Hello my Fitness Freaks,

If you see me writing more here, don’t think my current company has kicked me out I am serving my notice period and I have no work..yes..almost no work at all. But I still have to come to office  Yes, life is unfair. But why should I mind if they want to pay me free salary for reading and writing articles on Miss Fit. I have utilized this time completely by reading so many articles on Miss fit and seriously Miss Fit has such wealth of information just within an year. I wonder what heights Miss Fit would reach in a span of 5 years.  

I mostly like writing based on my experiences as I really am no expert in any field related to fitness and I really hope it helps some of you. I brought some simple and steady changes in my life after I started working out last year and here are the changes that helped me immensely.

Cutting down tea

I was never a tea addict. But I used to drink 2 cups a day daily and I used to drink tea first thing in the morning. Big mistake! I found a smarter way and eat a banana first and then drank a cup of tea which again was not a great thing to do. I was finding it difficult to leave the morning tea and my favourite rusk biscuits. But one day I tried and I got a major headache in office. I continued having my evening tea. After 3-4 days of quitting morning tea, life was normal.

Addiction is in the mind. I really do not feel that our body craves any food or drink. It is all in the mind. Once mind gets disciplined, things are sorted. Slowly, I started cutting down to my evening tea too and started having them only on weekends. Now, I probably have tea once or at max twice a month and that too by choice not as a craving  Tea raises your blood sugar level so you should definitely not have it first thing in the morning. If you have to have it, have it an hour or so after your meal. The reason I quit was that we have so much sugar anyway- in chutney, sauces, even bread so why not avoid sugar when we can. And I really do not like sugarless tea… So a banana for me everyday first thing in the morning and I love it as my pre-workout meal.

No more meat

Ok, I have nothing against meat-eaters. I loved eating chicken. It was my favourite dish forever in every form. No more meat was not just a fitness move for me. I love cats and dogs a lot and I consider myself an ardent animal-lover and I felt I was totally being a hypocrite by eating meat. Ofcourse the next reason was that I never ate chicken at home as we are just 2 people and my better half is an eggetarian and it is too cumbersome to cook chicken for just one person. So I always ordered from outside especially on weekends. Not that chicken dishes cannot be healthy, but indian restaurant chicken dishes are definitely not healthy and they are laden with layers of oil. So stopping eating meat helped me cutting down on greasy restaurant food.

When I stopped eating it beginning of this year, it wasn’t any of those new year resolutions. I thought let me quit for a while and see. If I crave too much, I will start having it again. But its been almost 10 months and I do not feel like having it again.

Finding new love in Weight-Training

I was regular with my workouts but I had hit plateau a few months back and I was not losing weight anymore. My body had probably got accustomed to the workouts that I was doing. My trainers were telling me to increase the intensity in weight training class to get more toned and ofcourse I found a lot of motivation on Miss Fit.

How to Beat the Weight Loss Plateau

I started increasing my weights slowly but steadily. I had the strength, it was just the fear that was not letting me go all out. Also, the fear about what comments would other people pass in the class as I train in a group and everyone uses very light weights. I brushed my fear and comments aside and picked up heavier weights and barbells. Trust me when I say this, I feel so much more toned and stronger now and if kickboxing is my love then weight training has become my new date  I am slowly and steadily adding weights and I was so surprised recently when I could easily do 3 sets of squats with 18 kgs.

My love-hate-love relationship with running

Ok, let me admit that I do not enjoy running as much as I enjoy doing kickboxing, yoga or weight training or other cardio workouts. I have never run in an open space. I used to run in my office treadmill two years back and the power used to go off when I was running at my highest speed. That put me off treadmills and running in general. I found it very monotonous and boring.

My current office location has a huge gym with almost every machine one could imagine. Last month, an important assignment was over and I thought why not utilize the extra time with some running and cycling maybe. I started bringing a pair of workout clothes and shoes to office and started running and cycling in the evening. When I used to run earlier, I had to stop running and start walking within 5 minutes but this time since I had so much workout backing me, I am now able to run 15 minutes continuously. 15 minutes must be nothing for many of you but for a running beginner like me I guess it is pretty good. I now get a high when I run

Now that I have lots of free time, I almost go to my office gym everyday but I do not workout too much. Reason being that I already workout in my fitness class in the morning. The evening workout is just for challenging myself a little more and utilizing the free time at hand. So a 30 min evening workout makes me really happy.

Weight training and running have helped me overcome my weight loss plateau and I find myself looking leaner and stronger than before.

These are the main changes that I made in my life this year. I had started working out regularly and eating nutritious homemade food every 2-3 hours since last September.

Sharing my pic at home before I left for my morning workout. Sorry, my mat stays permanently in my fitness class and do you see the barbell behind me? I have a bench, some dumbbells, barbell and weights. I hardly work out at home. But when I do, I make use of these. I have a stepper, pushup bars and skipping rope too. I have been skipping a bit this weekend too. And yes, I love side planks, try them for 30 seconds and see if your hand shivers

So what healthy changes did you bring in your life this year? Please share.

About the Author

Ankita is an IT professional. She is crazy about fitness. She follows a healthy fitness regimen. She shared her weight loss story HERE

Read other articles by the author HERE

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Hello all,

I know that most of the girls here on Miss Fit want to shed those nasty extra kilos and want a toned body.  The problem is how can you change the habit of constantly munching on something??  Some people have a really huge appetite and so they end up eating junk food to suffice the hunger.   If you snack on junk food, how will you ever be able to lose weight?

It has always been said on the blog that you can eat up to six times a day but it needs to be healthy and nutritious.  I am here to help out beauties with a huge appetite by listing down foods that are both healthy and filling.  Don’t worry it is an exciting list of foods and not boring stuff. ( but don’t expect crisps and chips as a healthy snack   )

Dark chocolate

The list begins with yummy snacks as I had promised!  Dark chocolate can be a bit bitter but is a great snack.  According to a study eating as well as smelling the dark chocolate can make you feel full. So those in between meals hunger pangs can be put to rest with dark chocolate.  They are healthy too.  So there is no harm in eating it in moderation.

Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate

Apple

Apples tend to keep a person full because of the fibre and pectin content in it.  It fills up your stomach and is great post work out meal.  So it can keep hunger pangs away along with keeping a doctor away!!  And this is something definitely healthy with lots of phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals.

How Does an Apple a Day Keep the Doctor Away

Sweet potatoes

Our good old shakkarkandi is also a great snack!!  It contains complex carbohydrates that give a feeling of fullness along with energy.  It is known to fight fatigue.  Sweet potatoes are among the richest sources of vitamin A.  Sweet potato has potassium that nourishes the nervous and muscular systems.  It is known to be a super food for athletes.  So those of you planning to run a marathon will find eating sweet potatoes useful.  It supports the body’s metabolism also.  Shakkarkandi chat anyone?   Just boil sweet potatoes, peel them, add black salt and a dash of lemon juice and voila!  Your chat is ready!!

Green tea

I have seen a lot of fitness enthusiasts having green tea every day as it has a lot of anti-oxidants.  It tends to stabilize blood sugar in the body and so your hunger remains stable too.  There are a plethora of benefits of green tea.  It plays major roles in prevention of cancer, heart disease, arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease.  It is known to have anti-aging properties. It also helps in weight loss as it burns fat and boosts metabolism rate.

Milk

I started drinking milk just from last year. A little late I know!  It is a very rich source of protein, calcium and vitamins A and D.  But are you aware that milk keeps hunger pangs at bay?  It will reduce your urge to eat junk food.  It is especially beneficial for women.

Almonds

You can enjoy them as snacks in between meals because they have healthy fat in them.  So, you would not pile kilos and also be full for a few hours.  Moreover winter is approaching so you can have these to keep you warm.

Banana

This fruit is so easy to carry around and is a wonderful snack when you are on the go.  Eating it as a pre work-out meal gives an energy punch and maintains blood sugar.

So I guess you would have found this list of a few healthy snacks useful.

Stay fit and take care!!

About the Author

Vinita Kochhar is Punjabi girl born and brought up in Chennai. She is an MBA in E-business and is currently in charge of the computer section in her father’s own firm. She used to be extremely thin back in her school days and people used to call her a skeleton. After she stepped into college things changed and she gained weight. She prefers to eat home cooked food, fresh fruits and have a glass of milk every day.

Image source: 1,2,3,4

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Hiya everyone,

I would like to start by saying that I completed these 50 kms for you all. I was injured, thought will do it next year but I wanted to be back with helluva story for everyone :). Here it goes…

I got a chance to interact with Mr Arun Bharadwaj , the legendary runner of India, in one of the events of Adidas. We became friends on fb. And one day randomly I asked him if he knows of some good squash coach in the city. He asked me why don’t you get into running? There are hardly any female ultramarathon runners in the country. There is no female ultramarathon runner who runs international races to represent the country. I told him sir, I have run just one long distance race (The delhi half marathon) till now and my timing is very poor. I am not a speed runner but I can endure. He said, let us start the training and see .. And there it started.

He gave me my first target race: The Bhatti Lake Race, which is organized by Globeracers. I was on it, I shifted to Delhi and started to train like anything. I decided to take care of all parameters of fitness. I did cardio/endurance training (running, spinning, body combats, crossfit, rowing). I did strength training (body pumps, crossfit, yoga, pilates,TRX). I worked out for 4-5 hours in a day to make my body used to the challenge. It was tough and painful. But after I survived this rigorous training months, I thought now I have to anyhow get through this race.

The race had several categories: 50km, 80km, 100km, 240km etc. I had chosen 80kms in 14 hours. I did my running practices on the treadmill or in the parks and stadium. On treadmill also I trained on the incline. I was literally living, breathing for this race from last 2 months.

I reached there at 4:30 am yesterday. I found the terrain of bhatti lakes deadly. It has steep, uneven, muddy, rocky roads which went through the jungle. And thorny bushes to block the way. I met with the most seasoned runners of our city. They were people who had been running from long and to whom running was love, madness, passion or whatever you may call it. There were people above 40, 50 and even 60 years of age running this tough race. All of them were use to running 40-50kms generally . I guess I was the only amateur there. But I felt so so inspired to meet these people. They were engineers, business men, lawyers, MBAs in their normal life but here they were runners. I have never seen before this show of passion. I mean people chose to run for 24 hours to finish 240kms. And there was a girl too in this category. Beat that! She ran the whole night on this terrain, fell 7 times, bruised herself badly yet continued to run.

This race made us come out of our skins! Literally!

The race began at 5 am. All of us had torches in our caps. All of us started with a strategy of slow running (7 to 8 kmperhour) pace so that we do not exhaust ourselves soon. Since, it was dark so we were all running in groups. I was listening to the stories of great runs of my fellow runners. They knew I was a beginner so they kept telling me so many interesting things about running. They were really very very encouraging. I found myself in a new world. Then suddenly, I placed my right foot incorrectly on a steep rock, twisted my leg and hurt my right knee. It was the 6th km.

I could not lift my knee. Everybody moved past me and I saw myself losing it all. I dragged myself till the next station which was at the 10th km. They gave me ice packs, sprays and asked me to rest. 15 minutes went into that still I could not move my knee. I was sent back to the starting point via ambulance. They gave me all possible medical aid and suggested me to discontinue the race if the knee does not feel alright, just to avoid any further injury.

THAT WAS THE MOST SPECIAL MOMENT OF MY LIFE

At that time, this went in my head, I am in pain. I have a knee injury, so thinking logically, I should not take chances and I should quit. But then I thought of the hard work that I had put in from last 2 months for this race. I thought of all the failures that I have had in my life. My 10th board result, my JEE mains result, my CAT results and some other things..I know how much time, I took to overcome these failures of my life. I said to myself this time I will not fail you. I believe in you, take pain killers, remove your attention from the pain. If you cannot run then go walk at a pace of 7km/hour. You have stamina and strength enough. Don’t quit!

I went ahead, cried like a baby, did not want to lose it all this time then watched the jungle, the lake, the greenery and rocks and said to myself that it was your dream to run in such a terrain. Be happy, you are living your dream. Not everyone get a chance to live their dream. You are living it, lucky girl:). Also it was a big deal to be mentored by someone like Mr Arun Bhardwaj himself. He also came all the way to bhatti lakes to cheer me up. I thought, don’t be mean, don’t blame life. Life has been so kind to you Just keep walking

I walked with my left leg and used the movement of my hip joint to move my right leg. I walked, walked and walked. Did not stop. Stopped at the 3 stations to apply sprays on my knees and to eat and drink something to refuel myself. No rest! When I had to climb or come down a rock and I did not have my right knee to support the movement then I crawled :). I kept telling to myself that it is just this one day of effort. You have the whole life to take rest. I say girl, inspire yourself today.

After 30kms, I got a proper physiotherapy treatment. It made life a little easy. They asked me not to go any further but by that time I had told myself that you are not coming back without the ultramarathon runner (minimum 50km) tag. Everybody on the track cheered me up so much for my spirit that I felt all the more confident to carry on.

When I was reaching the end of 50 kms I had blisters in my toes and my right knee was numb. I knew I had missed my medal, which I would have got on completing 80 kms within 14 hours. But I was happy for making it till here. I saw a new Nidhi in me yesterday. I mean it! It was the best experience of my life.

You know, when I went there I was wearing pink shirt, pink shoes, white watch, brown glittery nail paints, kajal, and was carrying gel based and cream based sunscreen with me. A typical girl, who would think of all these things before she thinks of anything else. But when I came back, my clothes were muddy and torn. My hands had scratches. My skin was tanned golden. My knee was hurting. And I was proud of it all

I realized that running, dancing, fitness is the love of my life. I want to do these things all time. I live and breathe them. And I will chase them all my life. And as for my injury..Don’t worry, I will be soon back with my regular workout updates :P. Although, I have been partying with my friends from last night. Sitting and dancing

Btw, how many of you are participating in this year’s Airtel Delhi Half Marathon? I will be there. Let us meet for the run in our city Also I will share my pics of Bhatti run as and when I receive them.

Find your true love and chase it! It feels awesome Thanks for all the love and support.

Love to all

Nidhi

About the Author

Hi all!!

Do you have the habit of chewing gum 24×7? If you do, read on because today I am here to talk about chewing gum. It has become a fashion amongst teenagers and young adults. They think they look cool while chewing gum. But this is not a new fad as humans have used chewing gum for at least 5,000 years! You would have seen celebs constantly chewing the gum. When my father sees someone chewing gum he keeps saying that it seems as if they are cows chewing the cud

No offence intended but I just could not refrain from saying that! Just like nail biting, chewing gum is also considered a bad habit and reflects lack of manners. I remember during a personality development class, people chewing the gum were shown the door. It is better that you kick the habit early. Don’t allow it to overpower you.

So how does this little piece of gum treat our body?? Let us see what it contains:

1. It is mainly sweetened with aspartame, which is an artificial sweetener. And you know how bad artificial sweeteners are for our health. Aspartame is linked to a number of diseases and disorders. Aspartame is chiefly used by manufacturers because it is cheaper than sugar.

2. The gum base is made up of all sorts of weird things namely: Paraffin wax, elastomers( a polymer with rubber like elasticity), plasticizers(they increase the plasticity of materials), fillers, and resin. So you are literally chewing rubber and plastic!!!

3. Artificial food colorings are used that can cause cancer. Why is it added? So that your strawberry flavoured chewing gum looks attractive. Humans have this tendency to fall for colourful stuff.

4. To increase its shelf life hydrogenated oil and starch are added. It is a threat to health because of the trans fat present in the hydrogenated oil.

What all can happen if you keep chewing bubble gum:

• Most practical thing that can happen is that you will get a sore jaw. Overly-stressed jaw muscles may trigger graver health issues associated with your jaw joint.

• Too much chewing may make you swallow too much air and cause gastric trouble.

• It can cause tooth decay ( because of the sweetness)

• It can develop wrinkles on facial skin make it lose its elasticity.

• Wastes a lot of energy as your stomach expects food but nothing actually reaches it. In fact you are fooling your brain that in turn directs the digestive organs to get ready for the so called food.

Some scientists say that chewing gum has its own benefits such as an increase in alertness. But I feel you can chew on something better than a piece of plastic and rubber. Am I right?

Alternative to chewing gum

• If you are glued to mint flavoured gum it is better that you chew fresh mint leaves. It will get rid of mouth odour too.

• Try eating chopped vegetables. If you say bubble gum gives exercise to your mouth you may instead try munching carrots. They are really healthy and will never harm you.

• Keep nuts like almonds in your mouth when you have the urge to have something in your mouth.

Take care!!

About the Author

Vinita Kochhar is Punjabi girl born and brought up in Chennai. She is an MBA in E-business and is currently in charge of the computer section in her father’s own firm. She used to be extremely thin back in her school days and people used to call her a skeleton. After she stepped into college things changed and she gained weight. She prefers to eat home cooked food, fresh fruits and have a glass of milk every day.

Image source: 1,2

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Nithi asks,

Hi Nidhi This may be a stupid question but want to clear this…
How far this is true, when we stop doing ab exercise suddenly, your belly fat become double sized than what we had before… My friends says to stop doing ab workouts or do it regularly… I’m little scared and confused Nidhi.. What should i do?

Find more questions of this section HERE

Hi my girls,

I make a healthy version of brownies from college days. It tastes super. And no one gets to know that it is made out of curd and whole wheat I suggest having them when you are most active, even though they are made of healthy ingredients, it still has sugar and some amount of oil. But none the less, the taste is awesome, have it with dark chocolate sauce or eat it just like that

To make Whole Wheat Brownie you will need:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup organic raw powdered sugar/ can use honey if you want

4 table spoon Cocoa powder

2 table spoon coffee powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4^th teaspoon baking soda

1 cup fresh curd

1/4^th cup olive oil

Walnuts/almonds/dark choco chips

How to prepare Whole Wheat Brownies:

Sieve whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder and cocoa powder. In a separate bowl, mix curd and oil, add sugar/honey. One spoon at a time, add the whole wheat mixture and mix till the whole flour is merged in the liquid ingredients. Take a microwave proof bowl, line the bowl with some oil and pour the mixture in it. Garnish the mixture with nuts and dark chocolate chips.

Microwave on normal mode for 3 minutes and stop for 5 seconds, then microwave for another 3-4 minutes. Take the cake out on a plate and cut it in slices. Serve with chocolate sauce or treat yourself with some vanilla ice cream ( on a cheat day you see :P)

I am going to serve some with hot chocolate sauce.

Let me know if you have any doubts while preparing this easy peasy healthy brownie recipe.

Love to all

Vrinda

About the Author

Vrinda is a fitness enthusiast. She is an advocate by profession, a tax consultant working with a law firm in Delhi. She workout in the gym and does yoga on the weekends. When she wanted to lose weight, she consulted one of the very famous dietitian of India to fix a diet plan for herself.

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Hello Girls,

I have been planning to write so many articles but never got around to writing those thanks to my job switch plans. For those who don’t know, I have found another job and I am currently serving my notice period. I will join the new company in December. So, October has been a great month for me.

What do I say about Kickboxing? Kickboxing=Love for me.  I am glad I joined a machine free workout place last year and got introduced to kickboxing. I hated it initially because it required a lot of energy and I could not really punch or kick properly and I was in my worst shape of my life. But after a few sessions, I got hooked onto kickboxing.

Kickboxing is a high impact activity so a proper stretching and warm up routine is a must before you start kickboxing. Make sure you stretch your legs, your ankles, your hands and your shoulders properly. Do light running or jogging for 2-3 minutes to warm up. A usual routine in my kickboxing session starts with shadow punching.

You could wear your boxing gloves or choose to just pick some light weights and do some shadow punching and kicks right and left. This is just to make sure that your muscles are warmed up enough. Shadow punching is simply punching in the air without any contact to punching pads or punching bags. What I am describing here is a typical session in my fitness class.  The exercises could vary depending upon your trainer and the intensity could be low or high depending upon the fitness of the participants in the class.

My trainer usually stands on the other end of the area and we (Usually 4-5 people, people skip classes on kickboxing day… :P) are usually asked to run one by one and punch him some fixed number of times, run come back and do it again for say 10 times. When our trainer thinks that we are not putting our best efforts in punching, he will ask us to come in bear walk or crab walk next kicks are added along with the punches.

So we punch 4 times and do ankle kicks with our legs.  Ankle kicks are sometimes replaced with sole kicks later where you punch using your complete sole. Your complete sole should land on the punching pad for a perfect sole kick. To make the workout more challenging, our trainers ask us to do 2 push-ups or mountain climbers or burpees before we return to him again.

We use the boxing punching bags for sideways ankle kick mostly.  We are also made to do continuous punching on the punching pads our trainers are wearing and trust me continuous punching for say 1 minute drains you out completely.  Also, jumping on both the knees while the trainers hit your thighs with their punching pads  They hit harder when we don’t jump properly  Squats and sole kicks are another routine in my training class.  Also knee and ankle kicks alternatively. They also add some tyre turning or tyre pushing too to add to the menu at times.

Point to note- Punches could be of different types. When I am punching on the boxing bag, I keep my elbows close to my body and try to hit as fast as possible but my punches are not that intense. When I am punching on the trainer’s punching pads, I move my arms completely and hit so the punches are more powerful.  I also twist my hands a little bit and do sideways punching.  When you are doing ankle kicks, remember to keep your toes outwards and not inwards else your toes could get hurt.  If you have been practicing kickboxing but feel that your kicks are not strong enough, make one step back, so that there is space for your legs to move, hold for just 1 second and make maximum impact on the punching pad or boxing bags.

There are really a lot of variations that one could do in a kickboxing class. Each of my kickboxing classes are different, only one thing remains the same- our clothes are drenched in sweat completely at the end of the session.  

Now there are several workouts but why exactly is kickboxing my favourite-

Helps you vent out-

Instead of uttering a mouthful of abuses to someone, I would rather punch and kick harder. It is a healthy way to vent out without hurting anyone physically or emotionally.

Helps you lose weight and tone up at the same time-

Yes! You heard it right! I credit a lot of my progress to kickboxing. Since there is so much punching, kicking and running required, you are bound to burn a lot more calories than your regular workout. Also, arms and thighs have been and still are a major problem with me. But thanks to my punching and kicking sessions, my arms are in much better shape than before and my thighs are stronger and firmer now.

Helps you learn some basic self-defence-

When you punch and dodge, not just your physical fitness but your mental alertness increases as well. You know if you don’t dodge at the right time, the trainer’s punching pad would hit your face.  You also learn how to punch and kick to make the maximum impact.

Makes you flexible-

Trust me I never knew, I would even be able to move my complete legs around and kick but I can now and I am nowhere close to be totally fit as of now.  So don’t think that someone with heavy thighs would not be able to kick as kickboxing gives you amazing flexibility.

Do I need to say more? I love kickboxing totally. It has made me fitter, flexible and mentally agile. I am glad that more and more of machine free fitness classes are coming up these days and I am sure it won’t be difficult to find a kickboxing class at least in the metros. I urge everyone to give it a try  After a kickboxing class is complete, I feel like a warrior who won a fight

Please let me know if you have any questions. Also, please let me know if you guys would like me to write on something specific. I am always short of ideas.

Lots of love to everyone!!

About the Author

Ankita is an IT professional. She is crazy about fitness. She follows a healthy fitness regimen. She shared her weight loss story HERE

Read other articles by the author HERE

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Hi everybody,

How is the festive season going on for you all? I see apple baskets selling in the market for gifting purposes. Red, red- yellow, yellow and golden-green apples are the one that I see here in India. Ah that triggers saliva rush in my mouth. I enjoy eating big juicy apples a lot. Though the saying says “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” but what ‘an apple a day’ does to the doctor itself- nobody answered that one han.

• Apples are best eaten along with the peel. Why? because moms say so
And why do moms say so? Because there are a lot of nutrients and anti-oxidants in the peel itself and this peel contains more amount of vitamin C than the apple body/pulp.

Nowadays, at some places people remove the peel in a thought of avoiding pesticide effect but doctors who have researched on this say that the minute amount of pesticide (if present) will not do as much harm to your body after ingestion as much good the apple peel will do. So enjoy the apples with the peel itself.

• Apples fight vatta and pitta doshas and are cold in character.

• It has tartaric acid and that is the reason it gets digested easily. It also aids overall digestion process.

• Apples are heart friendly. They help in lowering blood pressure and cholesterol thereby helping to keep our heart healthy.

• It contains a lot of potassium and iron. It helps in enhancing the blood formation.

• It purifies blood. So all the ill effects you see in your body due to impurities in blood like pimples, skin problems etc are cured by having apples.

• It is said that if you have recurrent fever, consuming apples as your main diet in the day relieves you and overcomes the fever related weakness too.

• It helps in building a sharp mind, strong immunity and detoxifies liver also.

• They are a good source of fibre. Fibre keeps your digestive system well and is good for people planning to lose weight.

• Apple serves as a good pre workout meal option. It gives us energy, be it morning or evening without giving us the feeling of heaviness.

• Some studies state that it prevents cancer too.

Dentist speaks:

• Biting and eating whole apple helps in shedding off the already formed plaque on the teeth by bacteria. That prevents cavities.

• Eating an apple stimulates saliva in our mouth in amount more than it is produced while we have normal meals. Saliva counter acts the acid produced by the bacteria and hence prevents cavity formation.

• Also, it has a massaging action on the gums while we bite and chew apples which increases the blood circulation of the gums to some extent and so is good in maintaining gum’s health too.

Enjoy juicy apples.

Until next time take care!

About the Author

Dr Sahiba Wadhwa is an intern in a BDS college

Read more articles by the author HERE

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Heylo everyone,

A day before yesterday, I went for grocery shopping to the organic store Navadanya. I guess by now the shop owner knows what kind of things I like to pick up from his shop so he does not show me the cookies section . He asked me if I have ever tried upma made with samak rice. I have samak rice only on the days I am fasting. But I am aware that samak rice is a good source of proteins:  thiamin, riboflavin, niacin. It is also a good source of phosphorous, iron, and potassium.

It is not a cereal but a fruit. It is the seed of a grass (Echinochloa Colonum) which frequently grows amongst the rice paddy. In fact it can be eaten in every spiritual fast. It provides the nourishment and energy that rice does. it is high in digestible fiber.

Why do we eat it on the day of fast?

As we know that we do not have to eat cereals on the fast days. On fast days, we do not have to eat wheat flour, rice and sugar. In traditional fast diet we replace wheat flour with kuttu and singhara flour; pulses or dal with rajgiri or cholai and rice with Samak chaval. All are fruits in origin and good for heart.

I asked the shop owner to tell me the recipe of Samak Chawal Upma. It sounded easy so I picked up a pack of samak chawal and tried samak chawal upma yesterday. It took me just 5 minutes to prepare it. It came out to be a healthy yummy and filling treat

Recipe of Samak Rice Upma

Serving 1 big bowl

You will need

1. Samak rice 3 fists

2. Onion, tomato, peas, carrots and whatever vegetable you want to add.

3. Peanuts

4. 1 tbsp oil (I used musturd oil)

5. Spices

Method of preparation of Samak Rice Upma

1. Boil samak chawal in one bowl of water for 2 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds(Zeera), hing, and curry leaves to it. Add peanuts and saute it.

3. Add veggies, salt, turmeric, coriander powder, chilli powder. Saute them.

4. Add the boiled samak rice to this and mix everything. Keep it for  half a minute.

Ready it is!. This is how my version of it looked. Okay I will try to take a better pic next time. I had it with curd.

Love to all

Nidhi

About the Author

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One of my friend showed me her FitFlops yesterday. She said, ” Since you are into fitness, so I expect you must have definitely heard of them. They are a big rage in fitness industry”. I did not know of fitflops by chance. I felt like ummm–yeaa- noo-actually–no–not heard of them.. What are they?

She showed me her pair of fitflops. I tried them, wore them for couple of hours, did some research on them and found out about them

What are FitFlops?

FitFlop is a U.K.-based company which sells these shoes with a tagline “Gym in a Shoe”. In 2007, Marcia Kilgore, founded FitFlop based on a technology developed by two biomechanics researchers. My friend went to London a few months back. FitFlops are a big rage out there. She got Fitflops for herself from there. They are available in India also. But I did not happen to hear anything about them yet. Have you?

Anyways so the special part of these FitFlops is the Microwobbleboard, which is found in the sole of the FitFlop sandal. This wobbleboard is made of a chemical called ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), commonly known as “foam rubber”, which is the darling of running shoes. The sole of this sandal has three different sections. Basically the density of cushioning is different in the 3 sections. Heel, mid sole, fore foot.

It has a high-density heel section to absorb the force on the body produced by walking and a low-density mid-section “such that application of a user’s weight, during use, causes instability.” The idea behind creating this instability environment is to destabilize the foot slightly and force the legs to work harder by engaging muscles for a longer period of time with each step. Hence they claim that this footwear help to tone up legs and bums muscles.

My take on FitFlops

I found them super comfortable. The cushioning is nice. It is like wearing a sofa in your feet. It is not like a highly cushioned ‘sofa’ I mean. Rather, it is a comfortably cushioned sofa. As in the cushioning is in sync with the gait and biomechanics of the human feet. But as far as the company’s claim of getting fit wearing these goes, I do not think that you can get fit just by walking in a foot wear . You can may be activate some your thigh and glute muscles with these, but cannot make your heart stronger or body muscles really toned up with them.

But I would again say that they are a very comfortable wear. You can have them for your normal wear esp if you workout regularly or you have knee/ankle pain issues or you are on your feet the whole day. As the cushioning is very supportive for human gait cycle. They are available in good designs and colors. After trying them, I think, I would like to use them as a regular footwear. I am going to get one pair for myself soon..

Has anyone of you tried it?

Love to all

Nidhi

About the Author

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