I am at the cross roads of life.
Two paths to follow,
both with its own opportunities
along with the pit falls.

I know both will be equally good,
both will take me to the people I love,
I don't know what to choose,
so I am just standing here staring at both.

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(pointers I posted as a comment.Thought it will useful as a post too)

1.Eat healthy food that is high in calories like nuts, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, banana, milk, curd etc., these are readily available.

2. Eat lot of protein too. You can get Whey protein powder in any nutrition store and make a protein shake with two scoops a day. Plus eat foods that are naturally high in protein like peanut butter cookies, egg white, milk, our own paruppu, soy, if you eat non-veg chicken breast meat. Make sure you eat approx one gram of protein for every pound of your body weight.

3. Water hydrates your muscles and helps in protein synthesis. so drink a lot of water.

4. Nutrition is the most important aspect; more important than the work out itself. There is no point in going to the gym if you are not eating right.

5. Then of course is the workout. To increase your weight don't do too much cardio. It burns calories and also your muscles.

6. Create a work out schedule. work out 3 days a week. Do 2 body parts a day like Chest and triceps on Monday, back and biceps on Wednesday, legs and shoulder on Friday. Give your body 48 hours to recover after a work out. so 3 times a week is good.

7. There is no way to put on just muscles without little fat. so in your bulking up phase you will put on some fat around your waist. That's perfectly natural and don't get alarmed. You can burn it off when you have reached your target weight.

8. When you are exercising, do 3-4 sets for each exercise. Start with a mild weight for your first set and do more repetitions. Then add weights in subsequent sets and do less reps, so that by the last rep of your last set you reach muscular failure. Push yourself and sweat it out. Also make sure your have someone to give you a spot when doing heavy weights.

9. Post workout is the stage where your body is drained of all the nutrients. Its when it has the most potential to absorb the nutrients from the food. Have a protein shake immediately following the workout. Then have a good meal after an hour or so.

10. Consistency and discipline are important in all aspects of life.Its the same in your workout too.

11. The last and most important pointer is safety. Don't do any exercise if you are not sure how to do it properly. Always have someone to give you a support when doing with heavy weights.

Good luck and Happy Lifting

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At last, some results for the efforts. I weigh 155 lb now, that's 6 pounds gain in 10 weeks. That's some achievement considering it took me almost 4 years to gain my previous 6 pounds.I have been eating like crazy, almost twice as much as I used to to do. Not all of these are muscles though, I see a thin layer of fat around my waist which obviously is not a good thing. I am just hoping I can burn this off once I reached my target weight. Lets see how that works out. I haven't tried any supplement other than whey protein. I have read a lot about things like Creatine, but don't want to try them as long as I am seeing results without them.

I didn't think there is so much research being conducted in the area of body building. They have almost perfected it to a science. The more I read about diets and nutritions, the more I get intrigued by it. Did any body know that more that 70% of muscle mass is made of just water. The more you hydrate your muscles, the better protein synthesis will occur and the faster your muscles will grow. So people drink lot of water!

My roomie thinks that I have gone crazy with this gym stuff and I think he is partially right. This is some thing I always wanted to do. I tried it in college too, but had too many other things like GRE, US applications and stuff. Even while doing my masters, I had barely any time to breathe between classes and assistantship. Folk who have done or doing their Masters will know what I am talking about. Right now, I am sort of settled with my job and have time to pursue my interests. I like to think that this is my time under the Sun and I want to make the best use of it. As a side note, I got an offer for a consulting position in Merrill Lynch and I am joining them on May 30th.

Another speculation among my buddies here is, why this sudden interest in building my body. May be there is a girl behind all these. My answer is, "I wish!", not that I am on the look out for one! Like I said I like my life right now and don't want to spoil it by bringing anyone into it. I will let the time take its course, and it will happened when its bound to happen.

On a funnier note, let me tell this. Adam is a trainer in the gym, in his mid twenties, a good buddy of mine. He came to me and asked, "Is it true that in India, when you guys go to find a girl, you can go out with a number of girls and finally select one to marry", with a sparkle and may be a hint of jealousy in his eyes. I had to explain that in some places it happens but not the case every where, India is very diverse, different people, different culture blah! blah! blah! But, the way he asked me, it was truly hilarious. Another side note, Adam thinks that Indian girls are gorgeous!

While I rant all these incoherent things, let me add this too. I am not even touching my GMAT book though I have my exams in July. Just can't motivate me to pick up the book. Only God knows what will happen!

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Hey guys, This guy Swaroop saw a Traffic policeman jump a red light in bangalore and this is what he did. This guy had the guts to do the right thing. The least we can do is to spread the news.

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If you think the latest bill to make reservations from 22.5% to 49.5% percent is absurd and will only resulting in diluting the skills of the students. Please make you voice heard by signing here. http://www.petitiononline.com/re225495/petition.html

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