7 Tips on How to Not Let Stress Affect Your Weight

Is stress affecting your weight loss battle?

Stress brought on by dieting is added to the personal and work life stresses that we face every day, often resulting in a "vicious cycle" of increased stress and increased food intake. People under stress tend to engage in self-defeating and unhealthy behaviors such as binge eating and there is strong biologic evidence that stressed-out people may tend to put on the pounds faster. "I'm stressed, therefore I eat." Many people complain that they overeat in response to workplace or personal stress. If this sounds like you, read the following tips for managing stress-related overeating to help you check this unhealthy habit.

1. Practice waiting. Postpone your instant gratification when hunger hits. Tell yourself you'll wait 10 to 30, minutes to eat. Chances are good if your cravings are only stress-related, they'll disappear when you allow yourself to become distracted.

2. Keep a food journal of what you eat each day. Knowing you have to write down every snack or nibble can be a good way to remind yourself to think before eating.

3. Enlist a friend's help - ideally one who also is tempted by stress-related cravings. When you feel like eating, write him/her a quick note or make a phone call.

4. Keep yourself nourished. Eat regular, healthy snacks to maintain your energy level. Skipping meals while under stress only prompts you to eat more, and unhealthily, when you do get around to eating.

5. Post some reminder messages wherever you're likely to see them when stress-related cravings begin. Use any message that works for you. Examples might be "Are you really hungry?" or "Think about why you're eating."

6. Physically remove tempting food items from your home or office. Never go shopping while hungry and always make a list of food items prior to shopping; bring home only what you feel good about eating.

7. Take time for yourself every day. Whether it's 10 minutes to reflect and relax, or whether it's some fun activity that will revitalize you, it's critical to do it. Health is not just physical, mental well-being is just as important, you deserve to mentally de-stress everyday!

How to Relax

Mind-Body Medical Institute has been studying the relaxation response since the 1970s and has linked its use to reductions in high blood pressure. The idea is simple: just as the body responds to certain cues and situations with a stress response, it can also respond a relaxation response. With 20 minutes a day, you can learn to use the relaxation response to reduce stress and to improve blood pressure.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 20 minutes a day

Here's How:

1.      Sit

Find a comfortable place to sit. Sit with you back straight and feet on the floor. Be comfortable, but alert.

2.      Close your eyes

Just relax. Close your eyes. Let everything fall away.

3.      Breathe in

Breathe in through your nose. Feel the breath fill your body.

4.      Breathe out

Exhale through your nose. Feel your body collapse. Breathe out fully.

5.      Repeat

Continue breathing. After each time your breath in and out, say (or think) the word “One”. Continue for 20 minutes. You can change the word to anything meaningful for you.

6.      Practice daily

Repeat this everyday. Have a set time to do it. Don’t worry about setting an alarm, just have a clock nearby that you can see. If you start drifting in thought, gently return to your breathing.

7.      Mini-relaxations

During your day, stop a few times and ‘do a mini’. Just breathe in and out for about a minute. This will relax you and begin to teach your body how to respond to stress in a calm way.

What You Need:

• Place to sit
• 20 uninterrupted minutes

A Balanced Life

Bring your life into balance with these tips on good nutrition, family fun, and healthy activities.

Power yoga, the new fitness buzzword

Power walking, power lunches.... And now, Power Yoga.
It's the latest fitness buzzword.

To demystify power yoga, Get Ahead spoke with popular power yoga instructor Leena Mogre.
Mogre, M Sc in nutrition, is the COO of Gold's Gym, India.
This is what she has to say:
Power yoga deviates completely from the traditional form of yoga.
It is an East-meets-West routine, a fusion of yoga with functional and flexibility training, both of which train your body to perform better.
Power yoga involves bit of Surya Namaskar
Basically, power yoga involves the moves of the traditional yogic Surya Namaskar (or Sun salutation) mixed with flexibility training and strength training.
The Surya Namaskar consists of 12 exercises with specific breathing patterns done in a continuous graceful sequence.
What these exercises do: They counteract the effects of the previous exercise. They also expand and contract the muscles of the ribcage and waist.
Advantage: Practicing the Surya Namaskar daily will make the spine flexible and trim inches off the waist.
The power yoga principle
There are different modules in power yoga.
Typically, you would do one asana followed by strength training. This makes your body strength work for you and makes the whole workout more dynamic.
For example: During the Surya Namaskar, one asana closely resembles the push-up position.
During one module, the instructor may decide to have the class do regular push-ups.
The next time, the instructor could ask the class to do push-ups on their knees with their feet crossed in the air.
The advantages of power yoga
1. It increases lean muscle tissue, which means improved calorie burning, reduction in your body's fat percentage and increased BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate).
This makes for a stronger you, leaving you with strength for your everyday life.
2. It works your stomach and back muscles constantly, increasing your core strength.
This increases the heartbeat harmoniously.
3. Power yoga, like the traditional yoga, helps reduce stress and relax your body.
4. It also helps improve concentration, which is particularly good for students.
How often should you do power yoga?
This dynamic 45-minute workout is recommended three times a week.
It can easily be alternated with your regular cardio and weight workouts.
Who is it for?
As with all exercise routines, almost anyone can do power yoga after consulting their doctor.
There are programmes at Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced levels. How fast you move from one level to the next depends on your fitness and flexibility levels.
How much will it cost you?
The fees are entirely affordable. They are usually between Rs 1,200 and Rs 1,500 per month
Is it easy to become a power yoga instructor?
It is pretty easy to become a power yoga instructor. Provided you are either a yoga instructor or a fitness professional. All it takes in that case is a five-week training course.
Typically, I teach the course on five Sundays.
Apart from the training, we provide candidates with manuals as well.
At the end of the five Sundays, they have to appear for an examination.
Finally, I always maintain: With discipline you can achieve anything, provided you follow a regular diet and exercise programme.

Tips For Overcoming Constipation

Almost everyone is troubled by constipation once in a while, but when constipation is prolonged or becomes chronic then it becomes a serious health problem and needs to be dealt with. In this article I will give some natural, life-style based, tips that you can use to prevent and cure constipation.
Before I go on to the tips, it should be remembered that while constipation by itself is uncomfortable and annoying, it becomes more than an annoyance if it is allowed to continue. Constipation plays a role in the onset of ailments such as cancer, heart disease, appendicitis, diabetes, hernia, abnormal menstruation and other diseases. If you are not able to move your bowels at least one time per day, then you need to take some action now if you want to prevent serious health problems later on in your life.
It is better not to try to solve the problem with laxatives alone. Like many medicines, laxatives treat the symptoms but do not offer a long-term cure to the problem. Here are some natural ways in which you can fight constipation:
1. Get plenty of fresh air each day
If you are cooped up in a room or office and don't go outside then your digestive system will not work properly. Kids who play outside seldom get constipated, and likewise for anyone who has a job which entails outdoor labor. Make it a point to go outside and take a walk in the fresh air each day. Breathe deeply and walk until you have worked up a sweat and then you will know that you have taken enough air.
2. Drink a lot of water
Water helps your digestive system to function. It is said that "water is a cure for all diseases." A healthy person should drink around four liters (quarts) of water per day. Start the day with a glass of water and keep drinking continuously through the day. It is not good to drink all the water at one time, and it is especially bad for heart patients to drink a lot all in one sitting. If you have constipation in the morning, start drinking and keep drinking; the water will act as a natural laxative. It is also helpful to put a little bit of lemon and salt in the water.
3. Use the toilet as soon as you get an urge to "go"
Another old saying says that "If you are in doubt about whether to eat or not, then don't eat. However, if you are not sure whether or not to use the toilet, then use the toilet." Listen to the demands of your body and as soon as you get the call of nature, then respond. If you delay, then it may not be possible for you to move your bowels later on.
4. Eat fresh and fibrous foods daily
It is very important to include fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains in your daily diet. If you only eat processed foods and refined starch products then you are inviting constipation. When I am troubled by constipation I like to cure it with a "leafy lunch." I eat a big lettuce salad and a large portion of steamed spinach and it usually does the trick.
5. Squat at the toilet
In many parts of Asia you have no choice in the matter. The toilets are holes in the ground or porcelain holes and you are obliged to squat down to relieve yourself. This is the natural position for defecation and it is superior to sitting on the "porcelain throne" that is found in western toilets. You don't have to rip out your plumbing and dig a hole in the floor. You can get a better position by squatting on the rim of your toilet bowl. (You may find it strange, but no one will see you and it will definitely help you to eliminate the waste that is accumulating in your body).
6. Learn and practice yoga postures and mudras
There are several yoga postures that prevent constipation. These postures put gentle pressure on the digestive system and help the natural process of your body. Visit a competent instructor and ask for yoga postures that help the digestive system.
7. Exercise daily
One of the causes of constipation is a weak liver, and a major cause of liver weakness is lack of exercise. Combine exercise with the taking of fresh air, and walk briskly, jog or run, or practice some outdoor sport and you can overcome one of the root causes of constipation.
Finally, if you really want to relieve the problem immediately, you can flush out your intestines with a half liter to one liter of warm water. Here's how to do it: add the juice of one lemon to the water and then add plenty of salt (a tablespoon should do the trick and the solution should taste both lemony and salty). The more salt you add the surer the water will move through the body without being absorbed. If you do a full day's fast or a half day's fast before taking the lemon water, then you can get excellent results.
Incorporate these points into your daily life and you will seldom be troubled by constipation.