Hectic routines and fast-paced lifestyles leave us with little or no time for fitness activities. Do not wait for a medical report or a doctor to sound the alarm bell. Healthy living is a choice you make by eating right and exercising right. Make that choice today by proactively choosing healthy food habits and an active lifestyle.
Watch what you eat:
What we consume affects our health the most. Selecting a proper diet is essential for a healthy lifestyle. Foods such as red meat, which is high in cholesterol, should be avoided and replaced with white meat (chicken and fish).
Cooking Oil, used in all meals, should be thus chosen with utmost care. In Nigeria, most of the unbranded oil is not refined properly and is rich in fat content. Power Oil comes as an easy solution. Pure and well refined, it comes in smaller sachets also, making it affordable for everybody.
Some of the common myths and facts about food habits are discussed below:
- Carbs make you fat: Being the body’s main energy source, Carbohydrates are not a cause for weight gain unless contributing to intake of excess calories.Going for low GI value and carbs rich in fibre like, Milets, Low GI rice, whole wheat breads, leafy vegetables help in regulating the amount and quality of carbohydrate intake and checks calories.
- Nuts are fattening and one should avoid if one wants to lose weight: Although high in fats and calories, nuts are also a good source of protein. Almonds and walnuts contain mono saturated fats than saturated fat, which is good for the heart and general health. It is advisable to consume 3-4 of these to lower risk of heart disease. Nuts like peanuts and cashews which are rich in fat content should be consumed moderately.
- Vegetarian people will not get enough protein: A vegetarian diet incorporated with milk and milk products such as paneer, soy and pulses in the form of dals or sprouts includes sufficient protein content required for a healthy diet. Vegetarians should consume combination of cereal-pulse preparations like Moong dal khichdi, Tofu sandwiches and Idlis rather than having a single ingredient meal.
- · Skipping meals is a good way to lose weight: Studies reveal that people who skip breakfast and eat fewer times a day tend to be heavier than people who eat healthy and timely meals regularly. Skipping a meal generally causes a tendency to overeat in the subsequent meal. This also lowers down BMR and further slows down burning of calories.
- Drink only when you are thirsty: Thirst signals dehydration. One should not wait till this stage and should maintain sufficient fluid intake by having regular sips of water or supplement with fruit juices and coconut water.
- Sprinkling Lemon Juice on the fat on meat dissolves it: Although being a good source of Vitamin C, lemon juice cannot dissolve fat. The best way to get rid of fat on the meat is to cut it off or choose leaner cuts.
- Foods like Bottlegourd juice, cabbage soup, pineapple tablet burn fat and help in losing weight: No foods can burn fat. One can partake foods like the aforementioned ones which are low in calories, but one cannot solely rely on them as it could lead to nutritional deficiency. Weight loss pills may speed up the metabolism (the way your body uses calories) for a short time, but they do not cause weight loss. Smarter way to lose weight is to consume balanced diet and to do regular physical exercise.
- If I eat after 8 p.m. I'll put on more weight: Food doesn't know time. The amount of fat burnt by the body and the rate at which it is burnt depends whether one is more active or less. The body does not store fat depending on the time of the body. That depends on the body’s basic metabolic rate (BMR). Generally BMR slows down with the passage of the day as we get less active towards the night. So it’s a question of the lifestyle and not their time of eating. If you want to boost BMR during evening time, include dietary fiber, good quality protein food in your evening meal and night meals.
