Do you struggle to sleep or frequently wake up in the middle of the night and lie awake for hours, you might be suffering from insomnia? Insomnia is a common sleeping condition where people find it difficult to fall asleep or they stay awake for long period of time restless in their bed or wake up frequently in between their sleep and find it difficult to go back to sleep. Insomnia can either be short term or long-term primary or secondary insomnia. Chronic sleep loss over a period can be dangerous for your health as the body needs a minimum of 8 hours sleep during which it heals itself and rests to prepare for the next day. Not getting enough sleep can increase your risk of cardio-vascular disease, stroke, diabetes and high blood pressure. However, most cases of acute insomnia are linked to poor health habits and by correcting those, it is possible to get the required amount of sleep.

Get in tune with your circadian rhythm
Your body follows an internal body clock – if you keep a specific time to sleep and wake up in the morning, your body slowly adapts to that pattern and will do the same thing without any external motivation. Set aside a specific time every day when you retire to bed. This will help you sleep better. Ensure your sleep environment supports you to fall asleep for eg, avoid using loud colours or harsh lights in your bedroom. Try to live in a noise-free area.

Schedule your meals properly
Before you go to sleep, it is important that your body is not in an active state. Very often we tend to eat heavy meals an hour before we go to bed, which may hamper our sleep. The process of digestion may interrupt your ability to fall asleep and laying down could also lead to indigestion. Preferably have your meals a minimum of 2 hours before you go to sleep. Try to eat light, and protein rich food, which takes longer to digest. This way you will not have difficult falling asleep because of hunger cravings either!

Manage stress
Stress affects all of us daily and it is important to develop coping strategies because it can have far-reaching negative effects on our lives. When you take your stress to bed with you it can impact your sleep and worsen your mood, making your stress worse the next day and leaving you in a vicious cycle. Journaling, taking therapy sessions, channelling stressful emotions into creative work or meditation will help you manage excess stress. Severe anxiety and depression can also affect your quality of sleep, seek professional help to manage this.

Exercise is key
Exercise is not only great for your overall health, but it also helps you sleep better. When you exercise on a regular basis, it helps improve your cardiac health, your immunity, reduces stress levels and tires you out so that you fall asleep easily. It is important to set aside a convenient time for you to exercise every-day and follow a routine even if it is for 15-30 minutes. Your body needs to burn a certain number of calories per day to maintain good health, without sufficient physical activity, it can lead to chronic ailments which may consequently impact your sleep.

Avoid stimulants like alcohol, caffeine, nicotine
Alcohol and nicotine can interrupt with the normal breathing patterns, making you have a disturbed sleep. Coffee in small amounts will not do much harm, but excessive amounts of caffeine will over-stimulate your system and make it difficult for you to fall asleep. It is best to avoid all the above four hours before you go to bed. More serious breathing disorders such as sleep apnoea can have a serious affect on the quality of sleep which will require medical intervention.

If you follow the above tips in your daily routine, your chances of achieving restful sleep will improve. If your sleep difficulties do not improve through this, it is adviced to consult your physician or a sleep specialist.

The post Health Tips to improve sleep and keep insomnia away appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

In the last couple of years, one of the biggest buzzwords in the fitness industry and weight loss forums is keto. We are sure you’ve also heard some of your friends or family members bragging about following a keto diet on a family soiree or at the buffet section of a party and wondered what exactly is this ‘keto diet’? And how is it helping you lose weight if it is allowing you to consume 70 per cent fat as part of your meals?

Well, a keto diet (also known as the ketogenic diet) is a special diet plan that ensures you are eating foods that are high in fat (about 70 per cent), moderate in protein (about 25 per cent) and extremely low in carbohydrates (about 5 per cent). The main purpose of this diet is to help your body achieve the state of ketosis. When in ketosis, your body is constantly burning fat, and at a rate higher than any other diet plan will be able to help you achieve. You can read more about the Keto diet’s merits and demerits here.

But does it actually work? For 25-year-old Luvkesh Chanchlani it did. Chanchlani tells us that at his highest, he weighed a whopping 145 kgs and after trying almost every diet plan available and failing at all of them, he was available to shed 50 kgs in 7 months by following a proper keto diet plan (created specifically for his body type) and working out daily.

“I tried a lot of diet plans and even changed multiple gyms and trainers to lose weight but wasn’t successful at all till I switched to a keto diet. Within 7 months of following a keto plan and working out regularly (6 days/week) I trimmed from 145 kgs to 95 kgs,” he says. “Without sacrificing on chicken, cheese and butter — the three things that I love very dearly,” he adds.

What to eat if you are following a Keto Diet?

While the keto diet needs to be tweaked a little bit for every individual, Chanchlani says that the common keto diet plan consists of chicken, eggs, cottage cheese, cheese, mutton and salads. “My keto diet plan for weight loss started with eating 4 meals a day with varied quantity of food, which was also changed every 45 days.”

Which exercises to follow to lose weight if you’re on a Keto Diet?

“As per my body type and diet plan, I was required to workout 6 days a week to tone my body, and due to busy schedule, I could only go to the gym at 10 pm in the nights and indulge cardio (every alternate day) and weight training. When I started working out, I could only do reps of 5 of most exercises, but now, I can do 100 reps of certain exercises. Notably, even while just doing 5 reps and eating right, I was able to lose 6-7 kgs in the first month itself. The initial weight loss gave me a lot of confidence to keep going on.”

QUICK READ: 5 myths you need to know about the ketogenic diet

How to maintain the weight you’ve lost after a drastic body transformation ?

“I have been able to maintain my weight by continuing with both my keto diet and gym routine.”

Any tips for someone who’s trying to lose weight?

“Finding the correct diet for your body type is the key to weight loss as diet is the most important factor.”

Disclaimer: The diet and workout routines shared by the respondents may or may not be approved by diet and fitneTss experts. GQ India doesn’t encourage or endorse the weight loss tips & tricks shared by the person in the article. Please consult an authorised medical professional before following any specific diet or workout routine mentioned above.

The post How to lose weight like this guy who lost 50 kgs by following a Keto diet and only working out at nights appeared first on MyMedicPlus.