Get a flat tummy without the pain of dieting

 It is not rare to see women cribbing about sacrificing their most favorite dishes for the sake of slimming     down. Even though the aspiration of getting a flat tummy is so intense, still the fact remains that your stomach never wants you to diet, let alone your taste buds. How good would it be for you to trim down your inches without experiencing the pain of  giving up your favourite food? Here are a few tips that you can follow and a few lifestyle changes that you can inculcate to carve your curves without forgoing food!

Eating Habits to Help Slimming Down

• Adequate protein and complex carb intake changes your plus size to smart size they help in slowing down the release of sugar into your blood by the food you eat. This in turn reduces your hunger pangs considerably and increases energy, whereby inhibiting the body’s tendency to accumulate excessive calories in the form of fat. It even adds to the fiber intake in the body, which is known to aid in digestion.

Food Sources:

Complex carbs: Green leafy vegetables, veggie salads, beans, brown rice, pasta, oats, – barley.
Protein: Meat, fish, eggs, chicken, nuts, beans, soya, soy products, dal and quinoa.

• Don’t say no to Fats. It is a misconception that cutting down completely on fats helps reduce your inches quickly. Actually, a regular fat intake helps create a texture in your mouth due to which you get a full feeling, and thus eat less. Also, it helps trigger some hormones that give your brain a message of having a full feeling.

Food Sources:

Low-fat dairy products, seeds, olive oil, sunflower oil, fish, nuts and Desi Ghee.

• Extra Tips to Habituate:

Eat small frequent meals, 8-10 servings a day, and drink plenty of water to – reduce your hunger pangs
Increase wholegrain foods in your diet such as brown rice, wheat, pasta, brown bread, etc.
Use small utensils for eating and have starters like salads or soups for early satiate.

What BMI (body mass index) do you get a flat stomach?

Health Tips for Pregnant Women

First of all, hearty congratulations!

Being pregnant is a thrilling experience and having a baby born out of your own flesh is the most miraculous thing that can ever happen. But it can also become quite overwhelming. Pregnancy is a time of uncertainty with all sorts of questions arising in your mind. Plenty of info and facts are swimming around to get into your head. It might seem like all and sundry has an advice or opinion about you and your baby. The best way to keep away from confusions, contradictions, myths and information-overload is to educate yourself from reliable sources.

If you are healthy during pregnancy and afterwards too, then that will be an icing on the cake for you, your child and your spouse. After all, you can take care of your family only when you are healthy yourself. So, if your urine pregnancy test comes positive or if you are planning to be pregnant, then, certainly there are things that you must keep in the back of your mind.

Healthy Eating for To-be-moms

For a healthy pregnancy, you need to eat a balanced diet which must include foods from a variety of sources including vegetables, fruits, whole grain foods, milk & dairy products, meat, as well as fish. Have a fruit along with a fistful of dryfruits within 10 minutes of waking up & before going for your morning walk. Enjoy a nutritious breakfast after an hour. You’ll feel great!

On an average, 5-6 servings in a day are sufficient. In between your meals, grab a fruit or yogurt or even a glass of milk to supplement your diet with necessary nutrients and most importantly, calcium.

How to Relieve Nausea, Vomiting, Heartburn and Constipation Symptoms

• Small portion size meals with lots of liquid in between meals.
• Avoid foods that are high in fat, spicy, and have a strong odor. 
• Eat slowly & chew thoroughly.
• Avoid reclining immediately after meals.
• Eat whole-grain foods and exercise regularly.

Some More Health Tips during Pregnancy

• You must abstain completely from smoking and drinking all through your pregnancy, as there is no safe amount and also no safe time to smoke or drink alcohol.
• Try to be regular with some physical activitythroughout your pregnancy period as it helps to improve your mood-swings, facilitates proper weight gain, reduces stress, promotes sound sleep, increases muscle tone, builds stamina for forthcoming labour and delivery.
• Create a healthy and pleasant atmosphere as being a happy mother guarantees for a healthy baby.

How smartly can you avoid overeating this festive season?

When it comes to festivals and feasts, no other country on earth can beat India. The excitement is in the air; family gatherings, new clothes, holidays and immeasurable fun being laced with them.

Since there are special delicacies for every occasion, fridge would be always full, crammed with indescribable snacks that are carefully baked to precision. These are also the times when you gorge on sweets guiltlessly while health takes a backseat in your priorities.

Now you know that festivals will disturb your carefully planned diet and the hidden diabetes traps too do not escape your notice. But how can you refuse a bite when sweets are served all pink-yellow-brown in a platter? It is not just killing your sweet tooth but you also fear of offending the host if you say no. So you just turn off your mental calorie alarm, indulge or eat out more often than healthy.

Most of the health problems, trips to doctors and rigorous gymming after festivals can be avoided if you listen to your stomach. After effects of festivals can be worse in Indian scenario because of our, especially women’s tendency to ignore the body’s warnings until it gets excruciatingly painful.

It is festival season and yes, if you can’t be epicurean now, when will you? Let the treatment begin from your palette without depriving you of the yummy indulgence.

Smart Things That Can Prevent You from Overeating

• Eat slowly and chew the cud – According to a recent study, women, who have been eating slowly, consume 70% less calories than the women who eat faster.
• Get more fiber and eat whole-grain foods – Whole grain foods can never be a foodie’s delight, but fiber in it will balance overeating by making you feel full. 
• Increase your water intake – Water can be the mainstay of your dieting plans as it can keep your food cravings under control. Mixing it in with lemon in the morning can help you burn those extra calories too.
• Habituate for a starter before meals – A platter of vegetable salad or a bowl of tomato soup will help you improve your digestion.
• Eating in portions help proportion your body fat accumulation – Eating frequent portion size meals will not only let you enjoy different recipes but also promotes proper digestion.
• Keep your hunger at bay with healthy foods – You can curb your desire to binge on junk food by grabbing a fruit, a platter of salad, or cracking a few crackers when hungry.

Are you able to keep a watch on your diet and eating a healthy diet? Do you always carry an antacid pill in your purse? Are you afraid of eating too much junk food this festive season?

Have you recognized the Calcium call of your body?

Calcium deficiency is serious as your body may give you the alarm a little too late for your bones. According to a recent study, about 90% of women and 60% of teens are found to be calcium deficient. Calcium is the most abundant mineral in your body and a prime constituent of your bones.

                                                                                                                   
Being a woman, you need much more dietary calcium for your bone health. Adequate amount of calcium intake not only makes your bones stronger but also increases the bone density thereby reducing the risk of fractures. The figure-conscious females would be happy to know that including sufficient amount of calcium in your daily diet promotes weight loss too. Adequate calcium intake prevents osteoporosis, high BP, colon cancer and even breast cancer.

On an average, every woman in the age group of 19-50 years needs around 1000mg of calcium on a daily basis. As your body is incapable of producing calcium, you are bound to rely on other dietary sources for fulfilling this need. Based on your age, your daily calcium requirements are as follows:

Now is the time to give serious thought to your daily calcium intake. According to a recent study by British Medical Journal, eating calcium rich diet and taking supplements may not do you any favor at a later stage. This is a habit that needs to be cultivated at a young age. Do you think your current diet takes care of your bone health adequately?

Why Women Require Flexible Work Arrangements?

Aching of the back-bone of the ‘back-bone of society’, the women, is a common phenomenon. But the worst hit arena is that of the working women. Imagining a daily schedule of a work-to-home mum explains how hard it is for a lady to cope with her responsibilities. Switching roles from being a mother taking care of her children, a wife looking after her spouse, a daughter attending to her parents, and being a professional leaves little time and attention for her own personal health.

Women know too well about being a bouncy tennis ball being whacked from home to office and vice versa. And it blurs away the personal front out in the ‘no-attention’ cloud, welcoming the mist of ailments into her body, which can turn chronic if remain unattended on a prolonged basis.

Most working women tend to face problems managing their daily schedules. Some common needs of working women start right from pregnancy, which will become even more demanding with the arrival of a child.

Common problems of a working woman:

• Lack of adequate rest & sleep with multiple stressors at office & home.
• Need for multitasking with no me-time.
• No time for breastfeeding.
• Uncertainty of getting maternity leave.
• Culpability of leaving the child alone.

However, all this does not mean that women should completely give up their career after childbirth, but this surely calls for a proper time-management.

Flexible Work Arrangements Can Be Helpful

A good way to help women cater to their needs is to make their work arrangements flexible. A flexibility brought into the working schedules can help them manage, both office and home with efficiency. A discussion with the HR about negotiation in terms of salary for reduced work effort. Is shifting your house to nearby office location possible for you?

Flexible working hours help a woman decide upon her daily priorities and to take time out for herself too. Getting a little time-off for doing yoga and meditation will be immensely helpful in rejuvenating the expected compromised health during pregnancy.

Are you compromising on your own health? Are you feeling stressed out with hectic work schedule? Is your work schedule flexible enough to allow you to breast-feed your newborn?

My Period Is Late..! What does that mean?

No doubt, periods might be one of the most hated things that happen to you every month. Yet their absence or delay is even more bothersome since you need regular periods to enjoy a perfectly healthy gynecologic health. Are you watchful of your periods occurring regularly? Does your period date move back and forth from the expected date every month? Late menses is surely an indicator of some issue grounding roots in your body. Now let us try and get down to that root.

Below are some factors that can potentially cause late periods:

• Stress: Increased stress affects your entire well-being and causes decrease in GnRH hormone levels that is responsible for ovulation. This delays periods.
• Pregnancy: If delayed period is followed by unprotected sex, it is high time you undergo a self-pregnancy test.
• Breastfeeding: While breastfeeding, your irregular menstrual cycles will take a small cycle of time to return to regular menses.
• Anorexia or Weight Loss: Some eating disorders such as anorexia or unintentional weight loss can cause delay in your periods.

When to Consult a Doctor!

• If you are missing your periods for more than 3 months in a row.
• When your periods become irregular or erratic.
• Your period lasts more than 7 days.
• You have unusually heavy flow, wetting more than 12-15 pads or tampons in a day.
• The time gap between two periods is either less than 21 days or is more than 35 days.
• If you notice spotting on the days in between two periods.
• Unbearable pain during periods.
• Feeling feverish or sick during periods.

Are you a victim of late periods? What is the probable cause in your case? Consult a doctor for answers. After all, what is the point of harboring that fear in your heart? 
 

Pain during Sex – Are you suffering in silence!!

Painful sex might lead to no sex at all if it is prolonged and untreated. Saying bye to pain and not to love-making will open a healthier chapter for you and even for your love relationship. For most women, especially who shy away from vocalizing their feelings, sex is another name for pain and they view it as a painful experience always. To shake hands with enjoyment and to get the most out of your love-making experience, a little attention is what is needed to make this a pleasurably wonderful experience. The word Dyspareunia perfectly describes this condition in medical diction. Don't give any room to dyspareunia for disrupting your fun, destroying your sexual health, and dismantling your relationship. 

You need to know what actually is causing this and why you are not having so much fun during intercourse? There are very many common causes for this pain. Find out what holds true in your case. As the cause, so will be its treatment.    

Shedding Light on the Five Most Common Causes for Dyspareunia

• Inadequate Lubrication: A good foreplay before actual intercourse is vital for appropriate lubrication effect and to lessen the pain during intercourse. Be open to discuss and if required suggest this to your spouse.
• Vaginismus: This is most common in females who are 1st timers, overwhelmed and preoccupied with fears of performance during intercourse. Spasming vaginal muscles make intercourse difficult and painful. Don't let mental blocks block your mental, physical, emotional, and sexual health. A care-free and let go attitude will do the trick. It will relax your mind and body both together.
• Urinary Tract Infection: You may be having an infection of your urinary tract. Don't worry, there is cure for this. Drink lots of fluids, stress on H2O intake. Your Gynae can help suggest an antibiotic for treatment.
• Vaginal Infections: Sometimes yeast and fungal infections crop up in hot and humid weather and your badly sanitized pelvis plays host to these infections. The thumb rule to avoid this is to - STAY CLEAN.
• Childbirth or surgery: After childbirth, many factors accumulate like stress, fatigue, exhaustion, decline in estrogen level which cause lack of sexual desire, which all can collectively cause pain during intercourse.

If you are having Dyspareunia, what is inhibiting you from enjoying this natural luxury. A little open discussion might open the door for your treatment.

World Breastfeeding Week - Join the League

Just as the motherhood has come natural to you, so will be the urge to breast-feed your baby. Don't let it go! Stick on to it. Some babies might find it difficult to latch, but your patience and sweet persuasion will help your baby learn to latch quickly. When breastfeeding becomes a part of your routine, your baby will also get used to it and cherish it more than anything else. Your baby's taste buds will recognize your milk - give him/her the feast of breast-feed every few hours, but on demand!

Breastfeeding Is Easier Than You Think!

Feed it right, with a little insight - breastfeeding is easier and more convenient than you might assume. The best part about breastfeeding that it is the natural way of nourishing your child, and that too, without a cost. Feeding the baby with your milk is not just helpful in its growth, but it also boosts up your health too. Worried about your figure? Don't want to layer up your bones with an extra layer of fat? Breastfeeding helps to shape you up in long run. When you breast-feed your baby with your milk, it helps you maintain your physical health, improve your cosmetic appearance, and strengthens the emotional bond between you and your baby giving you immense pleasure and satisfaction.

Benefits for Mother

• Breastfeeding minimizes the preparation time to zero in contrast to infant formulas that take too much time to prepare.
• Breastfeeding not only helps you keep your baby healthy, but it also keeps you in shape, and works as a natural contraceptive. Chances of pregnancy while breastfeeding are very rare.
• Breastfeeding will reduce the chances of you developing a breast cancer and even ovarian cancer later in your life.

• You can also decrease the risk of becoming overweight and developing obesity with continuous breastfeeding.

Benefits for the Baby 

• The initial breast milk is highly concentrated with Colostrum that is a perfect first food for your baby rich in bilirubin to prevent jaundice and can be easily digested.
• Not only does the breast milk provide proper nourishment to your baby, but it also instills vital antibodies into your child's system developing greater immunity levels.
• Breastfeeding helps to keep your baby healthy, active, fit and well nourished by providing necessary nutrients.

 So, how many times in a day your baby yarns for a feed and what is the average time gap between two successive feedings?