Aren’t we all pioneers of unhealthy relationships? Oops, sorry we didn’t mean to attack anyone like that. Juicy topic apart, we are going to talk about unhealthy relationships with fitness today! Now, this article is for someone who is in absolute love with their gym, like an obsessive lover, and never realized where to draw the line. Hey, hold on, if you’re not a workout-o-holic you don’t need to press the back button yet, give it a read (you won’t regret) and share it with your workout obsessed buddy. We all know one, right?

Your unhealthy fitness practices can burn you out, cause injuries, and even result in a messed up social and personal life. Fitness is meant to make your life better and not to exhaust you, neither cripple your mind with sadness or regret which many of us end up doing without even realizing it.

Following are the reasons why you need to really think about your fitness practices:

1. FOMW (Fear Of Missing Workout)

Yes, you’re right we just invented this term but isn’t it pretty legit? Most of us start feeling terrible for missing a workout even for a day. Do absurd thoughts start crossing your mind like what if I gain weight? What if I lose my muscles? What if I feel lethargic? We want you to calm your mind. Taking a break or missing out on your workout won’t be the end of the world (we promise) and besides, mental and social life is also as important as your physical health. Give yourself a break, healthy one! But ensure that you are consistent enough to get back the next day.

2. Overdoing Or Pushing The Limit

We all come across quotes on Instagram and gym walls that say “push your limit” or “darr ke aage jeet hai”. Well it comes with its own set of conditions that only an expert can tell. (That’s why we are here!) Over-doing any form of exercise won’t help you but only cause fatigue. For example, forcing yourself to do leg workout when you have a knee injury/issues is only going to worsen the situation. An unhealthy approach to exercise will make you more prone to an injury. So doing a couple of extra reps is totally alright and healthy but don’t pu(ni)sh yourself through pain and blood, it’s not fruitful. You can trust us.

3. Workout > Social life

The gym fanatics will agree that they prefer spending more time in the gym than with their friends or family. Well, we do agree that most people are a big-time disappointment and you often end up in a situation that makes you realize that working out was a better option. You need to balance your workout and social lifestyle in order to sustain more things in your life that bring joy. After all, you need people around you to appreciate your physique, don’t you?

4. Being Super Anti-calories

People often talk like burning calories is the only aim in their life and to be honest isn’t it annoying at times? Like we get it Karen, but can you stop talking about calories already and enjoy your birthday cake? Having a healthy lifestyle with sustainable habits are more important than  stopping yourself from enjoying little joys of life. Limit yourself, have a bite, shed it off on a treadmill and while you’re at it don’t shame someone else who enjoys calorie indulgence more than you.

5. Measuring Your Self-worth Only On Weighing Scales

Social media has over-hyped perfect sculpted bodies so much that it has become a measuring scale to judge a person’s beauty quotient. Yes, a sculpted body is always the result of hard work and dedication but things that define a person as a whole, is much more than merely a sculpted body. If you’re working out only to look better than someone else, get more likes on social media, or to be sure that your partner keeps on finding you attractive, let us give you a very important piece of advice – it’s time you care for your worth and your self more than these fragile appreciations, you are worthy the way you are.

6. Binge Eating Shed Off

In contrast to what we mentioned above in ‘anti-calories’, these people are slightly different but are equally in unhealthy relationships with the workout. Binge eating delicious junk food for dinner and working out frantically the next morning in a hope to shed it just not the right direction to get healthy. Sadly, you can call this a millennial trend – this entire cycle only leads to fatigue because your body doesn’t get enough nutrition from the junk binge and above that you overexert your body with over workout. Charge your relationship with food and maintain a sustainable habit that lasts. We don’t suggest you roll your eyes every time you see french fries or a dollop of desserts – instead, enjoy in moderation so that you don’t have to regret the next moment and punish yourself later.

Staying healthy and fit is not about a size zero body – it’s more about building sustainable eating habits, workout routine and enjoying the journey without a speck of regret while you are at it. If you are in an unhealthy relationship with fitness, you are facing issues with unsustainability with your eating and fitness habits. What is more important that brings you results you want is a flexible approach towards fitness, establishing sustainable healthy habits, and indulging in occasional binging too – you need to take the right way but you should know what’s the right way. So, if you are this person, now is the time to realize and put things in order. Or if you know someone who’s going through any of these symptoms, share this article with them, talk to them and let’s make fitness more fun and efficient. Until next time, stay strong! 

The post 6 Signs Of An Unhealthy Relationship With Exercise appeared first on Gympik Blog.

To everyone who used to watch Masterchef, *kudos* you must have learned a thing or two, but for many of us, we have been positioned to cook and feed ourselves. Coronavirus lockdown has definitely shaken things up and obviously we were not ready with our culinary skills to cook every day for months. From doing work from home, house chores to cooking, and also making sure you consume adequate nutrition are quite a handful of tasks, honestly.

So we thought of making it easier for you to note down what your body needs and what it certainly doesn’t need. This will help you to make a wiser choice in buying groceries during the lockdown whilst keeping your diet balanced and your body well energized.

It’s never too late to get yourself and your family into healthy eating habits and what can be a better time to do that if not now? We have listed down 6 things you MUST DO to keep a healthy diet this quarantine.

1. Basics – Hydration!

Most of us are couch-bounded these days because of quarantine and not only that’s making us lazy but is also cutting down water consumption naturally. The rule of thumb says you should drink enough water regardless of you being thirsty or not. And you’d be lying if you say you’re having enough water during the quarantine. To make your hydration game interesting you can add slices of cucumber. lemon, oranges to your water. It’s refreshing, hydrating, and did I mention it’s insta-worthy?

2. Stock The Staples

Okay when we say stock, remember that we don’t mean hoard. Staples are your daily nutrients that energize your mind and body while keeping you full for a longer duration. Staples include rice, wheat, pulses, lentils, whole grain bread, oats, millet, etc. It is important to store staple food primarily because according to many nutritional researches, the above-mentioned staples provide a proportionate amount of calories to your body. They are not hard on your digestive system and due to the good quantity of carbs, it gives a feeling that your hunger is satiated. Since staple foods are the larger proportion of a standard diet, it helps your body with enough energy and some amount of protein while maintaining your weight. Considering the current pandemic situation these staple food items are economically cheap and sustains longer.

3. The Greens, Whites & Reds

This is the segment of food that your body demands in your diet to fulfill the need for micro-nutrients. They help your body to level up, boost immunity, and keep you healthy. We do understand that buying veggies can be a task during the lockdown period so it’s advised that you get plenty of them and store it in ways to prolong its shelf life. Vegetables can’t be avoided because it plays an important role in your diet and nutrition. They provide your body dietary fibers for good digestion, folic acid, vitamins, potassium, and minerals – these all add up to healthy functioning of your body and stronger immunity.   

Try to include a daily intake of milk and eggs in your diet as a form of low-fat protein. Also, the tubular vegetables like carrot, beetroot, sweet potato, turnip, yams can stay fresh for a longer period when refrigerated. Tubular veggies are a powerhouse of nutrients like Vitamin A, B,C, iron, antioxidants and nitrates that helps to cleanse your body and improve your overall health.

4. Frozen and Dried Food

During the lockdown period, it can get difficult to get your hands on fresh produce and that’s when canned and packaged frozen food items can seem like a knight in shining armor. Get frozen vegetables, canned fish, beans, and frozen meat that can last you for days. This will also help your body with the necessary nutrients while adding the yummy quotient to your plate. While normally we are against ready-to-eat kits, it’s safer to store them during these tough times. We can’t miss mentioning dry fruits which are full of essential nutrients and oils that you can toss in your diet every now and then.

5. Healthy Munching

Now when your favorite fast food joint is not accessible we understand that all those cravings can be really annoying. Using it to your best of advantage, switch to healthy munching options like nuts, dry fruits, boiled eggs, yogurt, sauteed sprouts, home-made granola bars, the list just goes on. Or you can just stick to the classic whole wheat bread and peanut butter combo, oh the bliss!

6. Immunity Boosters

It’s funny how suddenly the world is forced to care about their immunity, this is probably the only thing maybe we all should be thankful to Covid-19 for – teaching us the importance of immunity! Just like the above-mentioned intake essentials, you can store immunity-boosting items like citrus fruits, papaya, kiwi, garlic, ginger, green tea, sunflower seeds, honey, etc. They can be excellent munchies or an add-on to your meals.

Needless to say that an Indian household can barely go a day without using spices so make sure you have that stored along with a little extra quantity of pepper and turmeric powder. Because that’s the super-weapon against most common illnesses like cold and cough.

With the essentials being listed above, we’d let you go make your grocery shopping list with a piece of simple advice – Anything that seems a lil too extra isn’t good for your body e.g. salt, sugar, and stress!

That’s all folks, stay home, stay safe, wear masks, gloves and keep splashing that 70% alcohol on your palms.

The post Easy Tips to Keep Your Diet Healthy During Corona Virus & Lockdown appeared first on Gympik Blog.

If you’re here reading this article right now, you too have been running out of ideas to keep yourself motivated to workout in this crucial time, right? We ain’t a psychic but we can guess that being at home all cooped up is taking a serious toll on your physical and mental health, everything has come to a halt from partying with friends to leading a life that was called normal a couple of months ago. You are not alone on this abyss. Though you have no access to gyms or parks, look around and be creative with your workout during this lockdown. And today we are going to tell you exactly the same, how you can blow the dust off your body (that was too much of an exaggeration) and get ready to start an active day in this ‘new normal’ during coronavirus lockdown.

As easy as it sounds, being active and staying fit in quarantine might demand more motivation and consistency compared to your normal days. You must be thinking why? Because when you’re stuck at the comfort of your home, the comfort starts getting way more absorbing than your willingness to be physically active.

We are going to list down a few home workout routines that will help you to be active, stay fit and stick to your fitness goals. You don’t want to come out of quarantine with unwanted gains, right? We certainly don’t!

FULL BODY WORKOUT 

Jumping Jacks x 20

It’s a great cardio exercise that stimulates your heart muscles while effectively on your shoulder, abdominal, glutes and quadriceps. Fact: You can burn 100 calories by doing 500 jumping jacks in a day!

Push-ups x 15

Push-ups help to build your upper body strength while engaging your abdominal muscles and lower back muscles. It also improves your body posture.

Burpees x 15

Burpees are a total win for a full-body workout, it pumps up your heart and stimulates movement of every muscle in your body. It also helps you to burn a lot of calories.

Squats x 20

Squats are popular as a leg toning workout but along with your butt and hamstrings, it also works on your abdominal muscles and lower back muscles.

LOWER BODY WORKOUT

Glute Bridge x 15

Sitting and working from home might make you feel like a sloth mentally and physically. This workout will work wonders for your hip stability and strengthens your lower back muscles. It also helps to strengthen your glutes, hamstring and abdominal muscles.

Jumping Squats x 15

Apart from burning excess calories and fats, jumping squats helps to strengthen your entire lower body along with your core and quadriceps.

Lunges x 15

Lunges are great for improving mobility and strengthening your lower body, core, spine, and quadriceps.

Pistol Squats x 10

Pistol squats are an advanced level of squats that puts intense tension on your core and lower body which helps to maintain mobility, balance, and flexibility. If these are too much for you, try doing 3-4 and you will get a hang of it till this chaos ends.

UPPER BODY WORKOUT

Push-ups x 10

The most popular exercise to build upper body strength while stimulating various muscles from the core to the back muscles, you must focus on doing this in proper posture. 

Shoulder Taps x 20

Shoulder taps are really efficient if you’re aiming at defining your abs. It also helps to strengthen glutes, arms, shoulders, and core. 

Decline Push-ups x 10

This exercise focuses on building pectoral muscles and upper chest muscles, along with targeting your triceps, core and deltoid muscles. 

Triceps Dips x 20

A very simple yet effective exercise to active your tricep muscles – the triceps dips help to strengthen your shoulder and arms. 

CORE WORKOUT 

Crunches x 20

A very popular exercise for abdominal muscles crunches also helps to strengthen your obliques and lower back muscles. 

Bicycle Crunches x 20

The bicycle crunch is a great exercise to strengthen your core muscles, activating obliques and burning loads of calories. 

Boat Hold For 60 Seconds

This is the simplest looking exercise which is pretty deceiving. It works on various muscles and helps to strengthen your lower back, abdominal muscles and spine. It also stimulates your kidney and intestine. 

Flutter kicks x 20

This exercise is great for abs sculpting, reducing fats, toning your lower body and improving the overall endurance of the body. 

You can do 3 to 4 sets of the above mentioned sets as per your body capacity but we suggest you keep challenging your body by practicing it every day and increasing one more round. Do this workout at home this quarantine, you can record yourself while doing these workouts and tag @gympik on Instagram for a feature on our page. Let’s aspire to inspire! 

The post Home Workout Routines To Stay Fit And Active During The Coronavirus Lockdown appeared first on Gympik Blog.