TIPS FOR OFFICE GOERS

Most of the people going to offices have a sedentary lifestyle. They have to sit & work for long hours and there is no physical activity.So for them it becomes difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
They tend to skip meals or eat junk food as it is easily available & is less time consuming.

But if you want to lose your weight or maintain it,do make the following changes in your lifestyle-

DO NOT SKIP MEALS-
Most office goers skip meals due to time constraint.This causes a drop in the blood sugar level & also causes overeating in the next meal.Eat at least 5-6 meals in a day.

Some healthy options available are-

LASSI

• roated channa 
• peanuts
• curd
• carrots & cucumber
• lassi
• coconut water

All these options can be had as a mini meal or mid day meal.

HAVE LOTS OF WATER-

Try to drink at least 7-8 glasses of water in a day.Water helps you feel fuller & also removes toxins from the body.Sometimes we confuse thirst with hunger, so always have a glass of water & see if you are still feeling hungry or not.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY-

Try to move as much as possible.Even while sitting you can exercise by rotating your arms & feet.Use stairs instead  of lift as much as possible.

Some other options for quick fix lunches -

• Grilled sandwiches-use  wholewheat bread & keep the cheese out.
• Chapati rolls-stuff your chapati with anything like chicken, egg, fish, cottage cheese(paneer), tofu, vegetables.
• Sprouts & curd-easy to make &carry.Also very nutritious.
• Idli, poha, upma-cooks in a jiffy & gives you the nutrients you require.

TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT WITH ALCOHOL...

Having alcohol & losing weight cannot go hand in hand. Why do I say that? Its because only 1 ml of alcohol gives 7 calories & no other nutrition.These are called empty calories.

So,if you drink, lets say,200 ml of alcohol in a day, you consume 1400 calories & these 1400 calories might be your calorie requirement for the entire day.So you take almost double the calories required & thus the weight increases rather than decreasing.

I know its difficult to completely give up alcohol if you have been consuming it for so many years.Therefore keep in mind the following tips to reduce or limit the effect of alcohol on your weight loss-

• For every serving of alcohol have 1 glass of water.
• You can mix soda or ice cubes to your drink.
• Have roasted/low calorie snacks with alcohol.People usually consume fried snacks which is the biggest mistake.Instead try pop corns(no butter please), roasted chips or salads.you can also eat 2 pieces of roasted chicken or 50 gm low fat cottage cheese(paneer).
• Don't drink alcohol on an empty stomach.Alcohol stimulates the appetite, so you feel more hungry & end up eating more.

Also,limit the quantity of alcohol you consume according to the following guidelines-

• BEER-1 CAN
• RUM, SCOTCH, WHISKY, VODKA, GIN-30 ml & maximum 60 ml
• CHAMPAGNE-120 TO 150ml
• TEQUILA-2 SHOTS ie 120ml
• RED & WHITE WINE-upto 150ml

THE 3 R's OF COOKING!!

We eat to live or "live to eat" in today's time & for the food to become edible, it needs to be cooked.Cooking is done on every household on a daily basis but the way we cook has an impact on the nutritive value of vegetables.
Cooking in the right manner can preserve lots of nutrients to keep us healthy.

SOME COMMON PRACTICES THAT CAUSES LOSS OF NUTRIENTS-

Peeling-The vitamins under the skin  are lost on peeling.So certain fruits & vegetables like apple,cucumber,radish,pears,carrots can be eaten with the peel.

The outer leaves of cabbage are much more greener than the inner leaves as they contain more carotene
(vit A).So throwing the outer leaves results in carotene loss.

Baking soda is added to veggies to improve their colour but this creates an alkaline medium which causes loss of many vitamins like folic acid, vitamin c, thiamine.

Heating & reheating the food destroys many nutrients.Therefore it is better to cook when it's time to eat or re-heat only the amount of food required.

About 50 percent of  riboflavin is lost when the milk is exposed to sunlight.So always keep the milk covered.


THE 3R's OF COOKING TO PRESERVE NUTRIENTS ARE-

REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF WATER USED-

Many water soluble vitamins are lost during cooking.To reduce this-

~Soaking and washing time of the veggies should be reduced.

~Wash the vegetables with skin & then peel & cut.

~Use only the required amount of water while cooking so that no extra water is left which has to be drained.

~Steaming & pressure cooking are good options to preserve nutrients while cooking.

REDUCE THE LENGTH OF COOKING PERIOD-

The more time you take to cook,more the water soluble vitamins (vit B&C) are lost.So cook for a short time.Cooking time can be reduced by pressure cooking or covering the vessel with a lid while cooking.Microwaving is another good option.

Soaking pulses for some time before cooking hastens the process of cooking.It also reduces phytic acid which can cause flatulence.

REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF SURFACE AREA EXPOSED-

Cut the veggies into bigger pieces so that less of vitamins are leeched into water.More of vitamin C is preserved when carrots are cut lengthwise rather than crosswise.

Cook the vegetables with skin so that leeching of vitamins into water is less.

EATING IN A BUDGET

Food is the basic requirement of life but in today's time when the prices are skyrocketing, families are reducing their food budget to meet all their other needs.Onions which were once the staple diet of the poor is now a luxury for them.

Eating a healthy, nutritious meal within a budget is not a difficult task if you remember the following points-

• Keep an amount fixed every week for your grocery shopping so that you do not cross your budget while buying the food stuffs.
• Make a grocery list.This way you will avoid buying in excess.
• GO SHOPPING ALONE since kids tend to demand things which are all unhealthy & they effect your food choices as well as your budget.
• Do not go to places that offer gifts on purchase of large amounts on food items because you end up buying things in excess.
• MAKE A PRICE LIST of all the items that are required so you can compare the costs of similar foods.This way you will make the best choices within your budget. 
• BUY FRUITS & VEGGIES IN THEIR SIMPLE FORM.Ready to eat, pre-cut & processed foods are convenient but more expensive.
• NEVER go grocery shopping on an empty stomach as you tend to buy more of junk & fatty foods.
• EAT LOCAL, THINK GLOBAL.Always eat seasonal & locally produced fruits & veggies as they are cheaper, fresher & nutritious.
• Buy from the local vendor than the supermarkets since they have fresher fruits & vegetables.The ones in the supermarkets could be stocked up for days & less nutritional.There is another plus point if u buy from the local vendor, they always give you some chillies or coriander for free!!!
• Cook in small quantities to avoid wastage.
• USE THE LEFTOVERS to make new tasty dishes.
• Make the best use of all the ingredients. eg-If you make paneer(cottage cheese ) at home then don't throw the remaining water as it is rich in proteins, use it to cook your veggies or knead your flour(atta) with it to make more nutritious meals.

So guys keep these point in mind & shop without any stress.

MENOPAUSE-THE COMING OF AGE FOR WOMEN

Due to hormonal changes, women tend to gain weight during this time especially around the tummy area.But there are other factors which contribute to the weight gain like genetic factors,ageing & our lifestyle.

With age,the muscle mass decreases& consequently the fat increases.Loss of muscle mass decreases the rate at which body burns the calories,so the calorie requirement decreases with age.Thus,if  u don't reduce the intake of calories weight gain is inevitable.

During menopause levels of hormone oestrogen falls.This causes the metabolism to slow down & weight loss becomes difficult.

STRATEGIES TO LOSE WEIGHT DURING MENOPAUSE-

Stop dieting
Starving diets cause weight gain as they don't provide the amount of calories required by the body & this slows down the metabolism.Eat more fruits,veggies& whole grains.Reduce the intake of sweets.sugary drinks, cheeses & meats.
Eat more of lean proteins.You can also supplement your diet with whey proteins.

Physical activity
Exercise can help to maintain the muscle mass that we tend to lose during menopause.Aerobic exercises can help u shed the excess kilos.Swimming & walking are excellent options.You can also join a group exercise class.Taking a walk in open air increases your energy & decreases tension,anger & stress.

Think positive always
Allow free flow of your emotions.Menopause is a time of self discovery, so enjoy it.

Hormone replacement therapy(HRT)
It helps to increase the bone density.HRT also helps in decreasing levels of LDL(bad cholesterol) & increasing the levels of HDL(good cholesterol). 

SOME PRACTICAL TIPS-

SOY PRODUCTS

• HOT FLUSHES can be reduced by taking vitamin E rich foods like nuts, eggs, olive oil.
• Cut down on tea, coffee which promote excretion of calcium from the bones.
• Plants have certain substances called PHYTOESTROGENS  which may help to reduce severity of hot flushes & other menopausal symptoms.They are found in soyabean & alfa alfa sprouts.Soy products that can be consumed are soyabean flour, soymilk, tofu & soy sauce.
• Carrot & beet root juice is very useful in menopausal disorders.

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THE 4 GOLDEN STEPS OF THE WEIGHT LOSS LADDER

We curse our body for not being perfect but have you ever thought that by making few small changes in your lifestyle, you can actually do a favour to your body & yourself.

So here i go, the 4 golden rules that can change the way u look forever are-

Eat something within half an hour of waking up-
Never & i mean never start your day with that precious cup of tea or coffee.I know you can't chuck that cup but have it after u eat something.
Tea & coffee have caffeine in them which cause the blood pressure to increase & makes us feel stressed out.So have a fruit as your first meal &then sit & enjoy your tea/ coffee.

Don't have long meal gaps-
Eat every 2-3 hours.This way your metabolism stays up& more calories are burnt.So your weight will go down.
See if there is a curfew outside, you will store food at home as you don't know when you will be able to go out next.Similarly our brain works.If we don't eat something at regular intervals,the brain thinks"I don't know when will i get the next meal", so it starts storing that food as it needs energy 24 hours a day.Now the only form in which our body can store food is FAT.

THEREFORE YOU ACTUALLY INCREASE YOUR BODY FAT BY EATING LESS.
So people eat every 2-3 hours for a flatter stomach.

Eat more during the day& less in the evening-
Our metabolism is higher in the morning than the evenings.It is highest between 7-9 am.
GO WITH THE SUN-eat more during the day & less as the sun sets.
We work during the day & sleep at night.Therefore,our energy requirements areare higher during the day & decrease as the sun sets.This will help you lose fat more effectively.

Have your last meal atleast 2 hrs before sleeping-
When you eat too late  at night, the food remains undigested in your intestines & is converted into toxins.This results in bloating,flatulance,acidity,constipation,increase in body fat levels & stretch marks in long terms.