Lose Weight Gain Health

3 people have asked me in the last 2 days for tips on losing weight. So I decided to write about what I know and do. Before anything I want to etch into the reader's brain that the losing-weight concept should never make you lose focus of the motive - HEALTHY LIVING albeit there are many factors that tempt people to look at it purely from the point of having a good (or skinny) figure. It is akin to choosing fashion over comfort, yes, you can do that occasionally but in the long run only comfort pays off !

Warning: No weird losing 1 Kg-per-day tips. It is all plain and straightforward, right food, right eating habits and exercise.

Eating habits

- Eating 3 meals a day is important: Many working people skip breakfast, a very easy way to gain weight because the body assumes you are in ‘starvation’ mode and most of what you eat for lunch will be stored as fat instead of being used up as energy. Breakfast or breaking fast (since you have not had any food in nearly 10-12 hours) is the most important meal of the day and should NEVER be skipped.

- Snacking: The digestive system is active every 2-2.5 hours, so eating something between meals is a really good way to keep your metabolic rate high and a long gap between meals (lunch at 1 and dinner at 8 for example) would lead to hunger with the result that many people end up stuffing themselves at dinner !

- Avoid going to bed immediately after eating: There should be at least 2 hours gap between dinner and when you go to bed. According to me, even siesta is a bad idea but Spaniards manage to do it, no idea how !

Food

It is indeed true that what tastes good is not what is healthy but thankfully not all the time – eg: fruits, vegetables (well-cooked of course) etc.

- Drink water: 2-2.5 litres of water a day is a must – not necessarily plain water but can be in the form of buttermilk, teas and juices, but I would recommend only water because of the calorie content in other drinks. Water is extremely essential for absorption of all nutrients.

- Eat fruits instead of juices: Having an apple is better than apple juice because the former gives you fiber while the latter gives you mostly just sugar. Preserved juices have almost no nutritional value, so avoid them.

- Eat salads instead of stew (kootu): Cooking for a long time or frying or boiling almost always reduces the nutritional value of food. So replace cooked meals with salads at least once or twice a week. For example, shredded carrots with tomatoes and lemon (garnished with coriander and spices like mustard) is a tasty and healthy dish.

- Cut down on beverages: Remember the milk and sugar that goes into Coffee and tea have a lot of calories in them!

- Cut down on sweets and fried foods: obviously one need not completely give them up (Appa often says that he would rather enjoy life than do nothing and live until 80)! Switching to olive oil or some oil with omega-3 fatty acids will be a good choice (These are the unsaturated fatty acids that are good for the body).

- Avoid empty calories (a 2000 calorie pizza has very little nutritional content) – icecreams, sodas, soft drinks, chips and most preserved foods fall in this category.

Of course you can starve and lose weight like models do, but what is the point in looking like Aishwarya Rai, if you can't even run a km when rogues chase you ?!

Exercise:

While reducing food intake will definitely reduce weight, it will not help you maintain weight. For that there is no choice but to exercise since building muscle (no, no, am not taking about Arnold or Venus Williams, just increasing the muscle mass in the body) will automatically start burning fat.

- Any exercise as soon one gets up, on an empty stomach, is the most effective. You will have to spend 4 times the effort to burn the same number of calories when you do the exercise at any other time of the day. Yes, it is difficult to do it on weekdays, do so during weekends.

- Any exercise (walking or jogging) for less than 1 hour accomplishes very little. So if you cannot jog, walk for an hour everyday (when you come back from work or visit a temple closeby or go around your block, anywhere). Joining a fitness centre is a good idea too but only if you will go there at least 3 times a week! I wrote another post on the same topic, and there are a few more tips in it, towards the end of the post, that I do not want to reiterate here.

- Doing simple stretching exercises for 15 min after jogging or walking will help. It will keep your muscles flexible and will avoid any strain caused by exercise that your body is hitherto not used to.

- Some other tips that you can incorporate in your routine (remember doing it a few times will make it a habit)

1.Walk short distances, Avoid cars or taxis or autos
2. Avoid elevators, take the stairs
3. Avoid a remote, walk to the TV every time you want to change a channel

and above all, doing everything with a friend or someone with the same objectives always helps. This way there is someone with whom you can share your progress as well as compete with.

One of my friends lost 12 kilos in 3 months. All she did was have a healthy diet and walk for an hour a day. This is how her diet plan looked like
- 3 idlis for breakfast
- 2 chapathis, vegetables and a cup of rice rice for lunch
- 3 chapathis for dinner
- fruits between meals as snacks

According to your basal metabolic rate (BMR), you can increase the quantity of food (one should never feel hungry since the body will then go into ‘starvation’ mode) but the gist remains the same - right food, right eating habits and exercise. Of course it does not mean you should not have a party or attend a wedding and have rich food once in a while, only just make a note that you should work out another 30 min the next day.

It is also important to track your weight. So have a weighing scale at home and check your weight at the SAME time every day (or week or any time period you prefer) and preferably as soon as you get up. The body weight will vary by 1-2 kilos throughout the day depending on what you do. Weight will drop after vigorous exercise due to dehydration and will increase after food intake.

Trust me, habits die hard, once you start doing it, you will keep doing it. For motivation, look in the mirror and keep a pair of pants that you have not been able to fit into for the last couple of years and the day you fit into it, you will be in the seventh heaven (I know this works for girls, wonder what works for guys - the girlfriend or wife :D ?!)

Note for pregnant and/or lactating women: Being pregnant or having a baby is not an excuse to bloat ! Even for these stages, doctors recommend a certain weight gain, a certain diet and certain exercises. Please follow those because while gaining weight is 3 times easier, losing weight is 4 times slower.

Note for All: In spite of eating the right food and exercising, if there is still no change, perhaps it is time to check your thyroid levels and/or if you have other hormonal imbalances.

Update as on 25th Jan:

Thanks to Musingal for bringing up a valid point, Protein intake. When you watch your eating habits, it is not enough to just reduce food intake but it is important to reduce fat, carbohydrates while still keeping protein. Most vegetarians assume it is not possible with their diet (and some use it as an excuse to eat meat) but nothing could be farther from the truth. Right from milk and yoghurt to lentils and beans, there is protein everywhere. In fact plant protein is easily digestible and hence is more effective than animal protein. Unfortunately, even doctors are not aware of this fact since most of them hardly have enough knowledge and experience with Nutrition itself.

I usually check nutritiondata.com or wikipedia for protein content. If you cannot watch your protein take with natural foods, you can try the protein drinks available in the market. But care should be taken that you do not overdo it. Too much protein is again not good (both for sports and general health) since it interferes with calcium absorption and can also cause undue stress on kidneys and Vitamin b6 deficiency.

Copyright for exercise picture

http://www.topnews.in/health/files/little-exercise.jpg

Coffee 'Break'

….yeah, I am taking or rather have taken a break from coffee. Today is my 15th day without coffee (giving myself a pat on the back :D) and I cannot remember when I ever did this !

It all started with a colleague of mine who mentioned his abstinence from alcohol every year for 2 months – Jan and Feb, to make up for all the extra booz that goes in during Christmas and New Year. He usually has someone else do it with him for the sake of motivation and this year he had no one. When I volunteered he said “What is the point ? you don’t drink anyway!” and for some reason I said “I will do it with coffee” and we agreed on it.

Afterwards I got to thinking that I had been pretty hasty in what I had committed myself to since I am used to one cappuccino and one espresso everyday at work and our very own bru coffee at home during the weekend. With travel, it gets only worse since coffee remains the only palatable hot item most of the times, for vegetarians! So I decided to test how well I can resist coffee and surprisingly I didn’t miss it as much, so I decided to continue it until the end of Feb and actually overdo my deal (:D) by starting early.

I can’t really say I have become healthier in 2 weeks but I definitely feel so :D

Tips for taking a break from coffee:
- Have a fruit with breakfast – An apple is supposed to be 3 times more effective than coffee in waking you up (yeah, I understand, eating an apple during a meeting is awkward, that’s why there are other tips :D)
- Try different teas….no, no, not the masala chai with lots of sugar but I am talking about green tea and fruit tea. I used to dread green tea until I found one with a citrus aroma. It smells so good that I forget how bland it tastes :D. In winter, no matter what I drink, as long as its hot, I am happy! Remember, you should never drink green tea with milk and sugar. The fat-burning property of green tea is lost when you add either of these. Fruit teas can also be a welcome change since there are numerous flavours available and some of them can really agree with you
- Choosing another hot drink like bournvita or Ovalmaltine. The problem here though is the number of calories. One cup (around 250 ml) has nearly 300 calories (milk and sugar included)

Girls, Coffee is extremely bad for skin, complexion and can worsen acne problems (Guys, no offence, am assuming girls bother more about these things but you have the right to be equally concerned too).

So do you have one of your new year resolutions now :D? Hopefully its not – indha ponnu tholla thangala, ineme iva blog pakkam vara koodadhu !

Sporty Indian - an Oxymoron ?

In Munich: Its a bright sunny morning. A 40 year old man (no mills and boon like blond-hair-blue-eye type, just a normal man) is riding his bike (read bicycle) from home to work. Its a 20km ride and so he changes from his cycling pants to office clothes on reaching his workplace. He is really busy at work since he is going on vacation soon, for his wedding. He is saying to his friends excitedly ''My life is just beginning, I am so excited'' and he rushes home, again on his bike (remember its a 20km stretch), for a barbeque that he and his fiancee have arranged.

In Chennai: Its a bright sunny morning. A 40 year old man is driving his honda city to work. His office is on the 3rd floor and the elevator is out of order. After climbing 3 flights of stairs, he is puffing, panting and totally out of breath. While he is recuperating with a glass of cold water, he says to his friends ''what to do, I am well past my prime''. After his work day, he goes home, has dinner with his family and settles down on his couch to watch a movie, some cricket and news.

It is true that lifestyles, culture and priorities are different in both these countries. But does that really warrant no health awareness and a total lack of fitness or any related activities once someone gets married and has a kid ? Is being older than 30 an added excuse ?

Why does ''Sports'' still remain something done out of compulsion in schools or colleges ?

Some really disturbing facts:

Obesity has affected more than 10% of the Indian population (and that is 120 million people !)

91% of deaths in India are due to diseases and metabolic disorders, according to WHO.

India's track record in Olympics is well known. No comments.

In Commonwealth games, usually the host country will win a lot of medals mainly because the participants from the country would have trained for months in the venue and will be really used to it as compared to participants from the outside. India will host the commonwealth games in 2010. The venue is still under construction and in the best case, Indian participants will hardly have a couple of months to train in it.

The problem (and the solution ?)

Indian cuisine is one of the world's largest and according to me, the most delicious too. With the variety available, watching what one eats is quite difficult. Agreed.

But does that justify being a couch potato ? A lot of people like to blame the traditions, the ceremonies and various celebrations where certain sweets and savories are considered a must. What they forget is, these were coined by people who probably toiled the whole day in fields or walking to and fro to temples and various places; certainly not for those zipping around in cars and using elevators/escalators all the time. Remember, noone asked you to have bhajji and samosa everyday.

Marriage is a very important part of one's life and can change a person for better or for worse. Agreed.

But does having a spouse justify bloating out of proportion ? Why should getting married imply the end of trying to be fit and attractive ? Infact, that is when one needs the health to rear the family and the attraction to keep the passion in the marriage alive.

Parents say my kids mean the world to me. Agreed

But does that mean you can throw caution to the winds w.r.t your health ? When you can take your kids to swimming, skating, karate, dance classes and what not, how long would it take for you to do something similar while keeping company to your kids? How can parents forget that the longer they stay healthy and fit, the more beneficial it is to their kids ?

On the bright side, it is true that a lot of people have started going for morning walks, yoga classes and are enrolled in a gym....but this is just a beginning and we have a long and arduous way to go to live upto the challenge !

Ancedote: I have to digress a bit and definitely mention the mamis in saris with an ipod and nike shoes (most likely sent to them from their kids living abroad). I saw them early morning in the marina beach, Nageswara rao park (Mylapore) and in Ashok nagar park (yup, managed to go to all these places during my brief stay in Chennai to compensate for the 6 meals I was having everyday !). The mamas on the other hand were much smarter in their striped t-shirts and matching shorts ! What totally cracked me up was the laughter therapy many people are into these days - seeing 10 strict-school-principal-like mamis and mamas standing in a circle, with their hands up in the air and laughing out loud for no apparent reason is simply too much to take. Result: I was laughing like crazy at the end of my jogging session and doing some real laughter therapy :D !

Coming back to the topic in hand: Seeing sports as a career is still not prevalent in India but we have started with tiny steps here as well. Progress can only be made if the middle class attitude of wanting sons and daughters to be engineers, doctors and IT professionals, as a way of coming up in life, is let go of. I understand that it can be difficult for those worried about financial security to take the plunge, this is where the support from the Govt. will be most valuable. But someone has to start somewhere to break this vicious cycle ! And that someone should be from our generation - probably my son or daughter can help me with this in a few years :D!

And finally some simple fitness tips:

• Any exercise or activity done in the morning on an empty stomach is 3 times effective compared to any other time of the day. Since you break your fast after nearly 10-12 hours, any exercise done will dip into the stored reserves in your body aka fat.
• Drink lot of water BEFORE you start exercising rather than during. Dehydration will cause you to slow down.
• Start your routine with 10-15 min of walking or running to warm up, and then stretch to avoid muscles tightening (lots of simple stretching exercise available in youtube). Now when you continue with your regime you will be surprised at how much more your hands and legs cooperate.
• Take the stairs. Climbing or walking on a road with a higher gradient is twice as effective as just walking.
• Avoid rice for dinner. Carbohydrates are not friends you invite for dinner :). If you must, cook just a cup of rice, so that even if you are tempted, there is no more rice left to eat.
• Avoid long gaps between meals. The longer the gap, the ravenous you get => the more you eat, the less you digest => FAT. Have an apple or a banana inbetween meals. If at any time, you are really hungry, your digestive system is not going to be happy with you.
• Hide the remote. Walking to the TV is exercise too.
• Do not drive all the time. Walk to nearby places.

Stay healthy, Stay fit and enough with the reading, go out and exercise :) !