day-in and day-out and if I could be pardoned from finishing his/her beautifully plated portions. In most cases I would just purely decline a visit. I learnt to say No, even though it was at the cost of losing a probable story or an experience.

It was too late by the time the changes were started. I have been popping pills to un-do my wrongdoings and discomfort in several situations are inevitable due to the damage. I do make it sound worse off than what it may be, but this is certainly not what I had envisioned myself to be in my 30’s, well at least health wise.

I have come to terms with my body in the past few weeks from now. I am yet not satisfied but inculcated habits which are good for the soul, mind and body. I am yet to step into the beautiful world of yoga but that requires some perseverance from me. I have managed to set a routine, get back to working out (rigorously), gone vegetarian, the alcohol content in my body is akin to a drop in the ocean (in other words ‘occasional’ and never alone), eating anything remotely packaged is a treat and pretty much been on the ‘health row’.

This has been an on and off situation for me, I hope I can sustain this for a bit; it will hopefully bring me back in control. This habit should keep me going for many years indeed.

Sailing on the S.S. Healthrow has brought about a routine diet too. I am not for fads, don’t get me wrong. I am more of a traditionalist when it comes to eating. I don’t restrict myself from anything but choose to pick something healthier over a worse off to keep me sated. I tend to overeat less (portion control), keep a fitness app active (rewiring my brain) and do not yield to temptation as often as I used to (bread!).

My mother used to regale us with stories of her Portuguese rule days in Goa, where ‘supper’ was porridge and a slice of bread. Meals were calculated yet hearty and she used to be in the pink of health from the photographs I have seen (still is!). I started this Soup & Salad (yes the 5th S.S.) #nonchalantdinner every evening. While some are great, some turn out to be the real deal (especially since I am always looking out for protein strong vegetarian meals). Here are two (a double whammy while we are at it) combination of soup and salad which is packed with nutrients, vital ones at that and are delicious.

Pink Lentil Ribbon Salad

A delicious medley of cooked pink lentils, garden vegetables and zucchini noodles in a powerful zest riddled mint dressing.

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry Pink Lentils (Masoor) – soaked overnight
• 1 Cucumber
• 12 Green Olives
• 1 Zucchini

For the dressing

• ¼ cup Olive Oil
• 15 Mint Leaves
• 1 Lemon Juice Squeezed
• 2 Tsp Lemon Zest
• 1 Garlic smashed
• 1 tsp Honey
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Method

• Whisk all the ingredients for the dressing well and keep refrigerated until ready to use
• Boil the soaked lentils in hot salted water (4 cups), cover and cook till they are tender and squish when they are pressed.
• Cool the lentils and toss in sliced cucumber & sliced olives.
• Either ribbon the zucchini or if you have a vegetable ‘noodling’ machine, noodle it up.
• Pour and toss some of the dressing on the zucchini noodles / ribbons and place at the bottom of a salad bowl /plate. Toss the rest of the dressing with the lentils and spoon onto the zucchini. Serve Chilled.
• (if you serving it later, prep the zucchini a-la-minute as it can get watery)

Pear Bourbon Soup

A family favourite, I usually love blending obscure combination of ingredients and this one turns out to be a flavor packed ‘surprise’. No one will be able to guess the core ingredient once it’s served up.

Ingredients

• 4 Anjou Pears
• 2 cups Vegetable Stock
• ½ cup Almonds (soaked and peeled)
• 2 stalks Celery
• 1 small Onion (chopped fine)
• 6-8 stalks Fresh Thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablsp Bourbon (optional, but adds a nice vanilla-banana sweetness)
• Salt
• Pepper

Method

• Chop up the pears into large cubes, set aside (leave the skins on)
• Boil stock along with bay leaves and thyme, once boiling add all the ingredients except the bourbon and seasoning.
• Boil covered till the pears have gone soft.
• Puree the Pear soup mixture in a blender and strain into the soup pot.
• Toss in the bourbon and salt and pepper. Serve hot with some caramelized pear cubes if desired.

The combination of a fresh minted zesty lentil salad along with this sweet-savory soup will keep your hunger pangs sated and your calorie intake in check.

This little write up was not to entice you to have a meal plan like mine. I am a strong believer that each body functions differently. While you may have a straightforward way of using the expertise of a nutritionist to keep healthy or have your trainer wake you up at an unearthly hour, my cardinal rule for staying healthy is:-

• Eat what you grew up eating. If you grew up with rice as your main diet, then rice is something which is a staple and it suits your body. Your body is used to what you ate when it was getting bigger. Your body is what you eat.
• Portion control. We live in a world of extravagance. When I go out to eat in USA, contrary to 10 years back when everyone would order their own meal (no sharing portions), today, restaurants – food vendors don’t find it odd that a meal is shared between two people. Family style is in. Also taking smaller portions in your plate helps tenfold.
• WORKOUT! There is no substitute for this. And no ‘oh I walked (read: strolled) a mile and a half today’. Push yourself and get tired.
• Sleep and wake up early. No questions asked. (Yes a Saturday night out is doable). And for heaven’s sake shut off the phone in the night.
• Yoga – now while I may not have yet got into it, I have several friends and family who are totally into it, and they swear by it. Plus I have seen results unfold before my eyes. This could also mean learning a few basics and practicing it yourself. I do a 10 minute session before stepping out of my room (breathing exercise mostly) while sneaking in a little prayer (divine intervention is good for your soul).
• Both in Mumbai & USA, my beds have a window right behind. I sleep with the window blinds open and let the sun wake me up. The dawn light is therapeutic, not to mention, the very essential Vitamin D. Human skin can make large amounts of vitamin D when lots of skin is exposed and the sun is high in the sky. Your body is designed to get the vitamin D it needs by producing it when your bare skin is exposed to sunlight. The sun does its job it’s slowly cooking up that Vitamin D as you wake from your good night’s sleep. All of us bozos are Vitamin D deficient because of our lifestyle.
• Carb is not your enemy but processed bread is. I remember going off bread for a bit when I had hit 81 Kgs (that was a totally out-of-body experience) and written about my experience on a previous post Earn Your Bread (ironically with a bread recipe, lol!). Sneak in a burger, its ok.
• Live life with positivism. It is a tough world out there and this has got to be the most difficult sense to imbibe. Well, I shall leave this particular topic for another post; this is altogether a totally different spectrum of thought.

This image was shot by a good friend – Amrita Rana. She’s as passionate a foodie and cook as I am and shoots for a living. She too had evolved with her eating habits when we shot this, and yes she has turned vegetarian. View her work on her blog : Life Ki Recipe