uksinghni

So how's it going guys you have been staying pretty quiet?

Gurfateh jee Bhenjee thanks for your message about someone. I am not a food specialist by profession but I have gained some knowledge of food and nutrition over the years. A person with an eating disorder can eat normal amounts but they choose not to for whatever reason, sometimes it can be associated with weight gain but there are many other things that could contribute. Bhenjee eating disorders are quite complex and I wouldn't be able to give you a quick fix solution but I understand them very well. Perhaps you could message me some more details about this person, such as age/gender, how long and which disorder they have been diagnosed with, whether they are/ have received any support. I don't know how much you know about eating disorders but I think the first step to recovery is recognising that you have a problem and wanting to get better. Is he/she at that stage? How much do they weigh? How underweight are they, if applicable? He/she may benefit from cognitive behaviour theory, if they have visited the doctor (assuming you are from the UK), the doctor should refer them to a specialist unit to offer such support. They will help to explain the damage caused by not feeding your body what it needs and then should support them with the changes they will have to make. Is he/she amritdhari or do they read any gurbani? I would suggest that they read/ listen to sukhamani sahib every day (in addition to whatever they already do) and then do ardas infront of guru jee to help them recover. I think the one thing that on a sikhi level helps is remembering that these bodies that we call our own, belong to parmathma. If they begin to realise that, it makes it easier to let go. The important thing here is that they must want to get better, if they do then they can slowly start introducing bigger portions or foods that they have excluded from their diet. He/she will need support and the greatest support with come from faith in maharaj and by reading/ listening to gurbani.

As mentioned under other health and fitness topics, breakfast shouldn't be missed. Personally I don't agree with cutting out any particular food type as our body needs the right amount of everything to function correctly. My personal aim is to try and reduce the amount of processed food by eating more roti or fresh home made meals. I am not looking to loose/ gain weight, my current diet consists of the foods mentioned above. Instead of chips I am opting for baked/steamed/jacket potatoes, brown rice instead of white... I already eat wholemeal bread and pasta. In terms of processed foods, I sometimes have Linda McCartney sausage rolls which I have taken out of the list. The biggest cut back for me is on biscuits and chocolates. I rarely eat crisps. I tend to eat up to 8 times a day. I prefer to eat little and often, so three meals with a number of snacks in between. You will see from the menu options above I am suggesting you eat 6 times a day. For me this is day 4 of my healthier lifestyle and it's going well.

Here are some suggested meal ideas for everyone taking part, you don't have to have something from this list. The aim of this is to change food choices to a healthier option, it's not intended to be a diet and you should eat suitable portion sizes for your age/ gender. Drinks: Herbal tea/ freshly squeezed orange/ apple juice/ water/ milk/ squash Breakfast: Porridge (recipe on discussion forum) Weetabix with milk Special K with milk Shreddies with milk Shredded wheat bitesize honey nut with milk Yoghurt, fruit and cereal Toast with jam, marmalade Morning Snacks: Yoghurt Grapes Raisins/ Sultanas small handful Nuts/ seeds – unsalted Crackers with cheese Juice Soya dessert/drinks Toasted teacake (not too often as it’s white bread usually) Lunch: Toasted bagel spread with soft cheese light/ extra light or jam Pasta with veg – mushroom, peppers, sweetcorn, cougettes, tomatos, vegetarian sausages (I prefer Vegeterian’s choice from Holland and Barratt) Sandwiches/ wholemeal rolls with cheese and tomato or homous and salad or soya slices Home made alternative to pizza with salad Salad with a soya burger chopped up (lettuce, cucumber, radish, tomato, kidney beans, butter beans, seeds, a few cashew nuts but not too many) Roti, dhal, yoghurt, salad Afternoon snack: Banana, pear, oranges, apple etc – two portions of fruit Chopped up carrot, pepper, celery Pot of custard/ rice pudding as a treat or something from the morning snack list Dinner: Roti, dhal/ sabjee and small amount of yoghurt and salad Dhal and brown rice with veg/ salad (too much soya isn’t good for men so you’ll have to eat lentils more times than I will) Vegetarian lasagne (home made, I use Asda vegetarian mince and whole wheat lasagne sheets, dolmino tomato sauce, veg of your choice (aubergine, mushroom, tomato, pepper, cougettes) and cheddar cheese) with salad, you could add a few steamed mini potatoes Soya nuggets (Fry’s from Holland and Barratt)/ burger with beans and salad, potato (mash/baked/steamed/roasted) Cheese and Leek lattice by Linda McCartney with beans and salad (not too often, it’s pastry based) Soya buger with veg (steamed carrots, cauliflour, spinach, broccoli, sprouts, sweetcorn, cabbage – you choose – I usually have 3 different ones) and you can have beans as well or a potato/ mash Evening snack: Strawberries and yoghurt or as a treat Weight Watchers thick cream and a slice of shortcut pastry Toasted teacake with hot milk Soup, bread, salad Salad with a burger/ nut roast Cereal with milk Crackers with cottage cheese and pineapple 2/3 Fig rolls and milk

Hmm it's not just sugar, ghee as well... I think you can have it as a treat but I wouldn't go eating it every day thinking it's healthy... in my mind, it's like eating fruit crumble (like clearly fruit is healthy but you add the sugar and butter to make the crumble, it's not so healthy) but that's just my thinking.

Too much information (regarding your friend) for my liking West London Singh but thanks for your contribution about the Flaxseed and (tulsi) Basil. I already include Flaxseed in my diet but didn't know of tulsi. Receipe for the day... Ingredients: Medium avocado Medium tomato Cheddar cheese Pepper (a pinch) Bread (I am using the ciabatta left over but you could use wholemeal sliced) Mushrooms are an optional extra Instructions: step 1: Peal, wash the avocado, mash it up into a paste and season with ground pepper. If you prefer you could slice it. step 2: slice the tomoto step 3: grate the cheese/ thinly slice and chop up step 4: heat the bread, once warm or part cooked, remove from the oven/grill (depending on whether you are using sliced bread) and add the avocado, sliced tomotos and springle with cheese.... return to the oven/ grill until golden brown. step 5: enjoy, perfect with a salad for lunch or on it's own as a snack.

An alternative to your usual pizza... I had ciabatta bread with olives, sliced in half and topped with sauce and cheese... accompanied by cucumber, raddish, carrot and homous.

Lunch in a hurry... wholemeal toast topped with spaghetti/ beans and half a cup of milk

Excellent... nice to see someone else taking an interest

Breakfast ....if your stuck for a healthy breakfast you might like to try what i am having... Ingredients: rolled oats (i use Quaker) about 4-5 heaped tablespoons (this may not look like much, don't be tempted to fill the bowl) raisins (i get the big plump ones and add about 12) - although you could use other dry fruit like sultanas, chopped up dates, apricots honey (about a quarter of a teaspoon) - optional milk (i used skimmed) milled seeds (i use Linwoods milled flax, sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds and goji berries) - optional but good for you Instructions: step 1: add the oats, then raisins and honey into a microwavable bowl (in this order, so oats first, honey last) step 2: pour milk over the dry ingredients, so it just about covers it step 3: microwave on full power for approximately 90 seconds/ 1 and half minutes step 4: stir the ingredients so it's all mixed in step 5: microwave on full power for another 60 seconds / 1 minute (microwaves will vary so you may have to adjust the timing) step 6: add the milled seeds (1 heaped tablespoon) and stir step 7: leave to cool for 1-2 minutes before serving and enjoy!

Well done Khalsa94, at least I am not alone...

Just to add to my earlier post, my motivation is a spiritual one, and so this will just be one aspect of working towards achieving that... I am also hoping to create a network of like minded people to support each other with their sikhi, so increasing the amount of gurbani we feed ourselves, by reciting, listening, understanding so eventually we reach that point where we are applying.

This is just one step towards cleansing our Sukham (part of our soul)... by feeding ourselves food that our body needs rather than what we desire... and there's less than 15 hours to go... so make sure you fill up your cupboards/ fridges with suitable alternatives...

is there anyone who would like to join me on a detox, with the plan to eat healthy thereafter? im talking about swapping the junk for good food and so cleansing the inside....... i am planning to start 14 April so let me know by reply.

I thought it might be nice to share highlights of your day. The idea being that we reflect and appreciate the types of gifts we receive and perhaps take for granted. It may help you to identify things that you could do to make a difference... What made your day? Answers: I was blessed with many gifts today, however, the thing that stood out for me today was when a Gursikh stopped to say Gurfateh. I am sure that person, did not realise that I would still be thinking about it hours later. It makes you think though, how many times do I stop to say Gurfateh to someone I don't already know?

Waheguru ji ka khalsa, Waheguru ji ke fateh Focus on what you want in life, where you want to be and if you both want the same thing, then it's worth talking about. If those goals or aspirations don't come close then walk away, chances are it will never work. You will always have to compromise on something but make sure it's not your sikhi. You maybe at different places in your sikhi, as long as your goals are the same then you can work together to get to where you want to be. If there's anything else, you can IM me if you want to. Good luck. Waheguru ji ka khalsa, Waheguru ji ke fateh.

Gurfateh jee Be afriad of nothing. People may notice you more, be prepared to answer any questions that they may have. For example, What is a dastar? What does it mean to you? Is it a special day? After a while people get used to it, so don't worry about it.

VJKK VJKF I have been training for almost a decade, I love the gym but sometimes I need that extra push to make sure that I dont start slacking. I am hoping that someone reading this post, can help by offering a very small part of their time. I am looking for someone who takes training seriously to maybe do a weekly check-in or something? My main goals are improving fitness, strength and tone so I wouldnt pair very well with someone who is looking to loose or gain weight as such... but if you think you maybe able to assist then let me know. VJKK VJKF

VJKK VJKF I very much doubt that the singh concerned knows of any 'elder wise gursikhs' that could help him with this matter, which is probably why he has approached everyone here with his post. The only thing I could think of was registering with sangat tv matrimonials but I dont know how successful they are in finding a suitable match.

Gurfateh jee, Try spending more time in saad sangat. Set yourself small achievable goals and think about HOW you are actually going to acheive them. For example, if your first goal is doing nitnem, then make a note of what time you need to do it, in order for you to get to work on time and the same for the evening... roughly have a planned day so you know when it's 6pm or whatever time, you need to start rehiras sahib. Once you have managed to get nitnem back on track, try something else. Start with things that are going to be easy for you to achieve, for example: Goal: 5 x chaupai sahib How you will achieve it: Recite during journey to work (If you dont know it off by heart, then take a mp3 player) Goal: Visit gurdwara How will you achieve it: Catch the no x bus on the way home from work and stop off at the gurdwara for 15 minutes (If getting to the gurdwara frequently is a problem, there is plenty of katha available online. Start off by listening to katha of today's hukamnama, then spend a bit of time reflecting upon what maharaj has said to you). Hope that helps.

VJKK VJKF Gupt Singh jee, you dont need to leave your mother, neither would I encourage you to do so. If you still have concerns then feel free to pm me. I come from a non amritdhari family and I have been through it, so maybe my experience may be of some help to you. VJKK VJKF.

VJKK VJKF Singh jee and other posters, there are many others in the same position as you. I would say your biggest help would be your personal ardaas to maharaj, continue to do as much simran, seva etc as you can. I dont know if you have looked into any of the websites like gurmat.com or sangat tv matrimonials, if not do a search and see if anyone meets your criteria. If your parents are else where then perhaps approach relatives, better still get your parents to speak to them... your relatives might not know anyone right now but when they talk to their social network at gurdwaras, weddings etc they may hear of someone suitable. Even people from non amritdhari families come across amritdhari's at some point, usually at some sort of function. If it's something you really want then dont give up, keep your faith, it may take time. Hope it all works out.

I am not sure logging online at amrit vela is a good idea. Why dont you try putting one of the sikh channels on, they usually have simran and kirtan playing during the early hours. It's just a suggestion or you could get up and go to the gurdwara if it's open.

Gurfateh je, I have never heard of ajit paper but I did note the email address for sangat tv in case you wish to contact them, it's Matrimonial@SangatTelevision.org

VJKK VJKF you have been presented with some good advice from the posts already made. i think first of all, you need to figure what works for you, i mean some people get up and go back to sleep, some people get up a bit later and stay awake. Seems like you are trying this already. Once you have established that, then its about making it a habit. not just amrit vela but bed time and what/ how much you eat etc. it's about reviewing your whole daily routine. What you do even before you go to sleep, like people have already mentioned, it can help if you listen to kirtan, go to the gurdwara, read about sikhi etc. You'll notice that you will naturally wake up at a certain time, without the alarm. it does help if you know people that have a similar routine, they can help.