4 reasons why we should celebrate Navratri

 

Hi guys, 

Let me start with an honest confession. I don’t celebrate festivals for religious reasons. Not one not any. I am a proud disciple of science. It is in this path that I have understood more about God than amidst the condescending sermons given by the society.  So please be warned my list will not cite  ‘soul purification’ and ‘self-denouncement’ as reasons to celebrate Navratri. 

• Celebrate change  – In a country that boasts of six seasons Navratri comes five times a year, at the cusp of every changing season. So the ritual is not just to worship the Goddess but to celebrate a change.
• Change of grains  – A change of season also means a change of eating. In a country ruled by it’s rice and wheat staples, Navratri encourages a grain change. Out goes wheat and rice and in comes Kuttu- Buckwheat flour, a cover crop that prevents soil erosion. Sabudana- Tapioca root,  highly  resistant to plant diseases and Singhara Atta- Water chestnut flour,  a flour derived from the fruit of the same name. These seasonal grains are comparatively high in Fiber and protein content thus give the much-needed immune-system boost to the body.
• Liver repair  –  When the wise-men created the Navratri Rule-book, I am sure they didn’t realise that this ritual would have this hidden benefit. But since processed food intake goes down during Navratri, the liver gets the much-needed break from excess sugar and food-like chemical additives. 
• Last but not the least is the reason which has very little to do with the head but everything to do with the heart. For nine nights, we worship the goddess of power as Nav-Durga. A power we try to appease with our elaborate rituals. But her gift to us still supersedes all our efforts. And that is her ability to annihilate the darkness that differentiates and unite us so that the divinity within can shine bright. She allows the ‘Shakti’  in us to shine even if for nine days.  

 

3 Bitter Fat loss Truth Most Plans Miss

 

Hi guys,

When  you type ‘Fat Burn ‘ on Google it will give you around 91,70,000 results in less than a minute. But expect the same response from your body and you are setting yourself up for failure. Why am I sharing this obvious piece of information with you? Because more often than once this is exactly how we behave. Well at least most of my first time clients do! They want to be thin ‘Yesterday’. Their logic, since ‘we are making an effort we should get results.  My answer each time is a firm ‘No’. No you shouldn’t because the human body doesn’t work on whims. Needless to say a lot politely drop out, some are innovative enough to come up with interesting excuses but the ones who stay  understand the  logic. So here are the 3 things you should know before you think ‘Fat should melt because you want it to.’

• Fat loss is a science. Like any other science this too responds to action  backed  by reason. So keep random advises, religious /family beliefs and uni-dimensional  words of wisdom out of it. Focus on taking concrete steps. Make one change at a time. Take them consistently for at least 15 weeks to see any visible result.
• Fat loss’ is anything but simple. Your body doesn’t just start burning fat because you want it to. Fat-loss is a three-step process involving a multitude of metabolic adaptations. First fat is released from the stores then transported to the receptor sites and eventually oxidised or burnt. It is a cumulative effort of effective nutritional changes followed by an appropriate exercise routine. So to think just because you eat-less and exercise, you should get results is nothing but wishful thinking.
• Calorie burn and fat burn are not the same thing. Exercise definitely increases the energy demand on the body. Yes it does burn calories but not necessarily from the stored fat cells. Also in absence of appropriate metabolic conditions your body would  start storing fat with a vengeance in the post exercise session. Many of the so-called ‘Calorie-burn’ plans fail to mention this important piece of information. So never go in for the numbers when exercising. Instead exercise because that’s what human beings do.

Last but not the least remember losing fat is not just about looking thin, at least not for your body. It is a whole new set of adaptations, restarting of old pathways, correcting cell-signalling, adjusting hunger and satiety signals. Basically your body is adjusting to the new life even though for the better. That makes ‘Fat loss ‘more than just a physical makeover. It is a makeover of the mind and the heart. So treat this journey as sacred and embark on it only if you want friends with ‘change’.

Cheers

 

Food-addiction, an uncomfortable reality

 

Hi guys,

Let me tell you about a conversation I had with a client during the ‘Maggi ban.’ The ‘ban’ had opened a tin of worms for many. While most clients wanted to know how to detoxify themselves of years of Maggi abuse this young girl had a different problem. She was actually grieving it. Maggi had been her faithful companion for years. Probably making her overweight in the bargain, but, she was hell-bent on ignoring it all. She associated it with comfort and joy. Two extremely strong emotions that can make any lump of starch an elixir of health.The ban had altered those equations and she didn’t know how to deal with it. I remember her because she brought me face to face with a nutritionists worst nightmare, the dark-lord of our lives, food addiction.

Often swept under the carpet or reprimanded with sermons, food addiction is surely an ignored aspect of most fat loss plans. However, it should be the most addressed one. So here are few things that you need to know about it.

• Food-addiction has very little to do will power or lack of it. It has everything to do with the faulty signalling of the brain’s ‘reward system’.
• Designed as a survival mechanism, the reward system secretes the ‘feel good hormones ‘ when we do something that supports life. Eating is top on the chart closely followed by physical activity. Learning a new skill or nurturing a life form.
• It is this system that junk and many other packed food mess with. They trigger a false sense of well-being. Sell the illusion of happiness without any effort on our part. It is this free lunch that is both addictive and the stepping stone in the spiral of doom.

So what does this mean in the real world? A world where information isn’t just about stating facts on paper. A world where it needs to be functional to be effective. But sadly also a world where there is a fast-food outlet at every corner. Where kids birthdays are incomplete without litres of aerated drinks. Where school canteens sell chips and fruit juices with abandon. Extra hours at work ends up with an extra large pizza with cheese. Even the hospital canteens serves patties and sugar laden muffins with gusto. How do we avoid this addiction in this environment? That is the question for this hour.

Cheers

 

 

 

Food-fallacies you need to give up today.

Hi guys,

Once upon a time we ate meals without fear and anxiety of calories, nutrients or numbers. We ate when hungry and stopped when full. Meals werent as nutritious but definitely uncomplicated. But times have changed not necessarily for the better. At least as far as misconceptions go. So here are few food-fallacies that need to go from our lives today.

1. Hero-nutrients. The concept was probably introduced to push products in the market. But in reality there is none. So no amount of calcium is going to make you stronger unless your body uses it efficiently. The anti-aging pill is not going to make you any younger because biological age is body’s response to changing times. So stop looking for hero’s outside. Instead seek the one within.

2.Food-bashing. This one is probably the anti-thesis of hero nutrients. Therefore equally redundant. Food is never good or bad. Good or bad is our perception of it. Any food that the body can use is good and something that it cant is bad. So stop bashing food today. Instead look in the mirror if you are happy with what you see, all food is good. Otherwise it s time to roll the sleeves up and do something about it.

3. The special detox plans. This is probably the most ridiculous concept that fitness industry could ever come up with. the plain simple reason is detox is nothing special. Our liver is constantly at it. The kidneys, the skin,our respiratory system, the immune system and almost all organs have the ability to keep us toxin free. So drinking a concoction from a pint may be a fancy thing to do but hardly effective.

So guys, eat food like the way it is supposed to be, with respect, without fear and most importantly with joy. That is the only way to live lean.

Cheers

In defense of ‘Rice’

hi guys,

Since the time I remember rice has been the staple of our kitchen. Revered and respected like a matriarch,  we savored it without any conflict or doubt. Women fussed over cooking it to perfection.’ Pulao’ and ‘Biryani’ recipes were badges of honor flaunted and shared only within the family. Kheer the rice dessert ensured a long and healthy life on all our birthdays. So rice didn’t just stay confined to the kitchen.As a matter of fact it spilled out into many other aspects of our lives.So much so that we never appeared for a job interview without the rice tika on our foreheads, much to the amusement of our peers.

However, it all changed in the last two decades. Information about food took precedence. And rightly so. After information improved the quality of our lives. From rule followers, we were fast becoming a society of leaders. But as a collateral damage many of our traditional beliefs were challenged, often without the common sense backing it.

One such claim came with the arrival of brown rice. Replace white with brown, if you want to live longer and healthier screamed the fitness headlines. However, these claims didn’t impress my octogenarian grandmother a wee bit. Her alertness, vigor and zest for life were proof enough that the rice in her kitchen wasnt the killer we all thought it to be. At least not according to her. So our arguments about the virtues of brown rice fell on deaf ears. Grandma overlooked it all and lived her life happy with her white rice. We on the other hand tried our best to crossover. After many unsuccessful attempts, feeling miserably guilty I decided to do my own research on the matter.

Here is what I found out-

1. The protein factor – Brown rice has more proteins than white rice. But still it was a negligible amount.A cup of cooked white rice contains 4.25 grams of protein, while the same portion of brown rice provides 5 grams of protein. Average indian adult needs around a minimum of 20 GMS of protein per meal. So animal protein,whey protein from cottage cheese or soy is always better suited sources to fulfill our daily needs.
2. The fibre factor – 1 cup of cooked long grain brown rice has about 3.5 Gms of dietary fiber much more than the meagre 0.6 Gms of white rice. But still it isn’t enough to replace the regular dietary Fiber sources. The daily recommended dose of dietary fiber for an adult is 25-30gms best achieved from fruits and vegetables.
3. The calorie factor-The calorie factor- Brown rice has lesser calories than white rice. A cup of brown rice has about 100 calories lesser than the 120 of white rice. But I dont see that as an advantage of any sort. The reason being calories are not the enemy. As a matter of fact, we need a lot of it to survive. An average Indian adult male needs a minimum of 1800- 2000 calories and most of us women need at least 1500-1800 of it. So It s not cutting calories that make us thin but improving how the body uses them.
4. The blood sugar factor -the dietary fiber content of brown rice leads us to believe that brown rice dont raise blood sugar. But this claim is true if brown rice is eaten only by itself. In the real world, we dont eat like that. Adding the regular bowl of Dal and vegetables will make the meal as good or as bad as with any other staples. So the overall impact on the blood sugar levels isn’t as remarkable as we thought it to be.
5. The Vitamin factor – Brown rice come with an impressive list of vitamins. It is a good source of magnesium, phosphorus, selenium, thiamin, niacin and vitamin B6. It is undoubtedly an excellent source of manganese with 88 percent of our daily requirement fulfilled in just one cup cooked brown rice. These numbers were indeed intimidating till I found out that white rice too comes fortified with these most of these vitamins all except manganese.
6. The phytic acid factor– Phytic acid is an anti-nutrient. Anti-nutrients are not some devil lurking in the dark but they are a part of the defense system of plants. A compound that the plant secretes to protect itself from harmful pesticides and chemicals. Unfortunately they aren’t that great for our gut. In the human body, these anti-nutrients grab onto the nutrients and prevent their absorption. It also inhibits the digestive enzymes resulting in slow digestion that too without the essential nutrients. And guess what? Brown rice has more phytic acid than white rice.

So which one should you opt for? Unfortunately there isn’t a single line answer to that. In all fairness brown rice scores much higher than white, on many counts. But most of the parameters used to compare them aren’t as important as the market wants us to believe. So my advice is go by the most important one. And that is your palate. If you are like me, who loves the bland rice with spicy curries by all means choose white rice without guilt or anxiety. But if you enjoy the nutty flavor and dont mind spending some extra time at the kitchen cooking it, go ahead choose the brown rice. But remember while white won’t kill you. Brown is not going to make you immortal either.

Cheers

 

Stop blaming exercise

 

Hi guys,

‘Exercise’  is the single most important tool for living lean. Yet it is the first thing that is sacrificed at the alter of busy lives. Have you ever wondered why? Is it too tough for most of us? Are we really that busy that we can’t take out 30 minutes in our 24 hour days? Or are we too disillusioned by it? My bet is on the third one. The reason being the misconceptions shrouding it. Undue glamorisation of exercise, the overstretched expectation tag may have sold many products but it has buried the real reasons for exercising. So here are some of the facts that will hopefully change your perspective and restore back some of the lost glory of ‘exercise’.

Fact #1 -It s not exercise but ‘Living’that burns the most of our calories.The human body spends almost 2/3rd s of it s total calorie intake only on surviving. The rest 1/3rd on various other activities including exercise. So as long as we live we are burning calories and that to a huge amount. We can spare exercise of this burden. 

Fact #2 – It s not the number of calories but the source that is important.The heavier we are, more calories we need to survive. So a 220 pound person will burn 90 Calories or more in an hour as compared to the meagre 40 Calories expended by someone half that weight. But that doesn’t change the reality of the situation. In spite of burning double the calories the overweight would still be battling with the excess fat. So the number of calories is not as important as the source it s coming from.

Fact #3 – Fat or sugar which one is it?
Human body is conditioned to burn two kinds of fuel, carbs( sugar) and fat. Both involve separate metabolic pathways that our bodies beautifully balance in our formative years. But most of us ruin it as we grow up. Poor nutrition choices are the chief causes of it. Eliminating fat out of fear, ignoring proteins automatically increase the carbs in our meals. The result is, from fat burners we become sugar burners. And that too extremely poor ones. Gaining fat is a consequence of this process. And expecting exercise to reverse this single handedly is asking for too much. Fat loss in only possible when we change the way we eat.

So guys my advice is don’t exercise to’ burn calories’ or to ‘lose fat’. Exercise for 600 muscles that demand attention and activity. Exercise for your heart, that beats 115,200(approx) in a day, to improve the neural activity in the brain, improve attention, focus and decision making. Exercise to raise serotonin and endorphin levels that make you happier and calmer. Last but not the least exercise to be a better version of yourself. Living lean is just a by product of living well.

cheers

Top 5 Food that make a ‘worst diet’

Hi guys,
All of us have a fairly good idea as to what a good diet looks like. The most obvious image that comes to our mind is that of a pristine white background. Colourful fruits and vegetables neatly stacked on a table., beautiful jars of grains and clean lean meats kept in colourful plates and of course the Greek god or the smiling goddess endorsing it. Since both we and our kitchen look far from this we assume we are in the wrong path. But are we? Actually not.Yes we do get distracted every now and then but mostly we are not. So The question arises why are so many of us so unhealthy, where are we going wrong? Well, here are some of the so called ‘foods’ that have caused it.

1. ‘Healthy Biscuits’-Laden with sugar and some minimum amount of Fibre, and an ineresting  tagline( far from reality)  they are probably the top most misleading health food. Agreed dietary fibre has it s benefits but only if consumed from it s unquestionable source of roughage.Combined with a copious amount of sugar it is hardly any better than it non-healthy version. Actually I would prefer the normal one, at least it is less pretentious and definitely tastes better.
2. Low-fat products-It has taken us forty years to accept back fat in our lives. This grossly misunderstood element is probably one of the best ones to manage hunger. So I don’t see any purpose of consuming low-fat products when it is almost impossible to overeat fat  anyway. Also most of the low-fat products are high in sodium and sugar content prevent them from tasting like cardboard making them an absolute no-no at least in my kitchen.
3. ‘Health’ grains – Grains are excellent sources of energy. But only if your body knows how to use it efficiently. If not, it doesn’t matter which grain you are consuming. A healthy quinoa is as good or as bad as the plain simple rice if the glucose metabolism of your body is impaired. So try them for a variety of taste if you must,but don’t assume it to be a ticket to healthy living.
4. Instant Food – Nothing worthwhile in life is instant. So why should food be any different? What is ‘instant’ in these foods is their flavour? Packed with high salt, sugar and artificial flavours, there are surely a source of calories but not nutrition.
5. Canned fruits and fruits juices-This million dollar industry has flourished because we believed fruits are good for us. Well, for a start they are. But only if they are real fruits and not their evil twin. Without the essential fibres and vitamins, these products are no more than sugar water with some govt certified artificial flavours.

So guys, avoid these traps. Instead fill your meals with’ real’ food.  Foods which dont need labels to tell us who they are. Eat when hungry stop when not. Enjoy your meals, if possible share them with friends and family. Create memories with them and make your meals what they are supposed to be an enjoyable experience. Last but not the least, get real, be yourself and you will live lean.

Living life with PCOS

Hi guys,

This month I am starting a new plan that handles an old problem. The problem of living well with PCOS.

PCOS or poly cystic ovarian syndrome affects at least 1 in 4 of our young women. In a population of 1.2 billion it is indeed a staggering number.The knee-jerk reaction is to eliminate this hormonal imbalance in whatever way possible, however the reality is quite different. Nothing in the human body is sudden. So reversing a problem takes time. It is an uphill walk laden with weight gain, insulin resistance, excessive hair growth, acne etc. along with the stark reality of infertility. These elements too are extremely debilitating for most young women.

Although modern medicines do manage the symptoms and controls the side effects still even the best of doctors agree that PCOS doesn’t have a straight cut cure. That is why most doctors insist on weight loss alongside their medicines. But here lies the catch.While medicines can be bought, weight loss is probably the toughest thing to achieve with PCOS. Primarily because none of the conventional methods work. ‘eating less and exercise more’ idiom just falls flat when trying to lose weight with PCOS.

What we need are some radical changes

• Eating right – Eating food which is high on nutrition but low on secretion of Insulin.
• Strength training for the sake of it – Whether the scale moves or not, strength training for about 20 -30 minutes thrice a week will improve the insulin sensitivity of the body. That is far more important than the cosmetic impact of workouts.
• Building positive self-image – This is easier said than done. Peripherals of PCOS hurts most of the young girls emotionally more than physically. So staying positive has to be a conscious effort. an effort most of the conventional plan overlook.

My lifestyle plan ‘living with PCOS’ is a customised plan that aims at reversing the problem. But more than that it aims at empowering the client so that it becomes a personal victory for them.

Cheers

No diet charts, please

Hi guys,

Often I am asked why are there no random diet charts in my lifestyle plan? Why isn’t there any list of do’s and dont’s? Why do I allow almost all foods? How can a plan be so lenient? What is the catch? Well for starters there aren’t any. The ‘NO diet chart’ move is not some tagline to grab attention or provide another magic route to success. For the obvious reason there aren’t any.

Undoubtedly food is one of the most important element of healthy living. After air and water it is food that has helped us survive the evolutionary challenges. But alongside all those facts lies another equally compelling reality that we often overlook. And that is our emotional connection with food. Our meals are an expression of who we are. And we are much more than calories and nutrients. So I don’t think it is wise to restrict our options in an A 4 size paper with a list of do’s and Dont’s attached to it. I prefer expanding the horizons as much as I can. So I discuss food in respect to the client’s age, fitness goals and above all their likes, dislikes, family and social dynamics. The idea is to understand food better and not renounce it blindly.

Of course, there are both pros and cons of this decision. While most of my clients love being empowered, some have also left disappointed and lost without the rule book. The fact that there are no biases or villains often confuses many. still this has been a great year, with moments of glory superseding the moments of despair. So I guess my strategy of ‘no diet’ is here to stay. Hope it assists in many more makeover in the coming years too.

Cheers

3 questions to ask when battling with Food cravings

hi guys,

Craving for a particular food is not a figment of your imagination. It is a hardcore reality. A reality that derails the best of the fat loss efforts. Unfortunately most of the conventional diet plans either ignore this issue or try to put a band-aid fix on it. The result is the same. The problem persists and so does the battle. However, the solution lies in a simple truth. Like most other problems in life, the solution lies in our questions. So here are some of the basic questions you need to ask when battling with the ‘food cravings’

#1.Are you restricting the calories too much?The first thing that one does when trying to lose weight is cut down the food intake. Unfortunately calorie restriction is the worst step that one can take when trying to lose weight. Mindlessly cutting down real foods causes nutritional deficiencies. This leads to erratic hunger signals and cravings.

The solution – instead of restricting calorie eat quality meals. Opt for home-cooked foods over packed ones. Choose nutrition over junk.

#2.Are you eating addicted to low-fat snacks? Most of the so-called ‘low-fat’ snacks are laden with processed sodium and refined sugar. So munching on them all day long will not only play havoc with your blood sugar levels but also set you up on a binge spree late at night.

The solution – Reintroduce fats in your meals. At least 10% of your daily calorie intake should come from saturated fats. They will keep you satiated and keep the food cravings at bay.

# 3 Are you suffering from chronic stress? Stress may be a great facilitator of change but chronic stress isn’t. Our body secretes the Cortisol ( an important stress hormone) as a combat response. This response makes us alert, agile and often sound decision makers when facing the threat. But it derails many other systems in the process. Blood sugar fluctuation being the chief one. Although our body does correct itself after the imminent danger has passed away but still it needs a certain time for it. Chronic stress robs our body of this recovery period.

The solution – use supplemental aids. Although meditation and community support are the popular choices but external aids are often more effective and convenient. And you don’t have to visit a fancy supplement store for it too. Your kitchen probably has enough of them. Vitamin C abundantly available in lemon, vitamin B all are excellent for calming the nerves. So are ginger tea and chamomile tea. But my all time fave is ‘activity’. Running for about 20 Min raises the levels of happiness hormone for the next one hour if not more. So does strength training, walking, dancing or whatever else rocks your boat.

So guys managing craving needs strategies and not sermons. My advise is don’t sweep them under the carpet. Instead, Face them , get help and fix the problem. It will take time but everything worthwhile take time right?

cheers