Spring Cleanse Your Body

All winter and no spring, makes Jack a dull boy.

Spring is finally in the air! Do you smell the flowers? Do you feel the warmth of the morning sun? Do you hear the bees and bugs coming after you? It is that time of the year when you pull out your spring cleaning checklist, rip your house apart and bid ‘Good Riddance’ to the clutter. Clutter is no joke – especially when you are up against months and months of stuff to get rid of (and make space for more!).

But how about a spring cleanse for your body while you are at it? We must pave way for the season synonymous with freshness , bloom and detoxification. Poor diet, lack of exercise, toxins, pollutants – all reign our bodies and need to be thrown out from time to time. 

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With so many seasonal fruits on the way there is no excuse for you to not include them in your diet. Fruits such as apricots, bananas, mangoes, melons, strawberries, kiwis, pineapple and blueberries are to look out for. Reach for seasonal vegetables such as spinach, zucchini, carrots, radish, cabbage, broccoli, asparagus and artichokes at the supermarket. Why buy anything processed or frozen when you can buy it fresh? All the more reason to hit the farmer’s market in your locality.

Needless to say that spring is a good time to reduce or, if you can, totally eliminate non vegetarian food from your diet. Give your body a break. Meat provides no fiber or water content to your body so reduce its intake as fruits and vegetables meet both of these criteria. Ensure that almost 70 to 80 percent of your meal is vegetarian. Include more salads, side dish of vegetables – steamed or grilled, vegetable juice, green smoothies etc.

Drinking more water to stay hydrated is a no-brainer. Help your kidneys do their job well and flush out those stubborn toxins with water and juices. In addition to water, have green tea, vegetable broth, fresh fruit juice and supplement your diet with pro-biotic yoghurt. It is important to remember to balance the alkaline-acidic level in your body. Foods such as cucumber, sprouts, and green leafy vegetables help to balance the acidic levels. The best way to jumpstart your day and cleanse your body is to have lemon water first thing in the morning.

Get out and moves those joints in the sun. This way you get some exercise and a whole lot of vitamin D. The ‘sunshine vitamin’ as it is also fondly called is essential for your bones and to fight certain types of cancer. The changing weather can make you prone to catching a flu which is why Vitamin D from the sun is beneficial. It helps the body in developing resistance to viral infections. Just ten minutes in the sun with bare arms and legs is all you need to do to get your dose of healthy vitamin D. 

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Don’t just sit back and relax, ‘spring’ into action and make the best of spring while it lasts – it is indeed the best time of the year.

Content source :
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/11-detox-tips-for-a-super-spring-cleanse.html/2
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maria-rodale/renew-your-vitality-with_b_3271558.html?ir=India
http://www.webmd.com/diet/detox-diets-cleansing-body?page=1
http://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/benefits-vitamin-d#Disease3
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161618.php

Seven Fitness Habits You Need to Inculcate TODAY!

Stop waiting and start doing - Waiting for an occasion to start your fitness regime is a lame excuse. As you get closer to the occasion, you stress and obsess over the dress you want to fit into which basically sucks the fun out of exercising. Treat everyday as an occasion to look your best. So by the time the actual occasion comes, you really do look your best minus the time crunch! This way your exercise routine seems comfortable and goals more attainable.

Sleep Well – Make sure you get minimum six to eight hours of sleep every night. The body needs to recuperate from muscle aches and soreness from all the exercising as well as keep that metabolism in check. Besides, crashing in late and then having to get up early for a run never works. With little sleep in your system, you will never be able to get out of bed to move a muscle. The result – you will feel sluggish all day and by the time you are back in bed you will go to sleep feeling guilty and demotivated.

Shopping for food – Do not shop for food when you are feeling hungry. If you are out and about on an empty stomach you will reach for foods that are not good for you. Grocery shopping takes time so it is best to do it once you have eaten something. While picking your groceries, make sure you get real fruits and vegetables and not processed items. Don’t leave out cheat items such as chocolates or ice creams. Nobody said exercising has to be that cruel!

Cook yourself – A good way to keep a check on your fitness is to cook your food on your own. Don’t go for packed food that claims to be ‘healthy’ or ‘diet food’. Whatever you consume should be home cooked. This way you watch what you eat and how much you eat. It might seem hard in the beginning but you just might find it therapeutic!

Cheat days – Pick a day in the middle of the week and treat yourself with exotic or sinful food you are busy running away from the rest of the week. This way you will stay motivated. Don’t push the cheat day to the weekend as it can seem too far and the craving itself will stress you out.

Follow the clock – There’s a reason why the clock was invented. Stick to a time for each meal of the day and don’t skip it. Also, stay hydrated and be sure to snack on nuts, fruits or even a cup of green tea between meals. In addition to regularity, have an early dinner and hit the road for a walk before you tuck yourself in. This will allow your body to digest food properly and you will wake up feeling light and hungry for breakfast.

Variety is the spice of life – Be sure to mix up your exercise routine. If you follow the same moves day in and day out, you will lose interest very soon. Keep it challenging and interesting. Learn new workout moves and try pushing yourself a little everyday.

Quick Detox

Sometimes our healthy diets are thrown right out the window during vacations or weekend parties. You want avacado for breakfast but you end up with deep-fried bacon on your plate (in case of Indians it could be Aloo Puri, Aloo paratha, Chole Batura etc.) How do you say no to that when people expect you to lick the plate clean? Exactly! 

Detox is the best way to get all that unhealthy fat and junk out of your body. It won't happen in a day so you need patience. It could be in your regular diet or in detox water. Cleaning your system is necessary for weight loss and metabolism. So go ahead and follow the following detox which can be made out of homemade ingredients and is not time consuming.

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Happy Detoxing!

Thigh gap or knowledge gap?

Surely, most fitness freaks and health conscious people have heard or engaged in heated discussions about the “inner thigh gap”. As if losing weight was not difficult enough, the women of the world needed something new to feel more conscious about themselves. What’s next, chubby knees? Just because the model in the lingerie advertisement has sticks for legs does not make her healthy. And isn’t that our real goal here - to be healthy?

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Given that a few advertisements have plagued our brains with the thigh gap conundrum, but we feel it is more to with the gap in our knowledge. No two people are alike nor are their bodies. Naturally their weight losing techniques are also different. No need to complicate your life by worrying about the miniscule gap between your thighs. Moreover our bodies are biologically designed to hold some amount of fat. As long as you fit into your favourite pair of jeans, you are sorted!

Be aware of the problems fat thighs can cause due excess body weight. People suffer from problems due to the thighs constantly rubbing each other – rashes, infection, trouble while walking. But don’t you worry. There are plenty of exercises to tone your inner thighs. Let us warn you that they are hard and strenuous but they are fruitful only when they are combined with some amount of cardio. But remember not to obsess over losing weight – no good will come out of you stressing while you exercise. Exercise is supposed to release happy hormones in your body not pressurize you. Therefore keep your goals real and attainable.

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Also, losing weight anywhere in your body is directly affected by the amount of food you eat. While it is recommended to follow a regimen that will result in overall weight loss, you have to pick your moves for spot-reduction in a particular body part. And most importantly, be consistent with it. Nobody cares about the gap between your thighs or your toes.

Source: http://www.sparkpeople.com/blog/blog.asp?post=the_best_inner_thigh_exercises_ever

Healthy Juice for a Jaded Body

Get a shot of energy from juicing everyday right in your kitchen, right this instant. Chugging a glass of juice not only helps you to consume a larger portion of fruits and vegetable in one go but also adds a higher nutritional value to your daily diet. There are plenty of juices for weight loss, to increase metabolism, for better skin, to increase immunity, to reduce body aches, to reduce belly fat, to improve your sinus, for natural detox etc. Imagine all that in just one glass! 

In addition, these flavorful green juices help to curb those nasty hunger pangs. The natural sugar in fruits sweetens the juice therefore refrain from adding sugar. You can use green vegetables such as spinach, kale, cucumbers, celery as well as fruits such as apples, grapes, orange, cherries, pears, blueberries to juice. Juicing also ensures that you are getting more water in your body which also contributes to your body’s need to hydrate.

Given the nutritional value in these fruits and vegetables, you can treat this as a wholesome meal. Sip on a glass at breakfast with a bowl of oatmeal or eggs or have it as a post workout snack. Come on, isn’t it much easier to drink kale than eat it? And the best part is that the children will blissfully gulp this minus the interrogation! 

An instant pick-me-up anytime, anywhere.