Why have we been eating like little kids amid the pandemic?

Comfort foods have been known to help reduce stress.

Have you noticed grabbing an extra bag of chips at the supermarket? Or eating more frozen dinners than you used to? Or even eating snacks that you havent eaten since you were a little kid?

TheCOVID-19 pandemichas upended nearly every facet of our daily lives, from how we dress, to how we work, to how we exercise.

Its also changing the way we eat. As a registered dietitian and nutrition researcher, Im fascinated by the types of food people are buying during this strange time.

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Onerecent surveyfound that 42% of respondents indicated theyre purchasing more packaged food than they typically would and less fresh food.

Sales of frozen pizza have almost doubled. Sales of frozen appetizers and snacks think Bagel Bites are over a third, while ice cream sales have increased 36%.

According to Uber Eats, the most common food delivery order in the United States has been french fries, while the most popular beverage has been soda.

To me, these foods have one thing in common: Theyre the stuff we ate as kids.

Why might grown adults be reaching back into the pantry of their pasts? What is it about a pandemic that makes us feel like were teenagers at a sleepover?

The reasons are deeply rooted.

Exercising and eating right are vital.

At its core, the purpose of food is to nourish. Of course food provides us with the necessary energy and balance of vitamins and minerals to power and fuel the body. But anyone whos reached for a pint of Ben and Jerrys after a particularly stressful day will know that nourishment is about more than nutrition.

During periods of stress,people tend to eat more and show a greater preference for higher calorie foods. The sweeter and saltier the better. Regardless of hunger,a tasty snack can feel comforting. Theresevidence to suggestthat highly palatable foods, especially those high in fat and sugar, may illicit a response in the brain that is similar to the response from opioids.

Yes, a delicious slice of rich chocolate cake can be just as good as drugs.

RELATED:More than 4,000 health care workers from NY hospital hit hard by COVID-19 gifted free vacations

We tend to call many of these foods comfort foods, but the definition of comfort food is a bit slippery. Food is deeply personal. The foods that comfort people depend on their cultural background, taste preference, and personal experience. We know, however, that food can inducefeelings of nostalgiathat transport us back to simpler times.

So perhaps its no surprise that, during a period of uncertainty that has many of us desperate for some relief and comfort, the foods of our childhood can act as a salve. For some of us, that bowl of Lucky Charms isnt just a sweet treat; its a reminder of days gone by, a time of safety and stability.

Footage shows dozens of patrons gathered in close quarters at a Castle Rock coffee shop.

Theres nothing inherently wrong in finding temporary relief from chaos and uncertainty through food. But its probably best to view these changes in eating behavior as a temporary habit during a weird time. After all, a diet rich in macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets doesnt exactly set our bodies up for long-term success.

As peoples lives start to regain some sense of normalcy, diet can actually be a major part of the equation. Returning to a more health-conscious diet could be part of reestablishing your previous routines. And if youve never been able to find the time to prioritize healthy eating, now could actually be a good opportunity to start laying the groundwork for habits that become the new normal.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here:https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-diets-whats-behind-the-urge-to-eat-like-little-kids-137864.

Originally posted here:
Coronavirus diets: What's behind the urge to eat like little kids? - FOX 10 News Phoenix

Eat a balanced diet to maintain consistency in healthy eating

Starting to eat healthy is not as difficult is maintaining consistency in following it. Cravings, mood swings, hormonal imbalance, stress and fatigue can all make it difficult for you to stay consistent in a diet. And this is a major hurdle that people face when being on a weight loss or fitness regime. In this article, nutritionist Vandita Jain talks about tips and tricks that can help people maintain consistency on a healthy diet. According to Jain, it requires one to stay hydrated, practice moderation and have diversity in diet.

1. Know your body: Try to understand how it works, don't let it crave; this would only slow down the metabolic processes of the body and would only harm the reactions occurring in the system. Long gaps between your mealsand extreme fasting can really be harmful and affect you psychologically.

2. Respect your body: Food aversions, dislikes and likes are common for one and all; we are fortunate to have so many food options available to choose from; don't eat a specific food in compulsion if you don't like it; it would compress the body's internal system and would confuse the body. Eat happily and choose healthy.

Also read:Exercise At Home: Follow These Workout Tips To Maximise Results

3. Moderation is the key: A balanced diet is technically a combination of all food groups in your meal in your whole day. The best advice you can get from your nutritionist or a health care professional is to eat all the food groups in a day except for food allergies and other therapeutic concerns. Don't go Carb off or Dairy Off; if you don't have any specific problem. Stay wise to your body, Eat right.

4. Know your plate: My plateis a reminder to find your healthy eating style and build it throughout lifetime. The right variety of foods in the right proportionscan help you be healthier now and in future:

5. Know the mantra: Focus on variety, amount and nutrition. Choose foods, beverages with less saturated fat, sodium and added sugars. Learn to study Food Labels to understand your food item better.

6. Eat five colors a day: Start with small changes to build healthier eating styles; if you are eating a combination of five colored fruits and vegetables; you are doing a justice to all your vitamins and mineral needs for the day.

Include a variety of foods in your dietPhoto Credit: iStock

Also read:Heart-Healthy Foods: Top 5 Summer Fruits You Must Add To Your Diet

7. Go seasonal: Don't go looking for those fancy vegetables and fruits which have been once tagged healthy by a friend; be practical, eat fruits and vegetables which are available seasonally; don't go turned over those cold storage stored vegetables. Our body also adapts as the environmental conditions change; nature has already been kind to produce the right crop at the right season. So eat what is available in the season in the market.

8. Hydration: Hydration is the most important factor which is often ignored during the chores of the day. Make sure you have a Bottle or a Jug filled kept by your side wherever you are working. Try Detox water recipe like by adding Mint leaves and cucumber chunks in the water you drink. You will feel refreshed and rejuvenated to maintain the rhythm of healthy eating which you have already started.

Also read:Water: From Preventing Joint Problems To Keeping Obesity Away, Why Being Hydrated Is Important

9. Go natural, avoid artificial supplementations and medicines: Try growing vegetables in your kitchen gardens, go organic and never be dependent on the artificial products until there is a crisis. Body understands natural products in a better way, so don't overdo it, never self-prescribe the medicines which you actually don't need. Remember the last time you had an instance of an acid reflux, it might be the result of that protein shake which you were dependent on instead of your whole meal.

10. The grocery list: Believe this, it is the most important and simple aspect of maintaining a healthy lifestyle; don't buy unhealthy and then you don't eat unhealthy. Let go off the temptation of buying those calorie dense chocolates and Juices; when it won't be available at home, in any case you are not going to eat it and divert.

11. Small frequent meals: Eat small frequent meals to fulfill your satiety levels and to avoid overeating in one meal. It leads to better digestion, better concentration levels and good energy levels besides other advantages. It is must needed if you want to sustain healthy eating habit goals.

Also read:Why You Must Eat After Every 2 Hours: No, It Won't Make You Gain Weight!

12. Don't follow fads: Must have heard about mediterranean diet, DASH diet, The paleo diet, GM diet, popcorn diet; with all due respect the benefits from these fad diets are temporary and no long term goals can be achieved by not following the balanced diet principle.

13. Take care of your bowels: Don't let problem of constipation hamper the consistency of your goals; it can cause irritability and stress; consume lot of fiber in your food and if it is severe natural laxatives and herbs like triphla etc. which have laxative properties also does the work well.

14. Regular exercise regime and meditation: Changing the mind game is directly related to healthy body and healthy soul. Exercise regularly to restrict the hormonal rushe to quit and indulge. Meditation does result in better understanding of self and hence aids the body processes. Reading motivational quotes right in the morning before starting the day have been proved to be beneficial and help in sticking to the goals.

Be consistence in exercising and being physically activePhoto Credit: iStock

Also read:Watch: Alia Bhatt Is Stronger, Fitter And Better At Performing Burpees! Her Workout Videos Are All The Motivation You Need Today

15. Never overexert: If someday you feel like eating something in particular, do it; Once in a while principle soothes the mind and will help you to stay on track. Try doing new dishes at home like air frying your favourite kebabs or what about trying a pizza base at home which can be done with millets instead of refined wheat flour and can be turned healthy or simply making a multigrain bread pizza would do the job.

(Vandita Jain is Delhi-based nutritionist and Diabetes educator)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. NDTV is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

Excerpt from:
15 Tips To Stay Consistent On A Healthy Diet From Nutritionist - NDTV

Even as many of us struggle to stay fit during the lockdown, actor Arshad Warsi has done what all of us hoped to do, i.e. lost weight.The 52-year-old actor has always amused us with his style of acting and comic skills, this time, it's his transformation which has left us stunned.The actor took to social media recently to share how he lost close to 6 kilograms in a month's time, detailing some of the things he did for the same.Adding how much he missed carbs, Arshad tweeted:

"Was on a very strict diet for one month. Zero Carbs, Intermittent, Cardio & weight training, knock off 6 kgs in 30 days, got 4 more to go. This morning I had carbs, AND OMG ITS THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD. Now I have to find another way to get fit Man facepalming"

He also mentioned further details, adding that he spent intensive hours coming up with his own workout routine which involved the treadmill.

One of the tricks Arshad used was combining the Ketogenic diet and Intermittent Fasting together. He even challenged Raveena Tandon to give it a try:

"Intermittent and keto with a special kind of cardio exercise I do on the treadmill, no running.... my invention, will send you a video, try it you'll love it."

The biggest challenge for him? Staying away from his wife Maria Goretti's yummy cooking!

Can you combine Keto and Intermittent Fasting?Even though Keto and Intermittent Fasting are two different plans which come backed with weight-loss promoting results, combining the two diet plans is something a lot of people do to achieve results faster.

While Ketogenic diet is a low carb diet, which limits your carb intake to 20-50 carbs a day, Intermittent Fasting involves stipulated feeding and fasting, which can be done in several formats.

Combining the two diet plans seem like an effective prospect, but only if done correctly. The biggest difference this makes is on your appetite. Since you follow Keto rules while fasting, you restrict the carb intake in your diet, while regulating your protein and fat intake, which make you feel fuller for longer and make the fasting window a little less worrisome. Another benefit is increased fat loss. Because intermittent fasting boosts metabolism by promoting thermogenesis, or heat production, the body may start utilizing stubborn fat stores.

Another pro here is the additional prospect of losing the inches a little faster, which makes it more appealing for those on a mission to lose weight faster.

More here:
Arshad Warsi loses 6 kilos in a month with Keto and Intermittent Fasting - Times of India

Open House What steps can be taken to boost immunity in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic?

The number of Covid-19 cases is rising sharply. In order to ensure the virus doesn't infect us, we have to eat healthy food and avoid junk food. We must include salad, fruits such as papaya in our diet and also drink milk. We should also make sure the vegetables are fresh. Nowadays people prefer eating junk food at home and do not perform any exercise to digest them. We have to give some time on our fitness to boost our immunity.

Sanjna

Switch to low-carb diet, avoid excess sugar

The food you eat plays a key aspect in determining your overall health and immunity. Eat low-carb diets, as this will help control high blood sugar and pressure. To stay hydrated we should drink up to 8-10 glasses of water daily. It will help us to flush out the toxins from the body and lower the chances of getting flu. We must exercise regularly. It will improve our metabolism and immune system. To keep stress away, we need to do meditation as it will have a calming effect on us and decrease anxiety.

Lavisha

Follow govt advisories, safety guidelines

We should take care of our health to boost our immunity. Balanced diet, proper sleep and exercise can increase your ability to fight the pandemic. Various governmental apps, advisories, programmes suggest different ways to help maintain good health. We must maintain hygiene, stay at home and follow proper safety guidelines to keep the

virus at bay.

Paneet Kaur

Take good sleep,

eat enough fruits

To boost our immunity to fight the deadly virus, it's necessary to have a balanced diet. There are many natural ingredients as well as exercises which make human body physically and mentally strong. Our body needs adequate amount of nutrients that helps to perform our daily function which also ensures that our immune system is working properly. Another way that has been linked to more effective immune system is aerobic exercise. The survey also shows that the immune system goes hand in hand with being fit. For that we should start doing moderate exercise. We should include fruits and vegetables in our diet, get enough sleep, reduce stress to build up a good immune system.

Mehak Bajaj

Do pranayam, drink herbal tea to boost immunity

While being confined in your homes, you can increase your immunity by following the guidelines issued by the Ministry of AYUSH. Drink warm water in the morning. Prepare medicated 'kadha' by adding lemon, ginger, black pepper, cinnamon powder in boiling water and drink it after it cools down. These herbal spices are known for their ability to boost immunity. Daily practise Yogasana, Pranayama and meditation. Make it a habit for your whole doing yogic asans such as sukhasana, ardha matsyendrasana, matsyasana variation, uttanasana and viparita karani for strong immunity. Include more fruits and vegetables in your diet and reduce the craze for junk food. You can also take giloy, which is an ayurvedic herb. Wake up early in the morning and sleep early at night. One more important step is to stop panicking, because anxiety also reduces immunity. Learn to stay happy in every situation of life. You can also go for acupuncture as it helps boost immunity system.

Manmohan Kaur

Quit smoking, alcohol

To boost our immunity we should consume a balanced diet. We must eat home-cooked food and drink lots of water to keep ourselves hydrated. Quit smoking, alcohol and addictive substances as they harm our immunity. The minute we will stop taking these our body kick-starts its natural defense system. Another important thing is to have a sound sleep of 7-8 hours. Compromising with sleep can create hormonal imbalance which can hurt our immune system and mental health. One of the main things which have a negative effect on our immunity is stress. Stress decreases our efficiency and makes us vulnerable to diseases. To cut stress we can practise meditation. Don't skip exercise

as it helps in getting rid of toxins and improves metabolism. We can limit our exposure to the virus by staying indoors, eating

healthy, and following basic hygiene protocol.

Ridhi Garg

Eat papaya, drink milk; avoid junk food

Following lockdown norms and government advisories is the need of the hour. Avoid eating junk food. Don't venture out of your homes unnecessarily. Follow a healthy routine to strengthen your immune system. We must accept the new lifestyle. After taking fruits, vegetables etc wash them thoroughly and use them at home. We must include milk, papaya, amla, bitter gourd, orange in our diets.

Srishty

Avoid sugar, consume healthy fats

Apart from staying at home and following social distancing, maintaining immunity is also important to keep Covid-19 at bay. If our immunity system is strong then one can easily fight with the virus. Getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep can improve the immunity. We must avoid sugar from our diet and eat healthy fats. We must exercise daily and stay hydrated. To cut stress, we can watch positive videos online or play indoor games. Homeopathic medicines can boost our immunity. Eat always healthy food and eat vegetables and fruits to boost immunity so one may be able to keep away coronavirus.

Dr Mohd Saleem Farooqui

Increase intake of fruits, vegetables, nuts

To bolster our immunity we must take roughly 8-10 hours of sleep in a day and increase the intake of fruits, vegetables, nuts etc. in our diet. Obesity is the main cause of all diseases. We must exercise regularly to keep ourselves fit and cut the intake of sugar. One should not take stress also. In summers, staying hydrated is also necessary for our overall health. Some ayurvedic tips such as drinking warm water, gargling twice or thrice a day with hot saline water, increased use of garlic and ginger in our diet can also be followed to boost our immunity.

Bir Devinder Singh Bedi

Stay hygienic, choose unprocessed foods

Keeping oneself in a positive state of mind plays a vital role in the overall well-being of a person. Positive thoughts reduce stress and inflammation, and increase resilience to infection. Choosing whole, unprocessed foods does wonders for overall health of a person. Allicin, a compound found in garlic, is well-known for its ability to boost the immune system. In addition, robust gut bacteria also protect us from infection. One should keep these bacteria healthy with prebiotics that contain fiber, specifically insulin fiber. And, excellent sources of prebiotics are Jerusalem artichokes, green bananas or plantains, Jicama root and asparagus. Vitamin C is also well known to boost the immunity and it's better to get vitamin C from oranges, broccoli, kiwi or cantaloupe. Experts say that older adults who ate kiwi every day for a month had a significant decrease in the severity and duration of upper respiratory infection symptoms. Colorful fruits and vegetables including berries, carrots and spinach have antioxidants that protect us against oxidative stress, which translates to a stronger immune system. Don't smoke and take 7-8 hours of sleep, do meditation for at least five minutes a day and try to be physically active. If you drink alcohol, drink only in moderation. Take steps to avoid infection, such as washing your hands frequently.

Ravi Chander Garg

Eat right, be active

Try to consume vegetables and fruits rich in beta-carotene, ascorbic acid and other essential vitamins. Certain foods such as mushrooms, tomato, bell pepper and green vegetables such as broccoli, spinach are also good options to build resilience in the body against infections. Take minimum 7-8 hours of sleep to help your body build immunity, lesser sleep will leave you tired and impair your brain activity. Drink up to 8-10 glasses of water every day, to stay hydrated. A good diet should be followed by an exercise routine. It is recommended to exercise for 30 to 45 minutes, depending on your stamina. Meditation is best way to relieve stress. Here are a few common supplements and superfoods that can help vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, elderberry, turmeric and garlic.

Vishali kalra

Boost immunity

for healthy life

Strengthening immune system can help you lead a healthy life. Drink warm water throughout the day. Take steam in case of cold or sore throat. Vitamin C intake should be increased. Use turmeric, cumin and garlic regularly in cooking. Golden milk, herbal tea with Tulsi, cinnamon and lemonade are natural immunity boosters. Regular exercise keeps the body fit and help counter diseases. Follow a balanced diet. Avoid junk food. Eat fruits and vegetables to stay healthy but make sure to wash them properly before consuming. Get sunlight for about 15 minutes early in the morning. Don't take stress and spend quality time with your family.

Rashim Malhotra

Follow diet low in carbs

The food we eat plays a key role in determining our overall health and immunity. Eat low carb diet, as this will help control high blood sugar and pressure. Regularly consume vegetables and fruits rich in Beta carotene, Ascorbic acid and other essential vitamins. Certain foods like mushrooms, tomato, bell pepper and green vegetables such as broccoli and spinach are also good options to build resilience in the body against infections.

Jasmine Kaur

Follow government guidelines seriously

The Covid-19 has caught all nations off guard and become a grave danger to everyone. All researchers and doctors are trying their best to find a vaccine to cure it. Thus, in this time of crisis, it is our responsibility too to follow the guidelines issued by the government as well as the local authorities regularly. All necessary information regarding the pandemic is regularly updated on the official website of the government. We must follow social distancing, avoid unnecessary outing, sanitising or washing our hands properly if we go outside. Now, the government has given some relaxation so that our work is not affected, but guidelines must be followed strictly. Though officials are working day and night to contain the spread of Covid, some irresponsible people are not taking the government guidelines seriously. The situation is grim. If one person gets infected, his whole family and people residing nearby his residence may also face consequences. So we have to be extra careful and try to fight this battle against Covid together.

Rajni

Practise mindful eating

The Covid-19 threat has forced us to stay at home, so our social activities and social interactions have been reduced. To boost up our immunity, we must eat healthy and take out some time for exercise. Also, our screen time must be reduced and spend more time with our loved ones.

Harshpreet Kaur

Don't ignore your

mental health

We all know that physical exercise is important to lead a healthy life. But don't ignore your mental health. Not only physical exercise, but brain exercise must be done to keep ourselves busy and to stay away from negative thoughts. Read good books, cook food, pour your thoughts on a paper. Don't stress yourself in this period. Relax because a long-term break like this is not in everybody's fate. To boost your immune system, follow a balanced diet that is rich in antioxidants, vitamins and essential fats. Sleep on time. Do not just train your body, train your mind too.

Smriti Chaudhary

Strong immune system can fight disease

There are many ways that can help you boost your immune system. Eat garlic, drink warm water and include more green vegetables in your diet. Do some exercise daily. Reduce sugar intake. Drink lots of water and do meditation or yoga. Sleep at least eight hours a day for a healthy life and strong immune system.

Khushleen Arneja

Stay hydrated to flush

out toxins from body

The food you eat plays a key role in determining your overall health and immunity. Eat low-carb diet as this will help control high blood sugar and pressure, and also slow down diabetes. Foods such as mushrooms, tomato, bell pepper and green vegetables are also good options to build resilience in the body against infections. You can have supplements rich in omega 3 and 6 fatty acids for daily. Some neutral immunity supplements include ginger, gooseberries (Amla) and turmeric and there are several herbs such as garlic and black cumin that boosts immunity. Drink at least 8 glasses of water everyday. Staying hydrated helps you flush out toxins from your body and lower the chances of flu. A good diet should be followed by an exercise routine. Regular exercise of 30 to 45 minutes improves metabolism which has a direct correlation with body immunity.

Neha Chaurasia

Drink warm water, add spices to your food

Drink warm water throughout the day. Squeeze a lemon in your water to get your vitamin C. Practise Yoga aasanas, Pranayam or meditation for at least 30 minutes as advised by the Ministry of Ayush. Spices such as turmeric, cardamom, coriander and garlic are recommended in cooking. Use garam masala. Take a spoon of chavanprash in the morning. Drink turmeric milk. Add jaggery and fresh lemon juice in your food. Have honey for cough and use cloves and lemon in tea.

Jazi Arora

Eat home-made food, minimise stress

A strong immune system can help fight Covid-19. Everybody should eat homemade food. Vitamin C is one of the biggest immunity boosters. Consume foods rich in vitamin C such as oranges, strawberries, broccoli etc. Exercise or meditate regularly also boost your immune system. Get enough sleep and minimise stress.

Shivani Kumari

Prevention is better

than cure

Since there is no vaccine as yet to treat Covid-19, its fear of taking much higher death toll looms large. So only way to cure this disease is prevention and boosting your immunity. There are many ways to boost your immune system. Physical activity can give your immune system a great boost in a myriad of ways. Even sweating is good for immune health. One of the keys to a healthy immune system is eating right. When things are right in the gut, all is well with the immune system. Sleep reboots your mind and your body, so it's no surprise that it also reboots your immune system. So these are some ways that can help you boost your immunity and stay safe from Covid-19.

Deepantika Jain

Practise meditation, yoga & get adequate sleep

Boost your immune system to fight against this virus. Practise meditation, yoga and get adequate sleep. Drink enough water to stay hydrated. Moderate exercise can reduce inflammation and promote healthy turnover of immune cells. Jogging, walking and swimming are great options to boost your immunity. Several whole plant foods contain antioxidants, fiber, vitamin C, all of which may lower your susceptibility to illness.

Nidhi Kumari

Stay away from alcohol

As Covid-19 does not have any vaccine yet, it is vital that our immune system must be strong to fight the same. Intake of balanced diet is pivotal. Also as per medical experts, fruits rich in vitamin C are necessary. Stay away or reduce the intake of alcohol.

Maan Kaur Saini

Avoid travelling,

take proper rest

Excess of anything is harmful and so is staying indoors during the lockdown. It has resulted in depression and anxiety among people. But it is important to stay safe and accept what we have. Boosting your immunity is also crucial to fight this disease. Eating healthy food and stay hydrated. Take probiotics and practise meditation. Avoid travelling and take proper rest to keep your immunity strong.

Ishita Katyal

Stress, insomnia bad

for immune system

Every responsible individual must contribute his/her bit towards a healthier and Covid-free nation. While we are facing drastic changes all around, some little positive changes in our everyday routine can help us boost our immunity to fight the Covid-19. For a healthier immune system, one must adopt healthy eating. Include citrus fruits and green vegetables in your diet. However, supplementing with various vitamins and minerals, especially Zinc, can help in countless ways. Covid is known to affect lungs and TB majorly, so quit smoking. Drink 8-10 glasses of water to stay hydrated. Moreover, as we know stress and insomnia are two major factors for a bad immune system, so during the lockdown, we must make focus on these key components by adopting a proper 8-hour sleep schedule, meditation and yoga as a part of our everyday life.

Rhea Abrol

Use spices in cooking

Drink warm water throughout the day. Practise Yoga aasanas, Pranayama and meditation for at least 30 minutes daily. Use spices such as turmeric, cumin, coriander and garlic in cooking. Drink herbal tea. Apply sesame oil/coconut oil or ghee in both nostrils in morning and evening. Harnoor Bagga

Yoga for better immunity

Prevention is better than cure, and in case of Covid-19, this needs to be practised religiously. Take steps to boost your immunity. Drinking warm water throughout the day, practising yoga asanas and include spices in your diet. Blessnoor Kaur

Dont miss citrus fruits

Strong immune system is necessary for fighting against coronavirus. Yoga is the best way of doing this. There are various TV channels which telecast yoga practises every day. Other way is to meditate regularly to keep the mind calm and strong. Consumption of vitamin C is necessary for fighting against coronavirus. ritu priya

Reduce alcohol intake, exercise regularly

Enhancing immunity can be done by paying attention to nutrition absorption. To strengthen our immune system, we should drink a glass of milk with turmeric. Include broccoli, sweet potatoes, spinach and ginger in our diet. Have blueberries as these have antioxidant properties. Include lots of fruits and vegetables in your diet. Doing physical activities such as sports is also essential to maintaining immunity. Exercise should be done for 30 minutes at least three times a week with moderate intensity. Exercising will help improve body protection and maintain physicality. Do not smoke. Drink in moderation, if you are fond of it. Excessive drinking is harmful for immunity. Sound sleep of at least eight hours in a day is a must for good health. Eat foods rich in vitamin C such as oranges, gooseberries and lemons.

Farzana Khan

Drink medicated kadha to beat Covid

A healthy lifestyle as a whole is your best option to boost immunity. We can augment our immunity by eating nutritious food, especially fresh fruits, foods containing high amount of vitamin C and D and homeopathic booster such as Arsenicum album 30. Amid lockdown, low-priced fruits such as banana, guava and watermelon are a healthy option. Drink herbal tea (kadha) made from tulsi (basil), cinnamon, black pepper, sonth (dry ginger) once or twice a day. Add jaggery to your taste, if needed. It is claimed that this drink increases immunity. As soon as you get up in the morning, drink warm water with aloe vera pulp in it. Practise yoga every day and drink turmeric milk to keep Covid at bay.

Gautam Dev

OPEN HOUSE COMMENT

A fearful mind affects your body , weakens immunity

Minna Zutshi

Continue reading here:
Food for thought: Go back to basics, cut addictions - The Tribune India

Want to know how to lose belly fat fast? Well you can't. But there are ways to torch fat, shed the dreaded visceral fat and maybe even reveal your abs. During lockdown it's a problem a lot of us are facing but then again, its a problem a lot of us were facing before lockdown.

Contrary to what a lot of websites will tell you, directly targeting 'belly fat' is largely impossible outside of surgical procedures. It's more of a matter of knowing how to lose weight in general some of which will be around your belly. It can also be useful to work on your abdominal muscles, so that when the fat is finally gone, your stomach will be properly flat, not fat. Although there's no magic bullet to slay belly fat, there are ways to burn visceral fat that are tried, trusted and true.

And, as you have probably guessed, we have a list of them. So if you want to burn belly fat and get fit, this is our 'six-pack' of tips, cheats, technologies and strategies. Oh and if you want to round it up to a lucky 7 tips, try this one blindingly obvious way to avoid lockdown weight gain.

Important note here, everyone: Belly fat these days is often referred to as visceral fat because that sounds scarier. If you really need to shed visceral fat because it's endangering your life, that is an area where you should probably be seeking medical advice, if that is at all possible. But while this guide is more about slimming down a bit, or avoiding ballooning during lockdown, belly fat loss also has an element of visceral fat loss.

Our lose belly fat tips aren't necessarily quick, and this is not about telling you how to get six pack abs although we have plenty of guides to that, too. No, this is just a 'six pack' do you see what we did, there? of tips to getting a healthier life and feeling comfortable with the girth of your mid-riff. We're not looking to fat shame anyone here or totally bro out, we're just offering advice.

We've got some great tips, a few cheeky shortcuts and key strategies to lose belly fat quickly, healthily and sustainably. As we just said, there are no quick fixes here; we want you to develop habits that ensure you'll stay trim for good.Weve also got the lowdown on the best exercises to lose belly fat, and all the gear youll need to get started although, of course, the most important 'gear' is the bit between your ears.

There's no hard-and-fast rule for slim-down success: the best way to lose belly fat is the way that works around your lifestyle. If you follow an unsustainable plan, you won't last: it's as simple as that. In this article we lay out six principles that are applicable to everyone, whether you're a total beginner starting your weight-loss journey or a seasoned pro who fell off the wagon over Christmas.

These guiding lights will keep you on the straight and narrow, even during a lockdown situation. Dont try to take on more than you can reasonably fit into one day. And, despite the name of this feature, don't fixate on 'belly fat'. It's important to reduce visceral fat, which does tend to lurk around the belly area, but that is best achieved by trying to slim down and tune up overall.

Here are six strategies to help you start losing weight.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The short answer to the question of how to lose belly fat is to burn more calories than you consume on a regular basis. In the fitness world, this is known as achieving a "calorie deficit".

If this sounds like a waking nightmare, there's a trick to it: what you need to do is ensure youre eating the correct kind of food to make sure you feel full and sated, even when consuming fewer calories than you're burning off.

Certain foods are "empty calories" while others release energy slowly, keeping you fuller for longer. This is a big danger, especially while you're at home, with all your food within easy reach.

But before that, you'll need to find a good way to track your calories burned and calories taken in. The free MyFitnessPal app is one of the best ways to record your calorie intake, but to track your calories burned, you'll need a dedicated fitness tracker. If you already own a smartwatch, most will offer calorie tracking as standard, but for those yet to make the plunge, the Fitbit Versa Lite is the best activity tracker you can buy right now. Check out the deal below.

Oh, and staying hydrated is crucial, as well

Fitbit Versa 2 | now 199 at AmazonThe Fitbit Versa 2 is getting regular price cuts in 2020. The Versa 2 features advanced cardio tracking as well as the usual steps and sleep stuff, and has Alexa built in. It's also unusually stylish for a Fitbit, and via its excellently presented app and sprawling ecosystem, you can use it as the basis of a complete fitness and diet programme. You can also enter your meals to log calories consumed, so you can have all your dietary data in one place.View Deal

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S'Well Marble Drinking Water Bottle | now 17.50 at John LewisIn this case beauty is more than skin deep. This bottle is vacuum sealed, which means it should be able to keep liquids warm for 12 hours and cold for 24 hours. Its stainless steel, has a capacity of 500ml and requires handwashing, and its definitely one for one-upping your co-workers boring flasks and supermarket specials.View Deal

BEEFIT Biltong, 10 x 30g bags | now 16.99 on AmazonLooking for a calorie-dense but highly nutritional snack? Swap your bag of crisps or chocolate bar for jerky or biltong, a cured meat snack high in protein. BEEFIT comes in handy 30g bags, to keep yourself fuller for longer. It's packed full of protein to help build muscle after a workout (Over 20g per pack, to be precise), and is even gluten free too.View Deal

Intermittent fasting is becoming more and more popular. It involves significantly cutting calories or abstaining from food altogether for a portion of the day or week, and then cramming all your calories into a much shorter time window.

The best-known intermittent fasting plan is the 5:2 diet, where you eat as you normally would (although hopefully a bit healthier) for five days a week, then scoff no more than 600 calories two days a week.There are also variants of this diet where you consume almost no calories, two days per week. This is much more doable than it sounds, so long as you are in good general health, but it's not exactly fun.

However, for trainees who are serious but not that serious, there's the 16:8 diet. With this diet you have only 8 hours a day to fit all your meals in, but can only drink water (and maybe some black coffee, if you're feeling naughty) within a 16 hour fasting period outside of those 8 hours. Most choose to eat from 10am to 6pm, but as long as you stay within an eight hour window, you can start and finish at any time of the day. This isHugh Jackman's strategy, so if you have ever wanted to be in Wolverine shape

Why try fasting, though? Well, during the fasting period the body will run out of sugar to run on, and so will start eating up the bodys fat stores. The big negative is the adjustment period: if you're used to a big breakfast or an early dinner, a 16-hour fast feels tough at first, especially if you're exercising. You're going to get seriously cranky.

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Dead set on having chips? An air fryer can deliver a lot of the delicious taste with less of the not-quite-so-delicious oil

(Image credit: Future)

If you eat fried food all the time, switching to an air fryer will definitely cause you to lose weight unless buying one causes you to start eating loads of chocolate because you've reduced your fat intake. No, it doesn't taste as delicious as proper fried food of course not but it turns out meals with a good fried/roasted taste, but with up to 80% lower fat content.

If you don't eat fried food all the time but like to treat yourself now and then, switching to an air fryer could still help with you to lose weight. Even with a solid balanced diet and a good workout ethic, there will come a time when your willpower will falter and you'll want to fall back on your old favourites, like fried chicken, fish, chips and all the other foods you love normally dripping with grease. If you schedule in cheat days and do this in a controlled way, it's good to know you're cooking these foods in a way that still helps you hit your goals.

Enter the air fryer. The best air fryers are revolutionary pieces of kit that use hot air combined with a teaspoon of oil (as opposed to the gallons of oil found in the deep-fat variety) to cook your crispy favourites. If kitchen space and budget is no object, you can cook a whole chicken in the Philips Airfryer XXL, but if you're after something a little more economical, Pro Breeze Airfryer 1400W is lightweight, versatile and cheaper, perfect for portion control. It also seems to usually be sold out all the time at present, so perhaps everyone has already taken our advice, here.

This is just one way to have your (fried) cake and eat it too. Swapping high-calorie pints of ice cream to the low-calorie versions like Halo Top or Oppo, or switching out cholesterol-laden butter for a healthier olive spread, are other easy ways you can make relatively simple lifestyle choices and still keep weight off.

Weight training is a great way to tip your muscle-fat ratio the right way

(Image credit: Getty Images)

There are two main types of exercise: cardio training and weights, otherwise known as resistance training.Although cardio burns a lot of calories while you do it, weight training builds muscle which burns more than fat as you go about your day. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you'll burn even when not working out.

Resistance training may seem scary if you're doing it for the first time, especially in the gym when the area's dominated by serious lifters, but you dont have to start adding big plates to the bar right now. There's plenty of ways to get started at home with smaller weights such as dumbbells, kettlebells and even medicine balls.

Were not going to list every single lifting exercise, so why not pick the body part you want to start toning up and check out some of our muscle-building how-tos. One you've done that, grab one of the best dumbbell sets on the market. They're not just for arms: you can use a dumbbell to work your core, shoulders, and even your legs with combination movements.

The only issue you will find right now is that most of them are sold out, but this store still has home gym equipment for online delivery. By the time this lockdown ends, you'll be ready for the gym.

If everything for the home gym has sold out which happens a lot lately consider doing bodyweight exercises. If that idea makes you think of muscular men working out in prison, try our guide to the best bodyweight exercises for beginners and ease into it gently. Before you know it you'll be ready for the Navy SEAL workout. None of these require any specialist equipment.

York 20kg Cast Iron Dumbbell Spinlock Set | Buy it for 59.99 at the Fitness SuperstoreIdeal for starters, the York 20kg Cast Iron Dumbbell Spinlock Set features knurled handles for a secure grip, plastic spinlock collars and solid, durable weight plates. considering you can't buy any reasonably priced home weight sets anywhere at the moment, this might be your best option to get an adjustable dumbbell set for under 500 for a while.View Deal

Powerplate Move vibration plate | 2,199 | Was 2,699 | Save 500 at John LewisIf you want to really power up your bodyweight exercises, and certain dumbbell moves, try doing them while being violently vibrated. This is particularly good for your core as your body has to work extra hard to complete moves.View Deal

All of this aside, dont neglect cardio, as regular cardio workouts are important for fitness and stamina.

Electric Muscle Stimulation can help your muscles recover faster

(Image credit: PowerDot)

It may seem gimmicky when you unwrap your new six-pack vibrating belt, complete with a picture of Ronaldo on the box, but don't roll your eyes just yet. While you can't just sit there eating crisps and expect to get ripped, Electric Muscle Stimulators can help as part of a controlled dietary and exercise plan.

EMS can cause the muscles to contract, essentially tensing and untensing rapidly. During downtime post-workout, you can continue to encourage muscle growth with EMS, while the right bit of kit can also encourage faster recovery, allowing you to get back in the gym all the quicker. According to the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, EMS stimulates the muscle in the same way as a massage, prepping it for the next go-round.

It's not a bona fide shortcut to a six-pack, but it can speed up the muscle-building process with regular use.

(Image credit: Sixpad)

Our top choice is always SIXPAD as used by Cristiano Ronaldo, a man who takes great pride in his body. Perhaps a little too much pride, the unkind or jealous might say. Amazon also sells all manner of abs belts by brands we have never heard of, for about 20. Needless to say we dont recommend these.

PowerDot 2.0 - Smart Electric Muscle Stimulator | now 185 at AmazonAlternatively, the PowerDot 2.0 is a smartphone-controlled muscle stimulating monster.This neat muscle stimulator works from your phone, allowing you to control intensity, stimulation and goal. Reduce your recovery time and increase muscular performance, as the PowerDot working to support your gym schedule. This model has two stimulators, but you can scale up to four for 325View Deal

Planks are a tough abs workout and a great end-of-workout finisher

(Image credit: Taco Fleur from Pixabay)

As well doing both muscle-building and cardio exercises, if you want to lose belly fat its also important to switch up the pace of your workout.

Every time you workout, you should exercise using both steady state (working hard but not at max capacity, such as during brisk jog) and high intensity (going flat out, like sprinting) to torch your abdominal fat.

Steady state or aerobic exercises include cycling, running or uphill hiking.Its a crucial part of losing belly fat because it burns through your fat stores. However, it also uses your sugar stores for energy first, so you need to do steady-state for long enough to use up all that sugar before it eats into your fat reserves.

High intensity workouts use mainly sugar for fuel, so they don't hit the fat right away, but it does help in building muscle, which will help you torch fat even on days you're not exercising. Explosive weight lifting, sprinting and HIIT-friendly exercises like mountain climbers are all great high-intensity exercises.

A good fitness tracker will help you to gauge the intensity of your workout by monitoring your heart rate. For overall fitness trackers, check out the Fitbit Versa Lite above, but for a dedicated running watch, you can't beat the Garmin Forerunner 645, the best on the market right now.

Find out more about heart rate zone training

Garmin Forerunner 645 | now 342.34 at AmazonGarmin dominates the running/fitness watch category so totally, it's almost embarrassing for the competition. The most recent addition to their premium line, the Garmin 645, incorporates GPS and wrist heart-rate tracking, which is good for monitoring your resting and all-day rates. The 645 crunches a lot of data to suggest recovery times, make a decent stab at estimating your VO2 Max, tell you how optimal your training load and lots, lots more.View Deal

FitBit Aria 2 smart bathroom scale | now 119.99 on AmazonThis clever scaletells you your weight, BMI and body fat percentage which is all a lot of people want. It then reports this to your Fitbit account, so you can monitor your weight trends and use it alongside your Fitbit wearable's daily calorie-burn estimates. Add MyFitnessPal or Fitbit's own dietary features and you can then sync your meal-plans, daily calories consumed and weight goals, if you want.View Deal

The most important thing to bear in mind is this: losing weight takes time. You'll have setbacks and slip-ups, but if you stay committed to your goal, you'll be fitter and healthier in 2020, building up great habits for many years ahead.

Need some help to get started? Check out all the latest deals on the kit you'll need to get fit in 2020.To start with, you'll need a killer playlist and a good set of workout headphones to listen to it on:

Beats By Dre Powerbeats Pro | now 219 on AmazonPowerbeats Pro are a 'game changer' for Beats; the quality of them is over and above anything the brand has produced before. Designed for workouts and running, the clever design of these true wireless buds means they stay still in your ears during even the most arduous physical jerks. Battery life is way better than most true wireless buds at 8-9 hours and they recharge incredibly fast.View Deal

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Lose belly fat fast with these tips, cheats and gadgets they work in lockdown and out - T3

Theres a saying in bodybuilding culture: The day you started lifting is the day you became forever small. Its often said lightheartedly, but theres a grain of truth within it. Although it originates from a tongue-in-cheek YouTube video from 2013, I heard it from person after person I spoke to who had, at one point or another, battled muscle dysmorphia.

Every morning, Julius Butcher looked in the mirror, his mind running in circles between satisfaction and horror. Though people some he didnt even know would go out of their way to tell him he was muscular and strong, it was hard for him to see himself as having achieved as much as he wanted to. I often find it so interesting how people view me. Id like to try it from their perspective if it was possible, he told me. As humans I believe its part of our nature to implicitly lessen the value of what we already have and strive for more.

For 29-year-old Nathaniel Shaw it was the same. Having started going to his schools gym to become bigger, eventually he realised he was the only one of his contemporaries still going. Then he was working out twice a day, eating until he threw up, unable to do things because to act was to burn the calories he needed to bulk up, obsessed with looking in the mirror. I hated the way my body looked. It made me feel suicidal, he said. I just didn't want to be here. Its hard to explain. It was disgust at myself.

Muscle dysmorphia or, as its sometimes known, bigorexia is a form of body dysmorphic disorder in which people, often very muscular men and women, become obsessed with their muscle mass or body fat, usually to the point of it inhibiting their ability to function as a member of society. It can manifest in many different ways: excessive gym attendance; refusing to eat meals you didnt prepare yourself; avoiding social functions to go to the gym; refusing to leave the house for fear that activities will burn calories you need for bulking. It also impairs social and occupational functioning. MD is characterised by body shame and embarrassment. Many report feeling elevated levels of anxiety and refuse to be seen without clothing in places such as a beach or public swimming pool, explained psychologist Dr David Boyda. Muscle dysmorphia can lead to steroid use and it can lead to death in extreme cases. In the age of the spornosexual body, its an increasingly pressing issue: the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Foundation has estimated that about ten per cent of male gymgoers may have it. The question is: for people who have such a dependence on how they control their muscle mass and build, how are they coping in self-isolation?

When coronavirus began to loom larger over the UK, and before the UK government closed the nations gyms, people were already suspending their memberships and keeping away from these enclosed spaces which suddenly felt like hotbeds for contracting the virus. But some were not: as people began to stay at home, but before governments imposed lockdown, many were still going for their daily pump. In mid-March, Channel 4 News reporter Symeon Brown put together a package featuring the attendees of a Wolverhampton gym, who were still going in for a workout while the government had yet to give a final statement on whether the nations gyms should definitively close.

At the end of the day this is a place of health and fitness. Im just assuming everyones taking the correct precautions, said one gym-goer. Its a virus, everyones going to get it, said another. Youve just got to take it on the chin.

Needless to say, the social clips went viral. It was Brown who pointed out in the package that, for these people, going was simply such a part of their lives that they couldnt fathom giving it up. Its enough of a pillar for people that more than 21,000 people have signed a petition calling for gyms to immediately be reopened during a deadly pandemic. It was hard enough for those of us who had suspended our memberships under a cloud, and those who depended on exercise for structure and social interactions were so anxious that they were trying to rewrite medical advice to get to the squat rack. If this was how hard people were taking the end of gyms, how were people with muscle dysmorphia dealing with this sudden spanner in the works? Was the absence of the gym a killer or was the fact they now had fewer external factors trying to interrupt their routines actually a blessing in disguise?

The idea that one day I might walk through a crowded public space and, because of my body, attract revulsion is exciting to me

When he was a child, Michael Collins used to hold ice in his hands until it melted: a way of testing his bodys limits that would manifest in different ways over time. Through my teens and twenties, I experienced a strong desire to grow as large as I possibly could. He explained to me, in clear detail, that his interest was never to look like an underwear model or a movie star: it was to push his body to the extremities of bodybuilding, even beyond that. The idea that one day I might walk through a crowded public space and, because of my body, attract disbelief, confusion, and revulsion from average onlookers is exciting to me.

For Collins, the idea that muscle dysmorphia is a byproduct of people [starting] as nice, normal gym-goers who just want to get fit and some kind of germ enters their system is incorrect. For him, and others he knows, the obsession with muscle was as deep-rooted, long-felt and guilt-inducing for him as homosexuality. Where does a fetish come from? Why am I gay? Mysterious questions and, in some sense, I feel its not helpful to dig too deep into them, he said before quoting Zizek: Enjoy your symptom. If something is causing psychological distress and unhappiness, then deal with it, learn how to live with it, but at the end of the day were all fucked up in our own unique way.

For some of the people I spoke to, however, muscle dysmorphia was something they realise only in retrospect and which began as a product of already going to the gym and exercising. Butcher started at 15, visiting his local youth recreation centre. But what started as a couple of sessions a week became more all-consuming: muscle-building is a long process that, whether done for the right or wrong reasons, requires a lot of discipline in every aspect of your life. For him, he thinks that devotion turned to obsession and muscle dysmorphia. Everything that surrounds this lifestyle affects how I look and progress, he explained. The effort at the gym, diet and sleep all factor into the appearance, so its with you 24/7.

[Bodybuilding communities] fully accept MD as an outcome of the growth/conditioning process to the point they do not see it as a disorder

Nathaniel Shaw started going to the gym at his school whenever the teachers left the door unlocked. For him, an unusually small kid in his year, it was a way of getting bigger and stronger to fight back against bullies. When youre small, you get targeted. My school wasnt a good school. With weights I felt I could get big enough to defend myself. Slowly, the overeating and the lethargy began to creep in. Although his relationship with the gym became unhealthy, it was also where Nathaniel learned what he was suffering from. It was only when he heard someone in the gym mention muscle dysmorphia, and dismiss it, that Nathaniel went away and realised what it was he was suffering from.

In isolation, its been up and down for Nathaniel. For the first week, he couldnt bring himself to exercise. But, once he started doing some home workouts, it made me feel a lot more happy. Meanwhile, hes trying to focus on his mental health with regular meditation. My muscle dysmorphia, especially at a time like this, is a mind thing. So Im trying to stay in control of my mind and be happy with how far Ive come. And still being active doing some exercise is better than no exercise.

Dismissal of muscle dysmorphia is not uncommon in the bodybuilding community. MD tends to be most prevalent in bodybuilding communities, but this community fully accepts MD as an outcome of the growth/conditioning process to the point they do not see it as a disorder, explained Dr Boyda. Within fitness communities, MD is less prevalent.

This denial is clearest when reading responses to previous articles about muscle dysmorphia. Due to the fact the people who suffer from it are usually incredibly muscular but think theyre not, stories often focus on just how much work theyre putting in at the gym to heighten this dissonance: the weights theyre lifting, the calories theyre intaking, the restrictions and the sacrifices. The response from the weightlifting community is often the same. Take a look at some of the Reddit comments on an excellent piece in the Guardian last year by Sirin Kale. In the Subreddit r/MensLib, the conversation is full of personal experiences, empathy and engagement. Then you go to the same article shared on r/bodybuilding, where the most common response is commenters calling the storys characters scrawny.

Im happy with my muscle dysmorphia. At least it never turned into a drug or alcohol addiction

What else am I going to spend my time on? I enjoy the struggle and discipline, said one commenter. The dysmorphia comes and goes over the weeks and months. Another rolled their eyes at the portrayal of one of the characters problematic relationship with food: The dude probably just didnt know how to diet. Thats what happens a lot in bodybuilding.

Im happy with my muscle dysmorphia. At least it never turned into a drug or alcohol addiction like so many others, said one commenter to a lot of upvotes. I think working out, eating properly and repeat is a pretty good baseline standard for any human being. This here is one of the biggest issues: the problem that exercise is a fundamentally healthy endeavour, and often the suggestion is that all people who engage with X numbers of hours of exercise, or want to put on Y pounds of muscle, must have real problems with muscle dysmorphia. If I go home from work every day and sit and read for two hours, I dont think many people would think of that as a problem, said Collins. If someones priorities dont make sense to you it doesnt mean theyre wrong. I guess the thing to watch for is if they seem like theyre acting in self-destructive ways.

This, as the doctors I spoke to also pointed out, is the important thing to discuss: muscle dysmorphia is not necessarily best gauged by the amount of work youre putting in, but rather the way youre putting the work in. Wanting to bulk up? You do you. But when you refuse to leave the house? Thats a danger sign. Unless youre prepping for a contest theres no need to be so strict with your food, said Maik Wiedenbach, a lauded personal trainer in New York. If someone is so rigid that they have to eat at three not 3.15, not at 2.50, I have to eat at three thats an issue.

Six years ago, Wiedenbachs friend Chris shot himself, in the head, in the gym because of his muscle dysmorphia. If that doesn't wake you up, nothing will, right? It was at that point that Wiedenbach sat back and began to look at the way some people had come to engage with weightlifting and how it had come to veer from his own approach. You think: what about this guy, Ritchie? He tells me he likes to stay home so he doesnt burn calories. Then theres Danny, who spends ten grand a month on drugs and doesnt work. Wiedenbach says hes seen, time and time again, people who need the money for enhancements or amphetamines moving into muscle worship escorting, appearing on the arms of older men at the Met. He himself got an email the other day asking for nude Zoom PTs. Then, all of a sudden, youre like... woah, these guys arent cool at all. Theyre really, really sad.

I would not go to a big gym anytime soon

He would try to tell these people that he was worried about them, but to no avail. They say: you dont have what it takes. Youre weak. Youll never be a great bodybuilder. And because Ritchie has his cult at the gym who admires him, and his sugar daddy, theres nobody who will challenge him. For him, the inability to process something was wrong was a huge sign that someone had muscle dysmorphia. Plus, when you talk to them, they are not capable of actually communicating with you. Youll say something and then theyll say, But what do you think of my shoulders? All they bounce back is statements about their physique.

Wiedenbach has not only seen the consequences of muscle dysmorphia first-hand, hes seen the consequences of coronavirus on a fitness regimen first-hand too. Hes just recovering from a bout of it himself when we spoke. At the peak of my illness I was eating 600 calories a day. Because I couldnt get anything down. That causes massive muscle loss, he explained. If you have muscle dysmorphia, thats obviously going to send you somewhere else. Even declared negative, hes still trying to get his lungs back to full functioning fettle: You need to spend two weeks just expanding the distance youre walking. And once youve done that you can do little stuff for the extremities, which dont require that much oxygen biceps, triceps and then you can slowly work to chest, back, legs. He said he has another five weeks before he can work out at full capacity again, meaning that, between incubation and full health, hell have taken eight weeks off his normal regimen. While he understands the importance of the gym for people who rely on it as a form of meditation, he still thinks opening them up anytime soon is a suicide mission. I would not go to a big gym anytime soon. I would invest in some equipment, talk to the super and install it in the basement of our building. But you would not get me to an Equinox. No way.

Often, the people I spoke to mentioned that there were two versions of their self-perception: the self they saw in relation to normal people, where they could register that they were muscly and big, and their perception of themselves when they were at the gym. Walking in the street, people would say my arms were huge, or kids would point at me and say, Look at the muscles on that guy! recalled Nathaniel Shaw. Then you still go to the gym and someone would say your chest is too small, your shoulders are too small. When theyd say things like that, it felt the same as when I first looked in the mirror.

Michael Collins, however, has always relied on community to help him escape the moments when dysmorphia takes hold. The only days where it feels like my mental image is warped in a dysmorphic sense are really bad mental health days, he said, and thats when I rely on my fellow gay musclehead friends to talk me back into a healthier state of mind.

The gym is a kind of third space, neither home nor work, and it offers a lot of the same social benefits that you might expect a faith community to offer

For Collins, the pandemic has not diminished his closest friends in the bodybuilding and weightlifting community: they still talk in their group chat, keep each other motivated. But, says Collins, the ambient sense of being part of a larger community is missing the people seen several times a week over years, people you might have a five-minute conversation with every now and again. People who he just happened to be at the gym with a few times a week would come up and compliment him on his hard work when he was preparing for bodybuilding competitions, and now those smaller encounters, that miasma of general support, is gone. The gym is a kind of third space, neither home nor work, and it offers a lot of the same social benefits that you might expect a faith community to offer, said Collins. It is currently in the deep freeze and I dont know what state itll be in when things finally thaw.

If the closure of gyms is hard enough for everyone, that makes the loss twice as hard for those with dysmorphia. For Dr David Boyda, managing expectations at this time is vital: Without resistance or weight, one should expect to see a reduction of their muscle mass coupled with some loss in conditioning (fat levels) as individuals become more sedentary. This is especially true, he says, if youre low in equipment and considering that theres been a rush on dumbbells, this will certainly be some people who are suffering most. He recommended bodyweight exercises classes on YouTube to maintain muscle mass as much as one can and making good use of whatever the current exercise allowance is under government guidelines.

Wiedenbach mentioned that perhaps one of the hardest things for people so focused on their bodies is not being able to get the validation of showing it off at the gym. Theres a difference between choosing isolation and being told you do not have your outlet, the place where youre being admired, he said. Your marketplace is gone. You cant show off. And if that was all you had? Well, suicides have doubled in New York City. Michael Collins said not having chances to passively show off, either at the gym or in casual hook-ups, meant validation was light on the ground for him. The little hit of positive reinforcement from uploading a picture to Instagram or Twitter isnt the same as an in-person encounter.

The leaner you stay through all this, the better your hormones when youre through all this and you go back to the gym

While Collins remains happy with the muscle hes building he gathered a fairly solid home gym together through a combination of determination and luck others have accepted that this might not be the time to bulk. For Butcher, the bigger concern is what this will mean for his diet. I need calories to maintain my weight, he said. If a certain kind of food from beyond our borders was in low supply Id of course be forced to change my habits.

With access to heavy weights limited, diets harder to follow and less natural daily exercise to supplement ones fitness regimen, Wiedenbach said that now is the time for people, especially those who place this much importance on their body, to swap priorities. What I would urge people is: stay lean. Dont worry too much about bulking. The leaner you stay through all this, the better your hormones when youre through all this and you go back to the gym, advised Wiedenbach. That is something you have to hammer into people and the average musclehead doesnt get. Hes gonna be like, Oh, fuck, Ive lost all this weight, Im gonna eat. But the truth is you dont have the equipment to gain that muscle back quickly. Unless you have a really good home gym, which most of us dont. Even Wiedenbach, a man with an exceptional physique and a unique ability to pound on muscle mass Im a genetic outlier has appreciated that the most he can use at the moment is a couple of resistance bands to try and maintain.

Butcher said that towards the start of the pandemic in Sweden he found himself out for two weeks with what he is certain was Covid-19. But, rather than panicking about what it might mean for his body, the break from his exercise regime was actually a helpful period of recovery. He also says that, as some doctors also confirmed, time is often the greatest healer of muscle dysmorphia: having worked out the way he has for six years, the darker thoughts are easier to dispel, self-knowledge overcoming self-hatred. Even though I believe Ill have some degree of muscle dysmorphia for the rest of my life, I do believe Im way better at noticing my inner monologue now, he said, and when that depressing voice of no gains pops up I can rest assured its temporary.

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What its like to have muscle dysmorphia during lockdown - British GQ

While many localbusinesses grapple with financial losses due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, one 19-year-old woman from London launched a business to fill in what she saw as a needfor locals.

Despite trying times, Lana Khadra, a student at Western University, opened up her store, which offersfood options for Londoners on ketogenicdiets, vegan diets and those with otherdietary restrictions.

She started the business earlier in May.

"I really believe in health and I really wanted to bring in new healthy alternatives to London," said Khadra. "I'm hoping people find items that can help them feel better and feel healthier."

While Khadra never expected to open her store during a pandemic, she said she was forced to because of financial hardships the ongoingpandemic brought on, especially after spending moneyon renovating and stocking the shop.

"We really had no option. It was getting financially tough for [my family]," she said.

The idea for the business came a few years back after Khadra went through weight loss and realized there was a need for more alternative nutritional optionsin the city.

At 16, the Londonerstarted to work two part-time jobs in order to save the money for her business.

"It was really tough, especially during exams to balance jobs and school ... but I didn't stop working for it," she recalled.

"I just wanted to make myself proud and prove to myself that I was capable of doing something and I didn't want my age to stop me, so I just worked really hard for it."

When the time came, the teen's parents offered her a loan to open theDiet & Wellness Health Food Store.

Khadra said despite the virus, a few locals have stopped by to shop and she's optimisticabout the future of her store. She hopes people her age will be inspired to start their own ventures.

"Follow your passions and goals and don't let that little voice tell you not to,because nothing can stop you," she said.

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This 19-year-old woman from London launched her own store during the COVID-19 pandemic - CBC.ca

Precision medicine is improving outcomes for aggressive types of lymphomas, such as mantle cell lymphoma.

Wang, a professor in the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, recently discussed the field of MCL in an interview with OncLive, a sister publication of CURE.

In a few years, we will see that the cellular therapies can only cure about one-third to half of patients, he said. I believe were going to welcome the precision medicine multi-omics era where well use technology, such as RNA-Seq, DNA-Seq, protein-omics, epigenetic sequencing, and biological studies to determine resistance mechanisms in each tumor.

In his two decades working at MD Anderson, Wang said that he has seen a drastic change in the way that lymphoma is treated from chemotherapy to targeted therapy, to chemotherapy-free therapy and, most recently, CAR T-cell therapy.

This is a welcomed change for many patients, as chemotherapy can be extremely toxic, producing side effects that affect patients health and quality of life, including bone marrow suppression, infections and bleeding, which can lead to frequent transfusions. Not to mention, patients can develop secondary malignancies long after completing chemotherapy which can be life-threatening.

In order to reduce toxicity, we used targeted therapies, Wang said, noting that physicians started prescribing agents such as Imbruvica (ibrutinib) as a single-agent that had better responses than a five-drug chemotherapy regimen. The drug is also delivered orally, which could be easier and more convenient for patients.

However, these promising treatments are not always curative, especially when it comes to aggressive lymphomas, such as MCL. But they are showing promising outcomes for the disease, which almost always comes back after remission, according to Wang.

No matter what we use for high-risk patients, be it chemotherapy, targeted therapy, or immunotherapy, patients continue to relapse. Were not curing the majority of patients, Wang said. Now were using cellular therapies, such as CAR T-cell therapies, CAR natural killer cell therapies. We have shown that in these very refractory tumors that are resistant to chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy, we can rescue a subset of patients. Some of those patients may even achieve long-term remissions and potential cure.

Wang explained that the new era of cellular therapy allows clinicians to pinpoint how to best treat each individual patient.

Therapy in lymphoma has migrated from chemotherapy to targeted therapy to immunotherapy, and now were in the cellular therapy era, Wang said. If patients stop responding to these therapies, well be able to use science and technology to determine the Achilles heel of the tumor, so that we can attack it with precision and save patients.

A version of this article was originally published on OncLive as, Precision Medicine: The Next Paradigm Shift in MCL.

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Attacking the 'Achilles Heel' of Aggressive Lymphomas - Curetoday.com

Virat Kohlis stunning physical transformation in 2013 is still talked about. And while the India captain in the past has credited intense workout and diet change for his dramatic turnaround career-wise in terms of fitness, Kohli said Indias former Strength and Conditioning coach Shanker Basu had a defining role to play.

It (fitness and training) is everything for me. The biggest transition in my career came in 2015 because of Mr. Shanker Basu. I would not take credit for it, for me the biggest factor for my career going in another template has to be him, Kohli told captain of the Indian football team Sunil Chhetri during a chat on Instagram Live.

Kohli revealed how he met Basu the first time at Royal Challengers Bangalore and although the skipper was slightly reluctant at first, upon following his coachs advice, Kohli went ahead with his training and never looked back.

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He (Basu) was a trainer at RCB, he introduced me to lifting. I was a bit hesitant; I had some back issues; it was a totally new concept for me. But within three weeks I was amazed at the results that followed, Kohli said.

After that, he worked with me on my diet, I started paying attention to what was happening with my body, thats when I realised that because of my genes, I have to work twice or thrice on my body, I am doing the basic thing which my career requires me to do.

Kohli is one of the fittest cricketers around, and it was only after the phenomenal transformation that he became the best limited-overs batsman in the world. He has led Indias fitness and fielding revolution, and hence, when Kohli mentions he trains like a man possessed, expect it to be serious.

Till the time I am playing the sport, I will be a maniac, if you are playing for the country, you have to work hard, if you cannot do that, then you should step away, he said.

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The biggest transition in my career is because of him: Virat Kohli credits former coach - Hindustan Times