Archive for October, 2008

Balanced diet for healthy living

Friday, October 24th, 2008

Cities have grown everywhere. We find crowd everywhere leading to the traffic. IT Hubs are increasing. Technology comes to aid everywhere and thereby man also runs for its aid. Making money has become more important. But for what does one earn money? Food, shelter and clothes are the most indispensable needs for our living. Is it not ones grave responsibility to maintain ones health to earn wealth in life. Thus it is important to follow a balanced diet routine to avoid all mishaps and health hazards in life.
What do you mean by balanced diet? Is a very frequent question that we would have noticed even in our science question papers? Balanced diet is a diet that provides all nutrition to the body in all means. Proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates, fat are some common nutrition that we need to obtain out of our food. It is always a common practice for people to have an extremely large amount of the above essentials in their food which is an absolute contradiction to balanced diet.
diet for healthy living The true elixir of life is water. Water plays an important role in ones life and diet. It has to be taken in large amounts everyday. It helps in cleaning our stomach and intestines. It also helps to enhance ones complexion to a great extent.
Protein rich food like roti and dhal should be taken with a little rice to supplement for carbohydrates in our diet. Too much of protein also leads to unwanted problems such as dysentery. Green leafy vegetables like cabbage, ladies finger, spinach, helps us giving iron and minerals for the day. Boiled vegetables should be taken more than fried ones. Fried foods can only be taken occasionally. Deep frying can be avoided. Too much of ghee intake can also help in reducing HDL Cholesterol. Oily foods can be taken only occasionally. Fat rich foods containing cholesterol should completely be avoided from your diet to keep fit and to live healthily.
The above said diet can easily be followed in a day provided it is prepared with care. So we will have to take breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper to lead a healthy life.

Practice yoga for a healthy life

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

Everybody loves to keep his or her body and mind fit. People tend to do lots of exercises to achieve this goal. One of the best ways to do this is to practice yoga. Yoga refers to physical and mental exercises to keep your mind, body and soul healthy. Yoga is an ancient art based on harmonizing system of development for the body, mind and spirit. It is a practical aid and not a religion. So anyone who wishes to lead a healthy lifestyle can practice yoga. The continued practice of yoga will lead one to a sense of peace and well being and also a feeling of being in harmony with one’s environment. Yoga is one of the six systems of Indian philosophy. The classical form of yoga, based on the text ascribed to Patanjali, became known in the middle ages as Raja yoga or “royal yoga”. Other forms of yoga are also developed, which might be followed together with, or independently of, the classical yoga.

practice yoga, yoga positionsAmong these practices the Hatha yoga has become famous throughout the world. Yogic practices, in their less extreme forms, are believed to be conductive in health, clarity of intellect, and long life; many Indians and some westerners perform yoga exercises without any special religious purpose. Yoga links up man with the laws operating at the cosmic level, draws him away from the mundane and the binding, resulting in freedom liberating the human mind from finite matter, from all senses and release from sorrows and misery. Yoga bestows inner strength, sharpens our intellect, teaches us to control our emotions and brings a rare concentration and efficiency into our actions and work, making one to do the right thing in the right way at the right time. Yoga is often described as skill in action.

Yoga practice can increase our lung capacity and respiration, improve our ability to resist stress, reduce body weight and girth, decrease cholesterol and blood sugar levels and thus stabilize, restore and vitalize the body’s natural systems. Yoga is the best curative and preventive medicine for most ills of man resulting from the so-called modern living. Yoga improves posture, increases intake of oxygen, and enhances functioning of respiratory, digestive, endocrine and reproductive and excretory functions. Its effects on the emotions are equally beneficial by calming the mind, attuning to the environment and diminishing insomnia caused by mental restlessness. Yoga should be practiced regularly for a healthy life style and to enjoy its complete benefits.

How could sports contribute to fitness??

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

Sports and fitness go hand in hand.  They are integral in keeping the body fit and healthy and the mind active.  We see a lot of sportspersons today who don’t look their age thanks to the continual strenuous exercise that they go through.  Without sports, individuals tend to lack shape with age and continue to get into the distressed categories of being overweight or obese.
sports and fitness It is an interesting question when we have to deal with how sports can contribute to fitness.  The simple answer is the continual physical activities that keeps the muscles active and thus increase the ability to tighten them.  Once the muscles get tightened, they automatically stop losing their ability to form flab and that itself tightens the body – the body becomes a little taut and firm and that goes a long way in improving the shape of the body.

Another problem is that with aging, most of our physical activity takes a backseat.  Personally we’ve seen individuals who have all the while been climbing stairs start looking were the lifts are.  Even small kinds of physical activity become so much lacking and this starts off the process of the body gaining weight.  Old people cannot control diet much as they might already be patients and foregoing lot of food items. Asking them to cut the very little that they eat could prove detrimental to their bodies.

What they can do instead is to indulge in simple sports that do not require running around much.  The simple focus for such people should be on keeping the body active.  This will also help increase the muscle tissue in our bodies.  The muscle tissue is the only part of the body where metabolism can happen. If metabolism does not happen, then the entire chunk of food that we consume is changed to fat.  With sports there is a marked increase in out muscle tissue and this converts to more metabolism.  So, when the body is able to burn more of the food that we eat, there is a very little chance of our bodies putting on weight!

Fitness programs for men

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

It is a survival for the fittest in today’s and world and men and women vie for the honors.  It becomes a very tough game and only the best taste success.  All those men and women fight their lives out to keep them fit and healthy and attribute their fitness to their regular schedules and strenuous practices.
There are specific and special fitness programs for men.  Men have the necessity to build their body in chiseled shapes and ensure that they look neither lean nor fat.  This is very unlike the ladies, who would prefer to be lean and slim rather than anything else.  With this difference and many others like this, of late there are specific centers that cater to men and the others that cater to women customers.
Amongst fitness programs for men, the focus is on burning the flab and molding the body muscles by exercising them that they become taut and tight.  Men generally have muscles, but these muscles should not be loose andbanner_11 hanging around.  They have to have the right shape and the right tautness in them to give them the right shape.  There are specific exercises to specific parts of the body – like the elbows, the forearm, the biceps, the triceps, the calf muscles, the thighs, the shank and the lower legs. In addition to all this men are also very particular about their abdomens and these days the six pack abs is a craze and there are a lot of young men dying to assume that shape.
While talking about fitness, importance needs to be given to the arena of dieting as well.  Nowadays, we see that most of the youngsters skip meals in the name of dieting.  This is against the basics of being fit – which is neither feasting nor fasting.  What actually happens when we skip meals is that the body realizes that it does not receive food in regular intervals and hence whatever food is available whenever into fat.  This is one of the reasons for the weight gain.  Avoiding oily foods and consuming a lot of green vegetables and fresh fruits can also go a long way in helping the youngsters remain fit and healthy.

Different exercises practiced for a healthy living

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

Exercises are the mode of keeping one healthy in life. With the growth of Information Technology and increasing speed of life people are bound to their computers and their comfortable couch as the job is more sedentary with more pressure to the brain. Thus there is no scope of physical work in a day for such people. With all these late working hours exerts more pressure on them. The day ends with a lot of food and sleep. Physical Activity rounds about to nearly zero. The result is heart attack, hyper tension, diabetes, obesity. For a longer and healthy life in the long run some basic exercises should be fit into your call sheet.  Now let us review some exercises that would help us in overcoming all the above problems.
healthy living exerciseThere are lots of ways of going for a walk. Simply strolling around is never considered as an exercise. Slow walking for about an hour would surely help. This should be followed at least for 4 days a week. If the person is young then he could go in for a brisk walk for 45 minutes a day. Brisk walk is a very good exercise for the heart too. Always try walking a little after eating to avoid obesity.
Jogging is a quicker pace of walking. Slow jogging in the mornings would have good effect over the hearts health. Sprinting recommended only for younger people increases the heart beat of the person and thereby increases blood flow. It should be remembered that anyone of the above would suffice.
Youngsters and middle aged people can always resort to playing outdoor games like badminton. It gives work to all parts of your body and regenerates freshness. It is seriously recommended to play badminton to cure obesity. Similarly push ups and swimming will help to increase the blood flow and burn unwanted fat.
Let us assume you are going out say 2 km. A common practice is to take your bike or car. Avoid this practice and resort to cycling that distance. It would prove to be of a good exercise. One should not cycle for very far destinations. It is too harmful for the liver whose position may change due to long hours cycling

Tips on losing weight with proper diet

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

The task of loosing weight is gaining importance for many people and people find it very difficult to loose their weight despite their work loads. The main reason that people find it hard to loose their weight is due to the lack of time to perform routine exercises and improper diet. The diet at unusual time can cause increase in obesity. The diet should be appropriately chosen such that it maintains the health and it should not be drastically reduced for controlling the weight. The process of weight loosing should be done in a routine manner such that it doesn’t affect the health. Many people resort to reducing their diet for the purpose of loosing weight but it ultimately results in impact on health.
tips for loosing weightThe process of loosing weight can be done by following a proper diet which proves to be essential for healthy living. The diets which contain rich fat should be avoided. The gradual process for weight loosing can be done by controlling the calories that we have with our diet. The calories should be gradually reduced but the threshold amount of calories which are required for proper health should not be avoided. The knowledge about amount of calories that are present in our diet should be known.
Banana tree products such as its flower, stem can be cooked weekly twice to increase dietary fiber intake. Milk and buttermilk should be taken everyday so that calcium and fluorine are adequately provided. Avoid excess intakes of potato and vegetables of its family. Correct amount of salt, sugar and spices would sustain good health throughout your life. Fast foods should be kept only for parties and not daily. Seasonal fruits could supplement your usual diet.
The above mentioned diets are some common substitutes for unhealthy and fatty food stuffs. The extensive knowledge about the proper diet and the source which are rich in terms of proteins, vitamins and carbohydrates should be known. Further the count on calories on our diet becomes a must. These are some factors which can help people to loose their weight without having any compromise in their health.

Yoga for fitness

Saturday, October 18th, 2008

Yoga is practiced for a calm mindset – Like they say what’s inside is what shows up outside.  Fitness exercises like fitness yoga or aerobics go a long way in taming our minds and making us feel inner peace and tranquility.  There are experts who have today said that being obese or overweight could be because of over eating and that could in turn have been propelled by high stress levels.
doing yoga for fitnessThis is very true in the case of women in different phases of their reproductive cycle – either in their early pregnancy or in the stage of menopause.  While men also go through various changes, the changes that women undergo are more marked and hence we are talking of the same.  Yoga fitness and aerobics fitness go a long way in beating stress and maintain their health and fitness.
When individuals involve in fitness yoga, then their stress levels are really brought down. This also influences the hormonal imbalance and in due course, the individual becomes physically and mentally fit.  There are a lot of fitness centers that provide fitness yoga classes that are conducted at various time slots and the individuals can choose the time and session that best suits them – the physical trainers who are at the fitness centers help the individuals do exercises that are suitable to their physical make up.
Yoga for fitness had its origin in India but today there are a lot of countries across the world where this has become quite common and these are practiced for the betterment and the personal fitness of the individuals.  People who cannot go to fitness centers can also practice Yoga.  All they need to do is to learn this for a short duration from a fitness trainer and then they can practice this at the comfort of their home.
There are various stages in Yoga that needs to be done dedicatedly and religiously and more importantly regularly – and if done so will help greatly in maintaining the health and fitness.  Also, this gives the body a feeling of being light and this makes the individual feel lighter on the emotional side as well.

Sports and fitness

Saturday, October 18th, 2008

Mankind today is in a pitiable state – We don’t care what we eat and we don’t dare look at ourselves in the mirror.  We are no longer fit, healthy or smart.  What is the reason for this?  A changed lifestyle, eating junk foods, sitting in front of the computer for more hours than that is good for our body? It’s tough to find one villain amongst so many, but each and every mentioned point here has done as much as it could to get us to this stage. We don’t have much time on our hands now and it is high time we change – for the better and concentrate on our health and fitness.
sports and fitnessWhether we propose to go to the fitness gyms or to set up home fitness centers – the bottom-line is we need to do all we can to get out of the shamble we are in today and get to a fit personality.  Sports and fitness go hand in hand.  An athlete or any other sportsperson for that matter stays fit all through simply because of the continuous and rigorous practice that he undergoes.  This can be taken as a clue and if the fitness work outs are followed religiously getting fit is going to be child’s play.
While the body involves in some sporting activity why there is a weight loss or even no gain in current weight is because of the metabolism rate.  The body has the ability to burn calories faster and whatever is consumed is metabolized and digested and sent away to the digestive system for excretion.  This there is no conversion of food into fat and storing in our body.  The body simply can’t afford to store anything as the equation between the consumption of food and physical activity is always tilted towards the latter.  This is why we see aged sportspersons putting on a lot of weight.  The body that has under gone strenuous fitness exercises becomes lethargic and lazy and starts bloating when there is lack of it.
Involving ourselves in sports also tightens our muscles, thereby giving us a taut and fit structure unlike our usual selves!

Fitness programs

Saturday, October 18th, 2008

Mankind goes a big cycle in his lifetime like Shakespeare said.  To maintain his body mentally and physically fit all along the ups and downs that hit him across this cycle, fitness programs are an essential necessity.  Today there are fitness clubs at every nook and corner and the individuals need to make vincedemontemaximum use of it. These fitness clubs also have group fitness programs that have been designed for a specific group of people.  Yoga, Aerobics and Dancercise are some forms of fitness programs that are conducted for group individuals.  Dancercise is nothing but dancing to music and exercising just like we run on the treadmill listening to some music beats.  All these fitness training go a long way in helping individuals maintain their body fitness.
Over a certain age, when human beings become old, there is a general tendency for the physical activity to reduce.  When physical activity increases, they tend to put on weight and this complicates the problem.  To make matters worse, some of them might have cardiac problems and they would not be able to do strenuous exercises and this could lead to further problems.  Such people can go in for simpler exercises that make the individuals feel lighter and free and go in for exercises like Yoga or Aerobics.  This makes the people feel light and also helps in reducing the stress levels of the individuals.  In most of the recent studies, stress has been found to be playing a major role in being a reason for people over eating thereby putting on weight.
No matter what fitness exercises a person chooses to do, care has to be taken that this has to be done in the presence of a fitness trainer.  If this cannot be continued, it has to be ensured that at least while starting the fitness program, there has to somebody to supervise.  Why this is being stressed so much is that if these fitness exercise are done in the right way they would result in health and fitness.  Similarly if not done properly these could create other problems like joint pains and back pains as well.

Fitness for females

Saturday, October 18th, 2008

Women go through a lot of biological changes – be it puberty, marriage, pregnancy or then menopause.  Each of these phases is markedly different and the woman’s body conditions changes accordingly.  There is a definite need for a woman’s fitness program.  Understanding this need and with the thought to serve womanhood, there are certain fitness centers that have opened up all women fitness centers – an ideal example would be the all woman fitness center of fitness one.
fitness exercises for womenAt the stage of puberty, the hormonal changes start happening, and most young girls start getting pimples and acne and their body structure changes.  At this point in time is when a girl starts becoming a woman and she tends to put on weight.  The girl is no more a kid and she starts becoming aware of her size and structure.  That is the time to take care of her health and fitness.  The best thing to do would be to do join fitness classes and start on improving her fitness.
As stages go by, the woman really gets busy once she gets married and has a kid.  Her personal fitness goes for a toss amidst the too many household chores and educating the child.  Once this stage is gone by, the actual pressure starts during her menopause.  She gains undue weight around her stomach and she is fat and round.  That is when she again starts thinking about her fitness and the need for fitness exercises.
Women who are close to the menopausal age should ensure that they are part of a fitness club and regularly exercise in the presence of a fitness trainer.  It is essential that the women do the right kind of fitness exercise as strenuous exercising might also lead to various other problems.  They need to concentrate on doing fitness exercises that will tend to build their muscle tissue and tighten up their flabs. Women during this age need to concentrate more on fitness exercises specifically targeted on the abdomen and hips.  This will be useful in maintaining their health and fitness and ensuring they have a good figure as well.