Archives for August 2018

August 27, 2018 By Disha Jhamb 8 Comments

HOW CALORIES REALLY COUNT?

CALORIE- a term that haunts many of us …And Counting Calories was one such thing that drove me crazy in the last 2 years. Somehow I always felt and many of you will agree, that, all the tasty and delicious food of the world has tons of calories, whereas the ones which we don’t find tasty, has fewer..

Two years back when I started my weight loss journey, my greatest difficulty was keeping a count of calories all the time. But then, it seemed to be the only option to lose weight. I was told that my calorie intake should be between 1200 cal- 1500 cal. Left with no choice, I did that for quite some time. Opting for low calorie food, staying hungry, doing cardio but sadly, the result was minor weight loss with pain in my knees, low energy levels and pale skin.

I was unable to understand the reason for so many health problems. I was eating a healthy low cal diet (which seemed to be healthy then), was doing 45 min of cardio followed by strength training. Hence, I started reading about calories and weight loss. But, all my reading led to more confusion and I finally decided to do a course in nutrition. And that is when my understanding about being fit and healthy started to evolve. My studies made me identify the areas where I was lacking. I was so conscious of calories but was not paying any attention to food and its quality.

Calorie is just a unit of measurement for energy content. It tells us how much energy we get by burning the food. And I realized that I should keep the definition of it as it is in my mind, and not make it the focal point of my fitness journey. Carbohydrates contain between 3 and 4 kcal per gram; proteins are about the same; fats contain approximately 9 kcal per gram. I was of the mindset that for weight loss to happen, I have to decrease the intake of calories and increase the output by staying physically active. But, things are not as simple as they appear. There is much more needed for correct weight loss to happen and to have a lean and fit body. And that much more is NUTRITION. From where these calories are coming is something that matters the most. For example – if a person consumes 1200 calories from processed food and the other consumes 1200 calories from balanced diet which has carbs, proteins , fats and fiber … which one do you think will experience weight gain ? The answer is known to all of us- obviously the one consuming calories from processed food. So yes, 1200 calories matters but, what matters the most is- what these calories do in and to our bodies and from where these calories are coming i.e. the quality of the food. Eating fewer and fewer calories does not result in better weight loss. When our body senses an energy deficit, it slows its metabolism by reducing the output of important hormones.

I have stopped counting calories now. My eating pattern has totally changed. My focus is in making my every meal more nutritious and balanced with the right combination of carbohydrates , fats , proteins and fiber.. I have been focusing on what my body tells me. I eat if I feel hungry because my body needs food then. I still want to look a certain way. I want to be healthy, lean and fit. But, at the same time, I do not want to harm myself in any way by not taking care of the nutrition part of food. I am confident about myself now, I know the weight loss is going to be slow but that does not matter to me anymore. Weight is just a number and no weighing scale can judge or tell me my fitness in terms of numbers. It’s me who can feel it. I know that what I am eating now is certainly having more number of calories than earlier but now, these calories are coming from the food that my body needs.

Thanks to my diet, I feel energetic throughout the day, my stamina for running has improved. I don’t feel any joint pain and I am sure I will soon be running a marathon, (something that I have always wanted to do)

August 25, 2018 By Anusha Subramanian 3 Comments

A Tale Of Self Belief and Determination

Weight loss is often a mental challenge rather than a physical one. If you can focus and not drift away from your goals, more than half of your work is done. This is Tanay Rawat’s story on how he did it?

BEFORE?AFTER

Tanay Kumar Rawat’s goal was to achieve a normal BMI index, which required him to reduce his weight significantly. Also suffering from ENT disorders and constipation, breaking the mental barricade and gaining self-confidence was the first step Tanay adapted, towards his road to success.

“My primary health goal was to reduce my weight and achieve a normal BMI index, being subjected to ENT disorders and constipation didn’t make this task easier for me. The hardest part was to gain a sense of belief in myself and from there it was a less bumpy ride.

My coach Manmeet ma’am had planned a diet for me which required me to consume fewer carbs, fried food, and other junk items. Green salads, seasonal fruits, and a few chapatis became a regular in my everyday diet. It was also required that I walk for 20 minutes, a few minutes past my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Other exercises in the regime included brisk walking of 45 minutes and some full body exercises.

Initially, walking for upto 20 minutes post dinner, I gradually brought the scale upto 1 hour per day. My diet was strictly supervised and controlled with minimum oil and fried food consumption. I reduced the intake of chapati’s ( flat bread) from 4 chapattis (flat bread) to 2 and mostly consumed only Vegetables, Dal or Milk as dinner. I also added salad’s and fruits into my diet and consumed them almost every day.”

Before joining GoQii, fried samosas and pakodas were a major part of Tanay’s, everyday diet. As far as walking and exercising were concerned, let’s just say his body received very minimal activity, leading to weight gain and other disorders. But those days are far behind him, integrating brisk walking and a healthy diet into his everyday life, Tanay has adapted a more disciplined way of life. When we asked him to comment on his achievement, this is what he had to say, “I have been able to reduce about 25kgs within 200 days of my new regime and I’m very proud of my achievement.”

Like every other individual out there, Tanay possessed the power to reshape his life and knew only he alone could better the quality of his life. This is a tale of self-belief and determination, which enabled Tanay to break free from his emotional bulwarks and make a difference.

Here is what Manmeet Kour’s has to say about Tanay Kumar Rawat

“At 41 years of age, reducing 25 kgs looked like a herculean task. Tanay’s determination was what inspired me to help him throughout. We started off by increasing his fiber intake, in the form of fruits and salads. Cinnamon water, flax seeds, and other healthy snacks were also introduced to Tanay’s diet. Brisk walking for 30-45 minutes every day was now a daily routine in his life. To improve Tanay’s sleep quality he was asked to consume nuts and drink a glass of milk before going to bed. The result was marvelous, Tanay burned 25kgs and reduced 2 inches from his waist and hips each. His stamina and immunity considerably increased and also felt very relieved of his ENT problem.”

Tanay is very active, determined, focused, and dedicated to his goal. He clocks more than 16 k steps daily, do yoga and meditation, consumes 3.5 liters of water daily and covers the distance of 12.5 km on an average day. His main area of concern was his weight, belly inches, and the stress. As a dedicated player, he started the walking and yoga right from the day-1 and never skipped a single day except for the traveling days. His food, steps, water log etc. everything is up to date never ever skipped even a single day without syncing the band. Each day’s food log right from the day it was told since August -17 is uploaded with the pics. Now he knows to controls portion and knows to compensate if he indulges once in a while. He joined with 103 kg and now he is 78 kgs. Initially, his diet was very low in proteins.

I tried to focus on his diet and also suggested him exercise to strengthen his core. I counseled him on choosing the healthy foods from the available choices. Als,o his dinner was made to be more on complex carbs and protein rich.As a coach, I am really glad to see his progress.

August 23, 2018 By Sindhu Ashwin 3 Comments

Interesting facts about Salt you should know

We will all agree to the fact that we cannot do without Salt in our food. It is indeed one of the most important ingredients that go into our food. You will seldom eat the food cooked without salt. What is this salt that has made us so dependent on it? Most of us know what salt is but I am sure not all of us know there are some interesting facts about Salt that I would like to share with you.

Salt is made from a naturally occurring mineral element called Sodium and is a major ingredient worldwide. Much of the sodium we use is in the form of sodium chloride also know to us as common table salt.

Here is a list of some interesting facts about Salt

Widely used Additive: Salt is one of the first food additive and seasoning used by man for taste and also flavours. Today, it is one of the most widely used additives and is second only to sugar in the amount added to food.

Consumption of too much salt is bad: Though salt is necessary for human life, over-consumption contributes to heart diseases and other problems such as high blood pressure and hypertension and consuming fewer quantity results in hypotension. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart diseases, stroke and kidney disease. A high sodium diet or low sodium diet alone, however, does not cause variation in blood pressure. A combination of factors is involved, including family history of overweight, race, and physical fitness and smoking also contribute.

How much salt should you have: The amount of sodium a person need varies? Under normal conditions, a person needs as little as 2500 milligrams of sodium or the amount of sodium in half teaspoon of salt.

Replenishing Salts: In conditions such as excessive sweating (during workouts or playing a sport or trekking), diarrhoea and vomiting, sodium is lost, so the need increases. Any increased need for sodium can easily be met by diet alone since sodium content of the average diet is already greater than the amount normally required for maintenance.

Sodium mainly comes from four sources.

Table salt and another seasoning: Sodium is often added to foods during preparation in the form of table salt, monosodium glutamate, sea salt, black salt, rock salt etc. One level teaspoon of salt contains about 200mg of sodium.

Processed foods: Salt and Sodium containing additives are added to foods that are processed (ready to eat snacks like chips, salted nuts etc.) and sodium-containing additives play an essential role in the preservation of the food. E.g. Pickles, sauce and ketchup etc.

Foods that naturally contain sodium: All foods that come from animals contain sodium naturally. Most fresh fruits and vegetables also contain some sodium but in smaller amounts.

Medicines: Some over-the-counter drugs and medications contain sodium. Experts believe that, though cutting down on salt may not prevent high blood pressure; it may lower blood pressure for people who are considered to be “salt sensitive”. Often a low salt diet, combined with weight loss, medication or some other course of action, controls high blood pressure effectively.

Salt is tasty and an important ingredient in our daily cooking. Add them in limited quantity to stay healthy. Add rock salt to keep blood pressure at bay.

August 22, 2018 By Mitali Ambekar 5 Comments

GHEE-For a healthier and beautiful life!

I am not sure how many of you understand what’s ghee? Its homemade pure butter made from milk, preferably cows

Reading the title of this article you must be thinking Have I lost it?. How can Ghee give you a healthy and beautiful life? But, it’s true it can.

Ever since my childhood days I have enjoyed my meals with Ghee and the trend continues even today. Having said that let me clarify that despite having Ghee I have always been lean. Many would attribute this to my genes. Well, no it’s not because of my genes but, largely due to the lifestyle and the food I eat. However, I have come to realise this only now, as a nutritionist. And, a major contributor to my lean and mean body is GHEE.

You would wonder how could that be possible? Believe me it’s no rocket science. Ghee has been an essential part of our cooking and food from ancient days. Our grandparents ate loads of Ghee and yet had no health issues or any kind of blockage in their heart etc. and the best part is they were healthy in every which way- physically and mentally.

Cut to the present times: When I as a nutritionist recommend people to have ghee with their food on a daily basis they are pretty shocked. Some even give me dirty looks as though I have said something that I shouldn’t be saying. Most are worried and ask questions such as how will ghee make me healthy? Ghee is so unhealthy, your cholesterol levels can go up, it can give us heart ailments like a blockage, and certainly it cannot reduce my weight and make me thin. These questions are natural because in the last one decade, we have been told to avoid foods full of saturated fats including ghee because they would cause heart attacks.

Well, you will be surprised to know that this is not true. In fact, research has indicated that the frequency of heart attacks, high cholesterol levels, joint pain, etc, occur more due to the exclusion of ghee or cutting down on it on a daily basis. A 2010 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition meta-analysis that looks at many studies and was done by researchers at Harvard concludes, the evidence linking saturated fats to a higher risk of heart attacks is not convincing.

Let me clarify your doubts and explain to you the properties of ghee, so you understand why it is good to have ghee for your health. Ghee comprises of short, medium and long chain fatty acids, both saturated and unsaturated. It also contains the most healthy and popular fats-Omega 3 and Omega 9 which are also known as essential fatty acids. Ghee also contains Vitamins A, D, E and K. Ghee when prepared from cow milk provides us with the highest natural sources of CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid) which helps you to mobilize the stubborn fat in your body to energize you.

Ghee helps one in many ways. It is known to give longevity. Its elemental qualities balance the aging characteristics by enriching the living body.

For centuries now, Ghee has been used as a digestive and an elimination aid to rejuvenate one’s life. It gives one energy, sexual vitality, healthy skin and eyes. Can be used as a lubricant or joints and for alkali sing the blood.

The purity of ghee allows it to penetrate deep in the membrane (protective covering) of cells and nourish when it passes through it.

This is one of the reason that vitamins and minerals from food cooked in Ghee are considered much healthy. The assimilation of the nutrients in the body increases when suspended in a ghee matrix. Due to these inherent properties that ghee possesses, many herbal preparations use ghee as their main carrier oil.

SO all those who have kept ghee aside due to the fear of heart ailments and other health issues, get it back into your daily food routine and see the difference. Believe me you will only feel healthier and beautiful.