Weight Loss Tips for Summer

People tend to lose weight in summer while gain weight in winter. Maybe it’s the heat that makes us less hungry and it’s the cold that makes us crave more food. But you can manage your weight all year round by eating the right food. The more seasonal and fresh the food the healthier it is. In summer enjoy the summer fruits that keep your weight in control while keeping you hydrated.

Here is the list of healthy foods that you can eat all summer and lose weight -

Cucumber: Cucumber is 95% water. This quality has made it the most popular food for all trying to lose weight. Besides the high water content and dietary fiber in cucumber are very effective in driving away the toxins from the digestive system and hence aid digestion.

Watermelon: 90% of watermelon content is water. As a result it’s a dieter’s delight. Most people don’t know that watermelon is a storehouse of antioxidants that has multiple health benefits. Studies have also shown that watermelon can help improve heart health and fight cholesterol. Make a bowl of fresh watermelon your 4 o’clock snack to help to lose weight the healthy way.

Coconut Water: It is a store house of nutrition. Did you know it helps in controlling bloating & cholesterol amongst many other things? Coconut water keeps you fuller for longer & sometimes help fight food cravings that lead to unnecessary binging.

Aam ka Panna: Mangoes are the king of fruit.  Aam Panna is popular refreshment served in summer. Made from raw mangoes, served fresh with no added sugar is the ideal mid-afternoon drink that is absolutely healthy and light. It’s a myth that mangoes are fattening. Mangoes are healthy & great source of vitamins.

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Natural Remedies for Anxiety

It’s normal to feel anxious from time to time, but if you’re exhibiting symptoms of anxiety (such as excessive worry, restlessness, fatigue, irritability, difficulty concentrating and insomnia) every day for several months, you may have an anxiety disorder that needs treatment.

Severe anxiety disorders are often treated with medications like antidepressants, SSRIs and MAOIs, but people with mild to moderate anxiety symptoms can often find some sort of relief through natural anxiety treatments. Even though these methods are “natural,” it’s important to check with your doctor to determine if these treatments are safe for you, especially if you’re taking antidepressants or other medications, which can react dangerously with some herbal and natural supplements. If your doctor gives you the go-ahead, try these six natural ways to treat your anxiety symptoms

Breathing Exercises

Take a moment to close your eyes and focus only on your breathing. Inhale slowly through your nose. Feel your diaphragm move up into your rib cage and extend your belly outward as you inhale. Slowly push out your breath as you exhale through your mouth. Feel the stress being breathed out of your body. It is no longer a part of you. Each breath should take 6 seconds to complete. Spend 3 seconds slowly inhaling through your nose and the other 3 seconds slowly exhaling through your mouth. Take 5-10 breaths like this and you’ll instantly feel more relaxed.

Drink Green Tea

L-theanine is an amino acid found in tea plants. It also promotes relaxation and modifies the stimulating effects of the caffeine present in green tea. What does that mean exactly? Well L-theanine is a caffeine antagonist, meaning that it offsets the “hyper” effect of caffeine. That is why many people will have a “soothing” cup of tea and not a soothing cup of coffee. Green tea contains more theanine than the other teas. Try drinking Green Tea in the morning for a more gradual and calming wake-up boost.

Exercise

Although Cardio Exercise like running or bike riding is more effective for relieving anxiety, weight lifting works well too. Really, just getting to the gym in general and burning off some steam is a wonderful way to feel better. Exercise doesn’t just provide a physical release. You’re also providing a mental release as well. By exercising, you counterbalance your negative thoughts with a positive feeling that you are taking steps towards improving your health. In effect, you cast aside worry and calm your mind with the natural high of working out.

Go for a Walk

Nothing clears my head like a nice brisk walk. This is even better if you have beautiful backgrounds of nature to stroll through. Whenever I visit my extended family, I always make time for a 10 minute walk around their lake. As you walk, think about the rhythm of your body as you stride from one step to the next. It’s calming to focus on your breathing. Concentrate on each breath and empty your thoughts as you move along.

Stretch

Every night before bed, take 5 minutes to stretch. Even if it’s just touching your toes, every bit helps. When you stretch, you relieve tension in your back and muscles. You’ll feel calmer and more relaxed instantly. This is a great way to prepare for a fantastic night’s sleep. If you prefer not to stretch right before bed, you can stretch before going to the gym. It helps circulation and prevents injury as well. This anxiety reliever takes just minutes and it really does wonders. As a side benefit, you’ll feel so much better physically. Since I started stretching, I’ve noticed significantly less muscle cramps and soreness after a workout. I can honestly say this technique has made me feel younger and more vibrant.

Eat Your Favorite Food

I’m not telling you to go out and binge to get over your anxiety. Obviously that’s not a healthy strategy. However, you are allowed to indulge in your favorite comfort foods when things get particularly stressful. It gives you that psychological satisfaction your mind needs and it forces you to reach out to comforting zones. However it is advisable not to overeat high calorie comforting foods and feel sorry later for your health. So indulge sometimes but in moderation!

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Best Indian Foods to Burn Fat

Indian foods are full of flavors. The wide mix of spices and condiments not only make the food palatable but also impart healthy components. Indian foods are believed to be rich, spicy and anti-weight loss but contrary to this, if cooked with less oil, they can benefit our body in multiple ways. Many studies have also shown that Indian foods and their components help in reducing risk of various medical conditions. They are also helpful in burning body fat. Here we tell you the best Indian foods that help you burn body fat, lose weight and keep your body healthy.

Chillies: Chillies can help burn fat. Chillies contain Capsaicin which is also a thermogenic compound, and increases the metabolic rate, which aids in the fat burning process. Studies reveal that eating chillies can raise your metabolic rate by up to 23% for about 3 hours.

Garlic: Garlic acts as an appetite suppressant as it gives the brain signals of satiety when it is eaten. Garlic contains the compound allicin, which has anti-bacterial properties that help reduce cholesterol and unhealthy fats. Garlic even helps regulate blood sugar levels.

Mustard oil: This has low saturated fat compared to other cooking oils. Cook your meal in mustard oil. The fatty acids, essential fatty acids and antioxidants help you to burn calories & lose weight.

Buttermilk: Leave cola, drink buttermilk. Buttermilk is common accompaniment in most of the Indian diets. The probiotics food contains just 2.2 grams of fat and about 99 calories. Regular intake of buttermilk provides the body with all essential nutrients without adding too much fat and calories to the body & it is thus helpful in weight loss.

Curry Leaves: These leaves flush out fat and toxins, reducing fat deposits that are stored in the body. Curry leaves also reduce bad cholesterol levels. Eat curry leaves and start losing your extra body weight.

Green Tea: Green Tea increases your metabolism making you burn more fat. It’s a mild appetite suppressant that makes you eat less so weight loss becomes a natural process with green tea.

Moong Dal: Moong Dal is rich in Vitamin A, B, C and E and many minerals, such as calcium, iron and potassium and it has a very low fat content. It is also a rich source of protein and fiber which keeps you full and helps in weight loss.

Cardamom: Also known as “Queen of Spices”, Cardamom is a thermogenic herb which increases body’s metabolism by raising the core temperature. Cardamom is considered one of the best digestive and helps the body process other foods more efficiently

Honey: Honey could help you to reduce fat. Honey contains essential vitamins and minerals and is free from any type of fat source. These nutrients are essential to dissolve fats and cholesterol.  Honey being a good source of nutrients helps you in reducing weight.

Turmeric: Turmeric has powerful fat burning qualities that make it a great addition to any diet. Turmeric stimulates bile flow which leads to the body breaking down dietary fat. Regular intake may help reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or bad cholesterol and high blood pressure, increase blood circulation and prevent blood clotting, helping to prevent heart attack.

 

How to Lose Weight

How to lose weight is the most common question asked by people who want to lose their weight but are not sure how to go about it. Fundamentally, losing weight is about burning more calories than you eat. This seems simple enough, but if it were really that simple, none of us would have a weight problem.

The healthiest way to reduce weight is neither fad diets nor long exercise sessions. Weight loss works on the simple philosophy of striking an optimal balance between eating healthy food and exercising regularly. Human body likes slow changes in terms of food and exercise. Though weight loss goals by most of us are usually set in term of weeks, the end game is to maintain these changes over months and years, hopefully maintaining the lifestyle change for life. Permanent changes in your lifestyle and food choices are what will work to remain healthy in the long run.

 

The following weight loss tips should help. If you follow then, it will certainly assist you to lose your weight effectively:

Burn More Calories than You Consume to Lose Weight: The tips that follow won’t work if you are consuming thousand more calories into your body on a daily basis than you are burning.

Healthy Diet: Eating a healthy and nutritious diet is most important factor to lose your weight other than exercise. We have a daily nutritional requirement that we have to meet and anything extra than this gets stored as fat.

- Prefer Complex Carbohydrates: Avoid processed and refined carbohydrates, e.g. white bread, white pasta, and sugary baked foods etc. and choose complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, oats, and legumes. Complex carbohydrates provide dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals, which decelerate digestion and make you feel fuller longer period. Refined carbohydrates are highly processed and often full of added sugars.

- Emphasize on Fruits & Vegetables: The high water and fiber content in most fruits and vegetables makes them hard to overeat. You’ll feel full long before you’ve overdone it on the calories.

- Don’t Drink Calories, Drink More Water: You can easily cut down your daily calorie intake by replacing soda, aerated drinks with water. Do not drink milk or fruit juice. The juicing process that turns actual fruits into juice actually removes the edible skin & fiber, which contains the majority of the nutrients of fruits and thus reduces the nutrients.

But Caution…!

- Fried vegetables or that have been soaked in heavy sauces are no longer low-calorie and don’t help to lose weight. Choose healthier cooking methods, such as steaming, and use low-fat dressings and spices for flavor.

- Salads are very good unless you soak them in high-fat dressing and toppings.

- Be careful when choosing the dried fruit, which is high in calories and, often, in added sugar. If you do choose to eat dried fruit, keep your serving size small.

Exercises: You may control your diet and eat as per your daily nutritional values but to burn the extra fat you will have to exercise.  In today’s busy world it is very hard to find time to go to gym or even go for a run. Start exercising at least 30 minutes per day. Regular exercise coupled with a healthy well balanced diet is enough to lose your weight successfully.

How Exercises Help in Losing Fat -

- Exercises increase the number of calories you burn each day.

- Exercises increase your metabolism as your body builds new muscle tissues. Muscles use more calories than fat even when at rest!

- Exercises help to use glycogen reserves which trigger the fat burning hormone called glucagon.

Don’t forget that you should focus on sports that increase your heart rate (aerobics). Every extra step you take helps to reduce weight. Always use the stairs instead of the lift.

For a week or so, keep an activity journal and use a calorie calculator or heart rate monitor to know how many calories you burn throughout the day.

Motivation: Diet and exercise are the most important but being motivated is equally required. When we are used to the habit of eating without any restrictions then following a fat free diet and no junk food makes us give up the resolution due to high desire. But once we are motivated nothing can stop us. See what motivates you, maybe celebrity fitness or some friends who worked out and got into shape or the best – a lifestyle makeover. High Motivation is among the most important how to lose weight tips.

Reduce Your Stress Level: Stress diminishes the efficiency of human body as well as the mind. Often, when people are stressed they conquer it by eating something sweet or something that suits their taste buds which don’t help in losing weight. While there are everyday stressful issues you cannot keep away from, there are certain things you can still do to reduce your stress.

- Avoid arguments; whenever you differ to someone then simply agree to disagree.

- Try not to think too much and if you feel yourself starting to tense up then just do some activity that can take away or reduce your stress level.

Get At Least 7 Hours Sleep a Day: Human body needs to recuperate and reboot itself to be energetic again. Irregular sleep patterns spoil the body cycle and reduce the efficiency and recovery time for the body. Lack of sleep makes people want more food, eating constantly and not be able to control hunger. The less you sleep each day, the more tired your body gets which leads to a desire for sweet and high carbohydrate foods to replenish the energy that is missing.

Downsize Your Kitchenware: A simple way to keep your food portions under control and to lose weight! Use smaller dishes, serve meals on a salad plate instead of a dinner plate, and use teaspoons instead of serving spoons to dish out. Using smaller bowls, plates, and containers can subconsciously influence how much you serve yourself.

Chew Your Food Thoroughly: Various studies have shown that the longer time you spend chewing your food, the lesser calories you consume. Chewing food for longer prevents over-eating, by giving the brain more time to receive signals from the stomach that it is full. This is good for digesting the food. Try chewing your food 30 to 40 times for every bite.

Avoid Distractions while Eating: When you do multi tasking during your meal times, your brain can’t focus on the amount of food that you consume and you are more likely to consume more calories than you requires. Try to avoid having food while working, watching TV, using a computer, reading or driving.

Do Not Abandon Your Favorite Foods: Although, it’s not practical to reduce your body fat while eating lots of food, cakes and sweets. Then how to lose weight by including your favorites? Well, it doesn’t mean that you can never have any treats; in fact you need to learn how to limit these foods to small size, e.g. for special occasions.

Many people do neglect that we all have different body types with different metabolism. So, you need to make sure that your weight loss program is individually tailored for you.

Anyone considering a weight loss plan for effective results should seek  advice from a reliable weight loss service – where the weight loss plan is customized to your needs, should have worked for other people (look for weight loss success stories), and should use the latest research to help you lose weight.

In case if you are looking for professional help to get you started on customized nutrition and exercise plans then write to us at fitness@fitho.in.

Why Salt is Bad for Health

Deep fried foods and other processed foods are considered the most unhealthy foods that contain minimum nutrition and maximum calories that are responsible for weight gain & lifestyle related health disorders. What is often forgotten yet an important culprit behind weight gain & health issues is excessive salt consumption.

The daily requirement of sodium is 2300 mg, as per the Indian guidelines of dietary intake, which is got from 5 grams of salt. The most important mineral got from salt is sodium that has many health benefits like enzyme operation and muscle contraction and fluid regulation in the system. This requirement is easily met by the regular meals in the home cooked food.

It’s not about the regular salt content in the home cooked food but the consumption of extra salt through foods like Pickles, chutneys, sauces and ketchups, papads, chips and salted biscuits, savoury items, cheese and salted butter, canned foods (vegetables, dals & meats), bakery products, ready made soup powders, dried salted fish, smoked meats, chinese food. These were some of the obvious products but there are still some not so obvious pre-packaged products that might be harming you. Here is how  : to improve the shelf life of a food product preservatives are used. Besides many chemicals that are used to preserve food the two most common artificial or natural preservatives used are salt or sugar. Both are equally harmful for health if taken in large quantities over a period of time. Read more

How to Control Over-Eating

Are you tired of your binge eating habit? Do you find yourself giving into temptation to gorge down delicious food and before you can control its too late and the damage of consuming excessive calories is already done. Why do we find ourselves making the same mistake over and over again and how can you salvage the situation and control overeating in future.

The need to obsessively over eat is mostly triggered by emotional factors. Either you are too sad, too happy, too tired or simply bored when you get this intense urge to eat. Some studies even blame our ancestors for our compulsive binging behaviour. According to them our primal ancestors were hunters and gatherers and went without food for long periods, so once they found it they would eat everything they could get their hands on.  The latest research suggests that starving leads to overeating  and is also responsible for slowing down of metabolism. This leads to storing of food in our bellies which is linked to heart diseases and acquiring diabetes type 2.

A binging outburst can set you back to a minimum of 1000 calories per meal and above your daily calorie intake. This means that you could be potentially adding upto1 kg each time you have 2 bags of chips while just chilling infront of the TV! Read more

Vegetarian Diet for Better Health

Health is a major concern for most people but we only take it seriously when we know someone who is a victim of an unhealthy lifestyle or are affected by health disorders. Indian is the hot seat for two major lifestyle disorders diabetes and heart health. Diabetes is a lifestyle disorder and usually the main reason of people becoming diabetic is due to sedentary lifestyle, lack of exercise and physical activity and eating excess junk and unhealthy foods which affects the pancreatic functions.

Numerous studies on health have quoted that the cure for type II diabetes is removing the very cause of the disease which is a unhealthy lifestyle can reverse the disease. The chief cause of diabetes type 2  is excess weight from unhealthy diet and inactivity.

Chronic diseases not only inflict pain and cause health deterioration but their diagnosis is costly, time consuming and doesn’t provide full recovery at times. Also the stress and burden it adds to your life is less anticipated than the reality. Eating plant based vegetarian food products and eliminating meat and dairy products from the diet will considerably reduce the risk for chronic diseases like  obesity, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

According to new dietary guidelines emphasizing vegetarian diet that is nutrient-rich plant foods can enable modern populations to dramatically improve their health, dramatically reduce healthcare costs, while at the same time save millions of needless deaths from heart disease, strokes, cancer and diabetes.

Digging for reasons whether meat products which are considered to be a good source of protein along with dairy products could lead to chronic diseases. Also diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure are pre-cursory to heart diseases and health. Meats and dairy products are high in saturated fat which increases the bad cholesterol and decreases good cholesterol from the body. Consuming excess amounts of these products regularly can lead to accumulation of saturated fat on your visceral and body which increases your cholesterol levels in the body leading to chronic diseases.

Sodium in meats and dairy is high which increases the blood pressure which acts with high cholesterol further decreases the heart health. Overall if you see as the cholesterol and blood pressure keep rising to the danger zones it also effects the metabolism of the body. This slow down in the metabolic rate further aggravates the problem where calories that are not consumed get stored as fat in the body resulting in weight gain and other problems related to it.

Thinking practically one should avoid foods that are not healthy for the body. Switch to more vegetarian diet that has plants based food sources which are natural, healthy and keep you in good shape. Also many plant food sources are low in calories and fat free this helps avoid consuming any useless and saturated fat in the body. And if you are wondering that would a vegetarian diet that has plant food sources meet all your nutritional requirements including protein. The answer is yes, a vegetarian diet can meet your daily nutrition requirement intake that will not only make you lose weight but make your body healthier and stronger.

To get a vegetarian diet plan you can mail us at fitness@fitho.in or call 011-41040070 to speak to a dietitian now.

 

Are Salads Healthy?

Salads are popularly known as the dieter’s delight. Unfortunately a lot of salads that are often promoted as healthy might not be as healthy as they appear. Infact sometimes might even carry double the amount of calories than a bowl of pasta!  Its very easy to add calories to a dish but how do you make it equally easy to reduce them.

The secret to the calorie count of every salad is in the sauce.  Four signs that make salad fattening are : creamy dressing, red meat like bacon toppings, oily dressings and lastly cheese. Your next question would be how to choose a healthy salad from the menu without compromising on the flavour of it. We have a few answers explained for you right  here:

Combine fruits with vegetables for that extra flavour: Fruits contain natural sugar that adds flavour without burdening the salad with extra calories. It is also the best substitute for artificial sugar. Citrus fruits can be added to enhance the flavour and give it a tangy taste for more variety. Both fresh fruits and dried fruits add flavour, texture and nutritional benefit to the salad. This combination adds antioxidants, fiber, vitamins and minerals to your diet. Besides the reduced calories your body is getting the best of nutrition packed in one meal! Read more

Weight Loss for Overweight People

People struggling with excess weight or simply being over weight find it the most difficult to lose weight even though they know that all they need to do is eat healthy and exercise to lose weight. But despite that why are overweight people considered lazy? Maybe they are not as active as thin people but there is a definitive reason behind it.

As one starts putting on weight is gained it gets difficult to move the body with ease and the easiness that a fit man would experience. The weight is exercising pressure on all the joints in the body impairing agile movements. Carrying excess weight overtime can result in hormonal imbalance causing disorders like hypothyroid, diabetes, PCOS etc. Overweight people also find it maintain body balance . This might prevent them from participating in activities like jogging, running etc. For most over weight people exercise is very stressful for the body. Besides they suffer from high blood pressure, their joints are under pressure and they tend to get tired very easily.

Here are some easy ways to get you started on a weight loss plan with ease:

Managing Nutrition: The ideal way forward is by revising your daily nutrition intake. The idea is not to suddenly cut your calorie intake by half but to slowly start reducing the non-nutritional foods from the daily diet. The main point to be  calorie intake has to be reduced over a period of time yet as all these problems surface before a overweight person while losing weight, there are ways that you can start losing weight. Read more

HCG Diet Plan

Adding to the list of popular diets HCG Diet plan is trending on google by people as it promises fast and effortless weight loss accompanied with a low calorie diet.What is this HCG? HCG is Human Chorionic Gonadotropin is a hormone in the human body which is produced naturally in pregnant women after conception. This hormone converts the fat present in the body into nutrition to feed the growing embryo. Its main function is to support the growing embryo in women.

How does the HCG diet plan work? HCG diet plan is a new concept for weight loss using HCg though injection or orally. Injecting HCG injection everyday and eating a low calorie diet comprising of vegetables, fiber, water etc can help you lose weight very fast. HCG stimulates the hypothalamus to release energy from the unhealthy fat tissues in the body. HCG releases 3000-4000 calories from the fat deposits in the body and keeps you satisfied with just 500 calorie diet.

The course of the HCG diet plan usually lasts minimum for 26 days and maximum upto 43 days and a person can discontinue in between if he/she reaches her target. It takes about three days for the hcg to show its effect and quit it three days before you plan to resum your normal diet so that the body can wash away the hcg from it. It has a limit of 40 days as the body may become immune to it thus reducing its effect. Also if you plan to again take up the plan you need to take a six week break and limiting it to four times in total.

The upside of this diet is that it actually makes you lose weight. The downside is that its like any other fad diet where if you reduce the daily calorie intake to the minimum you will automatically lose weight. Suppressing your hunger can make you go back to eating with a vengeance. Reduced calorie intake might also deprive your body of nutrition and can also trigger deficiencies in the long run. Read more

Interval Training

Among the latest and most effective exercise routine for  fast fat loss, improving performance, raising fitness levels, increasing endurance or getting started on a regular fitness regime interval training has been the touted to most effective routine.

Short burst of high intensity training for a short period of time is known as Interval Training. You can do interval training with almost any kind of exercise. Interval training requires you to do a certain exercise with full power for a small duration and then rest for some time and repeat. For beginners Fitho recommends a 1:3 ratio. It means every exercise is done for 10 seconds, also called a set, which is then repeated three times for ten seconds each without giving a gap.

Interval training helps in burning fast calories and is highly effective for someone who is looking to get into shape fast. You can do interval training with sprinting, cycling training, high intensity interval training etc. Interval training is tough but effective in improving your performance. You can increase the intensity of the exercise according to your capacity and fitness levels. You can do 60 seconds of interval training which will test your guts and then rest. You could do skipping, squat jumps, sprinting etc for high intensity interval training which will quickly burn the energy reserves and then burn the fat in your body.

This mode of training is effective for beginners as well as regular fitness enthusiasts. Interval training increases the heart rate and builds enduarance and strength. It must be noted that a high intensity workout must be alternated with rest or moderate workout for recovery. Read more

Are Vegetable Soups Healthy

Soups are often categorized by general people as non-fattening or healthy foods. But are they as healthy as they are known to be. Popularly soups can be divided into two groups: clear and thick soup. Clear soup are generally more healthy as they have the least amount of calories while thick soups are usually contain a lot of starch, sometimes cream and other high carbohydrate ingredients.

To help you further explain the difference clear soups do not contain anything else except for the strained liquid. Any liquid that has vegetables, meats or even noodles is considered a thick soup.

A bowl of clear soup can help you lose weight. This doesnt mean that you get on a only soup diet. It means that adding a bowl of clear soup before your meal can help you prevent from overeating while adding important nutrition. A clear vegetable soup contains vitamins & minerals while a bowl of non-vegetarian clear soup has zinc, protein besides vitamins & minerals.

Vegetables and poultry can be added to your soup to make it a healthy meal but it might add to the calories count of the food. You can then prepare the soup with enough vegetables and poultry to work as  a substitute for a meal. While it control the calories it adds the correct amount of essential nutrition to the diet. Also often soups especially served in restaurant carry cornflour, high sodium to make it more appetizing also add empty calories to the soup. High sodium content in the soup often results in water retention leaving one feel bloated.

While eating out choose the healthier soup option to avoid putting on weight and adding empty calories to the diet. Following ingredients that are often added to the soup like milk, cream, butter are fattening and should be avoided.Avoid packed and processed soups as they are high in sodium and contain no antioxidant properties.

To summarize it stick to clear soups that are made of clear, strained broth. If you want to add vegetables & meat to your soup then make the soup as your meal and not an appetizer, incase you are watching your weight. Check the ingredients of the soup before ordering. If you can ask the chef to prepare you a clear vegetable soup without any corn flour and low salt in it.

Hope this article helps you chose better while eating out or wondering what can be eaten when you are on a weight loss program.

Spinning for Weight Loss

Spinning is a popular group  stationary cycling session which promises to make your fitness goals a reality. Spinning involves different techniques like interval training, high intensity and variations in cycling for burning calories, building endurance and stamina and strength. Spinning is a hybrid form of stationary cycling that is conducted by an instructor to the beat of fast music.

Spinning is getting popular  as many find spinning a fun way to lose weight. But is spinning as effective for weight loss like other forms of exercise? Does it focus on overall body toning? Does it exercise every muscle of the body and support a complete body workout.

The basic position of the body is sitting and cycling all the time pedaling with a few variations to keep the sessions interesting while cycling to the music. Therefore spinning is mostly a lower body workout. The  leg muscles are worked while the upper body is neglected. It is an incomplete workout for those looking for an upper body toning or overall body muscle development. This routine burns quite a few calories at a moderate level of intensity but you could literally burn more calories and get a better toned body with running with same the effort put in a spinning session.

As every form of exercise has advantages and disadvantages the biggest plus point to spinning is that it is highly motivational  as it is a group training session which keeps you pushing harder to be more competitive. The cycles can be adjusted to ones comfort levels and the entire concept is a lot of fun. It is basically cardio exercise that  can be compared to running. The only difference being you engage your entire body while you run but here you only move your legs. Read more

Is Flavored Yogurt Healthy

We require 2 teaspoons of sugar in a day if you are looking to lose weight and  about 4 teaspoons if you just want to manage your current weight. But don’t just count the sugar consumption in your tea and coffee but all the other sources that you might consuming sugar indirectlylike your sweetened soda’s, colas, candies, sweetened cornflakes and flavoured yogurt. Often diet programs and nutritionist brag about eating yogurt in the diet as it has probiotics, vitamins and minerals, protein etc which promote better health and is low in calories as well. But is flavored yogurt as healthy as non-flavored yogurt?

Flavored yogurt which come in a variety of mouth watering flavors don’t contain the real fruit in it but conatins the pureed form which is high in sugar content. Compare the ingredients of regular yogurt and flavored yogurt to understand the difference in  calorie intake. Around 200 gms of flavored yogurt contains 25 grams of added sugar. The extra sugar gets stored in the body as fat and over a period of time this continuous weight gain can cause health complications. The sugar in the flavored yogurt increases the calorie intake by 100 calories for a 200 gm serving.

We are not saying that flavored yogurt is the main reason behind your weight gain. What we mean is that foods like flavoured yogurt are often marketed as health foods. They might be relatively more healthy than the other processed foods but they still are hidden source of high calorie food that are often misunderstood as fat free.

When talking about weight loss it is not just important to eat healthy foods but manage calories either by portion control or choosing healthier options. Sugar provides instant energy and no nutrition. People who have blood sugar problems could experience a sudden increase in sugar levels with flavored yogurt. Instead flavor your yogurt seperately with fruits that you want. Flavored yogurt is also high in sodium content causing water retention in the body and resulting in bloating. Read more

Best Exercises for Abdominal Fat or Love Handles

After belly, thighs and arms and butt the other common weight gain area is your waist. Over a period of time weight starts to collect on the side of your stomach which is also known as “love handles” or “tyres”. All these terms are nothing but common slang for abdominal obesity.

Eating unhealthy food and no exercise is the most common cause of love handles. These tyres were mostly seen on women in the past but now more and more men seem to develop it in their late twenties & early thirties. Indians are genetically inclined to accumulate fat around their waist which is also linked to Type 2 diabetes and heart health.

The simplest way to check for abdominal fat is to measure your waist. Run a tape measure around your waist at about the level of your navel. Breathe minimally, and make sure not to pull the tape measure so tight that it depresses the skin. The average BMI  (Body mass Index) of an Indian woman ranges from 18-24.9 , a waist circumference greater than 34-35 inches is considered high risk to lifestyle diseases.

Another way to measure abdominal fat is by calculating the waist to hip ratio. This is done through simple calculation of taking the ratio of the waist and hip. The healthy range in women is less than .7 and men is less than 1.

The best way to lose weight is to exercise and watch what you eat. Ensure that your body is getting adqeuate nutrition to improve the metabolism. Do not resort to fad diets as they might show you weight loss in the short term but in the long term you put the weight back on besides depriving your body of important nutrition resulting in multiple deficiencies in future. For healthy weight loss consult a good professional weight loss expert to help you lose weight and get fit.

Here are a list of exercises that are very effective to lose abdominal fat or love handles:

Running: Love handles are fat accumulated on your sides. So it is more about burning the fat in the body. You can lose maximum fat by running or doing any cardio exercise. Running allows you to burn maximum fat in a workout other than boosting metabolism. So do running in variations and or push your self more for quicker results. Include sprinting, bounding,
German drills, etc in your plan. Burning maximum calories starts burning fat gradually from the body. Manage your diet and eat adequately according to your daily requirement to allow fat to burn faster.

Crunches: Love Handles are part of your core and require core to be worked to exercise the area and build some muscles underneath. Crunches are highly beneficical is strengthening your core for better balance in the body and provides strength for intense workouts. Do crunches on medicine ball and see the muscle gain.

Side Crunch: Working the obliques help in reducing the love handles on the side and side crunch is very effective for oblique muscles. Lie down on right side of your body with right arm over your chest. Crunch your left armpit towards the left hip and raise your legs while crunching. Repeat and do both sides.

Elbow to Knee Crunch: You could do elbow to knee crunch either standing or while lying down.Lie down on the floor with knees bent and arms over your chest. You have to touch your right elbow with the left knee and alternatively. While doing the exercise move your torso for the exercise. This works the rectus abdominis and obliques while the standing one works the entire mid section and hip flexors.

Side Bends: Stand straight with dumbbells in your hands by your side. Alternatively bend your side and stretch the other side holding for a few seconds and then do the other side. This execise stretches the love handles and improves blood flow in the area.

Burpees: It is a aerobic exercise which is a combination of a few exercises mixed together for greater fitness. To perform the exercise stand straight in the first step. Then get down to squat position. Third put your hands on the floor and throw both your legs back stretching your back and looking up in the air. In the fourth step bring back your legs to the sqaut position and lastlt jump up to starting position. Repeat. This exercise not only stretches the core and works the entire body but the faster version of it burns many calories too.

Russian Twist: Sit on the floor with your knees bent and hold your  arms straight in front of you and lean your back a little while your torso is at 45-degree. Brace your core and rotate to the side and as far as you want. Repeat for both sides and mind the posture. This exercise also helps build the muscles on the side and works the core. To make this exercise more intense hold a weight between your hands or lift your feet in the air and perform the exercise.

Wood chop: It is again one of the finest twist exercise which can be done with a object, cabel, dumbbell, bat, base ball bat etc. As you pull the weight across your body, you rotate your hips and bend forward slightly so the weight ends up slightly below your hip. Keep your torso, chest and head in line with your hips. Do it for both sides.

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