The wonder of barley and the story of oats!!

Two foods that I find are "stunners" when it comes to fat burn!!

Thanks to a super low glycemic index, both these foods do not spike sugar levels when consumed. Spikes in sugar levels is just what you cannot afford if and only if my dear fellas your intention is "fat burn".

Spikes in sugar levels which invariably happens when you eat high glycemic foods rather killers like sugar, potato, pastries, refined flour based products, etc initiate fat storage. So control these and you sure are taking your first steps to the much desired "fat burn" arena.

Controlling high glycemic foods is one task, uphill but not impossible. Another much simpler task is to include low glycemic foods in the diet which brings us to our 2 friends for today, OATS AND BARLEY.

Oats and barley both have have low glycemic loads which means that they definitely do not promote fat storage, on the other hand, they fuel fat burn.

Another advantage is their "full feel" benefit or in other words, their satiety value. The fiber quotient in oats and barley allows it to absorb relatively more water due to which, you consume a small serving size of 40-50gms and it leaves you feeling full, not reaching out to raid the kitchen and satisfied with your ability to say "enough"!!!

I really don't want to go too deep into the nutritional profile of these products but it needs to be said that the nutritional benefits of both barley and oats are far reaching from their ability to support a healthy heart, reduce colon cancer, manage type 2 diabetes, antioxidant benefit almost equivalent to fruits and veggies; provision to serve as a wheat alternative to those who cannot sustain gluten (found in wheat)amongst many others.

The most amazing feature of this duo as i see it, is the advantage of being able to consume it in the most basic form like a simple oat-milk porridge or barley water to the most sumptuous, lip smacking flavours like a cheese barley fiesta or oat idlis/upma (with hot, mouth watering sambhar to boot!!)

Found some interesting recipes...click n check them out!!

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/maindishentreerecipes/r/cheeseybarley.htm

http://www.veginspirations.com/2008/12/instant-oats-idli.html

http://www.veginspirations.com/2008/11/savory-oats-and-barley-crepe-oats-and.html

http://www.tarladalal.com/Barley-Vegetable-Soup-(-Exotic-Diabetic-Recipe-)-33748r

http://www.tarladalal.com/Barley-and-Corn-Kachumber-3595r

http://busycooks.about.com/od/hotsouprecipes/r/Tomato-Barley-Soup.htm

Enjoy!!!

Weight Watchers....Beware!!!

Watch your fat, not your weight.

Yes it is so true that most of us get so glued in on the number that the weighing scale shows that we just don't orient ourselves to the fact that weight drops not only because of a drop in fat but a drop in muscle too!!

Weight like your age is just a number...don't dissapoint youself or your efforts only cause the weighing scale doesnt suggest a drop in weight.  Then what do i look for???

- Stop reading your efforts on the weighing scale, they could demotivate you or they could overestimate your actual fat loss.

- Look for your inches...they need to keep coming down! The changes could come in as fast as within a week.

- Watch for the fitting of your clothes. The first and last reason you could be happy when your clothes fit loose!

- Others WILL tell. People around us on't see us often as we do ourselves....that is why they see even minor changes in our boy dimensions and most people will tell the change!

- Gradual change in dress sizes when you go shopping.

- Your energy levels soar and you step lighter...you feel lighter

Finally....you weight will come down, as it is true that you cannot gain muscle as fast as you can loose fat.

Kids - Where is the balance between what is right and what is convenient in that phenomena called "FOOD HABITS"

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Good Food Habits, an inculcation right from childhood yet can learnt or unlearnt at any point in life. But chances are that the habits that one learns at a tender age are soaked up faster & could be engulfed in permanance.

We as parents are synonymous with "responsibility". The resposibility to raise our kids right, the responsibility to choose the right school, the responsibilty to keep them safe, secure and happy, so the resposibility to feed them right. Food, one of the most important factors that potentiate their health & wellness is a complex subject today. It's true, more the research, more is the spread of knowledge and even more is the need to filter the right information.

SO what is it that we need to pay key attention to to make sure that are kids stand the best chances of a healthier lifestyle in future? No guarantees, cause unpredictable as they are they could dump your efforts like a piece of hot potato, but the following points sure will serve as strong guidelines in teaching your children the essentials of good nutrition.

• "Eat everything on your plate" Syndrome - If you are one such parent who believes this is one habit that you have managed to teach your child, you definitely don't deserve a star on your shoulder. What do you do when you try something you dont like? avoid it like the plague the next time it crosses your path? Well kids aren't like that. They are very flexible and their mind is ever on the look out for something new to explore....which is a good thing. So today you may hav offered your daughter broccoli and she may have rejected it. If you do not insist that she finish it anyway there are all chances that she may try it the next time you offer it to her. But if you do persist on a clean plate, the fear of having to finish broccoli the next time will prevent her from experimenting with it again. Children take anywhere between 8-12 turns of repeat offerings of a new food before they accept it. So dont force, just keep offering a particular food at regular intervals and there are all chances that your child will develop a tatse for most of the healthy things you offer. Teach your child the importance of not wasting food, he will surely pick it up as he grows.

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• The colour palate - Compare your child's diet to multicoloured dynamic, vibrant painting. More the variety of colours in your selection of fruits and veggies more are trhe chances that your child is receiving important vitamins and minerals required for growth, focus & mindfunction.

                                                                  
          Yellow & orange colours - Apricots, cantaloupe, carrots, mangoes, oranges, papayas,
          peaches, sweetcorn, sweet potatoes, etc.
          Red colours (cherries, radishes, strawberries, red peppers,red grapes, red onions, watermelon, etc)
          Green colours (spinach, methi, broccoli, beans, green cabbage, lettuce, okra, peas, gourds,
          capsicum, pears, guava)
          Nightshade colours (brinjal, blueberries, plums, purple grapes, pomogranetes, purple cabbage,
          prunes, raisins, etc)
          White colours (Bananas, cauliflower, potatoes, mushrooms, onions, etc)

• "Dining table to the TV"syndrome. Reverse it today. The world is running...FAST. And we are running too to keep pace, we are teaching our kids to run too, to compete, to accomplish. In this rut we forget to spend time as a family. The dining table is a mere piece of decoration or a spae to dwell on homework. Eat atleast one meal with your whole family, which is probably dinner or breakfast. Here is where

         1) a family can bond
         2) parents can influence kids to eat better. Kids learn from what they see.
         3) kids and adults alike can appreciate the taste of food and decide what they like
         4) kids can even decide what they could learn to like under parental influence.
        So many reasons to gravitate away from the TV and eat with your family...the traditional way is the right
        way sometimes!

• Let children experiment with you & coooking - I have heard even good cooks say "I hate eating my own food". The fact is contradictory. What we probably mean is that we would love the to save ouselves the trouble. But once made, we'd love to devour our own food! After all we creatures of vanity! In a more subtle but even more probable way, this stands true for kids too. Pick a vegetable you want your child to try....and involve him in cooking it in a way he'd find most palatable and easy  to make. e.g veggies with cheese, steamed & buttered corn, creamy soup, veggy cheese sandwiches, etc. But be very careful, children can get experimental and dangerous in the kitchen.So never leave them alone and prefer minimal use of the flame. Wear only cottons.
• Kids do not need oodles of fat. You are doing them only harm by pouring on ghee, butter and cream over their foods. They fat they put on as a child is what will probably decide their body type in the future. You want kids to thank you for developing their good food palate, not fatten it!! Fat just makes you fat not grow as opposed to poula belief.
• Substitution is welcome - All kids cannot and will not like everything...just like YOU. If he doesn't like chapati, whole wheat bread is fine. If your child does not like milk, try yoghurt or cheese or even soya milk. Use the colour wheel to substitute fruits and veggies of your child's choice. He MUST eat from all the colour categories, but need not eat EVERYTHING ON THE FOOD COLOUR WHEEL.
•  Encourage drinking water, lots of it. Keep an alarm if you have to and keep offering it to them or reminding them of it.
• What they eat is more important than the quantity. Kids know how much they need, atleast most of the time, so give them that space and choice. If you truly believe they need more food, offer small helpings at regular intervals. Again this may be possible only with smaller kids or when kids are back from school & activities.
• Last but not the least, Don't avoid JUNK, MODERATE IT. Curiosity never allows us to take no for an answer and so it is with kids. Let your children try anything, but outline their limits & define your decision to stand by it. It is best they taste even the worst with you rather than with peers or at another house.

The points above are a synopsis of my experience with little clients and their parents, expect differences from child to child cause your little one is unique in his/her choices & reactions. Work around them but with PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE. Nothing else can give you better results

   

Water retention.....the devil in your life?

Water retention can be a major hindrance in your efforts at weight loss. I have seen plenty of my clients struggling with the syndrome to understand how difficiult and trying water retention can be.

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CAUSE
Imbalance of salts cause circulating water to be pulled into the intracellular fluid of body cells, retaining water in the body.

SYMPTOMS
This results in bloating of specific body parts (like the legs/face) or in more severe cases the entire body.

BE CAREFUL
Water retention in itself is not a disease, it is probably a symptom of a body condition yet to be discovered. If water retention persists for more than a week, visit your physician.

CHECK FOR WATER RETENTION

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When your thumb impression leaves a mark in your skin (inner arm/hands/legs/feet) that lasts for more than 5-10 seconds, you have water retention. The degree will ofcourse vary depending on the severity of the condition.

MYTH
Most people think water is the culprit which is so not true, so dont stop drinking water....salt is, so now you know what to cut down on.

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THE STRUGGLE WITH WEIGHT LOSS
Water retention masks your efforts as well as your results at fat reduction. The scales just dont dip and your metabolism just does'nt rise. The excess weight makes you sluggish and the scales just aren't inspiring!!!

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WHAT YOU CAN DO

 - Cut down on excess cooking salt AND never use table salt. Restrict/eliminate
    - salted foods like cheese
    - canned foods, packed or processed foods, cured meats like sausages, salami,etc.
    - Also limit the use of sauces like soya sauce, MSG, other ready sauces 
      and dips.

 - Have lots of water, atleast 2.5-4 litres a day. There needs to be enough intake to keep water
   circulating in the body. Water intake can rid you of water retention.

 - Have foods that have a high pottasium ratio as compared to sodium, like  
   bananas,oranges,potatoes,carrot, apples and tender coconut water. It will help balance out the

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   excess build up of sodium in the blood.

 - Popular salt substitutes are also available like potassium chloride and bicarbonate but excess of
   these could cause side effects like nausea, vomitting, diaorrhea, etc, so its best to substitute
   potassium & magnesium with fruits and veggies. Keep your calcium levels also optimum to
   balance out the effects of sodium with milk and milk products in the diet.

 - Swimming is one of the best exercises one can use to help deal with water tetention. To beat the  

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   enemy, befriend him!!

AGAIN DESPITE ALL YOUR EFFORTS IF WATER RETENTION DOES NOT SUBSIDE, VISIT A DOCTOR/PHYSICIAN ASAP.



There's no rush!

I took years to put on oodles of weight, there was no rush then. It was a slow and steady process. I enjoyed every minute of it....the long licks of icecream, the steady inflow of melting chocolate, the steaks, the sizzlers, the weddings, the birthdays, the vacations, the list is endless.

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The end of every occassion ,marked the beginning of another and inbetween the two lay yet anotheR "half an inch" addition to my waist line. There definitely was no rush.

Finally one day I went to the doctor for a annual check up on the day after my 33rd birthday (the cake was a chocolate truffle n yummy!!). I waited to see him after my test results were in, impatient, as I had to meet my friends for a movie. I sure did need time to buy pop and pocorn! Why wouldn't he just hurry?

The doctor definitely was in no hurry as he looked at me pensively over his round rimmed glasses. My impatience transformed into anxiety and slowly but definitey melted into fear. The bearer of my results didnt look happy but didnt seem to say or do anything but assess me over (or so i thought). But when he spoke, he spoke straight, without rounding off the edges. "Your reports are bad and you need to do something about your weight quickly. You are high on cholesterol, sugar and blood pressure. In no time you might find your knees hurting too. Its your weight that you need to reduce and keep in check" His words rang like a death sentence. And suddenly I was in a rush....not to catch my movie but to lose weight.

Unfortunately there can't be a rush to lose weight. Fat weight comes off steadily, slowly but surely with time and a great deal of discipline. It also follows that to keep off the weight from loading on again, it summons a change in lifestyle habits, priorities and routine. It requires gut and determination. It's entirely possible but not easy. So the next time you run off the mill on an eating spree, make sure "THERE'S NO RUSH"!!

I eat so little, yet I can't seem to lose weight.......

One of the first liners from new clients is "I eat really little, theres nothing to reduce further in there. Yet I can't seem to lose weight. I guess now i have to start exercising". To which I just smile and listen further.


I'm smiling cause all ineed to do is step up their eating quantity and they'd start losing weight. I'm happy cause they will be happy....they will eat more and yet lose....truly, the biggest loser does win!!

Several points to consider here.......
1) Exercise is important, no debate there. But in a fat loss regimen, exercise contributes by about 20-25%. It is the diet which is vastly responsible for fat loss, contributing to 75-80% of your weight loss.


But it is only through exercise that one can greatly improve fitness levels, muscle tone and keep strength and flexibilty high. Towards these goals there is no substitute for exercise and it must form an essential part of our routine.


2) When it comes to weight/fat loss, our metabolism plays an imp role. Higher your metabolism, higher is the rate of fat burn. But how does one improve this devil called "metabolism"
- frequent small meals through the day
- exercise which increases activity levels.
- increase in mucle mass through weight training.


3) You want to lose weight/fat, you have to eat less than the calories required to maintain your current body weight. i.e. negative calorie intake. And here is where there is a need to be set a balance b/w what we like to eat, how much we eat in the frequent meal pattern and what we need to eat.

"Individuality" is the keyword". Every "body" has an individualistic requirement, its own requirement of protein, nutrients, and optimal diet for fat burn. It is imp to know and understand your body's composition, what kind of diet & exercise best instigates fat burn & weave it together with your convenience and taste preferences. That's what is good dietary management which translates to a potent lifestyle.