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Choosing the Right Exercise Program for You

If there is one thing everybody universally agrees on it is that exercise is good for you. Irrespective of your age or your goals, getting some amount of exercise is good for everyone unless you have a medical condition that prevents you from doing so.

Exercise brings with it a host of benefits not just for your body but also for your mind. Exercising keeps you active, keeps lifestyle diseases at bay and also acts as an excellent mood lifter.

However, the most important decision you need to make before you choose an exercise program is finding one that fits your requirements. It is important to consider a whole lot of factors before choosing a program and it is not just about “what you feel like doing!”

In an age where almost everything from aqua aerobics to vinyasa yoga is so accessible to us, how do we choose the right exercise program?

Here are a few factors that you must consider before choosing the right program for you:

1. Goals

The first and foremost thing to ask yourself is “What are my goals?” Depending on whether your goal is fat-loss, general fitness or improving your stamina – pick a program that works for you. For instance, yoga works best for those who want to improve both their physical and mental health while cardio with some weight training is best for those looking for fat loss.

2. Prior Medical History

Getting a go-ahead from your doctor is non-negotiable. Understand if you have any medical limitations or prior injuries that might prevent you from doing a specific form of exercise and take it into consideration before choosing.

3. Make reasonable commitments

Be honest with yourself about how much time you can commit to an exercise program – once you do this, you can pick something that works for your schedule so that you are not tempted to skip class later on account of not having enough time!

4. Motivation Levels

Some people are self-motivated to give any exercise program their best whereas other people need to be pushed. In case you are one of those people who need more external motivation, go for a workout that involves a workout buddy or a trainer who can push you!

5. Include Variety

Most people who choose to exercise lose motivation soon because exercise starts to get monotonous. If you are someone like that, choose a program that includes variety so that you look forward to exercising!

6. Current Fitness Levels

It is depending on how fit you are that you should pick the program for you – in case you are not very active or fit and you pick something that is too intense, there is a good chance that you might give up very soon. Make sure you pick something you can handle so that you feel motivated to keep at it.

How can you help prevent the spread of Tuberculosis?

On this World Tuberculosis day, give yourself the space to learn something about Tuberculosis and help prevent it when you can. This is a disease caused by bacteria and it can spread from person to person through the air. Lungs, kidneys, bones or the brain may get harmed in this process.

There are two forms: Latent TB infection (Inactive) and TB disease (Active). Inactive TB has no symptoms and is detected through blood/skin test only whereas Active TB cab causes cough, fatigue, coughing up blood, chest pain, sweating at night, fever, loss of appetite, and weight loss.

Here are few steps you could use to avoid it:

1. Avoid meeting people with TB –

Since it highly contagious, it is best suited to avoid being around people that already are in contact with the disease. But if you have no choice as in a work space, it is best if you wear a mask and stay safe.

2. Are you susceptible –

If you have a weak immune system, work in a crowded space, regularly expose yourself to drugs/alcohol or have no access to proper health care then you are at a higher risk of getting this disease. The lesser contact, the safer you are.

3. Maintain healthy lifestyle –

Incorporate exercising in your daily life or at least 4 times a week to stay fit. Make sure your diet includes a lot of healthy food such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, meat, etc. Avoid fatty, sugary and processed foods. Avoid consumption of alcohol and drugs.

4. Get vaccinated –

The main way to prevent TB is by the use of the BCG (Bacille Calmette-Guerin) vaccine. It can be prevented in children by treating cases of active TB amongst adults in the same household. Children with the disease are usually not infectious, and so there is usually no chance to pass on TB to either other children or elders.

Reference:

http://www.tbfacts.org/tb-prevention/

http://16c.72e.myftpupload.com/tb-children/

http://www.wikihow.com/Prevent-Tuberculosis

Things to Consider before starting a Fitness Program for Older Adults

It is never too late to start getting fit – no matter how old you are, doing something to keep yourself fit is always a great idea.

Especially as we grow older, it is important if not essential to do some form of exercise.

Apart from just keeping you fit there are a host of benefits that come along with fitness such as keeping your blood pressure in check and preventing lifestyle diseases that are common as you get older.

However, it is important to keep a few factors in mind before starting a fitness program, especially if you are older. It is definitely not advisable to wake up one day and start a rigorous exercise routine because this will cause more harm than good.

1. Consult with your doctor

The first and perhaps the most obvious step is to get a go-ahead from your doctor. Consult with your general physician and take his inputs on what kinds of activities are best suited for you and whether it would be productive to go ahead. In case you have any specific problems, make sure you consult the specialist.

2. Pick activities that are moderately intense

Unless there are specific instructions from your doctor to perform low intense activities, pick something that is moderately intense. This will help ensure that you see some results and also ensure that you do not over strain yourself to a point of exhaustion. It is definitely not advisable to start with a high intensity program!

3. Consistency

The most important thing about picking any fitness program is the consistency . This will definitely give you more results than doing something sporadically!

4. Finding an exercise program with personal attention

Most places do not offer you personalized attention from the get go –whether you are training alone at the gym or working out in a group class, there are times when your trainer is not paying enough attention. Make sure you find a program or hire a personal trainer at least during the initial months to ensure that there are no problems.

5. Plan your exercise routine to include variety

Make sure you include a good variety of exercises in your workout routine – this is critical especially in case of older adults because you do not want to overwork a particular muscle or not pay attention to one part of your body. Tailor your workout plans in such a way that you get an overall comprehensive workout.

References

https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/older_adults/

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/fitness/Pages/activities-for-the-elderly.aspx

Social Media – A tool to gauge mental health?

We spend a large part of our lives online – perhaps most of our interactions today happen online and very little happen outside the virtual world. Social media especially has become a very powerful tool in changing the way in which we communicate.

While the first thing anyone would tell you is that they find social media empowering and that it gives them a voice, there is also another side to the story.

Is social media just connecting us or has it also become a place for people to ask for help? Can we analyse someone’s online behavior and understand what it is that they are going through in their lives? Can someone’s posts online be indicative of their mental health?

The answer is a resounding yes!

It could be a girl who posted a sad quote on her Facebook or a boy who tweeted about life being too hard – we are leaving clues about our mental health online and perhaps it is the best place to look to see if a loved one needs help.

There have been times where people who have committed suicide have had an online record of status messages that have been indicative of them harboring such thoughts.

How do you identify if someone is going through a difficult time through their online behaviour?

Here are a few things you can notice closely to understand this.

1. What are they saying?

It is easy to dismiss what someone posts as trivial or just a rant on a bad day – but take a minute to pause and understand if it is a cry for attention. Are they talking about having a bad day or are they leaving clues that seem to hint at a bigger problem?

2. What kind of posts are they interacting with?

What are the posts they are liking, reacting or commenting on? Are they constantly interacting with posts that seem to suggest problems in life or hint at suicidal thoughts?

This could be a strong warning sign that this person is going through something that they don’t want to talk to the world about.

3. What are they sharing?

Have you noticed people who share philosophical quotes that seem to suggest that they are sad or very abruptly point to the fact that they might need some help?

In some cases, it might be because they simply liked the quote or felt someone would relate to it but more often than not sharing such content means that they are asking for help.

While making hasty judgments based on a few shares is not good – It is important to ensure that you are around to offer a friendly word or at least check on them to make sure they are okay!

4. Observe Patterns

It could be someone who was very active on social media not posting at all anymore or it could be someone who has suddenly become very active– paying attention closely and seeing how frequently someone is posting can help you understand about their state of mind.

5. De-activating the account

Just like how social media activity patterns can tell you that someone is going through something difficult – completely deactivating their online presence could also mean they are going into a shell.

We do have a lot of reasons to stay away from social media including work-priorities or it can simply be a choice but if you think it is because someone is going through a lot in their life, there is definitely a correlation between the two.

Walnuts – Food for the Brain

Eating healthy is imperative for both physical and mental health. As does your heart and other important parts of your body, your brain also requires specific nutrients that give it a boost. Enter Walnuts. How does it help enrich your grey matter? Read below to find out:

Better working: It is no coincidence that walnuts look like the brain. Every bite feeds straight into your brain fueling activity and increased efficiency. Helping with inferential reasoning and critical thinking, these magic nuts can help students ace their tests. So if you are looking to increase your IQ, you have your answer!

Nutrition: Out of all the nuts that are considered healthy, walnuts are especially rich in Omega 3 and have a higher concentration of DHA that play an integral role in brain health. Walnuts are full of healthy lean protein, polyunsaturated fats, and are a powerhouse of polyphenols. Walnuts also contain manganese, copper, iron, phosphorous, magnesium, and calcium—all nutrients which are important to good mental health.

Clear cognition: Walnuts are antioxidant store houses. They can decrease the enhanced vulnerability to stress that occurs during aging, increase life span, and also stimulate cognitive and motor function in aging. They help reverse the process of age related memory decline and are even used to cure certain neurodegenerative mental diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Mood Boosters: If you think coffee lifts you up or keeps you awake, try a fist full of walnuts. Not only do they help in ensuring happy spirits and an active thought train, they also counter low spells associated with depression and anxiety. Popping a few walnuts can instantly make you active and help you react better to external stimuli.

Control Blood Pressure: Walnuts are great to get more blood pumping to your brain. Like flax seeds, it helps thin the blood so the heart finds it easy to maintain pace. Added bonus, it also reduces LDL or ‘bad cholesterol’ and improves blood vessel cell wall function.

Incorporating walnuts in your diet is easy and simple. Apart from including it in your salads as a topping, you can easily blend them with your smoothies. It also serves as a quick snack when frozen with honey or paprika. You could also consider using it in baking when making banana bread or cookies. A quick tip though – remember to remove the skin as it may taste bitter!

References:

http://www.brainhq.com/brain-resources/brain-healthy-foods-nutrition/nuts-brain-health

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/06/walnuts-the-ultimate-brain-food.html

5 Ways Modern Technology has Contributed to Healthcare

Technology has changed the rules of the game of life, from how we communicate, how we travel, to how we learn new things. Healthcare is no exception to this rule of thumb with technology delivering results that no-one thought possible a decade ago!

The preceding 100 years specifically have seen an incredible spurt in health care related technological advancement. The MRI machine, pacemaker, CT scan, dialysis, cardiac defibrillation, organ transplants and joint replacements are all procedures and tools that were unthinkable a century ago.

Here is an overall look at all the things that have happened in the health care sector and some of the benefits:

1. Advancement in Software – helps doctors and medical professionals to understand symptoms better, to identify the type of illness as well as understand the causes and the right approach of treatment.

2. Doctor Appointment Apps – With hospitals and clinics being busy more often than not, these apps help you make an appointment from the comfort of your home.

3. Health based Apps – Helps keep an eye on your daily health, from monitoring your blood pressure, sugar levels to tracking your sleep levels etc.

4. Medical Portals – Makes available information for better understanding of one’s symptoms in simple layman terms before or after approaching a doctor

5. Increased Treatment Options – Makes available options that are more effective, less invasive and painful and even differently priced, always keeping in mind the comfort of the patient.

Although technology does give an advantage, do remember that there is also almost always an adverse side to everything. Instead of trusting only online information for your wellbeing make sure you speak to your doctor about any symptoms that you might have. One must also always get regularly tested for overall health.
References:

http://www.txhealthcare.com/health-news/how-technology-is-changing-healthcare/58/

https://care24.co.in/blog/5-ways-modern-technology-is-impacting-health-care/

Are you a people-pleaser?

Do you always put everyone else above you? Do you feel upset or dissatisfied with yourself when someone is not happy with you? Do you feel the constant need to please everyone?

If you answered yes to those questions or vigorously nodded your head as you read through this, you might have a people pleasing problem.

People pleasers are not hard to spot – they are usually the ones trying to make sure that everybody gets what they want and they would go to any length to make it happen. They are the ones who cannot say NO, often have trouble keeping commitments and find themselves in situations just because they could not be assertive enough to say a NO!

The problem is when they please others by constantly putting themselves through discomfort and stress. Here are some ways in which to fix this!

1. Remember it is your choice

People who like to constantly please other people often forget that they have a choice – they feel helpless when they are in a situation where the choice is between putting themselves through discomfort or saying no to someone. Remember that you have a choice because that is the first step towards exercising it!

2. Set your priorities

Do you find yourself accommodating requests or telling people you will do something for them through the week? Make it a habit to sit at the beginning of every week to write down your priorities. This way, you will be forced to revisit your priorities for the week before accepting any new commitments!

3. Don’t give excuses

If you are a people pleaser, odds are that you would feel compelled to give a list of excuses every time you can’t do something for someone. Avoid doing this because you might get flustered – remember you can always say no without having to back it up with excuses! This assertiveness will help you break the habit of being a people pleaser.

4. Take Small Steps

If you are a compulsive people pleaser, it is not easy to get this habit out in a short time. Make sure you do not get disappointed when you fail the first few times – keep trying persistently until you get it right!

5. Don’t be scared of the consequences

Ask any people pleaser what they are scared of the most and the first they will tell you is that they don’t want to offend anyone. Don’t focus too much on the consequences and remember that the ones who care will understand as you try and make changes to your behaviour!

6. Think about the other things you can do

As a motivating factor – think about all the other things you could do if you stopped doing everything that came your way just to please people; this would help you be more assertive.

Reference:

https://psychcentral.com/lib/21-tips-to-stop-being-a-people-pleaser/

Microwave – A Boon or a Bane?

It is a very common notion that microwaving food strips our food of its nutrition. But is it true?

On the contrary, microwaving food actually helps retain nutrients that are otherwise usually lost when boiled or cooked on the stove for a long time. The only two disadvantages of using a microwave, is the radiation emanated and using the wrong kind of plastic to cook.

However, how many of us use it to actually cook? Most times, it is used to quickly reheat meals that have already been prepared. Sometimes, it is used as a tool to finish off that last step required to make it a fully cooked meal.

Either way, a microwave is not as bad as we think it is. There are specific foods though, that you should avoid microwaving. Here is a list to help you out:

Red Meat: Don’t put this in the zapper for more than six minutes to thaw and 2 minutes to cook. All the fat seeps out of the meat making it unhealthier as a meal. If reheating, don’t go beyond 3 minutes.

White rice: Rice requires a gradual temperature rise for it to cook properly. In a microwave, the heat remains constant from the time it starts and this makes the rice cook unevenly.

Chapati: Chapatis are usually popped into the microwave for a quick heating. But did you know they are only made drier and harder? When heated for more than 3 minutes, you will be pulling out wheat crisps!

Citrus: Although unlikely, it is still good to know that the effects of Vitamin C are negated the moment it is exposed to heat as it is a highly sensitive vitamin.

Garlic: Less than 60 seconds in the microwave is sufficient to nullify an active ingredient that makes garlic an anti-carcinogenic.

Eggs: Never reheat boiled and scrambled eggs in a microwave. It can even turn toxic and cause digestive problems or food poisoning.

References:

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/21/health/upwave-microwaving-food/

http://www.nutritionpointkenya.com/2017/01/does-microwave-cooking-affect-nutrition.html

http://www.womansday.com/food-recipes/cooking-tips/a51830/youll-be-shocked-to-hear-why-you-shouldnt-reheat-these-common-foods/

Supplements – How they contribute to a fitness routine

We all have a certain fitness goal we would like to achieve. If your goal is to build muscles and body mass, just a meal plan and lifting weights will not cover all the energy your body needs to get there.

For better performance, accelerated fat loss and muscle building, supplements are the answer! Think of it in terms of a video game: Supplements are like the power-ups that made the Mario brothers grow twice their size. They help in effectiveness of your fitness routine and give you more strength to hit your goal faster.

Here are the five most common supplements that are used and how they contribute to a workout:

1. Whey Protein

It is most crucial for pushing protein synthesis and has milk protein that has high level of amino acids. It digests food faster and starts building muscles. It contains small peptides which are small proteins that help increase blood flow to the muscles.
Best bet – 30 mins before workout have 20g and 40g within an hour after training.

2. Creatine

This helps you gain 5 kgs of body weight and increases strength too. You’ll notice that your energy level has comparatively risen as well – allowing you to do more reps with weights .

Best bet – 5g before workout

3. L-Glutamine

Want to improve your immune system? Reduce muscle recovery and soreness? Glutamine comes to the rescue! When other tissues need this supplement; they will often leach this amino from muscle stores, so supplementing it makes sense.

Best bet – Take 5g, 3-4 times a day so the body has a constant supply

4. Omega – 3 Fish Oil

Fish Oil has several benefits for both muscle gain and weight loss and studies say that has the most scientifically proven health benefits than any other supplement. It provides the perfect balance of omega-3 fats and unsaturated fatty acids in the purest and most concentrated way possible.

Reference:

https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/top-5-supps-for-faster-muscle-gain.htm

http://www.intense-workout.com/supplements.html

https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/explosive-growth-your-summer-supplement-strategy.htm

Why are young people prone to cardiac arrests?

There was a time when if we heard that someone had a cardiac arrest – it would come as quite a bit of a shock to us! With time, we started hearing of it more often and what now takes us by surprise is that even young people are losing their lives to cardiac arrests.

The average age of individuals succumbing to cardiac arrests seems to be dropping every single day even though the awareness about the condition, the need for fitness and good nutrition in general has gone up.

Have you ever wondered why? While there are other reasons, most of it is because of one’s lifestyle choices. By fixing these, you can go a long way in avoiding a cardiac related problem.

1. Family History

Cardiac arrests are more likely to occur and cause deaths in case when there is a family history of cardiac arrests. This is one of the major reasons young people face this condition. It is important to be wary of this and take precautions early in life.

2. Lack of Exercise

With an increasingly sedentary lifestyle plaguing the next generations – complete lack of exercise and a sedentary lifestyle is one of the major reasons why more youngsters are prone to cardiac disorders.

3. Lack of Nutrition

High cholesterol levels are the first warning signs of a cardiac arrest – with a sharp increase in junk food and unhealthy eating habits more and more youngsters are prone to higher rates of cholesterol and in turn are prone to more diseases. It is important to inculcate healthy eating habits right from the teens to ensure good health!

4. Smoking

Smoking is one of the major lifestyle reasons that causes heart problems. Staying away from smoking is important to keep your heart healthy!

5. Drinking too much alcohol

While drinking is not as fatal as smoking, drinking too much alcohol can be a trigger for a cardiac arrest.

6. Obesity

Maintaining a healthy body mass index can prevent cardiac arrests – being obese or over-weight is another reasons for young people to suffer from a cardiac arrest!

References

http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20110705/healthy-lifestyle-cuts-risk-of-sudden-cardiac-death#1

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