Monthly Archives: March 2010

Mar 20 2010

Portion Control: One of the Most Effective Way to Weight Loss!

I think Portion control is a new word to some people. Some people believe that starving is the best way to lose weight. The less food one intake, more weight one will lose. This is one of the great mistakes to successful weight loss. Weight loss can be enhanced by taking proper food in proper amount at proper time. So, portion control means how many calories a person will take during one serving. Portion control is a kind of eating healthy, balanced, and various types of foods also.

Portion control promotes weight loss, boosts metabolism, balances blood sugar level, build muscles and thus help maintain healthy weight.

Eating large portion of food may cause weight gain. You have to understand what kind of food you have to take in what amount. Taking small portion of high calorie or high fat food is not healthy or nutrient.

My previous post: What is balance diet will suggest you about the food guide pyramid to take proper amount of various types of food.

Portion control also incorporates taking meals frequently. For example: most people have to take three meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and two snacks in a day to maintain healthy, balanced diet. Some people also take foods six or seven times in a day. This is very good as well. For performing portion control you have to know the daily calorie intake. For example if your daily calorie intake is 1400 calories, you divide your calorie intake by at least 5(5 times of daily food intake). Or you can take more calories during meal and less during snacks.

Portion control is very difficult if you are too hungry and then you will devour as much food as you can. Regular practice of this will result weight gain. This can be prevented if you take food frequently in small amount and this will not tends to eat excessive amount during your food intake. One good way to get used to portion control is to take your foods as a portion controlled size in to your plate and to keep extra foods apart from your dining table. After you have finished your portion controlled meal, within 10 to 20 mins you will be noticed that your stomach is full and you will be refrained from taking extra food or overeating.After  30 mins you must take one glass of water.Water should be taken after 30 mins of taking meal, not with your meal or just after your meal.

To understand portion control you have to know the portion size of each food from every food groups. To remember these sizes, estimation is done using objects as a point of reference.  Like: hand size, deck of playing cards, light bulbs, tennis ball etc. For example protein should be as large as palm size; carbs should be measured by one fistful etc. Click here to learn more.

To maintain calorie intake or portion control you should take fruits and vegetables in a large amount ;as they contain very few calories and no fat. Each meal should consists carbs, vegetables and proteins as a healthy one.

Remember that both portion control and regular exercise is the key to maintain healthy weight and lifestyle.

Here is the 10 ways to do portion control.

Learn weight loss,weight gain and BMR calculator.

Image by : Kelly Sue

Mar 14 2010

What is a Balance Diet?

A Balance Diet is that kind of diet where you must have all food groups, like: carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals salts and fiber in the correct proportions.

A Balance diet will help maintain your health properly and help prevent many health risks. A balance or nutritious or healthy diet while ensuring overall well-being, helps to maintain a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI), to cater nutrition and energy for maintaining body cells, tissues, and organs, and for confirming normal growth and development. It also reduces the risk of several critical diseases like cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular ailments, stroke ,osteoporosis, arthritis etc . Diseases like obesity,  gynecological diseases may cause in lack of balance diet.

So, balance diet means choosing a wide variety of foods and drinks from all the food groups in proper amount or portion. According to your gender, age, weight, activity level and health status, you must eat every food groups in certain or moderate amount daily. You must also eat certain things in moderately, such as: saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, refined sugar, salt.

Taking the wrong kinds of food or  lack of consumption of any of these nutrients may results to an accumulation of toxins within the body and as a consequences chronic diseases may occur.

Follow USDA Food Pyramid:

According to USDA, balanced eating pattern are shown in food pyramid in the figure ,by the USDA Food Guide at MyPyramid.gov.

About Right Choice of Healthy Foods and Portions:

Your balanced diet must be planned at your own calorie level, and you must take food as portion size. You must get the most nutrients for the calories by choosing food with a high-nutrient density that foods provide substantial amounts of vitamins and minerals and relatively few calories. Nutrient dense foods are: fresh fruit and vegetables, milk and dairy products, lean meat and fish, and whole grains and beans, unsaturated fats are always the fats of choice – like olive oil. . Low-nutrient dense foods have few vitamins but lots of calories, such as candy bars, chocolates, sweet dishes, chips, cookies, chanachur, fried foods, soda, donuts and onion rings.

In conclusion, it must be noted that medicine treats the symptoms rather than the root cause of the disease, which is usually caused by wrong eating habits leading to an accumulation of toxins within the system. On the other hand, a balance diet can be the remedy of  underlying causes of diseases and it can restores integrity of mind and body.It will be very easy for us if we can realize the beneficial effects of balanced diet and then it will be easy for us to maintain good health. To maintain healthy lifestyle, we must remember that our food is our friend as well as out medicine.

Read More to learn about each food groups.

Click this link to learn the amount you can take from each food group.

Image by: Disabled world

Mar 8 2010

Message to All Woman on This International Women’s Day!

Today is The International Woman’s Day. “To establish our rights and enhance our honor”– this is the theme of this day.
I’m requesting the women to promise this day to take care of ourselves,our physical and mental health,professional and educational life.
We can do this by one way and this is by doing regular exercise.This can keep you fit,give you more stamina and confident. Exercise also keep away many diseases like: obesity,diabetics,gynecological problems, heart diseases ,arthritis,osteoporosis etc.
I found that all most all woman feel shy and lethargic to do workout.But, if you think about your health and fitness you are depriving yourself.
So,women, let us start exercise from today.We must take care of our health and take balanced diet everyday.
Thank you.
Kazi Chandrima Rahman,
Assistant Professor,
CSE,The University of Asia Pacific
Dhaka,Bangladesh.
First fitness blogger of Bangladesh and Winner of Excellent fitness award from Gold’s Gym,Bashundhara.

By kazichandrima • Posted in General
1
Mar 2 2010

Seven Various Foods and Drinks That Help to Lose Weight!

Foods? This is my enemy to lose weight. No, dear, wrong concept. Choosing of right foods will enhance your metabolism and help to cut your extra pounds and fats.
So, these five foods will help you to lose weight according to nutritionists:
1. Oats: Although oats are carbs, they are full of fiber and fell you full of your stomach. They help to reduce cholesterol and blood fat. They digest slowly and so will not increase your blood sugar rapidly.
2. Apples: If you take one or two apple in a day, you will get good result. The fiber in apple, makes you feel full. Moreover, apple is full of antioxidants, to reduce metabolic syndrome, the combination of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and prediabetes that tends to accompany thickening around the waist.
3. Eggs: Although eggs are considered as full of cholesterol, taking egg other than carbs will dominate (in weight control) people who don’t take egg. For more information about egg, click it.
4. Cinnamon: Yes, Cinnamon, the spice we use in our cooking. Surprisingly, Cinnamon have the power to help your body metabolize sugar ( According to USDA). ¼ to 2 teaspoons of cinnamon a day reduce blood sugar levels and cut cholesterol. You can add cinnamon to milk, sprinkle it on your cereal, or flavor your tea or coffee with it.
5. Almonds: All people think that nuts are full of fat and they avoid it to lose weight. But, Almonds are counterintuitive food and they’re particularly effective in counteracting cholesterol and triglycerides. From the study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that eating almonds was as effective as taking a lipid-lowering drugs. Again, taking a handful of almonds will also feel you full.
6. Green Tea: Green tea is a miracle for health. Several benefits of green tea are: reduce heart disease, reduce cholesterol etc. It is also full of anti-oxidant. Research has proven that drinking one cup of green will burn 70 calories of a person. Again, normal tea (without sugar and milk) will also help to lose weight for its antioxidant nature. It is suggested to take 2 to 5 cups of tea for healthy living. And also you can take normal tea before 5 pm and green tea after that that time.
For more information about green tea, visit this site.
7. Lemon: Lemon is a citrus fruit, helps to lose weight and detox your body surprisingly. In every morning (before breakfast), drink lemon juice and see the impact as rapid weight loss. Here is the lemon juice drink: take one glass of warm water, squeeze a lemon and drink it. Again, as lemon is acidic, you can take this juice instead of taking before breakfast, you can take it whole day long with your water intake. Again, research also found that taking lemon with tea (any kind of tea ) also boost the process of weight loss.
But, guys and gals, these foods and drinks will not only the only cause of weight loss. You must have to do workout regularly. So, go for workout at least 3 times a week and take proper food,that’s the point.