The Brunette Diaries

Healthy lunch options for working women

You are a working woman who is pressed for time as you juggle your domestic life and your professional one. At times, you do not have enough time to cook luxurious meals to take to work for lunch, and finally end up spending money to buy food from your office cafeteria or hotels. But can this be an everyday affair? No; right? Home-cooked meals are always the best as it is healthy and nutritious, and cooked as per your preferences. So, here are a few healthy lunch options that can help to save time as well as provide healthy amount of nutrition and your choice of taste.

Salad

If you are someone who watches weight, then salad is a good option. Chopping a few onions, tomatoes, carrots, cucumber and coriander, and mixing them with boiled corn, a pinch of salt and few drops of lemon can be an easy early morning recipe. You can even add legumes and mushrooms to the salad. This big bowl of salad with your favourite veggies can provide you with the necessary vitamins and minerals. If dicing these vegetable can be hectic during mornings, you can chop them the previous night and store in the refrigerator. All you have to do when you wake up is to mix and pack them.

Roti roll

There are many easy sabzi recipes that can go well with rotis. You can make chapati dough the previous night and store in the refrigerator. The next day, you can make the chapatis and a quick sabzi and pack your lunch. Alternatively, you can stuff the sabzi inside the roti and roll it. While eggetarians can make scrambled eggs, non vegetarians can opt for chicken sausage roll.

Dal rice

Dal rice is one of the most favourite food combinations in India. It does not require too much effort and is easy to cook. You can mix dal with rice and pack as one, rather than carrying both in different lunch containers. Remember to mix extra dal to avoid drying up of your lunch.

Vegetable pulao

Pulao is a mix of rice with veggies and few spices, and can be cooked easily. You can chop some veggies the previous night and store them in the refrigerator to keep them fresh. There are many ways of cooking pulao, but an easier option would be to cook the raw vegetables along with spices and rice together.

Idlis

Idlis are a south Indian speciality cooked by steaming rice batter. Best combinations for idlis are chutneys. There are a variety of options; but, coconut or peanut chutneys can be made easily when you are in a hurry for your day’s work. Pack a couple of idlis along with any chutney and your lunch for the day is ready.

Stuffed parathas

If making the batter/dough and chutney/sabzi separately is a tough job, stuffed parathas are a good option. When you are preparing the chapati dough, you can mix spinach and roll it to make palak (spinach) paratha. You can also combine potato, paneer, radish and onions to the dough to make the respective paratha. In this way you don’t lose out on your veggies as well as a home-cooked lunch. Stuffed parathas can be combined with curd or pickles.

Now, can you give yourself a reason to not pack lunch from home?

Dos and don’ts of office romance

People often fall in love with someone with whom they spend hours on end, and share the same passion as them. Office is one such place where spending long hours bring two people close to each other. If you already like a person at your workplace, it is important for you to know certain dos and don’ts. Nobody wants to end up with a broken heart or join the list of unemployed people because of their carelessness.

Don’t pounce on married people

You might be attracted to a colleague who is married and you may even find him/her best suited for you. But leave this man/woman alone. It is important to hold on to the principle of not breaking a marriage for selfish reasons. Fancying someone and trying to own someone are two different things. You can fancy anyone and everyone in your imaginations, but you cannot have them in real life. So, better keep the idea of dating a married colleague at bay.

Cautious flirting

Flirt cautiously. Others could be watching you!

It is important to make sure you keep your desires behind closed doors. Brushing past the person or giving away broad smiles even for a lame joke lets the cat out of the bag. Remember that you are not the only one at work. Your colleagues can easily notice your unexpected enthusiasm for only one person. You should never create such unwanted speculative atmosphere; it brings you close to being the topic of office gossip, not love.

Look forward to responses

There is no point if the flirting continues only from your side. Unless you get a response you will not be able to confirm the feeling to be mutual. Try becoming friends with that person. Many people put on their friendly mask at office, so it is likely that the person might not even notice your existence at work. Therefore, laying the foundation by making yourself visible is essential.

Beware of your company law

Each company has its own policies, which is why it is crucial for you to know your company rules and regulations. The last thing you want is to lose your love and job at the same time. Allegations of misconduct can be made. Therefore, read the contract thoroughly before you end up in trouble.

Don’t indulge in lustful sessions at office

Keep your sexual encounters away from the office

There could be some rooms in your office that are vacant more often than not. This does not give you the liberty of using that room for your sexual escapedes. What if someone enters the room during one of your sexual encounters? You wouldn’t want a random colleague, or anyone for that matter, to see you offering your bosoms to your lover-colleague, right? Also, avoid stealing a kiss or using the parking lot for momentary pleasure. These are all risky, especially in a professional environment. So, keep your passion in control when you are in office.

What if someone sees you stealing a kiss?

Are you the only one?

What is the guarantee that the person is not flirting with other colleagues as well? It is very easy for them to take advantage of their sex appeal and try flirting with multiple co-workers. Therefore, ensure that you are risking for the right person. No one wants to end up embarrassed for being fooled with false emotions. Confirm each other’s love to be mutual with no other interference.

Get Fit In 15 Minutes!

Sometimes you don’t have all the time in the world to just take care of your fitness. Here we list for you a few easy 15-minute workouts that will make you look fabulous in no time.

Dumbbell sumo squat

If you want proper shaped legs, back, shoulders and also a great-looking posterior, this exercise will work wonders for you. Stand with your back straight, toes pointed out and your feet shoulder-width apart. Grab two dumbbells of equal weight in each hand. Squat down with arms extended keeping the lower back taut and upright. Keep on holding the pose for a few seconds before you lift yourself up to the starting position again. Repeat this process three times.

Burpee

If you are running short of time but need a full work out then this is the apt exercise for you. Stand straight. Then come to a complete squat down position with your hand placed in the front, and your knees near your chest. Now spring like a frog and push your legs behind as required for push-ups. Do a push-up and now go in the reverse order to reach back to the original standing position. This workout tones your arms, shoulders, legs and endurance. To reduce the difficulty level, you can avoid the standing part of the exercise.

The reverse plank

This exercise is much harder to do than it looks, but it is advantageous as it tones the abs, triceps and posterior muscles in your body. Sit down on the floor and place your palms beside your hips. Pressurize onto your heels (toes up) and palms to lift your frame. Keep your body in a straight line as you continue to look up to the ceiling and hold the position for 30 seconds. You might not be able to keep the straight position for more than two or three breathes in the beginning. It’s only normal!

You Can Dance To Lose Weight!

Are you one of those people who find hitting the gym or doing yoga boring? Are you looking out for an effective way of losing weight the fun way? Then, why don’t you try dancing! That’s right! Dancing works on the whole body – be it hands, legs, back, tummy. Moreover, you can choose a dance form that you’ll enjoy. Here we have a few dance styles that are popular for their calorie-burning, body toning characteristics.

Groove on Bollywood style

Bollywood dance is your Mecca if you love groovy numbers! Look no further than the Bollywood style of dancing to shed those extra kilos. Since this dance form is groovy and peppy, it is taking the world by rage. A combination of Bhangra with a little hip-hop and other modern Indian dances combine to form a pulsating session of workout.

Salsa for the lovebirds

There is nothing better if you have your beloved bucking you up at every step? Match him step-for-step while keeping him close as you both start on salsa lessons together. This dance form is perfect for keeping you fit. Through this you can meet new people or capture some memorable moments with your loved one. This cardio-intensive workout, with its many movements, will help you lose 10 calories by the minute. Thus, by the end of an hour, you would have lost an awesome 600 calories, and got some titillating moments with your loved one.

Go Zumba!

What about partying to lose weight and ditching your workout regime? Sounds interesting right? Add some spice to your daily workout schedules with Zumba. Imagine learning a little bit of salsa, calypso, belly dancing, samba and many such dance forms in just one amazing dance exercise. Zumba helps in cardio exercise blending all dance forms in one.

Put on your Ballerina shoes

Taking an inspiration from Black Swan? Make the best use of your ballerina shoes to good use and enroll in a ballet class. Improve your posture, get more flexible and build your hips, abdomen and thighs with this amazing dance form. Ballet definitely sounds more fun than lifting weights at your gym.

Bollywood celebs who went from flab to fab

A lean figure is something we all desire, and when we look at some Bollywood celebs, we tend to think they had it easy. Well, not always. Some stars had to work their asses off to tone down to look fab. Let us look at a few.

Alia Bhatt

This sexy chic was not always slender like in the movie ‘Student Of The Year’. She had to go on a weight loss spree to get rid of the excess weight. She lost an enormous 16 kilos before facing cameras for the movie! Quite an inspiration!

Sonam Kapoor

Even Anil Kapoor’s daughter did not get everything on a platter. She had to work out a lot to get the slim figure she enjoys today. She had to lose 30 kilos to slim down from her initial weight of whopping 90 kilos!

Adnan Sami

Singer Adnan Sami once needed a wheelchair to move around because his weight, at an unbelievable 230 kilos, was too much. That very man burned around 150 kilos to look fit and fab!

Parineeti Chopra

Having a cousin like Priyanka Chopra in the industry was motivation enough for Parineeti to try. However, she had to lose considerable amount of weight to get into the industry. Parineeti went from chubby to chic in about ten months of a strict diet, yet she was criticised for being shapeless. For months she was adamant that wouldn’t want to lose any more weight, but after constant criticism she finally gave in and restarted her weight loss regime.

Arjun Kapoor

Arjun initially looked nothing like the star he is today and his weight loss story was indeed a life transformation. He is now rated as one of the hottest Bollywood actors in the industry!

Kareena Kapoor

The actress who made size zero a trend in India wasn’t always slim! In fact, for her item number in ‘Don’ (2006), she was criticised for her inability to maintain her figure following which she took up the challenge and transformed!

Zarine Khan

This chubby actress lost weight before entering into the Bollywood circuit. She lost so much weight that Salman Khan even asked her to put on some weight for one of her movies!

Sonakshi Sinha:

Our very own Rajjo, Sonakshi Sinha never thought she can be an actress. She was quite on a heavier side and was planning to pursue her career in Fashion Designing. However, Salman Khan told the 90kgs Sonakshi to lose weight and enter Bollywood. She lost around 30 kilos in 2 years and became a perfect heroine to star opposite Salman in the film ‘Dabangg’.

Jackky Bhagnani:

Well, his six-pack-abs were the talk of the town when he made his debut in the film ‘Kal Kissne Dekha’. But, not many know that it took 2 years for Jackky to get that body. The actor was around 130kgs before he thought of making his acting debut.

Karan Johar:

Karan Johar is surely a great filmmaker, but if you would have seen him few years ago, you wouldn’t have recognized him. He was fat and weighed 120kgs. However, he decided to lose weight and you can see what he is right now.