Healthy B.P.M.

Have you ever been made fun of for eating healthy?

Its seems that eating healthy can be uncool and being vegan can turn you into a social outcaste.

Is that true? I mean with all this talk about metamorphosizing your habits and becoming more aware of your health,with all the blogs on the web,and with all the health and diet books in circulation you still have to take the heat when you make food choices?

I find that typical. Doing the right thing is often difficult to digest. It’s an absurd thing that I’m trying to figure out this weekend.

Check this out: Developing a Healthy Diet Philosophy

diet, diet books, diet blogs

What do women talk about when they get together?

It seems fat talk is in. Women like to speak in a self-degrading manner when it comes to their bodies and if they continuously do that, their social standing among friends goes up. At least that’s what research says. While one woman will say I’m fat and sigh, her friend reassures her with No you look great. It seems to be an important part of female friendships.

Now if you happen to be skinny, it’s another story. It kind of gets awkward to sit in a room full of big-breasted women who worry about how big they are. Then you get that sinking I’m -flat -feeling and somehow no one talks to you about bra size and the bizarre vocabulary that comes with being woman.

I loved this story If I hate my ass enough, will you love me? on Pandagon.net

What do you think?

fat talk, obesity, skinny, body image

Bobbi c of Earthly Garden alerted me to a fantastic lead on some ground-breaking news related to obesity. It seems plastics can make you fat. The environment is changing rapidly and it’s only natural that pollutants around us. They make us lethargic, tired, asthmatic and now fat.

Some of the pollutants found in fungicides and plastics seem to be endocrine disruptors. They affect your reproductive system and cause your body to pile on the pounds. The worst part is that it seems the hormone triggers are hard to reverse.

So the next time you go out, the air you breathe in literally can make you fat.

Read Chemicals May Play Role in Rise in Obesity

pollutants, obesogens, fat, obesity, plastics

Now this is interesting- The Mental Diet. Found it on the 1 health tip blog.

It’s great and next to impossible. Try to feed your mind with only positive thoughts for seven days. No negative thoughts.

I tried to watch my thoughts an entire day. And it was funny how the most absurd things came up while I was cooking a meal or blogging as usual. It’s hard to block out negative sad thoughts.

I don’t know if it’s me but I thought of disease and death and misfortune for no particular reason.

When you look at your thoughts they surprise you. They frighten you. It’s an experiment that really triggers off the need to meditate and go within.

Try it out and tell me what happened.

thoughts, meditation, stress

What kinds of foods should pregnant women eat?

What eating for two really means takes a look at some of the myths associated with being pregnant. Does your pregnancy diet measure up? - a blog post on Blogging Baby made me think about how some moms dread pregnancy because they have to put on weight. Those who have been on diets all their life are suddenly faced with the prospect of gaining weight.

It’s scary especially if you have multiples. Then you have to be take a double dose of all those supplements, gorge on milk and health foods and address all those cravings associated with pregnancy.

Consult your doctor before you take up any kind of exercise(even yoga) because gaining weight is the norm during pregnancy and it’s not the time to knock off calories. You should be active but don’t try to be your own doctor.

pregnancy, obesity, weight gain, nutritional supplements, exercise

I loved Jimmy Moore’s (in the 30-in-30.blogspot.com blog)fantastic post on the intuitive knowledge of children when it comes to dieting. When I read All I Really Need To Know About Diet I Learned In Kindergarten, I was thinking that’s absolutely true. When you are a kid you never finish your meals. You never eat more than you need to and you eat several times in a day. You only eat when you are hungry. Moms don’t seem to understand that and try to get their kids to eat the entire meal. Kids eat in smaller portions and they play enough to get all those calories incinerated!

Kids have a lot of in-built wisdom. They never do too much of anything though we may think that they do(why some kids are obese is a different issue altogether). I think they are more tuned to their body’s needs than we are. Maybe we have to start listening to ourselves a little better.

Jimmy Moore, 30-in-30, kindergarten, weight, obesity, exercise

The ups and downs of your life affect your weight.

When you get married, you usually gain weight. For one thing you are happier, more relaxed and oblivious of dieing norms. Then when you have kids, you know what happens. Maternal bliss and calories go hand in hand.

Now suppose all that happiness falls like a tonne of bricks, if you divorce the weight could actually go up. When you eat alone, you don’t tend to think about calories. A friend of mine told me how he would embark on binge eating when he was under stress- be it in relationships or at work.

When you retire, you are suddenly faced with the prospects of a day without a deadline and you make up for it by clearing the fridge, eating more than you need and resting for no apparent reason.

So every time your life is punctuated by an event, your body is affected. Looks like stress can put on the pounds rather than reduce it.

Read A lifestyle change can bust your diet

stress, lifestyle, marriage, divorce, retirement, binge eating

Today I’m taking you to the backwaters of Kerala, a quaint green beautiful state down south in India. The Kumarakom lake resort is a fantastic spa which fuses traditional heritage with healing techniques.

You couldn’t ask for more luxury what with the twenty-two plush heritage villas taking in the breathtaking view of the lake,the duplex villa and secluded royal Presidential Suites. The villas are completely ancestral. So you have beautiful black floors and fantastic wooden roofing and open air bathrooms.

The healing happens in the Ayurveda wellness spa, Ayurmana. Ayurveda means the knowledge of life and it’s an ancient healing method in India. The Ayurmana is a 200-year-old mansion that once housed some of the most famous practitioners of this ancient healing science.

Today you get some of the best holistic treatments available here.There are a whole variety of packages you can choose from and all kinds of massages by professional masseurs that aid in rejuvenation, weight loss and overall well being.

If God’s own country is on your itenarary, I would recommend that you chill out in this pristine land and get destressed at Kumarakom Lake Resort.

Check out their website : klresort.com

Kumarakom Lake Resort, God’ own country, Kerala, India, spa, healing, massage, ayurveda

What a lot of couples are missing out on today is intimacy. There’s no time for it. Life is one long list of chores and responsibilities and once the spark is gone, the kids are in school and you’re vying for promotions, togetherness becomes a kind of ritual.

The thing is that intimacy is more than sex though fulfilling sex leads to intimacy. It’s a vicious cycle. Where do couples go wrong? They take each other for granted, they get involved in life’s petty issues to the point of forgetting what got them together in the first place, they don’t see eye-to-eye on everything any more…..the reasons are endless.

A good sex life can drive out the stress. What do you do to get it back?

-Own up to your responsibilities. Stop blaming each other and help each other out.

-Have eyes-open sex. That’s a daring way to get to know your spouse better.

-Be honest. It can hurt but it builds up the trust.

This article Lust for the long haul is a great eye-opener.

sex, intimacy, love, divorce

Some interesting reasons that you still don’t lose weight despite all your efforts:

-You exercise but don’t sleep enough.

-You don’t eat small portions; just fill the plate and gobble.

-You eat too fast.

-You don’t drink enough water; water actually helps curb that appetite!

-You’re starving.

Don’t believe me?

Read 7 weight loss mistakes for more.

weight loss, fitness, exercise, calories, obesity

The bundle of joy has arrived and suddenly you notice things about yourself that haven’t really bothered you for the last couple of months. You are fat, especially if you’ve had a Cesarean you feel really big and you want to shed it all. But wait for a few weeks before you sprint into action. Your entire body will go into healing mode after pregnancy and your wound need time to heal. If you are breast feeding your body will need those fat reserves.

What you could do after six weeks is walking, kegel exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor and light resistance training. Stay away from junk foods and try not to be glued to the television al that much. It;s not good for you or the baby.By the time your baby becomes active you will see the pounds disappear quickly!

Check out what the experts have to say on Working out After Having a Baby

post pregnancy, weight loss, fitness, exercise, kegels, walking

Which is your all-time favorite health and well-being book?It would be great if you could send in the name of the book and author. I’d like to feature some of the best entries.

fitness-related books, fitness writers

Have you ever thought about which exercise works for you? I stumbled upon this great resource: Battle of the workouts. Consider running vs aerobics. Running wins. Tennis vs squash? Squash wins.Yoga vs Pilates. Pilates wins but I’m personally for yoga because I vouch for long-term effects and yoga promises you nothing in a matter of weeks.

Okay so you know which exercise works but do you have the time for it? I asked a yoga teacher about how people can really make time to work out?” That’s a question that doesn’t have an answer” he said.” You have to make time if you want to stick around for a little longer:)” So what’s more important you or your job? It’s all about striking the right balance. And all I can say is that it isn’t easy but it’s a must- do.

fitness, exercise, yoga, pilates, running, aerobics.tennis, squash, motivation

What some women think about Women’s Day would be what a bunch of hype? I mean Days are dedicated to the underprivelaged. There’s diabetes day,cancer day, AIDS day, children’s day…..Women have come a long way in terms of confidence, financial independence, knowledge, capability. But do you need to celebrate it?

Some women would say hey we’ve turned from child bearers to corporate women. We have our say. No one can mess around with us and expect us to shut up and watch idly as our hearts break into a million little pieces. We need to celebrate one day…heck that’s our right!

What do you say?

Women’s Day

Obesity is always in the news. Check out this post Obesity prompting early puberty in girls by Sarah. Girls who are obese have chances of an earlier puberty. The enriched foods that we have fallen prey too are playing havoc with hormones and children are forced to grow up way before they should.

What about obese couples who want to start a family?Studies have revealed that obesity can come in the way of conception. In case of overweight men, semen quality and levels of reproductive hormones could suffer. Ovulation, conception and early fetal development suffer in an overweight woman. Obese couples have to wait longer to start their families than trimmer couples. Studies were conducted on couples who were already on the way to having a family; so there is no link between sterility and high BMI that has been established.

It’s just another reason for couples to work out and plan dieting regimens together.

Read Fertility Impaired in Overweight and Obese Couples

obesity, childhood obesity, puberty, pregnancy, sterility, BMI