5 Weight Gainers Myth Busters

Last we sorted out myths on weight loss diet regime and today I will be busting some myths on weight gainer's diet. Yes they too have their fair share of worries the other side of the valley with green grass isn't aware of.

Unlike popular notions people who need to gain weight aren't lucky or blessed or careless about weight issues. They can be in more harm than people who have piles of weight to cut down. 

1. Eat What You Want Diet - Not a chance. Even if a person is under weight on the scale he/she needs to be equally particular of their diet to gain the right kind of weight. How is that possible when the person can't put on weight fast ? Well even with the higher metabolic rate people who want to gain weight need to watch out if they are gaining strength in the form of muscle and bone density or fat ? After all if you are gaining weight it is to look and feel good about yourself and be healthy not unhealthy. No point gaining 10 pounds of fat which will only harm your overall frail body. 

2. If you are thin looking you are thin - How I wish this was true !!!! but we need to face some harsh reality here including myself. People who appear thin can have higher fat percentage and let me give you my example before I became a health professional I was underweight and yet had high fat percentage which by obvious ways I changed it around. If you have higher fat percentage than 24% as a young girl or woman and are underweight on the scale this is an alarm of weakness in the body. Fat that doesn't show on your body is harmful as it interferes in building strength, agility, endurance. It can be hampering your nutritional assimilation or alertness too. Be careful of this sign if you are under weight or just about the right weight. When about weight always adhere to the fat percentage only. 

3. Exercise won't help but harm weight gain - I was asked randomly by a girl who wanted to gain weight what she should be looking out for. I told her to start working out and eat a planned diet and take plenty of rest. The fact that I pinned on exercise first was a revelation to her. Exercise like it helps in burning excess fat also pushes the metabolism and the hormones to build up on strength of muscle mass, bone and other tissues. It works both ways depending on whether your metabolic rate is high or low. In order to utilize the food and the energy developed from it in gaining weight your body's metabolism should be pushed into a building process and not burning process it already is accustomed to. 

4. Rest is not beneficial - People in strength training and sports always give equal importance to rest. If you are keen on gaining the correct kind of weight you ought to give your body the rest so it does some repair and strengthening action or else it keep burning out. Rest will give time and slow the hyper metabolic rate to some extent post workout. exercise should be done not before 18 - 20 hours of the previous one. 

5. People who want to gain weight can take it easy after the regime - Once you have gained desired weight your metabolism has been tweaked a little bit. You now need to watch if you are still going to be hyper metabolic or become sluggish so please keep in mind to take equal control of your diet and exercise once your through. 

Wish you wellness.

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10 Fat Loss Diet Myth Busters

Over years health professionals like dietitians, wellness and lifestyle coaches, fitness trainers, have a constant battle wedged in their profession - The myths of Fat Loss and its Diet. Needless to say people who are fighting their own weight issues buy into the myth faster than the truth. Reality is easier to live by than the myths but myths always paint a picture of convenience and thats the problem. Today once and for all lets shed all the mind blocks, all the psychological barriers to gain a healthy and fit body you all desire but perceive it next to impossible to achieve. We shall go through 10 such myths that have given a chill down my spine too when I realized people actually were made to believe it through media, celebrity and grapevine in general.

1. Obesity is genetic therefore there is only so much you can do about it - If this excuse suits you to explain why you haven't been successful in reducing inches on your waist so be it but don't spread the wrong word around because it ain't true for even a million dollars. Obesity has genetic origin but it doesn't equate to the fact that you can't be at your ideal body weight with the desired body fat percentage. The genetic excuse won't help you in anyway because like every disease this one too has a cure and a prevention and your genes won't suppress your hard work and smart thinking. Anybody and make no mistake of this ANYBODY who is overweight to obese can very well bring their fat percentage down to the acceptable level with the right diet and lifestyle suiting their metabolism.

2. Wight loss diet cannot be adapted to for life - Many people who take up a weight loss diet have done it the wrong way or find it unacceptable that their new healthy way to eat is for life. When you go on a weight loss diet that takes you more than 30 pounds down there is a system and method how you are suppose to adapt your new lifestyle to your diet called the weight management diet which is nearly close to a weight loss one. However weight management diets do include occasional off chart foods they restrict it during most of the days and teach you how to adapt a high fat menu into a low fat one. Once you have achieved weight loss through the correct diet and exercise and lifestyle changes believe you me it stays for life only if you continue or maintain it as prescribed.

3. Starchy food have fat in them therefore they are fattening - Nope!! No potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, rice floor foods, bananas, squashes, beetroot, raw plantain, yams, or any of the foods that contain starch or carbohydrate dense has the kind of fat you were expecting it to possess. However the reason why it leads you to gain flab is because excess sugar in the body enters the fatty acid cycle where it gets converted into fat and stored as adipose tissue. If you have a well balanced carbohydrate diet this would not occur even if you eat the above perceived fattening foods.

4. Weight loss diet = less meals - My clients stare at me with utter shock when I demand they eat at least 6 meals a day in order to lose weight. Do not worry all dietitians face same stares as the most popular misconception of losing weight is to starve. May I sneak you a secret if you will ? Prevent the hunger from time to time and you will lose the fat, stay hungry, skip meals and voila you're back to where you began. The scientific reasoning for this is your body is smarter than you like it or not and if you keep it starving it will either make you binge and pig out on your next meal or if you eat less in any meal it will go into storing whatever energy it gets from food and not utilize the food as burning fuel. This causes fat storage obviously because the body can only store fat since your body protein starts breaking down in order to generate energy. So remember this equation carefully HUNGER = Weight, 6 small meals = FIT BODY.

5. No Carbs Diet is good for Weight loss - It would be rather sad to see someone qualified advising this to those on a even a 90 - 100 pound weight loss diet. I'll tell you why, because carbohydrates is the most important bio molecules that fuels the body's metabolism to generate energy. All your vital organs need glucose as primary fuel agent. If there is a devoid of glucose in the body there are severe repercussions which will give your weight issues a run for its distress in the body. No matter what diet you go on do not and I repeat do not go for cutting out carbs completely from it. Unless you want to barter weight loss for kidney or liver dysfunction then may be you can think about it.

6. NO FAT DIET is the best way out - Fat that we eat if derived from a vegetable source doesn't contain cholesterol and trans fats. It is the quality and quantity of fat that we consume that affects our body. Even on a weight loss diet a minimum of 10 gm or 2 tsp of oil should be consumed for basic body metabolism and lubrication. Curtailing fat totally for the duration of your weight loss regime is highly unhealthy and leads to other vitamin deficiency like Vitamin A, D and E which are needed as antioxidants.

7. Fat burner pills an herbs help burn fat - Fat burners in any form, be it pills, syrups, herbs, gels etc are only metabolism interfering agents. They interfere with your thyroid gland function and hormonal function to catabolize (breakdown) fat but lead to severe metabolic and hormonal problems for future. They are not fat burners you want to get acquainted with to lose weight.

8. More hours of workout give better results - Isn't it ironical that each myth we have busted has the exact opposite fact to it. This one is no exception. Exercise done within 45 minutes is where the body starts burning fat once its over but if you extend to more than an hour it gets no time to burn fat instead it starts breakdown of muscle too and exhaustion begins. Your body would rather store energy if you exhaust it than burn fat. Anything over 45 min of exercise is a waste of energy quite literally. I always finish my workout with warm up and cool down well within 35 min of moderate intensity and no waste of time between.

9. Lime and honey in hot water help burn fat - Whoever started this one as to be told that neither have effect on fat metabolism but have good effect on digestive system. This recommendation is good to clear and give motility to the digestive track. Fat burning is done on higher levels and it needs physical, nutritional and hormonal push to it.

10. Gyms are a temporary solution to weight loss - Sure they are, but let me phrase that one correctly. Temporary gyms are temporary solutions to weight loss. Its just like saying temporary breathing is temporary supply of oxygen to the body, or temporary eating is temporary energy to your life. Exercise so be it in a gym is a lifestyle and life long requirement of your body. Exercise makes you a happy person, a better body and disciplined personality. Exercise is not an option to health weight loss or no weight loss.

I hope some light has fallen on a dusty issue. If you wish to get yourself a custom made lifestyle plan with diet, fitness regime and positive thinking enroll with our Online Wellness Programs for FAT LOSS.

Wish you wellness.

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Key ingredients of a power packed meal

Its my frequently asked FAQ as a dietitian and lifestyle coach "What is the perfect healthy and nutrition packed meal?" and so I have decided to give you a preview of what ingredients in a meal you must look out for to make it the power packed meal during the day. Whether you are on the move at work or sitting opposite your laptop or a stay at home person you need equally suitable power packed meal through the day if not the similar in calorific values. The key ingredients we are talking about would be segregated amongst protein food, fat, carbohydrate/ sugar and immunity boosters (yes they're my most important ones). Here I would specifically talk about the most power packed meal breakfast and then the afternoon snack before dinner that usually overrides the hunger pang due to erratic timings. 

Breakfast : The ideal way to kick start any day of your life is with water and protein rich food. Water is well known for its detoxification effect especially of the toxins pooled in your body overnight. Since you haven't been hydrated for about at least 8-9 hours post dinner or pre-sleep your body craves for some although you may not feel thirsty. In the breakfast the protein source you must have or rely on are the ones that push your metabolism with turbo charge and these would definitely be lean fowl, egg white or beans and sprouts or tofu or non fat dairy product for veggies. Remember if you are going to have any animal product you definitely cannot have it fattened like meat, fowl or eggs as also the case with dairy. The only source of fat you could rely on this early hour of the day is a spoonful of olive oil or any vegetable source that is not hydrogenated. You can choose between carbs or sugar and if you choose sugar make sure its not white or brown one but more natural like honey or fruit sugar. Although I would highly recommend taking complex carbs with fruit as the best combination for sugar in general. Always a whole wheat or rye or millet based bread and no simple starches even in veggies. The immunity pills to pop in are walnuts, raisins, almonds, pistachios(non salted), dry figs, apricots and trust me those are your best bet even to combat ageing. 

Afternoon Snack : The next pit stop after lunch is your afternoon snack just before evening when hunger pangs are getting to the best of you. No don't head of straight to the joint for a quick bite. Its these quick bites that get you up on the scale quickly. Stick to something light and yet filling. Carbs are definitely not your food of choice then, its more liquid or if you could stick to just fish or lean meat would be better with a huge helping of the fruit bowl or veggie salad. If you're a drink person around this hour stick with the non sweetened smoothies or juices they are much better and also hydrate your skin. Your idea of power packing around this time is to stall hunger or any craving until dinner time and if your workout is close by this time this meal would really push the metabolism. Immunity food here are fruits lots of them. 

There are any questions you may want to ask me please contact me and I sure would like to help you out. 

Wish you wellness, 

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Diet to Regulate Insulin Secretion for Fat Busting

Insulin secretion and its regulation has a significant influence on how our metabolism is carried forward. Metabolic processes like carbohydrate breakdown to generate energy, fat metabolism and protein metabolism are all linked to each other via insulin. Insulin as we know through previous post is our passport / visa to let glucose molecules enter our cells so as to produce energy by their breakdown, if there is a surge of sugar or carbohydrates in the intestine the insulin would gush in the blood stream in high concentration leading to a sudden drop in the blood glucose level. The sudden rise and fall of blood glucose leads to the body responding to the effect of hunger or in some extreme cases similar to starvation. In order to combat this hunger pang the body immediately gorges on to the first sight of food. Another surge another ping pong effect of glucose and so on and so forth. This ping pong effect of glucose and insulin secretion in the blood stream results in an imbalanced carbohydrate metabolism which then gets converted into fat by entering the fat metabolism. When excess of glucose gets converted into fat it means the body is storing the fat as adipose tissue and of course making you gain excess baggage. We do know now about Insulin resistance due to fat deposition on the organs.

In order to curb the imbalance in insulin secretion and metabolism the food that you eat and the duration that you maintain between two meals is the deciding point. The first meal of the day is the most important one and hence it is called breaking a fast from the previous day. The time period between your previous dinner and breakfast is easily nothing less than 9 - 10 hours and thats a longtime to be without any source of energy to the body. If now you eat a meal loaded with sugar or carbs, fat or a combination of both be certain you have just tilted the balance haywire. Remember on an empty stomach never give into a sugar surge but balance it with equal or just a little bit more portion of lean protein food. Protein molecules help control the sudden surge of insulin into te blood stream due to meal loaded with carbs. Choosing food in equal or double portion like chicken, egg white, soy, cottage cheese (skim), skim fruit/ plain yoghurt (non sweetened), beans, sprouts, and a handful of greens to go with it helps you balance the sugar - insulin levels that come along with the breads/ pasta, lactose, coffee/ tea added sugar, fruits, and root veggies like mash/ sweet potatoes. This was about breakfast but there is another time and most important time of the day when your body needs a handsome portion of protein before it needs those carbs, its the exercise time. 

Usually people eat judicious amount of carbs and simple sugar drinks an hour before workout but it usually translates into sudden spurt of insulin during exercise. Now of course you need to have adequate amount of glucose in the blood while exercising but if you're loaded the insulin secretion will cause one more of its side effects that you do not wish to occur. When insulin is secreted in heavy concentration it does not permit fat breakdown to take place but the opposite. The logic to this is that when you have ample of energy source as glucose in the blood the insulin's priority becomes glucose to enter the cells as energy source and it can do this successfully and completely if it haults fat catabolism for a while. Why do we workout ? So that we burn the excess fat and build up on muscular strength, and this won't happen if you let insulin surge just before the workout. My ideal pre workout snack is 250 ml of fruit shake with added 5 gm of whey protein and 1 tsp of honey or I just bite a whole wheat or soy bread 2 egg whites sandwich with 500 ml of water a hour before exercise. Keep drinking sufficiently balanced mineral and glucose drink upto 250 ml till the end of the workout. This will ensure hydration and a balance of the nutrient and energy flow to your muscles. If your workout is before breakfast you are lucky but even if it isn't stick to the plan. 

Make sure each of your meal breakfast, lunch and dinner aren't over burdened with fat and carb but are equally balanced with lean proteins. Do not out balance any one nutrient of the three (carb, fat, protein) in your meals and you should be fine. Like the Cinderella story I'd like to inform you that you can have any lean protein but before you down that piece of chicken, turkey, lean meat, fish, egg white or cottage cheese and beans there is one thing you cannot do with it.....you can't load it with fat, fry it or else the magic will disappear.

Wish you wellness.

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Preventive Diet for Diabetes

Previously I wrote about the basic shift in perspective as far as diabetic diet was concerned. Today I will throw some more light on how a diabetic diet can be as valuable to anyone even without diabetes yet not a compromise on taste. The essentials to prevent diabetes through your diet and not as a cure to the disorder.

Don't be turned off by the fact that I am recommending a diabetic diet for all, because practically a preventive diabetes diet is what we all need given that we live in an ever growing stressful environment. Preventive therapy takes a lot of effort and because you really don't see the disease or disorder lurking around you don't even feel the effect it has on your body. Preventive therapy as in case of diabetes is your best bet than a curative one and you'd want to take my word for it. 

Prevent Insulin Resistance - Most of the diabetic cases now days arise due to lifestyle hazards and not genetically as is the myth that diabetes is an inherent disorder from generation to generation.  The reason for such lifestyle oriented diabetic cases that enter the type II or Non Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus vicious cycle is because their cell membrane are laden with adipose tissue (fat) not permitting insulin receptors to bond with the insulin flowing through the blood stream of the localized organ. If more cells of vital organs or long limbs are fat laden insulin resistance of the body progresses into a full fledged diabetes mellitus. So how do we save ourselves from entering into this grave mouth of diabetes? Keep your total fat intake in the form of oil, animal fat up to 3 tsp a day i.e. 500 gm per month. Do not go into binging on empty caloric foods like sugar, alcohol, sweetened aerated drinks, sweetened anything. White sugar anyways is ageing accelerator so I would rather go sugar free and low fat. But just having appropriate diet won't qualify to burn the already stored fat, a moderate intensity exercise regime consisting of equal cardio to resistance training of 35 minutes each on alternate days a week is a must do.

Prevent Oxidative Stress - Well it goes without saying that the immediate reason that worsens diabetes mellitus or its anvil in our body is the ever increasing pollution of toxins due to stress, substance abuse, chemical environment, physical pollution like dust, unhygeinic conditions etc. These factors lead to accumulative oxidation due to free radicals causing more stress which is a chain reaction as explained in earlier post. Each one of us even kids are subjected to this oxidation in the body leading to multiple lifestyle disorders like diabetes, ageing, heart disease, neurological problems, liver disorder etc. Douse your system in fresh fruits everyday that is my pill to health and I keep repeating it. The next best way to prevent free radicals from causing damage to your tissues is via omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids or better described as n3 and n6 are the modern world elixir to longevity present in tiny amounts yet very effective. Salmon, walnuts, pistachios, soyabean, trout, tuna, mackrel, rice bran oil, safflower oil, olive oil, fresh olives, any dry nut are great sources of n 3 and n 6 however the ratio of n3:n6 should be calculated by your registered dietitian while planning your diet routine.

Regularity of meals - This one fact is taken for a royal ride in today's scenario. If you are too busy to eat your food or snack in given time intervals do not pester people with your health issues and how you plan to start it next monday or the first day of next month or whenever. You need to make a simple choice, what is important to you pleasing yourself with the "I'm so busy" line or pleasing yourself with "my health is first, rest can wait" attitude. Regular meals gives insulin secretion a flow and regulates the body's metabolism to perform optimally not stting it off the track to go into a sudden jerk every now and then. When your body functions in rhythmic manner fat, protein and carbohydrate metabolism work in sync with each other and the opposite is also true which leads to the body always storing fat to save itself from the starvation you impose on it everyday and then a gush of fatty food immediately afterward. Regular meals regulates insulin thereby regulates carbohydrate metabolism giving sufficient energy to the body hence regulating fat and protein metabolism. Erratic habits of eating can land you into insulin resistance. Eating every 3 hours between breakfast to dinner is a non compromise. The hour gap between your dinner to next day's breakfast should not exceed 10 hours no matter what.

Get this in line you won't see the face of diabetes ever let only any lifestyle disorder. If you think you can't follow these basic principals without compromising on the palate well do I have some surprise for you ? But for that you'll have to wait for the upcoming recipe posts. Till then...

Wish you wellness.

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