Do I change my nutrition plan in winters?

Just like we change our wardrobe to woollen and our heating bill is increased. Our body also undergo through some changes. It is important to understand that consuming hot drinks in excess to keep yourself warm will not do any good to the body. It is essential to consume the right nutrients during winters to keep the metabolism stable.

Food items which are rich in Vitamin C especially fruits and vegetables. It keeps the immune system working correctly as it has to work harder to fight cold and flu during the winters. Some good food example of Vitamin C; kiwi, guava, grapefruit, orange, lemon and vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, capsicums and Brussel sprouts are rich, natural sources of vitamin C. Other vitamin C-rich fruits include papaya, cantaloupe(Kharbooja) and strawberries.

Just like Popeye, eat up all the Spinach; the ZINC is needed! It boosts up the metabolism and helps to fight the cold. Secondly, make sure have stacked up packets of dry fruits. It should be your before breakfast meal; almonds, walnut and raisins.
Up your consumption of fish, eggs, porridge and cheese and avoid sugary meals or drinks. During winters; the body does not sweat as much it does in summers that stacks up the glucose in the body which later results in belly fat.

It is important to understand and know when these meals should be consumed and in what amount. It varies to every individual depending on their body type, metabolism and lifestyle/daily routine.

To know more about winter nutrition plans:
Email – affan.ezedrop@gmail.com

Instagram – Ezedrop.fitness

How do I maintain my body weight during the wedding season?

This time of the year is very lively and full of family gatherings and functions in India. Starting off with the festive season, of course festivals are incomplete without sweets which we all love. Moving on to the festive season where we all enjoy the exotic starters, delicious main course and desserts which goes straight to your heart!

I have noticed that during this time; people often take a break from exercise and nutrition plans. Although nothing changes except for few days when we have festivals and weddings. However, they continue with this break throughout the year. When asked, they just have these excuses; “Diwali break”; “I have got a wedding to attend”; “I’m travelling to my home town”. They end up spoiling their body which we worked so hard on throughout the summers.

The delicious food is hard to avoid during weddings. We all love it; I am a big fan of desserts and I go all in when I attend a wedding! However, it does not affect my physique, I eat and I take precautions to the amount of food consumed. NOTE: One time meal in a wedding is equal to the daily consumption of your normal day routine (Approx. 2000-3000 calories).

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Well, first of all, you have to understand that this does not come easily. You have to starve yourself for a week prior to the event. It’s simple mathematics; cut down 500-700 calories each day and consume food components which are rich in nutrients. Reduce consumption of carbs, avoid fast food and soft/sugar drinks. Increase the consumption of greens and protein. Your daily cut down of 500-700 calories will be recovered on the day when you consume more than 3000 calories and your body will not be affected. In fact, it will help in boosting up your metabolism rate and will not affect your body as much.

For more information on the nutrition plans for such events ; DM me on Instagram or send me an email – affan.ezedrop@gmail.com

It’s a one time investment and same plan can be followed for any event with delicious food!

Is lifting weights important?

I used get that a lot, especially from my past trainers.. LIFT WEIGHT OR STAY SMALL.. This concept was not clear until recently when I had finished a workout plan with basic nutrition. I created a workout routine for myself which include basic exercises targeting the bigger muscles. On the other hand, nutrition included carbohydrates and natural protein intake from various forms of food. I did not consume any supplement for this plan. I noticed a boost of energy in my body which I never felt in the past years of workout. It made my body more energetic and full of endurance.

On the contrary, during the time I was all about heavy lifting; I use to stay in bed for hours relaxing my muscles. YES!, the result came out great but it was not worth it. Plenty of things got affected; especially work.

Recently, I came up with this plan inspired by athletes; the FIRST thing is RUNNING, believe it or not. It is the key to bring activeness in your body. Secondly, forget heavy weights and consider proper form & the right tempo. It is VERY VERY VERY important that you follow proper form of the exercise. Suppose, you are lifting heavy weight on a bench press and your grip is almost right (slightly inward) and your wrist is loose. This is something you do not want to experience! However, when you are lifting moderate weights, you will notice the burn/stretch in your muscle and where exactly the effect is coming at. It is exactly what you want. Follow the RIGHT tempo! Consuming 1800-2200 calorie diet with this workout routine; the results will come out great! REMEMBER, the chances are it will not work for you if you do not follow the right nutrition plan. 80% of it depends on the food you consume.

It was worth the time and effort I had put in this plan, the results came out great which motivate me even more to stick to this plan. The BEST part is; plenty of food options are open in this nutrition plan!

How can JUNK FOOD be healthy for you?

JUNK FOOD! We all know is the best thing in the world.. Not for all but for majority of us.
I, myself, have been a fan of Pizza especially the thick base ones! It is like food from heaven for me. However, since I started out my career in fitness; the gym I use to got to, they had this motto that “Junk food” is not for people who train. Junk food is not for people who have fitness goals to achieve. It is not for HUMANS!

It made sense to me since JUNK FOOD has plenty of EXTRAA calories which our body does not require. On the other hand, the fitness centre also had a free soft drink machine set up in one corner… Now that didn’t make any sense to me. It made me question if these experienced people were right about JUNK FOOD?

I started my research on this; I had to try this on my body and then on other body types. I did not gain any weight after eating JUNK FOOD or got any kind of bloated feeling in my stomach. I should tell you this; it felt GREAT doing this research as I got to eat the thick crust pizza multiple times!’

It is very IMPORTANT that I should tell you how it did not effect my body. Normally, it would make a difference in your performance, your health and you will feel BLOATED! Even during workouts, we know if we do exercise in proper tempo and movement, we will get results! We follow the same scenario here!

PLEASE NOTE, before you order your favourite junk meal, let’s say a KFC zinger burger, make sure to order a bottle of normal water. Drink it before your burger arrives. Do not drink it all at once, takes small sips and drink at least 250ML upto 750ML. Secondly, do not order a soft drink with the burger. You are here to enjoy the burger not a soft drink! When your burger arrives; take your time to finish it, don’t go CRAZY on it! Have small bites, CHEW IT properly, just think it as the last burger you are gonna eat! Lastly, when you are done eating, do not drink any liquid, not even water for at least half-hour. We like to fill our belly with water after we finish our meals, DONT!

If we think about it, what does junk food contain? Flour? Sauces? Cheese? Ultimately it is food which our body need, our body require. Obviously we cant feed on the same thing every day, our body does not function that way. However, we can keep ourselves happy and SATISFIED with our cravings!

Are Supplements essential?

I’ve come across people who are completely against supplements and consider them hazardous to health. On the other hand, there are some of my friends who consume supplements on a regular basis even if they don’t exercise!

Well, both of them are correct! Let’s discuss:
First Situation – NO supplements – Supplement is made up of artificial process, for people who have a very minimal workout routine should stay away from supplements as its not going to bring much of a difference. Although, if you do not burn enough calories and consume excess proteins; it might effect your digestion organs! There are healthy alternatives which you can consider!

Second Situation – Supplements – People who are against supplements and spent plenty of time in the gym; it becomes necessary for them to consume it as it helps in faster recover of the muscles. However, some population tend to stress their muscles and does not provide enough nutrient which results in reducing the productivity and muscle growth! You have to make sure your Nutrition and Workout is balanced for you to see results!

Which Workout/Nutrition plan will work best for me?

Any plan you follow will work best if you follow it with DISCIPLINE.

Personally, all kind of nutrition plans have worked for me; be it for weight loss, weight gain, muscle gain and so on. If you keep a good routine of meals, sleep, and workout. You will achieve your desired goals!

It is really important to know about the human body and how it functions so we can operate it in the best way! For example, having 6–8 hours of sleep but you should be in bed before 12 Midnight!
This helps the human body to respond better and give better results!

I have trouble in starting my Workout routine! WHAT TO DO?

This is one of those cases everyone has been through! We often hear these statements from people; ‘I’ll start from Monday for sure’, ‘I have tried everything; my weight is still the same’, ‘It’s not meant for me’, ‘Yes, I have membership for a year but I rarely go’ and so on. I used these statements because I have heard them personally from my friends & family. I will not lie; I am also a victim of this. It is difficult to get back to the gym when you have taken a break or come back from a vacation.

WHAT TO DO??

Well, some tricks I have adopted which have worked really well in the past. Firstly, never think of starting from Monday! Instead, go the gym in the afternoon on the weekend and get use to the environment. It will help you prepare for the coming week. Secondly, plan out your workout before you go the gym! You will know what you have to do in the gym so you don’t look in the mirror all the time. Thirdly, it is not necessary that you have to begin with Chest or Cardio; just do what you like the most, keep it at a low level so you don’t pull up any muscle. Lastly, take a friend to the gym. Most gyms offer FREE TRIAL to new customers; you can use that and have a nice time with your friend the very first day!

How Important is Water?

In simple words, if we do not consume Water; we will not survive.

The human structure is made up of 70% water; our body needs water throughout the day. People survive with having just one glass of water because they do not feel the thirst. I don’t blame you for that; everyone hates to go the loo every now and then!

Before you do that again; just think about it for a minute; the cells of our body, tissues and organs function themselves with water. If they do not get enough fluids; they will not function which will result in diseases! We don’t want them!

Countries such as UAE, India and Australia; the consumption of water is very essential! You may not feel how is your body getting damaged because it happens internally. You will realise when it has reach its limit and then it will be late to respond to it.

I would suggest you to keep a bottle with you all the time! You should be consuming 4 Litres and gradually increase it to 6 to 7 Litres.

There are no Muscle building workouts!

I did some research on this topic for the past few months and have found out that majority of the people who recently have joined a fitness centre have asked Google on how to increase muscle! If you are reading this and you are one of them, I request you to give 5 minutes to this BLOG so you can understand that even after heaving lifting and loading up stacks of supplements, you are not seeing results!

When we bring our muscle in motion; there is a tension created which results in breaking muscle tissues. Furthermore, we consume food which delivers the essential nutrients to that muscle and heals it. NOTE! This is where we make mistake, we create excess tension in our muscles and forget that it needs rest to heal and repair. Some of my clients use to workout 7 days a week without day off. Our muscle tissue wants time to repair and it gives better results! If you are new to the gym, make sure to give at least 2 day off in a week. Rather get a massage done on the day-off which will help your muscle to repair faster!

Why you should train with your buddy?

More than a thousand people ask this question every month, “Should I train alone or with a gym buddy?”, it would be much easier if these people asked this question to themselves. Before I reach towards a conclusion, I would like to point out that this is no rocket science! nor it is mathematics! It is does not require any sort of calculation or tests.

In order for you to get the answer, try to follow a routine for a week; it can be anything from waking up early at a particular time for the whole week, going for a walk, painting, cleaning, working etc. Make sure you set a time for this and do this routine in the time you have allotted yourself. You may/may not require to note down since its only for a week.

After a week, ask yourself if this was a burden or a duty you had to go through. If you took it as a task which had to be done on time. If yes, then you got yourself an answer to find a gym buddy! It can be extremely helpful in cases when you feel sidetrack; motivating each other in these situation can keep you and your buddy regular to the gym!