I'm 21, 5 ft 4 inches tall and weigh 95 kg. The weight increased in the last two-three years — I'm determined to lose it but I've fallen off the bike and had a ligament tear. I'm lethargic and inactive and don't have much control over my diet. My sleep timings are irregular and I am unable to get up in the morning. I also have a skin allergy on my thighs and hands. I'd appreciate it if you could come up with some remedies to make me active and fit.
Ketan R.
First, under your doctor's guidance, please get your fasting blood sugar level and thyroid tested. The excess weight, lethargy, undue sleepiness could be symptoms of high blood sugar levels and/or a truant thyroid. Often, the right diagnosis and medicine work wonders by giving you back your old vigorous self. Simultaneously, become more comfortable: Apply a prescribed medicated powder or cream on your thighs and hands. Sport an elastic knee-guard to support the ligament. Alongside, resolve assertively “I'll take control of my diet”, consult a dietician, and stick to your diet like a leech. Introduce order and discipline to your life with these steps:
Set fixed times for your meals. If you can't avoid eating at parties and functions, stop attending them until you've lost considerable weight. Think of the compliments that will pour on you when you surface on the social scene fitter and slimmer!
Discard wrong foods to stave off temptation. Stock only healthy, low-fat foods — fruits, vegetables, high fibre complex carbohydrates such as jowar , brown rice, oats; proteins such as moong , kidney beans. Tip: Get your doctor to prescribe a multivitamin to avoid deficiencies in micronutrients.
Ask for co-operation. Request family, friends, colleagues to help your health plan by not offering fattening foods with that typical “One little laddoo won't make you fat.”(It makes you fatter.) Explain repeatedly, patiently, that you're not maintaining your weight, you're working on reducing it.
Switch off the TV while eating. A brain absorbed in a drama won't transmit the “I'm full” signal from your stomach, deluding you into thinking you're still hungry.
Eat as meditation. Meditative eating is beautiful. Sit in a pleasant mind-set. See each morsel as a nourishing ambassador from the cosmos.
Think, “This morsel contains the richness of the sun, pure clarity of water, energy of the wind.” Place it in your mouth with respect. Chew slowly with a wonderful feeling that your body is absorbing all the joyous nutrients from it and getting healthier, more energetic. Take a leisurely 20-30 minutes over your first helping. You won't need a second helping.
Swim. The best fat-burning exercise for you with your knee-condition is swimming. You can also do arm-rowing while ensuring that your lower body remains stable. Do these exercises daily after getting your doctor's consent.
Finally, never quit. Eat a low-fat morsel, think positively, and enter a land brimming with good health. Keep going… keep going…
My friend has a problem. His heels hurt a lot. He has observed that when he eats non-vegetarian food (especially beef), this happens. Please advise.
Fareed
Let him try five simple measures: Stay off meat for a month as an experiment and see if the pain disappears.
Soak feet in a tub of warm water containing epsom salts/vinegar. Rinse with tap water, dry the feet and massage Kailash Jeevan cream on the heels. Wear soft-soled shoes that cushion the heels. Have two neem capsules with water on an empty stomach every morning. Neem is great for healing inflammations.
Finally, to improve blood circulation to the heels, sit with feet elevated at a 45-degree angle and… just… relax.
What are the good and bad effects of consuming dates?
Iqbal
The effects are mostly beneficial. Dates provide natural glucose and fructose that give a quick energy boost. Milk boiled with dates makes a nourishing, restorative drink for one who is convalescing. Dates are great for:
Digestion: They help create friendly bacteria in the intestines.
Constipation: For best results, soak dates overnight in water; next morning grind into a fine liquid and drink.
Anaemia: Two black dates a day increase haemoglobin levels.
But since dates contains 60 to 70 per cent concentrated sugar, a person with diabetes would be advised against having them daily.
I'm 72. My diet is typically South Indian with chapattis and rice. I suffer from constipation. I'm told it's age-related. Can you suggest a remedy? I don't want to get habituated to Isabgol or any laxative.
H.R.Seetharam
After 50, the body becomes drier. That is, the membranes of the intestinal lining and capillaries may not be able to let enough water enter through them and move freely in the cellular spaces for a vigorous clean-up. Since the membranes demand low surface tension fluids, carrot juice is recommended. Toast the new year with two glasses of carrot juice in addition to 1.5 litres of water and herald in better health!
The writer is co-author of the book Fitness for Life.
Queries may be sent to life@thehindu.co.in