Healthy Living Archives - Page 3 of 50

January 22, 2019 By Trupti Hingad 3 Comments

RIGHT WAY TO DRINK WATER

a gallon of water a day

Hydrate! Hydrate! Hydrate should be the slogan. The India Fit Report 2019 study indicates that overall the average water consumption has increased since 2017 from 1.5 lit to 2.17 lit in 2018.

But, the question often asked is are you drinking 8-10 glasses of water per day? Not having sufficient water has many side effects but, it is also important to be mindful of the way and “how” we drink water.

Water is chemical energy which means it is a universal solvent. Water exists in the body as plasma, cytoplasm, serum, saliva, nasal secretion, cerebrospinal fluid, urine and sweat.

Considering how essential water is to human life, here are some handy yet important tips to drink water.

It is always better to sit down and drink water rather than standing: When you stand and drink water you upset the balance of fluids in the body and this may lead to more accumulation of fluids in the joints. When you sit and drink your muscles and nervous system is much relaxed and thus you absorb it nicely. Also, kidney pace of filtration is good when you sit and drink

Avoid consuming a large volume of water at once: When you gulp too much amount of water at one go. Air is blocked from going into our lungs which can lead to heart and lung issues.

Avoid ice chilled water; drink room temperature or warm water: Ice chilled water disturbs the ongoing process of digestion and puts off the fire. Cold water decreases the blood supply to various organs of the body further leading to constipation. Drinking tepid water can help in proper digestion and metabolism that promotes weight loss, relieves bloating and pain. Whereas warm water helps to keeps fire in the stomach on leading to good digestion and also control cholesterol levels keeping arteries clean.

Keep a tab on indicators your body gives when you are thirsty: When you are dehydrated, the colour of urine changes to dark yellow, whereas clear urine is a sign of a hydrated body. Dry lips and tongue are indicators of dehydrated body

Start your day with a glass of water: Drinking water in the morning helps in flushing all the toxins in the body and cleanses your intestines. It helps to ward off many diseases.

It is good to use water stored in silver or copper vessels: As water stored in these vessels has the ability to balance all three doshas in the body and it does by positively charging the water. Copper has numerous antioxidants and anti-bacterial properties that help boost the immune system of the body. It also has anti-cancer properties. Water in the silver vessel has the power to remove free radicals from the body and gives a cooling effect in the intestines and smoothens the process of digestion.

Drinking water is not just to quench thirst. We have to remind ourselves that drinking water is a habit of replenishing and recovery process. It helps to replenish the essential salts and minerals lost when we sweat. It hydrates our muscles and tissues for proper usage. It maintains the fluid balance of our body that controls acidity levels.

So Drink slowly and drink enough!

January 21, 2019 By Anusha Subramanian 3 Comments

Why is it difficult to make a lifestyle change? – 6 tips to follow

In a user story I recently wrote, the player said, “Making a lifestyle change is easy what is difficult is the commitment to follow through with determination”.

Rightly so, it’s indeed considered a tall order and hence many give it up mid-way. Most consider it forced, rather than a positive change to bring about within themselves.

This very attitude and constant cribbing of people around me prompted me to write this piece on why is it so difficult to make a lifestyle change?

Many of us have tried it sometime or the other in our life. Some of us have succeeded while many have found it extremely taxing. Making a lifestyle change is challenging, especially when you want to transform many things at once. Lifestyle changes are a process that take time and require support and lots of patience.

Here are a few tips that you could follow from my personal experience

** Start small. After you’ve identified a realistic short-term and long-term goals, break them down further into small steps that are well defined and can be managed and measured. If your long term goal (6-8 months) is to lose 20 kilos then a good monthly goal would be to reduce about 2 kilos a month in a healthy way. Physiologically too smaller goals gives you sense that it’s achievable and keep you motivated for the long term goal. Look at healthy eating options, eat smaller meals at regular intervals and balanced meals, and replace a dessert with a healthier option, like yogurt. At the end of the month, you’ll feel successful knowing you met your goal.

** Change one behavior at a time. It is said that old habits die hard. That is because behaviors develop over the course of time and replacing then will take a while. Focus on one goal at a time. If need be, get professional help to understand what changes you need to bring about within yourself to become healthy and fit. The problem arises when you try to change things really fast.

** Have a buddy or a personal coach or trainer: It can be anyone from a friend, to a family member, a co-worker or your personal trainer who you want to walk with you in your path to a healthy lifestyle. It works well for both the buddies. Your buddy and you can go for a walk, cycle or run together and keep each other motivated and charged. You can challenge each other to create some excitement in your training and make sure that it is not boring. Having someone with whom you can share your struggles and successes makes the work easier and the mission less intimidating.

** Make a plan that you will stick to. You have to plan in such a way that it will be your guide on this journey of change. Think out of the box and have things in your plan which you have never done before like an adventure or going for sport climbing (artificial wall climbing). But, don’t go haywire and be specific. Time manage well. Detail the time of day when you want to exercise, how long you want to exercise or when you can take walks and how long you’ll walk. Maintain a dairy in which all of these task are jotted down and ask yourself if these activities and goals are realistic for you. If not then start with baby steps.

** Have support around you: Having people around you to support you while you are on your journey towards health will help you to not slack. Don’t feel shy to ask for support wherever and whenever needed if you feel you are unable to meet your goals on your own.

Making the changes that you want takes time and commitment, but you can do it. Just remember that no one is perfect. You will have occasional lapses. Be kind to yourself. When you eat a brownie or skip the gym, don’t give up. Minor bumps on the road to your goals are normal and okay. Resolve to recover and get back on track.

** Self -Motivation: All the above points will help you in your journey to change your lifestyle but, the biggest factor of all and one of the most important factor is being self-motivated. No matter how many buddies you have, no matter what support your dear and near ones will give, no matter how good a plan you make yourself …but none of this will be effective till the time you are self-motivated and want to make the change.

Do it for yourself, do it on your own and feel good at the end of it all. Remember it is not about proving to anyone but yourself.

January 18, 2019 By Richa Athavale 4 Comments

Why should you have an evening snack?

appetizer-eve snack (2)

One of my cherished childhood memories with food is the evening snack! On the way back home from school, I used to think about what would be today’s snack? I remember relishing traditional options like Poha, Upma, Thalipeeth, Uttappa sometimes a healthier version just a mix fruits with sprouts, roasted corn cob, boiled groundnuts etc.

While we are all aware of the fact that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, the evening snack is equally important. We often take good efforts to have a healthy, sumptuous breakfast but, more often than not look over the evening snacks. The well-known saying is “Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince, and Dine like a Pauper”. But, how is one supposed to eat like a pauper if feeling very hungry at dinner time? The answer is – we should naturally feel less hungry at the dinner time. And for that, we must have a small meal 2-4 hour before dinner. It is completely ok if you do not feel that hungry for dinner after having evening snacks. In fact, that is the main purpose of it. You can cut down on the dinner portion size.

My common observation with my players has been that most have a long meal gap between lunch & dinner. It is as good as 7-8 hours. Having frequent meals is extremely crucial when it comes to maintaining weight. It has a series of health benefits. Yet evening times slips out of our hand because of some or the other reason.

Reasons for skipping evening snacks:

Lack of time
Lack of Appetite
Not habitual
Unaware of its importance
Running out of options

Out of this only, the 2nd point is valid. If you really do not feel hungry by evening time, you may skip it. But otherwise, we must have it on a regular basis. It is better to keep fix timing for it. This can be 3 to 4 hours post lunch.

SONY DSC

Reasons for having evening snacks:

Lowers a gap between Lunch & Dinner
Helps sustain till dinner time
Controls acidity, bloating and other digestive problems
Keeps blood sugar level maintained
Keeps energetic for 2^nd half of the day
Helps controlling portion size in lunch
Helps in having lighter in dinner
Keeps BMR high
Mentally relaxes at the end of your work
Provides required nutrients if exercise is in the evening

If your exercise session is in the evening; it becomes mandatory to have your evening snacks. As it is your pre workout meal. Working on an empty stomach will not give desired results. The next question could be what to eat at this time? The choice of food is equally important.

It can be similar to your breakfast options: Poha, Upma, Idli, Dosa, Uttapam, Vegetable or egg/ chicken sandwich, Whole wheat roll or Frankie, Sukha Bhel, boiled sprouts etc.

Not that hungry? The try a mixture of fruits, dry fruits, nuts, roasted peanuts, corn cob, sprouts, boiled eggs etc.

Check out more around this topic:

https://goqii.com/blog/healthy-office-time-snacks/

goqii.com/blog/snacking-options-to-carry/

goqii.com/blog/tag/quick-and-healthy-snack-recipes/

So what are you waiting for? Try it & see how different you feel.

P.S. This is a prequel of my blog Why dinner should be the lightest meal of the day?

https://goqii.com/blog/why-dinner-should-be-the-lightest-meal-of-the-day/

January 16, 2019 By Aqsa Shaikh Leave a Comment

10 Habits which can destroy your Health

Habits play an important role in our lives. From the time we wake up, till we hit the pillow at night most of the things that we do during the day are wrapped up in some form of habits. Of these habits some are towards keeping our self healthy and there are some habits which might be unnoticeable but yet very harmful for us. Let’s take a look at what these are……

1:- Having fruits along with meals:- We do get a good dose of carbohydrates in our regular meals and by adding extra carbohydrates, it will exceed the limit and lead to over intake of carbohydrates.

2:-Not having our meals on time:-We should always have our meals on time. Once you do that it helps us set up our body clock according to that specific meal time so that digestion and nutrient absorption happens at the same time every day and it won’t get distracted.

3:-Skipping breakfast or any other meals:-Skipping our meals and above all skipping breakfast is not a good idea. It may lead to muscle loss/fatigue/irritation as there might not be any energy and glucose for us to go on during a hectic day.

4:-Having a heavy dinner:-The calories and carbs which we have during dinner will not be utilized during the night time as we tend to sleep and unfortunately that is turned into fats and stored in our body.

5-Less water intake:-Less water intake may lead to dehydration and that can directly hit our immunity, which in turn can be the cause for many diseases. At least 2 to 3 liters of water in a day is must!

6:-Keeping a long gap between your meals:-We should never keep long gaps between our meals. Long gaps will lead to over eating our next meal and it will also slow down our BMR so that we eat more and that is the cause for weight gain.

7:-Chewing your food fast:-We should always take at least 20 minutes to complete a meal, as chewing fast will not help in absorption and breakdown the nutrients of the food that we consume.

8:-Having processed foods:- Having processed foods which contain sugar, white flour, corn flour, may risk us with water retention in our body and will also increase our salt intake because of the preservatives.

9:-Confusing thirst with hunger:-Sometimes when we feel thirsty we may confuse it with hunger and start eating an untimely meal, so it’s best to first feel, recognize and keep yourself hydrated so that we don’t feel hungry because of less water intake.

10:-Overeating:- Overeating can easily go unnoticed and this can cause problems like weight gain and obesity. This is often regarded as an eating disorder. If you are a binge eater, it’s time to make some changes. Controlling our portion is the best way to eat mindfully.

So sit back and think for a minute, are we performing any of these habits in our day to day life? If yes! Then don’t do it and bring on the positivity in your life!