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May 6, 2022 By Urvi Gohil 1 Comment

Happy International No Diet Day!

no diet day

Shhh! No, don’t say it. Nooo, don’t even think of it! Today, we will not discuss anything about diet because May 6th every year is celebrated as No Diet Day. Today is the day of challenging the idea of one “right” body type and embracing body diversity.

What is International No Diet Day? 

At the heart of International No Diet Day is the celebration of body acceptance. In a society that runs around appearance and size, this day helps to refocus on what is the real essence of life – a healthy lifestyle and self-love.

Mary Evans, a British feminist started this in 1992 after battling body shaming, anorexia and bullying for years. She encouraged fellow women to join her and wear “Ditch the Diet” stickers and fully embrace their bodies for a day. After that, May 6th participants wear blue ribbons, put away the scales and completely enjoy the way they are.

Bodies are beautiful irrespective of shapes and sizes – this is what we need to accept. For far too long, health has been associated with unrealistic body types and unhealthy, dangerous FAD diets. No Diet Day is the day when we incorporate the promotion of a healthy lifestyle for all body types.

How Do You Celebrate No Diet Day? 

  • Recognize that your body is completely beautiful as it is and reduce your push towards shedding weight to make it look a certain way. Everybody is unique. 
  • Stress-free about your final outcome and more about how you can stay active and keep your body healthy.
  • Rapid reduction of weight or emphasizing on unrealistic body types is a way of causing yourself harm instead of getting healthy.
  • So today eat what you love, eat what you have always loved from childhood but were staying away from it because of diet or thinking about calories. Remember to keep it in moderation though. Avoid binging. 
  • Cook yourself with your favourite foods! 
  • You will be surprised how liberating it feels to not judge yourself by a number, so push your weighing scales away. And just enjoy your being.
  • Also learn about various eating disorders the youth suffer from which are detrimental and encourage people for self-love.
  • Look at the positive side about your body instead of focusing on the negative aspects. Think about everything you like in yourself.
  • Take this day to be kind with your body, take a long bath or just dance all your worries out.

And lastly, be proud of who you are and not ashamed of how someone else sees you. 

We hope this article helps you enjoy your No Diet Day! For more exciting topics and information, check out Healthy Reads. You can also begin your Healthy Story with GOQii by subscribing for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce 

April 6, 2022 By GOQii Leave a Comment

How to Break the Cycle of Adrenal Stress?

adrenal stressWhen it comes to stress, we often talk about work pressure, personal issues or chronic disease. But there are other elements that influence stress as well. For instance, in your experience, have there been times when you constantly feel tired but can’t explain why? You feel overwhelmed by situations you could handle easily? Do you find yourself drained of energy you may have enjoyed once upon a time? Have you struggled to get out of bed in the mornings even after sleeping for long hours? If this sounds familiar, there is a chance that you are suffering from something called ‘Adrenal stress” or “Adrenal Fatigue”. Simply put, your adrenal glands may be under-performing. All that chronic stress you have been masterfully coping with has finally caught up! Your adrenal glands are responsible for supporting you and sustaining a level of vigilance. Adrenal Stress happens when they show signs of strain.

Is this a death sentence? No! But it is a sign of imbalance. Chronic stress is a part of life. But if left unchecked and unassuaged for too long, it can lead to hormonal depletion, exhaustion, and adrenal fatigue.

Adrenal Glands and Stress

To understand the above, we need to understand how health and metabolism are affected by hormones. One of the glands that play an important role in metabolism is the adrenal cortex. The adrenal cortex gland releases hormones which are vital for biological function. To be more specific, there are two parts which release hormones – Adrenal cortex and adrenal medulla. Adrenal cortex hormones regulate sodium levels, salt, and balances blood volume which directly affects blood pressure.

Another hormone (Cortisol) regulates metabolic rate of carbohydrate, proteins, and fat. It also regulates immune responses. It is responsible for suppressing inflammatory reactions. So it is a potent anti-inflammatory hormone. Finally, the adrenal glands are best known for secreting the hormone adrenaline, which rapidly prepares your body for action in a stressful situation.

When you are stressed, the hormones of the adrenal medulla are released after the sympathetic nervous system is stimulated. The adrenal medulla helps you deal with physical and emotional stress. You want these responses to happen. From an evolutionary perspective, it’s part of why we have survived for so long as a species.

If you encounter a stressful situation, you want your body to fire up stress hormones to feed you energy and adrenaline. You WANT to be able to run from a potential threat or beat it back. The problems come in when you have that relatively high level of stress but then don’t actually end up using that extra energy in the form of movement.

Adrenal Stress, Belly Fat and Weight Gain

During times of stress, there are actual physiological changes that happen in our body. Most of them are helpful for our survival (such as in the situation described above). But, if we continue to experience stress and we don’t actually end up running from our perceived threat or beating it back, those stress hormones increase our blood sugar (in an effort to give us energy) which then requires insulin to bring it back down.

In the short term, it feels like an energy crash. In the long term, it can lead to weight gain. When the adrenal glands are overworked, the body prepares itself by storing fat. We crave food, indulge in binge eating and we gain weight.

Adrenal imbalance causes a number of issues, including the abdominal fat deposition. When we have long term stress, both insulin and cortisol remain elevated in the blood, and the extra glucose is stored as fat–mostly in the abdomen. Studies suggest that fat cells have receptors for the stress hormone cortisol, and there are more of these receptors in our abdominal fat cells than anywhere else in our bodies. Moreover, belly fat is an active tissue, which responds to stress by depositing more fat. This cycle can not end until a step is taken to tackle the root cause of stress.

How to Break The Cycle

  • Go Easy On Food: Eating small and frequent meals helps cortisol balance the blood sugar and take off some stress. Cortisol counterbalances the action of insulin. Under stress when cortisol levels are elevated, it results in a perpetual need for insulin. Eventually, our bodies can develop resistance to it. Hence the name “insulin resistance”. In other words, our body can become less sensitive to insulin, forcing it to produce more for the same effect. If it stops to work altogether, that keeps glucose levels high in the blood.
  • Time to Eat: Our body has circadian rhythms which work closely with cortisol, which is highest in the morning and gradually declines throughout the day. When we eat we elevate our cortisol, so it is best to start heavy with breakfast and go light post evening. Heavy evening meals are the prime reason for an expanding waistline. A Higher waistline is associated with metabolic and lifestyle disease.
  • Unplug: Give time to yourself. Unplug means a disconnect from cell phones, laptops, work, any digital devices. Take out sometime which you spend only with your thoughts. It makes you realize your priorities and your goals better.
  • Sleep: As this gland also controls our circadian rhythms, it is responsible for our sleep cycle. Good 8 hours of sleep will make you take fewer calories through the day. Lack of sleep also makes one drowsy and ends in low energy levels creating stress. Maintain an 8 hour sleeping time for the body to regenerate.
  • Workout: Exercise is the best remedy to reduce stress by releasing pent up energy. As stated earlier, the whole reason our bodies respond to stress by producing more cortisol is so that we have energy available to spend. Having more energy isn’t a bad thing if you actually use it.

The best way to reduce stress levels is to have fun! Having fun and laughing should become one of your top priorities in life! It has multiple benefits, one of them being stress relief. Looking at the day ahead, ask yourself what is that one thing you can do for your body to support your adrenal glands? Then ask yourself how you can set aside some time for fun!

Want to know more about managing stress? Check out Healthy Reads or get expert advice directly from a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce

March 15, 2022 By Tasneem Jawadwala 16 Comments

Healthy Weight Gain Tips

Weight Gain

We’ve heard one too many instances of people having great success with weight loss! In fact, every time I visit the gym, I come across many such success stories. However, I can’t help this sinking feeling that the real strugglers are the ones who want to gain weight and build muscles.

Are you one of them? Ever wondered what you’re doing wrong despite indulging in healthy food and doing every possible workout and increase your appetite? Let’s see how you can gain healthy weight but before that…

Let’s See What You’re Doing Wrong

1. Protein: Gym trainers and dieticians often suggest including more protein, some in the form of powders and others suggest natural sources such as eggs, Sattu, curd, cottage cheese and the likes. However, calculating the right amount of protein required is often missed. One requires around 1.25g/kg ideal body weight proteins to build up muscles. For example if you are 60kg, then the required amount of protein required by you on a daily basis to build muscles is 75g.

If you aren’t having enough or the required amount of protein, you will not see a difference. Hence, take some time out and consult professionals who can help you calculate. To gain healthy weight and build muscles, you also need to watch your carbs, antioxidants and workouts.

2. Carbohydrates: I’ve noticed this as a trend. Most people place so much emphasis on proteins that they forget about carbs. Did you know that if approximately 60% of your diet isn’t from carbohydrate sources, your body will utilize protein to supply energy. Which means, your body will not have enough proteins for tissue building.

3. Antioxidants: Fruits and salads are often flawed to be used as a weight loss diet. Vegetables and fruits are the best source of antioxidants that help in tissue repairs, prevent injuries and inflammation. So include vegetables and fruits with selenium, zinc, vitamin C and Vitamin E in your diet on a daily basis.

4. Workout: Your workout should focus more on strength training, however, ensure that you still do some cardio. Cardio will help your heart and lungs function better which in turn will prevent you from falling ill during your program.

Foods That Help in Healthy Weight Gain and Muscle Building

  • Dates: They are loaded with iron, natural sugar and antioxidants. Eat 4-5 dates before your workout as dates provide you with instant energy and prevent muscle damage.
  • Sweet Nuts or Pulse balls (Chikkis): These is a sweet dish made up of pulses, nuts or seeds. It is nothing but roasted whole gram, peanuts or sesame seeds and jaggery. It’s a perfect combination of proteins and carbohydrates. Munching on them as mid meal snacks work as an energy booster.
  • Nut Shakes: A big serving of dry fruits is difficult to consume at a time but having them in a powdered form with milk will supply your body with good amounts of protein.
  • Fruit Smoothie: Eating fruits with curd will help add some antioxidants to your protein dose. This is probably the most tasty and delicious way to consume fruits!
  • Combination of Cereals and Pulses: Just eating a pulse at a time will really not help as it doesn’t provide us with good quality proteins. But, when combined with a cereal, it will provide the benefits of both protein and carbohydrates. Options like Dal Paratha (Pulse Flat Breads), Puranpoli (Sweet Jaggery Flat Breads), Khichdi (mix of pulses, rice and vegetables cooked together) and Idli (steamed rice pan cakes) should be considered.
  • Adding Vegetables to Meat: Eating a separate serving of vegetable becomes difficult. The meal size may exceed if we have 1 serving of vegetable for vitamins & minerals and 1 serving of non-veg preparation for proteins. The best option in my opinion is to combine a nonvegetarian source with vegetables. For instance, Spinach (Palak) Chicken, Tomato Omelet and Capsicum Stuffed with Mince.
  • Peanut Butter: People often go overboard with regular butter and get major changes in lipid profile but no change in weight. Ideally, one should apply peanut butter on their bread slices for the right fats and protein combination.

The key rule for healthy weight gain is to go for nutrient-dense meals. These healthy compact meals do not require an extreme appetite boost. Focus on healthy weight gain and be patient while you are in a weight gain program as it’s easy to cut on fats but takes time to add on muscles. Remember, it took 9 months to give you around 3kg of weight at birth. Stay at it and be patient.

We hope this article helps you! For more, check out Healthy Reads or you can speak to a GOQii Coach directly for expert guidance and motivation. Subscribe for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce

January 31, 2022 By Roopa Tandur 1 Comment

Why Do We Gain Weight During Winter?

gain weight during winter

Have you noticed that you tend to gain weight during winter? While there are many factors at play here, is it true for everybody? If you’re one of those who gain weight during winter, it is best to know why it happens and take necessary measures to prevent it!

Let’s Analyse Why We Gain Weight During Winter

  1. Less Water Intake: As we aren’t thirsty and neither do we sweat as much as we do during summer, we tend to drink very little water which makes us lethargic and fatigued. The usual signs like dry and flaky skin is an indicator that one is not having enough water. We use moisturisers instead and not increase water intake which gives more room for frequent infection and dehydration leading to headache and dry cough
  2. Not Exercising Enough: With the pleasant winter chills, it is a little difficult to get off the couch or bed. This leads to fewer calories being burned and as a result, weight gain!
  3. Increased Production of Melatonin: Less sunlight and shorter days affect our hormones and some people tend to produce more of the hormone melatonin which controls our sleep-wake cycle. This increased production of melatonin induces sleep when it is not the time to sleep, making one lazy, lacking motivation and energy. It also increases appetite and leads to eating more.
  4. Increase in Metabolism: While this sounds great, it doesn’t really support your weight loss goals during winter. The sudden increase in metabolism will burn more calories to keep you warm but it will also make you hungrier.
  5. Staying Indoors: makes us lazy and bored. When bored, we begin binge-watching followed by binge-eating comfort or fried food which is high in sugar and salt. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that this contributes to weight gain as well.  

How Do We Prevent Gaining Weight This Season?

There is an effective way to break the vicious cycle of more sleep, less healthy food and little to no exercise! Here’s how you can avoid gaining weight during winter.

  1. Choose Foods Wisely: Choose healthy, home-cooked meals such as soups. Opt for green tea. You can even add natural spices to your meals which are warm and benefit your health. Choose foods which can be paired with others or can be eaten any time of the day. Swap options like sauces available in markets to homemade hummus or dips.
  2. Pick a Hobby: Concentrate on other things like hobbies, sports, painting or reading books. You can even clean your house if you’ve been postponing it. Do something that engages you instead of finding comfort in food.
  3. Time Your Sleep: Maintain sleep timings which will set your circadian rhythm and help you stay active through the day or take power naps in the afternoon instead of sleeping for long hours
  4. Exercise: Plan indoor activities and exercises like yoga, skipping, stair activities which will help you be active more regularly. In fact, you can tune in to GOQii Play and browse some indoor workouts by fitness experts or yoga and meditation by yoga specialists. You can even opt for making group plans which have less chances of failure. If you can’t find a group, join our LIVE, interactive, GOQii PRO sessions conducted by experts within the GOQii App. 

That’s all! Mind what you eat, sleep on time and exercise regularly to not gain weight during winter. We hope you found this article useful! Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.

For more on weight loss, fitness and being healthy, check out Healthy Reads or ask a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

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