Are you striving hard to shed those stubborn pounds? Before you drastically cut down portions of your daily meals, remember that the amount of calories you need to intake depends on factors such as your height, weight, gender, and activity level. Assuming you are consuming 2100 or more calories per day, experts suggest that you should cut down on the calories gradually. You will surprisingly find empty calories that are less nutritious. Foods that contain empty calories are beverages, chips, candy, pastries, cakes, milk-desserts, sugar, honey and other sweeteners. It will be helpful if you evaluate your current diet and choose ways to reduce them.

Check your current food choices for high-fat and refined grain foods. Substitute red meat, dairy products, cooking oils, mayonnaise, creamy dressings with skinless chicken, legumes, sauteed & steamed food, and noncreamy dressings. Use brown rice instead of rice and whole wheat pasta for white pasta.

As a beginner you can start on a 1900 calorie plan, which will take practice to get your body accustomed to the meal plan. Check out the video for a sample 1900 calorie diet plan.

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In today’s calorie-rich world, you may be often stumped as to how to lose weight. There is some wisdom in the good old home remedies and amongst them, lies a simple habit of drinking warm water mixed with honey and lemon, which will go a long way in your quest for weight-loss.

When you overeat or do not exercise enough, the food you consume puts too much load on your digestive system. Since your body can’t digest all this food at once, it experiences a nutrient deficit and tries to overcome that deficit by storing fat which results in weight or inch gain. Although warm water and honey is not the complete solution for weight loss, it sure helps the process.

How to Use

Every morning, on an empty stomach, take a glass of warm (not hot) drinking water. Add 1 eatspoon of honey in it along with 3 to 4 drops of lemon, and drink this concoction.

Note: Honey should be added after the water is heated because if honey is heated, it loses its properties.

Benefits

Warm water helps in clearing the digestive system by washing away residual undigested substances in the intestine, stimulating better digestion in the process. It helps in flushing out toxins from the body.

Lemon’s benefit lies in its cleansing quality. It is very effective for cleaning the digestive tract thus facilitating better digestion and ultimately weight loss. Also, lemon is rich in vitamin C which helps prevent cough and cold.

The third musketeer, honey, contains enzymes that improve metabolism. A boost in metabolism means faster breakdown of the consumed food, better absorption of nutrients and faster conversion of stored fat into energy. The digestion becomes easier which in turn nullifies the body’s need to store any fat.

Myth: Honey leads to weight gain

Unlike sugar, honey is not a simple carbohydrate. Sugar and other starchy substances lead to weight gain, because they are simple carbohydrates and can easily be converted to fat. This is not the case with honey, which has natural sweetness and other essential enzymes which stimulate metabolism and digestion.

Lifestyle Modifications

It’s important to remember that only this remedy will not be enough for weight loss. It is a very good habit to inculcate in your daily routine, but along with it; you must have a healthy diet plan and enough exercise to shed those extra kilos.

Those who are underweight or of ideal weight will also benefit from this habit since this remedy improves metabolism and digestion which helps absorption of nutrients.

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Have you ever experienced sudden weight gain? Do you experience extreme changes in mood, irregular or heavy bleeding? Or are you lately stressed for no reason, and have loss of appetite/insomnia? Then you may be suffering from hormonal imbalance.

An imbalance in body chemistry due to lifestyle, medications, pregnancy or menopause can cause your hormones to go awry. And as hormones are responsible for a number of body functions, the functioning of crucial organs will get affected.

So what can you do? Do you live with the discomfort or do you go for synthetic hormones, anti depressants, etc. for hormonal imbalance treatment?  Are there any natural cure and life style changes which you can inculcate to bring back hormonal balance?

Yes, there are and we will discover some popular natural remedies here.

 Natural cures for female hormone imbalance

Avoid Polyunsaturated Omega 6 Fats

This may come as a surprise to some, but polyunsaturated fats oxidize easily and cause inflammation in cells, clogging in arteries. When such cells become part of reproductive organs, they can cause problems like PCOS. So choose fats like coconut oil, olive oil, butter, ghee over margarine, corn oil, peanut oil and other chemically altered fats.

Be Away From Chemicals

Storing things in plastic, cooking in Teflon or nonstick cookware can release certain chemicals into your food. These toxic chemicals can mimic the hormones present in our body, and cause hormonal imbalance. Go for organic produce, and avoid coated metal-ware, chemical pesticides and cleaners.

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Did you know that good dental health can actually prevent heart diseases? According to American journal of Preventive medicine individuals with tooth loss have greater risk of getting heart diseases.

And as per Indian Dental Association (IDA), oral infections and improper oral hygiene can lead to many complications like stroke, diabetes, respiratory problems and premature births in case of pregnant women.

So what constitutes proper dental hygiene? Here, let’s talk to a dentist to know more.

Good Dental Practice

Dr Rashmi TN, the practicing dentist in a clinic in Bangalore, says that dental caries (tooth cavities), gum diseases, and bad breath, are the most common oral diseases that people come to see the dentist. Though genes and tooth anatomy contribute to dental problems, Dr Rashmi stresses that many of these oral infections can be averted by following proper oral hygiene, a balanced diet and a regular visit to the dentist.

‘Brushing, flossing and massaging techniques comprise good dental practices’, says the dental practitioner.

Brushing Of Teeth

As far as brushing is concerned, the right brushing technique is to clean all the sides of teeth with short back and forth vertical strokes.

1. Tilt the brush at 45 degree angle against the gum line for effective cleaning.
2. Cover the areas where the teeth and gums meet, and make sure you brush the outside and inside surfaces of upper as well as lower teeth. Tilt the brush for greater reach of inner surfaces of teeth.
3. Always brush for a minimum of two to three minutes, so that each tooth gets brushed correctly.
4. Brush twice a day and brush gently.
5. Use a toothbrush with medium bristles for effective teeth cleaning.

‘Soft and ultra soft brushes are only recommended for people with lot of gum problems or abrasive teeth’, says Dr.

‘And there is no right or wrong tooth paste. Most of them contain fluoride and do not contribute to effective cleaning of the gums. It is the mechanical action of the brush and its angle which determines the cleaning of the teeth’, adds the dentist.

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Surya Namaskar is one of the ancient and powerful exercises to keep the body fit and flexible. Since the moves of this exercise offer a complete body workout, it is beneficial in toning the muscles and stimulates body metabolism.

Each pose or posture is in essence offering salutation to the Sun God – Surya, also known as the keeper of good health. This has been adapted into our modern way of life as a natural way to derive the many benefits of this exercise. One of the most popular approaches is practicing Surya Namaskar for weight loss.

Some Important Tips

• Do warm up stretches before you start the series of asanas in Surya Namaskar. This prepares the body for the upcoming postures.
• Perform each pose with awareness. Since various postures in Surya Namaskar activates a number of muscles and releases energy, it is important to do sun salutations with awareness.
• Do each pose gracefully and slowly. It is essential that you breathe normally when doing each posture. The body and the breath must be in harmony.
• Yoga experts opine that twelve rounds (six sets) of Surya Namaskar is sufficient to keep a body fit and flexible. You can do up to a hundred and eight rounds (nine sets) or more for weight loss. Get comfortable with a smaller number of rounds before you can start practicing more sets.
• Relaxation is also important aspect of Surya Namaskar. Do not skip this step since Surya Namaskar is not complete without shavasana. Few people do not realize the importance and skip this step due to lack of time. Shavasana lets the body to recuperate and gives you energy to face the rest of the day.  You must spend at least five minutes in this pose before you can resume other activities.
• The best time for you to perform Surya Namaskar is the time of the dawn or the dusk. Your stomach must be empty for at least four to five hours before you start the routine.
• Each round of Surya Namaskar burns about ten calories. You can easily aim burning about four hundred and fifty calories for a forty-five round routine.
• Start practicing this routine at least five times a week. Gradually aim for all the days of the week for faster weight loss.
• This routine is best done listening or chanting the Surya Namaskar Mantra, which makes you do the postures slowly and gracefully. Fast music is a strict no-no.

Surya Namaskar Mantra

Chant the following verse before the start of the routine.

Dhyeya sada savitra mandala madhyavarti narayana sarasija sanasanni vistah | Keyuravana makarakundalavana kiriti hari hiranmaya vapura dhrtasamkha cakrah |

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To avoid placing the body under this kind of subtlestress, follow some simple tips:

A vegetarian diet is generally considered to be a healthy diet. However, certain individuals are affected by natural compounds found in fruits and vegetables called salicylates, which means their diet may be severely restricted.

 A nutritionist would be able to arrange for a test to assess the suitability of a diet and advise accordingly.

Eliminate certain grains, dairy products or meats from the diet if there is sensitivity or intolerance to these types of foods.

Everyone should avoid eating large amounts of refined and processed foods. If one must eat foods that fall into these categories from time to time, eat simple, fresh foods in order to allow the body to heal.

Go on a juice fast or liver detox diet regularly to give the hard-working liver a break.

Supplement your diet with appropriate vitamins and minerals to help the body withstand stress.

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