Archives for October 2017

October 3, 2017 By Trupti Hingad Leave a Comment

Burn fat with pool workouts-Part 1

water spinning 2

Today, to counter their stress filled lifestyle, people are shifting their focus to health and fitness. There are many fitness methods that one can adopt such as running, cycling swimming, yoga, aerobics etc. Most of these are popular among people who are taking to fitness or are already into fitness. However, there is a new form of exercise- Aquatic exercise and Aqua aerobics that is getting popular.

Aqua aerobics or exercise arrived almost over two decades ago but, it has gained popularity in India only 5-6 years ago. Aqua aerobics uses the buoyancy of water coupled with your own body weight as a training tool to build endurance and get into shape.

Aquatic exercise is a low impact exercise that takes the pressure off your bones, joints and muscles. Water offers natural resistance which helps to strengthen the muscles. It provides almost 14% more resistance than air, which means your muscles get more toned in water and there is almost no impact on the bones, joints and muscles.

Why Aqua exercise?

You weigh only 10% of your body weight when you are in the water. When a person weighing 100kg or who has arthritis in joints or cannot do any exercise while on land due to the gravitational pull, as he enters the water, the load is lifted off the joints and he can do exercise without any pain.

For elderly who have difficulty in walking, sitting and moving, this is the best way to work out and stay fit. And, the best part is you can do these exercises even if you don’t know how to swim.

Aquatic exercise has amazing benefits: Here is a list

It improves muscle endurance and strength. Pool water provides resistance which strengthens the muscles and boosts cardio intensity and improves flexibility.
Water exercise is good for people with joint injuries or infections or who have had a recent surgery –great way to stay fit and shorten recovery time and heal faster.
A pool workout gives better balance, agility and endurance.
Pool workouts are great fat burners. You can burn much higher level of calories in a shorter time in the pool. You can burn about 400-500calories in one hour.
Working out in the pool doesn’t feel like an arduous task, you enjoy doing it and thus there are higher chances that you will stick to this routine. Since aquatic exercise is a low impact exercise there is no age bar for it. Water is therapeutic and removes the pain. Water has a healing effect and can distress the body and mind too!
Water resistance is not only for muscles, in fact, water pressure actually works with your blood as well and enables good blood circulation decreasing blood pressure and keeps the heart also in good condition.
Aqua aerobics can satisfy that need to feel cool in warmer temperatures while still enabling us to exercise.

Aqua exercises have a great bonding effect as it can be done together and there are positive benefits to be derived from these workouts.

Precautions for the Pool Workout:

Before starting any pool exercise program, always check with your physician to make sure pool exercises are right for you.

Here are some tips to get you started:

Water shoes will help to provide traction on the pool floor.
Water level can be waist or chest high. This way your feet will have good contact with the pool floor and your leg muscles will be able to support some of your weight.
Use a Styrofoam noodle or floatation belt/vest to keep you afloat in deeper water.
Slower movements in the water will provide less resistance than faster movements.
You can use webbed water gloves, Styrofoam weights, inflated balls, or kickboards for increased resistance.
Never push your body through pain during any exercise.

Although you will not notice that you sweat with pool exercises, it is still important to drink plenty of water. Drink water before and after your water workout to avoid dehydration

In my next blog..I will share the various pool workouts and procedure to do it. Stay tuned!

October 1, 2017 By Shilpi Agarwal 2 Comments

Buckwheat Flour Recipes

In an earlier blog I had written on Buckwheat (http://goqii.com/blog/know-the-health-benefits-of-buckwheat-a-wonder-grain/) I had mentioned about the various health benefits of buckwheat “a wonder grain” which is packed with amazing health benefiting nutrients. But, you would be wondering how does one eat this cereal to get all the nutrients present in it?

I have chalked out a few healthy and tasty recipes which can be made from this cereal. Buckwheat is available in two forms-grains and flour. Both the forms can be used for making various delicious recipes.

Buckwheat Porridge

Ingredients: 2 serves

Buckwheat grains (100 gms)
Sweet potatoes cut into small cubes (2 small)
Green chillies finely chopped (1 no)
Cumin seeds (1/2 tsp)
Salt (to taste)
Ghee (1 tablespoon)
Flaxseeds/Pumpkin seeds/Sunflower seeds (for garnishing)

Method: Heat ghee in a pressure cooker. Add cumin seeds, finely chopped green chillies and potatoes. Stir-fry for 2 mins. Then add buckwheat grains and sauté for 5 min. Add salt and 4 cups water. Mix all ingredients properly and close the lid of the pressure cooker. Let it boil till three whistles and then take off from the flame. When all the steam has been evaporated from the pressure cooker, open the lid and serve hot with Cucumber Raita (yoghurt salad). You can garnish it with flaxseeds/pumpkin seeds/sunflower seeds to make it more nutrient dense.

2. Buckwheat flour pancakes

Ingredients: 2 serves

Buckwheat flour (200 gms)/Buckwheat grains can also be ground in the mixer into flour at home to get the purest form of flour.
1 small wedge of raw pumpkin
1 medium size potato
Green chillies finely chopped (1 no)
Salt (to taste)
Oil (4 tsp)

Method: Grate potato and pumpkin without skin. Add them to the flour. Also, add green chillies and salt. Then add water and make a batter of little thick consistency. Heat a non-stick pan. Grease the pan with little oil. Pour one big spatula full of batter into the pan and spread it into a round shape. Keep it thick. Add ½ tsp oil around it and let it get cooked for a min. Then turn it around. When done, take it off from pan and cut into two halves. Serve hot with coriander-mint chutney.

3. Buckwheat Tikkis

Ingredients: 2 serves

Buckwheat flour (100 gms)
3 medium-sized boiled potatoes
Boiled peas (1/4^th cup)
Grated carrot (1 small)
Fined chopped green chillies
Salt (to taste)
Oil (2 tablespoons)
Curd & Coriander leaves (for garnishing)

Method: Mash boiled potatoes. Add buckwheat flour and all other ingredients and mix well. Make small round balls and flatten it. Heat a non-stick pan and grease it lightly with oil. Put, these round flattened balls in a pan and little oil around them. Let them cook from both the sides until turn reddish brown. Garnish with little thick curd and coriander. Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

4. Buckwheat flour flatbread (Parathas)

Ingredients: 2 serves

Buckwheat flour (200 gms)
Unripe banana (1 no)
Salt to taste
Ghee (2 tablespoons)

Method: Boil unripe banana and mash it. Add salt and mashed banana to the flour and make a dough. Make small balls. Sprinkle some flour on the kitchen platform. Put the ball on it and spread it on kitchen platform into a small round shape like chapatti by pressing from hand. Put it in a non-stick flat pan and let it cook by adding ghee. Heat until it becomes golden brown in colour. Serve hot with yoghurt or potato curry.

5. Buckwheat flour Bread Pizza

Ingredients: 2 serves

4 slices whole wheat bread
100 gm buckwheat flour
Chopped onion (1 medium size)
Chopped tomatoes ( 1 small)
Grated carrot (1 small half)
Finely chopped green chillies (1 small)
Salt to taste
Oil (4 tsp)

Method: Mix flour and chopped vegetables. Add salt and water. Make a batter of thick consistency. Pour 2 tbsp of this batter on one slice bread and spread well covering the whole front surface of the bread. Heat a non-stick pan and grease it with little oil. When the pan is heated, put the bread coated with batter in the pan upside down. Add ½ tsp oil and let it cook for a minute. Turn it, add ½ tsp oil again and let the other side get cooked. Take off the bread slice from the pan when both sides become golden brown. Serve hot with tomato ketchup or tamarind chutney.