Fitness/ lifestyle
What is the
rehabilitation following hip replacement?
What is the cause
of unintentional weight loss?
Why don't I put on
weight in spite of eating more?
Why does my period
cycle vary with lifestyle changes?
Does the GM diet
help in reducing weight?
How can I increase
my one-year-old daughter's weight?
How do I overcome
stress and induce appetite?
Why did I lose shape after leaving the gym?
How can I check
if my protein intake is sufficient?
What is the
rehabilitation following hip replacement?
Q. I am 34 years old woman with sickle
cell disease. I recently had a total hip replacement and dislocated two
days after the surgery. I was then rushed to the hospital and the hip was
put back in place but was asked to wear a brace. I wore that for about 6
weeks and that actually did all the precautions for me. Now my problem is
that I can’t bend my hip more than 40 degrees. My hip is very stiff and I
can’t even put on my clothes. Life is very difficult now and even though
I go for therapy every other day, this is not really helping much. I
can’t even open my legs to put a pillow in between. I went to see my
doctor for aspiration and the result is negative, the x-rays according to
the doctors look great so they don't really know where the problem is. I
am very depressed and have lost weight. Is there anything I can do to
ease this stiffness and be able to climb stairs?
A. Rehabilitation following total hip replacement (THR) involves
therapeutic exercise, transfer training, gait training, and instruction
in the activities of daily living. Specific exercises are to be done
several times a day to restore movement and strengthen the hip joint.
Following surgery, the aim is to concentrate on improving the skills you
have already started to work on. These include the exercises, getting off
and back onto the bed, walking independently with the crutches, managing
the toilet and washing and sitting out in the chair. When fit enough, the
patient can begin to dress, bathe and manage functional activities.
Appropriate weight-bearing activities are the most useful way of
improving muscle power and walking pattern. It takes about 3 months for
the new tissue to form around the hip joint, which helps hold it in place
but till then the risk of dislocation is there.
The normal hip, in contrast to the artificial hip, is a deep and stable
joint with very strong ligaments and much greater force is required to
dislocate it. The new joint, in comparison, is shallower and the local
anatomy altered so it is more prone to dislocation.
Your stiffness will be helped by the following exercises and activities.
The exercises should be done four times a day in a set of ten repetitions
each. Tie one end of a rubber around the ankle of the operated leg and
the opposite end to a stationary object such as a locked door or heavy
furniture. Hold on to a chair or support for balance. Stand with your
feet slightly apart. Bring your operated leg forward keeping the knee
straight. Allow your leg to return to its previous position. Stand
sideways from the door and extend your operated leg out to the side.
Allow your leg to return to its previous position. Face the door or heavy
object to which the tubing is attached and pull your leg straight back.
Allow your leg to return to its previous position.
Cycling (twice a day for 10 to 15 minutes 3-4 times a week) helps regain
muscle strength and hip mobility. Adjust height such that the bottom of
your foot just touches the pedal with your knee almost straight.
Initially pedal only backwards till you are comfortable and only then do
forward pedalling. After about 4 to 6 weeks, you can increase the tension
on the cycle.
Walking use a cane till you have regained your balance. Begin with a 5 or
10 minutes walk 3 or 4 times a day and as your strength and endurance
improves, increase it to 20 or 30 minutes 2 or 3 times a day. Once you
have fully recovered, regular walks, 20 or 30 minutes 3 or 4 times a
week, will help maintain your strength.
You need to consult a good physiotherapist/occupational therapist who can
lead you through the protocol so that an active exercise regimen and
rehabilitation programme can be followed.
What is the cause
of unintentional weight loss?
Q. I lost about 51
pounds in 3 months. I cannot sleep, feel irritable and weak. My EOS percentage is 5.8.
What should I do?
A. Unintentional weight loss is a decrease in body weight that is not
voluntary and requires medical assessment if it is unexplained and more
than 10% of normal body weight. The two basic mechanisms that lead to it
are reduced intake of food or increased metabolic rate. Among the many
causes are included endocrinal diseases (hyperthyroidism, diabetes,
hyperparathyroidism, hypoadrenalism), gastrointestinal (malabsorption,
chronic diarrhoea), psychiatric problems (eating disorders, depression,
alcoholism), neurological diseases, chronic infections, cancer and
medications. You need to be examined by a physician who will decide what
investigations are necessary and then plan the treatment
Why don't I put on
weight in spite of eating more?
Q. I am 15 years old. I weigh 56 kg in the
morning. I eat as much as I can everyday. I am on a mission to get fat.
By night-time, my weight goes to 58-60 kg. But after going to the
toilet the next morning, my weight comes back to 56 kg. I have
repeated this for weeks, but to no avail. Where does the food go?
A. The food we eat gets utilised by the body to carry out daily
activities. When we eat food, it gets digested in our body and absorbed
as energy, fats, minerals and vitamins. We need these nutrients for a
healthy body and also to carry on every activity like walk, run, sit,
etc. After the food is digested, the waste material is excreted out of
the body. This is how we maintain our weight. If our bodies were not made
to follow this basic system, we will gain weight every time we eat. In
simple words, food that goes inside our body, gets utilised and the waste
is excreted out. This is how we maintain our weight. You are still young
to understand all the body systems but I am sure you will learn more in
higher grades/classes and all these concepts will become much clear.
Q. I am 15 years old. I weigh 56 kg in the
morning. I eat as much as I can everyday. I am on a mission to get fat.
By night-time, my weight goes to 58-60 kg. But after going to the
toilet the next morning, my weight comes back to 56 kg. I have
repeated this for weeks, but to no avail. Where does the food go?
A. The food we eat gets utilised by the body to carry out daily
activities. When we eat food, it gets digested in our body and absorbed
as energy, fats, minerals and vitamins. We need these nutrients for a
healthy body and also to carry on every activity like walk, run, sit,
etc. After the food is digested, the waste material is excreted out of
the body. This is how we maintain our weight. If our bodies were not made
to follow this basic system, we will gain weight every time we eat. In
simple words, food that goes inside our body, gets utilised and the waste
is excreted out. This is how we maintain our weight. You are still young
to understand all the body systems but I am sure you will learn more in
higher grades/classes and all these concepts will become much clear.
Why does my period
cycle vary with lifestyle changes?
Q. I am 32 years old and got married
recently. I weigh 42 kg and I am anaemic. My periods cycle is for 21 days
only. Is it normal? Earlier my cycle lasted for just 15 days. For this I
took an ayurvedic medicine, which was effective. Why does my cycle
vary with changes in the life? What diet should I take to increase my
haemoglobin? I also have dark circles around my eyes and I get very tired
by the end of the day. I am a working lady. Please advise.
A. The menstrual cycle in women ranges, on an average, from 21-35 days
and occurs in response to a complex interplay of hormones (oestrogen,
progesterone, follicle stimulating hormone and leutinising hormone) and
organs (including the hypothalamus & the pituitary gland located in
the brain, and the ovary). Nearly 1/5th women experience cycles that are
irregular. If your cycles are occasionally irregular, it should not worry
you too much but in case they are consistently irregular, you need to be
evaluated by your doctor. The cycle can be influenced by stress; thoughts
and emotions; a break in routine; anxiety about pregnancy; sexual
activity; dietary problems like poor diet, anorexia, bulimia; too much
exercise, medicines; and illness (thyroid disease) etc. An irregular
cycle suggests a problem with the hypothalamus, pituitary, ovary, or
uterus and by carefully and systematically examining each level, a doctor
can figure out what is going on.
If your cycles are regular, but you are experiencing irregular bleeding
in between, you are probably ovulating, but may be having bleeding
associated with ovulation, a polyp, a fibroid, a cervical lesion,
infection, or bleeding from a source outside the uterus (non-uterine bleeding
- from the urinary tract, vagina, or cervix). If your cycles are not
coming at regular intervals, chances are that you are not ovulating
regularly. This may be caused by a problem with the hypothalamus,
pituitary, or the ovary. Conditions that can affect the hypothalamus
include, stress, dieting, anorexia etc. Conditions that can affect the
pituitary include increased levels of prolactin from a prolactinoma (a
benign pituitary tumour) and certain drugs. The most common condition
that can affect the ovary is polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOD). Being
very young or perimenopausal can also affect your cycles. The thyroid
gland (hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism) can also affect menstruation.
It is helpful to keep a “menstrual diary” in which you record the pattern
and amount of the bleeding.
Anaemia is a condition in which the number of red blood cells or the
amount of haemoglobin is below normal for age and sex of the individual.
It is defined as a decrease in red blood cell (RBC) mass and is usually
discovered and quantified by measurement of the RBC count, haemoglobin
(Hb) concentration, and haematocrit (Hct). Anaemia is suggested in males
with Hb levels less than 13.0 g/dl and in females with Hb levels less
than 12.0 g/dl (less than 11.5 g/dl in pregnant women). It may be due to
decreased production of red blood cells, blood loss (haemorrhage) or red
cell breakdown (haemolysis). Anaemia is a symptom of disease that
requires investigation to determine the underlying cause. It is twice as
common in women than in men, especially during the childbearing years due
to menstrual blood loss and pregnancies. One of the commonest cause of
anaemia in our country is nutritional deficiency - iron deficiency
&/or folic acid/vitamin B12 deficiency. Your symptoms are likely due
to the anaemia possibly caused by heavy and unpredictable bleeding due to
irregular cycles.
Please get yourself examined by a physician and a gynaecologist and get a
complete blood count done (which includes red cell indices) along with a
reticulocyte count and a peripheral smear examination. This will give an
idea of the underlying cause on which the treatment depends.
How can I lose weight?
Q. Please help me out plan out my workout?
I am 23 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall and weigh 60 kg. My vital
statistics are 34-30-38 inches. I want to lose weight from 60 kg to 54
kg. I am not under any training. We have a gym at our office but
there is no instructor there. I do cycling for 10-15 minutes and burn 100
calories and then run on the treadmill for 10 minutes at the speed of 100
to burn another 100 calories. I also do 50 crunches and in all spend 45
minutes. Please guide.
A. A good way to lose weight is to combine calorie-reduction with
spending calories as much as you can. To achieve the first, you have to
eat a balanced, nutritious meal, which our dietician will be able to help
you with. It may not be a good idea to miss any meal as that slows the
metabolism down and hinders weight loss. Does the GM diet
help in reducing weight? Q. Does the GM diet actually work?
If it manages to reduce weight, does one feel lifeless and dead? A. The GM diet and health program was developed for employees and
dependents of General Motors, Inc. and was intended for their use. It
recommends that during the first seven days you must abstain from all alcohol
and that you must drink 10 glasses of water each day. The weekly
recommendation is as follows: How can I increase
my one-year-old daughter's weight? Q. My one year and 3 months old daughter
is underweight. Her birth weight was 3.37 kg. Her present weight is
only 8.7 kg. Her present diet is one or one and a half idly, one chapathi
or dosa early in the morning; two or three cashew nuts after an hour. A
small banana at A. There really isn't anything to worry. The food intake of the child
has to simply depend on her likes and dislikes. There may be parts of the
diet, which she does not appreciate and may be she is being nagged into
eating. Too much nagging leads to loss of appetite in children. More so,
they need new ness in food, as they get very bored of routine foods. Increase
the quantity of the current foods given to her, only slowly. Also
inculcate whole grains, bran, dalia in the diet. Introduce other dry
fruits also like almonds, etc and make sure that she enjoys eating
whatever little amount she eats. How do I overcome
stress and induce appetite? Q. I am 29 years old and a mother of two
kids, 3 and 2 years old. I personally take care of the children and have a
small convenience store. I am also currently studying. Hence, my life is
very stressful. I am hoping you could help me have a healthy lifestyle. What
vitamins and medications do I take to overcome the stress and induce
appetite since I have a very poor appetite? My weight is about 47 kg. A. From your brief note I can see that you are in a reasonable state
running a store, looking after two children and studying in your spare
time. Your weight of 47 Kg with a body mass index of just below 19 is
adequate for your height, sex and age. However, you have raised some
issues, which I am happy to comment on. Why did I lose shape after leaving the gym? Q. I am 22 year old and weigh 51 kgs. I
used to be very slim. I joined a gym and gained 5 kg. But I left
exercising due to exams. After leaving the gym, I lost weight but my
waist size increased. Gradually it became worse and now I look like
'four sticks coming out of a balloon'. I don't even feel hungry. I
joined the gym again but it made the matters even worse, as I started
losing hair and got body ache. The doctor said that it is due to
anxiety. I wasn't convinced with this statement and refused to take
their medicine. I have noticed that I get rashes after eating wheat and
banana. Please advise. A. You need to get an allergy test done at the earliest. Your
irregular exercise habits have pushed your body into a negative metabolism
due to which you look like what you said. You need to maintain a
regular diet pattern in terms of having a sumptuous healthy (low fat)
breakfast, and other meals like lunch and dinner in a proper regimen.
Go for a brisk walk atleast 4 days a week for 30 minutes and refer the
DoctorNDTV website for abdominal exercises. You can get a check up done
from a general practitioner in case you have any digestive problems.
Include camomile tea in your daily diet (maybe before going to sleep at
night) for a restful sleep. Meditate if you feel anxiety of any kind.
All will be well, don't worry. Best of luck! How can I check
if my protein intake is sufficient? . I am 43 years old and weigh 81 kg. I
am on weight training for the past 2 years. I lost weight initially and
went down to 76 kg but I bounced back to 81 kg. I have reduced the fat
around my belly significantly and the body looks more toned and
muscular. I can bench press about 80 kg now. I work out for one and a
half hour 5-6 days a week. How can I know, whether my protein intake is
correct? I was told that a protein deficiency might lead to some
problems. Is it correct? What are the likely problems? As of now I am
not taking any supplements and my diet is also normal. I take chicken
and eggs about 2-3 times a week. I am thinking of taking supplements
like a Whey Isolate from Ultimate Nutrition Inc of
To aid that process, you may like to add on any exercise you can manage
to get. The best results are when the exercise should be regular and
consistent, but the good news is that every bit counts! So find some way
of incorporating any activity into your daily routine - walking to the
office or school, using the stairs or any weekend routine can also be of
help. If you want to get on a serious weight loss plan, besides
commitment, you need to go in for a 3-pronged plan
1. Aerobics:
You need to work on building your heart-lung (cardiovascular) endurance.
Take up any activity form cycling, to running or jogging to skiing to
swimming to even brisk walking to get that gut into its original size.
This kind of activity will draw upon the fat stores in the body for
generating fuel to last that long. The presence of oxygen (controlled
breathing during this workout, instead of huffing and puffing) will
mobilise the fat to get utilised instead of stored. This will take care
of the fat that lies above the muscles.
Thankfully, any aerobic activity that elevates your heart rate can help
you burn fat and take off unwanted pounds. Many experts recommend doing
at least three sessions of 20 minutes of aerobic activity per week.
Ideally, for long-term weight control, you should engage in at least four
sessions per week, for 45 minutes each time.
2. Weight Training or Yoga
Get a yoga teacher to train you in the complete area of yoga or you can
join a gym or work out at home with an overall weight-training program so
that the lean mass percentage in the entire body increases. Balance your
abdominal crunches and leg lifts with an equal amount of effort for the
lower back to ensure it is not weak. Work out the rest of the body for
the best results. And of course, concentrate on technique and quality of
your abdominal crunches and pelvic lifts, rather than higher repetitions.
And remember, exercises such as these only improve the tone and endurance
of the muscles, they don't burn fat. It is best to have a gap of 48 hour
before you work out the same muscle group again. And it will help if you
change the routine once in every month or so.
For the upper body, a good exercise is doing the push-up, which takes
care of the entire front and back region. For the lower body, a great way
to tone it is doing squats and lunges. So combine that with abdominal
crunches and lower back extensions and you have a complete workout in a
good deal of time.
3. Healthy diet spread through the day, not night
Eating the right food out of habit rather than as a fad, can work wonders
for an extra middle. Keep the calories light and spread out through the
day rather than bunching them all at night and then sleeping on it, when
the body's metabolic rate is the slowest.
Day One All fruits except bananas in any quantity you want. It is
suggested that you consume lots of melons the first day especially
watermelon and a loupe. You are preparing your system for the upcoming
programme. Your only source of nutrition is fresh or canned fruits.
Fruits are nature’s perfect food. They provide everything you could
possibly want to sustain life except total balance and variety.
Day Two All vegetables. You are encouraged to eat until you are
stuffed with all the raw or cooked vegetables of your choice. There is no
limit on the amount or type. For your complex carbohydrate, you can start
day two with a large baked potato for breakfast. You may top the potato
with one pat of butter. This starts with a fix of complex carbohydrates
coupled with an oil dose. This is taken in the morning for energy and
balance. The rest of day two consists of vegetables, which are virtually
calorie free and provide essential nutrients and fibre.
Day Three A mixture of fruits and vegetables of your choice in any
amount, any quantity. No bananas. No potatoes because you get your
carbohydrates from the fruits. Your system is now prepared to start
burning excess pounds. You will still have cravings, which should start
to diminish by day four.
Day Four Bananas and milk and soup. Today you can eat as many as
eight bananas and drink three glasses of milk. The bananas are for the
potassium you have lost and the sodium you may have missed the past three
days.
Day Five You can eat beef and tomatoes. You are allowed two 10 oz.
portions of lean beef. Combine this with six whole tomatoes. On day five,
water intake must be increased by one quart. This is to cleanse your
system of the uric acid. The beef is for iron and proteins, the tomatoes
are for digestion and fibre. Lots and lots of water purifies your system.
Day Six Beef and vegetables in an unlimited amount providing Iron
and proteins from beef, Vitamins and fibre from vegetables.
Day Seven Today your food intake will consist of brown rice, fruit
juices and all the vegetables you care to consume.
These are just highly publicised Western fad diet regimes gaining
popularity in
But do these diets actually deliver the promised results? None of the
prescribed plans actually offered proof of shedding the pounds and, more
important, keeping them off. Besides the lack of concrete evidence to
back actual weight loss, there is another point: After completing your
diet, will you be able to successfully maintain weight loss? Or will you
promptly pile on the kilos at lightning speed?
Most fad diets do not make any allowance for maintaining the weight that
is lost. And, eventually, most dieters find the diet too monotonous to
stick to for the long term. They then resort to bad dietary habits again.
Instead of merely yielding short-term results, a correct and healthy diet
programme should help you improve your habits, so you can maintain the
weight lost.
Instead follow these simple guidelines:
1. Focus on improving your dietary habits by having all nutrients in
moderation.
2. Make sure you have a balanced diet. This ensures that you get your
daily dose of minerals, vitamins, fibre, carbohydrate, protein and fat etc.
3. Consult a qualified dietician to work out a diet plan tailor-made to
suit your lifestyle, body type and health condition.
4. Exercise regularly.
She may be a slow gainer of weight. Enquire with the paediatrician for
the need of an appetiser. It may help.
Diet - this should be well spread and well balanced containing
meat or peas, beans and pulses, vegetables and fruit. Briefly, there are
three main constituents of diet - carbohydrates (rice, bread, potatoes,
pasta, milk, sugar); proteins (meat, bread, peas, beans, pulses); and fat
(oil, butter, milk, meat, cheese) Roughly, you should aim to have about
50% of food intake as carbohydrates and the remainder as proteins and fat
with less emphasis on fats. The latter should be mostly of vegetable
origin and only a small portion from animal origin (e.g. butter, fat on
the meat, red meat, milk, etc.) You should also endeavour to have a wide
spread of vegetables, both root (potatoes, carrots, turnips) and leafy
products (cabbage, spinach, cauliflower, kale, etc.).
Vitamins - if you take a balanced diet with adequate vegetables
and fruit then you will get enough vitamins in your food. The vitamins
work on some other components of food to make other microelements needed
for a healthy metabolism. It is wasteful to take extra vitamins when the
food intake is inadequate because there are no substances to work on for
the vitamins.
Eating - if appetite and eating are a problem then one should take
an active interest in thinking about food, organising menus,
experimenting with newer recipes, and have fixed eating times unhindered
by any other activity (e.g. television). Cooking and eating should not be
regarded as a chore but incorporated into ones lifestyle as an
interesting activity.
Stress – stress is part of living and some of it is necessary for
a fruitful working practice. It is only bad when you allow it to rule
your life and worry about things that might happen but haven't yet, or
things that might have gone wrong but didn't, and so on. You should learn
to relax in between your working spells. I would suggest taking up yoga
if you haven't already done that.
I hope you will find this information useful.
Whey protein is a pure, natural, high quality protein from cow's
milk. It is a rich source of the essential amino acids needed on a
daily basis by the body. In its purest form, as whey protein
isolate, it contains little to no fat, lactose or cholesterol.
Protein needs vary by person depending upon age, weight, sex, activity
level and overall health. Athletes and individuals with special
medical needs often need more protein than the recommended dietary
allowance, or RDA. Healthy diets should regularly include high
quality, low fat sources of protein, like whey protein. Calories
do count and you want to make sure that you are getting the most
benefit from the calories you consume. Compared to other proteins,
on a gram-to-gram basis whey protein isolate delivers more
essential amino acids to the body, but without the fat or
cholesterol. To make sure you're getting enough protein, a diet
with a variety of protein foods is ideal, but for optimal results
make sure that one of them is whey protein.
To determine how much you should take look at the Nutrition Facts
panel on your whey protein product and check the following to make
sure you are getting enough whey protein:
1. Find the number of grams per serving size and subtract the
grams of protein per serving. The smaller the difference, the more
concentrated the protein.
Example:
Whey Protein Powder #1
One Serving = 29 Grams
Protein Content = 21 Grams
Whey Protein Powder #2
One Serving = 42 Grams
Protein Content = 14 Grams
Whey Protein Powder #1 is a more concentrated protein powder vs.
Whey Protein Powder #2. Check the ingredient label for product #2
to see what other ingredients it contains.
2. Compare the grams of protein per serving to your daily protein
requirement. How much protein will this specific whey protein
product provide?
Example:
A = One Serving Whey Protein Powder; A = 20 Grams
B = Daily Protein Requirement; B = 60 Grams
A Divided by B = the % of the daily protein requirement provided
by 1 serving of this specific whey protein powder. 20/60 = 0.33 or
33%.
3. Determine the number of calories in one serving. Although some
sweetener is helpful to enhance flavour, many products contain
excess sugar and other ingredients that can add unwanted calories.
The amount of sugar per serving is listed on the label.
There are no documented side effects provided you do not have an
allergy to dairy proteins or does not need to restrict dairy
products for medical reasons. If you are allergic to dairy
proteins please consult with a physician prior to consuming any
type of whey protein. You can take the supplement on all days; on
the days that you are working out make sure that you take the
supplement post workout.