Bare minimum things to stay healthy

by with 2 Comments Health & Lifestyle
WhatsApp Image 2019-03-12 at 15.30.39

Pranay T

Senior Business Analyst

This write-up is especially for the people who generally do not have a lot of time for taking care of their health or are puzzled about where to start with onto their pursuit for a fit life. So coming up are some simple habits which would lay a stepping stone towards living a healthy life. I am intentionally not mentioning the points which help you to become super-fit since you can find them anywhere on the Internet or in a newspaper.

If a circle is a shape then I am in shape.

A great trait of the human body is that it gives enough indications to tell you that you are unhealthy.

For example, if you have an apple shaped body, you have increased chances of heart/cholesterol related diseases. If your mind tells you to take escalator instead of the staircase because you might faint, then you might be suffering from low energy or probably less iron in your body. If you are hiding your cracked lips with ChapStick every day there is a high probability that your water and /or Vitamins intake is very low.

If you are finding anything different in your general impression about your body which was not there till last year or a few months back, then it’s time to ponder deeper and perhaps consider a visit to a doctor.

Should I join a Gym, do Zumba or Yoga classes or simply lie in my bed and dream of a toned body and 6 pack abs?

What to join totally depends on your idea of what you want to be in the next 6 months. If you are aiming to have a John Abraham type body then weight training in Gym would be a good option. If you don’t find lifting weights interesting every morning, then join some cross fit classes. If your aim is to increase flexibility by reducing fat around your belly but your knees and bones are not that strong, then Yoga is definitely a great option. However, if you are also looking for some entertainment and fun alongside some focused exercise, then go for Zumba classes.

And, if you don’t want to spend on anything because every time you lose a load of money because you don’t go to the gym even after paying a membership fee, then start off at your home itself. There are loads of home-based no equipment exercise videos on YouTube. Load them, follow them and build a discipline around that. And if even that is not possible; a good 15 minutes brisk walk along with some stretching is the barest of the bare minimum to start with.

My food is my business; none of your business

The other crucial part of health is diet. What to eat and what not to eat is a burning question which definitely does not help in burning calories! Always try to look for food as well as the cooking process which is closer to nature (aka less processed).

Try to replace refined flour (Maida) with whole grain flours. Use a non-stick Pan instead of a Bowling Pan (Kadhai) to reduce the consumption of oil.

One cannot go with a day on day on a diet without cravings, but there are several ways to curb them in a natural way.

Sugar in Tea can be replaced with Jaggery, cravings for sweets can be replaced with dates or fruits and hunger cravings can be satisfied with a few almonds and nuts.

Having a portion of the meal at home before going to any pub or party will help you sustain the party with the Omnipotent Peanut Masala (roasted, not fried!). Chew your food till you make it a uniform liquid and your body would reward you with an active metabolism and superb digestion.

Another‘bare- minimum principle to follow is to always carry your food from home, and have at least 3 liters of water every day. Make it attached to another routine. I had a rule to drink 2 sips of water- every time I picked my mobile. It helped with both habits 😉

So concluding my little sermon on Exercise and Diet, I will say that any kind of investment in health always gives you good returns. Although, a well-planned exercise regime and consciously curated diet are very essential for reaching a health peak these aforementioned bare minimum tips will certainly help you in establishing a progressive discipline, which is quintessential for a healthy life.

20 Interesting Things You Didn’t really Know About… Hunger

by with No Comment Health & Lifestyle
suja

Suja Sajiv

Manager - People Relations

Get the skinny on why tummies rumble and how we might feed the world.

  1. How to alleviate world hunger? The United Nations suggests entomophagy, or eating beetles, wasps and worms, as a partial solution. Pass the cicada stuffing. 

  2. Two billion people worldwide already rely on bugs for protein. One serving of caterpillar has more protein than a serving of beef. 

  3. Better than relying on the flesh of your traveling companions, like the survivors of a 1972 plane crash in the Andes. They ate the frozen bodies of their families and friends. 

  4. Hunger’s pangs don’t take long to kick in. Go a few hours without food, and grumbling ensues as continuous waves of muscle movement release pockets of gas in the intestines. 

  5. Eventually, you start to burn fatty acids instead of glucose for fuel. And a few days into a fast, your body starts to feed on its own proteins. So, yes, your stomach will eat itself.

  6. Without calories, your body will no longer be able to produce enough glucose for your big brain (and it needs a lot — about the daily equivalent of the sugar found in three cans of soda). Instead of shutting down, it resorts to using ketone, a fatty acid derivative. 

  7. Early humans’ ability to switch to another staple in this way may be what allowed us to outlast other primate species. 

  8. The discomfort and weakness that mark this stage of hunger is nothing compared with kwashiorkor, extreme malnutrition that causes a distended belly and swelling of the liver. But the No. 1 cause of death in people who are starving is heart failure due to extreme tissue and organ damage. 

  9. Nearly 1 billion people will go to bed hungry tonight, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development. And 200 million of them will be children. Lack of vitamins and nutrients, especially in a child’s first year, can affect brain growth and intelligence. 

  10. Some studies have found that iron deficiency, another consequence of malnutrition, may drive anemics to eat clay and soil. 

  1. Nearly 30 percent of pregnant women crave nonfood items, an eating disorder called pica — from the Latin word for magpie, a bird known to eat anything. 

  2. Studies have traced cravings for high-calorie meals back to caveman days, when hunters and gatherers needed to store energy between unpredictable mealtimes. Now our cravings for fatty and sugary foods, which release chemicals that can trigger mild euphoria, spur obesity and diabetes. 

  3. Refined carbs can make you hungrier by interfering with messages the digestive system sends to the brain to signal it’s time to put down the doughnut. 

  4. A 2004 brain-imaging study revealed that even thinking about a favorite food triggered the release of dopamine, a feel-good hormone also produced during sex and drug use. 

  5. Food for thought: A 2007 study found that women who tried to quit thinking about chocolate ended up eating 50 percent more than those who were encouraged to talk about their cravings. 

  6. Suppressing hunger or appetite, normally the job of a hormone called leptin is a multibillion-dollar industry in the U.S. 

  7. New research indicates that people carrying the obesity gene FTO keep pumping out the hormone ghrelin, which tells the brain to eat again. 

  8. But some of the highest levels of ghrelin have been observed in anorexia patients. 

  9. A body can hold out only for so long. In the early 1980s, 10 fasting imprisoned members of the Irish Republican and Irish National Liberation armies lasted 46 to 73 days before dying of starvation. 

  10. On the other hand, a little hunger may go a long way. Studies in rodents show reducing daily calorie intake by 30 percent can lower risk for cancer and Alzheimer’s disease and increase longevity. So much for an appetite for life.

~ Brought to you from the Magazine for the curious  (Discover)