Simple Tips For a Healthy Life

Simple Tips For a Healthy Life

By Parthasarathy Rengaswami

Living a healthy life is not difficult. In fact, it is very easy to live a life of health, fitness and vitality. But we have made our life more complicated, jeopardizing our health in the process. Here are 7 simple steps to make your life healthy and happy.

1. Drink water. Am I saying something superfluous? After all, we all drink water, don't we? Yes, we do but many of us are under the misconception that since drinks like coffee, milk, alcohol, juices etc. contain water, drinking some of these will provide the body with enough water. You need to drink a considerable amount of water in its pure form! How many glasses of water do you drink everyday? I am not going to suggest any quantity. Just listen to your body. If you feel thirsty, drink water; don't go for a glass of juice or for a bottle of caffeinated soda!

2. Have a sense of proportion in what you eat at different times of the day. What you eat in the morning should be your heaviest meal and what you eat for the dinner must be the lightest. A heavy breakfast, a moderate lunch and a modest dinner will keep you fit, healthy, brisk, active and energetic.

3. Eat more natural foods than processed foods. Eat more of the foods produced by nature than of foods made in the factories. Natural foods will nurture your body while processed foods will weaken your body.

4. Play games. Keeping yourself physically active by playing games at all ages is the best gift you can give your body. Even if you do exercises, play games too. While doing exercises will make you feel that you are doing them because you have to, playing games will make you joyful relaxed. The fun that is usually missing when you do exercises will be present in its full form when you play games. Playing games does not mean that you have to play professional games. If you are a grand parent, you can play little games like hide and seek or other games of your own innovation with your grand children, making both your grand children and yourself happy.

5. Spend some time with silence. Allocate a few minutes for yourself everyday, during which, just be quiet. You may do some mediation or you may just sit down calmly and observe your thoughts, without trying to control them. You will find that you will cultivate a peaceful mind over a period.

6. Sleep for at least 6 hours a day.  Allowing your body to take the rest it needs is one of the most essential requirements for good health. You can have many reasons for not being able to sleep adequately but these reasons are not going to help in mitigating the damage you are doing it to your health. Find some way to ensure that you get at least 6 hours of sleep every day.

7. Walk your way to health. Can you allocate about 30 minutes everyday to go for a walk? If you can, then you will be creating a solid foundation for a life of health and vitality. A healthy life is important not only for remaining physically strong but also for living a life of happiness.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Parthasarathy_Rengaswami

Simple Healthy: Weight Loss Happens When You Take In Fewer Calories Than Your Body Needs

Fad Diets- Weight Loss Happens When You Take In Fewer Calories Than Your Body Needs

Ah yes, fad diets. They're everywhere, and there are tons of them. Actually, a lot of people may disagree on just how many there are. I say that because there are many different ways to define what a fad diet really is. Most of it is based on personal opinion. So, here's my personal opinion of what a fad diet is...As mentioned in Phase 1, weight loss happens when you take in fewer calories than your body needs to maintain it's current weight. This is a scientific fact. Therefore, based on this scientific fact, I feel that every single diet plan and weight loss program that is based on doing anything besides just eating less total calories each day... is a fad diet.

Yeah, that's a whole lot of fad diets then.

But, that's pretty much my view of weight loss and a key reason behind The Lose Weight Diet. It's all about doing what needs to be done and nothing else. No gimmicks, no nothing. Fad diets on the other hand are just the opposite. Gimmicks, gimmicks and more gimmicks. Sure, some (The Cabbage Soup Diet) may be a little more gimmicky than others (The Atkins Diet), but one thing remains the same in every case... they make you do things that you don't need to do. I like to call these "things" unnecessary diet tasks.

Take the extremely popular low carb diet, The Atkins Diet, for example...

Why go on a low carb diet when you know that it's calories, not carbs, that needs to be lowered in order for you to lose weight? Why go out of your way to limit eating something that you could (and SHOULD) still be eating and could still be losing weight while eating? Why do something that doesn't need to be done?

Also, for the record, The Atkins Diet (and all low carb diets) require the removal of most of the carbs from your diet. Do you know what this also just so happens to do? It just so happens to also remove a great deal of calories from your diet. What's that you say? You "accidentally" also eat fewer calories when you were only trying to eat fewer carbs? Interesting. Hey, you know what you might want to try? "Purposely" lowering your total calorie intake and forgetting the whole low carb diversion altogether. I bet that will work out pretty well for you, and you won't have to eat low carb to do it.

Do you see what happened there? Not only is a low carb diet based on doing something not needed, but a side effect of that not needed task IS the actual needed task. That right there is what fad diets are all about, doing anything except what is directly needed for weight loss to take place.

It's just completely unnecessary. In fact, it's so unnecessary that I'm going to use a metaphor (or is it an analogy?) to explain it. It's like throwing your shoe at the TV to try to hit the power button and make it go on instead of just using the remote control. Yeah, you may still hit it and turn it on, but there was absolutely no need to do it that way.

Fad diets have you doing things that just DON'T need to be done in order to make what you want to happen actually happen. Whether they work or not means very little at this point. It's the simple fact that these diet plans are based on doing something for weight loss that is NOT required for weight loss. To me that's just silly.

And, as if that wasn't enough, don't forget to add in the fact that most of these fad diets cost money. Whether it's books, products, or memberships, many of these types of diets cost some kind of money.

Hang on. Let's review this again:

Things required for weight loss to happen:

- Taking in less calories than your maintenance level.

- ::blank space::

- ::more blank space::

Things required by most fad diets:

- Diet tasks that don't need to be done in order for a person to lose weight.

- Your money.

Now that's just plain silly, isn't it?

Listen, I didn't write this article so I could bad mouth all the other diets. Granted, I personally will never recommend any other diet besides The Lose Weight Diet (or a diet based on it's common sense principles) to anyone... ever. However, I can't deny the fact that some people may have some strange preferences and weird needs and could for some reason prefer fad diets like the low carb diet over diets like The Lose Weight Diet. If something appeals to you for whatever reason and you think it will work for you, then by all means, do it. As long as it's safe and healthy, I can't tell you not to.

Like I said, I didn't write this article to call out fad diets like the low carb diet or to debate whether they really work or if they're just completely useless. Maybe we'll get into that some other time. But here, in this article, my only purpose is to call out your common sense. Why on earth would you want to be on a weight loss diet that is based on things completely unnecessary to weight loss itself? Things that just don't need to be done. Things that could be dangerous. Things that in some cases cost money. Why on earth would you want to throw your shoe at the TV instead of just using the remote? If at this point you still have a good answer to this question, please do me a favor and email it to me.However, if you don't have an answer, then my job here is done.

(Resource: http://www.theloseweightdiet.com/fad-diets.html)

Fastest Way to Lose Weight Through a Healthy Diet

Fastest Way to Lose Weight Through a Healthy Diet

By Ananta Modak  

You may wonder to think that why people are trying to lose weight. To speak the truth people have always tried to get the fastest and efficient way to lose weight. The main reason is that gravitational force is directly proportional to human weight. With the increased weight this attraction becomes higher and then people with increased weight experience difficulties in natural movements such as walking, running, sitting down and climbing. Many of the health industries have several dangerous plans to lose weight fast. People unconsciously feel interest to choose such plans as they get quick weight loss from such plans. But you can get fastest result in a safe and secured way from just a simple healthy diet plan.

There are several great diet plans which can bring significant weight loss results over one year course. A simple mathematical calculation shows that if one of such diet changes can cut 100 calories or more, then the amount becomes 15600 in a year for taking the meal three times a week. This amount is equivalent to almost 5 pounds. Taking another substitution weight loss could be made 10 pounds per year. Here we have listed a few effective diet plans of breakfast, lunch and dinner for you to get fastest weight loss results.

It is a wrong decision to skip breakfast to lose weight. In any healthy weight loss program breakfast is the most important part which aids to rev up the metabolism and energy level to continue work for the whole day. There are several diet plans for breakfast which are found most effective to get fastest weight loss results, and these plans are Homemade Raisin Bran, Balanced Diet Shake, Scrambled White with Greens, Toasted Plain Bagel of Lender with Natural Jam and Frozen Fruit Smoothie which will save 50 calories, 40 calories, 60 calories, 160-360 calories and 200 calories accordingly.

In your weight loss plan lunch gets the second most priority as your daily meal. To boost up the energy level and to regulate the metabolism you need to be careful about your lunch. But it is foolish to have heavy and high caloric food items in your lunch. Most effective lunch recipes to lose weight in a healthy way include Grilled Vegetable Burger that reduces 180 calories, beef sub sandwich that saves 100 calories, Sprouted wheat tortilla that cuts 50 calories, Croutons Toasted Salad that saves 100 calories and Health Valley Chili that saves 200 calories.

A perfect dinner to lose your weight contains low fat and high complex carbohydrates. Here are a few menus that suit the healthy weight loss plan- Pure-lentil bean pasta, Spaghetti squash, Mashed Potatoes and Potato pasta, and by following one of these menus you can save 20 calories to serve 2 ounce, 200 calories, 50 calories and 20 calories accordingly.

Clinical reports show that healthy diet brings significant effects on weight loss than pills or other hazardous processes advised by different health industries. You can make it faster by choosing proper diet menus on you breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I came to know about all these from online research.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ananta_Modak

Simple Healthy, Tips for Healthy Eating

Simple Healthy, Tips for Healthy Eating

Eating a healthy, balanced diet is an important part of maintaining good health, and can help you feel your best. It doesn't have to be difficult either. Just follow these eight tips to get started.

The key to a healthy diet is to do the following:

• Eat the right amount of calories for how active you are, so that you balance the energy you consume with the energy you use. If you eat or drink too much, you’ll put on weight. If you eat and drink too little, you’ll lose weight. It is recommended that men have around 2,500 calories a day (10,500 kilojoules). Women should have around 2,000 calories a day (8,400 kilojoules). Most adults are eating more calories than they need, and should eat fewer calories.
• Eat a wide range of foods to ensure that you’re getting a balanced diet and that your body is receiving all the nutrients it needs.

These practical tips cover the basics of healthy eating, and can help you make healthier choices:

Base your meals on starchy foods. Starchy foods should make up around one third of the foods you eat. Starchy foods include potatoes, cereals, pasta, rice and bread. Choose wholegrain varieties (or eat potatoes with their skins on) when you can: they contain more fibre, and can help you feel full.

Most of us should eat more starchy foods: try to include at least one starchy food with each main meal. Some people think starchy foods are fattening, but gram for gram the carbohydrate they contain provides fewer than half the calories of fat. 

Eat lots of fruit and veg. It’s recommended that we eat at least five portions of different types of fruit and veg a day. It’s easier than it sounds. A glass of unsweetened 100% fruit juice (150ml) can count as one portion, and vegetables cooked into dishes also count. Why not chop a banana over your breakfast cereal, or swap your usual mid-morning snack for a piece of fresh fruit? 

Eat more fish. Fish is a good source of protein and contains many vitamins and minerals. Aim to eat at least two portions of fish a week, including at least one portion of oily fish. Oily fish contains omega-3 fats, which may help to prevent heart disease. You can choose from fresh, frozen and canned: but remember that canned and smoked fish can be high in salt.

Oily fish include salmon, mackerel, trout, herring, fresh tuna, sardines and pilchards. Non-oily fish include haddock, plaice, coley, cod, tinned tuna, skate and hake. If you regularly eat a lot of fish, try to choose as wide a variety as possible. 

Cut down on saturated fat and sugar. We all need some fat in our diet. But it’s important to pay attention to the amount and type of fat we’re eating. There are two main types of fat: saturated and unsaturated. Too much saturated fat can increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood, which increases your risk of developing heart disease.

Saturated fat is found in many foods, such as hard cheese, cakes, biscuits, sausages, cream, butter, lard and pies. Try to cut down on your saturated fat intake, and choose foods that contain unsaturated fats instead, such as vegetable oils, oily fish and avocados.For a healthier choice, use just a small amount of vegetable oil or reduced-fat spread instead of butter, lard or ghee. When you're having meat, choose lean cuts and cut off any visible fat.

Most people in the UK eat and drink too much sugar. Sugary foods and drinks, including alcoholic drinks, are often high in energy (measured in kilojoules or calories), and if eaten too often, can contribute to weight gain. They can also cause tooth decay, especially if eaten between meals. Cut down on sugary fizzy drinks, alcoholic drinks, sugary breakfast cereals, cakes, biscuits and pastries, which contain added sugars: this is the kind of sugar we should be cutting down on, rather than sugars that are found in things such as fruit and milk.

 Food labels can help: use them to check how much sugar foods contain. More than 22.5g of total sugars per 100g means that the food is high in sugar, while 5g of total sugars or less per 100g means that the food is low in sugar.

Eat less salt. Even if you don’t add salt to your food, you may still be eating too much. About three-quarters of the salt we eat is already in the food we buy, such as breakfast cereals, soups, breads and sauces. Eating too much salt can raise your blood pressure. People with high blood pressure are more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke.

Use food labels to help you cut down. More than 1.5g of salt per 100g means the food is high in salt. Adults and children over 11 should eat no more than 6g of salt a day. Younger children should have even less. 

Get active and be a healthy weight. Eating a healthy, balanced diet plays an essential role in maintaining a healthy weight, which is an important part of overall good health. Being overweight or obese can lead to health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, heart disease and stroke. Being underweight could also affect your health. Check whether you’re a healthy weight by using our Healthy weight calculator.

Most adults need to lose weight, and need to eat fewer calories to do this. If you're trying to lose weight, aim to eat less and be more active. Eating a healthy, balanced diet will help: aim to cut down on foods that are high in fat and sugar, and eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. Don't forget that alcohol is also high in calories, so cutting down can help you to control your weight.

Physical activity can help you to maintain weight loss or be a healthy weight. Being active doesn’t have to mean hours at the gym: you can find ways to fit more activity into your daily life. For example, try getting off the bus one stop early on the way home from work, and walking. Being physically active may help reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. For more ideas, see Get active your way.

 

After getting active, remember not to reward yourself with a treat that is high in energy. If you feel hungry after activity, choose foods or drinks that are lower in calories, but still filling.  If you’re underweight, see our page on underweight adults. If you're worried about your weight, ask your GP or a dietitian for advice.

Don't get thirsty. We need to drink about 1.6 to 2 litres of fluid every day to stop us getting dehydrated. This is in addition to the fluid we get from the food we eat. All non-alcoholic drinks count, but water and lower-fat milk are healthier choices. 

Try to avoid sugary soft and fizzy drinks that are high in added sugars and calories, and are also bad for teeth. Even unsweetened fruit juice is sugary, so try to limit how much you drink to no more than one glass (about 150ml) of fruit juice each day. When the weather is warm, or when we get active, we may need more fluids. 

Don’t skip breakfast.Some people skip breakfast because they think it will help them lose weight. In fact, research shows that eating breakfast can help people control their weight. A healthy breakfast is an important part of a balanced diet, and provides some of the vitamins and minerals we need for good health. A wholegrain, lower-sugar cereal with fruit sliced over the top is a tasty and nutritious breakfast.

Source : http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/