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Diet and Fitness -3 (Reverse Dieting)

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Starting and/or following an exercise and diet program for a period of time is one thing but what should an individual do after he/she has achieved his/her respective goal. For goals such as weight gain, etc which thrive on an increased caloric intake, after achieving the goal going back to maintenance slowly or even further increasing calories may be followed depending on the new goal the fitness enthusiast may have. On the other side, for individuals following a weight loss/fat loss program who have achieved their goal may find that things don't usually work out as they had assumed. While this may certainly not be the case for all, some fitness enthusiasts can face the issue of an ever increasing weight and/or increasing body fat percentage weeks/months after they completed the diet. In situations like these following a reverse dieting approach may prove to be beneficial. When following a weight loss diet usually the consumption of food (calories) steadily goes down, w...

Diet and Fitness -2 (Flexible Dieting)

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Most people starting/following a fitness program find it surprising to know that they can eat the foods they like and still achieve their fitness goals. The portion size of their favorite foods would obviously be limited, but they may get away with it if they are consistent. Flexible Dieting has been around for some time but is only recently gaining popularity mainly for the benefits it offers. The basic idea behind flexible dieting is that you eat the foods you like throughout the day by simply keeping track of their respective macro nutrients. Being close to or on point with your daily/weekly macro nutrient intake numbers may assist you in achieving your nutritional goal, provided that the macro nutrient numbers and your daily/weekly caloric intake values are correct to begin with. Some benefits of flexible dieting include flexibility to eat your favorite foods, varied food intake option, ease of preparing/combining foods you prefer, comparatively easier to adhere to diet...

Diet and Fitness -1 (Diet Plans)

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Diet undoubtedly is an important element of a fitness program. Most fitness goals such as weight loss, fat loss, weight gain, etc. are influenced directly by the type of foods consumed during the duration of the fitness program. A lot of individuals starting their fitness journey rely on either general diet plans or specifically prepared ones for the entire program. Benefits of these may include an easy to follow approach, knowing what to eat for the entire day/week/month before hand, quick results,etc. while drawbacks may include not knowing what dietary steps to follow after the program ends, adaptation of metabolism to a different caloric intake, weight loss/gain still continuing after the program is over and results are achieved, regaining weight and body fat weeks/months after the program(weight/fat loss) ended, limited food items included in program, etc. While these drawbacks are certainly not experienced by everyone, it would be wise to keep an eye out for them. N...

Buying Supplements in India

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Most fitness enthusiasts consider supplementing their diet with certain nutrients in the quest for their fitness goal. Weather these supplements are actually needed by them is a completely different question altogether. This blog post is however focused on buying supplements in India.  Most supplements available in India are of foreign origin, while there are certainly some that are fully manufactured in India. Some people prefer to buy supplements from trainers, while others prefer their local shops as an ideal place to make the purchase. There are even some who buy supplements from unknown sources being lured away with either heavy discounts or false promises or both. While all of the above mentioned sources can be some of the easiest means of buying your favorite supplement, they may not be the best. For supplements manufactured in countries other than India, checking the official website of the brand you want to purchase is a good place to start. Most companies di...

Progressing on a Fitness Program: Nutrition

Success on a fitness program is dependent on not only following an exercise pattern rigorously but giving an equal if not more attention to proper nutrition based on your goal. Many times individuals starting an exercise program may not see results that they expect and start hopping from one exercise program to another. In situations like these they usually forget to check their nutritional intake, which may the reason for their slow or in certain cases extremely slow progress. Some common reasons for nutrition becoming a limiting factor for many during a fitness program include time, budget, not knowing where to start, quantity of food, type of food necessary, timing of nutrient intake, food preparation, etc. There are also some individuals who start relying on nutritional supplements solely as their chief source of nutrients and show only a casual attitude towards whole foods thereby depriving themselves of the benefits that whole foods may offer. If you get stuck on a fitn...

Progressing on a Fitness Program: Recovery

An essential part of a fitness training program in addition to exercise and nutrition, is appropriate rest and recovery. Unless and until an individual following a fitness training program is not fully recovered from their previous sessions, it may become difficult to progress ahead with the program without hitting a plateau. Although recovery from exercise itself is an ingrained process that the human body is capable of accomplishing on its own, the only catch being the time it may take to do so. While it is advisable to follow certain training strategies to help with recovery, they alone can’t get the entire job done. That is why coupling training strategies with proper nutrition, hydration, sleep, stress management, etc. is a better approach to an effective and efficient recovery from an exercise session. A diet that caters towards appropriate macro and micro nutrient intake so as to supply the body with enough nutrients and hydrating yourself properly throughout the day espec...

Cooking on a Fitness Program

Cooking forms an integral part of any fitness program. While we may consider regular exercise, healthy eating habits, etc as essential components of a fitness program, more often than not we prefer to outsource the cooking aspect on a fitness program to someone else. Any fitness program weather fat loss, weight loss or weight gain requires eating as per the goal desired. For those living with families, it may sometimes become difficult to consume meals as per the desired goal due to various reasons including depending on others to cook meals for them, not knowing how to cook, etc. Also, preparing two separate kind of meals, one for that member of the family following a specific diet and the other for the remaining members, not only becomes more time consuming but at the sane time may not be financially efficient for some. In some cases it may even happen that the entire family may have to consume meal prepared as per the likes of one member who is on a fitness program. While ...