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Learn How To Make Calorie Counting Work For You

When the words ‘weight loss’ and ‘effortless’ come together, you probably sit up straight and pay attention. Who wouldn’t like to lose weight without putting too much work into it? Well, calorie counting is known to do just that.

Even so, calorie counting has its naysayers too. Some people claim that calorie counting by itself doesn’t do too much. We agree.

Here’s what you need to know to make this work for you. Easily.

First Things First: How Does It Work?

A calorie is science-speak for the amount of energy you need to raise the temperature of a liter of water by 1°C. All the food you eat supplies you with a certain amount of energy, which is measured as a number of calories.

The calories that you don’t use for activities like breathing, walking, running and talking? These get stored as fat. When they add up, this is what causes weight gain.

Calorie counting to lose weight simply means that you eat less calories than you spend, making yourself lose weight over time.

Best Practice Methods

When you count calories, you’ll need to get into the nitty gritty details. Monitor the number of calories you consume on an average, and how much you burn on a daily basis. Be careful with the size of portions and servings at meals; a whole grain roti might mean less calories, but too many and you’ll end up overloading the calorie scale.

Another key to success with calorie counting: keep track of your weight loss/gain. Weigh yourself on an empty stomach each morning, and watch the trend. This is how you’ll know which way the calories in / calories out balance is tipped.

A food journal also makes sense, for the same reason.

Another best practice when it comes to weight loss: measure your exercise efforts in terms of calories burned, and not the number of steps, or your heart rate. This way, you’ll have a realistic idea of your calorie balance.

Tips For Success

Quality over quantity: the lesser the calories, the more likely you are to lose weight. But exercise logic: the effect of 100 calories of vegetables on your body is going to be better than the effect of 100 calories of aloo tikki, for instance.

Make sure you get most of your nutrition from high quality plants and animals that have undergone the minimal amount of processing. This way, calorie counting actually becomes easier.

Make calorie counting work for you by using the right knowledge. These tips should put you on the right path!

References:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/counting-calories-101

http://www.acaloriecounter.com/calorie-counting.php

Dealing With Dengue: How To Nurse Your Loved Ones Back To Health

With dengue doing the rounds, it’s pretty important that you know how to deal with it.

Knowledge is often key to treating this mosquito bite-induced disease. Hospital staff are trained to deal with severe cases, but if you’re helping a loved one recover at home, here’s some key information to help you out.

Make Sure They Get Enough Rest, And Professional Consultation

The key to recovering from any disease is to give your body the rest it needs, and this goes for dengue recovery as well. Your patient needs plenty of sleep; make sure they get just that.

Medical care by a doctor is crucial, even if you’re helping someone recover from a dengue episode at home. Accompany them on visits to the doctor, and take notes of their medication plan. The physician might need you to monitor the patient’s fever on a regular basis.

Keep Things Clean And Hygienic

The main concern when you have a dengue patient at home is to make sure that your house is mosquito-free. Why? Because dengue can be spread through mosquito bites, from the patient to someone else in the house.

If there’s a mosquito problem in your area, use mosquito nets, and screens on doors and windows. You can also use mosquito repellent on yourself and others at home.

Take Care Of The Dengue Diet

What does the dengue diet entail?

First and foremost, hydration: make sure they drink plenty of water, and supplement it with drinks like tender coconut water. Fruit juices and soups are great too. Use papaya leaves in a juice; this helps increase the platelet count, which is the what dengue attacks.

Avoid all manner of spicy or oily food, instead sticking to a diet rich in vitamin C, herbal teas and porridges.

Learn To Spot An Emergency

Certain signs mean that you’ll need to take the patient straight to the hospital; such situations are best handled by medical professionals. These signs include:

Red spots or patches appearing on skin
Continuous vomiting, or heavy stomach pain
Nosebleeds, or bleeding gums
Blood in vomit/stools
Breathing difficulties

If you see any of these symptoms, rush them straight to the doctor.

References:

https://www.mrright.in/ideas/home-and-garden/health/take-care-dengue-patient-advised-doctors/

https://www.cdc.gov/dengue/resources/factsheets/homecareenglish.pdf

http://www.india.com/lifestyle/dengue-fever-food-items-5-best-foods-for-dengue-patients-to-recover-quickly-2434132/

3 Mental Strength Exercises For Physical Fitness

Imagine a soldier, carrying a heavy rucksack over hundreds of kilometers. Then picture yourself, worrying about whether you’ll be able to carry that heavy gym bag to your car after leg day.

What makes the difference between a well-built citizen and a battle-hardened soldier, and between someone who runs for fun and professional runners? What separates every wannabe bodybuilder from the competitors at bodybuilding events?

Well, the simple answer is – Mental Strength. Here are 3 exercises that will help you bridge the gap.

Exercise #1: Get Rid Of Those Headphones

Or step out of your air-conditioned, made-for-working-out gym. Do whatever it takes to get yourself out of your comfort zone.

This forces you to develop a mental toughness you might never know you had. When you take away your fist-pumping music, workout partners or co-runners who motivate you, and a gym environment, you’re left with this: it’s you vs. your thoughts which may just be telling you to give up and go home.

Bring yourself out of your comfort zone, and you have no choice but to toughen up on the inside.

Exercise #2: Stop Sweating Over Things You Can’t Control

Stoic: (n.) A person who can endure pain or hardship without showing their feelings or complaining

Imagine going on a crowded bus ride: you get on, and are greeted by uncomfortable crowding, sweaty people, smells, loud arguments, and heavy jolts. But you stay on because of one reason: you need to get to your destination. You ignore all the other stuff that comes with the bus ride.

We need to implement an attitude like this when we work on our fitness. If you’re distracted/discouraged by every obstacle that stands in your way, physical fitness is going to be quite hard to achieve.

Exercise #3: Learn To Visualize

Visualization is a powerful tool.

Some bodybuilders and ‘strongman’ athletes picture themselves completing a set even before they lay a powder-coated hand on the barbell. It helps them get through the grind a little easier.

With visualization, you can get creative: some athletes picture their loved ones coming to harm if they don’t complete a particular task they set for themselves. It doesn’t matter what you visualize, so long as it helps you get your task done.

With these techniques in hand, you’ll learn to push a little harder, lift a little heavier, and run a little harder. By developing mental resilience, you can push yourself to the next (physical) level.

References:

http://www.mensfitness.com/training/build-muscle/mental-toughness-training

https://strategicathlete.com/6-exercises-improving-mental-toughness/

What To Eat After 3 Different Workouts

Eating is crucial to a workout.

What you eat after a proper fat burning session at the gym is important for two reasons:

It resupplies the energy you spent on your workout
It helps you make the most of your workout, helping you get the results you want

What’s more, ask any dietitian and they’ll tell you that it’s not all about the protein. You’ll need carbs to help your body recover and repair muscles quickly, and water to replenish the fluids you lost.

And what you should eat varies from workout to workout.

What To Eat After…. 1. Cardio

With cardio, you spend a lot of your energy. The key facet of post-workout nourishment is replenishing your body’s carbohydrate stores. Also important: adequate rehydration.

Have a slice of wholegrain bread with peanut butter. This will give you essential carbohydrates, proteins, and good fats. Add a sliced banana, and you’ll give your body the potassium it needs to relax your muscles after your workout.

What To Eat After… 2. HIIT

High Intensity Interval Training is quite a popular fitness fad these days, and for good reason. It is a fast way to shed those extra kilos, building muscles as you do this.

Post HIIT, go for an omelette or a boiled egg.

Protein is the obvious reason why, but there’s more to eggs. Specifically, leucine: this triggers the creation of muscle building proteins. Throw in some capsicum, which contains vitamin C: this maintains healthy cartilage, ensuring that your joints stay healthy even with all that HIIT-induced stress.

What To Eat After… 3. Weight Training

When you’re hitting the weight room, your key post-workout ingredients are: an adequate amount of proteins, and all the energy-replenishing carbs your body needs. Basically, give your body all the nutrition it needs, avoiding fats.

Smoothies are a great idea. You can add all the ingredients you choose, and simply blend them together.

References:

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/what-you-should-eat-after-13278439

http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/01/10/heres-what-to-eat-after-every-type-of-workout_a_21652311/

Why You Should Consider Boxing For Fitness?

Boxing, one of the trends in fitness that’s almost always popular. It is certainly an effective workout (science says so), and you probably get to know how much fun it is to punch stuff. If that’s not enough to persuade you to add boxing to your plan, these five benefits will have you itching to start this workout.

1.Boxing is a total body workout

During a boxing workout, your upper body, lower body may engage as you punch or kick the bag. In addition to boosting energy it also improves your total body fitness.

Boxing can burn an insane amount of calories

The effect of boxing can be well worth an hour of your time. It is the type of exercise that builds energy, speed, and power, and boost your endurance. Boxing burns anywhere from 600-1500 calories per hour for an adult, depending on weight and technique of boxing. So, compared to running or pedalling at a steady clip, boxing burns more calories in a short time.

Boxing knocks out stress

All of that frustration from work, take it out on the bag. Punching the heavy bag releases all of that pent up aggressiveness and allows you to relieve your stress through a healthy outlet.

4. Enhanced Cardiovascular Health

You hear it all the time: You need to do cardio to look after your heart. But “doing cardio” does not mean that you have to hop on a treadmill to log your required minutes. You can keep your heart rate up during the workout by punching, kicking and jumping your way to feel hale and hearty.

Self-Defense

Boxing improves your courage and confidence. It is presumed that using boxing as a way can empower women, youth, and other people groups. Especially for women, boxing skills can be used as self defense technique during the event of an attack.

Incase you’re looking to build strength, lose weight, or even step into a competition ring, you should find a fitness center near you and give it a shot because it is well worth your time.

References:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/exercise-and-fitness/punch-up-your-exercise-routine-with-fitness-boxing

https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/health/7-reasons-why-you-should-try-a-boxing-fitness-class-a3192041.html

5 Tips On Living With Dependent Elders

Only a few people anticipate the task of caring for their aging parent.Adult caregiving can be strenuous , a lot of them seem to deny that it’s inevitable. To some it can provide a great sense of fulfillment and teaches the caregiver certain things about oneself. The nature of aging is such a process that we all must experience. And let’s admit it: it can be really, really hard sometimes!

If you are absolutely new to caregiving and are unsure where to start, these are a few tips, which will help you successfully ease into your new role and care for your aging parents without a hitch.

Accept that things have changed.

The roles are reversed when a parent starts depending upon their child. You should be prepared for that entirely new paradigm because old roles, old methodologies and old emotions may not apply.

Expect their anger.

Your parents lose that one thing they have always had in relationship with you after they become dependent on you – their ‘Authority’. Expect them, in one way or another, to lash out about that loss because that’s not going to be easy for them to give up.

3.Giving them options.

It is advisable to give your parent’s options rather than orders. It can help them feel valued and have a sense of running their own lives. Leave it up to them to decide on things that they can about their own self.

4.Patience.

Caring for your parents might be slightly more challenging and difficult to look upon initially. Honor your own heartfelt work of helping your aging parents and it is advisable to be patient because it takes a lot of courage to put up with the resistance that challenging parents put up.

Love your health care providers.

Treat well every person who plays any role whatsoever in caring for your parent during this phase of your life. Stay kind to your health care providers and little gifts here and there can go a long way toward ensuring that’s how they feel.

Keep doing whatever it takes to make their lives as well as you are able to. Sometimes, it can be very hard to make all of the decisions for another adult and you have to get it right because you owe them your care.

References:

https://www.aplaceformom.com/senior-care-resources/articles/caring-for-elderly-parents

http://dailycaring.com/5-top-caregiving-tips-for-keeping-aging-parents-at-home/

Going Gluten Free? Here Are The 5 Foods You Need To Avoid

Until recently, gluten was only considered a problem for people diagnosed with something called Celiac disease. In the last few years, though, studies have shown that gluten can have an effect even on those of us not diagnosed as gluten allergic.

What is gluten? A component of many grass-related grains, it is a composite of storage proteins. Here’s what it can do to you: it can cause an inflammation in your guts, and worse, trigger a range of autoimmune related diseases.

Now that we know it’s not great for health, here’s a list of foods to avoid if you want to avoid gluten.

Food #1: Various Grains

Fairly straightforward: gluten is predominantly present in grass-related grains. To avoid it, you avoid these grains.

This means avoiding a number of common grain based food, such as chapatis, naan, bread, cakes, cereal, pasta, batter-fried food, and a number of pastries. Many companies claim to offer gluten-free versions of these grains, but make sure they actually are. Especially if you have a gluten allergy like Celiac disease.

Food #2: Alcoholic Beverages

Most common drinks are made from grain-based ingredients. Think whiskey, most vodkas and gin. Then there are beer and malted alcoholic drinks like wine coolers.

A number of people convince themselves that these drinks are ‘okay’ because they are distilled, but the truth is that patients suffer gluten-related problems all the same. If you drink when on a disease-enforced gluten-free diet, you’re doing yourself double damage: these drinks actually have gluten in them, and alcohol inhibits your ability to heal yourself.

Food #3: Sauces And Dressings

This includes a number of common condiments: Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, MSG, and modified food starch are all sauces that contain gluten. Even salads have dressings that contain gluten.

You’ll have to avoid all of these to steer clear of gluten.

Food #4: Sweets And Treats

Sigh, one more reason to deny ourselves candy and chocolate, as if we needed it. But that’s the truth: a number of these are made with flour or other ingredients that contain gluten.

The ‘to avoid’ list reads like the stuff of children’s nightmares: chocolate and candy that contains malt, ice creams, cake frosting and even root beer.

Food #5: Processed And Preserved Meats

The preservatives in processed meats make them a health hazard even if you ignore their gluten content. These are known to increase your cancer risk. In general, avoid processed meat cuts like salami, sausages, pepperoni, liverwurst, and pate. All of these involve grains in their manufacturing process.

The verdict is unclear on whether meat from grain-fed animals is safe for people with a gluten allergy.

There, we’ve covered most of the foods to avoid if you want to avoid gluten. If you’ve got a gluten allergy, avoid all of these will extreme caution. If you don’t indulge with care, and pay attention to the amount of gluten that goes into your body each day.

References:

https://www.glutenfreesociety.org/top-foods-to-avoid-on-a-gluten-free-diet/

https://www.glutenfreesociety.org/guidelines-for-avoiding-gluten-unsafe-ingredients-for-gluten-sensitivity/

Weight Loss Wars Q&A: Cardio Vs. Weight Training

Hi! If you’ve worked out or at least thought about it, you’ve probably seen that there are two major schools of thought on weight loss through exercise: strength training, and cardio.

Cardio, so called because it improves heart health by challenging it, involves running, jumping, swimming and cycling. It is generally considered relatively low intensity. Strength training includes heavier intensity workouts using bodyweight exercises, or (more commonly) weight training. Since it involves higher intensity activities that challenge the various muscles in your body, it is also called resistance training.

So, if you’re looking to reduce weight, which should you go for? Read this Q&A-style article to find out!

Question 1: Which Of These Is Key To Weight Loss?

First things first. Neither cardio nor strength training can do anything significant for your weight loss, unless they are coupled with a kickass diet.

In fact, what you eat actually contributes to 80-90% of your weight loss. Cut down on calories, cut out all junk food, and start eating healthy food like veggies, fruits and lean meats. Whatever your weight loss plan, have a sturdy nutritional plan in place.

Question 2: “I’m Starting Out. Which Should I Try First?

The answer certainly seems to be cardio. It’s easy, you don’t need any specialized equipment, and you can do cardio pretty much anywhere: no gym necessary.

The mechanics of weight loss are pretty simple: you burn more calories than you eat. A 5km run can burn about 300 calories. That’s how much you eat in a small-to-medium sized lunch. Ninety percent of people on weight loss regimens do simple cardio: 1 hour of walking everyday.

Question 3: “So Why Even Lift Weights At All?”

Well, consider this stat: in a comparative weight loss study, people who tried resistance training for 12 weeks lost up to 50% more fat than people on an aerobics or diet plan.

Strength training may make for a slightly less calorie-burning workout than cardio, but here’s the secret: training with weights can speed up metabolism. How? Resistance training actually breaks them down; as you naturally build them back up through the rest of the day, you actually burn some ‘bonus’ calories.

And that’s a significant amount.

Question 4: “Okay, So What Do I Do?”

In a strict head-to-head, cardio seems to have the slight edge when it comes specifically to losing weight.

The best thing for you? Experts suggest a combination of diet, cardio, and weights-based resistance training. Let the cardio support your weight-training regimen, and you should see results very quickly.

References:

https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/what-burns-more-calories-cardio-intervals-or-weight-training/

http://www.health.com/weight-loss/best-exercise-to-lose-weight

4 Tech Advancements That Promise Great News For Healthcare In 2017

Slice of Health brings you the latest and best news from the world of healthcare.

Today, we take a look at the latest advancements in healthcare. These promise a much improved and better mode of healthcare for patients in hospitals, homes, and palliative care.

Advancement #1: Robots Taking Over Surgery

The use of robots in complicated, risky procedures like surgeries may sound like the stuff sci-fi movies are made of, but they’re a reality today!

Recent surgical robots are designed to carry out surgeries with minimal invasion, which is great news for patients. They only need to make a single incision, or port. What this translates into for surgery patients: less pain, and faster recovery.

Advancement #2: Getting Closer To A Vaccine For Diabetes Type 1

Type 1 diabetes is a rarer type of the disease. Here, your own body’s immune system prevents your pancreas from producing insulin, a hormone essential in helping your body absorb glucose.

This vaccine will enter the human testing phase in 2018, and it’s a very promising prospect. It can also help protect your body against diseases like colds, myocarditis, meningitis, and also ear infections.

This isn’t available in 2017, but we sure have something to look forward to this year!

Advancement #3: Biopsies Won’t Always Require Tissues

Biopsies have always been a painful procedure, where a column of tissue is physically extracted from your body.

Liquid biopsies are a new and revolutionary method of genetic testing that use a patient’s bodily fluids such as blood, plasma, serum or urine instead of extracting tissue painfully. This technology makes painful biopsies considerably less painful.

Advancement #4: Fluorescent Lighting In Endoscopy

A fluorescent dye called indocyanine has been making waves in the department of endoscopy.

In endoscopy, doctor insert a flexible tube with a camera on it to check for malignant tissues in that area. The green indocyanine imaging can highlight malignant tissue quite effectively for your surgeon, who can then easily spot and remove any tumors/lesions you may have.

The future looks bright for healthcare today. These 4 are only a few key examples of a number of technological advancements in the field of medicine and especially healthcare.

References:

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/life/entertainment/story/2017/oct/10/ask-doctor/453195/

https://www.sciencealert.com/this-vaccine-could-prevent-many-cases-of-type-1-diabetes

World Mental Health Day: 5 Facts You Need To Know

Yesterday, the 10th of October, was World Mental Health Day.

This is a day set aside by the World Health Organization (WHO) for one reason: to raise awareness about serious mental health issues. Mental health isn’t something we should sweep under the rug and we hope that this set of facts will help spread the right kind of awareness:

Mental Health Fact #1: The Most Common Mental Health Issues

Anxiety and depression are known to be the most common mental disorders we see today. They may occur separately, or in a combination with each other.

No one is immune to mental health issues like depression and anxiety. The key to dealing with them is first to recognise that there is a problem. Only when you accept this can you think about actually dealing with it.

Mental Health Fact #2: Student Suicides Are A Pressing Concern In India

NCRB (National Criminal Records Bureau) data shows some worrying stats, especially with regards to suicide.

A significant portion of suicides can be tied to reasons that don’t call for such extreme measures: this includes academic performance and unemployment. These can be avoided by spreading awareness at an early age, and by refraining from heaping pressure on teens and young adults.

Mental Health Fact #3: There Still Is A Taboo Around Discussing Mental Health

Too often, we see cases where children and adults alike hide their struggles with common mental health issues like depression and anxiety. This is because of the stigma around mental illness: we tend to assume that ‘mental health issues’ means that a person is unintelligent, difficult, or incapable of making decisions.

This only leads to rejection and unnecessary isolation.

Mental Health Fact #4: Suicides Are An International Issue

Over 8,00,000 people take their own lives each year. This, sadly, happens to be the primary reason of death for most people in the 15-29 age bracket. Alarming.

Even more alarming, though: for every adult that committed suicide, there have been 20 others who attempted it. Wherever you go in the world, suicide is a very real, very common problem. The key is in recognizing suicidal tendencies, and getting the victim treatment.

Mental Health Fact #5: Not Enough Skilled Healthcare For The Mentally Ill

There is a serious shortage of trained/qualified psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, social workers, psychologists, and counselors.

Mental healthcare around the world desperately needs an upgrade. Initiatives like World Mental Health Day are a great way to highlight the problem, and therefore speed up the development of solutions.

Agree? Share this post to spread awareness!

References:

http://www.who.int/mental_health/world-mental-health-day/en/

http://www.hindustantimes.com/health-and-fitness/every-hour-one-student-commits-suicide-in-india/story-7UFFhSs6h1HNgrNO60FZ2O.html

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