Hypothyroidism Diet for Weight Loss

There exists a complex relationship between hypothyroidism, BMR and body weight. Hypothyroidism slows down body’s metabolism as a resulting in weight gain. The extra weight gained during hypothyroidism is also the result of water retention which is very common symptom of hypothyroidism. One has to be careful while attempting to lose weight as in hypothyroidism the person’s metabolism is already low and crash diets can lower it further.

Hypothyroidism causes insulin resistance in the body resulting in weight gain. Carbohydrate intake needs to be monitored to avoid any chances of developing diabetes. To manage weight during hypothyroidism is challenging and therefore requires professional guidance to help you get on track. For thyroid patients simply cutting calories from the diet is not effective in bringing about the weight loss because already their metabolism is on the slower side. They require a combination of diet and exercise to achieve the goal. Exercise is critical to regulate the metabolism and burn calories.

Here are some basic dos and donts of a hypothyroid diet recommended by diet experts:

Diet: The diet for the hypothyroid patient on a weight loss plan should essentially be low in carbohydrates. Avoid pastas, potatoes, yam, and sweet potato, include more of complex carbohydrates in the form of fiber rich foods like whole cereals, vegetables, whole pulses etc. The diet need to be restricted in terms of high glycemic  foods such as corn, white bread, refined flour, muffins, cakes,  rich desserts etc.

The other important food that need to be avoided for hypothyroidism are goitrogens like soya and its products, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, kale, mustard greens, cauliflower, radishes, turnips, spinach, strawberry, peaches, pears, peanuts etc. Goitrogens are the substances that interfere with the thyroid functioning and avoiding them provide relief from the symptoms. Read more

Eat Vegetables to Lose Weight

According to the recently released food plate the average daily dietary allowance one requires atleast 3 portions of  seasonal vegetables to meet the daily dietary intake. Most of us find it difficult to successfully meet this dietary requirement resulting in poor health, weight gain and nutritional deficiencies. Besides eating vegetables can actually help you lose weight.

There are many excuses for missing the most natural foods in their diet, some of which are eating greens is a task and we purposely skip them, they are tasteless, while some people assure you that they have vegetables in their diet and when asked to review their meals that’s the only thing that’s missing from the diet. Before we get started with the tips let us just give you a quick reminder on why vegetables are good for us:

• The most natural  and easily available food that contains different vitamins, minerals and thousands of other plant chemicals.
• Vegetables are low in fat and calories,
• Good source of dietary fiber and provide us with extra energy. Fiber keeps us fuller for long preventing us from overeating and  frequently eating.
• Vegetables provide more energy to the body in return helping us be active and burn more calories.

Vegetables are not tasteless and infact can have better flavor & texture than most meats if prepared well. Besides we know the health benefits of seasonal vegetables. If you are not use to eating them we can suggest easy ways of slowly  introducing them to your diet them and finally develop a taste for them. Once you have them as part of your diet trust us you will wonder what kept you away from them for so long! Read more

Fitho’s Outdoor Training Program is Your Ideal Fitness Buddy

Have tried joining a gym but paid the entire years fee and barely saw the inside of the gym. What you need are like-minded friends that will motivate you towards sticking to a fitness regime. Fitho’s outdoor training program is just the place that you will find these people that will help you get fitter while you enjoy the workout! Besides a lot of research have been confirming the fact that sweating it out in a group of like-minded people helps you burn more calories — here’s how:

We turn you into a regular

The most difficult part of a fitness routine is being regular. Every day you find a new excuse to skip the workout. Joining a group that is friendly and like-minded makes it easier for you to be accountable and stick to your commitment. It helps you be regular resulting in better attendance meaning higher calories burned!

We ensure you get the most out of the session

When you workout in a group you stop paying attention to the time. Your energy is channelized into focusing and completing the fun group activity at hand. Friendly banter while working out further helps time fly and before you know it the session is over! When you are working out alone most of us find it difficult to even complete 15 minutes before getting bored , giving up and getting on the phone!

We plan the sessions for you

Its difficult to put together a fun workout for yourself. Fitho’s group workouts take that responsibility away from you and in return give you one hour of a super fun and energetic workout session. Group workouts are always fun as every session is planned differently. This ensures that you get a complete body conditioning without making it mundane. Read more

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.

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