Wellness World

What can change from Dec 31st to Jan 1st in a single day?   But a lot can change from Jan 1st to Dec 31st. Most of us have the same set of New Year resolutions every single year.  Lose weight  Exercise  Eat healthy  It seems as if only the date keeps changing with nothing much changing for us. I felt why begin a blog that sounds so pessimistic right? But that's the reality for most people. We start out the year with grand resolutions that continue only till the first week or the first month if we are lucky. I am going to give some broad hints here on 12 health goals you CAN accomplish this year and create a WIN for yourselves.  Take a step back and reflect. It is ok if the new year has already begun - you can still start these goals. No need to wait another year. So lets begin! JANUARY: SET REALISTIC GOALS Don't set standard goals like losing weight, exercising or eating healthier! Make the goals PERSONAL to you. If you have been overweight for the last 2 ...

  HEALTHY EATING FOR KIDS What is OBESITY? The simplest indicator of obesity is with the BODY MASS INDEX. BMI is a scale that defines OBESITY by taking body weight and height into account. BMI percentiles show how a child's measurements compare with others the same gender and age.  For e.g. if a child has a BMI in the 60th percentile, 60% of the kids of the same gender and age who were measured had a lower BMI. Your kid is considered to be OVERWEIGHT if the BMI is at or above the 85th percentile. RISK FACTORS: Type2 diabetes High blood pressure Bone and Joint problems Breathing issues Sleep issues Early maturity WHY DO KIDS BECOME OVERWEIGHT? A number of things contribute to anybody becoming overweight such as: Diet habits Lack of exercise Genetics Medical conditions Lifestyle While some of the conditions are out of our control, lets look at some of the things which we can change. TIPS TO PREVENT OVER-EATING & OBESITY IN KIDS: Reduce eating out as much as possible Drin...

PCOS is a hormonal imbalance which is a very common endocrine condition among women. Women with PCOS have a higher than normal amount of male hormones. This imbalance causes irregular periods and can lead to weight gain, acne, hair-fall, thinning hair, pregnancy complications and a host of other issues. It can also contribute to long term health issues like diabetes and heart problems.  The symptoms of PCOS can be managed with some holistic changes in your lifestyle. The earlier you work on lifestyle changes, the easier it is going to be to manage PCOS. Lets look at the top 5 things which are in your control:   1. Clean eating: The number one reason for most lifestyle diseases is abdominal fat. If you can reduce even 5 to 10% of body fat, you will be well on your way to a healthier life. A number of the PCOS symptoms like acne, hair-fall etc can be reduced with a good diet.  Here are some tips to reduce fat and get the inches off your tummy: Have an early dinner. Avoid a...

A Fitness Mindset is your collection of thoughts  and beliefs that shape your  fitness habits. These would be influenced by your formative years, your family and your lifestyle. This is the mindset which will carry you through the tough years - What do you do when you fall sick? What do you do if you are diagnosed with something serious? Are you willing to give up certain bad habits? Do you believe in going to the doctor for every simple thing or do you believe that good health means taking charge of it yourselves?  I believe this is one of the core values in our life and we need to be aware of it. Calories vs Nutrition Approach food with a mindset of what is the nutritional content rather than simple calories. A low fat muffin would have lesser calories than a whole wheat paratha, but is it nutritious? Stop counting calories and start eating right. If you eat the right foods, half your battle is done. Proteins, carbs and fats are macronutrients that provi...

The Co-morbidity Factor "Co-morbidity" is a term which has gained a lot of focus the last couple of months. A lot of us were living with it without knowing this term and in recent months, this has become the scapegoat for a lot of things!  People with "it" are required to take special care of their health, they are requested to avoid areas of infection etc.. Even the govt is requesting people with co-morbidities to avoid stepping out unnecessarily. Lets look at what it means and what you can do about it. Co-morbidity is the simultaneous coexistence of multiple disorders alongside a primary disorder. The term comorbidity was first coined by Alvan R. Feinstein, a researcher at Yale University in a research paper published in 1970.  Because of the advancements in medicine, a lot of people are now able to better manage any lifestyle diseases. Many older people now have more than one illness also. Common co-morbid conditions in many people include h...

Nutrition is life-long I used to hear a lot of elders telling - "Why are you dieting? You are still young. You can eat anything you want until you are 40." How many of us believe that we can eat anything and still enjoy good health life-long? Chances are you will be looking at some lifestyle issues before you are 40. Treat your body as a temple and feed it properly always - irrespective of whether you are 20 or 60. Otherwise you will be forced to go on fat-free, sugar-free and salt-free diets in the later part of your life! Good health means a life without medicines. Nowadays its ok to pop a pill for your diabetes, another for your pains, another for your thyroid etc... That is not healthy. The problem with nutrition is the effects of it are not immediately visible. You have a fever, you take a tablet - and the fever goes down in half hr. Thats not the case when you eat a lunch / dinner without vegetables - your hair doesn't fall immediately or you don...

Skin care concerns & solutions Our skin is the first thing people notice about us. Good skin speaks volumes about us - do we put priority on grooming? Are we eating healthy? How about our self confidence? We cannot take enough care of our skin. Believe me. "I regret taking care of my skin" - said no one ever! Lets get down to skin basics Skin has 3 layers - the epidermis , dermis and the fatty layer . The epidermis is the skin manufacturer - it creates baby skin cells and they huff and puff their way to the top - and fall down dead!!! Yes! you heard it right - our skin is pretty much full of dead cells. The dermis is the main room - you have the blood vessels, nerve endings, sweat glands and oil glands all here. Interesting fact - you remember the time you got poked with a pin? You felt that because your nerve endings in the dermis were working properly. The last layer is the cushioning layer - full of subcutaneous fat keeping you all warm. This...