1. Know that your gender plays a role in weight loss. The physiology of male and female are different from each other and the rate at which they can lose weight also differs. Women have a lot more fat than men and hence they are seen to lose fat in a slower rate than their lucky male counterparts. So if spouses or partners are in the same weight loss programme together they should have separate goals.
2. Never try to overdo your weight loss strategy. Respect your body and give it time to adjust. A change in the lifestyle will require some time to get adapted to and pushing things too far may crash your dreams. Overdoing exercise or over dieting will not only cause a wastage of time and energy it will also end in health problems and disappointments.
3. Get help from the right people only! You may need the help of a dietician, a physical trainer and medical practitioner. But just qualifications wouldn’t suffice. I would rather talk to my slim cousin who works out daily than to my plump doctor who has hardly seen the insides of a gym. Talk to your cousin about her eating patterns and her dualism as to how she is able to manage her family, her work and her exercise regimen. Talking to people who have succeeded in weight loss and how they are doing it matter even if you are not interested in following them.
4. Even weight loss have priorities. Eat and drink only what is needed to keep you healthy. What is more important, the meal or the dessert? Does the dessert give anything more than momentary enjoyment and calories that are difficult to burn? Keep holding to your priorities to keep the weight loss bouncers at bay.
5. Vitamin supplements are some good things available in the market. Use them when you need them. With a diet plan and a rigorous exercise routine you will need the support of multivitamins or essential fatty acids. With the help of a medical practioner choose your vitamin supplements or minerals for the weight loss period. Do not overstock them or overuse them. Even too much of nectar is poison.
6. Set only realistic goals without going overboard. You should try to lose at least one pound a week and not aim of losing three. If you cannot reach your weekly goals then your weight loss is not working well. You need not weight a month to see the results.
7. Finally, stop comparing. No two men are the same You may not lose weight like your father or brother did even while following their same routine and lifestyle. Know what can make you lose weight than hanging on to somebody else’s lifestyle.

Weight loss is simply not easy. You have to try hard and keep at it for long playing catch-up with your body until you succeed.

Pre-menopause age demands right kind of nutrition and care to avoid health risks like breast cancer, heart diseases, osteoporosis and so on. As the child bearing age passes, the production of hormone oestrogen also stops. The lack of female sex hormones oestrogen and progesterone in the bloodstream is manifested in the form of symptoms of menopause.

The female hormones also play a vital role in keeping the woman healthy by protecting her heart and by keeping her bones strong.

Heart Health

• You should not weigh more than the recommended weight of your age. So watch your calorie intake strictly.
• No to high fat.
• Check your cholesterol with fibre rich foods like oatmeal, fruits and whole grains.
• Include nutritious foods like flax seeds (omega 3, fibre, phytochemicals), and almonds (calcium, vitamin e, magnesium) in your diet.

Cancer

• Lose weight  by a strict watch on what you eat and how much.
• Eat a fibrous diet.
• Reduce alcohol consumption.
• Get an adequate supply of vitamins, folates and minerals.

Osteoporosis

• Ask your doctor about taking calcium supplements. You may need to increase the intake of calcium from 800mg/day during pre-menopause to 1000mg/day after menopause.
• Take vitamin D rich foods.
• Reduce the number of smokes.
• Exercise regularly.

Take care, ladies!

   You are no more in your teens. You might have already realised that life is not about giggling and shopping but a colourful bunch of responsibilities. Your needs have changed and so too your outlook towards life. As your needs change, your lifestyle unfortunately changes too. This is the time you got to hit back to a healthy lifestyle with enough exercise and right food to prevent lifestyle diseases and chronic disorders.

   Managing weight is not a difficult thing at this age. It is an age where you need to increase your level of physical activity and consciously reduce the food intake and fat calories. 

Control Fats to Maintain Required Weight

Early twenties up to late thirties is not a good time to eat less and work more. You need a good pack of steady energy to keep yourself busy and active 24/7. So eat wise and lose weight as early as possible.

• Consume less oil. ‘Oil’ does include all kinds of saturated oils. Ideas for cooking with less oil is not limited. Grilling, baking, poaching and steaming work well! Using a half portion of onion can help your food not getting stuck to the non-stick cookware.
• Stick on to low-fat dairy products for the adults while giving the children full milk products. Three servings or 600 ml of dairy products per day is ideal.
• Restrict your fat intake, as far as possible, to polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. Vegetable oil, nuts, fish etc. are great sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. Only 35 per cent of your calories should come from fats.
• It is the golden rule to limit your trans fatty acid intake up to 10 per cent of your total daily calories.

Watch your Carbohydrates

• Ideally, you should consume 3 or more servings (1 serving = approximately 28g) of whole grains a day.
• Cultivate the habit of having salads in your children as well.
• Be liberal with fruits, veggies and whole grains. This will ensure the much required fibre for your body.
• Eat enough of starchy foods for a healthy brain and muscles.
• Go for artificial sweeteners.

Everything Else

• Consume alcohol in moderation. Be aware that even alcohol adds up to your calorie intake.
• Preferably, only less than 2,300mg of salt/sodium should be taken in a day. Count your pickles, salt in the foods and processed foods.
• Since potassium plays a major role in preventing high blood pressure, building muscle and regulating our heartbeat eat bananas, mushrooms, potatoes and sweet potatoes with skin, dairy foods, green leafy vegetables etc. You will need 4.7 grams of potassium a day.

Eating calories and burning more of it will take time to show up on your body. Sometimes it doesn’t show up at all. There are other things than what or how much of food you consume in a meal that determines your weight. So what are they?

The Quantity, The Number And The Time of Your Meals

If you are inconsistent about the food you eat your body will be confused. If you have the tendency to skip your meals and eat in large quantities in odd timings your body will try to hoard the nutrients it receives. This may promote weight gain and work against your efforts to lose weight. You already know the importance of breakfast. In the same way, it is vital to take your meals in adequate amounts at the right times to assure your body of a steady supply of nutrients and in turn for a proper metabolism.

The Dietary Fiber In Your Food

We have learnt that by eating fiber we get a fullness, clean our intestines and prevent constipation. Though fiber is carbohydrate it is hardly absorbed by the body. The nutrients are absorbed and the undigested fiber is excreted. Hence the recommendation on fibrous foods.

The Thermic Effect Of Your Food

You expend some energy/calories to bite, chew, swallow, digest, metabolize and store food. Dietary fat is easily processed in your body while proteins need more calories to be used up. That means proteins have the highest thermic effect of food (TEF).

The Glycemic Index

Glycemic foods are those which have an immediate effect on the blood glucose level. When more sugar (high glycemic foods) enters the blood stream in a faster speed more insulin is quickly needed to break it up. For those without diabetes it is not a big issue. What you need to consider is the fact that when you have more insulin in your body you don’t lose weight. Insulin and weight gain share a deep bond.

The flowers and the buds of the plant form a known part of Chinese and Korean cuisine with their diuretic and antitumor properties. The leaves of the plant are store houses of vitamins (A, C and K) along with minerals like calcium, potassium, iron and manganese. They also contain fair amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fiber. A great stimulant to liver and kidneys, dandelion works as a general tonic for overall health.

Dandelion is a mild laxative that can purge your body from cholesterol and enhance your metabolism. Occasional use of dandelion in your diet can help elevate the rate of urination and thus detoxify your system. Not only for the bladder, dandelions are good for your spleen, pancreas, stomach and intestines as well. It further alleviates skin problems while also preventing gall stones.

Try dandelion tea as a remarkable substitute for coffee in the morning. By doing so you can stop your coffee cravings, prevent the side effects of caffeine and have an energetic morning. Remember, you can also flush away any excessive fat with a daily cup of dandelion tea.At least 4% of your urine is fat. So the more you urinate the more fat is thrown out from your body. Dandelion infusion taken after dinner is a great aid to digestive system. It also increases bile flow and in turn aid fat metabolism.

Diabetic patients can benefit with dandelion as dandelion increases urine and elimination of more sugar through urine. As it is a great aid to the kidneys, dandelion serves to avoid renal problems in diabetic patients. 

Dandelion leaves, roots or flowers are used for medicinal purposes. Plant a dandelion weed in your garden and use the fresh leaves for best results. Take 1 to 2 teaspoonful of dried leaves or tear 6 fresh leaves into strips before you put them into hot water. Leave for a few minutes, strain it and take the tea 3 times daily. Add honey or sweeteners according to your choice. Try dandelion greens in your salads as well.

Ask your doctor about making dandelion a part of your daily diet to achieve weight loss and good general health!

• Drink a lot of water and more of hot water. Sometimes you brain fools around making you feel hungry instead of thirsty. If you sip hot water it will curb your ‘hunger’ for water and make you fuller. Water also gets rid of toxins and excess calories.
• Eat smart and more of it. Low calorie foods are your saviours. Peppers, zucchini, celery and the lot are great for the start. They demand more energy for their digestion and you burn more calories without neglecting you general health. Do not forget to throw away starchy veggies like potatoes.
• Exercise in the morning as a must! Musicians practice as early as before sunrise. Meditation also works great if done at 4 AM in morning before the world wakes up. And so does physical work out. Rather than cuddling in the bed, get up and jump ahead in to the day. A few minutes of skipping, high knee lifts and the like can be highly rewarding.
• One of the easiest things you can do is to squeeze your butt as and when you can. Hold your muscles in for a few seconds and release. You can do this glute exercise even while working or doing your daily chores. Just watch your back, though!

• Genes and cells

Genes are the deciding factor for many of us. Fat genes are the culprit behind many of our obesity or weight gain. Some of us owe our fat to the fat cells which make us fat and heavy. Certain fat cells are fed by viruses like Adenoviruses which increase the risk of obesity.

• Mental Stress

We notice a weight gain when we have a tight schedule in the work place and don’t eat or sleep at the right time. Your routine necessarily changes your eating patterns and requirements. Scientists point out that tension and stress increase our desire for carbohydrate-rich foods which serve to appease the stress hormones.

• Lack of sleep

Weight loss encouraged when you sleep for around 7-8 hours a night. Lack of sleep affects your fullness and cause hormonal imbalances.

• Mom!

The lifestyle and health conditions your mother had while you were inside her womb can be a deciding factor of your health too. Fatty and unhealthy foods she may have had before conceiving you are found to have adverse effects on the developing baby’s health. Hence it is important for moms-to-be to eat and sleep healthy before they try to conceive.

Yet, there is no need for you to be disheartened. You can be fat and at the same time be fit. Lean and hungry looking people also fall prey to lifestyle diseases despite their having the right weight. Lean or fat, physical activity for half an hour a days, five times a week is ideal for good health.

Junk foods are the main culprits behind obesity and other health problems of the generation. Yet, what is life if we can’t enjoy our favorite burger or a slice of pizza?

But that is when colon cleansing or colon irrigation comes to help. It is a holistic practice by which you cleanse your colons literally to wash away the waste products and clogged toxic substances (Mucoid Plaque) which accumulate inside. It is believed to help weight loss and to improve digestion. Holistic approaches believe that bowel movements are the foundation for your health and hence importance of a clean bowel for a healthy body. But modern science does not really approve of this practice of colon cleansing for to help weight loss. Doctors do not recommend colon irrigation with instruments as this can increase the risk of infections and dehydration.

So, here is the good news. You can eat a diet that can cleanse your bowels! Regular exercise and a colon cleansing diet will ensure a healthy and natural weight loss. Fiber-rich foods and green vegetables hold the key to washing away the debris from the colon. Soluble and insoluble fiber (fruits, grains etc.) will prevent constipation and eliminate all unwanted deposits. Green foods with a high chlorophyll content like spirulina will detoxify your internal organs and improve the body’s healing process. Drinking adequate amount of water is also essential for proper bowel movements. This in turn will enable the nutrients and the oxygen to be absorbed well in to the body.

Ask your doctor about colon cleansing today itself!

Have you already made plans for spring? Here is a quick idea. Plan a weight loss program at home all by yourself with nothing else but fruits.

In India, the onset of summer is marked by a jubilant sale of Lassis (version of buttermilk) and Tharbooj (Watermelons). The green exterior and the juicy luscious red interior of the water melon make an appetizing contrast. It not only serves your thirst on a sunny day but also aids your health.

Watermelon contains Arginine, an amino acid which can aid weight loss and prevent obesity. Without the risk of any side-effects, it can also promote lean tissue growth and muscle gain in the body. Arginine is beneficial for the stimulation of the biochemical process of muscle protein synthesis and to reduce serum concentrations of branched-chain amino acids. Red plants, seafood, seeds, algae, meats, rice protein concentrate and soy protein isolate are all good sources of arginine.

Lycopene, an antioxidant present in water melon is a vital component to good health as it is seen to prevent the threat of cancers. Water melon is devoid of any fat or cholesterol and is abundant in vitamins A, B6, and C. It further aids your heart health and disease prevention by his other components like potassium and vitamins along with fruity fiber.

For a healthy body and a sound heart, you need to eat 2-5 cups of fruits a day. Water melon forms a important part of the agricultural sector of the USA. Why not make the best that is available in plenty?

I never liked sodas or any aerated drinks. I love fruit juice and water above all the other beverages and an occasional sip of wine. But many people I know cannot walk around without an open can! As they take a break from work, they take the freedom to enjoy the varieties of sodas offered free by the office. There are a few others who hang around a lot in libraries with a Starbucks coffee in their hand. They don’t think about the empty calories and the load of caffeine they gulp in every day as they enjoy their tempting drink.

As you drink 12 oz of soda remember that you have already taken in 124-189 of your 2000 calorie diet. And a nonfat caffe Latte is not any less than 120 calories. So if you have the habit of having 4 sodas a day you are probably getting at least 500 calories just from your drinks.

If you happen to drink one can of soft drink every day, the chances of your becoming overweight are 30.4%. You have nearly 50% chance of becoming obese if you relish 3 or more cans of soft drink per day. Diet-drinks do not serve you better.

Unless you have a decaffeinated drink you stand a chance to caffeine addiction too. A 16 oz. Starbucks Coffee Grande contains 330 mgs of caffeine and more than 500 mgs of caffeine a day is highly undesirable. Popular drinks like Diet Pepsi (12 oz)and Coco-cola classic contain 35 mgs of caffeine while Fanta and Sprite has none. Mountain Dew stands high in caffeine content with 54 mgs. Caffeine and sugar are both addictive regardless of the toxic chemical additives in these fizzy stuff.

In spite of these the sale of soft drinks, sodas and sports drinks is ever on the increase. Cut down on your calorie drinking and get yourself ready for weight loss.

After, all why do you need to drink in empty calories?