Indian Food

Indian Food

Living in India and thus being surrounded by the yummy curries it is hard to make the locals (in this case Indians) understand that their food is actually not at all healthy. As an outsider you get angry looks or comment like ‘Then why are you eating it?’, ‘What are you saying? Indian food is the most healthy food!’. In the contrary. Of course, nobody wants to hear anything bad about their country, culture or habits, but it is sometimes frustrating to give advice to people that do not know what is actually healthy and what not.

Let’s talk again about the food pyramid. 

Water

As you can see the most important food sections are from water until eggs & dairy. The water intake here in India is better than in other countries, simply because:

1. There is no culture of drinking any type of alcoholic drink (like in Western countries) with a meal
2. It is a country where the temperature can rise till 50-55 degrees Celsius, thus automatically you are more thirsty
3. There is just a limited variety of syrups to put in water to make it ‘more tasty’
4. Since childhood the people are used to drink water only and not having it substituted by any other drink which is ‘tastier’

Vegetables

This is one of the most mistaken food groups in the whole pyramid. India has a large vegetarian population but yet they do not eat their veggies like it should. An adult person requires about 600-800g of vegetables per day, which means about 300-400g per meal. This is not at all achieved by most of the Indian people. Vegetables (and fruits) are important for the vitamines they bring. However, a common Indian dish, may it be lunch and/or dinner, does not even get to 1/3 of the daily portion that you need. The one or two katori(s) (bowl) that you take per meal is not much more than just 50g per katori. This means that in a full day the vegetable intake comes at a mere 100-200g per day. This is way to less!

Most Indian sabji’s (vegetable curries) are made with a lot of oil and spices. Now, this last one is not very bad; however, too much spices are also not healthy. A lot of chili can cause heartburn and stomach issues. The oil, I don’t think that I have to explain much more about this, is of course also not healthy when it exceeds more than 2 tbs per person. The vegetables are also completely cooked through that you almost don’t even have to chew them anymore but just swallow. When you make your vegetables too soft then all the nutritions that a vegetable has, are gone.

When there is a dish with paneer (Indian cheese), dal (lentils), meat/fish, chhole (chickpeas), rajma (red beans)… then there is no addition of a real vegetable. Sometimes some cut tomatoes, cucumbers and onion are served but never enough for achieving the daily vegetable intake. And, onions are again not really a vegetable.

As last, the understanding of what exactly is a vegetable and what not. All vegetarian curries are called sabji (vegetable curry) but they do not always contain actual vegetables. Potato is used a lot in Indian dishes but it is not at all a vegetable. Not because it grows in nature it means that it is a vegetable. Potatoes come under the same category of ‘grains’ as they exist more out of carbs. Same as red beans, peas, corn, chickpeas, onion, garlic… they do not fall under the category of vegetables.

What is also done here in India (by most people), if you have sabji left on your plate, “oh you don’t have roti (Indian bread) anymore, how you will eat the sabji now?”. What about eating it just like that? Most eat more roti than vegetable and when there is sabji left they just throw the sabji when there is no roti anymore.

Fruits

Fruits can be quite expensive, thus it can be quite difficult sometimes to achieve that daily amount. Bananas are eaten quite often, but yet again this is a food item which contains a lot of carbs. Though, it is not bad to eat but better not more than 2 per day. Fruit intake in general should be approx. 3 maximum per day and mostly be out of fruits with a high water containment.

Grains

The most known grains are in the form of rice, bread, pasta and potatoes. Of course there is a difference between which qualifies for healthy grains and which don't. In general, al the brown (which means unrefined) grains are better than the white ones. This means that brown rice, brown bread and brown pasta are better than their white equivalent. This because the nutritions sits within the brown grain. As a European, I love all kinds of bread. When I make a sandwich for lunch I here, in India, get often to hear (from my Indian family and colleagues) ‘Is this all what you will eat?’ or ‘You should eat more healthy, bread is not healthy.’ ABSOLUTELY WRONG. Bread, brown that is, is as healthy as roti. In fact, if the roti isn't made properly it is actually better to eat bread than roti. Bread is always baked thoroughly where roti can sometimes still be raw. Not everyone is a professional cook thus in all households it will happen sometimes that the roti is not baked enough which means you are actually eating raw dough. 

Rice is eaten all over India and there is nothing wrong with that, but it is always white rice. Again, this is not the worst thing but the combination with which it is eaten is not optimal. Mostly rice is eaten with dal (lentils and thus no vegetables), a non-veg curry (again no vegetables) or as in the form of pulao or biryani (both contain very less vegetables). The first time when I ate pulao I was surprised by the combination. It had a few tomato pieces, a few onion pieces and a lot of potato. Two times a grains (thus carbs) in one dish. It would have been the same as eating rice with pasta or bread with rice. Some real foodies like to top that up with namkeen (Indian snack) which is just the same in nutritions as chips and again carbs.

The amount of carbs that is eaten during the day is way to high in combination of the amount of vegetables that is eaten. Vegetable intake should be double of that of your grain intake and not the other way around. And two slices of brown bread has as much nutritions and calories as two home-made roti’s.

Health Fats & Seasoning

In the Indian kitchen mostly ghee, mustard oil and refined oil are used. These are three fats which belong to the top of the pyramid and considered to be optional. They are not healthy and do not bring anything good to your health, no matter what all those commercials try to say. Healthy fats are for example, olive oil and pine seed oil. Also avocado is a heathy fat.

Coming to the seasoning. Indian dishes are well known for their overwhelming spices. It is not for nothing called ‘seasoning’, it means, adding a bit of spices to add some flavour to your food and not adding a bit of food to your spices. Especially chili should not be added in a serious extend. Many people like spicy food, but that doesn’t mean that it is good for you. Heart burn, stomach issues and sometimes headaches are due to the use of too much chili (fresh and powder).

Conclusion

The other food groups of the pyramid are well maintained and in balance when talking about the Indian kitchen.

Many Indian people complain about stomach issues, heartburn and overweight. Mostly the women (but it also occurs with men) complain about the dark circles around their eyes and blame it on being dark skinned or not having enough sleep during the night. This is however just a small percentage of the cause. The dark circles around the eyes comes mostly from having not enough vitamine and not enough protein intake and not because the darker tint of the skin or less sleep. Yes, less sleep will make it even worse but that is not the main reason. If that was the reason than the whole world’s population would have dark circles as in the lifestyle which people have these days, sleep is out of the question.

I also do not know 1 Indian person who does not take any supplements as iron pills, multi-vitamin complex, calcium etc. 

Thus, it is important to balance your diet and keep yourself on the appropriate balance.

Unrealistic Goals

Lately I was at the gym doing my daily session and a new girl came to the trainer. She was about 4.9ft (1m50) and weight 121lbs (55kg). I know, height and weight shouldn't matter, but well, we grewup in a world like this and it kinda leads to the continuation of this blog.

Not as the other girls in our gym, whom are shy and sometimes ashamed for the reason why they are going to gym, she was very straightforward and cocky. She said to the trainer, literally I'm not exaggerating "Listen, I don't care what it will take you but you have to make me a supermodel within 2 months as I will compete in a modelling hunt."

I was surprised and confused. Our trainer was also very surprised and speechless, not to say the least. Now, since my blog is reaching out to the whole world, first some explanation on modelling here in India for those who don't know. It is not as in Western countries that a model has to be at least 5.8ft (1m75) and has to fit in clothes which are of size 32-34. The restrictions are different here, a model of 5ft can easily have some minor modelling jobs. Yes, taller girls are more in demand but nevertheless. Eitherway, I'm not here to write about modelling work and beauty pageants. The point here is, her goal. She wants to have the figure of a model in just 2 months. Even here in India, weight is important when it comes to modelling. She has a BMI of around 24 which is just the maximum before you get to the section of being overweight.

Before you all think differently, no I'm not judging her or body-shaming her, I just want to point out how unrealistic her goal is. I appraise her confident and her enthusiasm, but with that alone you won't get far. You can have all the confidence of the world but if at the end your goal is an unrealistic one, your confidence will drop to level zero the moment you don't see any progress. It takes a lot of effort, dedication and time to achieve any type of fitness/health goal. Having a deadline of 2 months to loose at least 5kg, you will either have to starve yourself out (which is not healthy at all and you will gain it all again when you start eating) or settle with a loss of 2-3kg maximum. But considering she wanted to go for a modelling hunt competition she would need to lose a good 10kg. 

Coming to the moral of this, have a realistic goal with a realistic deadline. It is not healthy to lose more than 2kg per week, matter of fact 1kg is more as enough. Your body needs to adjust to your new diet and to the new type of workout. Spare your body by doing all types of unhealthy diets which let you lose 10kg in just 2months. I will keep repeating until it finally settles in, there is no such thing as a super/wonder diet which let you lose more than 2kg per week. It is cliche to say but, you have only one body and that body decides your life span, exhaust it and you will feel and have the consequences of it later.

Calculate your goal, measure a realistic deadline and start working hard.

Have fun working out!

Do's and Don'ts

Going to gym is for me not only to workout, get motivated and getting new workout ideas, it is also a place full of blog content.

There is a large variety of people in the gym; male, female, athletes, beginners, bodybuilders, etc. Everyone has his own style whether it is about the workout itself or the clothing sense.

BUT!! There are just some general, not rules, more like unsaid agreements that some behaviours/dressing styles that are not done in a gym.

Let's talk about a few pointers considering behaviour in the gym first.

1. Seriousness

If you don't do it for yourself, then please do it for your gym colleagues. Not taking your workout serious is your own choice, though then you also don't have to be surprised that you're not getting the results that you want. Either way. You not being serious is totally fine, but it should not disturb someone else's workout/motivation/seriousness. Nothing is as annoying as someone using all spaces without doing anything, someone continuously taking selfies, someone continuously talking or talking/laughing loud. So please don't disturb the other gymmers with this type of behaviour.

2. Show off 

I think that is even clear before talking about it. You don't proof yourself anything plus you don't proof anything to anyone else with it. The most harm you can do to others is that they'll just be annoyed with you, so not that much harmful. The harm you can do yourself is much much bigger and much more dangerous. I'm not talking about your ego being hurt if someone starts laughing or ignores you because of your show off. What I am talking about is the injuries you can get with overdoing it. Mostly show off happens with the heaviness of the weights. Sorry guys, but it are mostly the guys that do this kind of show off amongst each other. Result is, you'll start doing the exercise wrong as your body can't handle the weight you have put and doing the exercise wrong can result in serious muscle, joints or ligament fractures.

3. Flirting

I have seen both sides, male and female trying to flirt with someone. Come on people!! You are in a gym for crying out loud, where everyone is sweaty and gasping and having a red head because of the blood circulation. If there is one place where you don't start flirting or go to to find a date, then it is the gym.

What I've seen mostly in Europe is that the guys try to flirt with the girls. They start showing some alpha male behaviour by showing off their muscles or think that they can convince the girl by giving her a creepy wink.

Here in India it is the other way around, mostly, girls trying to flirt with the guys. Literally some girls have told me that there is no fun in coming to gym coz there are no cute guys and if there are then they're not interested in the girl. 

Let's put it on an agreement... The gym isn't the place to flirt. Keep it to your workout please.

Then now, maybe my favourite one, dressing codes for gym. I don't care if girls are wearing only a sports bra/top and a skintight legging or if guys wear an inner and shorts. BUT! Really nobody is interested in seeing your ass through the transparant leggings or the string you are wearing or the bush of chest hair that is showing. I might sound conservative, but you are not on a beach plus nobody likes any type of body sweat of someone else on the seats, dumbbells or other machinery. If you wear proper cloths you will not leave your sweat on everything that extensively. Furthermore, you are in the gym to workout not to walk the catwalk or do a sexy photoshoot.

1. Girls

Girls it is sad to say but you are on the first place when it comes to physical appearance. If you want to look good at work, at a party, for a date, ... all fine, go ahead nobody is stopping you! But really nobody cares about how you look in the gym, as everybody looks as sweaty as can be. Yes, there are many pictures of women doing gym and it looks very sexy. Ladies, those girls are models and it is a photo shoot. 

I see girls coming to gym in full makeup and if they have done some exercise and they sweat they go checking if all the makeup is still at place. They even have, no kidding, their makeup with them. Girls, you disappoint me. Those girls with their makeup sets are also the ones that try to find a date in gym. Let's make it clear and honest. Guys don't care about your makeup, already not in general, so why would they start caring while in gym? Please girls, leave the makeup at home.

2. Girls 2

Well, it is the least to say that the female part here has the upper-hand when it comes to "don'ts" in gym. Many girls don't wear a proper supportive sports bra. Believe me it will help you a lot. There are quite some girls at the gym here that come to gym because they are overweight. They do aerobics and that includes a lot of jumping and hopping. I, being a girl myself, know how annoying it is to not be wearing a proper sports bra. Especially with exercises that include jumping or running or any type of bouncing even squats for that matter. Girls, don't you ever feel awkward when your breasts are jumping up and down in a not so simultaneous and coordinated way? It hurts, you are the point of attraction (and no not in a good way).

I really don't understand girls that keep working out without a proper sports bra it should not be allowed as well. Sorry to say but, if guys get comments and gym expulsions when they are wearing shorts that avail to much of their lower assets then girls should also get restrictions. 

If you don't see the indecency of this, then at least think about the harm you can do to your body. Mostly girls who have a rather big upper, if you don't wear a proper sports bra you can hurt yourself in so many ways. During running, jumping, aerobics and all other intensive workout which includes jumping and running and hopping etc., the possibility that you will torn your skin around your breast is very high. During the intensity your breast are smacked up and down coz of the gravity difference you go through every time when you hop up and down. Wearing a proper sports bra (with high intensity level) prevents this and it also prevents having back, neck and lower back problems.  So please girls, if you don't do it for the comfort and looks then please do it for your skin, muscles and bones.

3. Boys & GIrls

Not that much in Europe, though it is becoming a trend also as everyone rather looks good then think about the harm they can put themselves in to. Mostly here in India I come across people work out, that don't wear proper shoes. They come in slippers, crocks, loofers or sandals. Peeps! that is not a proper footwear for your workout. Weightlifting, aerobics, running, zumba, etc they all need a proper shoe. You don't like to wear sport shoes because "it doesn't look good"? Well too bad, you are not doing exercise to be discovered as a model. Those "hideous" sport shoes, are specially designed so the risk of getting injuries in your feet, ankles, knees, legs, spine and neck is minimal. Not only that, it also gives protection against objects that might hurt you from the outside.

Eg.

- You are lifting weights and one of the weights falls on your foot. How much is your sandal or loofer going to protect your food from wounds or bruises?

- You go running in the park with slippers. How many times you will twist your ankle because you every time lose your slipper?

To conclude all in one sentence: "Wear proper clothes and shoes to prevent inner and outer injuries and leave your ego at home."

Myth Buster

Recently I came across two posts on Facebook. One about food and what it does to your weight and one about food that can cause serious health issues and diseases. 

Nutella causes cancer

To be honest at first I was completely terrified by hearing this. I literally thought "NOOOO!!!! NOT THE NUTELLA!!"

I mean, who doesn't like Nutella?? So, I started reading the article and I got sceptical about it very quickly, after just reading the first paragraph. Stating that Nutella uses a lot of palm oil and that this particular ingredient causes cancer. Okay. Let's take a closer look at that. I'm not a doctor, nor a scientist nor did I do the study on this, so I'm not in place to say that they're lying or that they did their research wrong just because I like Nutella. In the contrary, I believe quite easily what science says, but that doesn't mean that I don't have my own thinking about it.

I started thinking about so many food products like artificial sweetener, herbs and spices, refined products, etc. I noticed that these days everything is under the loop and researched to see wether it is harmful or not. Artificial sweetener can't be good as it contains only chemical stuff and it just has to cause cancer or any other disease. What about the use of some herbs and spices, there must be some that is also not that healthy as we think. What people forget is that any product can harm your health if you use it excessively. Too much salt, can cause kidney failure for example. So yes, I do believe that Nutella might include cancer causing ingredients but only if you would be consuming more than 2 Nutella jars per day. How much you put on your bread, a tablespoon or two? Not more than that. Do you eat it every day? I don't think so, unless you're one of those people that indeed consumes 2 jars a day. Otherwise, no. So what is the actual percentage of that cancer causing palm oil that you consume daily, monthly or even yearly. What I'm trying to say is that, don't take everything toooo serious, especially when you are reading it from the internet proper rapports of the study. At the end you end up with drinking water and eating nothing as they will find harmful stuff in EVERYTHING. It wouldn't even surprise me if, at one point in the future, will find harmful stuff in drinking water.

Eating rice in the evening causes weight gain

This one is known very well here in India. The first time that I heard it, I literally laughed at the person telling me this. The person who told me this grew up with this thought as the parents and grandparents always said it was like that. During my study I got to hear something similar (also coming from an older lady), one of my supervisors said that "Mixed food contains less calories". I stared at her like, I think for 5 min, as I was completely stunned by such stupidity. It was like a child choosing 2 pieces of cookies instead of the whole cookie because it thinks the 2 pieces is more in quantity.

The point is that, many of those sayings come from a more ancient time when research wasn't done that much yet regarding food and weight gain/loss. Maybe some people indeed gained weight after every time eating rice in the evening, but, how was their total lifestyle? How was the health of their family members? What else they ate during the day? How much rice they consumed in the evening? Did they work out to stay fit or not? It is not just one factor that says whether it will let you gain or lose weight, it is the totality.

Coming to the information you need to live without the food myths. I did some own research across the internet and came to 16 myths. Many reoccured on different website, some new. I found more than 16 myths, but I have taken out the most common and most surprising ones.

1. Eating ketchup instead of other sauce and pickles is a good replacer if you are feeling hungry

Well, yes ketchup is less fat containing than for example mayonaise, but it contains a lot of sugars. Coming to pickles... Many dietitians  say that "If you feel hungry, eat a pickle instead of a biscuit, piece of bread or such." 

The first time I found this weird, but okay there is a point, it has less calories and it stills your little hunger; however, a pickle isn't that much healthier. It contains less calories, but that is about it. A pickle contains yet again a lot of sugars, natural and added ones, and it contains a very high acid level. Acid is not good for your stomach when eaten too much. If you'd replace all your snacks with a pickle you will soon start feeling heartburn/acid reflux. 

NOTE: I'm not talking about the Indian type of pickle (achaar), but the English type. Though, also the Indian pickle is not good if eaten frequently.

2. Replacing normal foods with diet foods you will lose weight more easily and be more healthy

Sorry to say but, who ever said that is an idiot. Diet foods contain nothing fresh, skip important food groups and are often made out of chemicals. Think about diet Coke, artificial sweeteners, yoghurt sweetened with artificial sweetener... All are chemicals which your body can't digest in a proper way. Yes it all contains less calories, but less calories doesn't mean it is a good product. If you want to have less calories then make cucumber water if you want to drink something else than plain water.

Then all the diet foods and meal-replacers. They don't add up to your daily required nutrition intake as they consist out of 1, max 2 food groups. As you most likely read in my previous posts, I have tried every type of diet. The last one I did was one of those meal-replacing diets where you can't eat normal food, not even veggies. One of those meals contained rice. Guess what, even the rice was not rice but rice specially made and containing only protein. Yes, protein are good for building muscle and keeping your "engine" going throughout the day, but your diet should not consist out of protein alone.

Diet foods don't give you your calorie intake and nutrition you need on a daily base, so your body will start taking everything that it gets to keep going. In the beginning you might lose weight, but this is water weight not fat. After a few weeks, if you are "lucky", after a month or two you won't see any weight loss anymore plus you will start feeling weak and without energy.

Conclusion: diet foods won't help you losing weight fast nor in a healthy way

3. Be sure to take your daily required dairy intake because it is good for your bones

WRONG!! As a child having your dairy intake is good for your bone development; however, the older you get the less profitable it gets. Not to mention that for example milk is very difficult to digest. Here in India I hear people, of the previous generation which is carried further to the present generation, saying that "You have to drink 2 glass of milk daily to keep healthy". Some parents even force their children (no matter which age they are) to drink their 2 cups of milk daily. Most of those people also drink milk just like 5-10 minutes before going to sleep. Yet again a wrong thing to do, as milk digests slowly and during your sleep your system is in rest thus it will take even much longer. Milk is good, but is not needed daily after you have fully grown. After that milk won't bring any profit to your bones anymore, instead it might cause fragile bones. If at an elderly age, having fragile bones it can be very dangerous. Bones get fragile when you get older, breaking bones is done quickly with elderly people. Imagine that milk will make that process quicker. You don't have to be a mathematician to make the conclusion.

4. Drinking tea/coffee is a good replacer for water

Depending on the quantity you drink and what you put in the drink it can be okay or bad. Coffee contains caffeine and tea contains theine. Both ingredients cause water storage and (hyper) activity. Water storage will result in weight gain but more inconvenient it will put pressure on your bones, veins, muscles and skin which can result in a lot of pain and malfunctioning of the part where you have the water storage. The (hyper) activity can be nice in the morning when you have a long day ahead, but it will get a lot more inconvenient by the time you want to get some proper rest. Your nights should be long enough and uninterrupted to maintain good health in general. If you didn't get enough sleep, you will start feeling without energy and will become sick as well as your immune system won't be able to cope up with everything anymore. 

Don't drink more than 8 cups coffee/tea per day and especially don't drink it after 2h before going to bed.

NOTE: 8 cups doesn't mean 8 cups of tea and 8 cups of coffee. It is a total amount of cups you can't exceed.

5. Dal/pulses/lentils are easy to digest so you can eat them during dinner without issue

I wasn't used to eat pulses until I came to India. The first thing that I mentioned after eating a normal dal (no fancy or fried one), "Wow! This is heavy food!".

I think I already busted this myth. Nevertheless a little bit more information. Pulses or lentils or dal or whatever you want to call them, are the vegetarian substitute of protein intake. Not as much, but yes they deliver an okay amount in protein if you are a vegetarian. One of the reasons why protein make you feel full for a long time is because it digests slowly and keeps you going for a longer time. Yet again, I think there you have another reason that dal isn't as light as people claim it to be. Like with every other food, depending on the quantity you eat and the time you eat it, it will be 'good' or 'bad'. Heavy foods are suggested not to be eaten later than 2h before going to sleep and dal is one of those. The protein level will digest even slower during your sleep resulting in a uncomfortable sleep or even stomach cramps. So no, pulses are not easy to digest. Yes you can eat them during dinner if you want, but don't eat them later than 2h before going to sleep.

6. All calories are equal

Wait... so, this means that if my tomato soup is eg. 150kcal and my chocolate is also 150kcal, then I can easily eat the chocolate bar of course! Why would I choose the soup if I can eat the chocolate for the same amount of calories!

NO!! Not all calories are the same. Yes the calories might have the same amount, but it is the total of the food that counts. How much sugar is in it? How much fat is in it? How many trans-fats? How many proteins? How many of the other nutrition? All these count as that will make your calorie total. So no, all calories are not equal and you are not on "schedule' if you replace all the healthy foods with the unhealthy foods just because it both says "150Kcal".

7. Supplements can help you lose weight

Since this an ongoing topic on my blog I will keep it short. No, supplements don't help you lose weight and if it does it means that they are working on your digestive system which includes faster process of food and thus it is not good as important nutritions will not be taken by your body. They also might let you lose water loss which you will gain in no time. You can refer to my previous blogs and upcoming blogs what kind of damage weight loss supplements can bring to you.

8. Eat less, move more

Though this is not completely wrong, it is also not completely correct. It is a fact that with only dieting you won't achieve your goal but with starving yourself and then just working-out like a mad person is also not a solution. You can read more about it in the documents I made regarding weight loss and the other blogs. To make it short, if you keep eating the same amount but work-out you will most likely remain your weight, if you over-eat because "I'm working out so I can treat myself with the most sugar rich treat", will let you gain weight and if you starve yourself and workout you will end up exhausted with a malfunctioning immune-system.

9. Carbs make you fat

I started repeating myself. Depending on how much you eat and what you do with it it will let you gain weight or not.

Don't say no to any food group, as you need all of them (some more than other) to keep healthy and going. Carbs can make you gain weight if you misuse it, thus carbs aren't the enemy. What many people do wrong is that they combine carbs with carbs or prepare it in such a way that it becomes "fat making".

What I noticed here in India is that for example a potato is seen as a vegetable, which is  not correct. Yes it comes out of the ground and it grown with water and sun, but that doesn't mean it is a vegetable. A potato consists mostly out of carbs, just like rice, bread and pasta do. One of the famous dishes here is pulao, main ingredients: potato and rice. BAM! two carbs in one dish.

Oh no, don't start thinking "see Western people only know how to combine". What about your lovely pasta you eat with a pieces of French bread (baguette)? BAM! two carbs in one dish.

Most people love food and love to experiment with tastes and ingredients, but that doesn't always mean that it is a healthy combination.

How do you eat your carbs? In the morning 6-8 slices of bread with a 2inch layer of jam/chocolate spread/cheese/...? And what about your pasta, which sauce you put on it? An all meat-lovers fest or a rich cheesy white sauce? Tell me your rice recipe... Fried? In combination with other carbs? With a nice creamy curry sauce? The point is that people don't think about that. Yes it is true that carbs become sugars and if you don't workout and don't keep track of your total diet, then yes it will be a FACTOR of your weight gain. BUT! You need carbs to keep your engine running.

10. Fat makes you fat

You would think so but that is not completely true. Yet again, the quantity counts. You need some "fat" to keep you going and to maintain a good health. The choice of which kind of fat you use and the quantity is very important. Prefer to use natural fats like vegetable oils. If you want to have a butter spread for your bread choose one that is refined or has a natural basis. Animal fat is literally just fat and is not healthy when eaten a lot. A slice of bacon is fine as long as you don't overdo it. Try to avoid eating pure fat. Meat that still has its rind is okay for baking, but don't eat it when it is cooked. Use it only for the taste but not for consumption.

I like to have my bread spread with a thick layer of real unrefined butter adding some chocolate sprinkles on it, that doesn't mean that I will gain a lot of weight after eating such 1 or 2 slices. It will start adding up when you overdo it and eat like 5-6 slices like that every day for breakfast or as a snack. It will harm if you overdo it.

I used to cook oilless, really I didn't even use 1 drop of oil/butter during my cooking. After some time it left me without energy and craving for something greasy. For some reason our body starts craving for that one thing that you are skipping and you'll end up binge eating that one thing you are trying to avoid. Better is to add a little bit and the craving won't occur.

11. Weight loss diets really work!

Well, I don't think I have to elaborate about this much more as you can find detailed info in the rest of my blogs. So in short: Yes it works but only for a short period, when you stop you will gain all the weight you lost in no time plus most likely some extra weight and they are absolutely not healthy.

12. Only thin people are healthy

Let me explain the difference between healthy and what the health views of people this time are. Being healthy is not only being thin or fat. Your state of mind, activity level, nutrition intake, etc. are all important in the factor whether you are healthy or not. A, so called, thin person might have matched the standards of what many people call "perfect"; however, to my opinion a skeleton with some skin is not perfect at all. That same thin person might have difficulties with sleep, not having enough nutritions, a low activity level (or a to high activity level). That is not at all healthy. 

Where a, so called, fat person who has a proper amount of sleep, enough nutritions but just not enough activity, will be healthier than the thin person.

It all depends on your nutritions, state of mind, activity level, age, gender and vitals. Yes, a person with obesity is not healthy as his vital organs are at risk due to his/her weight. On the other hand a person with an underweight is also not healthy as that person is underfed.

The whole "healthy" and "unhealthy, is a balance between the factors I've mentioned above and if one is out of balance your health will automatically be at risk.

13. Vegetarians are always healthy

 I will most likely go against the views of my pure vegetarian friends (no meat, no fish and no eggs), but being a vegetarian doesn't specifically mean that you're healthy. Believe it or not but meat, fish and eggs bring a lot of nutritions that our body needs. Yes, there are supplements that you can take, but do you really want to take pills the rest of your life to keep your body healthy? Sounds like a contradiction here: taking pills to keep healthy

"But there are a lot of foods that have the nutritions of meat, fish and eggs."

That is right, but those foods don't have the same amount as what non-veg food can give you.

Eg. oats are number 3 of foods with a high protein level. Though, 100g of oats contain 17g of protein and 100g of chicken contains 27g of protein.

As a vegetarian you have to keep your diet calculated the whole time to make sure that you consume a good amount of the nutrition you need. No, nobody counts their daily intake very strict but still a non-veg person has less to worry and count than a veg person.

On top of that, many vegetarians are not taking proper food and thus they lack a lot of nutritions. Vegetables and fruits are the main source for your vitamin intake; however, many vegetarians eat less vegetables than non-veg people do.

When I first started living here in India I didn't notice but after some time I started feeling weak and craving for healthy food. Weird right? I was eating vegetarian food only and yet I was craving for healthy food, how come? Well, the amount of vegetable intake here in India, with most people, is very very less. A healthy amount is considered to be about 300g of vegetables during one meal and that two times a day. That means that approx. 600-700g of vegetables a person should consume. I started calculating how much of that I got during the day. I came to an amount of less than 150g!!! What?? But I'm eating vegetarian food??!!?? Here in India a vegetable curry won't ever give you enough of your veg intake unless you eat a big salad with the veg curry. What mostly is made here as well is daal and chickpeas or kidney-beans. Those are 3 healthy foods, but not if that is the main meal you eat every time. Daal, chickpeas and kidney-beans are not vegetables. They bring the protein intake but they don't give the nutrition a vegetable will give.

Being a pure vegetarian, even when balancing your food, can cause low-blood pressure, less in iron, lack in calcium and vitamin D and so on. Plus those who are gym-goers and want to develop a firm muscled body, a vegetarian person won't be able to develop muscles as a non-veg person do due to the lack in protein and vitamin B-12. Unless they take a lot of supplements to cope up with the lack in nutritions.

Conclusion: a good balanced diet decides whether you are healthy or not and not the choice of being vegetarian or non-vegetarian.

14. Take artificial sweeteners, they are better for your health

Do I really have to elaborate further about this? Artificial sweeteners are made out of chemicals and those chemicals can cause many diseases including cancer, if misused. You want to sweeten your oatmeal? Use fruits or a teaspoon brown sugar. Fruits will bring sweetness and vitamins, brown sugar is unrefined and thus contain more good than white sugar.

15. Fat-free salad dressings are good for using during your diet

Not completely right. Yes, they contain less to no fat but they do contain a lot of other ingredients which are not natural, to keep up with the taste of the normal salad dressing. It is better to make your own dressing with for example, lemon juice, pepper & salt and 1 tablespoon mayo. You can read about the necessity of all food groups in my other blogs and documents , in short, all food groups are necessary also the top of the food pyramid.

16. Don't eat too many egg yolks

However, that is not completely untrue, it is important to keep track of your egg yolk intake. It is a common fact that egg yolks can bring too much cholesterol to your body which can be very dangerous if not contained. It is important to not eat more than 3 whole eggs per day. If not exceeded than your "good" level of cholesterol will be perfect plus you will have a whole lot more of your protein intake than when you consume only the egg white. Where 100g of egg white contains 11g of protein, 100g of egg yolk contains 16g of protein. That is 5g more which is a lot if you count the 3 eggs per day. So, don't eat more than 3 whole eggs a day and keep track of the rest of your diet as well, and you'll not harm your health.

Gym Trainer

It is because we come across it every time we go to gym and it really irritates me sometimes, gym trainers.

If you are a girl and have a male trainer you, mostly, don't have to expect to achieve your goal. Or if you have to lose a serious amount of weight, whether you're female or male, then also it is very hard sometimes to find a correct trainer.

You come across trainers which are not serious in working with you and giving you proper training. Here in India I see to often that, when girls want to do gym and not just aerobics or zumba, then they are left to their fate as the gym trainer (which is always male) doesn't want to train them, think they are not able to lift weights or they don't have the patience. When they train those  who are professional bodybuilders (male and female) or if they are just a guy, then they give good advice and workout schedules. When I started doing gym with my husband, and I was not a rookie in doing gym, it was the same for me, but we both "fought" for my recognition that I am able to do normal gym and now I can ask the trainer for help if needed. Which is good of course but it is a pitty that I had to like, gain their respect.

When I was in Europe the trainers are mostly towards the more pervert side, sorry guys it's just the truth. Getting winked at, stared at and such.

For overweight people it is also difficult to find a proper trainer. If you want to have an experienced trainer that knows which guidance to give, they charge a lot which is not affordable for everyone. An overweight person often gets stared at and other people in the gym think "What is she/he doing here????"  It is a pitty that this happens. You never know the underlaying cause of someones weight/body issues, so don't judge.

Everyone deserves to achieve their goals and if they are serious about it then they also deserve the full respect and guidance that any professional or experienced person gets.

To end on a lighter note... Here a video which is sadly true, but made in a funny way.

Weight Loss

Weight loss, what is it all about, why people want to lose weight, how do they do it and do all diets work...

So many doubts and questions when it comes to weight loss. There are also so many people struggling to lose weight, and it is sad that commercial companies and people who just want to make money, play in on this and trick those people who are desperately looking for a good weight loss solution.

Many diets are harmful, very harmful, for your health; however, the companies that provide these "exclusive", "wonder", "life changing"- diets, don't care a bit about it and just keep going with tricking people and playing with their lives.

I have tried a lot of those so called wonder diets, believe me I think I tried them all (as far as possible of course). And, at that time, I was very surprised that it didn't work. I thought I was doing it wrong or that it was just not meant for me and that I wasn't meant to lose weight. It put such a negative stamp on your self-esteem and motivation that I can understand very well that many people go through the same demotivation.

When I started to figure out that those '"wonder" diets are just a pile of bullshit in a wrapper, I started to do some research and study regarding nutritions and diets. I came to the conclusion that those "wonder" diets are mostly just words and the product itself doesn't bring anything good to your life. It cuts out whole nutrition groups, contain only one type nutrition (or none at all). It will only work if you follow that particular product and eat/drink literally nothing else.

The most hilarious, after doing my research, products I came across were like "diet chocolates" or "diet cookies". Yes, dear readers, I tried also these. It does exactly nothing. The diet chocolates you have to take one or two before each meal and it supposed to reduce your appetite. To my opinion that is at all not good. Yes, you want to lose weight but you don't want an eating disorder instead. What those chocolates actually do is not, like they say in the commercial, absorbing the fat of your food, instead they work like a laxative and nothing more. Which is of course very dangerous. When a doctor prescribes a laxative they also say to not continuously take it as it can cause internal bleeding and harm your intestinal bacteria. Who wants to harm that?? Not to mention that those chocolates also taste like the worst thing on earth.

The cookies was something else. You should replace 2 meals with 2 cookies and take only 1 normal meal preferable breakfast or dinner. Those cookies are meant to make you feel full a whole day. NOT!! Oh yes, I tried this as well. It doesn't make you feel full during the whole day, it doesn't even make you feel full after the "cookie meal". Yet again, also the cookies are made only of one nutrition mostly which are protein. Yes, protein are good for you but not if you only take protein.

One promising "wonder" diet are the meal-replacers. I'm repeating myself over and over again, but yes also this I tried. Basically every brand of meal replacer is the same, you don't eat normal meals anymore you take a meal of the diet. Depending from which to which brand you take the replacers of, with some you are allowed to add green vegetables and others not, with some you are allowed to take one normal meal with others you have to take only the meal replacers also snacks, etc. To be honest this worked, at the start. Like any other "miracle" diet, also this consist more of protein than any other nutrition. All those "specialists" say that carbs are like demons. Not correct. Yes taking too many carbs is not good as it will transform in to sugars if you take too much, but everyone needs a certain amount of good, unprocessed carbs. So, yes it works. It let me lose all my weight (about 10kg) in just 3-4 month, which is extreme and it gave me such a boost. But then, then the horror began. Your body has been consuming these pre-packed, processed foods for a long time and then you want to start going on a normal meal again as you have reached your goal. Then it all starts. Your body is not used to have fresh food anymore thus it can't digest it, you will start gaining weight again easily. If not then another negative point about this kind of diet is, that you have to do this diet every month for 1 week and keep replacing one meal, if you want to maintain your weight. So technically you will always be on a diet.

Making a big story short, don't go with those so called "miracle" diets. Instead, change your lifestyle and eating habits. With life style I don't mean directly to say that you have to change your job or stop your hobbies. No, just change your eating habits and your activity level.

So far any person I've consulted with my thoughts about diets and my lifestyle, are very enthusiastic and when they try it they see and keep seeing the difference. It is not always easy to change your lifestyle but if you try even half of it you can see and feel the difference.

You can check here to read more about my views and how to contain a healthy lifestyle, whether it be for losing weight or just maintaining it. I've made it in pdf so that you can easily download it and read it whenever you have the time.

Have fun living your life in a healthy way and comment your doubts/thoughts and/or ideas!

Sitting Squats

One of my favourite exercises are gluten exercises, or just normally said, butt exercises! 

I think like all women we want to have it like Jenifer Lopez or Kim Kardashian. Don't get mistaken my dear readers, like I said many times, those ladies have a lot of money and a very good plastic surgeon. Nevertheless we can always strive to do our best and sometimes that is just enough to achieve what we really want.

There are many variations in squat (gluten) exercises. It doesn't only have to be the regular, well-known standing squat. For me the standing squat has no effect, the only place where I feel it are my knees, and since my knees aren't always working with me as much as I want it, it sometimes becomes a true pain.

I started experimenting with weights and movements and came to some good exercises which do have an effect for me.

This sitting squat spares my knees and believe me you feel it at the right place. I mostly do 3-4 sets containing out of 15 squats. I start with one weight (which at this stage is 15kg) and don't increase during the exercise. You will soon know why when you do the exercise yourself. However, when I first started the exercise a couple of months ago I started with 5kg only. Since I don't do this exercise every day it takes some time before I can increase the weight as my muscles have to adjust to the weight in a good way. There is no need to rush the process, as it will not have any result except for muscle strains.

Push-Ups

I'm not good at push-ups so I rather not do them. It is not a good example but when I don't feel good with an exercise and can't perform it correctly then I don't do it. I want the technique to be optimal and if this is not the case then the exercise will also not have the effect it has.

My husband on the other-hand is good it and thus it is better to see  and learn from him then learning from me in a wrong way.

In general I think push-ups are more of a men than women thing. Don't get me wrong many women can perform push-ups even better than men and sometimes men also can't perform it. But in general, when you're more a rookie or starter, men are better at it. However, that is no excuse to not try to do them. Always try before you say no I can't.

Regularly push-ups or dips are done as a warm-up, thus before you start your workout session. My husband does it as well as a warm up rather than a counting exercise.

He mostly does a total of one hundred dips, which are split up in sets of 50, 25, 25.

Yet again, do as many as you are able to and don't overestimate it. It is important to put concentration to it as much as you concentrate for any other exercise. If you want to do 4 sets of 25 then this is also perfectly fine. You want to do 80 in total and not 100? No problem. You have to listen to your own abilities and strengths, it is not a shame that you can't perform 100 dips. It depends from person to person and even from day to day.

Crunches with weight

For me this is the most effective ab exercise. Because of the movement, because of the weights, I don't know but this is the only one I truly feel in my abs and the days after. This is not the case for everyone though. My husband feels more with the regular crunches. So yet again it is different for everyone. 

I do this exercise mostly in 3 to 4 sets and each set contains 15-20 crunches, depending on the weight I put. We start with about 30kg and increase the weight with 5.5kg (just one plate more) every set. However, it is up to your gym level and abilities whether you put more or less weight. 

It is important to crunch totally and stretch out fully as well. When you feel the stretch you're doing it right.

Have fun!

Injured

Being injured can destroy a lot of your hard work and motivation. However don't let it get you.

Find the things you can and are allowed to do.

My husband got a road accident a few months ago and had his collarbone dislocated. It happened just in the middle of our progress. We both were worried and thinking of how to solve it.

Being "glued" to your chair is not our thing. We like our workouts and we like to stay fit. Being not able to move is a real hell for us.

He wasn't able, and also not allowed on doctors restriction, to lift heavy things or move that shoulder too much for at least 6 weeks. Being a weightlifter, this was hell for him.

However, now there was no excuse anymore to do more leg and abs day. There you see, an inconvenience became a convenience.

A few weeks ago I bumped my patella to the marble and couldn't walk properly for 3 weeks. Also this inconvenience we turned in to a convenience. I did only upper body workout and no legs until my knee was better again.

No matter what the issue is, there is always something that you can do. 

Many people also have permanent health issues or injuries. Like being a back patient or having asthma or any other inconvenience that might stop you to workout. Don't let anything stop you to achieve your goal. 

Old, disabled, injured, sick. If you have the spirit you will achieve with your hard work and dedication.