30th Birthday Trip at The Machan Feat. Volkswagen Vento & Peesafe

It was my 30th Birthday and I wanted it to be special and memorable. Hence wanted to go somewhere, but with the Mumbai floods and flights being cancelled and uncertainty I thought it was best to go somewhere around. A few years ago I had received an ad from The Machan, Lonavla to celebrate my birthday there, and it had since then been on my bucket list. So I thought, why not check that off the list? It's nearby and should be beautiful during monsoons. This was the first trip after kiddo that me and the husband went alone.

Lonavla during monsoons is absolutely magical, enchanting and breath-taking. But also risky, and you need a good reliable car so that you are not stuck anywhere. I was super happy to get the Volkswagen Vento's latest model for the trip. A royal midnight blue colored beauty - automatic dual shift gear system, rear parking camera, auto dimming rear view mirror, cooling glove box and more. Our drive was smooth and enjoyable instead of being stressful. And knowing that there are two front airbags makes you feel safer too.

We reached the property in about less than 2 hours from Navi Mumbai (remember to offline the map because once you start the upward hill climb, you loose connectivity). It was a beautiful place - truly a forest area where the only sounds you can hear are of rain, streams and birds. There was mist and fog everywhere, we were amidst the clouds and we had our own treehouse! The property is really well maintained, spick and span. The staff was polite and courteous too. 

How it could have been better? Our landline was not working and we had to wait for it to be fixed so that we could order room service, the in-room and al-a carte dining menu is very limited and check-in time could have been little earlier so that one can make the most of the stay (It is 2pm, 1pm at-least would be nice). But the nature, the tranquility and our jungle Machan with outdoor bathtub was an out-of-the-world experience overall. I was also glad to plan our trip during weekdays (Thursday-Friday) so that we escaped the traffic and crowd everywhere. Even the tariff is a little lower on weekdays.

I was also carrying a spray can of PeeSafe - because it's monsoons and you tend to want to pee a lot more, and by spraying the peesafe you get rid of all the germs and sanitizes the toilet seat. If you are a female reading this blog, you know how dreadful UTI's are and you definitely do NOT want that happening. Hence, better to carry a travel-sized bottle of PeeSafe. Got to know of it from watching Girliyapa's video, so thanks guys!

Follow me on Instagram to see more pictures from the trip!

1 week of Vegetarian/Eggetarian Keto - What worked and what did not

I have been putting on weight rapidly. Every time I climbed the weighing scale, I would get dizzy by seeing the increasing grams and kilograms. But I am not innocent too - no balanced diet, eat whatever and how much ever and absolutely no physical exercise at all. With a sedentary lifestyle and desk job, I should not have been surprised.

I knew a few people who religiously followed a Keto diet and claimed to have lost kilos and inches. What attracted me to this diet was that you were not expected to stay hungry at all, and could eat delicious things like omlette, cheese, nuts and paneer. I did not mind at all.

I went to a nutritionist, and simply asked her for a weight loss plan and she herself suggested 1 week of Keto. I was surprised that only a week, because everyone else who did it told me you need to follow atleast for minimum 15 days to a month (which was too much of a commitment for me tbh). So I was happy at the 1 week plan - and how hard can one week be right? Oh it was a loooongggg week I tell you.

Keto, if you don't already know, basically is cutting all carbs from your body, so no sugar no carbs means no wheat no rice no bread no fruits. Only protein and vegetables.

What I ate:
My plan had me drinking black coffee/tea instead of regular tea, a green smoothie twice a day (I had it once a day on most days because I just did not have it in me to make it twice and drink it). For breakfast I'd have boiled eggs or omelette and then stored walnuts, almonds and peanuts at work for before and after lunch hunger. For lunch I ordered salads daily (burned a hole in the pocket FYI), but I did not have the time or energy to prepare something in the morning. Evening snacks would be nuts and some black coffee again, or green tea. Dinner would be soup followed by a paneer preparation (paneer bhurji, tawa paneer etc).

How I felt:
First two days were tough, hence I started on Saturday so that I was not getting affected at work. By Monday i.e. Day 3 I felt great - I felt light, full of energy. I also weighed 500 gms less already and that made me feel nice. But by day 5 my energy was gone, I had ache in my body - had recently joined Zumba and now on Keto I was just not able to put energy at class. Soon even walking became painful. When I asked my nutritionist why this was happening, she said this shouldn't be happening. She refused to believe I lacked energy, since I was eating and was not starving myself.

Why I had to stop:
By end of the week i.e. 7th day, the weighing scale showed 2kg drop on the weighing scale, which was great. Maybe if I continued for another week I would have lost more weight and maybe even felt better. But being a working mom and a foodie - I just could NOT continue on this diet. No time to cook and experiment plus was so tired of paneer and egg! I guess if you're a non-vegetarian you get a lot more options.

What I gained out of it:
I got accustomed to giving no sugar to my body and got used to having black coffee instead of sugary tea and coffee so have switched to that. Now that I have tried this, I know the importance of eating clean and working out - to give me good long term results! Because I had to limit carb intake during Keto, it made me look behind every packet and check it's carb content - I never used to check the nutritional facts earlier - so that's another good habit picked up!

Summing it up, my weight is not so out of control that I needed to do this self-inflicted torture. For those who are recommended the diet for medical purposes, is surely is better than other diets where you got to starve. But I will focus on doing physical exercise and eating healthy! Let me know how did Keto work out for you, via comments below..