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Be a happy and healthy eater

DE8AB426-13ED-4809-968D-650F639D3F41-9315-00001128AD2CB366_tmpWeekend is getaway time with our family, friends or colleagues. Some people think after doing strenuous workouts and crash dieting it’s time to relax over the weekend and relaxing means literally binging on outside food. More often than not, the thought process is –‘its only today so let me indulge…..I will make up for this binging over the week by sipping a meal or two’.

When Monday arrives, they are guilty of having indulged over the weekend. One needs to stop and notice these chain of events. There has to be a change in the behavior. Individuals’ need to realize that indulging in binge eating for two days and then feeling guilty and trying to rectify the situation does not work.

Hence it is said that ‘Mindful Eating’ is a must and the best solution. Mindful eating teaches us to simply observe thoughts, feelings and cravings for food. It enable us to change our behavior while we maintain our sanity and happiness

Here are Some Mindful eating tips-–

  • Multi-tasking while eating or watching television while eating always causes distraction or causes hurried eating. So switch off your phone, TV and Computer before eating.
  • Preferably adopt the cross legged posture Or sit At your usual dining place.
  • Try to eat sitting cross legged. You can do this even while sitting on a chair. Sitting cross legged on the floor and eating meals is an age old technique from our grandma’s days. (This helps to blood flow to the stomach area)
  • Calm your mind and body then start eating your meal. When your mind is calm and composed, you release the right amount of digestive juices which gives you better digestion.
  • If you are stressed or guilty while eating -stress hormone called cortisol is released which lowers our metabolic rate, prevent fat burning and help convert food to fat.
  • Take deep breath, calm yourself and get settled before eating.

While Eating-

  • Don’t be in a rush while eating and try to get up fast.
  • Start eating (preferably with your hands) and eat slowly.
  • Chew your food slowly
  • Use your entire mouth and do not just chew from 1 side of your Jaw.
  • While you still have food in your mouth don’t pick up another morsel from your plate.
  • Keeping food ready in your hands or in a spoon means you are eating fast and will ultimately this could lead to overeating.
  • Eat with your senses and think about how the food is nourishing you from within.
  • Savor every bit of what you eat, slowly and mindfully and you will naturally find your threshold. So be silence and attentive while you eat.
  • Prepare Food in smaller quantity. If number of People are less it helps to prepare lesser quantity and better by retaining nutrient value.
  • Always eat food that is freshly prepared. One should consume food within 3 hours of Cooking.
  • Don’t deep freeze cooked food.
  • Try eating with your non-dominant hand. If you’re a righty, hold your fork in your left hand when lifting food to your mouth whenever you eat outside in restaurant or party
  • Whenever you get the craving for a sweet – before opening the fridge or cabinet for the same, take a deep breath and ask yourself, “Am I really hungry?” Do something else, like reading or going on a short walk as that will help you to avoid any emotional extra eating under stress.

Let’s start to enjoy eating food rather than think of it as a task to complete. Remind the body of its own intelligence and its ability to self-regulate for you! Cultivate a sustainable, balanced and healthy approach to the way we eat, the way we look, and the way we live.

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Detoxification: Some do’s and don’ts for Detox Diet Day

Detox diet

Did you know….that As we breathe and live life, day- on today, we also accumulate toxins into our bodies?. That’s right…we are exposed to toxins on a fairly consistent basis. Some of these accumulate due to our diet and others are due to the environment around us. Of course, our lifestyle also adds to it—if you smoke or drink alcohol on a regular basis you tend to accumulate more toxins.

The good news is that your body has a means of processing and eliminating these toxins. Also, when you make healthy changes to your diet or lifestyle…you can help support or maybe even accelerate that process. When you make a healthy change in your diet or lifestyle, this is part of the reason that short-term detox diet plans have gained popularity.

If you should decide to embark on such a plan, it can be a powerful tool. There are, however, a few things to keep in mind. For example, toxins are released into the bloodstream and carried through the circulatory system before being eliminated from your body. This process may result in a headache, diarrhea, or constipation, or symptoms like lack of energy.

The benefits, though, are usually worth the discomfort. Detoxification is one way to cleanse and throw out the toxins out of our body. Interestingly, Linda Page (http://www.webmd.com/linda-page ) , ND, Ph.D., a Naturopathic doctor, lecturer and author of the book ‘Detoxification’ –defines detoxification of the body as “spring cleansing.”

“It’s a way to recharge, rejuvenate, and renew, says Page in her article in WebMD. “Anybody can benefit from a cleansing. The body is coming out of what might be called hibernation. It’s a way you can jump-start your body for a more active life, a healthier life.” “Our bodies naturally detoxify every day,” Page tells WebMD.

“Detoxification is a normal body process of eliminating or neutralizing toxins through the colon, liver.”

There are some nutrition experts who are reluctant to recommend detox diets, so it’s important to be informed. Katerine Zeratsky, specialty editor for the nutrition and healthy eating guide, for example, argues that it may just be because detox diets get rid of a lot of processed foods – which has the effect of making us feel better. And either way, she advises getting the OK from your doctor – especially if you have chronic conditions.

If you decide to move forward, there are several ways to detoxify. There is a “water only” fast (which is pretty straightforward). Interestingly, there has been some evidence to suggest fasting in this way may even help trigger stem cell regeneration (Link: https://news.usc.edu/63669/fasting-triggers-stem-cell-regeneration-of-damaged-old- immune-system/), diet detoxification (adding in food) is another, gentler, strategy. But it’s a bit more involved.

 

One of the hardest things about detox or cleansing is really knowing what to do and what not to do. One can undergo a Detox day or ten-day detox. The duration and severity of symptoms depend on your lifestyle before making a change and how quickly you make it.

Here are few do’s and don’ts to go on a ‘Detox Diet Day’. The basic key is to think and feel positive and treat yourself with some foods every 2 hours. You would definitely feel lighter the next day. More specifically:

  1. You can go for a ‘detox day’ once in a week or once in a fortnight. Either way, you want to be sure you don’t go longer than 2 consecutive days.
  2. When you engage in a detox plan, you are limited to fruits, or homemade fruit/vegetable juices.
  3. You can have Sautéed/stir fried vegetables or green leafy vegetables in cooked form. You can have boiled vegetables as well.
  4. Minimize your cereals intake. If you want to have you can have one serving of fibrous cereals like broken wheat (Daliya in Hindi) or one millet flat bread (chapatti) in a day.
  5. No coffee. No caffeinated tea. You can have green tea if you wish, along with some herbal teas..
  6. No processed food, No sugar. You can have jaggery in small quantities
  7. Your meals should be vegetarian.
  8. You can make soup out of your favorite vegetables and season it with Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Coconut oil. Better to use this oil in all your preparations like salads/soups/stir-frying
  9. You can have sprouts to feel full
  10. No milk allowed on a detox day

Make sure that before you go on a detox day, you check with you coach, nutritionist or a doctor about doing it. Once you get the go- ahead, then you can begin. Once you are successful in following all instructions and doing the right things, you will probably also notice that each time you do an effective detoxification, the next time is even easier as you have fewer toxins to process.

And if you’re feeling overwhelmed…take heart. As a health coach, I am personally here to, personally help you get the best results from this valuable health tool.

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ADD “LIFE” TO YOUR “STYLE”

Health-and-Fitness

Yes you read it right…! When we talk about lifestyle we mostly forget the two basics of the entire concept, the “Life” & the “Style”. It’s not about flaunting or getting attention from others, it’s all about living your life the way you have been and making all things around you the way you like – that is what is ‘YOUR’ style. And that’s why it is more worth saying adding life to your style, rather than adding style to your life.

Small things in our daily routine, our home as well as workplace makes a lot of difference to our lifestyle. And, when we talk about a healthier life style, it’s all about our workout and eating habits that matters most to our fitness and in a broader way – wellness.

Wear your Attitude to Workout: Yes, more than your gym ware, it’s your face and your body language that makes you ready for workout. And, of course a great combination of vibrant colored gym ware and trendy sport shoes only adds to your energy. They give yourself a mental warm-up before your actual warm up. Assigning a space for all your workout accessories like gym bag, workout clothes, socks, shoes, towel etc. instead make a dedicated space in your life for workout. And, every morning or any time of day when you have to work out, just reach that place and you will feel the force within.

Sing-along your fitness: Music has that energy to help you run for your goal. And, when it comes to music for workout, select your favorite songs that are full of energy and that motivates you. Making that energetic playlist and playing it while you walk, run or work-out is something that will add to your energy and the force to work harder and push you to extremes. Make sure that the duration of the playlist is at least three to four times of your workout duration, so that you shuffle it and don’t get bored. Also update it every now and then with newer tracks of your choice.

Re-design – Re-arrange your surroundings: Your surroundings at home and workplace are the places where you spend most of the time and see the things around. Refurbishing or making it look good makes you feel good the whole day. Posters of anything you like – cars, celebrities, quotes or natural landscapes, miniature models, cartoon characters, soft toys, showpieces, smiley balls or tags, good luck plant or any other tiny indoor plant kept in your bed room, kitchen or work place gives you the positive vibe and keeps you up in anything you do in and around that place.

Eat right – prepare right: Eating right is very important but, equally important is to prepare and present it in the right way. If you are the one who carry meal to work, packing it in trendy and colorful lunch box makes you look forward for packing as well as having the meal at the right time. Also, you can pack it in different colored boxes when you take multiple meals in a day. The way you cut and serve the salad also makes difference in how it looks and how it feels while having. Instead of cutting it the same way every time, use different sizes and shapes in routine, like cutting salad in cubes, slices, splits, cross slices, grated and sometimes eat it uncut.

So that’s how small things make big differences in the way you live. At times routine makes our life so monotonous that we forget our own likes and dislikes and keep moving with the pace. That’s the time to pause, think for our own style, our own way of doing things and kick start towards a better and healthier lifestyle by adding “LIFE” to our “STYLE”.

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Our Health and the Irony of Life

way-of-life

I strongly believe that we humans complicate things way too much. We have more gyms, health clubs and health foods available and we have more disease and obesity.  We have more elaborate security systems and we have more crime. We have strong and multiple education systems and we have more children taking to drugs and other illegal activities. We have more money and less..time to care about our health.

We must understand that our bodies are built differently. What works for someone else, may not work for you. Fitness is a result of so many factors: Your lifestyle, genes, the food you eat, the kind of exercise you choose, the amount of sleep you get, and most importantly, your mental attitude and the kind of goals you shape for yourself.

The concept of fitness, health and living has gotten twisted and complicated by man and has become expensive over time. It’s ironic how we complicate our lives more and more every day. We strive to earn more and we neglect our health which later becomes a liability for us and our loved ones.

I had once counseled a businessman who has built an empire over the years, and he mentioned how he achieved success, fame, and fortune but, neglected his health along the way. Today, his knees and back ache every morning and through the day. Simple enjoyments in life, like a walk in the park with his grandchildren or a game of ball with his nephew, has become arduous. He regretfully spoke about his money being of no use at this stage in his life.

How many of us know someone like this?

It comes down to valuing and doing the simple things in life, like treating our bodies with respect. Without the use of our body and mind, we have little.

Do you know what your life goal is? You will be surprised at the amount of people who do not know what they want or what their life goal is. That’s not a bad thing. If you have one, make sure that your health is one of the goals and if you don’t have a goal, you can start off with ‘your health’ being one of them.

For whatever your life goal is, you need a healthy body, mind, and soul to achieve it. You need your health to live a complete and whole life.

My intention is clear. It is to share and receive knowledge and wisdom that can help humans ‘prevent’ and ‘cure’ with food and nature. It is my desire to be able to motivate people to get fit, build healthy lifestyles and contribute towards a healthier planet.

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From Terminal Illness To Complete Wellness! Ananda Mukherjee Health Story

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