Lose inches, have fun

Ladies and gentlemen, this one’s for all you gym haters. If you are among those who dreads the sight of the treadmill and can’t bear to get onto

Bollywood dance

the exercise cycle and are still dying to lose those extra inches, don’t worry. We give you a lowdown of some fun activities that you can indulge in. Now here’s the catch. Not only will these activities help you in your weight loss quest, indulging in them will also help you learn a new skill. So are you ready to burn those calories and have fun too?
Read on.

Bollywood Aerobics
Step aside plain, simple aerobic routines, this is the day and age of Bollybics — that’s what Bollywood Aerobics is popularly called. Have you realised, those super sexy jhatkas and matkas our Bollywood heroines do with so much ease can indeed make for a perfectly fun workout. “Adapted to the beats of popular filmi music, Bollybics is an aerobic workout that helps burn intense calories while dancing to your favourite songs,” says Anchal Gupta, owner of a popular Sion based dance studio. The sequence consists of a warm up and aerobic routine — using signature movie dance steps — targetted at specific body parts and then, a cool down session. “The music is fast paced and non stop, and if done right, one can burn upto 700 calories per session,” says trainer Rupesh Pednekar.

While ghazals are used for the warm-up and the cool down sessions, fast paced movie tracks are used for the aerobic routine. This dance cum exercise form uses signature movie dance steps. “It’s a fun and exhilarating workout. And, when you do it in a group, you feel motivated to go on, even if you get tired,” says Anchal. So put on some rocking movie songs and adapt a few regular dance steps to it and lo behold, it’s Bollybics you’re doing.

Kickboxing:
Martial arts have always been very popular. But the newest rage in town in kickboxing. Whoever’s into it swears by how amazing a workout it is. A part of the martial arts family, kickboxing combines the style of boxing with kicking. A full contact sport often practiced as self-defence, it also makes for a perfect workout. And here’s why. “Kickboxing is intensive cardio. Also, unlike a gym workout, it is a total body workout. Kickboxing involves both, cardio and contact which helps in increasing flexibility and toning up. Besides these, there are various stretching exercises and abdominal workouts that one is made to do,” explains kickboxing trainer Amit Lalwani. Another form, Muay Thai, meanwhile, is the art of eight limbs which uses the whole body especially the hips and core. “A Muay Thai workout helps increase not only agility, speed, strength but also, cardiovascular endurance,” says Amit. And while this exercise form is a great stress reliever, you can also pick up a few important self-defence techniques.

Dancersize:
This is a fun activity that consists of half an hour of an intensive workout and half an hour of a dance routine which includes steps from hip-hop and jazz. And the routine is simple. The first half of the session consists of warm ups including stretching which helps tone up the muscles and burn away the inches. The second half meanwhile is a cardio session which helps give the body a total workout. “Apart from the exercise that one gets, this is also a good way to learn a form of dance and develop a sense of style. The routines are never repeated making it a perfect option for people who detest going to the gym,” says participant Purvi Shah.

Power Yoga:
While you may extol the benefits of practising yoga daily, if weight loss is your goal, it may not be enough. The solution? Step it up a notch with power yoga. Put simply, power yoga is yoga adapted to the beats of music. This form of yoga is fast paced and quite a strenuous exercise. How’s it done? There are no fixed poses to be followed, the variations depend on the instructor. “In power yoga, the emphasis is on strength and elasticity of the body. A 45-minute power yoga workout done even just thrice a week will show wondrous effects on your body,” says Laxmi Wagle who is learning this yoga form.

Capoeira:
What do you get when you combine elements of martial arts, games, music and dance? The Afro-Brazilian art form called Capoeira. And why is it a good workout? That’s because as a form of exercise, Capoeira engages all the muscle group and offers significant toning and cardiovascular benefits. It also helps develop flexibility, balance, co-ordination an endurance.

Pilates
This is a form of exercise that emphasises on the balanced development of the body through core strength, flexibility and awareness. As a form of exercise, it works well for everyone. Pilates training focuses on core strength as it trains the body as an integrated whole. The workouts promote strength and balanced muscle development as well as flexibility and increased range of motion for the joints. If practiced regularly, Pilates helps improves muscle tone, balances musculature, supports beautiful posture, teaches you to move with ease and grace and also, improves one’s posture.

Source:Internet

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The healing power of water

The healing power of water

The fact that water has a high value in healing seems to be a knowledge that has gone missing in our day and age of sodas and coffee. Correct intake of water can cure many problems so lets take a closer look at water.

Some facts about water
Water is of major importance to all living things; in some organisms, up to 90 percent of their body weight comes from water. Up to 60 percent of the human body is water, the brain is composed of 70 percent water, blood is 82 percent water, and the lungs are nearly 90 percent water.
The unique qualities and properties of water are what make it so important and basic to life. The cells in our bodies are full of water. The excellent ability of water to dissolve so many substances allows our cells to use valuable nutrients, minerals, and chemicals in biological processes. Water's "stickiness" (from surface tension) plays a part in our body's ability to transport these elements all through ourselves. The carbohydrates and proteins that our bodies use as food are metabolised and transported by water in the bloodstream. No less important is the ability of water to transport waste material out of our bodies.

You definitely need it
Your body consists of a lot of water. Just imagine if you drained away the water in your body, not much left is there? It is easy to see that your body needs water and it needs a lot. Drink water and your body will respond positively, on the other hand if you do not drink enough your body will start to move water from less essential systems to more vital systems. Question is what systems in your body would you would classify as less vital? 75% of your brain tissue consists of water and your brain runs 7 days per week and 24 hours per day. Your brain needs water more than any other organ since your whole system depends on a functioning brain. When starting to drink more water one of the first things you will notice is that your will feel more "clear".

Water an effective medicine
Water is nature's most effective medicine because it is essential for cleaning and removing toxins from the body. When your body does not get enough water it cannot remove toxins and problems start occurring. When you are under stress, growth or any other kind of change including healing, your body will produce chemicals and other waste that need to be removed from your system. If you think about it most types of healing suggests that you drink water after a session, I wonder why?! Water will remove waste through your lungs, skin (sweat), urine and faeces. Enough water will mean that your system will effectively remove toxins and help keeping you healthy.

Drink enough and stay healthy
It is recommended that you drink at least eight glasses of eight ounces water per day (8 glasses of 2,5dl). If you are in warmer climates you might need to drink up to twice that amount. Give your body the water it needs to function properly and you will find that just drinking more water can actually solve many problems. Water is known to have an effect on diverse diseases like: angina, arthritis, asthma, back problems, depression, diabetes, excess weight, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, migraine, MS (multiple sclerosis) just to mention a few.

Not just any fluid
In most countries tap water is contaminated or not really fit for drinking, in such cases you need to install a water purifier. If possible drink good quality bottled water. Remember just because it is wet does not mean it is water! Coffee, tea, beer, soda, juice etc. all contain dehydrating agents, you might actually lose more fluid than you take in. Stick to water!

It is never too late for water
You can never drink too much water (but as with anything else don't overdo it), water will help your system to clear itself of toxins and make you feel better. Remember that starting a new habit of drinking water properly will not overnight create results. Your problems may have taken time to develop, therefore it will also take time to cure them.

Reiki and water
Naturallyyou can use Reiki to improve the healing powers of the water you drink. Hold your hands around the glass of water you are about to drink and let Reiki flow. If you have Reiki II you can use the symbols to further help the process. Keep your intention on the fact that you want the water to be as pure and healthy as possible for you at this moment.

One last thing: You are not ill - your body is thirsty!

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Weight Loss

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

With the urbanization of life loosing weight is indeed the need of the hour in order to keep healthy, fit and of course young.

Weight loss refers to the loss of total body mass in an effort to improve fitness, health, and/or appearance. For healthy weight loss, the patient should follow a weight loss plan that is tailored to his requirements. Weight loss occurs when an individual is in a state of negative energy balance. When the human body is spending more energy in work and heat than it is gaining from food or other nutritional supplements, it will catabolise stored reserves of fat or muscle. Although weight loss may involve loss of fat, muscle or fluid, weight loss for the purposes of maintaining health should aim to lose fat while conserving muscle and fluid.

Weight Loss Methods
With the growing need of controlling weight and to shed off those extra pounds various weight loss methods have become largely popular. Based on absolutely scientific procedure, these weight loss methods promise for a better tomorrow whilst making one lot healthier and young.

Source:Internet

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