Some Now-a-days life is filled with Coke, Pepsi, Pizza, Pasta, Mac’s Cheese Burgers, KFC’s Chicken, French Fries, Tacos, and other Indian dishes like Biriyani, Dal Makhani, Butter Nan, Garlic Nan with Butter, Hyderabadi Chicken, Chettinad Chicken, Rice with 4-5 varieties for Lunch and Dinner, etc… They all make us feel good when we eat but also act as a slow poison in the years to come. Now-a-days many of us are recognizing that we have a chronic problem only when it strikes us in a bad way. If one is lucky, he/she gets a chance to survive and correct the mistake but there are some unfortunate ones who do not have this luxury.
In this article I would like to see the present conditions of our habits’ and then go on with what I had done to make mine and my family’s health better.
These days its normal that:
- Kids (4-10 years) are Obese;
- They drink only Coke, Burgers, Pizza and all other Indian deep fried stuff, be it vegetarian or meat.
- Heart Stroke for Young Generation
- Many at the age of 20-40 are susceptible for heart diseases. Blame it on food, lifestyle, stress what ever you call it, it’s a fact. And no one likes this fact.
- Kids and Youth fall pray of Diabetes
- I heard a case where 7 year old is suffering from Diabetes
- One of my close relative got it at the age of 13 and every days he takes 2 shots of insulin with so much of control over the food
- People can’t stand Stress; So Thyroid Problems
- All are so busy in our daily lives; no one has time to relax.
- Once in a year vacation is of no good. You get stressed out 350 days a year and say you are relaxing for 15 days. Equation does not match!!
Change in Life Style:
- Drink Coke/Pepsi (carbonated drinks) INSTEAD of Water
- Effects : Stomach, Waste Removal Mechanism
- Eat out site JUNK food INSTEAD of HomeMade breakfast
- Effects : Stomach, Digestive System, Liver
- Eat Deep Fried Food INSTEAD of Raw or Boiled food.
- Effects : Stomach, Digestive System, Liver
- Drink Alcohol INSTEAD of Fruit Juices
- Effects : Stomach, Liver
- Cigarette Smoking / Cigar / Hukka
- Effects : Oral Cancer, Lungs
- Sleep for 5 or 4 hours INSTEAD of 8 hours of sleep
- Effects : Stress, Mental Health
- No Exercise INSTEAD of minimum 1 hour need by body
- Effects : When you don’t sweat, body waste does not go out. More salts gets deposited in the body. Bad for your cells.
- Eat dinner at 9.00pm-11.00pm INSTEAD of 7.00pm – 8.00pm.
- Effects : You consume more energy while awake than sleeping. Its good to eat early so that most of energy is spent while awake. While sleeping, the EXTRA energy is converted to fats. (I am assuming that you sleep immediately after you eat at night 9.00pm-11.00pm)
- Over Eat on Weekends INSTEAD of Resting your stomach
- Effects: Like you your stomach also works hard ALL the time. Churning all the JUNK that you eat. Is it a fair deal ?
- And many other which you and I know…
What’s my Motivation :
I have been in Germany for few years and soon after in US since 2007. It’s very common for many of us to complain that as soon as someone comes to US, they put on weight and become obese. It’s easy to blame US and the life style (to some extent it’s true).
Of course this happens now-a-days even in India. Many of educated families stick to “Single Child” policy, they feel feeding their kid is the ONLY thing that they can do in their life. They feed so much right from the childhood that all the “fat cells” grow a lot by the time they are adults and it becomes near to IMPOSSIBLE to reduce.
I heard some good lectures and programs about “Dr . Mantena Satyanarayana Raju” in Maa TV and also in couple of other online sites like TeluguBhakti and TeluguOne. Till that time I have heard many people suggesting about “drinking more water”, “eating less salt”, “doing more exercises”; but none gave me the LOGICAL consequences. Dr. Raju talks very nicely about the WHY and HOW aspects of the health. Once anyone listens to his lectures, it’s difficult NOT to follow him.
What’s the Deal :
- Drink More Water everyday – Help keep your system clean.
- Eat More Vegetables and Fruits THAN Cooked Food.
- Eat food that contains MORE nutritious value and LESS calorific value
- Do more Exercise – Help your body to shed the extra salts
- Do Yoga or Meditation – Keep your body and brain relaxed
- Eat early dinner (6.00pm to 7.30pm) – If that sounds crazy; I pity you.
- Prefer foods with Less Sodium and More Potassium
Saying what to eat does not qualify to HOW you do it. I have been practicing the Natural Lifestyle from past 6 months and I am the happiest person to know that I am still continuing. More than a habit, it’s setting up your MIND; believing that this method would make you healthier, happier and stronger.
My Schedule:
- No Sugar in any of Juices
- No Salt in any of the Boiled Vegetables or Sandwich
- If you can reduce meat intake that would be good and if you totally cut meat that’s excellent.
- Dinner dishes are one OR the other. Not ALL or SOME of them.
Of course this schedule is not found in one single Day. It took almost 5 months for me to get adjusted to the schedule and to practice it as a daily routine.
Here is what I did each month:
1st Month : Water in the morning
This might sound simple for many of you but it’s NOT. I am a kind of person who used to drink only 3-4 glasses a day (which is very less). The taste of water some times gives a kind of loath and your stomach will be reluctant to take it. So, take you time and practice it everyday to take some more water. Many say that they drink water DURING the day; the big difference we are talking about is to drink at the BEGINNING of the day. As you are with empty stomach, it’s easy for your body to carryout the flushing activities.
2nd Month : Fruit Bowl in the Morning
For many who eat Indian Break Fast or even the American Break Fast this shounds too extreme. The idea of not eating the cooked food itself seems to be crazy, but not at all. Once you start eating fruits in the morning, you will feel fresh about it.Thus make sure that at the end of 2nd month you are good with Drinking water in the morning and also Fruit Bowl for Break Fast.
3rd Month and 4th Month : Less Oil, Less Salt at Lunch Time
This is the most difficult part, but yet achievable. If one knows the bad side affects of the Oil and Salt, I guess no one will actually cook food with them. Often we are comfortable in out own world and we would not want to leave out daily habits. Having 3 chapatis along with lots of vegetable curries and lentils is the best way to give necessary vitamins and minerals that body needs.
5th Month: Vegetables and Fruits at Night
This is the ultra difficult stuff for anyone to do it. But If one needs to dream a good health for life long you have to. There is no choice. You either eat junk food and compromise on Health or eat good food and get great health. At the end of the 5 months you are more or less good with the good eating habits. By this time you can also feel that you are not able to tolerate any of the junk food and you would not even want to eat oily food.
Tips and Tricks:
- Do NOT force your self at any point of time.
- If you can’t drink too much of water initially, try to start with 1 or 2 glasses and gradually increase the intake.
- You will have some sudden burst of the food intake like pizzas, rice, biriyani, etc… when you feel like having some thing like that just make it at home or go out and have it.
- Do not force your family members to do it. If you do it they will naturally follow.
- No coffee or tea at all. They are slow poison.
- If you do not like people who take alcohol or smokes cigarettes then you should also hate people who take coffee and tea. Your body does not need them. It is you who is forcing coffee or tea on your body.
Some Basics:
Potassium: Adequate intake of Potassium can generally be guaranteed by eating a variety of foods containing potassium and deficiency is rare in healthy individuals eating a balanced diet. Foods with high sources of potassium include orange juice, potatoes, bananas, avocados, tomatoes, broccoli, soybeans and apricots, although it is also common in most fruits, vegetables and meats. Diets high in potassium can reduce the risk of hypertension. Potassium is a nutrient necessary for human life and health. Potassium chloride is used as a substitute for table salt by those seeking to reduce sodium intake so as to control hypertension. Good dietary sources of potassium include celery juice. The USDA lists tomato paste, orange juice, beet greens, white beans, bananas, and many other good dietary sources of potassium, ranked according to potassium content per measure shown.
Sodium: Sodium ions (often referred to as just “sodium”) are necessary for regulation of blood and body fluids, transmission of nerve impulses, heart activity, and certain metabolic functions. Interestingly, although sodium is needed by animals, which maintain high concentrations in their blood and extracellular fluids, the ion is not needed by plants. A completely plant-based diet, therefore, will be very low in sodium.
Disclaimer : Natural Living is no way an alternate option to people who have some serious health problems like Diabetes, Heart Disease, Thyroid Problems, High Cholesterol, etc… Take the medicines that you take and practice the Natural Living to see long term benefits. It will turn out to be that many people tend to reduce the intake of the medicines that they take when they practice Natural Living for some time.
All the content of this blog is my personal experience and a preface of what I have experienced.
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