Author: Aditi Malhotra
Marketing & Social Media Consultant | Content Writer & Columnist | Events & Wedding Planner | Award Winning Home Chef | Home Baker | Artist | Photography Enthusiast

Unique Ways To Drop Those Extra Pounds

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Pic Via Flickr

If you’re struggling to lose weight, perhaps while you’re trying to get beach body ready, you’re probably just not making the workout interesting enough. It’s hard to encourage yourself to get fit when it simply involves doing sit ups and press ups. Or, perhaps heading to the gym to run for an hour on a treadmill, going nowhere. It takes a special kind of person to get invested in these types of monotonous activities. Although, the payoff might ultimately make it worth it.

One possibility you could try is simply wild running. Rather than heading to the gym, you can drive to a forest or country track and go for a run there. You’ll be amazed by the effect the fresh air has on your performance, and the scenery will ensure it is a more fulfilling experience. Here are a few other ways to get fit that are a tad more unique than the typical gym workout session.

Wild Swimming

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Since we mentioned wild running, we might as well talk about wild swimming. Wild swimming is all about going for a dip in outdoor areas like rivers, streams, or even lakes. If you’re going to do this, you need to be aware of the dangers. First, you must make sure that the water is warm enough or that you wear a wetsuit. If the outdoor temperature is anything less than around nineteen degrees, it’s probably not.

Also, you have to watch out for fast underwater currents. These can drag you down, particularly if you are not a strong swimmer and make this activity very dangerous indeed.

That said, wild swimming can still be great fun and a fantastic workout. You can find tips online about where to swim in your local area.

Coaching A Team

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Perhaps you might want to volunteer coaching a sports team. Particularly, if your kid is a member. You might think that coaching is mainly an inactive sport but that’s not true. You’ll have to show them how to hit the ball, tackle, or complete plays. All this can be very active. Of course, you will need to take on other responsibilities such as arranging rewards if the team wins. Luckily, you can find football, rugby, basketball, and cricket trophies by Premier Trophies online. And if in doubt, you can always just take the players for ice cream after the match. Though, this does somewhat defeat the original intention behind the activity.

Shocking, Isn’t It

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Finally, if you are just can’t muster the energy to work out, you might want to try shock muscle therapy. Doing this, you send low electric pulses through your muscles, and this stimulates them in the same way as exercise. After a few months or even just weeks, you might find you’ve dropped the pounds while your body can even look more toned. It’s definitely a unique idea, and it does depend on the tech you use as to whether or not you see results.

You see, there’s lots of unique ways to workout before you rush off to the gym.

Picture Via Flickr

Chronux- Book Review

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

A word about the author first.
Sagar Kamath teaches History and International Affairs at Symbiosis International University.
He is a Masters in History and Philosophy and has almost a decade of teaching experience. He has lectured extensively on a wide range of subjects and specializes in issues of religion and politics.
In his free time he loves to explore ‘off the beaten track’ locales which hold a sense of mystique about them.

Chronux is the story of Time or let’s put it this way that Chronux is a story which time tells us about of times past to times in the far future and the times spent inbetween.

The story which starts from a a small village of Aruhu, in the Himalayas takes you on a roller coaster ride through a span of more than 3000 years BC to more than 3000 years in the future,not to forget the time in the present.

It’s a wonderful Juxtaposition of the long past events mingling with the present and the future.

Although a work of fiction a tremendous amount of research has gone into the making of this absolutely rivetting story of Time.

The events described whether in the past, present or future are so realistically portrayed that at times you pause and find that yes all this could be very plausible and true. Really a remarkable piece of storytelling wherein you feel you are a part of this journey. The events described from the past,present and future are beautifully intertwined and does leave one dazed at the aouthor’s imagination and the finesse to put things up so brilliantly.


A must must read for everyone. Go grab your copy now and enjoy a never before experience of fiction/reality. Find out for yourself.

Its available on Amazon for Rs 475 for paperback and 283 for the Kindle version.

My Rating 4.5/5 stars

A Well-Traveled Life Is A Life Lived Well

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

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Everyone will have their own pleasures in life. Whether you love a hearty plate of food or a fine piece of art, it’s these small luxuries in life that help to keep us alive and kicking. For some, it will always be travel. Travel is one of the few things in life that we spend money on, yet it makes us richer. From experiencing different cultures and meeting new people, to seeing some of the world’s most breathtaking sights and enjoying different climates, travel can really broaden your horizon.

So, it’s not all that surprising that more and more are enjoying a well-traveled life with their children. When you travel as a family, not only are you benefitting from a wealth of experiences, your children are too. You can help to shape their minds, perspectives and even their futures by filling their lives with travel. And, of course, you’re making lots of memories at the same time. If you’re interested in adding a lot more travel into your family life, whether you’re on a tight budget or not, here’s how you can do it and make a life full of travel work for your family.

Pack Well

Firstly, when you’re planning your travels, you’re going to want to be very selective as you pack. Whether you’re going on a summer-long adventure, or on a weekend trip, you want to make every item count. When traveling, it’s always best to pack as little as possible, so that you can get from A to B easily, but you also want to make sure you have all your bases covered. With everything from clothing for the right climate and any survival equipment you may need, you need to pack smart.

Do Your Homework

Alongside packing, you’re also going to want to make sure that you get all of your paperwork and research in order before you leave for your travels. Whether you need to sign up for the Visa Waiver Program before coming to the US, or getting something similar sorted for international travels, or find yourself some insurance, these are the things you should cover off as you plan your journeys.

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Shop Around

When it comes to booking your travels themselves, make sure that you shop around. If you’re on a budget, you want to make sure that you get flights or hotels for the best price possible – especially if you want to travel often. Traveling can cost you as little or as much as you’d like it too. You just have to shop around and be flexible with the places you’d like to stay or see at different times throughout the year. If you can grab a good deal on one place, snap it up now and see somewhere else later.

Make The Most Of Breaks

Another key trick to ensuring that your family can travel as much as possible is to utilize the school breaks well. Not only do you have a whole summer to fill with travels if your schedule permits it, but you can also get a lot done in short week breaks or even in a weekend. By being flexible and even working with plans last minute, you could see a lot more of the world.

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Plan Cultural Experiences

When you start to travel more, you’re opening yourself and your family up to so many incredible cultural experiences. Even if our beautiful United States, there is a lot of heritage to take in – so make sure you see it. It’s a great way for you to boost your kid’s education and ensure that they learn about their history, as well as the history of other cultures around the world. It’s these kinds of experiences that can nourish their little minds as they grow.

Try New Things

It’s always great to open yourself up to new experiences, but the idea can really come alive when you travel. With a wealth of different activities, foods, cultures, experiences and more, available to you, start to say yes to things when you’re traveling. You may find yourself on so many different adventures by just being open to trying new things.

Encourage Exploration

And finally, while you’re traveling with your family, encourage your children as much as you can to embrace every experience. Encourage exploration and curiosity and adventure in them. Not only will this allow them to open up their minds and see things differently, but you’ll also be installing a hunger for travel in them, which they can go on to use in their futures or enjoy with their own families as they grow up.

 

 

Designer Ridhima Bhasin opens her flagship store in South Extension!

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Ridhima Bhasin recently hosted the launch of her maiden flagship store at South Extension part one. Bustling with fashion enthusiasts, her spring summer collection was received with a lot of awe. Inspired by iconic shapes of Moroccan architecture, the majestic inverted domes, slender minarets, intricate and spell binding jali windows and moorish lamps. the word Lucidus invokes a feeling of light, brightness and clarity that reflects in the ensemble. The collection encapsulates this feeling and mood well with beautiful circular skirts, slender pants, sheer blouses in ivory, apricot, sage green and vanilla hues.

Delicate thread embroideries with hand crafted tassels and hints of silver and moonlit embellishments amalgamate to create this spring summer collection.

The designs strike the right balance between contemporary and conservative with focus on magical cuts and flattering silhouettes.

Ridhima Bhasin is a young and talented fashion designer best known for her contemporary styling of Indian dresses. Ridhima Bhasin was born and bought up in Delhi, absorbing the diverse art culture, architecture and heritage only to find her falling for fashion designing every single day. She further got inspired by her sister Ritika Bhasin, who owns her very own fashion label. Being a part of her sister’s workshop, understanding fabrics and embellishments finally made her decide she had to pursue fashion as a career. Ridhima attended the London College of Fashion and got specialized with all the technical skills while studying Design and Merchandising there. After her graduation in the summer of 2010 she got back to India and started assisting her sister, Ritika Bhasin’s label. She got a chance to enhance her skills, work ethics and designing skills for 3 years. Finally In 2014, with her passion to bring her contemporary chic designs to the Indian market, she introduced her label ‘Ridhima Bhasin’.

Many bollywood celebrities adorn her designer wear and her collection is also available in international markets like Dubai, Indonesia, London and New York, making her one of the youngest Indian Fashion Designer to be successfully retailing her designer wear worldwide.

For me it was a pleasure meeting her personally and checking her collection out.

 

 

Turn from a Couch Potato into a Spring Chicken

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

You only have to look on your social media pages or pop your head into a gym to find people who are hugely enthusiastic about keeping fit. Just about everyone has a friend who talks about it all the time. Not everyone is so upbeat about exercise, though, and many haven’t done any real exercise for a long time. Or maybe even ever. Pretty much everyone has to move every day, from walking to the store to climbing the stairs. But many people don’t really make an effort to do much more than that. If you’re more of a couch potato, you might be thinking that it’s time to start getting fitter.

ThoroughlyReviewed on Flickr

Find Something You Enjoy

Before you get into your new fitness kick, it’s worth deciding how you want to get fit. While it’s tough to push yourself physically, that doesn’t mean it has to feel like complete torture or be really boring. If you’ve never enjoyed running, don’t decide to force yourself out on a run three times a week. You don’t have to enjoy every moment, but your workout should leave you feeling better mentally, even if you ache all over physically. There are so many ways to get active, from team sports to solo pursuits. Find something that works for you.

Choose Your Goals

Staying motivated when you’re trying to get fit is tough. Setting some goals to aim for helps to make it easier to motivate yourself and have a direction to head in. Everyone has different goals when they want to get fit, and they could be both big and small. It’s best to have concrete goals to aim for, instead of a vague “get fit.” For example, maybe you want to be able to run a marathon in a year’s time. Perhaps you want to lose a certain amount of weight, or you just want to climb the stairs at work without huffing and puffing.

Marybettiniblank on Pixabay

Create a Plan

Once you’ve decided on your goals, you should work out a plan to reach them. You should look for advice on the best ways to achieve what you want to do. Take a look at a building muscle for dummies guide if you’re hoping to get strong and buff. Read about how to alter your diet if you want to lose weight. Think about your plan in both the short-term and long-term. Remember that your plan doesn’t have to be set in stone. You can make changes to it.

Start Slowly

If you haven’t exercised in a while, don’t rush into it. You should start off slowly and try to only make one change at a time. If you attempt to turn your whole lifestyle upside down from one day to the next, you’ll have very little chance of sticking to your new routine. Start with just one thing, like going to a new fitness class, and build up to doing more.

Getting fit if you’re not much for exercise can feel like a huge challenge. Create a solid plan, and you’ll have a better chance of success.

Inspire Yourself to Give a Gift With These Fun Ideas

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

For those of us that have a special occasion coming up, have you thought about what you’re getting as a gift yet? Be it a birthday, an anniversary, a seasonal holiday or something more light-hearted such as a friendly reunion, there are plenty of situations in life where we might think about buying a gift. Sadly, it usually turns into a few days of frustration and a lack of ideas, then we’ll cave in and get something generic like flowers, chocolates, a gift card or, even worse, nothing at all!

 

So to give you some excellent sources of inspiration, here are a couple of ways to prepare yourself for the next big event you have. Keep in mind that these are just ideas and you don’t have to resort to them every time, but they’re fantastic ways to gather inspiration so that you have an idea of what to buy in the future whenever you’re stumped for ideas.

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Browse online stores

It doesn’t matter what store you look at. If you browse any online store and look at the most popular items that are being sold, you’ll be able to gather a lot of inspiration and get a lot of ideas for gifts. If you look up cool stuff to buy on Amazon, you’ll come across hundreds of different items that are suitable as gifts. Even if you search something like “gift ideas”, you’ll still find plenty of ideas and before you know it, you’ll have more choice than you imagined.

Look at personalised gifts

Something personal is always good as a gift. Be it a mug that has a special message on it or a customised greeting card to go with something you’ve already bought, customising a gift adds a wonderful touch to any ordinary gift. It can turn something dull and boring like a sweater into a memorable and cherished gift. That’s one of the most important things about gifting; if your recipient remembers a gift and associates it with a positive memory, then it’ll give them a nice boost of happiness that motivates them to work hard and stay positive throughout the day. A personalised gift can be something you make yourself, or it could be something made to order.

Speak to the recipient

If you want some ideas on what to buy your recipient, then look no further than the recipient themselves! Speak to them, ask them about their favourite musical artists, ask which films they like, or even ask what the latest book they read was. As long as you gather up information about your target, you’ll find it gets easier and easier to prepare a fantastic memorable gift for them. Just try not to give it away and let them know you’re planning to buy a gift for them. Speaking to your gift recipient is also a great way to ensure you don’t buy the same gift as someone else. It’s always worth having a chat before you spend money on something your recipient already has!

Are Your Teeth In Tip Top Condition?

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

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Being human comes with a lot of responsibility. Our bodies are incredibly powerful machines that are super strong and can take us all the way from infancy to old age. To make sure that they can do that, we have a lot of health concerns to take care of. From healthy skin to organs that function properly, our lifestyle choices can make or break the way our bodies handle things. This couldn’t be any truer when it comes to out teeth. Not only are they an important part of our beauty regime, but they also are a huge part of our health. So, you need to be able to ensure that you keep them in tip top condition.

Clean

First things first, we all need to make sure that our teeth are clean. Although you make sure that your brush your teeth for two minutes, twice a day, that might not be enough. You have to get serious about flossing and start to focus on your gums too. If your teeth aren’t properly clean, even if you think they are, your gums will suffer and could even get infected. So, it could be in your interest to book in with a full-scale cleaning service with the hygienist at your dentist’s office. That way, they can be sure to clean off all of the junk and keep your teeth super clean.

White

Perhaps more of a beauty concern than a health one, but it’s always beneficial to your overall oral health to ensure that your teeth are super white. You might want to consider professional whitening options, but they can often be quite costly. If you don’t want to put a lot of money upfront to get whiter teeth, there are alternatives to consider. Along with at-home whitening kits, there’s also the super exciting idea of using charcoal toothpaste to create a longer lasting, shinier whitening effect.

Fresh

Getting back on to the health side of teeth, let’s talk about how to freshen up. Even if you don’t suffer from a strong case of halitosis, nobody likes to think that they have bad breath. So, you might want to take a few precautions to make sure that yours stays extra fresh. If you’re keeping everything clean, then you’re probably doing a good job already, but you’ll also find that mouthwash will help you out with this too. You can even get super strong brands that aim to kick bad breath. And just to be extra sure, it’s always a good idea to keep breath mints to hand.

Straight

And finally, up there with keeping your teeth white for beauty reasons, you might want to think about making them straight. Now, you may have had braces when you were a teen, but that doesn’t always mean that your teeth stay straight. The best part is that you don’t even have to wear the same kind of braces anymore. There are so many different ways to straighten crooked teeth; you can have a teeth straightening treatment and not even notice.

Robata Grill at The Kylin Experience, Holiday Inn, Mayur Vihar

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Robatayaki, often shortened as Robata, is a Japanese technique of grilling, quite similar to barbecue, in which food items on skewers are slow grilled over charcoal. Usually Robata consists of grilled vegetables, meat and seafood and is relished world over now. It typically began in the North of Japan and its history is very old. In those days, people used charcoal to make tea, by digging a pit in their living rooms, hanging a chain from the ceiling and leaving tea-pots etc to simmer. Later on this method was used for cooking other food items as well and specially the fishermen started keeping hot charcoal with them whenever they went for fishing, to enjoy a hot meal. Robata as a process started from that time.

Bringing the authenticity of those flavours and times, with the obvious improvements, Chef Suprabhath Roychowdhury along with his team came up with this idea of Robata Grill festival at Kylin Experience, Holiday Inn, Mayur Vihar. The sheer joy of watching the live grill was so overwhelming and I thoroughly enjoyed the flames engulfing the meat from time to time and the aromas emerging were enough to make my mouth water.

As we sat down to relish the meal, we discussed the history of Robata, as I mentioned above and listening to this conversation was as intriguing as the meal. The menu consisted of Sole Fish in Yuzu Mustard Sauce, Tenderloin with Korean Sauce, Lava Black Bean Chicken, Jumbo Prawns in Hot Pepper Sauce, Lamb Satay, Lemongrass Chicken Satay, Pork Belly in Teriyaki Sauce, Vegetable Skewer, Leek & Mushroom in Spicy Basil Sauce. Minus the prawns and tenderloin, which I don’t prefer, I tried all the dishes, and all were nicely prepared.

Sole Fish, Chicken Satay and Vegetable Skewers, I liked the most. I found the mushrooms a little too salty for my choice and also one thing that I didn’t prefer much was, that after a point, almost everything tasted little similar. I feel that the flavours need to be a little more strong for them to stand out from each other. Nevertheless its an experience worth it, and I am sure you will enjoy. After trying a couple of desserts and a hearty meal and long conversations, we set out back home, creating memories forever.

 

The Unexpected Joys Of Packing

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

When you have a tripped planned, whether it’s a camping trip or a luxury break one of the things you need to do well before you leave is pack. Now, a lot of people hate packing. They see it as a chore to be over and done with as quick as possible. So then can get to the airport and get on with their trip. But not me. For me packing is a joy, as well as a very valuable exercise and below I will explain why.

It helps you transition from everyday life to vacation life

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One of the biggest benefits packing your suitcase is that it helps you get from daily life into vacation life. It’s a symbol that the waiting and dreaming are almost over and you are about to embark on that adventure that you have planned for ages.

All those times you have dreamed about laying on the beach with a cocktail in your hand when you were having a hard day at work, or with the kids, and it’s all about to come true. Packing helps you build you excitement, and that is why it can truly be a joy.

Of course, it’s not so much fun if you haven’t got everything you need to hand to make it as pleasant an experience as possible. So remember to get the washing and ironing done before hand. Then you will just have those last travel items to purchase before it’s bon voyage!

It ensure you will have the best time Something else that I love about packing is the way a little forward thinking can help you the best time when you’re away. All you need to do is think carefully about the items that are essential to you.

For folks with kids, it’s likely to be their bottle sterilizsers, the kid’s cuddly toys or their favourite game to play on the beach. For couple heading to a luxury, location is might be their Kindles, makeup, or sunscreen. So they can sit on the beach without a care in the world.

That means all you need to do is think about the things that will maximise your experience, and make sure to pack those. It make you feel calmer

Packing is also a great activity because it’s a way of putting any anxieties to rest. This is because you know if you pack right that you are prepared for any eventuality.

Travel, while wonderful can also be stressful at times, and that is why it’s important to pack items that will minimise this. It could be a thing like a neck pillow for the flight or your insurance and travel documents, which will get you through the electronic travel authorisation system in place at many airports now. Or it could be the emergency number for the police and a few key phrases for when you get there.

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It helps you to look critically at what you have. Lastly, one of the most fun things about packing to be are looking for all the clothing items, jewellery and accessories to see what you have. Not only do you get to pick out the things that are most suitable. But you also get to see how blessed you are with all the item you do have. As well as rediscover some things that you might have forgotten all about.

From A to B: Wedding Navigation

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

When you first take on the role of bridesmaid for your friend, you probably have a very rose-tinted view of how it’s going to be. Images of you and the bride gleefully making wedding favors together, spending hours poring over beautifully dresses and pulling it all together in time for the big day fill your mind – but just how accurate is this vision? Many of us grossly underestimate the responsibilities that being a bridesmaid can entail, and therefore the demands of the role can come as quite a shock! Plus, sometimes you may need to take on jobs that you never even thought about before – after all, there are so many different logistics that play a key role in running the average wedding day. Getting from A to B is one of them, especially if the wedding is not taking place somewhere particularly local. It’s only natural that you will end up getting almost as attached to the wedding as the bride herself, and you want all the important people there to watch the happiest day of your friend’s life. So, if wedding transport is something on your bridesmaid to-do list, you may want to start thinking about what your options are now.

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The bachelorette party

Arguably one of the biggest roles you will take on a bridesmaid is organizing the infamous bachelorette party. These are a rite of passage for many women all over the globe, and, much like bachelor parties, are known for their wild and risque antics. If you want to go the whole hog with this, why not look into Party Bus Rental here? Even the journey can be an excuse for a party, so crack open the bubbly and travel to your venue in style.

Guests on the day

On the actual day of the wedding, you need to be aware that the bride will have a million and one things to think about – and she is also likely to be a huge bag of nerves as well! To take some of the pressure off her, make sure you have everyone’s wedding transport accounted for. She won’t be in a position to worry about who is going in what car, and knowing that you’ve got it all under control can help her to immediately relax. The bridal party may travel in specific cars (such as classic cars), while the other guests may need to get cabs. Just always make sure you have more booked than you need, in the case of any shortcomings.

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In case of an emergency

Sometimes, things happen that are beyond our control, and we need to think quickly on our feet. Even if you booked all the transportation months in advance, you could well end up with one car not turning up, or running exceptionally late – in which case, some of the most important wedding guests might not even make the ceremony. For this reason, you may want to have a backup in the form of your own car. Sure, it’s not very glamorous arriving at the church in one of the bridesmaid’s hatchbacks – but better to do that than to not arrive at all!