Here are some very helpful tips to achieve a healthy body:

BREAKFAST IS A ‘MUST’
Start your morning with some breakfast, be it a piece of fruit or a whole wheat bread. Put oatmeal into a thermos of hot water, and you could even let it sit overnight. In the morning, you shall have hot cooked oatmeal ready to eat. Similarly, a hard boiled egg can be eaten. This will prevent your body from going into starvation mode. Eating breakfast everyday will also help increase your metabolic rate.

FIVE MEALS A DAY
Have at least five meals a day in which three can be the main meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner, while other two meals can consist of foods which are handy and nutritious at the same time. Eating frequently prevents hunger pangs, provides consistent energy, and maintains metabolism efficiency. Grab healthy foods such as fruits that are high in fibre like apple, watermelon, muskmelon, orange, sweet lime, papaya and peaches.

PLAN YOUR DINES
Some people’s work demands frequenting restaurants for dinner. Always watch out for hidden fats. Creamy soups, white breads, flaky pastries and mayonnaisebased salad dressings add unnecessary fats to the food. Try consuming broths instead of creamy soups. Instead of mayonnaise dressing, use variety of condiments and flavouring agents such as lemon, vinegar, herbs, onion and garlic to improve the palatability of your salad. Remember, a gram of fat contains more than twice as many calories as a gram of protein or carbohydrate. Ask for grilled, baked, boiled or broiled food rather than fried foods.

HYDRATE WHEN YOU’RE TRAVELLING
Your work might involve a lot of travelling in which air travel is one of the most dehydrating experiences. Because of this, people often complain of sore throats and other respiratory illnesses. To avoid these, one should not drink caffeine, cola or alcohol before or after the flights as these are diuretics and can increase the water loss. Avoid salted snacks like salted peanuts or fried foods in order to minimise dehydration. Try consuming lots of fluids in the form of water, fruit juice, coconut water, lime water, etc. In any case, one should drink at least 12 to 15 gasses of water everyday. The stress associated with travel may slightly increase the protein requirement, so one should make an effort to consume a little more protein each day.

GOOD QUALITY OF FOOD
Always remember that the quality of food you eat determines your efficiency at work. Avoid refined foods like white rice and those used to make white bread and sugary breakfast cereals as most of their vitamins and minerals are stripped away. They turn into blood sugar (glucose) so fast just like sugar; they can cause a spike in our insulin level. Alternate refined flour with wholegrain flour. Substitute white sugar with honey and jaggery. Remember, all this will help us to remain healthy.

Cosmetically, resistance training, shapes the body like nothing else can! You can develop muscles that increase the body’s metabolic rate, strengthens bones and makes you feel much better.

WEIGHT-TRAINING MYTHS
Myth: To lose weight it is better to do cardiovascular exercises than strength training exercises.

Fact: Both cardiovascular exercises and strength training exercises are necessary for weight loss.
Myth: Muscle turns into fat when you stop weight training
Fact: Muscle and fat have two separate and distinct properties. Muscle cannot turn into fat and fat cannot be converted into muscle. When you stop exercising the trained muscle eventually gets back to its pre- exercise level.
THE EXERCISES:
Do two sets of 12 repetitions each.

 
Requirements: Two 500ml water bottles, An armless chair, A carpet or mat

 
Squats: Hold water bottles in your hands, keeping feet shoulder-width wide go into a squat position by bending the knees; make sure your knees don’t go beyond the toes. Return to starting position.
Push-ups: Place your hands directly under your shoulders and point your fingers forward; keep your back straight. Slowly lower your body bringing your chest close to the floor, and then return to starting position.
Bent-over rows: Sit on the edge of a chair. Now lean slightly forwards from the hips. Keep your back, neck and head aligned. Hold the water bottles in your palms. Slowly lift up your hands bending them at your elbows and then slowly lower them down. Repeat 16 times.
Oblique crunches:
Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor with your lower back gently pressed down on the mat. Support your neck by placing your palms behind your head. Keeping your chin off the chest, slowly contract your abs and lift up your upper body. As you lift yourself up, twist to the right side, in such a way
that left elbow
goes towards the knee and then twist to the left side. Repeat 10 times for each side. Lower yourself and relax!

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Before you undertake any weight reduction regimen whatsoever, do keep in mind that losing body fat is a result of burning more calories than you consume. You need to not only exercise right but also focus on eating right. Here’s how to do both.

EAT TO WIN
A healthy diet is an integral part of the shaping-up process. This doesn’t mean that you have to starve yourself but you have to watch what you eat. Eating 5-6 small meals in a day keeps your metabolic rate up. Consume a diet that consists of proteins (20 per cent), carbohydrates (65 per cent) and fats (15 per cent). Eating right is winning half the battle of the bulge.

BUTT SHAPERS
Vary your exercises and intensity levels, and change your exercise programme periodically so that you use your muscles differently and keep yourself from getting bored.

WARM-UP
Begin with five minutes of brisk walking or marching in place.

SQUATS
Stand with your feet hip-width apart and knees slightly bent. Hold the dumbbells in your hands. Keep your back in a neutral position and bend your knees to about 90°, making sure your knees do not go beyond your toes. Return to starting position. Do 16 reps.

BUTT BRIDGE
Lie on your back on a mat and bend your knees. Raise your pelvis and squeeze your hips as you rise. Slowly return to base position. Do 16 reps. Read the rest of this entry »

Full form of DASH diet is “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet”. The diet is especially made to control hypertension. This diet is rich in fiber, protein, calcium, magnesium and potassium. The major feature of the plan is limiting intake of sodium and encourage the consumption of nuts, whole grains, fish, poultry, fruits and vegetables while lowering the consumption of red meats, sweets, and sugar.

Ok, now lets get started with DASH diet. Remember it is time taking process, and you need to start gradually. You have to daily make chnages in your diet.

• Avoid foods having higher values of fats and sodium. When buying packaged foods read the ingredients and avoid those which have higher values of fats and sodium in them.
• Prefer to more fat free forms of milk, cheese and yogurt.
• Take coffee and tea with very less sugar.
• Use skimmed milk for drinking so that you get enough calcium for the day.
• Increase the number of vegetables and fruits in your daily diet so that you have more fiber and natural minerals and vitamins in your diet.
• In a meal use only maximum 3 ounces of lean meat. If you eat more than 3 ounces than start reducing it gradually.
• Try having vegetarian meals and cut meat.

And at last remember “changing slowly to a healthier way of eating is easier than trying to change it suddenly”. So go slowly and make changes gradually.

You may have come across thousands of fitness tips, and thousands of fitness advertising. But none is permanent. Natural methods are best to keep you fit and healthy. Like:

1. Do an exercise that you like and enjoy. Always do exercise that you like and prefer stick to it.
2. Make a record of what you eat each day and start eliminate the junks items slowly. Try replacing it with something like a fruit that you enjoy or a healthy drink.
3. Relax with music or just a walk outdoors to deal with stress.
4. Spent some time with family members. Family members are best friends and very supportive. They care for you and will do everything that they can to help you with your goal.
5. You can’t change everything instantly. You need to make your changes gradually. You can start with a walk in the park and slowly build up to a regular work-out.
6. Join a club with activities like swimming and tennis which give you pleasure.
7. Always watch what you eat, and try to avoid eating while watching television.
8. Discipline is the key, and once you get started, you will look forward to a daily exercise routine.
9. Always be motivated and happy. Do what you like and make you happy. There are so many ways of having fun like dancing, playing etc.
10. If you don’t like to do exercise, than you have so many other alternative also like aerobic exercises and weight training to build muscle. If you have small budget, you can get a small home gym also.
11. Games like tennis, table tennis, badminton etc are best exercise. Games also give you pleasure.

Always be happy and motivative.