XL - L - M

XL - Every woman’s nightmare are these 2 syllables or for the matter of fact even a L or a M is enough to send many a female into a frenzied tizzy. As a food blogger few, some, many, love handles get attracted to me, like a bear to honey. And the figure, literally speaking, jumps from a M to L to XL if I am not careful. It varies depending upon my itch to try new recipes in my endeavor to tick down the self created culinary bucket list. How I envy those femme fatales on TV shows creating one master piece after another without breaking a, gram in weight, sorry sweat. Don’t they gorge on their creations mercilessly? Don't these people feel the urge to lick off the condensed milk dripping down the tin or nibble a handful of choco chips they swirl into the batter?  I guess they don’t; yours truly does all that and much more. More than 10% of the ingredients of a cake or for that matter of fact any dish I cook is tucked into without a woe. Frankly I don’t care. NO I do care; I care when the weighing scales refuse to recognize me and send back some alarming numbers. I care when my trusted old jeans refuses to budge anywhere above my calf muscles;  I care when a random stranger hints at whether I am sporting a happy bulge. While I am tempted to retort "I have a figure, round is a figure"; I simply mumble inanities and rush home :)

It’s then I wage a little war against the fancy pots, pans and the beckoning oven. These allures are kept at a safe distance and going raw/green becomes the new motto. Eating healthy kicks in and the home sees a Hitler rule where all things that spell sinful is ditched. This continues for a while till I see a couple of hot blog posts harping about the owner’s win over some culinary bombshell and then all hell breaks lose. It is hearth attack like no tomorrow.

Cooking fancy food = blissful/sinful indulgence = happy flaunting on blog = more such dishes = love handles. 

This continues till the weighing scales - old jeans - pregnant question sets in. It is a vicious cycle of sorts. And the figures happily dazzle me for a while with stunning M, an OK L to an alarming XL. 

OK, jokes apart, XL to L to M is easy – as long as you are not starving and leading a normal healthy lifestyle.

• Move your body – shake, dance and groove
• Eat smaller portions but more number of meals
• Feel an urge to snack? dig into an apple or a pear or a handful of nuts rather than reaching out for the biscuit packet or chips
• Drink loads of water – {I saw a T-shirt message the other day which is so true} - the more you drink, the more you shrink
• Ditch the elevators and use the stairs
• Fond of sugar? try using honey instead

It is OK to indulge in chocolates or pizza or a bigger dollop of butter every once in a while as long as you burn it and have a healthy lifestyle otherwise. While XL in figures may give you the jitters, we can all aspire to Living and Enjoying Life XL