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Making money on Fitness and Youtube

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He is a millennial, a YouTube celebrity and is all over the net inspiring people to get healthy and fit but, did you know he had to work hard too to get fit and fab. Today, he runs his own health and fitness YouTube channel called BeerBiceps which has a huge following. When asked why ‘BeerBiceps’? “My idea of BeerBiceps(www.youtube.com/c/beerbicepsofficial)is to be fit and have fun too”, says RanveerAllahbadia on ‘Beneath the Force-The Vishal Gondal Show’.

On the show he talks of from being a fat boy where his life was full of ‘One more beer’ and ‘one more cheesecake’, no clear goal and more importantly, NO PURPOSE,to coming a long way and walk the path of health and fitness. Ranveer realized there was no short cut to fat loss and the solution was only through proper diet, exercise and discipline. Today, having a fit lifestyle has literally created a career for him.

He is a full time weight loss and strength coach. He is also the present trainer of TanmayBhat of the AIB fame who purely by following diet and exercise under the guidance of Ranveer has been able to lose 100+ kgs. Ranveer says that fitness has given him something much bigger than just a career. “As much as fitness has trained my body, it’s trained my mind even more,”he adds.

Ranveer’smantra is ‘fitness should be a permanent change in one’s lifestyle. Not a temporary activity to get to your physical goals’. His advice to one and all is embrace a fit lifestyle ‘JUST’ to develop as a person.

Some take away from the podcast

  • From aspiring to being a film director, chef finally fitness became an escape for him
  • The superhero is really enchanted by is ‘Batman’. He says, “Batman is a superhero without super powers but his brain was a super power and that appeals to me”

Life hack- his to do list. He says, “everything in my life works on a to-do-list’

20 minutes meditation in the morning keeps him happy and peaceful

You can listen to the podcast here:

Making Money on Youtube With Beer Biceps

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Educating players to read Nutritional Labels

read Nutritional Labels

How many of us really read nutrition labels when we buy a food product?

Today, the market is full of fancy branded food products with fancier food labels that are very confusing and tricky to understand. To add to that, our busy schedule seldom allows us enough time to read, ponder and interpret the labels and figure what it means and how to use the products.

But, as people are getting more health conscious they have started checking out nutrition labels. Having said that, the food companies are no less and have gotten smarter than the consumers and have started choosing different ways to entice the consumers into buying products by making them believe that they are choosing healthy food. But, in reality, the consumers are just buying the same unhealthy food with fancy and attractive packaging.

Let me give you an example to explain the above better- It’s no secret that Bollywood and Cricket is a religion in this country. These stars are worshipped like a god. Probably one of the reasons why companies bring on board film stars and sports stars to endorse brands.

Stars endorse anything from perishable products like food and beverages to non-perishable items such as hair oils, cars and mobiles. The advantage of getting a film star or a sporting star on board is that they will prompt the consumers to buy the product. Anything recommended by our favourite star whether or not it’s required or beneficial to you, a consumer will buy the product only because it has been endorsed by the Star.

Take for instance beverages. Most of the Bollywood and Sports stars endorse them. The product is largely seeing sales thanks to these stars fan following.

Consumers here seldom have the habit of reading labels on food products whether be it for its expiry date or to understand its nutritious value. Therefore, the understanding of whether an aerated beverage is good for health or no is out of the question.

In reality, if one checks the label on the bottle, a half- litre aerated beverage bottle contains approximately 64gms of Sugar, which does no good for one’s health. Some adverse effects of Sugar include the rise in triglycerides, reduction in HDL (good cholesterol), suppressing your immune system, causing hyperactivity, anxiety, inability to concentrate and crankiness, especially in children.

Given the above example, you would realise how important it is for us to read the nutrition label on each product. As per my knowledge and the studies undertaken by me, here are a few tips I can safely recommend for packaged food and beverages.

Understanding food labels can help you make wise choices―if you know what to look for. Here’s a rundown of the most important elements. 

# Do not get fooled by fancy packaging. Always check the facts on the Nutrition label and ingredient list

# Always check the first ingredient in the greatest amount (by weight) in a food product. So if the first ingredient is SUGAR, you can easily conclude if the product is good or bad for you.

# Always avoid products that contain artificial flavours, partially hydrogenated oil, Trans Fat, Salts, High Fructose Corn Syrup.

# Try to choose food with the less Ingredient list because long ingredient list may hide things that your body doesn’t need. In general, foods with shorter lists tend to be closer to nature (more wholesome with more natural ingredients).

# Among the grain products try to get the product which has at least 2 grammes of fibre per serving. Beware of “whole grain imposters”. Choose whole grains and fewer refined grains.

While the above might come across as being very restrictive ideally, it is not so. You do not have to give up on the food you like; all you need to do is make the right choices. Today, there are a number of options available in the market. Therefore, you need to take care and read the nutrition label carefully and select the right option, which is good for your health.

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5 foods that fight high CHOLESTEROL

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Image Credit: prevention.com

It’s easy to eat your way to an alarmingly high cholesterol level. The reverse is true too – changing what you eat can lower your cholesterol and improve the armada of fats floating through your bloodstream. Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and “good fats” are all part of a heart-healthy diet. But, some foods particularly are good at helping bring down cholesterol.

How? Some cholesterol-lowering foods deliver a good dose of soluble fibre, which binds cholesterol and its precursors in the digestive system and drags them out of the body before they get into circulation.Others provide polyunsaturated fats, which directly lower LDL. And, those with plant sterols and stanols keep the body from absorbing cholesterol. Here are a 5 of those foods:

  1. OATS: An easy way to start lowering cholesterol is to choose oatmeal or a cold oat-based cereal like cheerios for breakfast. It gives you 1 to 2 grammes of soluble fibre. Add a banana or some strawberries for another half -gramme.
  2. BEANS: Beans are especially rich in soluble fibre and take a while to digest, meaning you feel full for longer hours after a meal. That’s one reason beans are useful food for folks trying to lose weight. With so many choices from navy and kidney beans to lentils, garbanzos, black-eyed peas, and beyond, there are also many ways to prepare them. Beans a very versatile food.
  3. NUTS: A bushel of studies shows that eating almonds, walnuts, peanuts, and other nuts are good for the heart. Eating 2 ounces of nuts a day can slightly lower LDL, on the order of 5%. Nuts have additional nutrients that protect the heart in other ways.

If you are allergic to any kind of nuts like peanuts, Walnuts or cashew nuts; you can go for pistachios or just almonds or if nothing works then you can just quit this food group and try to include the other four foods.

  1. Foods fortified with sterols and stanols: Sterols and stanols extracted from plants gum up the body’s ability to absorb cholesterol from food. Companies and adding them to foods ranging from margarine and granola bars to orange juice and chocolate. They are also available as supplements.Getting 2 grammes of plant sterols or stanols a day can lower LDL cholesterol by about 10%.
  2. FATTY FISH: Eating fish two or three times a week can lower LDL in two ways: by replacing meat, which has LDL -boosting saturated fats, and by delivering LDL -lowering Omega- 3 fats. Omega -3 s reduce triglycerides in the bloodstream and also protect the heart by helping prevent the onset of abnormal heart rhythms.

BUT STAY AWAY FROM…

As you consider eating more of the foods that can help lower down cholesterol, keep in mind that avoiding certain foods can improve your results. To keep cholesterol levels where you want them to be, limit intake of:

SATURATED FATS: The saturated fats found in red meat, milk and other Dairy Foods, and coconut and palm oil directly boost LDL. So one way to lower your LDL is to cut back on saturated fat. Try substituting extra- lean ground beef for regular; Low-fat or skim milk for whole milk; olive oil or a vegetable oil margarine for butter; baked fish or chicken for fried.

TRANS FAT: Trans fats are a by-product of the chemical reaction that turns liquid vegetable oil into solid margarine or shortening and that prevents liquid vegetable oils from turning rancid. Trans fats boost LDL as much as saturated fats do.They also lower protective HDL and increase the tendency for blood clots to form inside blood vessels. Although Trans fats were once ubiquitous in prepared foods, many companies now use trans- free alternatives. Summer restaurants and fast-food chains have yet to make the switch.

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First ‘Walk with A Doc’ begins in Mumbai with a bang !

Dr Aashish Contractor addressing the walker at the WWAD India's first walk at NCPA-Marin Drive

Dr Aashish Contractor addressing the walker at the WWAD India’s first walk at NCPA-Marin Drive

For sedentary people, getting off the couch and taking that first step is a huge task and often the hardest step. While doctors give detailed exercise prescriptions with heart rate guidelines seldom do patients adhere to doing the exercises and following a regular exercise regime.

As Dr Aashish Contarctor, head of Dept-Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine at Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital in his book-‘The Heart Truth’ says, “My initial advice to people who do nothing at present is to simply start doing something. This something could be a daily walk of 10 minutes. Ony 10 minutes? Many ask and I tell them that is enough to get started.”

Dr. Aashish takking about heart and how to check pulse

Dr. Aashish takking about heart and how to check pulse

No wonder that Dr. Contractor took to the idea of the ‘Walk with A Doc’ program very easily and led the maiden walk on Sunday June 18, 2017 from NCPA at 7 am in the morning. The 40-minute-long walk started at 7 am from NCPA and covered a distance of 5 kms on NCPA-Marine Drive promenade and ended back at NCPA at 7.45 am. The walk saw a large turnout of people who are patients of Dr. Contractor including GOQii players.

Walkers along with Dr. Aashish, GOQii Team and Sir HN reliance Foundation hospital team

Walkers along with Dr. Aashish, GOQii Team and Sir HN reliance Foundation hospital team

The walk began with Dr.Ashish taking the walkers through the basics of understanding the Heart and how to measure pulse rate. In all a little over 50-people attended the first walk. Dr Bipin Chandra Bhambre, Dr Jaini Patel, dr Chandan Poddar and Dr. Richa Nadkarni from Sir H N Reliance Foundation hospital along with Dr. Akshat Chadha – head of medical services at GOQii attended the walk as well. The walk ended with a summation by Dr. Contractor.

Walkers in rapt attention

“It was wonderful to see the enthusiastic response of the patients, inspite of rainy weather. They enjoyed the walk and were interested in both learning and walking more,” said Dr. Contractor.

Dr. Akshat Chadha, from GOQii said, “The concept of Walk with A Doc is an excellent idea for making ‘Practice what you Preach’ genuine. As a Doctor I keep telling all my patients to get up and get moving but that doesn’t mean that they do it. Seeing the doctor walk alongside, gives the due importance to being physically active along with creating a bond with the patient by breaking the doctor-patient barrier.”

The idea of walking with a doctor is to encourage people to gove up the sedentary lifestyle and focus on healthy living. Ideally, walking may be the simplest wat to work out. You can do it almost anywhere, and it’s easy tos tart- just put one foot ahead of the other.

Most walkers present were over the age of 50 and found the initiative ‘Walk with A Doc’ a very encouraging concept and found walking with their doctor very comfortable. They felt that the whole walk was so different from the regular walks that they have attended in the past.

Rahul Nandkeolyar who was one of the walker had this to say, “Not having been much of a walker, I actually walked approx. 5 km in about 45-50 minutes. Felt good. Would have done better if my shoes had not given way. I am now going to walk regularly around my home.”

Another walker said, “I like this idea of walking with the doctor. I would like to get tips regarding walking to loose weight, the walker said pointing to his wearable watch. How should I pace myself?” said another walker who participated. Most walkers were very keen to get tips on walking.

WWAD program aims to reimagine healthcare between doctors and their communities. Initiatives like WWAD will have great significance in India where the people are at a high risk due to sedentary lifestyle and the doctor to patient ratio is lower than WHO recommendations. WWAD aims to bridge the gap between the doctor and the community to promote preventive healthcare.

Dr. Aashish with his and GOQii team after the walk

Dr. Aashish with his and GOQii team after the walk

GOQii and WWAD have strategically come together to spread this movement across India. The first walk in 2005 in the US with Dr David Sabgir, whose brainchild is ‘Walk with A Doc saw 101 people showing up for the walk. After 10 years, there are 3011 WWAD chapters spread across 44 states in the US averaging 25 walkers per walk; which are done weekly/bi-weekly/monthly by doctors.

Walk with A Doc has already helped thousands commit to a healthy lifestyle in USA and we at GOQii along with WWAD wish to make this program help many Indians commit to a healthy lifestyle under the able guidance of doctors in India. In addition to being part of an extremely rewarding program and helping patients lead healthier lives, Walk with A Doc can help improve patient satisfaction and has helped position doctors as wellness leaders in their communities.

Benefits of Walking

  • Maintain a healthy weight.
  • Prevent or manage various conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.
  • Strengthen your bones and muscles.
  • Improve your mood.
  • Improve your balance and coordination.
  • Improves Posture and reduces Belly fat

 

From Terminal Illness To Complete Wellness! Ananda Mukherjee Health Story

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