Posts Tagged ‘overweight’

Did you know! Cardiovascular diseases are the world’s largest killers, claiming 17.3 million lives a year. Risk factors for heart disease and stroke include raised blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels, smoking, inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables, overweight, obesity and physical inactivity. In partnership with WHO, the World Heart Federation focus on “One World, One Home, One Heart” (source courtesy: WHO – World Health Organisation)

Just as a healthy mind is an indication of a healthy body, in the same way, a healthy heart is an indication of a healthy lifestyle and routine. When you eat healthy, exercise daily, stay away from health enemies like smoking and alcohol drinking, etc., then this is the route to a happy living with a healthy heart.

Is Your Heart Healthy?

You will be amazed to know that women are at equal risk to heart problems as men. But, you can avoid the risk of developing the heart disease by following inculcating a few daily habits. For this you first need to know the risk factors that cause the disease. Now, there are two types of these risk factors; one type consists of those factors that can be changed and other type includes the ones that you cannot change. But, the good news is that, most of the heart problem risk factors can be changed.

The chief factors causing heart problem are as follows:

What can you possibly do to avoid heart problem completely?

The earlier you start to improve your heart-health; the better will be your chances to have a healthy heart. You can immediately inculcate the following habits in your daily life:

• Have a healthy diet plan including mostly vegetables, fruits, whole grains or cereals, fish, and pulses.
• Avoid having a large quantity of saturated fats, instead switch to vegetable oils.
• Quit smoking.
• Incorporate some physical activity in your daily routine like using stairs instead of lift or brisk walking.
• Prevent diabetes by limiting your sugar intake.

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It is not rare to see women cribbing about sacrificing their most favorite dishes for the sake of slimming down. Even though the aspiration of getting a flat tummy is so intense, still the fact remains that your stomach never wants you to diet, let alone your taste buds. How good would it be for you to trim down your inches without experiencing the pain of  giving up your favourite food? Here are a few tips that you can follow and a few lifestyle changes that you can inculcate to carve your curves without forgoing food!

Eating Habits to Help Slimming Down

• Adequate protein and complex carb intake changes your plus size to smart size they help in slowing down the release of sugar into your blood by the food you eat. This in turn reduces your hunger pangs considerably and increases energy, whereby inhibiting the body’s tendency to accumulate excessive calories in the form of fat. It even adds to the fiber intake in the body, which is known to aid in digestion.

Food Sources:

• Don’t say no to Fats. It is a misconception that cutting down completely on fats helps reduce your inches quickly. Actually, a regular fat intake helps create a texture in your mouth due to which you get a full feeling, and thus eat less. Also, it helps trigger some hormones that give your brain a message of having a full feeling.

Food Sources:

Low-fat dairy products, seeds, olive oil, sunflower oil, fish, nuts and Desi Ghee.

• Extra Tips to Habituate:

Eat small frequent meals, 8-10 servings a day, and drink plenty of water to – reduce your hunger pangs
Increase wholegrain foods in your diet such as brown rice, wheat, pasta, brown bread, etc.
Use small utensils for eating and have starters like salads or soups for early satiate.

What BMI (body mass index) do you get a flat stomach?

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You have tried dieting, joined a slimming club, tried staying active and have surreptitiously mulled about the fashionable ‘quick-fix’ solution to lose weight. Did you know women are the main buyers of low-cal and low-fat food products and supplements? I’m not stating this to give you a complex. Stop and think for a moment. Are you taking the right route to weight loss?

For that you need to know your ideal weight. It is estimated that a BMI of 25-30 is normal anything lower or higher is unhealthy. The tables of ideal height to wealth ratio at fitness sites help but they are not sacrosanct. For some, muscle mass will weigh more than fat. Find out your correct Body Mass Index (BMI) before going for that fantastic ‘lose 10 kgs in 10 days’ Ads.

You need to eat if you want to lose weight. Truly. The lesser you eat the more your body stores fat. Eat smaller but frequent meals for higher metabolism. When we say we want to lose weight we actually mean we want to lose fat. That’s why these rapid weight loss fads often make the dieter ill rather than lean and fit. Crash diets can make your body low on energy and cause you high cravings for fatty, oily, spicy and sugary stuffs. And when you surrender at last and devour those foods, you are sure to eat more calories than you require, leading to weight gain.

What you need is foods high in nutrition and low in calories (not below 2400Kcal, the required calories for average women). Vitamin & mineral supplements may help but do consult your doctor before embarking on a regime. Milk, whole-grain cereals, fruits, veggies and nuts are rich sources of B-Complex, crucial to dieters. Chromium and Zinc are two important mineral that help your body process sugar and keep your weight in control. Fresh papaya drizzled with honey and lemon is a good source of such fat burning minerals.

The golden mantra is, consume lesser calories than you burn and you will lose fat… err weight. And of course there is no real instant weight loss formula. Dietary changes need to be gradual & steady. Avoid refined and processed food in favor of rougher foods rich in fiber. Cut back on sugars and sweeteners like corn syrups that is equally bad. Taking your time for eating instead of gobbling will ensure that you eat the right portion.

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Statistics suggest that there are some 35 million obese people in India. Yet, obesity is not seen as a disease here; one of the many ironies of Indian health scenario. The way it has creepily crawled to the top 10 lifestyle problems of modern India is astounding. And this is all the more reason to help alert and educate those who (read majority) are stuck to their couches of just how grim the situation has become. Obesity does not simply take a toll on the physical health but is also a free-ticket to psychological problems like depression, anxiety etc. Sadly, it’s no secret that we all exist in a somewhat callous world full of narrow mindedness, discrimination and unawareness.

Impact of Lifestyle and Imbalance Diet.

Did you know that more than 25 medical conditions or complications are linked to obesity? Diabetes, high BP, cholesterol, heart attack and stroke top the list. Simply put, obesity is the direct upshot consuming more calories than you burn. These ‘extras’ then lead to energy imbalance. Fast food culture being the most popular cause in our fast-paced world is the main convict; it is rich in calories and poor in nutrients. It may suit your schedule perfectly not your body. Environment, peer pressure, genetics’ all these play a role in undermining your say in your weight. But while even obesity due to genetics can be thwarted by your determination and will power, what is peer pressure. Finally, it all comes down to your ability to say no.

Learn to SAY NO when your peers invite you for pizza-burger bash.

Learn to SAY NO to the second piece of burfee or chocolate.

And most of all learn to SAY NO to yourself.

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