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2 Minutes Healthy Snacks

 

healthy-snacking

When our mothers are out of town, when our workload is eating up most of our time, when studies are a priority and cooking finds less or no time at all, what do you do? You look out for some simple snacking options that can be prepared quickly and also satiate our hunger pangs.

When we talk of quick 2 minutes snacks, all that we can think of is the ready-to-eat processed foods. These are good when it comes to saving time but, little do we realize that they load us up with innumerable toxins in the form colours, flavours and preservatives. Of course their effects are not immediate but, they linger in our blood, reach our organs and initiate the degenerative process. Terrifying, isn’t it?

It’s time we make some healthier choices and protect our body from the distress that we have been exposing it to. We need to have some healthy alternatives to these ready-to-eat processed snacks. To feed this thought, I have penned down the top five 2 minutes snacks that would please your taste buds, satiate your hunger cues and save your time too!

Check out the super snacking options-

* Carrot Roast:

Slit the carrots and saute them in 1 tbsp Oil (olive oil would be a best choice). Add a few garlic cloves and season it with black pepper, oregano, red chilli powder and other seasonings of your choice. Your Beta-carotene rich Carrot Roast is ready to serve.

* Tempered Makhanas/Wheat puffs:

Makhanas (fox nuts) or wheat puffs are easily available in the market. Keep a stack of these ready at your place, so that you can grab a few, temper them and do the crunchy-munchy! As an add on, you can top it with chopped onion-tomato and squeeze a lemon to give it a tangy touch.

* Fruity-nutty yoghurt:

Chop your favourite fruits into small pieces, crush a few nuts (almonds/walnuts/pistachios/peanuts) and mix them in a cup of chilled yoghurt. Sprinkle some oregano or black pepper and enjoy this divine combo!

* Egg-o-Mania:

Make a scrambled egg, spread it on a slice of toasted whole wheat bread smeared with low fat cheese and garnish it with oregano/mixed herbs and black pepper. Being a perfect protein packed dish, it serves as a great post workout option. You can make this with one whole egg (with yolk). Yolk is rich in iron, vitamin A, B complex vitamins and amino acids too. We need not avoid it unless the person has high Triglycerides.

* Oats smoothie:

Blend half a cup of chilled yoghurt with half a cup of your favourite fruits, add 1 tbsp plain Oats and 4-5 pieces of walnut halves. Blend till smooth. You can add 1 tsp raw organic honey if you need it to be sweeter. It tastes better when served with mango, strawberries and fresh figs.

Easy, ain’t they? Some of these snacks can even be prepared on a long trek.

So you see, we need not rely on the ready-to-eat processed foods when we run short of time.

Enjoy these healthy ‘lip-smacking’ quick snacks and stay at your healthier best!

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It’s important to know the types of sets in weight training

TwoDumbbells

While doing weight training we perform sets of each exercise. The set refers to the several repetitions of the exercises and repetitions refer to the number of times you perform a specific exercise. While, designing the weight training program it is very essential to decide how many sets and the repetitions.

Following are the different types of sets

  • Straight Sets:

This type of sets is usually performed by the beginners. In this type, the sets and the repetitions are reaming the same. There is no change in lifting the weight as well.

The example of the Straight Set is performing 3 sets with 15 repetitions of a particular exercise. There is no change in lifting weight.

  • Compound Sets :

Compound sets refer to targeting two exercises with the same muscle group. Example of Compound set is performing bench press dumbbells with dumbbells fly. Bench press dumbbells will target the Pectorals major while dumbbells fly focuses on the sternum pectorals.

  • Supersets:

Supersets means paring 2 exercise that work opposite muscle groups. The example of the superset is Dumbbells Chest presses followed by lats pull down. Here the Chest and the back are the opposite muscle group.

  • Tri Sets

Three different exercises performed back to back without any pause is known as a Tri sets.

The example of the Tri set is Bench Press followed by the dumbbells fly and push ups.

  • Drop Sets

In the drop set method the trainee starts with the heavy weights with low repetitions after that reduce or drop the weight and perform the repetitions (reps) till failure. For example the trainee may start peck fly with 200 lbs with 5 reps. In the next round 180 Lbs with 8 reps, The next round 150 Lbs with 10reps. The next round 130 Lbs with 12 reps. And the last round 100 labs with 10 reps.

  • Giant Sets

A series of 4 to 6 exercises done with little or no rest between movements and a rest period of 2-3 minutes between sets, often performed on either 2 opposite muscle groups like biceps and triceps or on a single body part.

Example: 

Giant Set for the Chest:

  1. Incline Barbell Press (4 to 6 Reps)
  2. Decline Barbell Press (4 to 6 Reps)
  3. Machine Chest Press (4 to 6 Reps)
  4. Peck Deck Fly (4 to 6 Reps)
  5. Floor Dips (4 to 6 Reps)
  • Pyramid Sets

It refers to the starting the first set with the lighter weight with more repetition. Gradually the trainee increases the weight and lower the reps. The rest between the sets depend on individual goal.

For Example:

Performing Leg Press

1st Set for 100 Lbs with 15 reps

2nd Set for 150 Lbs with 12 reps

3rd Set for 200 Lbs with 10 reps

4th Set for 250 Lbs with 8 reps

5th Set for 300 Lbs with 6 reps

6th Set for 350 Lbs with 4 reps

  • Reverse Pyramid Sets:

It is just opposite of pyramid sets. It refers to the starting the first set with the heavier weight with less repetition. Gradually, the trainee reduces the weight and increases the reps. The, rest between the sets depends on individual goals.

For Example 

Performing Leg Extension

1st Set for 200 Lbs with 5 reps

2nd Set for 180 Lbs with 8 reps

3rd Set for 150 Lbs with 10 reps

4th Set for 120 Lbs with 12 reps

5th Set for 100 Lbs with 15 reps

6th Set for 80 Lbs with 18 reps

These are all different types of sets which are used in weight training program. We can choose the type of the set as per the Goal.

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WORKOUTS IN A 10 SQUARE FEET AREA

 

burpeeOne of the biggest reasons for not exercising is largely due to lack of time and not being able to make it to the gym. Reasons could be varied such as dislike to visit the gym and lift weights, especially for women. Well, it’s not necessary for you to go to the gym, you can work out at your own home, office cabin or at any place which is just no more than 10 square feet in measurement.

Yes , you heard it right. You can do your complete body workout in just 10 square feet area. Let’s have a detailed look at the different types of training you can do in a little place.

  1. You can do aerobic (cardio) exercises with your own body weight and also with a very basic equipment like a skipping rope.

You can do exercises like jumping jacks, mountain climbers, burpees, high knees, spot jogging, spot jumping, hot feets etc. These are few of the very basic and effective exercises to raise your heart beat up and build cardio vascular strength. Per session you can select 3-4 exercise as a part of the session and can do each exercise for 15-20 seconds and then take 5-10 seconds of rest between each exercise.

  1. You can do strength training with your own body weight or basic equipment like resistance tube or a pair of dumbells or barbells. You can do free hand body weight exercises like squats, jump squats, wall squats, push-ups, supported push-ups (on your knees), tricep dips on a chair or on the floor, leg raises , lunges, leg extensions on chair. Also with a pair of dumbbell or barbells or with resistance band you can do bicep curls , triceps extensions, shoulder presses, rowing , squats, lunges etc.
  2. You can do a specific core workout session which includes exercises to be done for lower back and abs. Core session is extremely important. Exercises like back extension, superman raises , child pose, cat & camel thrust , pelvic raises will strengthen and stretch your lower back. On the other hand, exercises like crunches, bicycle crunches, leg raises, scissor kicks, flutter kicks, planks, side planks etc. will work on your abdominal muscles.
  3. You can do stretching exercises, yoga, power yoga and different types of breathing exercises. Stretching exercises, Yoga, power yoga and breathing exercises will improve your flexibility and burn fats as well. Yes, that’s right. Oxygen burns fats, so the more you focus on breathing exercises the more you burn fat and keep your cells healthy by providing oxygen to your body.

These are the exercises which you can do in a very small place like 10 square feet area and, can still focus on your overall fitness by improving strength, stamina and flexibility. You can plan it well according to your schedule and do each of these variety exercises at least once in a week.

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Protein is not just about quantity. It’s also about quality

protien-rich-foods
Every weight loss or weight gain programme talks about PROTEINS. They are the building blocks for growth and repair of muscle tissues of tendons, organs and skin. Proteins are made out of smaller molecules called amino acids which are linked together like beads on a string.

Some of these amino acids can be produced by the body and are called non essential amino acids, while some cannot be produced by the body and we need to get them from our foods. These are called the essential amino acids.

The protein requirement of each individual varies based on their intensity of workouts, medical conditions, height and ideal body weight.  Before, we jump into the calculation of protein requirement, let’s first check out how to select the best protein out of the 3 major sources of proteins namely 1) Animal sources (chicken, fish, eggs, milk & milk products), 2) Plant sources (legumes, nuts, seeds and cereals) and 3) various Supplementary protein powders available in the market as protein shakes. This blog basically has two sections.

1) Protein Selection and 2) Protein Calculation

Section 1: Protein selection

Two things we need to consider while selecting your proteins source:

  1. Complete or incomplete proteins:

* Animal proteins are considered complete proteins as they contain all essential amino

acids required by our body.

*Plants sources are classified as incomplete proteins as they contain only few essential

amino acids.

* Supplementary powders have most of the essential amino acids.

  1. Bioavailability of proteins.

      Bio-availability represents the percentage of how much our bodies can make use of certain  protein sources. Animal proteins have better bioavailability than plant proteins. Supplementary proteins have highest % of bioavailability. It is important to note here that at a go our body can absorb only 15 to 20 gms of protein.

Section 2: Protein Calculation:

Calculate your protein intake by this formula:

  • Person with sedentary lifestyle, Protein intake= Ideal body weight in kgs (multiply by) 0.8 gm
  • Person with moderate workout, Protein intake= Ideal body weight in kgs (multiply by) 1 gm
  • Person with moderate to intense workouts, Protein intake= Ideal body weight in kgs (multiply by) 1.5 gm

Note:  Consult your trainer/nutritionist/doctor while calculating this protein amount as your medical conditions and intensity of workouts also need to be considered.

To consume this amount of protein, we would want to divide this intake of protein into 5-6 meals over the course of the day.

Managing this protein intake is a bit difficult for vegetarians. Even for individual who consume non-veg and take up heavy workouts, just the thought of eating six chicken breasts a day or eight egg whites in each meal can seem like a daunting task. An alternative to this is to ingest 1 or 2 scoops of protein powders in the form of a protein shake.

Conclusion:  Protein is not just about quantity. It’s also about quality. Protein intake needs to be wisely planned. Good sources of protein include high quality proteins like egg, chicken, fish, skimmed milk and soy. Red meat, egg yolk and high fat milk products are rich in saturated fats and hence should be avoided. Whole pulses, sprouts and daals(lentils)  should be consumed in combination with a cereal to make the amino acid profile complete. For eg: Roti with Daal/Rice with Rajma/Khichadi.

If required protein powders can be included. Natural source of protein is the best but, due to day to day constraints of making and eating them, you may need to add the protein supplement into your diet. Getting all your protein from powders is not the best idea, as it could potentially restrict your intake of vitamins and minerals from other foods. Selection of protein powder will be discussed in my next blog. Stay tuned!

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