Mumbai Marathon 2009 Routes Updated!
For all those running the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2009, you have reason to rejoice. The routes have been updated. We’ve update them on our post on Mumbai Marathon. Check them out.
Lemon Detox Diet & Raw Banana Diet
[Caution: The diets below are not endorsed by Fitho, since both the Lemon Detox Diet and the Raw Banana diet can be very unhealthy and can have serious health side effects.]
Every season, there is a new fad diet that does the round. This time there are two fad diets in different parts of the world- The Raw Banana Diet and the Lemon Detox Diet.
Dr GORI @ flickr
Raw Banana Diet- Apparently in Japan its such a huge rage that supermarkets and grocery stores are out of Bananas. Infact, Dole, the banana company has increased imports of bananas up to 25% to meet the demand for bananas. We could not find clear origins of this raw banana diet, but what is crazy about this raw banana diet is that people actually believe they might lose weight on it. For the raw banana diet, they want you to start your day with a banana (or as many as you like) with a glass of water at room temperature. Through the day, you can eat anything for lunch and dinner. A 3 p.m. snack is acceptable. No desserts and no meals after 8 p.m. And you have to go to bed by midnight.
How could that make any one lose weight? Maybe most of these people who lost weight on the diet never had breakfast. And eating a good breakfast is a key tool in a healthy nutrition and weight loss plan. So, if you eat 2-3 bananas for breakfast, you’ll fill yourself up for the morning. So, you probably won’t dig into the unhealthy snacking options at work. You’re off desserts in this raw banana diet, so that cuts off carbohydrates with a high glycemic index, that promote fat storage in your body. But you can eat anything for dinner and lunch? What happened to portion control to lose weight. The other key that might work for people is that this diet needs you to eat all meals before 8 p.m, so if you’ve eaten lots of carbs (rice, etc) for dinner, you’ve probably burnt some of it by the time you sleep. Also, since you’re getting enough sleep, it’ll help you manage your weight.
The raw banana diet is an unscientific way to approach weight loss. People who have issues with portion control could gain weight on this diet. The good thing about this diet is it promotes a healthy breakfast and dinner much before you sleep. And its not a crash diet- those are the worst for your health.
martjusha @ flickr
Lemon Detox Diet- The lemon detox diet is all the rage in Australia. Beyonce Knowles, on the lemon detox diet apparently had some success, so a huge mass of people has decided to follow it blindly, not considering the side effects of the lemon detox diet. This lemon detox diet has you drinking 6-9 glasses per day, for 5 to 14 days of a special concoction made from Madal Bal Natural Tree Syrup, Lemon Juice, Cayenne Pepper and water. That’s all. This is a starvation diet, that can have serious side effects on your health. This is the mother of all crash diets.
How can someone be nourishing their body with a diet that contains barely any calories, no solids, no protein, minimal fat and inadequate vitamins and minerals. Since your body will not be getting enough calories, it will go into starvation mode, a.k.a. fat storing mode. To maintain your bodily functions, your body will cannibalize on its own muscle. So, instead of losing fat, you will lose muscle and lean body mass, and stay away from the lemon detox diet or the raw banana diet.
Also as soon as you return to a normal diet, your body will be in a mode to store all that food as fat!
Can you imagine how much you would eat after you’ve deprived your body and brain of all that food? To really lose weight, get on a proper weight loss plan. Or see any of our customized fitness plans, like personal training, diabetes management, hypothyroid, pregnancy weight loss, and more..
Is soy food healthy?
A few months back, we had written an article questioning the ‘heathfulness’ of soy product- Side effects of Soy health food?. There are so many soy products in the market - Soy Milk, Soy Cheese, Soy Chicken (yes, its true), Soy Cream, Soy Dogs (soy based hot dogs), Soy Icecream, Soy Flour, Soy Chips, Soy Cookies, Soy Nuts, Soy Burgers… this list just goes on. I just saw a recipe for Soy Kheer!
Even as the market is getting loaded with options on Soy Products - The research jury is still out on if soy is good for you.
Soy - yuri nervegi@flickr
We’re waiting for the day of complete soy nirvana. Soy has already taken over the food world. What next? … soy based clothing fiber, carpets, curtains. We’ll just be completely surrounded by Soy.
We know many lactose intolerant people love soy products because their bodies cannot deal with milk, but for the others- why do you eat soy?
To really lose weight, get on a proper weight loss plan. Or see any of our customized fitness plans, likepersonal training, diabetes management, hypothyroid, pregnancy weight loss, and more..
..
- Get your Fitness Plans- Weight Loss, Diabetes, Personal Training, etc
- Free consultation: Call 98718-00943 or SMS ‘FITHO WT’ to 56070
- Get Fitho’s Weight Loss Diet Guide worth Rs 275, for free- click here.
- See our Weight Loss Success Stories | Health Fitness Discussion Forums
- Whey Protein| Weight Gain Supplements | Weight Loss Supplements
Healthiest Indian Sweets and Desserts
With the Indian festive season and celebrations at their peak, we all love to indulge in the delicacies, specially the delicious sweets and desserts. We’ve told you how sugar makes you fat. Now, all these desserts are loadd with sugar, so consuming too much of them will promote weight gain. If you’re trying to stay fit, its hard striking a balance, but its not impossible. Besides providing you with tips to stay fit during the festive season, we have a list of which Indian sweets are healthy, unhealthy and downright health disasters. With our health guide to Indian sweets, you can satisfy your sugar cravings and avoid the harmful belly fat:
Sandesh- Healthy Indian Bengali Dessert
The healthy Indian Sweets: Rasgulla (rosogolla) and Sandesh are both paneer based (Indian cottage cheese) and in most cases are lightly sweetened. So, their calorie content is relatively lower. They are not fried, so their fat content is lower. Since they are paneer based, they have good protein content as well as calcium. Protein keeps you full for longer and helps you burn more calories. It also helps to build and repair your muscles! To make Rasgulla healthier, squeeze out the syrup- its just sugar loaded syrup.
Besides these healthy Bengali sweets, Kheer (or Payasam) can be made healthy too-Use low fat milk, lightly sweeten with sugar, and add slivered almonds to add some health and taste oomph to it. Similarly Shrikhand can be made healthy.
The unhealthy Indian sweets: Unfortunately, this list is longer. It covers all types of Laddoos, Sohan Papdi, Barfi. What makes these worse than the previous list is their higher fat and sugar content. Along with being intensely sweet, many of these are deep fried, so they have high fat content. Note: There are many types of laddus and barfis. Some unhealthier than others. Since not all can be covered here, they’ve been generalized to this category.
Delicious Jalebi- Loaded with sugar and fat
The unhealthiest Indian sweets: This list is the one that you want to really watch out for. Once you know what’s on this list, you’re not going to be happy since they’re all lip smacking. All these delicacies are just absolutely loaded with oil/ghee and soaked in sugar- Halwa, Mysore Pak, Gulab Jamun and the mighty Jalebi. On this list, there’s really no way to get away with a healthy option. Its close to impossible to make these healthy.
If you really must indulge, go ahead and do so. But watch your portions. The calories can really add up!
If you need help to lose weight, call us or email us at Fitho
Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2009 Information
The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon - Race day is January 18, 2009.
Race information about events and prizes are below:
There are five events:
Marathon –
Distance: 42.195 km; Age eligibility: born on or before 17.01.1991
Registration Fees: Rs 300 for Indian citizens. Marathon Route is here
Half Marathon –
Distance: 21.09 km; Age eligibility: born on or before 17.01.1991
Registration Fees: Rs 300 for Indian citizens. Half marathon Route is here
Dream Run –
Distance: 6 km; Age eligibility: born on or before 17.01.1997
Registration Fees: Rs 300 for Indian citizens. Dream Run Route is here.
Senior Citizens Run –
Distance: 4.3 km; Age eligibility: born on or before 17.01.1949
Registration Fees: Rs 200 for Indian citizens. Route is here.
Wheelchair Event –
Distance: 2.5 km; Age eligibility: born on or before 17.01.1997
Registration Fees: Rs 200 for Indian citizens. Route is here.
Unfortunately, registration started on July 2, 2008 and ended on August 30, 2008
Mumbai Marathon - tunali@flickr
Route Information: [update] This information was recently updated. Please look above for the links to route maps for all events of the Mumbai Marathon 2009. Its surprising that even though registrations have closed, the routes have not been published. Very similar to the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2008, where the routes were published 24 days before the run
Need motivation to participate? Total prize money is a respectable USD $250,000 (considering the exchange rate of 50 INR, I’d say its good enough to make me run)
For the full Mumbai marathon 2009, prize categories include Top 13 overall runners- men and women, Top 5 Indian runners- men and women, Top 3 veteran finisheers- men and women, Top 2 Sr. Veterans and top 2 Super Sr. Veterans. For the half marathon, its the top 5 male and female overall finishers, Top 3 veteran finisheers- men and women, Top 2 Sr. Veterans and top 2 Super Sr. Veterans.
If the money doesn’t matter, then you get serious bragging rights! And you get your photo splashed all over the newspaper.
For some motivation, check out our previous post. I’m yet to run a full marathon, but I definitely have it on my to do list.
Running is one of the best ways to burn fat and lose those love handles and that belly fat. It helped me show that elusive six pack! Besides this, running has a lot of physical benefits.
For tips on running better, here they are: Tips to Run Better Part 1, Tips to Run Better Part 2, Tips to Run Better Part 3.
To get more info on the StanChart Mumbai Marathon 2009, check this out.
Is your brain making you fat?
A new study found that when people don’t sense enough satisfaction from food, they overeat to compensate. It has to do with the brain’s please chemical, dopamine. Earlier research showed that overweight people have fewer dopamine receptors in the brain. With fewer dopamine receptors, it makes them more vulnerable to compulsively eat food and become obese.
Obesity - matt nicholl's @ flickr
The good news is that you can control this tendency. Don’t overload your diet with unhealthy foods- the more you eat them, the more you’ll crave them. Instead find healthy and satisfying replacement. Try smoothies- we have two great ones- Strawberry Banana Smoothie and a Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie. These are really simple recipes and the smoothies are healthy, fill you up and keep you full for longer.
But once every week, allow yourself to eat anything you please. Yes, you heard that right- anything you crave! This will help you maximize the pleasure from your indulgence and since you won’t be completely deprived, you’ll stick to your diet plan better.
Fitho Recipe- Strawberry Banana Yoghurt Smoothie
Need a great breakfast, mid day snack, or a post workout shake?
Here it is: Take 6-8 strawberries, 1 ripe banana, 2 cups plain low fat yoghurt, 1/2 cup crushed ice, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tsp vanilla essence and blend it all in a food processor. This makes 3-4 servings.
Strawberries- tacoman23@flickr
This shake is loaded with fiber, protein and good carbohydrates to keep you going for longer, besides all the vitamins and antioxidants from the fruits and honey. Each serving of this smoothie should be about 60-80 calories. This smoothie also has a medium glycemic index.
So, make yourself this smoothie and enjoy it knowing that its good for you This strawberry smoothie is a great post workout snack!
To make this a weight gain smoothie, swap the yoghurt with vanilla ice cream. Don’t worry, ice cream can be healthy.
..
- Lose weight with diet plans: call (0)98108-20937 or email neha@fitho.in
- See Fitho’s weight loss success stories- lose weight, look younger & healthier
- For quality whey protein powder, weight gain supplements, email order@fitho.in
- For fitness tips on email: Simply register, or email thelist@fitho.in, or use our feed!
- Got specific questions on heath/fitness- Get health/fitness answers from experts
- Meet experts and discuss health, weight loss, muscle in our discussion forums
Tips to run better- Part 3
This article is the last of the series of 3 articles for tips on running.
Tips to run Better- 1 had tip 1,2 and 3 were around the basics of nutrition and clothing for running. Tips to run Better 2 has tips 4-8 were around helping you run faster, further and more efficiently. Here we present to you our round of running tips:
9. Warm Up before the Race: Before your race, warm your muscles up a little. Run a quarter mile, about 10-15 minutes before your long run. Stretch your muscles lightly to ensure that they’re flexible after the warm up run. Then, relax your body and your mind before the run.
alleh lindquist@flickr
10. Don’t run in new shoes: Running your race in new shoes can destroy your race. If you need new running shoes, buy them at least 3 weeks before the race day and train in them. That way, your feet get used to them and the shoes open up. Besides, if there are any issues with the shoes, then you know early on and can switch out to another pair of shoes.
11. Stretch post run: Between stretching before and after your workout, stretching after your workout is better. As we mentioned in part 2, your muscles tighten up while you run, so ensure you stretch each body part after your run. This helps them to recover better since stretched muscles help loosen up muscle fibers, allowing better delivery of nutrients to the muscle fiber for repair and growth. When you stretch your body, hold each stretch for 30-60 seconds. Stretching post run also reduces soreness in muscles.
12. Time to run: Many people wonder which is the best time to run or workout- whether its morning or evening? Its best when you feel best about it. Its about when you’ve got the time to do it.
Use these tips to run and I’m sure you’ll notice a difference in your run performance!
