You've been missing your routine at the gym very often thanks to your busy schedule (or plain laziness) and suddenly you realize that in one week you have to attend a wedding.

You want to wear your favourite saree or figure-hugging dress but are worried about your flabby stomach bulging out. Well, you still have a last option. While you cannot reduce fat, you can lose belly fat by decreasing your total body fat percentage. And you don't have to completely alter your daily habits to get a flat stomach within 7 days!

Step one:

If you want to build muscle and burn fat at the same time, you have to perform circuit training, three days per week. How can you achieve this? Indulge in full body exercises like lunges, push-ups, and pull-ups, for one set of 15 repetitions. Don't forget to follow every exercise with one minute of jumping rope. You should be able to burn around 500 to 600 calories per workout.

Step two:

You have to work on your abdominal muscles three times in the week. Crunches and leg raises for three sets of 20 repetitions should be done. Also, do planks by holding your body in a push-up position on your elbows for 30 to 60 seconds for four sets.

Step three:

The kind of food you will eat in this period is vital in bringing about any change. Natural foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads and pastas, chicken, beef, fish and low fat dairy should replace processed foods full of sugar.

Step four:

To minimize water retention, lower your sodium intake. This means you need to avoid salt. You can flavour your food with other herbs and spices instead.

Step five:

Stressing and anxiety can cause the over-production of a certain hormone called cortisol, which encourages weight gain about the belly area. So try to keep your cool!

Health tip # 61


Tropical fruits, especially pineapples and paw paw are very good foods to protect you against cellulite. They're extremely rich sources of beta carotene, which is very important for healthy skin and contain natural enzymes that are extremely good for the digestions and help break down fat deposits.

Health tip # 60


If you're trying to lose weight, remember to count the booze - a single gin and tonic has about 140 calories.

Health tip # 58


Get up earlier in summer and later in winter, in line with natural sunlight hours. Don't eat late at night or before you're fully awake.

Health tip # 52

 Train with a barbell: Again, this improves posture and can also lend a hand in toning up the lower parts of your body as well.

A regular eye and neck exercise can benefit you to relieve your eyestrain, stiffness and muscle tension.  

Tummy Exercise Myths

Our bodies are genetically conditioned on how we lose or gain weight. Interestingly enough, the first place where we gain weight is the last place where we lose it. We cannot reduce only the part we do not like. Once we lose fat from our body, we lose inches everywhere even where we do not want to lose.

The problem with tummy muscles is that we do not generally exercise this muscle in daily life. It is not greatly challenged from climbing stairs, bending, stretching or walking. We, therefore, have to make a special effort to encourage it to come back into line. The movements have to be small and controlled and depend on the effort put in by the exerciser to get really good results. Secondly during pregnancy, as the baby grows inside the muscle (transverse) is pushed forward. A huge amount of stretching is going on and tends to leave the muscle loose and hanging forward after the birth. It is essentially the lack of strength left in this muscle which allows the tummy to sit in that rather round forward position Mothers would recognise from after birth.

In all cases it is the lack of exercise for this muscle which causes it to become loose and give the ‘pot bellied’ appearance.

Myth No: 1 
By doing some midsection exercises one can reduce "love handles".

Fact 
You cannot reduce fat from a certain targeted area of your body just by using exercise alone. And the abdominal area is no exception. So if you want to get a flat stomach and to reveal your abs, losing the fat covering them is the way to go. And the only way to do this is to lose fat proportionately from your entire body by burning more calories than you consume.

Myth No: 2 
You have to do tons of crunches. 

Fact 
Overuse of crunches will only shorten your abs, pull your head forward and gives you a bad posture. To reduce fat in your bodies, you need to do cardioexercise and eat nutritious foods in reasonable amounts. In simple language "burn more calories than you consume." The cardio helps to burn that stored fat and the lower calorie diet forces the body to use the accumulated fat for energy. In addition, the crunches and a total body workout (with weight training) helps the body to increase muscle mass. Muscles burn fat; fat does not burn itself so, the more muscle we have, the more fat our body uses for energy, so we lose weigh faster. If you only do crunches, you will develop your abdominal muscles and strengthen them. This will reflect in better posture and less back problems, but you will not be able to see your abdominal muscles because they will be covered with fat.

Myth No: 3
Exercise is more important that nutrition

Fact
Diet is one of the key factors when trying to get a flat tummy. Plan your nutrition in advance, to avoid dietary downfalls. Focus on protein, green vegetables, fiber-rich fruits, and zero calorie drinks such as Green Tea and water. Avoid all sugar.

Myth No: 4
you must do train your tummy every day

Fact
You don't need to do direct tummy training every day. Instead, train them twice per week and use non-conventional exercises such as Mountain Climbers and Stability Ball Jackknives to reduce the stress on your low back. Avoid the overuse of crunches and sit-ups in your training program. Instead, beginners, should focus on abdominal endurance with planks and side planks, and work up to more advanced exercises, but still avoid doing hundreds of crunches lying on your back.

Health tip # 42

Learn to do stretching exercises when you wake up. It boosts circulation and digestion, and eases back pain.

Health tip # 36

Quit smoking, manage stress, eat a healthy diet, avoid illegal drug use and limit alcohol use to reduce the risk of fertility problems. 

Health tip # 35


Get close with nature : take a walk in the park. Walk barefoot on the lawn, and feel the softness of the grass. There’s a difference between walking on a treadmill and walking in the fresh air among trees.

Health tip # 30


Strength training should begin with largest muscle groups (legs,back,hips,chest) and then proceed to smaller groups (shoulders,arms,neck).

Health tip # 23


When u stand up,if u didn't have valves in ur veins,all the blood in your body would literally fall downward, filling up your legs and feet.

Health tip # 21


Increase your protein intake and also have more of carbohydrate in your diet.

Avoid Gaining Weight This Holiday Season
...While Still Enjoying Your Holiday

I know what you are thinking – the holidays are a time for fun and indulgence. You don’t want to think about fitness during that time. You want to enjoy yourself. Don’t worry! The festivities don’t have to be eliminated or avoided. You can have a fabulous time while also maintain your weight and your fitness regime.

The secret to achieving a holiday season that is both full of fun and also includes fitness is found in moderation. There are two typical approaches to the seasonal festivities: 1) throw all healthy habits out the window and indulge in every guilty pleasure 2) starve and binge approach (for example, you eat nothing all day long to allow yourself to overindulge in party food). Of course, neither approach is successful at maintaining a healthy, fit lifestyle throughout the holiday season. But some how we should manage, because holidays should not be a disaster for our health.

As mentioned above, the key is found in moderation. With a moderate approach both to what you eat and how much exercise you do, you can avoid packing on extra weight and also take part in all the fun of the season.

Here Are Some Tips On Maintaining Your Health And Fitness:

Create a plan ahead of time. Before the holidays sneak up on you, create a plan for incorporating fitness and good nutrition into your daily routine. Evaluate your holiday schedule and then determine how much time you will realistically have available to devote to working out and/or eating healthy meals.

On the day of a party, be sure to eat regularly all day long. If the party is in the evening, eat breakfast, lunch and a snack before hand. Once you are at the party, go ahead and indulge in some of the fun, delicious foods. Since you have eaten meals earlier in the day, you probably will find that you aren’t tempted to go overboard and eat everything in sight. However, if you starve all day long attempting to save up all your calories for the party, you will be so famished by the time it begins that it will be difficult not to overeat.

Schedule your workouts. Mark them on the calendar and set-aside time to complete them. Consider them as important as any other appointment or event you have marked on your calendar.

When at a party, start by eating some of the healthy offerings. For example, vegetable sticks , fruit pieces, plain chicken pieces, etc. Then move on to some of the less healthy offerings. You will be less likely to overindulge on these foods if you have already filled-up on some of the healthier items. Yet, you will not feel deprived or unsatisfied.

On days that you really lack motivation or simply do not have time for your complete exercise routine, commit to do just 10 minutes of exercise. You’ll probably end up doing more than that once you get started. Even if you only end up completing 10 minutes, that is still a lot better than zero minutes.
When presented with a large variety of food options, it’s tempting to want to eat everything. Rather than eating one large slice of chocolate cake or a huge plate of meatballs, select a sampling of bite size pieces of several of the desert or appetizer offerings. This way you get the enjoyment of trying many different foods without overeating.

Exercise at home. You’ll be more inclined to follow-through on your exercise commitment if you don’t have to drive somewhere to do your workout. Plus, you won’t waste any time on driving, parking, the locker room or waiting to use equipment. Working out at home requires very little equipment (even can be equipment-free) and is quite inexpensive.

Avoid wasting calories on alcoholic beverages. The average alcoholic drink contains 150-200 calories per glass. Indulge in just 2-3 drinks and you’ve drunk the equivalent calories of an entire meal. If you partake in these beverages, choose wisely. For example, instead of having a full glass of wine, try mixing half a glass of wine with sparkling water or with a diet cola. This will help cut your calories in half.

When running errands or shopping be sure to pack some healthy snacks to have on-hand. Then after you work-up a big appetite, you won’t be tempted to grab something at the mall food court or the fast food restaurant on the way home. 

Hopefully these tips will help you find a balance between staying fit and also enjoying the fun of the season. Remember, moderation is the key. 

Have a great holiday season!

Health tip # 14


You must drink lots of water. At least 8 -12 glasses of water consumption should be done by an adult women.

                     

                           Vitamin D : Key to your strength 

Vitamin D, also called the sunshine vitamin, is a fat-soluble vitamin. It is needed in the body in large quantities, as it is responsible for the health of our bones and teeth, helps in fighting off infections and even improves mental health. Not only is it a vitamin, it is also a hormone and helps regulate insulin and calcium levels in the blood.

The human body makes vitamin D when exposed to sunlight, or more specifically UVB rays. Plants have vitamin D in the form of ergosterol while cholesterol is the corresponding basic building block of vitamin D in humans. When a leaf of a plant is exposed to sunlight, it converts ergosterol into ergocalciferol or vitamin D2. In the same way, when human skin is exposed to sunlight, the body converts cholesterol into cholecalciferol, a form of vitamin D3. In humans, unlike in plants, this conversion is not the final step before vitamin D can be utilised by us. Cholecalciferol is converted into hydroxyl vitamin D in the liver, kidney, skin, brain and prostate. Next this is converted to dihydroxy vitamin D in the lungs, colon, spleen, liver, kidney, stomach and lymph nodes. This is the most active form of vitamin D required by humans and it lasts for a short time before it is eliminated so we constantly need vitamin D, much more than we thought was earlier required.

Sales of Vitamin D have continued to skyrocket for the past decade,  as scientific research demonstrates a wide array of Vitamin D benefits that also takes  care of our bones . In response to the overwhelming body of research, the Institute of Medicine recently boosted the recommended dietary intakes (RDI) of Vitamin D.

With the release of the new RDIs, sales of the sunshine vitamin are likely to soar even higher in 2011.Nutritionists believe that it will be difficult to meet the new RDIs for Vitamin D through diet alone, particularly if you eat only limited dairy products or do not regularly include fish in your diet. A dietitian in Boston, says "There's no way that people will satisfy those recommendations for vitamin D without supplements." Not many foods contain Vitamin D which is why most people will need to modify their diets to include Vitamin-D fortified foods and beverages along with an increased intake of milk, eggs and fish. Consuming 600 IUs a day of Vitamin D from a single food would require drinking 6 cups of milk or eating 15 servings of Vitamin-D fortified cereals.3

Some experts even believe the new RDIs for Vitamin D are still too low. In response, Dr for the Council for Responsible Nutrition said, "While an increase in the recommendations for vitamin D will benefit the public overall, such a conservative increase for the nutrient lags behind the mountain of research demonstrating a need for vitamin D intake at levels possibly as high as 2,000 IU/day for adults." Doctors who concur with this view may consider prescribing a higher daily dose of Vitamin D to their patients as the upper safety limit has been set at 4,000 IUs for those aged 9 and above. 

Exposing yourself to sunlight is the most important source of vitamin D because sunlight is far more likely to provide you with your vitamin D requirement than food is. Mushrooms that have been irradiated and yeast are vegetarian sources of this valuable vitamin. Other non vegetarian sources of vitamin d are Fish like salmon, mackerel, catfish, sardines and tuna, eggs, Fortified milk, cheese, butter, Oysters, Fortified breakfast cereals, soymilk and margarine.

Health tip # 12


People who eat breakfast are more likely to maintain a healthy weight and generally feel better throughout the day. Skipping breakfast can put your body into "starvation mode", causing your body to store your next meal as fat

Health tip # 10


Foods rich in antioxidants, such as vitamin C and beta-carotene, help ward off ab fat.

  Difference between 'Being' and 'Doing'

one of those subtleties that make a world of difference is to distinguish between the concepts of "being" and "doing," When it comes to fitness, it makes a vast difference between people who are lean and healthy and people who want to be perfect.  There are people who do not actually exercise.

For many people being fit is a matter of choice. Just ask  anyone  you will say they would choose to be fit. Well, the next logical step would seem to be taking some kind of action toward fitness. In fact. Most people do think they must first DO something in order to BE fit. That is why people often start working toward fitness only to give up. To DO is always a struggle. Instead, to BE is when our actions are a natural extension of who we are and what we want to be.

Conventional thing is that first I DO something so, I can HAVE something, which enables me to BE something. It goes like this : Create a schedule of workout at the gym of five evenings per week The result will be a better body .Then, feel more healthy and attractive. 

Think about qualities or characteristics that people who are authentically fit possess. People whp are fit are usually consistent, creative, dedicated, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and motivated. You should have these qualities in yourself, in all areas of your life. Start to focus on them. When you get up in the morning, instead of saying, what do I need to do today; ask how can I BE those qualities. How am I going to be creative today? How am I going to be disciplined today? How am I going to be  fun today? There is a very different energetic response people have when their focus is on 'being' those things rather than 'doing' something. Use a journal if it would help you make the connections. 

It can be as going through your mind as you're reading, "But,if u feel that  I'm actually not very self-motivated." then what happens is you believe you have to do something to get self-motivated. The vision creates the action.Vision and action are interdependent. However, if you can start to see where you are being self- motivated - even in small ways - that can change  your ways. You'll recognize yourself as motivated in other areas as well, because as soon as you can see yourself 'being' self- motivated, the 'doing' follows naturally.  Select any one of the positive traits or factors  of the one who is fit.  Let's use enthusiasm. Look at yourself and see, "How am I good at being enthusiastic?" People usually pay attention to where they fall short, and so what they get is more falling short: where you begin is where you return. 

Everyone knows what it takes to be fit. Eat right, get plenty of exercise and rest, and they are 'doing' that. But the moment we  stop thinking of 'doing' it, or they don't want to DO it, or 'doing' it isn't fun anymore, they're going to stop because it's all focused on, "I have to DO this."These are the people who never saw themselves differently. They saw themselves as being unfit or fat, so they had to do something to get fit and thin - they never saw themselves as being healthy or being beautiful or anything like that. The people who actually make it and enjoy a life of fitness are the ones who have shifted the way they use to look at themselves. See yourself now as 'being' healthy, committed to health, as 'being' beautiful and attractive. Your vision creates your reality. So go conquer a new world where in there is no place for unhealthiness only place for health and fitness.

Health tip # 9


Regular physical activity can help lessen a diabetic's need for insulin and boost the level of "good" HDL cholesterol in the body.