New To Exercise? Top Tips For Avoiding A Burnout -Ajit Patel Wellness

You may feel quite overwhelmed by exercise if you’re new to it – it may even be painful if you’re not careful! Warming your body up before you begin is important to avoid injury and help you to enjoy your workouts more. Warming up for as little as five to ten minutes can make all the difference, preparing your respiratory, nervous and cardiovascular systems for the demands of exercise by increasing your circulation to the muscle tissues and heart. It also helps the connective tissues take on the stress of exercise, so you will be less likely to suffer an injury. Think of this area of the body as hard plastic, which needs warming before it is flexible.

A proper warm-up and cool-down can also help to reduce the severity of soreness following your workout, as the blood flow to the muscles and joints can help to eliminate the waste products which can build up and lead to stiffness. You should warm up with a low impact exercise at a comfortable pace that you’re happy with, and which is slower than your actual exercise regime so that you can gradually increase the intensity. Elliptical machines, rowing and walking on the treadmill are all great warm-up exercises and aren’t likely to put stress on your body and joints. But one of the other reasons for soreness is trying to do too much, too soon. You need to give your body chance to adjust and going in too heavy from the start only increases your chance of injury and heightened stress to the body. If you’re starting resistance training for the first time, you should pick one to two exercises for each area of the body – the upper, lower and core areas.

If you’re new to aerobic training, you should start with something which raises your heart rate a little but that won’t render you completely out of breath. Do this for the first ten minutes of your workouts the first few times you exercise, so that you can slowly progress through the duration of the workout. If you’ve increased to the point where you can do 30 minutes of exercise at that pace, you can then start building the intensity a little at a time. You could begin, for example, with two to three days of 30 minutes at your starting pace, then a ten minute session on day at a higher intensity. Another element of your workout to consider if your energy level, as beginners often don’t have the energy to maintain a long exercise session and this is something to bear in mind when you’re undertaking a massive exercise programme. It can leave you feeling fatigued and drained, which is neither good for your health or your training goals.

You don’t have to get discouraged if you can’t keep up with other people – work to your own pace and you’ll soon be matching them on speed and endurance. it’s just something that is worth taking the time over. Overexertion will lead to soreness and stiffness, as well as putting your body under unnecessary strain. If you do happen to go too far in the first instance, you should take time to rest and recuperate – get plenty of rest, eat healthy food and drink plenty of fluids. Stretching will help to keep your muscles supple, but don’t go back to the gym and do another heavy workout – it will only make it worse.

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Stay-At-Home Mum? Try These Exercise Tips - Ajit Patel Wellness

As a stay-at-home mum, you’ll understand that your days are pretty packed on a regular basis. From changing nappies and preparing meals, to nursing and running around after your little ones, it’s hard to find time for yourself let alone find time to exercise in between it all. Stay-at-home mums work just as hard as those who head out to work each day, and because of this, it can be hard to get out of the ‘no time to exercise’ trap. Luckily, there are ways to combine the two and weave workouts into your daily routine. Regular workouts are important to your wellbeing and mental clarity, so if you’re desperate for fitness but can’t seem to find time in the day to head to the gym, being creative with your time is the best way to get around the problem.

Exercise with your kids

If your kids are old enough, it can be fun for both of you to exercise together. Why not go cycling in your local park or rollerblading? Hiking makes for a really great family activity that young and old alike can enjoy, and will also keep you all in shape too. Alternatively, why not create a fitness course in your garden with push-up stations and skipping ropes for a really great activity that kids will love.

Invest in a jogging pram or a ‘child trailer’ for your bike

When you’re adding the weight of your child and a piece of equipment to your workout, you know you’re going to feel the benefits! All that added effort will result in you toning up even quicker, as well as meaning you won’t need to ask for a babysitting favour in order to do your workout. They’re relatively easy to find and not too expensive, which may work out more cost effective than some other options.

Join a gym with childcare facilities

If you would really like to join a gym in order to stay motivated and benefit from the facilities, why not join a gym with a creche or kids club? It means you can enjoy a full exercise session without worrying about your little ones, and some gyms even offer kids exercise classes which they’ll love!

Opt for parent-baby yoga classes

Yoga is a really relaxing and child-friendly exercise – many locations offer the chance for mother and baby to enjoy the benefits together with strength and stamina-building classes available. Yoga helps to reduce stress, increases flexibility and gives you yet another chance to bond with your baby.

Try an at-home exercise DVD

If you’d rather workout in the comfort of your own home, you may benefit from a DVD option. There are so many exercises available in this format, from Pilates to aerobics and even kickboxing, so why not play around with a few different types? It can be a fun and cost-effective way to mix up your routine and will mean you can fit in exercising around your daily routine.

Improvise!

If you miss a workout, don’t worry about it – sometimes it’s more about making the effort. After all, something is better than nothing. Why not head out into the garden with the baby monitor attached to your jogging bottoms while your baby is enjoying a nap for some lunges and a few minutes on the skipping rope? The most important thing is to make exercise a priority and ensure that you don’t get caught up in excuses – it’s important for your health that you make time.

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Five Reasons Why You Need to Control Stress to Lose Weight - Ajit Patel Wellness

t’s disappointing when you embark on a weight loss plan but don’t see the results you were hoping for. You’re putting in all that effort, but when there are no visible improvements to your wellness, you can want to pack it all in and console yourself with cake. However, you may not be accounting for a hidden element in your lifestyle that might be secretly ruining your diet plans; stress. Stress plays a tremendous role in your wellbeing, and there are four major ways in which letting stress rule your lifestyle can hinder your weight loss progress.

1. Cortisol: AFLCA certified personal trainer Shannon Clark, who has a degree in Exercise Science, explains, ‘Cortisol is a particular hormone that will cause you to have a much greater risk of storing abdominal fat…In addition, when there is a high amount of stress moving through the body on a day to day basis, this is also going to increase the level of lean muscle mass breakdown that can occur, slowing your metabolism down as a result. The less lean muscle mass you have, the harder it’s going to be to stay lean over time. Finally, when you’re highly stressed out and cortisol is running through your system, you’ll also be far more likely to retain excess water, which can mask weight loss progress.’

2. Food Control: According to Clark, ‘If you’re highly stressed out, you won’t have as much control over your food intake as you would if you were calm and collected. Stress eating is a big issue for many people and most don’t need to be told the impact this will have on their level of progress. If you’re regularly turning to carb-dense, calorie-dense foods to sooth the emotions that you’re feeling, you know that you’re headed for trouble on your diet plan. Stress and food consumption go hand in hand for many people and will make sticking with that reduced calorie diet feel like mission impossible.’

3. Energy: ‘If you’re feeling very stressed out on a day to day basis, your energy level will be plummeting rapidly,’ says Clark. ‘You’ll find that you feel burnout, worn out both physically and emotionally, and the last thing that you feel like doing will be getting a workout in. Stress has a way of zapping the life out of most people and making you just want to curl up on the couch for hours. If you’re incredibly stressed out, this is something that you need to be assessing. If it’s draining you of your energy level, you need to find a better way to combat stress both for fat loss purposes, but also so that you can maintain better health and overall function as well.’

4. Adrenal Glands: Clark notes, ‘Your adrenal glands are the master regulators of the body and are going to control your hormones, your metabolic rate, along with many other actions of other organs in the body. Stress also wears out the adrenal glands because it causes them to over-secret adrenaline, which is the flight or fight hormone. In times of severe stress, this hormone is a good thing, but when it’s chronically being released, it’s not such a good thing. That’s when your adrenal glands may in fact burn out entirely and when they do, you’ll have an endless amount of fatigue to be dealing with on a day to day basis.’

5. Recovery: ‘If you’re very stressed out on a regular basis, you won’t recover nearly as quickly from your workouts as you should be and therefore will need to spend far more downtime in the gym between your sessions,’ Clark warns. ‘The less frequently you can be doing your workout sessions, the less progress you’ll make towards your end goal – therefore this is a significant hindrance of success.’

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8 Expert Tips and Scientific Facts to Help You Burn Fat Fast - Ajit Patel wellness

Weight loss is all about burning fat, but how do you do that in a way that doesn’t harm your wellbeing? We’ve rounded up the best expert tips and scientifically proven facts to help you burn fat faster and look after your wellness in the process.

1. Drink Green Tea: Wellness expert Hallie Levine details, ‘Green tea isn’t known only for its cancer-fighting benefits: It may help boost your metabolism, too. People who took green-tea extract three times a day saw their metabolic rate increase by about 4%, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.’ Joy Bauer, a New York City nutritionist and author of Cooking with Joy, comments that because green tea contains catechins, it increases your brain’s levels of the metabolism-speeding chemical norepinephrine.

2. Pump Iron: ‘A pound of muscle burns up to nine times the calories of a pound of fat,’ notes Richard Cotton, MA, chief exercise physiologist for myexerciseplan.com. Levine explains, ‘Weight training increases your resting metabolic rate, which is the number of calories you burn while sitting on your butt. What’s more, it gives your metabolism an added boost after you exercise: It remains in overdrive for up to two hours after the last bench press, according to a study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.’

3. Eat Iron: Samantha Heller, RD, a nutritionist at the New York University Medical Centre, warns, ‘If you don’t have enough of this mineral, your body can’t get enough oxygen to your cells, which slows down your metabolism.’ Good sources of iron include lean red meat, chicken, fortified cereal and soy nuts.

4. Drink Plenty of Water: ‘A new German study found that when you drink 17 ounces of water (about two glasses) within a certain time frame, your metabolic rate shoots up by about 30%,’ says Levine. ‘Using these results, they estimate that by increasing your current water intake by 1.5 litres a day, a person would burn an extra 17,400 calories a year, resulting in about a five-pound weight loss.’

5. Get Your Thyroid Checked: Pamela Peeke, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Maryland and author of Fight Fat After Forty, points out, ‘The thyroid gland controls your body’s metabolism, so one of the first signs that it may be off is an inability to lose weight.’

6. Avoid Alcohol: While everyone likes a glass of wine with dinner, drinking water instead can help keep your favourite meals from going straight to your hips. ‘Alcohol slows your metabolism by depressing the central nervous system,’ Levine states. ‘A British study found that when alcohol was added to a high-fat, high-calorie meal, less dietary fat was burned off and more was stored as body fat.’

7. Start Interval Training: Researchers at Laval University in Quebec have shown that high-intensity interval training burns more fat than regular, consistent aerobic exercise. Glenn Gaesser, PhD, director of the Kinesiology Programme at the University of Virginia and author of The Spark, recommends, ‘Even if you just have 10 minutes for a quick workout, you can walk at a normal pace and then add in a 30-second bout of speed-walking every three minutes.’

8. Consume More Calcium: A study published in the journal Obesity Research found that if you eat low-fat dairy products, such as non-fat yoghurt and low-fat cheese, three to four times a day, you can lose 70% more fat than low-dairy dieters. Study author Michael Zemel, MD, director of the Nutrition Institute at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, explains, ‘Calcium serves as a switch that tells your body to burn excess fat faster.’

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Sculpt A Better Bottom Today With These Exercises - Ajit Patel Wellness

We’re always complaining about how backsides, but how much are we really doing to improve them? Nowhere near enough. Almost every time you’re standing on your feet, you’re working your glutes and hamstrings, but most people spend too much time sitting down to really see any sort of benefit from this easy and necessary action. Your glutes are the most powerful and largest muscle group in the body, as well as being responsible for burning calories and boosting your metabolism, so it’s a shame that so many people aren’t putting them to good use. If you neglect them for too long, your bum becomes slack and difficult to tone up.  There are loads of ways to tone up this area of your body and with some easy move too; here are some of the best ways to tone up and really see results soon.

Facedown Hip External Rotation

This move may look easy but it’s actually one of the most challenging and effective moves for targeting your external hip muscles which have a major impact on your glutes. You begin by lying facedown on the floor with your arms folded under your head and your legs extended straight behind you. Bend your right leg, knee pointed out, and place your foot on the back of your left knee. Keep both of your hips on the floor and contract your right bum cheek and lift your right knee a few inches off the floor, without raising your hip. Pause and then return slowly to the starting position. Complete 10 to 12 reps on each side.

Dumbbell Straight-Leg Deadlift

Focus on your form here and this will be your new BFF when it comes to glute-boosting workouts. Grab a pair of five to eight-pound dumbbells and hold them in front of your thighs keeping your feet hip-width apart. Bend at your hips to lower your torso until it’s almost parallel to the floor, keeping your weights close to your body. Return to standing and keep the weights close to your body at all times. This is one rep – complete 10 to 12 of these.

Dumbbell Bent-Knee Deadlift

This is a real challenge for your glutes, so try increasing the weight when you’ve practiced this for a while so as to boost your metabolism. Begin with a pair of 10 to 15-pound dumbbells on the floor in front of you. Squat, keeping your chest up, and grab the dumbbells with an overhand grip. Your arms should be straight and your lower back slightly arched, but not rounded. Tighten your glutes and stand up with the dumbbells, straightening your legs and thrusting your hips forward, whilst pulling your torso back and up. Slowly lower the dumbbells to the floor. That’s one rep – complete 10 to 12 reps for a set.

Sideways Band Shuffle

This is great for toning up your saddlebags, by enlisting your smaller glute muscles and tightening them up. Place a resistance band loop around your ankles and stand with your feet hip-width apart, keeping your hands on your hips. Step your left foot to the left and place as much tension on the band as possible, then bring your right leg to the left. Do all reps to the left, then repeat on your right side.

Single Leg Hip Extension

Lie face up with your arms to your sides and your right knee bent, with your left leg straight and raised a few inches off the floor. Lift your left until it’s in line with your right thigh and push your hips upwards, forming a straight line from your shoulders to your knees. Pause and lower to your starting position. Do all reps then switch legs.

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The Truth About Sugar: Dangerous And Toxic? - Ajit Patel Wellness

If you’re on a diet, and focusing on your nutrition, then you will already know that sugar is the biggest enemy to your wellness and wellbeing that you can possibly imagine.

Unfortunately, most of us are raised to think that sugar is a treat, as it is often used as a reward for young children when they exhibit good behaviour. Nothing could be further from the truth than this, however, as research is increasingly showing that sugar is absolutely toxic and leads to many of the worst diseases, such as heart disease.

Leading doctors now agree that sugar is one of the worst enemies to your health, and should be avoided as much as possible. Chinese medicine has recognised this problem for many years, too, especially in relation to a problem that they call ‘depletion and thirst syndrome’, also known as diabetes.

The pancreas is designed to deal with excess sugar in the body, by producing and releasing insulin. This is the hormone that carries sugar from the bloodstream into the cells of the body and the body tissues, too. When you take in simple sugars and foods containing refined carbohydrates, your body then requires a quick release of the insulin hormone, which then leaves your pancreas depleted. This quick release later leads to low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia). Your body starts to crave more sugar to replace the depleted supply, and thus a vicious cycle is formed, which will eventually cause your pancreas to stop being able to function properly, leading to diabetes. If you have diabetes, your sugar stores up and starts to cause problems inside your body.

Whilst sugar consumption on the whole has decreased in recent years, fructose and corn syrup intake has increased, and it is just as harmful. Products such as tomato ketchup, bread, cereal, granola bars, fast foods and salad dressing are absolutely loaded with this harmful sugar.

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How to Incorporate Weight Loss Habits into Your Lifestyle - Ajit Patel Wellness

Do you know why you fail to lose weight? It’s not from a lack of effort or motivation; rather, it’s because you don’t have weight wellness habits ingrained into your lifestyle. Weight loss isn’t something you do for a few weeks and then reap the benefits forever; you have to make little everyday changes that will last you your whole life, and enhance your overall wellbeing. With this in mind, we spoke to Licensed Acupuncturist Dr. Mao Shing Ni, PhD, who has diplomas in Chinese Herbology and Anti-Ageing Wellness, to get his take on lifestyle changes that can help you lose weight.

1. Don’t Try to Be Perfect: According to Dr. Mao, ‘Better weight begins in our mind. We need to strive to feel good as opposed to calculating inches. Feeling good means being able to have the vitality to accomplish things and perform activities without feeling over exhausted.’

2. Eat More Vegetables: ‘You already know that veggies are very good for you,’ Dr. Mao points out. ‘They contain fibre, are low-calorie and have enzymes that can help you digest that T-bone steak from last night. What you may not know is that many veggies actually contain ingredients that regulate hormone functions and have anti-ageing and anti-cancer effects. There various kinds of vegetables which means you don’t have to settle with one kind. Try salads (make sure your veggies are not swimming in a pool of dressing). Try cooking veggies in with a wok and add a little low sodium soy sauce.’

3. Don’t Overdo it With the Wheat: Dr. Mao notes, ‘There is more to grains than wheat. Try rice, barley, couscous or beans. While grains are very nutritious and an important part of our diet, cutting down to a small amount and eating them moderately can be helpful. Eating more grains during the day and less at the night can also be helpful in how we digest them.’

4. Eat Out in a Smart Way: ‘You know the standard dinner at a typical restaurant,’ says Dr. Mao. ‘It begins with an appetizer, then salad, an entrée, dessert, and coffee. We garble all this food down with wine or cocktails. It is amazing to me that we don’t get heartburn more often. Visualize what you are going to eat before you begin. Order only what you are going to consume. Do not leave food on the table you do not intend to eat. We tend to be food addicts and eat everything in sight. Learn to say no.’

5. Eat Regular Meals: Dr. Mao explains, ‘If you eat on time and regularly, you won’t be famished and therefore you will have less desire to overeat. Do not skip breakfast and lunch. If you do, this is a sure recipe for a whale-sized dinner. Eat dinner between 6-8pm and not later. Our energy declines rapidly at night. At this time our digestive system is not as strong and won’t digest the foods as well.’

6. Fit Exercise Into Your Day: ‘A formalised exercise programme is ideal but not necessary,’ says Dr. Mao. ‘Instead of thinking “exercise”, we should be thinking “physical activity”. Some of us have high levels of physical activity in our occupation in which counts towards exercise. The problem comes when we have a sedentary job and sit for long hours during the day. We need to utilise our break time, lunch time, before and after work to invigorate ourselves. This might be to intentionally park far away from work and walk to and from the office, or take the stairs, or bike to work. Try to engage in more physical work during the weekends such as gardening, walking, hiking, running, etc.’

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Best Exercises to Strengthen Your Ankle After a Sprain - Ajit Patel Wellness

A sprained ankle can be incredibly painful, and can also be a serious blow to your fitness. This then translates into other areas such as your general wellness and wellbeing, and your weight, as you can find the pounds creeping on and the low moods creeping up as you rest and wait for your ankle to recover. Fortunately, there are exercises that you can do to help strengthen your ankle and speed you on the way to recovery again.

As soon as you can bear weight comfortable on the foot again, and have nearly a full range of motion in the ankle, you can start to perform strengthening exercises. Isometric exercises are a good starting point, which you do by pushing your ankle against a fixed object. When you feel confident with these you can then move on to isotonic exercises, which involve you using your ankle in motion against a form of resistance.

For example, tilt your foot down and form a straight line from your ankle to your toes. Then push the flat bit against a fixed object, such as the edge of the couch, and hold this position for the count of ten seconds. Repeat this exercise again a further then times.

Next, do the opposite with your ankle – curl your toes up towards your leg as far as they will go, and then push the bottom of your foot against a solid object, such as a wall or the couch. Once again, hold this position for the count of ten seconds and then release, and follow up with another nine repetitions of the exercise.

You can also carry out exercises using a resistance band. You can do this by holding the band around your forefoot and then holding the ends of the band with your hand. Next, gently push down with your ankle as far as you can manage, and then return to the starting position. Repeat this ten times.

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What Are The Best Ways to Improve Your Endurance? - Ajit Patel Wellness

It may be that you are looking to lose some weight for the first time. It may be that you are an established fitness fanatic. Or it may simply be that you want to improve your general wellness and wellbeing, and have realised that physical activity is a really good way to go about this. Whatever your background and whatever your reasons, you can improve your strength and your endurance, and it may be easier than you think.

Steer clear of supplements that claim to boost your endurance, as these are constantly changing and there is not one clear, proven way of helping to improve your muscles in the supplements market. There is, however, a kind of complementary therapy that has been proven to help, and that is Traditional Chinese Medicine. Chinese Olympic athletes have been using the methods associated with Chinese medicine for years, such as acupuncture, tuina bodywork and Chinese herbs, to help naturally enhance their endurance and strength, as well as to speed up the healing of injuries.

Acupuncture has been proved to have all kinds of beneficial effects. It improves the blood circulation and also reduces pain and inflammation, meaning that it shortens the time that the body takes to recover from injuries. It also increases strength and endurance, meaning that injuries are far less likely to occur in the first place. Tuina also improves circulation and removes toxins from the blood stream, as well as lubricating the joints and increasing their range of motion. All of this also helps to release stress, which can have a very negative effect on performance and make injury far more likely. Tuina works by establishing a more harmonious flow of the body’s chi (vital energy) as well as bodily fluids through the body, allowing it to function at the optimum level.

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How Does Your Body Cope With Fad Diets? - Ajit Patel Wellness

It’s the same for the majority of people – at some stage or another, you’ll begin a diet in a bid to shift that extra weight that’s gathered after the festive season or a month or two of heavy indulgence. Many people opt for fad diets in these situations, which seem to offer a quick fix for a problem which generally takes a few months to resolve. These diets aren’t a safe choice though, as they deprive your body of vital nutrients and healthy fats rather than advising you of which foods are good for your body.

Popular diets are easy to digest – vegetarians avoid meat, vegans avoid animal products, and those following raw food diets don’t eat anything heated above 115 degrees Fahrenheit. But how do you know which diets to choose with so many on offer? The studies we gather this information from are based on controlled situations which include many variables, set timescales and artificial scenarios. They don’t, of course, take into account, how one would cope on them for a lifetime period. Real life isn’t as controlled as those diets you read about, so you can’t account for the different situations that we encounter such as genetics or lifestyle.

If you want to lose weight, many medical professionals will agree that it’s better for your body to simply eat a balanced diet and increase the amount of exercise you do. This will ensure you lose weight slowly but steadily, without putting strain on your body. When you lose weight too quickly, it causes your organs to strain and puts unnecessary stress on them. It also deprives your body of vital nutrients which it needs for everyday functions. if you’re struggling to lose weight and need advice, you should speak to your GP who can offer you advice on how to lose weight safely for your body and medical needs.

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Exploring the Quantifiable Self Movement - Ajit Patel Wellness

I must confess to an obsession with my bathroom scale. I’ve got one of those fancy digital models that not only weighs you, but also tells you how much you weighed the last time you stepped on the scales.

The result, for me, has been a new awareness of my weight, and how it fluctuates from day to day. I keep a log in the bathroom. Well, okay, my log’s actually a piece of paper taped to the wall, but it symbolizes the beginning of my descent into the newest health craze: the quantifiable self movement.

The Quantifiable What?

The quantifiable self movement describes the monitoring and recording of physical and mental activity to live a healthier, more complete life. A number of wearable devices are available to measure and track almost any bodily function, from heart rate and breathing to sleep cycles and mood.

All the information gathered by your information-gathering wristband, bracelet or clip uploads to your phone or tablet, so you can crunch the numbers and improve your health. For instance, the device might record how many steps you take in a day, so you can choose to exceed the number in the future.

If this sounds like applying data analysis to physical fitness, you’re quite right, but the movement is more than that. The idea of the quantified self grows out of the demand for personalized health plans. Just as people prefer to use personal trainers or private rehab centers, so too do they want a fitness program that applies specifically to them

Devices and Gizmos 
Technology lies at the center of the quantified self movement. Multiple tracking devices compete for you business, all carefully tracking and monitoring you every breath. Most are rugged, waterproof devices intended to be worn on an ongoing basis.

Some track external as well as internal trends. For instance, some monitor air quality. I’m a little confused by those which track mood — I like to think I can identify my emotions without assistance. Still, I suppose mood trackers could help detect frequent depression or anxiety issues.

Helpful Aid or Anchor?
While I can see the appeal of the quantified self movement, I’m not sure I’d want every aspect of my physical and emotional functions always on display. The movement, like my scale, comes with the risk of obsession.

Oh lord, I only walked 9,999 steps today, and yesterday I walked 10,100! My exposure to poor air quality is up 5 percent! I was upset 0.34 percent less than last week — could I be apathetic? I can see myself becoming caught up in the data, rather than living to my fullest.

Still, the quantified self movement would work for the right person, and we’re primed to accept it into modern life. We’re already obsessed with life-logging on social media. Posting our heart rate and blood pressure just seems like the next logical step.

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Myth Busters: Why Thin and Healthy Aren’t the Same Thing - Ajit Patel Wellness

In this day and age of prevalent obesity, being thin is equal to being in the prime of health, right? Not so. Although being overweight is by no means beneficial to your wellness, being skinny certainly doesn’t get you off the hook in terms of looking after your well-being. Let’s take a look at some of the myths related to weight and weight loss.

1. If your kids are going to shed the obesity bulge, they need to lose weight.

According to a new study, published in the journal Lancet, some kids can outgrow their obesity around puberty even if they don’t lose weight. Researchers from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health developed a mathematical model to differentiate between healthy weight gain of childhood and the extra pounds that contribute to obesity, noting that as children grow, they transform fat into muscle, which can weigh as much, if not more than fat tissue. This means that, even if your kid has a high BMI, they may not actually be overweight.

2. Fat people can’t be fit.

In 2012, researchers found that overweight and obese people – who were just as metabolically fit as their skinnier counterparts – had no greater risk of developing or dying from heart disease or cancer than normal people. It’s not about how fat you are, but the type of fat you’re carrying. Visceral fat is the type to watch out for, and lean people can have high levels of this fat in their tissues. Larger individuals, on the other hand, may be carrying more subcutaneous fat and so, in theory, may be metabolically fitter than those who are slimmer.

3. You can eat what you want and still lose weight as long as you exercise.

Sorry, folks, the best way to lose weight is still cutting calories by adjusting what you eat, especially when combined with exercise. According to Gayl Canfield, the director of nutrition at Pritikin Longevity Centre, ‘You can greatly undermine weight loss efforts and general health by not considering the quality of the foods you eat. It is important to consider calorie density and nutrient density of foods to maximize exercise performance and improve health status.’

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5 Ways To Naturally Get Rid of Termites from Your Home - Ajit Patel Wellness

If you live in Houston, then you know that the weather is absolutely perfect for outdoor activities. Despite this perfection, one that spoils it for most folks is the termites. Termites are spotted everywhere and while they are annoying crawling everywhere, they do so much damage to your property. Your house is made of wood or at least, there is a part of your house with some wooden structures and the termites feed off them.

Termites depend on cellulose found predominantly in wood and this means that once they find a spot where they can comfortably feed on wood, they will weaken your house making it susceptible to collapse. To avoid this, you have to find safe or natural ways to get rid of the termites. Here is a highlight of the ways of getting rid of termites:

Exposure to sunlightThere is always that one place that you will find more termites nested. To kill the termites naturally, expose them to the sun. Termites are naturally susceptible to sunlight and they die off within minutes after exposure to the sun’s latent heat. 

You may consider clearing out vegetation if the termite colonies are outdoors. If you have a piece of termite infested furniture, take it out to the sun, the termites will fall off and die.

Use the cardboard trapCardboard is made from wood and therefore rich in cellulose. To lure the termites off their current location, place a cardboard out at a strategic location. The female termites, and consequently the male counterparts will be attracted to the rich aroma given off by cellulose. Once the termites have migrated to your temporary trap, you can kill them off.

Eliminate moistureJust like many other pests, moisture attracts termites and they thrive well in moist areas. To keep termites away, ensure that your house or building’s interior is dry. Fix all leakages to deter the termites. Because of the effectiveness of this strategy, providers of pest services always recommend that you keep homes and surfaces dry to keep all pests away.

Try biological treatmentsWhile trying to keep termites off, it’s pertinent that your family is safe. Orange oil treatments are effective natural termite deterrents that kill termites on contact. This is because of an active compound, d-limonene in orange oil that kills the insects. Alternatively, try using neem oil to oust the termites.

Parasitic nematodesWhen your home is made of wood or the main substructure is wooden, you will have to take effective steps to protect it. A home is an investment and care should be taken for the value of the house to appreciate. To do this, you have to keep the termites away.

To manage termite infestation, you may consider getting a specialist to introduce parasitic nematodes that have been proven to be effective in killing and effectively getting rid of termites.

In conclusion, a home isn’t a safe haven when its core structures are eaten away quietly by termites. It is always a sad thing for your expensive wooden furniture to be eaten away. The natural remedies above will help you manage and get rid of termites completely. You may consider talking to a professional if the infestation looks too serious. 

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Drinking Out Of Refilled Plastic Water Bottle Is Unhygienic - Ajit Patel Wellness

In a study involving the analysis of 12 types of plastic water bottles used by an athlete for one week without washing, it was found that drinking from a plastic water bottle that has continuously been refilled can be ‘many times worse than licking a dog’s toy’ when it comes to bacteria exposure

The result of the lab tests found that the top of the water-bottles were crawling in potentially harmful bacteria by the end of the week. More than 300,000 colony-forming units (CFU) were found on each square centimetre of the bottles on average. By contrast, the average pet toy has 2,937 CFU.

Gram-positive cocci was found on many of the bottles, which can lead to skin infections, pneumonia and blood poisoning.

A spokesperson said:

‘Drinking from these bottles can still be worse than eating a meal from your pet’s dish.’

The study found that bottles which you have to slide open with your fingers are worst, followed by squeeze tops and the researcher suggested using a dishwasher-proof reusable bottle that should be cleaned daily.

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Why are athletes wearing coloured tape?- Ajit Patel Wellness

Quoted by BBC News: "In the Euro 2012 Championship, Italian striker Mario Balotelli was sporting three tramlines of blue sticky tape on his back.

And at Wimbledon, Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic has had his elbow patched up with the same stuff.

So what's behind this latest sporting fad?

The Japanese makers of Kinesio tape say it gives players an edge by mending injuries.

Sticking plaster?

Although it might seem like a new idea, the tape has been around since the 1970s.

Dr Kenzo Kase says he came up with the design because he found standard taping techniques, like conventional strapping, too restrictive for his patients.

Although standard strapping provides muscle and joint support, it limits movement and, according to Dr Kase, gets in the way of the healing process by restricting the flow of inflammatory fluids below the skin.

Kinesio tape is different, he says, because it lifts the skin to assist this lymphatic flow, which, in turn, reduces pain and swelling.

However, Dr Kase admits there have been too few studies to prove these scientific claims.

Psychological crutch?

Dr Kase says people have been using his tape with success for more than 30 years. But he recognises that only solid scientific evidence can silence critics.

"We have many people researching but the society of Kinesio taping therapy itself – the International Kinesio Taping Association – is only five years old. We need more evidence. We do not have research reports. Part of the reason people are using Kinesio tape is to find the science."

Another element to consider is the power of persuasion or "placebo effect" – if you believe something will work then you will see results.

John Brewer, a sports professor at the University of Bedfordshire, said: "Personally, I think it is more of a placebo effect. There is no firm scientific data to show that it has an impact on performance or prevents injuries.

"My concern is that there is little that you can put on the skin that will have a real benefit for the muscles that lie deep beneath.

"The power and stress going through the joints is immense.

"But, saying that, I can't see it would cause any real problem, other than making you lose a few hairs."

In theory, anything that can lessen the oscillations or vibrations that go through the muscle when you are doing intense sport will be beneficial, he said.

Phil Newton, a physiotherapist at Lilleshall, one of the UK's National Sports Centres, said: "It's a multimillion-pound business, yet there's no evidence for it. There's a whole host of companies making this tape now.

"A lot of medical practitioners do use it.

"It is different to the various types of tape that physios have been using for donkey's years to strap sprained ankles and so on.

"This is a relatively new type of tape that is thin and light weight. The idea behind it is fascial unloading – reducing pressure in the tissue below the skin."

Dr Newton remains dubious. "Looking at the tensile strength of the tape I don't see how it could do it unless it is down to stimulating the senses. The power of placebo is very strong and shouldn't be underestimated."

He predicts the Olympics will be awash with the stuff. "It'll be a show of multicoloured tape.

"We'll probably see athletes in the Olympics sporting a few union jacks made out of it," he said.

Dr Kase certainly hopes so.

He said: "Olympians are very top athletes. Top athletes are very different from regular athletes. They are hypersensitive and they worry. My tape will give lots of comfort to them. This is not drugs."

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What Everyone Ought to Know About Climbing - Ajit Patel Wellness

Climbing can be a fantastically fun way to lose weight and improve your fitness. Not only that, but the thrills and social skills involved with some climbing clubs can be a great boost for your emotional wellness, as well as being great for your physical wellbeing, of course.

Alex Honnold is an American climber who has had some very exciting adventures. Even as a child, daredevil climber Alex would climb on top of the fridge, terrifying his mother. Now he terrifies the whole world with his escapes in big wall free solo climbing, a very dangerous and yet pure discipline that involves climbing up huge rock faces without any ropes or even a partner.

This very scary form of climbing involves setting yourself a series of unique physical challenges, usually in iconic locations based around the world. Alex Honnold has set numerous speed records for his climbs, including last June, when he completed the ‘Triple’ which involved climbing three huge walls in Yosemite National Park – a 3,000 foot one, a 2,000 foot one and a Half Dome. He did this in a record 18hr 50 minutes. He lost his footing 20 times and even endured an insect attack but still managed the climb 95% without ropes.

Honnold says that a lot of the thrill for him is to push his own boundaries. Sometimes that can mean beating a speed record, but sometimes it can simply mean accomplishing a new climb that he has not done before. He said that the more he trains, the less fear he feels.

Honnold makes sure that he maintains a high level of stamina, strength and core strength, to help him maintain his balance when climbing. He says that you need good focus as well as strong fingers and arms. For speed climbs, you need to have amazing lungs and iron legs.

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What Everyone Ought to Know About Protein Diets - Ajit Patel Wellness

All experts are now agreeing: include more protein in your diet and it will help to improve your wellness and wellbeing, as well as reach your fitness goals. This latest nutrition news confirms what scientists have been saying for a long time, and that is that the government RDA for protein is not enough to keep you healthy.

Protein actually comes from the word ‘proteios’, which means primary, and this ought to give you some indication of how important it is. In fact, it is one of three macronutrients – the other two are carbohydrates and fats. It is vital to keep your hormonal, cellular and immune systems functioning properly. It’s also really important for the maintenance and repair of tissues, including muscle tissues

The Food Standards Agency recommendation is that you eat just 55g of protein per day if you are a man aged between 19 and 55. However, all recent research seems to suggest that this is too small an amount if you are a physically active man. Instead of following a ‘one size fits all’ approach, instead you should work out how much you need based on your fitness goals, weight and body composition.

If you want to slim down and look lean and athletic rather than skinny, preserving your muscle is really important. If you increase your protein intake, the body will use this for muscle repair, and this is especially important if you are following a low-calorie diet, otherwise you will burn muscle to make up the deficit.

If you actually want to build muscle, many people assume that you need to significantly increase your protein intake. Unfortunately, more protein doesn’t necessarily mean more muscle. Scientists recommend around 1.2 – 2.2g of protein per kg of bodyweight if you want to build muscles.

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Are You Being Sucked In By These Common Diet Myths? - Ajit Patel Wellness

Weight gain and weight loss seem like such a simple thing, and so in theory they should be perfectly straightforward. If you want to improve your wellness and wellbeing, you should eat right and increase your fitness levels, right? Unfortunately, as many dieters will tell you, it’s not as simple as that. In fact, there are a whole lot of commonly held myths about weight loss and gain, and many people simply do not know fact from fiction.

First of all, remember that being overweight does not necessarily equate to being unhealthy. Being a few pounds heavier does not mean that you are definitely going to an early grave. It is perfectly possible to be fat and healthy or thin and unhealthy. Just on its own, your actual weight is not directly related to how healthy you are.

Many people also believe that eating spicy food helps to boost your metabolism, leading to faster weight loss. Of course, eating well boosts your general health, but does not generally boost your metabolism. Just eat a healthy, balanced diet and make sure you include plenty of protein.

People also think that you have to eat an extra 3,000 calories to gain a pound, and that depriving yourself of 3,000 calories equates to losing a pound of fat too, but unfortunately it doesn’t work that way either. Everybody is different, and people’s metabolism can vary hugely. In addition to this, the human body is programmed to store fat, and so it actively fights against you if you try to lose weight. All kinds of other factors can affect your weight, too, such as the time of day, how big a meal you have eaten, how much water you have drunk and the hormones in your menstrual cycle.

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