A lot of women look after their entire
family and yet forget to look after themselves. Aiming the spotlight on their
health is something most women hesitate in doing, especially now, on lazy
winter days when they would rather spend a free minute curled up in bed rather
than handling a dumbbell.
No matter the age, nutrition and exercise
are both important to maintain a healthy body, explains Nivedita Dempo, the
owner of Studio 101, Panjim and the author of several fitness books.“Exercising paired with a bad diet or good diet
paired with lack of exercise, are not enough when it comes to maintaining a
healthy body. Cardio and weight training paired with a healthy diet is the way
to go. Today, a lot of women opt for just a protein diet which is hard on the
kidney; a balanced diet contains carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and protein,”she adds.
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Elaborating on the manner of working out,
she explains that it is alright to change the routine: “We do not have the same
energy level every day so as long as the entire body is worked out, it doesn’t
matter if you change the routine.”
“Women hesitate to
use weights thinking they will bulk up, but the estrogen we produce will not
allow it; we just get toned muscles. Many head to the gym with only cardio in mind.
But that isn’t enough, especially when trying to lose weight, as only cardio
will leave you with folds of loose skin that can only be taken care of with
weight training,”explains Valerie
Fernandes from the Iron Guru Health Spa, Colva.
“Strength training
powered by a healthy diet has another advantage besides giving you a lean body;
during the mensuration, women tend to lose calcium, making them prone to
osteoporosis. This risk can be reduced by doing strength training supported by
the intake of protein and calcium,” advises Sunil Karmalkar, freelance
Certified Fitness Trainer. He continues, “Healthy eating is easy and simple.
Avoid simple carbohydrates, which digest fast, like white bread, processed
food, sweets and soft drink. Your diet should consist of complex carbohydrates,
which digest very slow. This includes brown rice, multigrain atta chapathi,
sweet potatoes, etc. Try to include fish, chicken, paneer, tofu and dal in your
meal to get protein. Try to eat every three hours if possible and drink plenty
of water.”
Dr Harpreet Pasricha of Diet Clinic Panjim says,“Women usually ignore their nutrition between
the peak years of their life – between the age of 28 and 40 – and end up with deficiencies
like that of calcium, vitamin D and vitamin B12, thus leading to medical
issues. It’s important to eat right. Super foods like nuts such as almonds and
walnuts, seeds like flax seeds, chia seeds and sunflower seeds, pro-biotic
foods like curds, antioxidants like green tea and different colour fruits and
vegetables improve bone density, regulate hormones and keep diseases at bay.
When dieting, one has to eat the right proportion of carbohydrates, proteins,
fats, vitamins, minerals, rather than eliminating fat or oil from the diet,
trying to lose weight. You need to eat fat to burn fat.”
