Why your Weight Loss Program is Failing?

At Fitho, we have always stated the best recipe for long term weight loss is a combination of diet and exercise. Now, research at Harvard Medical School has proved that- exercise is not only important to losing weight, it helps you keep it, and even more importantly, can delay aging related problems, as well as diabetes. There is even more in the baffling news in the study. Read on to find out.

The study led by researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, shows that exercise has a multitude of long term benefits. It shows remarkable new insights into how exercise affects the body at a cellular level by releasing a hormone called “Irisin” that reduces a person’s susceptibility to obesity, diabetes and other health problems. This hormone doesn’t just stick to the organs but floats towards the fat stored in the body & starts to convert it into brown fat. And as we’ve told you before, brown fat helps you burn more fat. The primary purpose of brown fat is to regulate body temperature: the mitochondria-packed cells are designed to burn high quantities of sugar, the body’s fuel, and release that energy as heat.

Currently, most people who want to lose weight focus on watching their diet, but don’t really care to exercise. What happens in those cases where you only watch your diet to lose weight, is that since there has not been any change in your body chemistry (due to the lack of exercise), you may lose some weight temporarily, but after your weight loss diet, you soon gain the weight back. Only dieting is the main reason why most weight loss programs fail to keep the weight off for long. Note, that walking is not exercise enough. Exercise requires a little more effort, and that’s how you can get the benefits revealed in this study.  Read more

GM Diet

The GM Diet known as the General Motors Diet is a fad diet for  quick weight loss program that involves consumption of specific foods per day. The diet itself is very simple. It is a seven day program with very strict restrictions on what can be eaten on each day. This program is designed for a target weight loss of 5-6 Kg per week, while this is an ideal number an average person can look at losing 2-3 kg in a week from this diet. At the same time however, this diet plan may prove to be overwhelming to first time users, as it involves radical change of diet intake that consists mainly of raw fruits and vegetables and reduced limited protein intake.

Here is the day-wise menu for the seven day GM diet plan:

Day One – You are allowed to eat all the fresh fruit you want, with the exception of bananas, which are not allowed. Do not substitute fresh fruit for fruit juice, you are required to eat the whole fruit. Fruits like watermelon are usually recommended in summer and oranges in winter.

Day Two – This is a raw vegetable day. With breakfast as the only exception where you can start the day with a large baked potato with one table spoon of butter. After that, you have to eat any raw or slightly steam it vegetables, but no added salt or sauces. Fruits are strictly not allowed on Day Two.

Day Three – Here you combine day one and day two diet minus bananas or potatoes. You are allowed to eat a mixture of fruit and vegetables of your choice, in any quantity all through the day.

Day Four – you will have bananas and milk. You can eat up to eight bananas and three glasses of milk. For lunch and dinner you add a bowl of soup each. A special soup made from tomatoes, cabbage onions, green peppers, celery and water is advised. This can be consumed in any desired quantity from day 4 onwards.

Day Five –  First day of adding protein in the form of beef to the diet. You can have a total of 20 ounces of lean beef, and six whole tomatoes in addition to any vegetable soup.

Day Six – Second last day of the diet you add other vegetables to the beef. For non-beef eaters there is a vegetarian version of the  GM diet. The only vegetable to be avoided is potato and only the lean cuts of the meat are to be eaten.

Day Seven – The last day of the diet you can include brown rice, fruit juices and vegetables. The portion of the brown cup is limited to one cup for the entire day. But you can eat as many vegetables or drink as much fruit juice during this day. Read more

Sports Illustrated January 2012: The Year to Turn Fit

Read about getting started and sticking to your new year resolution of getting fitter in 2012 as told to Sports Illustrated by Prachi Agarwal,Fitho Weight Management Service.

 

Control Bloating & Lose 3 kg in a Month

Success Story: Story on how  slowed metabolism, bloating, constant feeling of sluggishness and increasing waist was managed & controlled with Fitho’s diet & exercise program. All this and 3 kg weight loss in just one month. Read here to know more.

Story as shared by Mrs Suchitra Agrawal.

“I am a homemaker and mother of two kids, both in their twenties. I was about 10-15 % over my optimum weight and that too after I was conscious and tried to watch what I eat & exercise regularly. Lately as I entered my mid forties my body started showing signs of slowed metabolism, followed by sluggishness, sagging muscles and some  bloating sensation. My increasing waistline brought me to my wits end and by now had begun to really concern me.

I approached Fitho to help me get my fitness and health on track. Questions like will I be able to cope with the  exercises or manage to stick to the program played on my mind. However, my apprehensions were cleared and Ms Geeta my dietician & personal health manager dealt with all my hesitations.

I continued with my regular brisk walk with light jogging and did the exercise and light weights which I was given. Following the diet, I started feeling lighter. There was a weekly review followed by a new diet chart with variety of food options. At Fitho I was guided like a friend and motivated regularly. I never felt like I was following a “diet” as there was a lot of variety in diet and exercise both. I lost 3 kgs in a month’s time whilst keeping up with my frequent social commitments and agendas. I have also been able to incorporate the Fitho way of ‘wellness’ into my family life and the results are there to show. Fitho has been a friend and guide and extremely professional in all aspects.
I thank the Fitho team for showing a healthier way of life to me and my family.”

 

How to Lose 15 Kg in 3 Months

A success story shared by Medha Chaturvedi who at Fitho successfully lost 15 kg in 3 months with a combination of diet & exercise. She learnt on this program that there is a easy, practical and healthy way to manage weight and re-align  lifestyle to a healthier & fitter tomorrow without taking extreme measures.

Weight loss success story as shared by Medha Chaturvedi, Researcher, New Delhi:

“I am 27-year-old and weighed over 98 kgs when I first came to Fitho. I am 174 cms in height which, coupled with my weight, made me look and feel like a giant. I was told about Fitho by a friend whose friend and had sought the weight loss program sometime before she got married and ended up looking stunningly toned for her big day.

I have struggled with my weight for a few years now. In 2007 I had two accidents which aggravated an old basketball injury in my knee and I had to undergo two surgeries, one in 2008 and the second in 2010 October which put me at bed rest and subsequently, minimal physical activity. As a result, between end 2007 and mid 2011, I put on 38 Kgs.

With no solution in sight, I actually contemplated going in for surgical options. Thank God, good sense prevailed. At Fitho, I was assigned Sonia as my weight loss & fitness counselor and I cannot appreciate her efforts enough.

In the plan she drew up for me, she took care of my special food needs and not only made an exercise plan which worked on incrementally increasing my workout intensity according to my stamina, but also took care that my knee is not unnecessarily stressed. With my sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy food habits, it took some effort for me to start working out again and get into this new regimen. But, once I got used to it, it became a part of my daily routine. Read more

Weight Gain & Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, known as PCOS , is one of the hormonal disorders that affects approximately 5 to 10 percent of adult women and the number is only increasing. PCOS symptom often varies between  acne, irregular periods, infertility, insulin resistance and weight gain. The biggest catch 22 situation in this scenario is that one of the side affects of PCOS is weight gain but this same side affect if not kept under control further aggravates the syndrome . Therefore after a thorough check up it is imperative to start watching your weight to manage your therapeutic condition better.

Women with PCOS due to the increase in weight and general insulin resistance in the body are more prone to diseases like diabetes and heart. All these conditions can be avoided by simply following a  exercise and healthy eating routine specific to this medical condition. The most common mistake made by people with this condition is that they go on fad diets or start starving themselves. All this will do nothing to the condition but only make it worse, making you more susceptible to additional nutrition deficiencies like osteoporosis etc. Here are three simple steps to lose weight with PCOS:

Step 1- Eat Right:

- Limit Carbohydrate Intake: Limit the intake of carbohydrate to 40-50 percent of the total diet per day.

- Avoid Refined Carbohydrates: refined carbohydrates like Maida-based or sugar, shoots up insulin levels which worsen the symptoms associated with PCOS and promote abdominal fat storage. Read more

Body Toning Exercises for Men

A toned body along with well built muscles is a dream of every guy.  Body toning simply means increasing your muscle mass simultaneously lowering the body fat percentage.To tone up your body you need to brush aside the layers of fat and allow the muscles to be seen.

A good workout is no doubt a key to tone up the body. Men usually enjoy working out in the gym but a well planned home workout plan with a proper combination of cardio and strength training exercises can help in achieving the desired “beach body” look.

Let’s have a look at few of the body toning exercises for men with videos for your convenience:

Plank:  Plank is one of the best exercises to build endurance in abs and backs. Lie face down on floor or on a mat with palms on the floor. Raise yourself off the floor resting your weight on the toes and the elbows. Keep your body flat from head to heel. Hold this position for 20-60 sec, lower the body and repeat this cycle 5-6 times.

Ghost Skipping: Simple and fun exercise that can be done anywhere and anytime. It’s a high impact cardio exercise to burn off the extra fat and also tone up the thighs, hips and calves.  Keep your feet slightly apart and start jumping as if the rope is passing under the feet and over the head. Simultaneously move your arms as if actually jumping the rope to engage your biceps, triceps and shoulders. Complete a total of 100 reps

Pushups: One of the classic exercise for building chest, triceps and shoulders. Place your hands on the floor just beyond shoulder width apart. Keep your back straight and your knees straight and parallel to the floor. Slowly lower your body so as to touch your nose to the floor and then return to the start position by pressing yourself upward.  To make it more vigorous also try diamond pushups, wide grip pushups, cobra pushups etc.  Perform 2 sets of 12 reps each.

Squats: Squat is a form of compound exercise that particularly targets your quadriceps, calves, hamstrings and glutes. It also engages the core and back muscles to maintain the balance during the movement. Stand straight with your feet hip-width apart. Standing up tall, put your shoulders back, lift your chest, and pull in your abdominal muscles. Lower down, as if sitting but keep your upper body particularly back as straight as possible.  You could also stretch your arms out in front for added balance. Perform 2 sets of 12 reps each. Read more

Ghost Skipping

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