5 surprising secrets for a flat Abs

1.     Stop doing so many crunches:

Most people think that to achieve a flat, toned stomach you need to do a thousand crunches every morning before work, but that’s just not true. The surprising secret is that doing lots of ab specific exercises will only help you tone that area on a short-term basis, if at all. You have to work your entire core, building up its strength and flexibility to get the flat stomach you want. Doing Power Yoga or Hath Yoga will help you do this. Working your core is the key to achieving a flat stomach because it works all of the muscles in your stomach area, such as the rectus abdominis, your internal and external obliques and your transversus abdominis.

2.     Get More Sleep

It may seem as though sleep has nothing to do with your dream of having a flat stomach, but it does. If you don’t get enough sleep then your hormone levels change, which can make you feel hungry and can also make you feel less satisfied once you have eaten. This can lead to overeating. Plus those late nights watching TV or going out with friends gives you more time to snack and reach for unhealthy foods. So, how much sleep should you be getting? The Mayo Clinic advises adults that they should sleep for no less than seven hours a night. If you struggle to get this much sleep make sure you are exercising regularly, that you don’t nap during the day and that  you eat foods that contain tryptophan (an amino acid that helps you sleep), such as milk and yoghurt.

3.     Stock up on whole grains:

A study that was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition discovered a surprising secret for a flatter stomach. The study gave participants a healthy diet to eat, consisting of fruit, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, meat and fish. However, they gave one set of participant wholegrain foods to eat and the other set of participants refined grain foods. At the end of the study those participants who had eaten the wholegrain foods had lost more weight from their stomachs than those who ate the refined grain foods. The researchers believe that the participants who ate more whole grains and ate less refined carbs lost more from their waistlines because this change in diet mobilised people’s fat stores because of a shift in their glucose and insulin response. If you want to swap refined grains for whole grains, eat less yeast-based breads, pasta and cakes or cookies and eat more foods such as oats (which contains as many antioxidants as broccoli and spinach), brown rice and wheat berries.

4.     Time Your Meals

If you eat food quickly then you might find that you are eating more than you actually need to. Slowing down the pace you eat meals at will help you to achieve a flatter stomach because you will eat smaller portions. Also a study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found that eating quickly did not allow the hormone that makes you feel full to kick in. Therefore, when eating quickly you are far more likely to eat more than is necessary. To stop eating so quickly you should make sure you eat at your dining table and do not eat in front of the TV. Concentrating and savouring what you are tucking into will help slow down the rate you eat at. You could also set a timer and try to consciously slow down so that you eat the last bites of your food when the timer goes off. Also, a study found that soft lighting and gentle music helped participants eat less quickly so you could always dim the lights and put on some soft music too.

5.     Tuck into Some Enzymes

An enzyme that will help you achieve a flatter stomach is called bromelain and it can be found in pineapples. The bromelain enzyme digests protein and is called a proteolytic enzyme. It is useful for those who want a flatter stomach because it aids the digestion of foods that are high in fibre, such as beans or vegetables. By aiding the digestion of these foods this enzyme eases bloating, which is a major obstacle that stands between many people and their flat stomachs. If you want to get a flat stomach and think the bromelain enzyme might help you to achieve this then you should eat some fresh pineapple before a meal to aid your digestion.

बात 13 साल पुरानी है। मै और मेरा दोस्त अपने घर के पास ही बिजली के खम्बे के पास खड़े होके बातें कर रहे थे।
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मोहल्ले का ही एक छोटा सा बच्चा लगभग 5 साल की उम्र का अपने घर से मिठाई से भरा डब्बा फेकने जा रहा था।
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मैंने पूछा की क्यों फेंक रहे बाबु, उसने कहा भैया ये ख़राब हो गया है, और उस बच्चे ने फेंकने के बजाए उसे सामने बहते नाले में हल्के से रख दिया और वापस चला गया।
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उसके रखने से मिठाई का डब्बा तैरने लगा।
हल्की सुराख़ होने की वजह से उस डब्बे में धीरे-धीरे नाले का पानी घुसने लगा।

सामने ही 2 कचरा चुनने वाले बच्चे आ रहे थे।
जब उन दोनों की निगाह नाले में तैरते उस मिठाई के डब्बो पर पड़ी तो वे अपना कचरे वाला थैला वही फेंक कर उस डब्बे को नाले से निकल कर उसका मिठाई खाने लगे।
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ये नज़ारा देखकर तो मै सिहर गया।
उसी दिन एहसास हुआ की भूक क्या होती है।और
उसी दिन से मैंने फैसला किया चाहे कुछ भी हो खाना व्यर्थ न होने पाए।
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दोस्तों अपने आस-पास ज़रूर देख लें की कही कोई भूखा तो नहीं है.

Yoga, Ayurveda to control Stress and Sleep Disorder

Fatigue caused by sleep difficulties is now considered one of America’s top health problems. Medical researchers say lack of sleep can lead to health problems ranging from blood sugar issues to high stress levels. Studies show that people who sleep fewer than six hours a night don’t live as long as those who sleep seven hours or more. Sleeping only four hours a night can cause weight gain as well as difficulty maintaining healthy blood sugar and blood pressure levels. The National Sleep Foundation estimates that sleeplessness costs the U.S. economy $150 billion a year in higher levels of worker stress and reduced productivity.

Stress and Sleepless Nights: A Vicious Cycle

The incidence of sleep difficulties is on the rise in America. We are increasingly a 24/7 society, in which high stress levels and time pressures have become a part of normal modern living. Many people would gladly get more sleep if they could, but the information age, which was supposed to make everything more efficient, has only made everything busier.

Americans frequently find themselves too tense or worried to fall asleep at night because of stress accumulated throughout the day. This lack of sleep, in turn, creates even more stress on the job and at home, resulting in a vicious cycle. Many choose to short-change their sleep – sleeping less than six hours a night – making them highly vulnerable to sleep disorders, stress syndrome, and multiple health problems.

Millions are addicted to tranquilizers to reduce stress during the day, and sleeping pills to induce sleep at night. However, you can’t induce a natural state of sleep with products that are unnatural, synthetic, and, in many cases, highly addictive. It is recommended that patients who have difficulty sleeping restore a balanced rest/activity cycle by practicing the meditation, or other stress-reducing practices, to allow the body to deal with the stress of the day. The TM technique has been shown in a number of studies to reduce stress and sleep difficulties. Traditional Ayurvedic herbal formulations have also been shown to help. Ayurveda also offers diet and lifestyle recommendations to support normal healthy sleep and sleep patterns.

The Ayurvedic Approach

The goal of the Ayurvedic approach is to create more ojas – the finest product of digestion – which provides energy, enthusiasm, happiness, clarity of thinking, better coordination between the heart and mind, an experience of connection and better immunity. “Only the deepest, most restful sleep, called stage 4 sleep by researchers, creates ojas,” say Ayurvedic experts. Good-quality sleep provides deeper rest to the mind and senses, and enhances capacity for mental and physical work the next day. On the other hand, lack of sleep increases ama, or toxins, in the body.

Regardless of the cause of your sleep imbalance, Ayurvedic experts recommend that you try to be in bed before 10:00 at night. That’s because after 10:00, a more active, Pitta-quality sleep sets in. If you fall asleep before then, you’ll imbibe the slower, more restful Kapha qualities. Not only will you fall asleep more easily, but also the quality of your sleep will be deeper. Almost anyone can experience deep, restful sleep by doing just this one thing – going to bed before 10:00 at night.

Many of these recommendations are substantiated by research. Sleep researchers, for instance, have documented that a brief period of moderate exercise three to four hours before bed, such as taking a brisk walk after dinner, can really help deepen sleep. Other studies link physical fitness with improved sleep quality.

Creating a Timeless Bedroom

Create a timeless bedroom and keep time pressures away from your sleeping place. If you have to use an alarm clock, put it in a place where you can’t see it. Preserve your bedroom as a comfortable, relaxing haven – a place for warm, intimate and relaxing relationships. Keep heated discussions, intense brainstorming, television-watching, computer work, and monthly budgets out of your bedroom.

Especially avoid violent, suspenseful TV shows before bed. Instead, surround yourself with influences that cultivate your peace of mind while you fall asleep. Before bed, try diffusing lavender essential oil to relax and help induce sleep, sometimes within minutes.

To relax your neck and shoulders, your back and abdomen, you can do some simple, light yoga postures. Soothing music, bedtime prayers, and positive affirmations can also help you to move in the direction of being more peaceful.

If your mind is active, recall your fondest memories, particularly of childhood, where you had soothing, blissful, wonderful sleep, or when you had an amazingly restful vacation. Favor those thoughts instead of ones that cause you worry and anxiety.

What is your sleep I.Q.?

Even if you don’t have difficulty sleeping, you might not be getting enough sleep at night. In assessing your sleep health, you also need to look at how you feel during the day. If you answer “yes” to a majority of these questions, it might be a cue that your stress levels are too high, your life style needs adjustment, or you’re not sleeping enough.

• Do you experience mental or physical dullness?
• Do you have poor muscle tone?
• Do you experience a lack of spontaneity?
• Do you have a tendency to be bored or unhappy?
• Do you have tension, fear, or anxious feelings?
• Do you suffer from decreased cooperativeness, an inability to accept constructive criticism, irritability, temper outbursts, lowered attention span, impaired short-term memory, decreased sex drive, physical complaints such as headache or backache, or do you generally lack motivation?
• Are you addicted to coffee, cigarettes, stimulants, or alcohol or drugs?
• Have you noticed a reduction in general health and joy in living?

Related Health Tips

• Establish a stable regular lifestyle routine
• Get plenty of good-quality sleep.
• Partake in calming activities such as gardening and leisurely walks.
• Reduce travel and avoid stressful situations as much as possible.
• Give yourself an Ayurvedic oil massage daily.
• Protect yourself from dry, cold and windy weather.
• It is best to not read or watch TV while eating.
• Go to bed before 10:00 p.m.