The obesity epidemic around the world is getting worse day by day, though people are getting conscious about their health as well and a major portion of the fitness industry has grown around weight loss. It is easier said than done as many people lose their motivation for weight loss somewhere along the journey. There are however, some really easy steps that you can follow to ensure that you achieve your goals without them being too taxing on you. Let's look at 5 easy ways to lose weight quickly.

1. Take walks, as frequently as possible - Without setting duration, it would be a good idea to incorporate walking into your schedule as often as possible. This will feel like less of a work out, but will still burn off many of the calories.  Here are some things you can practically do:
I.  Take stairs whenever possible
II. Do house cleaning chores, such as mopping or cleaning as regularly as possible as these are great calorie burners
III. Park your car a little further away and walk to your destination or meetings
IV. If availing public transport get off a few stops earlier and walk to your destination.

2.  Drink water right before meals - This is a great way to reduce portions automatically as drinking water right before a meal will fill up your stomach and result in you feeling not so hungry. Once your meal portions are reduced and continued over a long time this will help you lose weight.

3.  Instead of focusing on foods you don't like, increase foods you like in your diet - This is very true of most diets as people tend to start having cravings when they deny themselves of food. Thus it is advisable to slowly change your diet overtime and incorporate healthy options such as certain fruits or low calorie snacks that you like and slowly replace the unhealthy options.

4. Use TV time as a quick exercise opportunity - If you are sitting in front of the TV, you can start a small regimen of doing a few free hand exercises when the commercials come up. Use everyday objects near you as weight or as support platforms to do exercises while you don't have to pay attention to what's going on screen. 

5. Remember it is the journey rather than the destination, which matters - Many people tend to get engrossed about the end result and give up midway. You should remember that small things done correctly overtime can help you lose weight quickly and help you keep it off which is equally important.

10 Insanely Easy Ways to Lose Weight Fast

Yoga is a complete workout of body and mind, and is a combination of stretching along with deep breathing and meditation. It is a way of keeping yourself fit without doing strenuous workouts and lifting heavy weights.

Ayurveda is the ancient Indian medical science, which treats an illness or a disease using natural ingredients. Ayurvedic treatment has been proven to be the most effective in cases of asthma, paralysis, joint pain, headache and gynecological issues. The following points emphasize the relation between Yoga and Ayurveda:

1. Aim at ensuring mental peace: Yoga and Ayurveda both are extremely powerful in treating medical issues as well as in delivering mental peace. Ayurveda uses diets, herbs, shrubs, meditation and pranayama for treating purpose. Both of them are interrelated branches of India's ancient knowledge.

2. Based on similar principles: The principles of Trigunas i.e. Sattva, Rajas and Tamas and the principles of panchamahabuthas i.e. fire, water, air, space and earth are the base of Yoga and Ayurveda. Both of them are based on the basic principles of the body, such as working procedures of the body and effects of food and medicine on our body.

3. Share common beliefs: Both Yoga and Ayurveda have a common belief regarding healthy body as the two believe that a healthy and balanced mind result in a healthy body. Both of them have the similar metaphysical anatomy and physiology that consist of 7 primary chakras (centers of energy), 5 bodily sheaths, 72,000 nadis (subtle channels) and the Kundalini Shakti (energy). Yoga and Ayurveda both believe that in order to fulfill the four aims of life it is necessary to keep your body healthy. The four aims are:
i. Dharma (duty)
ii. Artha (wealth)
iii. Kama (desire)
iv. Moksha (liberation)

4. Similar treatment measures: For the purpose of treatment, Yoga and Ayurveda, both use meditation and pranayama practices. For improving the mental and physical health, both of them use body purification procedures, herbs & natural ingredients and chanting of mantras. The body purification procedure is known as 'Shatkriyas' in Yoga and as 'Panchakarma' in Ayurveda.

Many Yoga practitioners add Ayurvedic remedies to your daily routines because Yoga and Ayurveda together are powerful mediums that maintain your body, breath, senses, mind and chakras. Together Yoga and Ayurveda work excellently and cure you naturally with no side effects.

Yoga and Ayurveda Connection

Sit at the dinner table, and you'd find yourself invariably extending your hand to the glass of water on the side of your plate. While you may think it's absolutely necessary to have a glass of water during your meals, the truth is this habit of yours might be damaging your health. Read on to find out how.

1. It dilutes your gastric juices -
When the digestive acids (acids responsible for the digestion and breakdown of food as well as for killing infectious agents ingested with food) present in your stomach are diluted with water, they bring about a slowdown in the functioning of your entire digestive system. This slowdown results in food remaining lodged in your stomach for a longer period than normal, thereby causing indigestion.

Additionally, the reaction caused by the dilution of water and stomach acids can give rise to cramps in your tummy.

2. It reduces the saliva in your mouth -
The same thing that happens to the acids in your stomach, happens to your saliva as well. Water dilutes the saliva, which stops the breakdown of food in your mouth. Also, your saliva is responsible for stimulating your stomach to release digestive enzymes and prepare itself for the process of digestion. By drinking water with your meals, such signals sent by your saliva to your stomach become much weaker. All these together can make digestion very difficult.

3. It causes acidity -
Studies show that drinking water with your meals not only leads to the dilution of digestive enzymes, but also brings about a reduction in the secretion of digestive enzymes. This causes the undigested food in your stomach to leak into the lower part of your oesophagus (food pipe), causing acidity and heart burn. 

4. It increases insulin production -
Sipping on water in the middle of lunch (or any other meal for that matter) causes a spike in your insulin levels just as glycaemic foods (foods with high starch or sugar content such as honey, potatoes, white bread, rice to name a few) would. When your body is unable to digest food properly, it usually tends to convert the glucose filled part of that food into fat and stores it, reason why your blood sugar levels see an upsurge.

5. It adds to your weight -
Since drinking water causes an increase in insulin levels in your body (as the food you eat is converted to fat), it can result in the piling of extra weight on your body. This is because a weak digestive system is one of the major causes behind obesity.

Try having your meals with less salt and drink water 30 minutes before each meal to control your thirst when you're eating. This can help you in controlling the negative effects that drinking water with your meals can have on your health.

Make a wise choice and stay healthy. Feel free to ask me more questions you might have.

Watch What Happens When You Drink Water Along With Your Food. It'll Leave You Thinking!

Mistakes that sabotage a good diet

Eating healthy, eating clean can sometimes be very confusing. With more and more new information coming up every day, one cannot comprehend what is healthy and what not. However, if you understand a few mistakes that can literally sabotage your good diet, you can surely be assured of eating healthy and clean.

1. You can be wrong with juices

Everyone thinks a glass of orange juice or any other fruit juice can do wonders for your health. But the truth is that you will be better off eating the whole fruit rather than the juice.

Why? for the simple reason, that juices lack the fiber content found in fruits. The fibers slow down the digestion of sugar in the fruit whereas their absence in the juice causes the blood sugar to spike and results in insulin resistance.

Besides, packaged juices contain hardly any real fruit, all flavoring and concentrate apart from added sugar, a big wrong in eating clean.

2. Drinking your protein? na! that can be wrong too!

People like bodybuilders, gym goers drink a lot of protein shakes to get their proteins supplemented. However, protein shakes are ok for those who are on the go or for replacing meals sometimes but they cannot be altogether substituted for protein intake.

Your protein must come from your food. Meat, fish, pulses, eggs and dairy cannot be replaced by shakes since you will definitely miss out the nutritional value that whole foods provide.

Besides, protein shakes may have a lot of artificial constituents and refined sugar that can be really bad for you.

3. Can't understand food labels properly? a great mistake!

With more and more people working, many on the move, packaged food cannot be altogether avoided. However, one must make sure to read and understand the food labels.

The food labels reveal what is inside the package. Anything that has the label - organic, raw or gluten-free is not surely healthy. One must know about ingredients especially things like msg, aspartame (artificial sweeteners) etc. That can be really unhealthy.

4. Sugar may be hidden somewhere

Calorie-conscious? avoiding sweets?

Well, even though you are very careful about selecting what you eat and avoid anything that tastes sweet, some sugar may still be hiding in your food increasing your calorie intake, without you knowing about it. Foods like tomato ketchup, pasta sauce, low-fat biscuits/crackers or low-fat dairy products, sandwich bread may all be hiding sugar almost equivalent to that present in a piece of cake. You must learn about hidden sugars and its alternatives to truly understand what you are eating.

If you would like to consult with me privately, please click on 'consult'.


85% Indians are Making These DIET Mistakes

Curd Vs. Buttermilk

Curd and buttermilk are both milk based products, have the same composition, and more or less the same nutrients, yet there remains a persistent question as to which out of the two is better?

Does adding water to the contents of the curd, to turn it into buttermilk, really affect the properties of curd?

The answer is yes.

Read on to find out, how.

The basic difference between curd and buttermilk is the process of dilution by the addition of water. The more water you put in curd, the less concentrated the buttermilk becomes. According to Ayurveda, the churning (Manthana) of the curd into buttermilk, gives it additional properties. Churning induces the proteins in the buttermilk to be easily digested due to their degraded structure.

Here are a few pointers that could help you choose which out of the two suits your needs more:

Calorie content:

If you are looking to reduce your weight and prefer a controlled diet, you should opt for buttermilk. 100 grams of buttermilk contains 40 calories, whereas 100 grams of curd contains close to 98 calories. So, for undernourished children or people looking forward to gain weight, curd should be opted because it is nutrient dense.

Nutrient content:

Buttermilk is rich in calcium, vitamin B12, zinc, iboflavin and proteins. It helps in keeping your bones healthy, lowering the level of bad cholesterol, preventing cancer, battling stress and anemia due to the presence of these nutrients. On the other hand, curd contains calcium, phosphorus, vitamins B12, B5, B2, potassium, proteins, and molybdenum. These nutrients prove to be beneficial in preventing chances of hypertension and heart diseases, promoting teeth and bone health and reducing stress and anxiety.

Fluid content:

Buttermilk has significant fluid content, so it can be consumed in extremely hot weather conditions to curb dehydration and as a replacement to other fluids. On the contrary, curd has limited fluid content, which makes it suitable for consumption by people who have been instructed to adhere to a fluid restricted diet, but require an intake of good quality proteins.

Probiotics content

Both curd and buttermilk are rich in probiotics or good bacteria, which help in strengthening your immune system and increase longevity.

Remember make either of the two a part of your regular diet!

Curd Vs. Buttermilk - What's Your Summer Delight?

If you are constantly getting sick, feeling tired without reason, or are prone to bone fractures, then it is the proper time to check the amount of vitamin D in your body. If you have vitamin D less than 30 nanograms per deciliter, then it shows that your body lacks vitamin D. Here are the eight symptoms of vitamin D deficiency that you should not ignore

You always feel tired: You may eat healthy diet, follow a healthy lifestyle, or have a good night sleep, but you still feel tired at all times. Well it may be an indication that your body is not having sufficient amount of vitamin D. Taking vitamin D supplements or including foods that are rich in vitamin D will allow you to overcome your chronic tiredness.
You feel depressed: You are feeling depressed lately, still you ignore it and not take proper action can further decrease the levels of vitamin D in your body. Involve yourself in doing simple workouts, meditation, yoga, etc., will allow you to feel relax.
You have a constant sweaty forehead: Almost everyone faces a littel sweat on their forehead and wipe it away without giving it a thought. However, you should know that it is one of the symptoms of vitamin D deficiency. 
You feel bone and muscle pain constantly: Constant muscle and bone pain is a sign that your bones are losing their strength and is an indication of deficiency of vitamin D. 
You experience sexual problems: You may be quite healthy and have the required energy and mood to involve in your sexual activity. However, you are not getting a firmer erection to perform better in your bed. This can be due to lack of vitamin D in your body. Thus, you should be careful and not ignore it, discuss it with, both your partner and doctor for the right treatment. 
You are susceptible to bone fractures: Vitamin D plays a vital part in strengthening your bones. Therefore, take vitamin D supplements to make your bones stronger.
You are deprived of sleep: Vitamin D deficiency can be the reason behind your sleep deprivation and as it is closely associated with sleep apnea. It is a serious disorder as it affects the flow of oxygen to your brain and to your other body parts. 

Vitamin D Deficiency - Are You Ignoring These 7 Signs?

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