Keeping fit

[Ravi Rajan]

How many of us really care about our health.
Particularly in Hyderabad, I have seen almost majority of the youth are adicted to smoking and drinking Tea/Coffee many times a day. But here in US, even the President of the Country goes for regular exercise and has requested every American to go for regular exercise and let me tell you ... really here people do follow that, exercise is a part and parcel of their daily routine and keeping fit is the slogan. So why can we do the same. I request all my fellow beings to keep away from smoking or for that matter anything which causes health problem(s). Hope good will prevail. May God Bless us.

[lucifer_in_disguise]

how do you keep ur self fit ravi anniah,personally i go for a swim, every day, as it is good both for my health and also becoz in this part of the world,... boys n gals swim toghether......Naaku ado trupthi....telusugaa, phalitam mundugaa kanapadaka pote evaru edi cheyyadaniki ishata padaru kadaa anniah,.... untaa mari...

[Kulcha Hyderabadi]

Most people in our country do not have the level of health consciousness as people in the western world do because of our sedentary life style. The President of USA himself sets an example for his populace whereas our leaders present a pathetic picture of physical fitness. The general public too is averse to any kind of exercise. In the western world, people love their life, they believe in keeping themselves fighting fit, the medical costs are exorbitant, they work as long as they can, they hate the word “retirement”, life places an enormous demand on them and to meet those demands they have to be fit. We give up easily, we have a defeatist attitude and as such we ignore this aspect totally. Ask any person who is on the wrong side of 40, he will say “Hamara kya hai bhai, ham to duniyah dekh liye!” Why even those who ought to be fit present a hilarious scenario. I am talking about law enforcement and civil defense officers (the police and fire servicemen). Compare our pot-bellied and lazy policemen with NYPD or LAPD police officers. They make a sore sight. The need is to educate more and more people on the advantages of being fit. Like in Japan, all employees go through physical exercise before commencing work at factories, most employers provide physical fitness facilities at work sites. People in the advanced countries have realized that huge medical costs can be avoided by investing smaller amounts in providing fitness facilities and education. It is good to see that the trend is changing now in Hyderabad too. I see a lot of people jogging and walking in the mornings, more health clubs coming up, good to see a lot of our youngsters with the exposure to western world realize the importance of physical fitness and they passing on the information for the benefit of their family members back home. It will take time, but it’s coming.

[lucifer_in_disguise]

people in japan do not take a physical exercise, before going for work, they just take a stretching exercise which is for 1 or 2 mins, just to change there sitting positions, ammoh, these ppl even do not move out for luch, have there luch on there desks, japanese tothi endukule kulchaa aniah comparisonlu, nara maanavalu kaadu veelllu

[Learner]

Useful and very important message, thanks for your time and effort.

Our dear city should move with the time and quickly adopt a healthy attitude. Guys take care of your health, it is the only thing worth living for.

[Anil]

OK, let me try to balance this one-side bashing spree! Did anyone of you think why the Americans are so health conscious?
1. Americans are the largest consumers of red meat (beef) in the world - one of the prime causes for all the diseases especially heart-related. So, it is not a choice but a MUST to burn that fat and calories, otherwise they are doomed. And of course, obesity is the single biggest bane of the American society! Contrast this with our food habits - most of us are vegetarians (we do eat meat - but not daily and that too it is never beef). When it comes to non-veg, we go for chicken (mostly white meat - hence not that harmful), fish and mutton (a lesser evil). And we may not be salad freaks but we do take quite a lot of fibre (in the form of greens, roti, etc). So that balances.
2. The life style: Almost every American has a car. Most of their life is sedentary. Even when they go to a shopping mall, they try to find a parking spot very close to the entrance so that they don\'t have to walk. I have seen many of my American friends getting upset if they don\'t get a good parking spot! Ironically, they shell out dollops of dollars for the tread mills and in the gyms. WHY??? Contrast this with us - majority of us (especially the housewives) walk for long distances, wait for buses, etc. etc, holding 4 or 5 bags of groceries.
3. The 3rd factor is the weather - ours is a tropical climate and most of the time it is sweltering hot - so the body\'s BMR (basal metabolic rate) is quite a high and there is hardly any fat stored. However, in US or any cold climatic conditions, the BMR is low and there is a tendency for lot of fat accumulation - SO, one has to make some extra efforts to burn them.
4. Whoever said that American Police Officers are trim and smart may have got that from those TV series where they use perfect models to play most of the roles. The policemen here also have pot bellies - So basically, policemen are same - whether they are in USA or India.
5. As for the American President keeping fit - he better be what with his nose-poking habit in every other country’s domestic issues. It doesn\'t do any good for his heart.
6. Lastly, physical exercise is good - there is no second opinion about it. But if anyone wants to advocate it, just say it straight. Don\'t compare with American lifestyle. Just say, Exercise is good for the Body. Period. And guys, please shun this notion that a good physical means to have a Milind Soman, or even Salman Khan’s physique or an Aishwarya Rai’s figure. NO – a simple 10 minutes walk twice everyday is as good as those 3 sessions of 2 hr marathon at the gym in a week! Its definitely not all muscles - but a good healthy heart!
Happy LifeStyle:)

[peeping tom]

Well said Anil, let us have the following aims. Let our body not exceed the ideal range of body weight. Let our cholesterol not cross 250mg/dl. It will be better if it is around 200mg/dl. Let our fasting blood sugar be below 110mg/dl, and post prandial blood sugar be below 140mg/dl. Let us eat more fruits, vegetables, and drink more water. Rice and dry roties are good. Let us try to reduce oil consumption to the least. Let us always use refined oil. Let us always use pasteurised and toned milk. Let us take alcohol minimally - maybe once in a while in a month. Don\'t have bad personal relations with anybody. Let us not abuse anybody. Let us not suffer abuses from anybody. I reduced 10 kgs in last 04 months. In the morning times I use the fitness cycle in my room. I travel for 05 kms in that cycle. Best wishes, all Hyderabad/Indian guys!

[Purushothama]

When u talk of India remember that 60% are below poverty line and their main worry is how to feed their folks at home!!! So it is out of their mind that they have to exercise. Other 30% are middle class and their position is any better. Their wants are like rich but burdened like poor!! So they have no time to think about fitness. It sinks in our heads when we r to some extent better of economocally, by that time u r obese!!!!

[neeraja]

Hi anil.your board msg was very informative and useful. thanks... well friends, why take USA president as Example... our AP CM Mr.Naidu too has got a very discplined schedule, work outs, food habits, so he is very healthy, active, and able to execute dynamically for the people...

so even we Indians are ofcourse concious of Health and not most of us try to do some fitness exercise, see recently how many health clubs, have mushroomed in the city... its a good sign...