Archives for December 2014

December 19, 2014 By Ashwinkumar Rahate 1 Comment

Track your Physical Activities and improve your performance

Each and every person young or old should be involved in some form of physical activity or exercise programme on a daily basis. It’s not about just being physically active it is also important to track your activity.

Most who exercise do not track their activity on a daily basis which according to me is so wrong. No matter which activity you are doing? Weight Training, Cardio Vascular or sports specific training tracking it is important.

How can you track? For tracking you can use workout diary. Even you can track activities manually offline in computer by using excel programme. You can also use apps for tracking purpose.

To make it easy for you I have divided the tracking activity in two parts. This should make it easy for you to track your activities

Monthy, half-monthly and weekly tracking
Daily Tracking
Monthly Tracking: Here you can track various aspects such as your Body weight, BCA (Body Composition Analysis), Fitness Test Records, workout schedules etc. For better result you can track the above every fortnight or every week.
Daily Tracking

You can track your daily activities by maintaining a workout diary and food habits by maintaining a nutritional diary.

Workout or Exercise Diary:

In a Workout or Exercise Diary you can update various things which includes

Write down you Fitness Goals.
Date and Time
Exercises
Number of sets and receptions
Rest Intervals between the sets
In cardiovascular activities you can monitor your heart rate
Record as much as you can.

Updating your fitness activity records enables you to know where you stand currently and what you need to do to improve your performance. As I mentioned above it is a benchmark for you.

For example: “If you are training for a marathon or a long distance trail walk you will know how much distance you will cover in particular time. Based on your previous record you can estimate and set a target accordingly which will help you improve your performance. Continuous progress is possible when you track your fitness regularly. When you do that you know where you stand currently.

So if you have not started tracking your activities please do so and improve your performance.

December 18, 2014 By Jyoti Sawant 1 Comment

“Get ready for the big day” – fitness for Brides & Grooms

It is that time of your life when you want to look the best and fit. It’s your big day when you are going to tie the knot with your groom or bride and get hitched for life. So if you’re on your way to get married, now is a good time to take your health and appearance more seriously.

*Diet: If you’re over weight or underweight consult a dietician to help you with a healthy balanced diet. Resist the temptation to crash diet. Instead of skipping meals, focus on what you eat: keep a food diary for two weeks and you will soon recognize your weak points. Eat healthy for a brighter fresher look, cut down on junk food and sugar, but go gaga over salad, sprouts, green leafy vegetable and of course water.

*Get enough protein – Your body uses 20-30% more energy to digest protein foods than carbohydrates. Make sure you have some protein rich food such as like fish, chicken, turkey, eggs, milk & milk products, nuts like almonds & walnuts, tofu, soybean or pulses during each meal.

*Make time for fitness – There’s no way around it, no quick fix or magic pill. Exercise is the magic pill! Not only does it help you shed pounds, it also reduces stress, rejuvenates your mood and helps you sleep. If you are just starting out after a long break from exercise, commit to 10 minutes a day and build up from there. Start any kind of cardiovascular exercise like jogging, walking, swimming, cycling or aerobics.

Below are few home remedies that will help maintain your Skin and Hair.

*Cleansing (Papaya): Cut a ripe papaya with skin, in the size of a bar of soap. Store it in your fridge. Everyday rub the pulp over your face and neck in a circular motion like you would with soap, keeping the skin side towards your palm. Rinse a bit later, this hydrates the skin well. Do this twice a day.

*Moisturizing (Aloe Vera): Aloe Vera is a gift for the skin. Massaging extracts of Aloe Vera all over the skin, provides essential nutrients, leaving your skin smooth and glowing.

*Hot oil hair massage: Apply olive oil and almond oil because they are healthy in nature and will enrich your hair with fatty acids and vitamins.

*Home made hair mask: Take 1 banana and mash it. Add 3 to 4 drops of almond oil and mix it well and massage it into the hair. Keep it for 30 minutes and wash with a mild shampoo.

Use these tips on regular basis to make your hair and skin healthy and soft.

*Sleep well – Get eight hours of sleep and do not take unnecessary stress. Research shows that stress and lack of sleep contribute to weight gain. Simply being conscious of the stress, trigger in your life and having a plan of how to deal with them when they come up will make a world of difference. You can’t always control, what comes your way, but you can control how you react to it.

So what are you waiting for get ready to be fit and look beautiful before the D Day!

December 17, 2014 By Luke Coutinho Leave a Comment

Diets or Lifestyle – Your Choice?

I have always believed that dieting does not work. In this blog today, I would like to share some amazing facts on how diets don’t work and what really does make all the difference in this weight loss game.

The basic difference between a diet mentality and a lifestyle mentality is simply a matter of perspective. Having the right perspective may not make tofu taste better than chocolate, but it can make all the difference in the world when it comes to achieving your goals and avoiding unnecessary suffering along the way and hanging onto your achievements over the long haul.

A diet is all about numbers—the number on the scale and the number of calories you eat and burn. Success is defined in terms of how well you stick to your numbers.

A lifestyle change is all about you. It’s about lining up your eating and physical activity with your real goals and desires. Success is defined in terms of how these changes make you feel about yourself.

The diet mentality assumes that reaching a certain weight is the key to finding happiness and solving other problems. That’s why messing up the numbers on any given day can be so upsetting—it means you’ve messed up on just about everything that really matters.

The lifestyle approach assumes that being overweight is usually the result of other problems, not the cause. Addressing these problems directly is the best way to solve both the problems themselves and your weight issues.

You can do this by focusing on many things, not just the numbers on the scale or the Nutrition Tracker. Numbers only tell a small part of the story, and “bad” numbers often provide good clues into areas that need attention.

Going on a diet involves an external and temporary change in eating technique. You start counting and measuring, and you stop eating some foods and substitute others, based on the rules of whatever diet plan you are using. Maybe you can throw in some exercise to burn a few extra calories. You assume that it’s the technique that produces the results, not you.

The results of a diet are external; if you’re lucky, you may change on the outside—but not on the inside. Once you reach your goal weight, you don’t need the technique anymore, and things gradually go back to “normal.” So does your weight….. And, of course, all the problems you hoped the weight loss would solve are still there.Making a lifestyle change involves an internal and permanent change in your relationship with food, eating, and physical activity. You recognize that the primary problem isn’t what you eat, or even how much you eat, but how and why you eat.

Eating mindlessly and impulsively (without intention or awareness) and/or using food to manage your emotions and distract yourself from unpleasant thoughts—this is what really needs to change.

Learning to take good care of yourself emotionally, physically, and spiritually—so that you don’t want to use eating to solve problems it is really the lifestyle change that matters and is a lifelong learning process that is constantly changing as your needs and circumstances change. This doesn’t mean the surface level things don’t matter.

Clearly, controlling how much and what you eat is vital, and caring how you look is a great motivator. The key to both permanent weight loss and feeling satisfied and happy with yourself and your life is to take personal responsibility for what you can control, and let go of everything else.

And when you rely too much on external (diet) tools, techniques, and rules to determine your behavior, you are turning over your personal responsibility to the tools and techniques.

If you find yourself frequently losing motivation or feeling powerless to control your own behavior, it’s probably because you’re counting on the tools to do your part of the work for you.

You’re the only one who can decide what’s right for you; only you can change your attitude and perspective to match your personal reality.

December 16, 2014 By SANA SHAIKH Leave a Comment

Alternate healthy options to COLA/SODA

What is that most crave when thirsty? An aerated cola drink. People think that aerated drink quenches thirst but that is so wrong. Instead, it gets people addicted to it and one largely craves for it due to the presence of varied components such as excess sugar, caffeine etc. One is so addicted to it that it becomes difficult to refrain from it and often end up drinking more than one in a single day. Over consumption of aerated drinks leads to various health disorders, the most common among them all is Obesity.

For all those craving for a cola here are some healthy options.

Flavoured Water: A good and healthy replacement to the calorie rich sodas/cola’s is flavoured water. One can prepare it easily by using natural flavourings and normal water. For example: Cut slices of fruit like oranges/ lemon/watermelon and add it to water to flavour it naturally. This water can be chilled to enhance its taste. Freeze small cut fruits in water or their pulp to form ice cubes. This same can be used to flavour the water .
Sparkling water: If you really can’t give up on soda instantly and like something fizzy to drink then you can try some sparkling water. This water is infused with carbon dioxide but is not as acidic as colas/other aerated drinks. There are flavoured sparkling water as well however avoid choosing them as they may contain more sodium and artificial flavours which are unhealthy.
Vegetable juice: There is also the healthy option of a vegetable juice. A fruit can also be added to the same. Vegetable juices provide your body with plenty of nutrients. For instance a carrot juice provides ample Vitamin A in the form of its precursor beta- carotene. Beta-carotene is a powerful antioxidant that prevents cells from degenerating, helps to slow aging, and maintains a youthful appearance.
Soy Milk: If you are worried about the calories you can try the low fat options. Soy milk has varied health benefits. One of the several is improving calcium absorption and improving bone mass thus preventing osteoporosis. To gain the maximum benefits choose alternatives that are fortified with calcium and Vitamin D.
Green Tea (Hot/Iced): Green tea has become more popular and is easily available. With varied flavour options and health benefits it can become a popular cola/soda replacing drink!

So next time think before you grab that cola drink..