If you are on a weight loss diet, one of the best additions you can make to your diet is of fruits and vegetables. While there is no dearth of fruits and veggies out there, it is important to select the right ones that would particularly facilitate weight loss. One such fruit that is considered to be apt for any weight loss regime is apricot. The fuzzy and furry fruit has the tendency to fill you up instantly, thanks to the presence of healthy fibres.

As per the nutritional data of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), about 100 grams of fresh apricots provide 12% of daily requirement of vitamin C and 12% of vitamin A. According to the book, 'Healing Foods' by DK Publishing House, "Low in calories yet high in fibre and many key vitamins, apricots can be eaten fresh or dried, and the leaves and kernels can all be used." If you eat apricots in breakfast, you are likely to stay satiated till lunch time as they are quite filling. This will keep you from getting your hands on fattening foods by keeping cravings in control.

A healthy weight loss and healthy digestive system are synonymous to each other. For our body's metabolism to function optimally, a good digestive health is of utmost importance. A poor digestive health hinders the body's ability to assimilate nutrients effectively and efficiently, leading to slowing down of metabolism. A sluggish metabolism could be one of the major reasons why you are not able to see results even after following a healthy diet. Apricot's high fibre content helps in bowel regularity, which further keeps constipation at bay.

While there are many ways of savouring apricots, many people also consume it in the pickled form. Eating pickled apricot is a good way to stimulate digestion as it contains probiotics that are beneficial for the gut. Other than this, you can also poach the apricots lightly and have them along breads. Though this fruit is nutritionally-dense , it is always good to consume it in moderation as excess of anything in diet could possibly do more harm than good to your body.

So the next time you plan to have a plateful of fruits, go a step ahead to meet your weight loss goals by making this fruit a part of your fruit chaat. Squeeze some lemon on top of it and savour a healthy and delicious treat.

Very few people are lucky enough to reap the benefits of a good metabolic system. Being overweight could be a serious problem as it complicates existing health problems and can even result in unusual diseases and disorders. Cribbing about increased body weight, low energy levels and a protruding paunch is too common a phenomenon to be ignored.

People try out bizarre ways to deal with an excess of adipose tissues. They run, jog, cycle and do dieting. The numerous efforts made in losing weight go down the drain in most cases. The reason behind this is simple; you are not doing things the right way.

Exercising in combination with a balanced diet is necessary to keep yourself fit and healthy. However, weight loss is not a silly affair without a rule book. One must keep to a set of norms to reduce weight effectively.

Valuable tips to lose those extra kilos:-

You may lose weight in whichever way you want but doubt remains regarding the consistency of such reduction. Weight loss could be drastic but things might revert to square one as soon as you slacken from a rigorous regimen. Try out tips that suit your subjective case and find yourself in good shape.

1. Breakfast is the most important meal of a day- Being on an empty stomach for long stretches can result in bloating. In such a situation a person feels lethargic and tends to give up after least physical exertion. If you intend to retain your appetite for dinner by skipping breakfast, you are slowly moving towards obesity. Have a heavy breakfast every single day.

2. Stop being a couch potato- Sitting in front of the television set or computer screen for long hours can make you gain weight. Remind yourself to indulge in these activities in restriction.

3. Have a high- fiber diet- A high- fiber diet is good for digestive processes. It rids your body of excess gases and acids making you feel light. Such kind of food can be easily broken down to produce energy.

4. Exercise regularly or at least thrice a week- Exercising is extremely important to keep the extra kilos in check. It also adds strength to your muscles. Exercising can improve a person's mental agility as well.

5. Have four meals a day- Having small but frequent meals throughout the day is the best possible way to maintain optimal body weight. Through this practice, the body is assured of regular food supply and hence won't store fat.

These tips will help you lose weight easily. All you need is to get rid of laziness, follow a proper diet plan and do regular exercise to lose weight. Thus, you will get good results in a short span of time.

The sun is shining bright on top of our heads and how glad are we! It was indeed a long spell of winter and now that it is gone, we can finally step out of our quilts and jackets. As we all know, in winters our metabolism takes a dip, which makes it difficult to shed weight. You also tend to crave more in winters, as it is your body's mechanism to keep you warm and fueled against the harsh weather. In summers, you have brighter chances to lose the excess kilos you have been trying to get rid of for so long. You are out in the sun more; increased vitamin D exposure has been linked to weight loss. You are physically more active in summer and there are so many summer fruits and veggies that can help you fight the flab. Moreover, mornings are the best time to put in all effort to lose weight. Not only can you set your metabolism racing but also burn calories throughout the day.​



Here are some diet tips that could help rev up metabolism naturally and aid weight loss this summer:


1. Drink Plenty of Fluids
In summers, it is very essential to stay hydrated. Since you perspire a lot in summer, you end up losing out on a lot of water. Therefore, you must make it a point to keep sipping into water time to time. Water is very essential to carry out important body functions. If the plain taste of water gets too monotonous for you, you can have other summer hydrating drinks too like aam panna, coconut water, jaljeera and nimbu paani. If you keep yourself hydrated, you would be full for a longer time. If you are feeling full, you are less likely to binge. Drinking water also helps aid smooth digestion.

2. Load Up On Seasonal Fruits And Vegetables
Summer comes loaded with fruits and vegetables that are rich in antioxidants and fibres that are known to promote weight loss. Among fruits, you must make room for all summer melons, cantaloupe, watermelon and musk melon. Among veggies eat plenty of gourd vegetables like lauki and karela. Freshly cut cucumber makes for a nice low-calorie snack you can add to your diet.

3. Eat More Probiotics
Make sure you fill your diet with natural probiotics like dahi and kimchi. They are good for your gut, they are light and easy-to-digest too. Dahi helps keep you cool too, and is a good source of protein, vitamin D and calcium.

4. Keep your dinner light
It is a good idea to keep your dinner light (Think: soothing soups, stews, salad, grilled goods). As the day progresses, our metabolism decreases. It also gets difficult to digest heavy foods later in the day. Poor digestion hampers the elimination process, which takes a toll on the metabolism. A healthy digestion is key to weight loss.

5. Avoid deep-fried foods
Avoid fried and oily foods and opt for more steamed, grilled and roasted foods. These foods are difficult to digest and are also packed with many excess calories that get stored as fats.

Try these easy tips and tell us how effective they have been to your weight loss journey.

Today, olive oil is known as one of the healthiest oils for cooking food because of its low level of saturated fats. Olive oil is also said to be able to aid in weight loss, reduce cholesterol, lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases, slow down the ageing process and protect against certain types of cancer. However, not all types of olive oil are the same. Olive oil is extracted by crushing olives and is categorised on the basis of the type of pressing, acidity levels and extent of processing undergone.

Some of the common types of olive oil available are:

Extra virgin olive oil: This refers to oil produced by the first ‘pressing’ of olives. This oil is extracted using only mechanical or other physical means and does not involve the use of heat or chemicals. The only processing is subjected to is washing, decanting, centrifuging and filtering. The maximum acidity level of this oil is 0.8%. Extra virgin olive oil has no added flavours or aroma and is said to have a superior taste.

Virgin olive oil: This is the second grade of olive oil. It has slightly higher level of acidity than extra virgin olive oil. It may seem to have a slight flavour imperfection as compared to the earlier oil. This is most commonly used type of olive oil.

Refined olive oil: Oil that is produced by subsequent pressings of the remaining olive flesh is known as refined olive oil. It has a lighter colour and is less viscous as compared to virgin olive oil. Unlike virgin olive oil, refined olive oil is bleached and deodorised. It may also be mixed with a little virgin olive oil. This type of oil has the same levels of monosaturated fat, but has very little antioxidants.

Olive pomace oil: The crushed flesh and pits left over from the extraction of olive oil is known as pomace. This may further be used to extract oil known as pomace oil. Pomace oil is an inferior oil that may be mixed with olive oil to improve its taste and texture.

Unfiltered olive oil: As the name suggests, the unfiltered olive oil contains bits of olive flesh. While this may enhance the flavour of the oil, it also causes a sediment to be formed at the bottom of the bottle. This sediment may become rancid over time and lower the shelf life of the oil. Unfiltered olive oil should ideally be used within 6 months of being bottled.

Apart from the above, there are a number of other types of olive oil such as early or late harvest olive oil, hand picked olive oil, single estate olive oil and flavoured oil.

We live in a busy world and when one is so pressed for time, it may seem a good thing for him or her to do to skip a meal or two and catch up on it later. He or she should realize, though, that this is one of the worst possible things he or she could be doing to himself or herself! Each meal that a person has, is a window for nutrients and vitamins, which are crucial for the maintenance of good health to be ingested into the body. When a person makes the unwise choice to go ahead and skip a meal, the ramifications may not be so evident at first. It is to be kept in mind that the repercussions can manifest themselves in the not so distant future, all depending on the frequency of his or her missing a meal.

If a person is of the opinion that he or she does not have enough time or energy to get through the day, it is for sure that skipping a meal in order to try to make more time for the things which need to be done, he or she will be unintentionally skimping on the latter as a consequence of doing so. When a person skips a meal, the functions of the body are reduced by a significant margin. As a matter of fact, what happens is that the person becomes quite a bit more irritable and far less rational, which is something that can be attributed to brain fog. What is the point of having more time if the energy levels are too low to make even a reasonable productive use of the time?

It can be said that the best way to stay healthy when it comes to eating habits is to just listen to what the body is saying. While this sort of advice may seem to be quite simple, or even possibly, too simple, there are advantages of following it. When meals are skipped, a person deprives him or herself of the joy of eating. Also, he or she is likely to overcompensate when the following meal is eaten by him or her. This is likely to negate any impact on the person’s possible attempt to lose weight.

Missing meals is also linked higher type 2 diabetes and heart disease; especially when it comes to skipping breakfast. Food is to be savoured, so take shorter meals as many times a day!

Uneven distribution of the calories or insufficient food intake might make a person a 'Compulsive Eater' which is the most noted eating disorder. The golden rule of the healthy dieting states 'One should control the portion size'. A healthy diet is not about eating less or abstaining yourself from the list of food items, but it is about eating mindfully and sensibly. Skipping meals regularly also affects 'Basal Metabolic Rate' massively, in which the body further responds by pilling up those extra pounds, resulting in Obesity. Other metabolic problems connected with insufficient food intake are Anorexia (Loss of appetite) and Bulimia (Self-induced vomiting) which are considered detrimental to the body and also affect the psyche of the person. A smart meal divided equally throughout the day is a better choice to stay healthy physically and mentally. A human body is like a machine, which needs a constant supply of energy throughout to sustain well. Skipping meals will only degrade the complete wellbeing further and lead to other behavioural and physical problems.