6 ways to fight with daily tiredness

If you have a typical desk job, maybe these steps can help you beat daily fatigue and lethargy.

1. Drink Plenty Of Water
Hydrate yourself constantly. Dehydration saps out a lot of energy and affects performance. Dehydration can cause a lot of fatigue so it’s important to tank up on at least four litres (or more) of water on a daily basis.

2. Protein-Based Diet
Eating right is of prime importance. It boosts energy levels and balances the carb intake. The more carbs you take in, especially in the morning, the more glucose your body produces and that can lead to high blood sugar levels in the body. It can also make you very lethargic. So balance the effect out with a good solid protein-based breakfast and try and introduce at least 80% of proteins in your diet daily.

3. Take Screen Breaks
Sitting in front of the screen for hours together can mentally tire you more than physically. So take a break from your laptop screens every hour. Also, give yourself a screen-less hour before getting some sleep.

4. Have A Green Diet
Include more green leafy veggies in your diet. The way you eat can make a lot of difference in how energised you feel throughout the day. Eat plentiful of spinach, broccoli, green peas. Definitely a great energy booster!

5. Movement is important Any form of movement and exercise is important. Try yoga, which not only clears the mind but replenishes a lot of energy too. It’s a good way to tone the body and alert the mind. So get a mat and strike a pose and you’ll always be ready to face a long day.

6. Stretch
Stretch once in the morning. It eliminates tension and improves blood flow. Stretch in the middle of your work day too. Take breaks every 30-45 minutes and stretch your back and shoulder.

STOP THIS- NO CARB DIETS ARE UNHEALTHY

Popularised by the now debunked Atkins Diet, the idea that one could lose weight by ditching carbs and adding protein is a bad one. The belief that one food group is completely bad and one is good is wrong.
So why are low-carb/ high protein diets so popular? For starters, short-term benefits: Since you are eliminating a huge food group, you are starving your body of calories. Second, these diets are easy to implement because elimination is easier than substitution. The fundamental problem is that this diet is rooted in misconceptions about both protein and carbs. I’ll outline the benefits of both.

Why carbs are good?

You need carbs. From being a key macronutrient and an important source of energy, carbs also enhance your mood and help with the absorption of calcium and phosphorus, all very important functions. And get this: carbs are integral to the metabolism of fats. In other words, if you want to cut fat, you need carbs to burn it!
But like good fats and bad fats, there are simple carbs and complex carbs. Simple carbs are sugary foods, chocolates, cakes, sweets and drinks. These are called ‘simple’ because your body doesn’t have to work to digest them. They are high in calories. Avoid. Turn your attention to complex carbohydrates – rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, wholewheat, vegetables and fruits.

Excess protein is harmful

Protein, on the other hand, is considered to be a life-giving nutrient responsible for building tissue, replacing worn-out cells and transporting enzymes, hormones, antibodies and neurotransmitters. They also build muscle. But what many may not know is that protein helps with weight loss because your body needs more calories to digest it (digestion also burns calories). On an average, they pump up your metabolic rate by a massive 30 per cent versus just 4 for carbs or fats. Which is why high-protein diets are so seductive, yet detrimental. Excess protein has been associated with excess formation of uric acid, kidney problems, osteoporosis and cancer.
Stick to balanced meals: your day’s diet should have 65% carbs, 25% protein and 10% fats. Eat light as evening closes in.
The two thirds of the population that are either overweight or obese have a plethora of diets to choose from. From low-fat to high-fat, keto diets and intermittent fasting, the fads are numerous — but what are their consequences for our health?

A new study focuses on low-carb diets and explores the health risks that are associated with them. Carbohydrates are a major source of energy for most living organisms, so how does a diet low in these molecules impact health?

The new research does not offer a causal answer to this question, but it does examine the links between low-carb diets and the risk of premature mortality, as well as mortality from specific chronic diseases.

A large study concludes that a low intake of carbs raises the risk of premature mortality, as well as mortality from several chronic illnesses. Therefore, scientists urge dieters to avoid low-carb diets.

Hope so this blog would be helpful to you so, please like and share. Thank you!!

NEVER SKIP the ‘4-6 pm’ munch

You must have heard this often – have a light dinner to lose weight. But how to make dinner light? Well, by eating something wholesome in the evening. This is the make or break meal, it decides whether you will have long-lasting fitness or whether it will fizzle out in the next couple of weeks. This is the Week 4 Fitness guideline — eat a wholesome meal between 4 and 6 pm.

Why??

Our hormone cortisol follows a natural cycle; it rises in the morning, allowing you to start fresh, clear bowels, and drops in the evening, to allow for restful sleep in the night. When we don’t eat anything in the evening or kill our appetite with chai or coffee, our body works at producing more cortisol instead of reducing it. This leads to: overeating at dinner; poor sleep; slow digestion; PCOD/thyroid issues; Insulin insensitivity. So make sure you eat between 4 and 6 pm – be it a handful of groundnuts or chana (gram) ; jaggery, ghee and chapati (if you stay active and work away from home); even chaat/samosa, but only once a week! You will soon see dinner quantities naturally drop over the next 4-5 days.

Figure out what the core cause is

Often emotional eating and boredom eating can get caught up in one another, as can self sabotaging and sugar cravings. Check in with yourself to see what’s really behind that snacking, and yes, my Mindset Makeover Course would help you with that!

It can also be helpful to identify the situation or the habit of when the snacking is taking place, as changing it can help. For example, I used to snack like crazy on a Saturday night, usually when James was out with his friends and I was home alone. When that happens now, I make specific plans to do something, either out or at home, that does not involve being sat in front of a screen so that I don’t slip into that bored state and go back to snacking.

Red juicy fat burner

Most people think of tomato as a vegetable, rather than a fruit; well, it is actually a fruit. Apart from the fact that they do not have many calories, tomatoes help in fighting leptin ,which does not allow the body to lose weight. It contains a high number of antioxidants which are effective in the reduction of water retention. Tomatoes are also known to suppress appetite; hence you will feel full and won’t eat a lot.

Don’t get worked up if your dietician puts you on a diet high in tomatoes. You know they are great for the skin, for hair and a great cancer-fighting agent. But what’s tomatoes got to do with shedding fat you wonder. – Well, to begin with, they are extremely low in calories.

Well, to begin with, they are extremely low in calories. One small tomato contains only 16 calories.
They are high in fibre, both insoluble, which is great for Weightloss.
Though tomatoes do have some natural sugars, they are still very low on the glycemic index. This means they will not have a significant effect on your blood sugar levels and that your body won’t release insulin – a hormone that causes fat storage (and weight gain.)
Tomatoes are also very hydrating, thanks to their high water content and keep you feeling full for long.

Some Rules When Using Tomatoes For Weight Loss

Use after meals:
Do not rush to lose weight but force yourself to eat tomatoes arbitrarily. Many people think that it is possible to take advantage of this fruit before meals to get the best slim figure. However, this is a bad habit for the stomach and digestive tract.

You should eat after meals to reduce the amount of acid, avoid unpleasant feelings, eat not delicious. Especially those who are suffering from gastric ulcer, cholecystitis or pancreatitis must pay attention to this point.

The craze over CLEAN EATING

Gluten-free, sugar-free, oil-free, grain-free, legume-free, raw hummus wheat-free bread… the supermarket shelves have become shrines to ‘clean eating’ – a faith that promises happiness, healthiness and an abundance of energy at a go. The craze triggered by vegan food photos and social media hashtags like cleaneating, eatclean has millions of followers worldwide. In fact, cleaneating has over 60 million followers alone!
But as they say, too much of anything cannot be a good thing. And experts around the world have started talking about the obsession with clean eating that has, ironically, become quite unhealthy.

What is clean eating?

Simply put, when you choose whole foods as they are closest to nature, or in their least-processed state, you are choosing ‘clean’ foods. After that the definition varies according to the particular diet you have chosen – from dairy-free to grain-free, gluten-free and vegan and many more. So far, so good. But how did this trend — which depending on your body type promises to rid your body of toxins and make you fit and happy — become unhealthy?

Food not fad- The after-effects of the reductionist approach to food are long-term – nutritional deficiencies, poor stamina and risk to the immune system; all of which are detrimental to psychological health too.

Signs that clean eating has turned into an obsession:-

– You have rigid dietary restrictions and ritualised eating

–You attempt to control everything about the foods you eat

– There’s an extraordinary amount of fear to eat something that is outside your healthy eating programme

– Irrational concern over food preparation techniques, especially the washing of food or sterilisation of utensils

– Excessively eliminating certain food

– You’re terrified of tomatoes one day because some study says they cause heartburn. The next day, it’s sushi (mercury!). The following, it’s legumes.

– There is an increase in consumption of herbal remedies or probiotics.

– You have a superiority complex about your diet. You see yourself on a nutritional pedestal.

Lazy people’s guide to lose weight

Mornings are to sleep and evenings are to relax, right? Enough! It’s time to get your lazy body to the gym. Follow these tips that will motivate you to work out.

Sleep on time

Scrolling down your social media timelines won’t help you stay fit. However, hitting the gym will. To be able to hit the gym on time, the first thing you’ve got to do is to doze off on time. If you are completing your daily ideal eight hours of sleep, you won’t wake up the next day feeling tired, restless, or lazy. So, make it a routine to sleep early and wake up early.

Be headstrong

We know you have been procrastinating all this while but there are some things you should take seriously. Health and fitness, of course, top this list. You need to make up your mind and just do it! We know laziness will take over on days when you are tired and exhausted from a hectic work day, but working it out at the gym will only keep you motivated for the next day.

Drink more water

Did you know that if you consume a glass of water before your meals, it can help you to eat less? In many cases, as I mentioned earlier, we are not as hungry as we may think we are. Before sitting down to have a meal, try to drink a full glass of water. Drinking a glass of water before a meal can act as an appetite suppressant which in turn will make you eat less food.

You need to wait it out

Nothing happens overnight! You might go crazy when you don’t see any results in the first few days or the first week of working out. You lose your mind and immediately start assuming it’s all a waste of time, energy, and money. DON’T! Remember, good things in life take time. So you need to wait it out for at least the first two to three months before jumping to any conclusions and letting laziness take over.

Slow down when you eat

When we eat in public, we tend to eat our food slower because we don’t want to look like animals in front of everyone in the restaurant. If you have guests in your home, you probably take a similar approach because you are entertaining and conversing while consuming your meal.meal When we eat our food too quickly, we do not allow ourselves enough time to enjoy what we are eating. If your food is here one second and gone the next, how could you have really enjoyed your meal?

Find a gym buddy

Your ultimate aim in life is to have fun in anything and everything you do, right? People often get lazy when they have to go to the gym alone and find no company around to have fun while working out. For all the souls who get bored easily, finding a gym buddy is your ultimate rescue. If you feel it’s too difficult to befriend strangers, convince your friend to join the gym with you.

Find a gym close by

You dread going to the gym more when the gym is far away from your place or your office. It won’t be dreadful if you manage to find a gym close by. It would be hard for you to ignore it if you pass it by every day. So one day, you will run out of excuses and will make it to the gym finally.

WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU: easy guide

Everyone reaches a point where their diet stops working towards their desired goals. It’s called a plateau and that’s how the body functions. The initial results are quick because it’s more like a shock for the body, but after a while the body tends to establish a comfort level and hits stagnancy. Now, there are multiple reasons on why our body stops responding to the things we do – it could be nutrition, workout, hormones or even our mindset. It’s important to figure out what might be the obstacle and work towards tweaking it. When it comes to nutrition, here are a few aspects that need to be looked at for progress:

Fad dieting: Fad diets help you lose the first two to three kilos and after that either you put it all back or just plateau. We need to understand that any fad diet that’s deficient in a macronutrient cripples your metabolism and metabolism is the most important thing when it comes to burning fat. Also, fad diets or diet plans ask you to eat the same meals over and over again for an extended period of time. Not only does that make your body used to a particular way of eating but you are also missing out on plenty of nutrients that a varied but balanced diet gives.

Eat more, burn more: One needs to be mindful about their activity levels and how they are complementing it with nutrition. Most people, in a bid to lose weight, undergo intense exercise programmes and eat skimpy meals. Now that approach is detrimental to our health, weight and metabolism. You start to look older, shed hair, change skin quality and look and start ageing rapidly. Good nutrition and good dieting is about enhancing your nutrition not cutting it. The idea is what more can one add to their diet to support billions of cells and metabolic rate to burn weight. The answer lies in eating more and exercising more. And on days when you cannot exercise, eat less and exercise less. If you can master these two models, you will lose weight not by struggling but by building a strong metabolic rate.

Don’t overdo proteins: When you start consuming more protein, a lot of that never gets utilised by the human body and it converts into fat and slows down your metabolism. This is why a lot of people who consume protein also bloat up. So choose a protein heavy diet if you are into that athlete level of training, else, start cutting down your intake of protein supplements.

Here are 8 tips to break a weight loss plateau.

Cut down Carbs.
Increase Exercise Frequency or Intensity.
Track Everything You Eat.
Don’t Skimp on Protein.
Manage Stress.
Try Intermittent Fasting.
Avoid Alcohol.
Eat More Fiber.

7 ways to naturally keep hormones in balance.

Hormone balance is something that is important for men and women alike, and it is especially important especially for those of us who have a family history of imbalance.Good health is all about striking the right balance between hormones because they govern every function in our body. Even the slightest imbalance can lead to innumerable problems that affect our physical, mental and emotional health. Hormonal imbalance is said to occur when our body produces either too many or too little hormones. It is an extremely delicate balance to maintain which can easily be disrupted with a wrong lifestyle. Stress is one of the major triggers of hormonal imbalance because as cortisol (stress hormone) levels rise, it suppresses the release of several other hormones like thyroxine, DHEA, testosterone and leptin. This means, when the level of one hormone goes up, levels of around 4-5 hormones fall.

Apart from stress and chronic anxiety, other lifestyle factor could be poor gut health and chronic constipation, excess body fat as fat tends to store more estrogen, exposure to chemicals lurking in plastic, cosmetics, pesticides, Household items, compromised liver function, overuse of oral contraceptives and hormonal pills and, most importantly, lack of quality sleep.

Symptoms of hormonal imbalance can range from infertility, irregular periods, loss of libido, vaginal dryness, depression and anxiety, mood swings, hot flashes, constant fatigue, hair loss, hair thinning, acne, breakouts, weigh gain, facial hair. While there are quick fixes like birth control pills or hormonal therapy, getting to the root cause of this imbalance is the only way to heal you thoroughly.

Here’s are 7 ways to get your hormones back on track Holistically

1. Hey sunshine- If you have low vitamin D3, you are likely to have a hormonal imbalance. More than a vitamin, it is a precursor to hormones and it is what your body needs to synthesise hormones. Apart from vitamin D3, micronutrients like zinc, magnesium, selenium and vitamin B6 also support healthy hormone levels.

2. Fix your sleep- Hormones recycle and rebalance while you sleep. If you are running on less sleep, chances are that you feel irritated, frustrated and experience food craving. These cravings are driven by the hormone ghrelin- which is a hunger hormone. A rise in gherlin also suppresses leptin- a satiety hormone- so one may find themselves overeating.

3. Adhptogen and essential oils- Nature has abundant foods that can balance hormones naturally. Adaptogenic herbs like ashwagandha, licorice, tulsi, ginseng, maca have the capacity to adjust and adapt to the body’s needs and accordingly suppress or promote a particular function. Specific essential oils live lavender, fennel, sandalwood and thyme too can bring a hormonal balance. A lot of women undergoing the menopausal phase find relief in taking evening primrose oil.

4. A couple of deep breaths- If your hormonal imbalance is due to stress, deep breathing is an easy and free tool to bring those hormones back on track. Deep breathing quickly switches your body from sympathetic state to a parasympathetic state, lowering your cortisol levels and bringing other hormones back in balance.

5. Go cruciferous- All sulphur-rich vegetables have a capacity to detox liver and promote healthy estrogen metabolism. So, think broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower.

6. Detoxify your surroundings- There are plenty of estrogen mimicking compounds like BPA present in daily household items like cosmetics, detergents, floor cleaner, perfumes, plastics, non-stick cookware. Avoid their use and choose healthier alternatives. Choose steel, glass or clay pots to store water. Go for organic and non-GMO fruits and vegetables to cut down estrogen exposure.

7. Convention dairy- Today animals are pumped with growth hormones and estrogen in order to bulk up and over produce milk. Choosing organic, hormone free milk and meat slashes the risk of hormone imbalance to a great extent.

I am no doctor. All the things written here are to the best of my knowledge, but none of the content provided in this blog, and in any linked materials, is intended or should be construed as medical advice. If a reader or any other person has a medical concern, he or she should consult with an appropriately-licensed physician.

Why meditation needs to become a staple in a woman’s life?

Meditation is the practice of being able to condition the mind to focus or think deeply in the moment, is all about being able to control the mind for that moment… And we women are smart enough to know that something that lowers the pace of the mind is the perfect longevity man\ntra to live by… Almost like a super power we were meant to have! If we simplify it further.

This is what meditation brings to us women.

Eagle eye

Woman always have a million things going on at any point. The art of being able to step back and take a macro or micro view is something we can all achieve by regular meditation. Eagles, the privileged lot, dare to soar the highest to get that bird’s eye view while keeping that detailed magnified perspective. This is indeed a skill worth having.

Language of the soul

Women are more spiritually inclined than their male counterpart and meditation is the single best language that our soul understand. It is the one time when we can shut out the distraction of the external and travel inside to really listen to the voice of the soul, after all, it is the soul that guides us in life through intuition, and intuition itself is know to be stronger in women.

Anti-ageing

Women feel more, whether be it at work or home; all this tends to take a toll on us physically. Research has proven that meditation with its myriad benefits of calming the mind, reducing stress, improve sleep cycle and even increase the dopamine and serotonin level in brain. It works as an anti-ageing pill like no other

Mind stimulation

Brain scans have shown that meditation actually increases brain activity and our grey matter conspicuously while stimulating the mind positively too. All this goes a long way in helping us make better nerve connection and mood elevation in general.

Mind fullness

Meditation can be in the form of breathing techniques, guided ones, chanting, discourses, or even going with the flow of an activity, but an essential ingredient of any meditation is the ability to remain mindful. Even the multi-tasking woman needs to learn to slow down and invest in herself and a start will be to balance the self-chakras in a mindful manner.

When do you need it??

When life seema like it is losing its flavor.

When you’re not exactly ill, but not feeling your best either.

Worrying about the past or the future stems from not being in present. The main objective of meditation is to bring your mind into the now, and this can have numerous positive effects on your mental health.

Do you spend your nights tossing, turning and trying but failing to have a good night’s rest? If so, daily meditation can help, as it has been known to fight insomnia and improve sleep.

BOOST YOUR HAPPY HORMONE AND STAY FIT

Our body has hormones that bring happiness and a sense of wellbeing. This band of neurotransmitters is generated by our brain and serves to create joy, happiness and pleasure.

Here are five main ones:

1. Dopamine

This hormone affects the nervous system and is asFoods for hormone balancesociated with the brain’s reward mechanism. Being acknowledged for your efforts gives a generous kick to this happy hormone. Setting realistic goals and achieving them will boost and give a delicious dopamine hit naturally. This neurotransmitter also concentrates on the sensation of pleasure.

How to boost it:

Seek out pleasurable healthy. activities that have a positive impact on your life.
Spend more time in the sunlight to increase your sensitivity to dopamine
Practice deep breathing and meditation.
Sleep well.
Eat nuts, panner, beans.

2. Serotonin

This hormone is used in antidepressants as low levels of serotonin in your brain can make you sink into depression.

How to boost it:

Workout or play a sport.
Eat tryptophan rich foods like milk, especially at bed time.
Have foods rich in omega 3 like ghee, nuts, flaxseed.
Do not stop eating carbs.

3. Oxytocin

It is also called the “love hormone” Because of its role in establishing emotional ties and relationships.

How to boost it:

Practise yoga and relaxation.
Eat with loved ones.
Get a massage at least once in a week.
Pursue a hobby.

4. Estrogen

This happy hormone helps from serotonin and protects you from irritability and anxiety, keeping your mood steady. Estrogen decreases with menopause, and lifestyle factors such as smoking and extreme can also lower it.

How to boost it:

Try stress relieving activities such as yoga, meditation, taking a hot bath.

5. Progesterone

This helps you to sleep well and prevent anxiety, irritability and mood swings. Level of this happy hormone drop as women enter premenopause after age 35 to 40, and this can be excess stress and junk food.

How to boost it:

Eat well and avoid saturated fats and sugar, get regular physicals and avoid stress.