Care Points – An Ultimate resource for In-depth Health Information and articles

Twenty first century is said to be a millennium that is tremendously advanced in many fields that were mere dreams of our ancestors. Yes, we do deserve a pat on our back for achieving it. But do we really care that this advancement in all areas of life is affecting our health adversely? In an attempt to work harder and harder, we are neglecting our health to a great extent. The end result is so many diseases cropping up, which are aptly called as “new-age” diseases. One of the major diseases is obesity, which pioneers the onset of many other diseases. Why is our population succumbing to obesity menace so rampantly?

Just have a look at the lifestyles of our ancestors and the reason will be clearly visible to you. There was extra load of manual work during old times and also a degree of satisfaction prevailed in their lives. We are running behind our duties endlessly, forgetting to enjoy smaller moments and achievements in day to day life. In this vicious cycle, we are eating more to counter our stress and strain. Numerous food stalls and restaurants are opened up that guarantee multi-cuisine treat to all of us. We have little extra money to buy whatever and whenever we want and this all sums up in our unsightly bulges!

What can be done to achieve a balanced body with balanced thoughts?

Well, it is also true that we are unable to come out of the vicious cycle that we have created for ourselves. We have deadlines to meet and workload to finish. But, we can start motivating ourselves by imbibing the healthy lifestyle patterns that can keep us going for long time to come. One of the major areas is our eating. If you want to achieve a harmonized body, you have to have good healthy meals. You cannot eat anything and everything if you want to keep your weight in check. And there is no better alternative than preparing your own food for having all benefits of natural home-made food.

What are the benefits of home-made food?

•    Possibility to count the calories that we are consuming
•    Possibility of choosing only those ingredients that do not make us fat
•    A sense of satisfaction that comes after successfully preparing a health-recipe
•    Ability to inculcate good eating habits among our children
•    Learning new cooking styles is always fun
•    You save lot of money by preparing food at home, a fact that also contributes to reducing your stress level
•    A dinner or lunch together with family members over home made food enhances human bonds

What we should keep in mind while preparing weight loss recipes?

1)    Seek advice from experts online or otherwise to make sure you are on right track and are not consuming some empty calories.
2)    Try to integrate many diet plans on different week days to avoid being stereotyped.
3)    Do not neglect the nutritional value of different food items.
4)    Indulge in green veggies, nuts, sprouts, fresh fruits, and fat-free yoghurt while preparing your dishes.
5)    As far as possible try to eat the food freshly prepared rather than refrigerator stored.
6)    Keep a chart of your recipes that will enable you to assess your weight loss with particular food items.

Some delicious home-made weight loss recipes-

Well, eating healthy food at home doesn’t mean that you have to curb the desires of your tongue to great extent. You can satiate your appetite whims by preparing healthy food that can aid in weight loss. As we said earlier, it is better to indulge in low-fat diet and snacks that you can prepare at home. Include salads with each serving and you will get enough fiber to boost your bowels. If you are a fitness enthusiast who likes to indulge in deserts and beverages, it is good to indulge in following recipes-

1)    Cranberry spritzer- Refrigerate the cranberry juice, lemon juice until cold. Mix the ingredients with carbonated water and sherbet. Serve immediately in tall glasses after garnishing with lemon or lime wedge.
2)    Green tea with ginger- The green tea is a great companion for sports persons, which keeps up their energy levels. Add ginger for weight loss effects.
3)    Veggie wraps with ginger dipping sauce-
Ingredients- 2 tablespoons of fresh grated ginger, 4 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce, 5 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar, 2 tablespoon tomato paste, 1 garlic clove. For wrapping, rice spring role wrappers, 2 medium sized carrots, 1 celery stalk, 1 cup shredded cabbage, and soy sauce.
Procedure- Whisk all sauce ingredients in a bowl. Also mix all the grated veggies and spoon it in the center of wrapper. Wrap it up in the way you desire. Steam the wraps for 5-7 minutes and serve immediately.

Similarly you can search many online sites and books for finding weight loss recipes and cook your own health!

The major problem for weight watchers is the hunger spell that drives them crazy. Well, if you do not want to use diet pills that curb your hunger significantly and still maintain your weight within limits, there is no alternative but to opt for “Smart-Snacking-Regime”. One thing is for sure. If you choose your snacks rightly and do not eat when you are not hungry, you should not gain weight. Munching endlessly in front of television is going to make you fat whatever you choose to eat. But eating healthily without addition of too much fat and sugar is not unwelcome.

What snacking style one should adopt?

1)    Most people like to have three meals a day comprising breakfast, lunch, and dinner with one or two snacks in between. According to latest studies, having a royal breakfast in the morning is the healthiest eating habit. If one has morning breakfast fully, he tends to eat less whole day. No wonder a full breakfast helps you reduce your weight!

2)    Another well-researched theory is that having 5-6 mini-meals a day is the best option to keep your weight in check.

What snacks you will choose?

•    Fruits and vegetables- These are the best options to satiate your hunger spells without consuming fat and/or excess calories. Also fruits and veggies are full of vitamins and minerals, thus adding to your energy levels. As far as possible, go for fresh fruits or fresh fruit juices without sugar. Do not forget to add fruit-peels, for they add fiber and cleanse your bowels, a thing that also helps in losing excess calories. Choose more citrous fruits that can give you enough fiber and vitamin C for fighting against recurrent infections too

•    Whole grains- these snacks are rich in fiber and carbohydrates that give you enough energy to stay fit. Low-fat crackers, wholegrain breads, and pretzels can serve the purpose

•    Nuts and seeds- proteinous nuts and seeds are also better munching options as they provide proteins and vitamins

•    If you go for supermarket items, always be contemplative about the labels on the foods. Always opt for low-fat food and totally avoid trans-fats

Calorie-appropriate snacks

If you are looking out for snacking comprising 60 calories, you can go for 1 small can vegetable juice, 1 cup of grapes, and 2 cups of light popcorns. Yes, looking at the way you satiate your hunger is the crux to lose weight despite effective snacking that liberates essential energy for you to work efficiently.

Easy-to-prepare snacks

After understanding importance of choosing the right snacks, you must be wondering how to prepare the items that can satiate your tongue and at the same time help you keep your weight in check. Let’s see some easy-to-prepare snacks that can work wonders for you and your family-

1)    Use low-fat yoghurt and spread it over a slice of wholegrain crisp bread.

2)    If you love brown rice cake, spread 1 tablespoon of ricotta cheese on to it. You can layer it with fresh fruits without adding sugar.

3)    You can prepare a home-made trail mix using seeds, dried fruits, and nuts.

4)    Cut one half of avocado into cubes. You can toss with lime juice, low sodium salt, and chili powder sprinkle.

5)    Raw carrot sticks with ginger and a cup of fresh ginger tea

6)    Add 1-2 teaspoons of peanut butter to half a mashed banana. Spread this onto a wholegrain small-sized bagel.

7)    Spread fat free yoghurt onto a small baked potato. You can sprinkle this with Cajun seasoning.

You can take online help for understanding the various recipes that can give you fat-free yet energetic snacks. Many sites have cropped up recently because of apt concern of so many people about healthier eating. Even in supermarkets and food bazaars, you find these days the snacks that have apt combination of healthier and nutritious ingredients. Whole world is fighting the obesity menace that is adding to the woes of thousand million people by creating modern-life diseases.

If you want to avoid succumbing to obesity disorders like diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and many more diseases, comprehend the importance of healthy snacking in time. It’s you who can make a difference to your life positively!

The low-carb diet that was discovered by Dr. Robert Atkins is a well-known weight-reducing recipe for many people today. Though Atkins diet was first described in a journal of American Medical Association, the credit of popularizing it goes to Dr. Robert Atkins who gave the world series of books on Atkins’ diet plan.

A novel approach to look at diet regime:

The times when weight loss was restricted to crash diets, Atkins diet came over as the surprise. The diet regime comprised choosing the right food that suits your body and avoids fat deposits. It never ever recommended crash diets; rather it was totally against the harsh treatment to body. No wonder many food enthusiasts embraced Atkins diet with open arms. When they came to know that use of rich cream, cheddar cheese omelet, and smooth avocado cream soup are not a strict “no” in Atkins diet, they were ready to go for it without any inhibitions!

What is the theory behind Atkins diet or low-carb diet?

1)    It is seen that over-weight people tend to consume lot of carbohydrates in their diet. Though the body burns fats and carbohydrates both for release of energy, the carbohydrates are utilized first. Therefore, when we reduce carbohydrate intake drastically, the body naturally burns the stored fat first and thus the weight is reduced.

2)    When the carbohydrates are restricted to fraction of our usual diet, the body tends to go into a state called ketosis. This is the state in which the body burns its fat stores for getting fuel.

3)    Also ketosis is the stage in which the body feels a false feeling of satiety, thus the person tends to eat less.

4)    However, if you consume high-carb diet (white flour and sugar especially), the sugar from carbohydrates enters the bloodstream and to keep check on it, body tends to secrete more insulin. Because of insulin, the extra sugar gets stored in liver and muscles. But when these are filled to their capacity, the insulin converts sugar to fat.

5)    When the body keeps on making more insulin, obviously over a period of time, it becomes less responsive to insulin, thus resulting in diabetes.

6)    So, Atkins diet recommends reducing carbohydrate consumption drastically and increase fat and protein consumption so that the consequences of high-carb diet over long term can be avoided.

Why Atkins is considered the best weight loss program by weight watchers?

•    Atkins diet turns your body into a fat burning machine

•    It teaches you how to select your food appropriately

•    Lot of dietary options are available with Atkins diet thus making it fun to lose weight

•    Enjoyable, flexible, and affordable diet plan

•    Scientifically backed diet formula that has lot many success stories available

•    Enjoying healthier life for long time to come is possible with Atkins maintenance diet

What can you eat in Atkins diet?

In the initial induction phase of Atkins diet, the beginner should reduce the carbohydrate intake to 20 grams of the net carbs. He can eat-

1.    Proteins- All meats without bread and high-carb sauces are acceptable. However, be sure to know the sugary meats like hams or luncheons. You can also consume sea-food and eggs preferably without egg yolks.

2.    Veggies- you can eat 12-15 grams of vegetables per day. Thus you can consume sprouts, lettuces, spinach, chard, mustard greens, kale, Radicchio, parsley, basil, rosemary, celery, radishes, sea-veggies, mushrooms, cabbage, broccoli, etc.

3.    Fats and oils- for Atkins diet, adequate fat intake is vital according to nutrition experts, though one should go for natural fats and strictly not for trans-fats. Consume plenty of cold water fish with high omega-3 fatty acids, olive oil, peanut or grapeseed oil, full-fat mayonnaise, some portions of butter and saturated fats, 3-4 ounces of cheese per day, etc.

4.    Beverages- Water! Yes, Atkins diet recommends maximum intake of water that keeps you healthy by making you eat less. But beware not to drink sugary beverages. You can also drink herbal teas, coffee without added sugar.

5.    Fiber- Atkins diet also advises to choose food that is high in fiber.

Thus, if you are considering the best option for your weight loss regime after giving up many other regimes, Atkins diet is sure to help you achieve desired results. For beginners as well as weight watchers in long run, Atkins diet furnishes variety of dieting options that are digested well by food enthusiasts too!