Two Glasses Of Water – The Healthy Eating During Christmas.

It’s Christmas in a couple of days and I have already started eating the sweets. I am not going to deprive myself of the food and sweets this Christmas. But I am also not going to forget about my health. Well, as always I have a plan to go about with this festive season and I am going to stick to it. I have come up with a simple yet very effective step. I have named it “Two Glasses Of Water”. This practice will guide me and you to stay healthy and at the same time not deprive oneself of the delicious Christmas food and sweets that we can indulge in once a year.

“Two Glasses Of Water” – How to Practice?

Drink a glass of water before eating any sweets and another glass of water after eating. The first glass of water will help you in eating less because you will feel full and the second glass of water will prevent you from overindulging in more sweets because again, you will feel full.

Alcohol is something that is had in plenty during this time. So if you are not able to avoid the drinks, here is a solution. Drink two glasses of water for a glass of alcohol. So start with a glass of water and every glass of alcohol must be followed by a glass of water. The water will help in reducing the diuretic effect (alcohol increases urination and flushes water from the body) and at the same time it will help you in keeping away from overindulging.

Explanation:

It’s simple. The idea of this practice is to stay full most of the times so that you don’t overindulge.

This practice of “Two Glasses Of Water” will not only help you through this Christmas season but also throughout your life. 

Stay Healthy! 

Fitness Myths and Facts - Part I

When it comes to health and fitness, we hear a lot of things from a lot of people we come across. Some will tell us from their experiences and some will tell us what they heard from others. Some of it will be true and some of it will be false. There are a lot of health and fitness myths and facts. In this part, I have busted five myths.

Myth - More Proteins helps in gaining big muscles

Fact – For hypertrophy (increase in muscle size) one has to eat all the required nutrients in their specific amounts and do weight training. An athlete would need 1.2 to 1.5 grams of protein per KG of body weight. Extra amounts of proteins put extra stress on kidneys and liver. Proteins when eaten in excess get converted into fats. The muscles don’t increase in size until and unless they are exercised.   

Myth - Longer workout duration causes more weight loss

Fact – To lose fat weight one has to do low intensity exercises for a longer duration up to a point. But that doesn’t mean one has to exercise for countless hours. If exercises continue beyond the point, the benefits from your workout will be reduced and it can cause overuse injuries (overtraining). An hour of workout each session is good enough to get good results.

Myth – Frequent exercising, faster the muscle grows.

Fact – This again will cause result in overtraining. One cannot gain muscles in a few days. The process of muscle growth takes place when you rest the muscle. So if you are working out the same muscles over and over again without giving them any rest, those muscles will have no time to recover and build. It usually takes around 24 to 48 hours for muscles to recover.

  

Myth -Fat can be transformed into muscle

Fact – Fat and lean muscles are two different tissues. Fat can never be converted into lean muscles. Many young aspiring bodybuilders/fitness enthusiasts make a mistake of putting on a lot of weight thinking they would do a so called definition workout once they become huge. But let me be very clear, in order get a defined body one has to have a lot of lean muscles. So if you are thinking about converting all that fat weight into lean muscle, just remember that won’t happen.      

Myth - More the abdominal exercises, more the fat loss in that area

Fact – People waste a lot of time doing abdominal exercises thinking they will lose fat from the abdominal region. The fact is; they are only strengthening the abdominals. The fat that is sitting on the muscles below the skin remains there forever. Like other muscles, abdominals too has to be given time to recover. Remember spot reduction is not possible. So the only way to get a flat stomach or defined abdominals is by doing a combination of aerobic/cardio training along with abdominal exercises. 

Stay Healthy!

Exercises For Women Trouble Zones - Butt, Thighs and Hips

The most important thing a woman wants from her workout program is to get in good shape. When they talk about good shape, they are talking about their hips, butt and thighs. Before I write more, let me just tell you why women choose/need to work more on these areas than the other. It is because the physiology of a woman is such that most of the excess fat/weight is accumulated in these three areas. While in a man it is the abdominal area that carries a lot of excess fat/weight. Let me be very clear to all the women and men; Spot reduction is not possible. Only a combination of aerobic/cardio training and weight training can shape you up and give you results.

Include the following exercises in your workout routines and see results. 

Aerobic Training

Aerobic dance/Cardio routines

Cycling

Jogging

Walking

Running

Stair climbing/Take the stairs instead of the elevator

Weight Training

Squats

Lunges

Bridge exercises

Leg extension
Hip extension

Leg curls 

Leg Press 

Hip abduction Hip adduction

Heel raises 

Step ups

Now that you know what to do to lose all that fat, just get going. Stick to a proper weight/fat loss diet and exercises and you will start seeing changes in a couple of months. Remember, no matter how overweight and out of shape you are, you can always turn things around by exercising and making right food choices. 

Please consult your physician before starting any workout program especially if you have any health issue. 

Stay Healthy!

Is Weight Training Good For Women?

Weight Training is absolutely good for women, knowing that as a woman grows older, physiological changes that occur with post menopause, the bones of a woman loses density and becomes fragile. This is the reason why women suffer from osteoporosis more than the men. But why do a majority of women do not like to weight train? The answer is simple; they are scared of getting muscles like man. They are worried of looking manly. But let me tell this to all the women around the world, you won’t get bigger, muscular and manly, unless the weight training program is really extreme like that of a bodybuilder and unless your testosterone levels are high like that of a man. It is the high levels of testosterone in man that causes bigger muscles and higher strength gains. 

So how does weight training help a woman?

Weight training puts stress on the bones which causes it to strengthen. So a well designed weight training workout and a balanced diet can help women stay stronger throughout her life and avoid osteoporosis that usually accompanies physiological changes and age.

To conclude I would advice all women to do weight training at least 2–3 times a week. A certified/professional Personal Trainer would design the right kind of weight training workout for you. And remember a proper designed weight training program “won’t make your body like that of a man, it will only make you physically stronger like a man”.

Stay Healthy!

You might also like to read

Common movements a person with osteoporosis should avoid

Women Osteoporosis and Calcium

Exercise and Osteoporosis

The Caloric Values Of India Food

Because I am a health conscious person, I am always interested in knowing the caloric value of the food that I eat. This helps me to keep a track of my caloric intake, which further helps me avoid the excessive eating. And since I am an Indian who indulges in Indian food, I started researching on internet to know about Indian food and their caloric values, however I found out that there are not many websites that give a clear idea of the caloric values of our Indian food. The internet is loaded with the Western and European food items and their caloric values. I don’t deny that we eat western and European food but I would like to make a point that the majority of Indians actually don’t indulge in foreign cuisine. For all those health conscious Indians, there isn't much on the internet that can help them figure out how many calories they eat every day. So I have put together a detailed list of most popular food items that we eat on daily basis and their caloric values to give you an idea about the amount of calories that are in the food items that we eat several times.

ITEM	QUANTITY	CALORIES
Bread	1 slice (20g)	50
Boiled egg	50 g	87
Skimmed milk	100 ml	50
Cow’s milk	100 ml	70
Idlis	2 No. (100 g)	130
Butter	1 tsp (5g)	36
Sambar	1 cup (60ml)	80
Dosa	1 No. (50 g)	135
Coconut chutney	2 tbsp	100
Coffee with sugar	1 cup (120 ml)	54
Tea with sugar	1 cup (120 ml)	37
Upma	1 cup	220
Stuffed parata	2 Nos.	160
Curd (1 cup)	1 Cup (120 ml)	80
Poories	2 Nos.	100
Vada pav	1 No. (30g)	260
Kachori	2 No.(150 g)	190
Khakras	2 Nos. (30 g)	180
Cooked rice	200 g	200
Veg Sabji	1 cup (125 g)	104
Salad – Tomato, Onion, Cucumber	50 g	15
Chapathi with little oil	2 Nos.	100
Thick Dal	1 Cup (100 g)	165
Cauliflower with green peas	¾ cup (75 g)	125
Phulka	4 (70 g)	200
Tomato rice/ lime rice	100 g	180
Roasted papad	10 g	30
Tandoor roti	1 No.	140
Mutton curry	100 g	150
Mutton kofta curry	130 g	250
Chicken vindaloo	½ cup (80 g)	170
Vegetable stew	¾ cup (115 g)	75
Vegetable pulav	1 cup (150 g)	190
Chicken soup	1 cup (230 g)	465
Lentil soup	1 cup (210 g)	70
Tomato soup	1 Cup (145 g)	45
Puliogere/ Bisi bele bath	190 g	280
Mutton biryani	245 g	635
Navarathan Pulav	200 g	325
Vegetable pulav	200 g	375
Jowar roti	1 No. (80 g)	120
Batura	1 No. (70 g)	325
Naan	1 No. (40 g)	125
Noodles (vegetable)	1 cup (230 g)	230
Channa masala	150 g	230
Baingan bartha	170 g	325
Palak paneer	150 g	150
Pav + Bhaji	2 Nos. + 1 cup	270
Shahi paneer	100 g	250
DESSERT ITEMS
Gulab jamun	2 Nos. (70g)	360
Cake with icing	1 No. (60 g)	300
Fruit salad without ice-cream	100 g	80
Rasagulla	30 g	100
Badam Halva	50 g	280
Mysore Pak	50 g	170
Burfi	50 g	170
Jalebi	80 g	350

Note: Near calories values have been given. Variations in household measure and cooking methods may alter the values; therefore the above values are approximate.

It takes an hour for a person running on a treadmill to burn 300 – 500 calories approximately, depending on the intensity. So the next time you want to eat a box full of Gulam jamun, think twice…

Stay Healthy!