Wednesday, April 25, 2012

5 Reasons Why Summer is the Best Time to Shed Weight!


With the summer sun beating down there isn’t much to look forward to other than a summer vacation somewhere cooler. For those who will be stuck in the heat, and have been planning to lose weight since the New Year, here are five reasons why summer is the best time to put your weight loss plans in action:

1. Easy to stick to a diet plan: with no relief from the heat, fried, greasy, heavy food is probably the last thing you want to eat! That itself cuts out a lot of calories from your diet!

2. Fruits and salads are so much more appealing-the water content in fruits and veggies makes it all the more delicious during summer. This not only adds much needed fibre to the diet, but also helps in keeping your body hydrated.

3. You could lose extra calories by just drinking ice cold water-yes, scientists now suggest that drinking ice cold water may burn a few extra calories as the body has to raise the temperature of the ice water to the bodies temperature! This may or may not be true but drinking 10-12 glasses of ice cold water a day can’t add calories as water is a great zero-calorie drink!

4. No festivals until August-so that means no excuses of having to break the diet due to festival binging! From now until Krishna Janmashtami (10th August), you can focus on your diet!

5. Exercising in the heat could burn more calories-this is the principle behind ‘hot yoga’ (Bikram yoga)! Supposedly, exercising in the heat burns more calories since it makes the heart pump harder to your extremities to help you lower your body temperature, which rises fast in hot weather.

So stop wasting time and get started and who knows you could end up losing up to 8-10kgs by Independence Day (15th August) if you only make up your mind!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Have a hop,hop,hoppy (& Healthy) Easter!

In my endeavor to make your (and our own) life a little more healthier, here are some ideas to make this Easter a little healthy for all:
1. For the Easter egg hunt: Kids love this tradition of hunting for eggs and discovering the treats inside them. This year, instead of filling all the eggs with only chocolates, candies and other sugary stuff (they get too much sugar on other days anyway), you could ALSO fill some of the eggs with other treats like:
• Stickers/ tattoos
• Cute erasers
• Animal crackers
• Toy cars
• Cute bob pins/barrettes/ hair clips/hair bands
• Magnets
2. For the Easter Basket: along with the chocolate bunny and some candies, try filling the basket with:
• Popcorn
• Crayons/color pencils/ Color markers
• Coloring book
• Toys
• Crackers
3. For the Easter menu: I wouldn't want to spoil all the fun on a festive day by having only healthy food on the table, instead try including some healthy recipes along with the traditional food to have a perfect balance:
• Grilled/tandoori chicken or fish instead of fried chicken/fish
• Herb roasted veggies
• Garden salad with vinaigrette or buttermilk dressing
• Fresh fruit salad
• Fresh fruit juice instead of soda/aerated drinks
After you’ve had your fill, enjoy the spring weather with your family by taking a nice long walk.
Have a ‘hoppy Easter’!