A good defense attorney would point out that I was drunk. A good defense attorney might also note what I was wearing (a skimpy-ish romper and over-the-knee boots). A good defense attorney would wonder about my relationship with the accused (friendly, collegial). A good defense attorney would remind me that I never said no (though I hadnt said yes, either). And if what happened to me that night was, in fact, so unwelcome, so invasive, so bad, a good defense attorney would ask why, then, didnt I fight back?

Ive often asked myself that same question.

Because when I felt his fingers creeping up my thigh and under the seam of my shorts, I didnt swat his hand away or slap him across his face. When he probed me, as if he were fishing for a utensil that had tumbled down the drain, I didnt scream or kick or cry. Instead, I stared at the curve of the drivers head; I was as inert and malleable as a lump of clay. In those moments, my reality broke down, my body split open, my consciousness escaped and drifted over us.

I dont remember how long it lasted. I dont know if anyone else in the car saw. But when the driver finally reached my stop, I stumbled out of the car so quickly, I didnt notice my wallet had slipped out of my purse and onto the floor under my seat. And I didnt notice, as I bounded up the stairs to my second-floor apartment, that my rapist had followed me until he was standing at the threshold of my home. You need to leave, I said, before I shut and locked the door.

That morning, as I lay in bed, I briefly wondered if I had made the whole thing up, if the dull pain between my legs was the product of my own delusion, like an infestation burrowed into my skin.

He texted me after 10 a.m.

Sorry if I did anything stupid last night I got so drunk.

I didnt text him back.

When I consider the catalog of indignities Ive endured at the hands of bad menthe famous journalist more than twice my age who slid his hand over my thigh; the drunk stranger who kissed me on the lips after the Seahawks won the Super Bowl; the tailor in India, where I studied abroad, who groped me under the pretense of adjusting my necklinewhat happened in the back of that car was worse, yes, but still so shockingly ordinary.

Later that day, I called my twin sister and told her someone I thought was my friend had digitally penetrated me without my consent. She sighed and, in a quiet voice, said the same thing had happened to herthree times.

At the time, I didnt use the word rape, and neither did she. Rape, like fine china or decorative hand towels, is reserved for only the most special occasions. Rape is for men in ski masks who prowl dark alleys and lurk in shadows. Rape is for smothered screams, drugged cocktails, bruised wrists and bloody sheets. Rape is for a gun to the temple, a knife to the throat.

Rape is a serious crime against serious victims, a designation I didnt want or feel Id earned.

And so I told everyone who knewmy boyfriend (now husband), two of my sisters, a few close friendsthat I wanted to move on with my life and forget what happened. Because I was young and powerless, and I feared if anyone else knew, too, my reputation and my work would be forever eclipsed by the worst thing a man had ever done to me.

I wasnt naive, either. Rarely do stories like mine, of women coming forward, end well. Whether we are called victims or survivors, in the public sphere our names are still marked with an asterisk. In some traditional cultures, women who are raped are murdered by their fathers and brothers for casting dishonor on their families. Here, we pillory these women on the Internet; force them into hiding; drag them through long, humiliating trials; call them sluts and liars; dissect their stories; scrutinize their bodies; consider whether they are worthy of belief or not, worthy of humanity or not.

So I would take my painful memories from that horrible night, shove them in a box, and bury them.

I didnt call the police because I wanted to move on.

I didnt go to the hospital because I wanted to move on.

But you and I both know how this story goes.

Shame consumed me in the days that followed. I was ashamed that by drinking too much, I had become vulnerable, even in the presence of my friends. I was ashamed that while he penetrated me, I sat motionless, despite years of adolescent scheming about all the ways I would fight off any man who tried to hurt me. Most of all, I was ashamed that through my silence, I let him get away with what hed done to me while I alone bore all the consequences of that night.

And I felt guiltyguilty for the outrage and agony my assault had caused my loved ones, guilty for subjecting them to the inconvenience of my personal trauma.

Avoiding the man who raped me was an exercise in futility. We saw each other nearly every day. We shared the same friends. We didnt speak of that night until two months later, when he had gotten word of what I had confided to a mutual friend. Over a few text messages, I told him he violated me; he said he didnt remember, but he apologized anyway, on top of a mishmash of denials and equivocations.

I had no idea this happened until [redacted] told me last night. I dont remember the uber ride besides you yelling at the driver for something, I remember dropping you off and you saying no [redacted] to me, but I didnt know why. Thats why I texted you the next day. I would never do that to anyone, thats so [expletive] up, I cant see myself doing that to anyone. You have no reason to be making this up, so Im sorry for what happened and hurting you. Not sure if sorry would ever fix something like this but I would never intend to consciously do that to anyone. I feel terrible. I dont even know how it could have happened with everyone else in the car too.

Thanks for apologizing, I wrote back. I really do appreciate it.

I know it seems like the easy way out to say I dont remember but that is the honest truth. I would never wish this upon anyone.

And so I buried my memories a little deeper into the ground.

Meanwhile, my assault shattered any illusions I had about my value as a woman in this world. I used to believe that if I worked hard enough, if I was talented enough, if I was smart enough, kind enough, good enough in all the ways a person can be, I, a mixed race woman, could overcome whatever limitations others perceived in me by virtue of my gender or my race. I could follow the rules, no matter how unfair, if it meant I could pass through life in this body unharmed.

But my rapist was someone I trusted, someone I considered a friend. I assumed I had won his respect. And yet, he betrayed me, so easily, at a time when I was pliable and defenseless. To him, in the back of that car, I was little more than an opportunity for the taking. It didnt matter how hard I worked, how talented I was, how smart. Maybe Im not any of those things, I thought. Maybe this is all I am, all Ill ever bea bit player in someone elses story.

Two years ago, my now-husband proposed. Our engagement was inevitableby then we had been together for 10 yearsbut we lived in separate cities, hundreds of miles apart. I should have been happy, incandescently and unquestionably happy. But my assault had ruptured something between us. He was angry at the man who hurt me, angrier than I ever knew he was capable of. He threw his dinner at the wall after I told him, as soon as I hung up the phone. He wrote furious letters to my attacker, pages and pages of handwritten screeds. Later, he sat on his fire escape, flicked open his lighter, and watched those pages burn to ash.

Whatever confidence he had in my safety evaporated. He was paranoid and afraid, and I could tell. I hated it. It reminded me of my own brokenness, and I hated that too. When he asked me to marry him, part of me wondered if this was just another mans ploy to lay claim to my unruly body. Was this about love or was this a trapdoor and a cage?

Journalists traffic in memories. The worst onesthe most devastating, life-changing, and traumaticare often the basis of our best work. In our quest to expose wrongdoing, we seek out those whove suffered all manner of tragedy and loss, and we ask them to recount for us, in intimate detail, their greatest sources of pain.

We cannot promise them justice or restitution. What we offer is the catharsis of truth-telling and a public reckoning of their suffering. When we tell their stories, we demand that the world pay attention, rather than turn and look away. Because in matters of injustice, there are no neutral observers, only those who are complicit and those who stand up for whats right.

I never intended to tell my own story this way. I feared I wasnt capable of articulating all of this messinessthe language of sexual violence is vague and inconsistentand I feared the nastiness my story would almost certainly invite. Mostly, I feared confronting the bare facts of my case, the shoddy stitches I would have to tear out.

In September 2016, Brock Turner, the former Stanford University swimmer who digitally penetrated an unconscious woman behind a dumpster after a fraternity party, was released from jail, three months into a six-month sentence. A month later, in October, The Washington Post published a secret video of Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, telling an Access Hollywood reporter, you can do anything you want to a beautiful woman if youre famous enough, you can even grab em by the pussy. Then in November, Trump was elected by a coalition of millions, including my parents, who brushed off his explicit endorsement of sexual assault, along with the numerous accusations of sexual misconduct against him, as harmless and insignificant.

But a year later, something in the American consciousness began to fracture. It started with exposs in The New York Times and The New Yorker, revealing the staggering breadth of rape, sexual assault, and harassment allegations against Hollywood kingpin Harvey Weinstein. A dam burst, unleashing a cascade of womens stories of widespread sexual predationin the media, in the workplace, in schools, in politics, in athletics, in churchunder the hashtag #MeToo.

This September, I heard about a young woman named Chanel Miller, a writer and artist living in San Francisco. In a stunning act of courage, Miller revealed herself as the woman Brock Turner raped on the Stanford campus in January 2015. At the time of her assault, Miller was a recent college graduate, working at a small startup in her hometown of Palo Alto.

In her new memoir, Know My Name, Miller describes her seemingly ordinary life in the aftermath of her rape. She recalls fresh salmon dinners . . . long talks on the phone with [her boyfriend] Lucas, bike rides through the Baylands with [her] dad. From the outside looking in, Life had seamlessly carried on, she writes.

But privately, Miller was also Emily Doe, the pseudonymous victim in the press, found half-naked and unconscious in a bed of pine needles, who put her life on hold as Turners court case moved through the legal system.

In the beginning I was good at keeping the selves separate. You would never be able to detect that I was suffering, Miller writes. But if you looked closely enough, cracks appeared. She went to bed crying so often, she started keeping a spoon in the freezer, which shed press against her swollen eyelids as she brushed her teeth each morning. She held sealed bags of ice against her face while she drove to work.

In Millers story, I saw glimmers of my own: A twentysomething, half-Chinese woman with literary ambitions, shielding a painful secret unbeknownst to the rest of the world.

Her announcement astonished me, and for the first time, I, too, felt I could cast off the weight of my secrecy and shame that has continued to haunt me.

In her groundbreaking work, Trauma and Recovery, first published in 1992, Judith Herman, a psychiatry professor at Harvard Medical School, writes that among rape survivors, The women who recover most successfully are those who discover some meaning in their experience that transcends the limits of personal tragedy, often through social action and public consciousness raising. When a survivor tells her story, according to Herman, she forces others to bear witness, to share the responsibility for restoring justice. So speaking our truth becomes an act of liberation, Herman writes, a taking back of something that was stolen from us.

Millers memoir, similarly, is a testament not only to her survival, but her commitment to the truth. Although she faces a barrage of hostility, she refuses to cower; at every turn, she demands to be heard.

We will not stand by as our mouths are covered, bodies entered, she writes near the end of her book. We will speak, we will speak, we will speak.

So that is what I am doing here: I am unburying my story. I am releasing the burden of my pain unto the rest of the world, so I no longer have to shoulder it alone. This is not about vengeance. I will not name my rapist. I have even omitted any details that could identify him. Frankly, I am tired of the space he has occupied in my mind and the time I have wasted trying to parse his actions and divine his motivations. I am ready to shake him loose, like the pebble that he is, rattling inside my shoe. As Miller writes of her own assailant, He could be Brad or Brody or Benson, and it doesnt matter. . . . This is an attempt to transform the hurt inside myself, to confront a past, and find a way to live with and incorporate these memories.

I, too, write this story for me. I write this knowing I am able to do so only because of the women and men who spoke before me. I write this so that others may speak, long after I do.

If you are reading this and you cradle your own quiet horror, your own memories too painful to say out loud, please know I am here and I am so, so sorry.

I will listen to you when you are ready to speak.

Deanna Pan can be reached at deanna.pan@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @DDpan.

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What happened that night - The Boston Globe

Aging is inevitable and is influenced by many things but keeping active can slow aging and increase life expectancy. Evidence shows that aging alone is not a cause of major problems until you are in your mid-90s. And strength, power and muscle mass can be increased, even at this advanced age.

So here are my top exercise tips for people in their 60s and older, at different levels of fitness.

If you fall into this group, you are in the minority. You are robust, likely to be a super-ager and you are doing wonderfully. You are certainly optimizing your chance of living longer and aging successfully.

Generally, this is when you reap your reward from a lifetime of keeping active. With your healthier metabolic, skeletal, cardiovascular and immune systems you can probably outperform people decades younger.

Keep up the kettlebells, spin classes, rowing, triathlons or manual work such as gardening whatever you like to do. You can keep challenging yourself physically. Mix your routine up a combination of aerobic and resistance work as well as an activity to challenge your balance is ideal.

Read also: Five brain-boosting reasons to take up martial arts at any age

Maximize health benefits by swimming outdoors and as part of a community. You might want to try sea swimming although its not for everybody.

But watch out for chronic overloading, that is, diversify your exercise program by incorporating cross-training. For example, if you are a runner, incorporate cycling or swimming to avoid overloading any part of your body.

Recovery after strenuous exercise is slower as you age and can take up to five days. So exercise smart.

You are doing well, so keep going. Long-term consistency is the key for benefits. You dont necessarily have to join a gym, just keep building meaningful physical activity into your day. For example, walk briskly to the shops to get your groceries, keep up gardening and be active around your house. Even repeating simple stair climbing is a great exercise.

If you are suffering from hip or knee pain, walking may be painful, so try cycling or water-based exercise instead.

Coupling physical activity with social engagement can optimize its benefits, so try yoga or a dance class. Incorporate some outdoor exercise for an added mental health boost.

Read also: What science tells us about successful aging

The main thing is to avoid long periods of sitting. Also, ideally, continue to do the exercise you enjoy. Try to steadily build up your level of aerobic exercise at a level where you build up a sweat and feel slightly out of breath.

Often strengthening and flexibility exercises are neglected, so try to include these types of exercises where possible.

You may be managing complex chronic conditions, which make it more difficult to exercise. Or it may be that exercise is not a habit for you. If you have several chronic conditions, you may need clearance from a doctor to exercise and specialized exercise advice from a physiotherapist or other exercise professional.

If you are experiencing three or more of the following: unplanned weight loss, exhaustion, slowness, weakness of grip and physical inactivity you may be considered frail, which will leave you vulnerable to even minor health stresses. But it is never too late to build more physical activity into your daily life.

Read also: Cancer and exercise do mix

Even reducing time spent sitting and doing a little exercise will have major health benefits, doing any type of activity at all is better than none. Even chair-based exercises or practicing sit-to-stand can be a great start.

Feeling a bit out of breath with exercise is normal and some initial aches and joint pain are fine. But if you ever feel chest pain or severe discomfort, you need to see a doctor straight away.

If you have a set-back such as a chest infection or fall which results in a hospital admission, get up and moving as soon as is safely possible. Even a few days of bed rest can result in major decreases in strength and fitness.

If you have surgery scheduled, being as active as possible before being admitted to hospital and start moving as soon as possible afterward will help your recovery. It may also prevent complications that could prolong your hospital stay.

If you are diagnosed with cancer, keep active, even during treatment, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and during recovery. If you have other common chronic conditions, such as heart or lung disease, keep as active as your condition allows.

Just remember, whatever your state of health, its never too late to reap the benefits of being more physically active.

***

Julie Broderick, Assistant Professor, Physiotherapy, Trinity College Dublin

This article was first published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.

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How to stay fit into your 60s and beyond - The Jakarta Post - Jakarta Post

Healthy weight loss or gain: Drink milk every day to enjoy these health benefits  |  Photo Credit: Getty Images

New Delhi: Milk is a nutrient-dense fluid thats long been associated with a range of health benefits - strong bones, healthy weight loss or gain, etc. It is, in fact, a staple diet for millions of people across the globe. Milk is packed full of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, protein, healthy fats and antioxidants that boost health and fight diseases. On National Milk Day, celebrated across India on November 26 every year to mark the birth anniversary of Dr Verghese Kurien, often referred to as the Father of the White Revolution of India, we bring you some amazing health benefits of drinking milk.

Basically, milk is the white liquid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals to feed their young ones. The most consumed ones come from cows, sheep and goats. Whether you want to improve your sleep quality, shed fat fast or build muscle or gain weight, drinking a cup of milk could work wonders.

Turns out, the notion that drinking milk before bed can help improve sleep may be true to some extent. Milk contains many nutrients such as potassium, calcium and Vitamin D, which are not present in many foods. Adequate Vitamin D levels aid the production of serotonin, a hormone linked to sleep. Getting enough sleep is important toshedpounds effectively. A deficiency of Vitamin D has also been associated with chronic fatigue, depression and PMS.

Additionally, higher levels of Vitamin D in the body have been linked to successful weight loss. For instance, one study published online in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggested that drinking milk may help you win the battle of the bulge. Milk and dairy products are well known for their high protein and calcium content, apart from other essential nutrients. Results from this study showed that a higher intake of both the nutrients - calcium and Vitamin D - is associated with greater diet-induced weight loss.

Being rich in calories, protein and other nutrients, milk also offers a balanced approach to gaining weight. Research suggests that milk may help you build muscle and support healthy weight gain.

Milk is a nutritious food that can benefit your body in numerous ways. Drink it on its own or add it to your coffee, smoothies or morning oatmeal. As with other foods, moderation is the key here - you do not have to drink more than a glass or two of milkper day, as drinking too much can make you pack on pounds. Forpeople who cant digest milk or choose not to consume it due to various reasons, they can opt for non-dairy alternatives, ensuring that they stick to unsweetened versions with limited ingredients.

Disclaimer: Tips and suggestions mentioned in the article are for general information purpose only and should not be construed as professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor or a dietician before starting any fitness programme or making any changes to your diet.

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Healthy weight loss or gain: Drink milk every day to enjoy these health benefits - Times Now

Many ladies turn to diet pills or laxatives when theyre looking to lose weight fast. However, there are serious concerns over the safety and effectiveness of consuming diet pills and laxatives for weight loss.

Laxatives have become a popular method of weight loss. Many people believe that using laxatives can help increase the frequency of bowel movements and allow for quick, easy, and effortless weight loss. But, the truth of their safety and effectiveness is a serious concern.

A new study shed light on this concern and found that girls and young women who use diet pills and laxatives to control their weight are at increased risk for eating disorders.

Scientists from Harvard Gazette conducted the study, which suggests- consuming diet pills has higher odds of having a first such diagnosis within one to three years than those who did not report using these products.

Scientists analyzed the data from more than 10,000 girls and women, aged 14 to 36, from 2001 to 2016. They used multivariable logistic regression models, adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, and overweight status to estimate the association between weight-control behaviors and subsequent eating disorder diagnosis.

Among those who initially did not have an eating disorder, 1.8% of those who used diet pills in the past year said they received their first eating disorder diagnosis over the next one to three years, compared to 1% of those who did not use diet pills.

The researchers also found that 4.2% of those who used laxatives for weight control were subsequently diagnosed with their first eating disorder, compared to 0.8% of those who did not use laxatives for weight control.

Senior author S. Bryn Austin, a professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard Chan School and director of STRIPED, said, Weve known that diet pills and laxatives when used for weight control can be very harmful substances. We wanted to find out if these products could be a gateway behavior that could lead to an eating order diagnosis.

Our findings parallel what weve known to be true with tobacco and alcohol: Starting harmful substances can set young people on a path to worsening problems, including serious substance-abuse disorder.

The study strictly recommends that policymakers and public health professionals should develop and evaluate policy initiatives to reduce or prohibit access to diet pills and laxatives abused for weight control.

First author Jordan Levinson, clinical research assistant, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Boston Childrens Hospital, said, Our findings are a wake-up call about the serious risks of these products. Instagram took a step in the right direction recently by banning ads to minors for over-the-counter diet pills and detox teas, which are often laxatives.

Its time for retailers and policymakers to take the dangers of these products seriously and take steps to protect youth.

The study was published online in the American Journal of Public Health.

See more here:
Consuming diet pills and laxatives linked to eating disorder diagnosis - Tech Explorist

If you are a fitness enthusiast, you must be aware of intermittent fasting. It is quite popular because of its weight loss benefits. For those who do not know about intermittent fasting, it is basically a regular but short-term fast. Following it means you have to refrain from eating for up to 12 to 16 hours. Big meal gap does benefit your body but at the same time puts you at risk of certain conditions. Here we will talk about both the pros and cons of following an intermittent fasting diet plan. Read on to know about them.

This eating pattern brings positive changes in the body. It decreases the level of insulin and helps in the inefficient burning of fat. The level of growth hormone also rises in the blood that facilitates muscle gain and fat burning. This is the way you lose weight. Also, intermittent fasting reduces your bodys resistance to insulin and reduces your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This diet plan keeps certain chronic conditions at bay. It does so by reducing the oxidative stress and inflammation that are knwon to be a contributing factor in the onset of those conditions. Intermittent fasting also benefits your heart. It decreases the level of bad cholesterol in the blood, inflammatory markers, and bloos sugar level. When you fast for around 12 hours a day, it triggers a metabolic pathway that helps in flushing out the waste materials effectively.

Following intermittent fasting can take a toll on your bodys metabolism. It is always advised to eat after an hour of waking up. This prevents muscle breakdown and binge eating later in the day. Also, not eating for long can increase the acidity in your body which can lead to bloating and even migraines. As we mentioned earlier, intermittent fasting reduces sugar level, but that is not good for your health for a longer period of time. The extremely low glucose level in blood may lead to fatigue, headache, anxiety, an irregular heart rhythm, irritability, etc.

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Intermittent Fasting: Pros And Cons of The Diet Plan - India.com

Its known by lots of names but the 5:2 diet is hailed by many as the easiest way to lose weight and keep it off.

Based on the idea of intermittent fasting, the 5:2 diet has remained consistently popular since it was first introduced in the United Kingdom during the 2010s.

The 5:2 diet (or fast diet as it is less commonly known) is based on the concept of intermittent fasting and is, according to nutritionist Rick Hay, simple to follow.

Its just five days of the week where you eat normally but when I say normally that doesnt mean pizza and coke, the author of The Anti Ageing Food & Fitness Plan told news.au.

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Then the other two days, which dont have to be in a row, you are restricted to five, six, seven hundred calories, depending on whose regimen youre following.

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Dr Michael Mosley first introduced the idea of eating a restrictive diet two days of the week on a 2012 episode of science show Horizon, touting it as a surprisingly easy way to incorporate intermittent fasting into your life.

The Fast Diet by Dr Michael Mosley. Photo / Supplied

Expanding on his work on intermittent fasting presented on Horizon, Dr Mosley published the book The Fast Diet in January 2013, according to Good Food.

Just a month later journalist Kate Harrison published The 5:2 Diet Book and since then the diet has been one of the most popular choices for people trying to lost weight.

In both Dr Mosley and Harrisons versions, a person eats normally for five days and then restricts their calorie intake for two days, either 600 for men or 500 for women.

On calorie-restriction days most people either eat two meals instead of three or shorten the time window in which they eat, hence the link to intermittent fasting.

One of the biggest benefits of the 5:2 diet is that it is easy to follow and is suitable for most adults to do, Hay said.

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I think this is a really good one for women and men in their 40s who have maybe tried a lot of diets and havent tried this one thats my go-to category, but really it is a pretty across-the-board diet, so I would be happy for anyone over 18 to try it, he said.

If youre not really into dieting and counting calories seven days a week this is a good one to do because you only have to count them twice an week its a good one for men too. Men dont like to bother much about diets, they just want it to be easy.

Hay said the 5:2 diet or some other form of intermittent fasting was also a good choice for people looking to lose weight or maybe sustain weight loss over a long term period.

Dr Michael Mosley came up with the diet in 2012. Photo / Supplied

I think its very important to mix it up, however. The 5:2 would probably be one of the easiest to sustain long term if you continue to get resolve, he said.

Its a good way once youve lost the weight to keep it off. Theres even the alternate-day fasting where people are doing four, three, one (days of restrictive calories) and all that, and they seem to be getting results as well. It is one of my favourites because its pretty simple.

When it comes to health benefits, Mr Hay said there were studies that suggested intermittent fasting such as what was done in the 5:2 diet was beneficial to helping reduce insulin levels and improve cardiovascular and cholesterol health.

However, a 2017 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that intermittent fasting diets such as the 5:2 didnt help people lose more weight compared with those who restricted calories daily.

The 5:2 diet has spawned many meal plans and recipe books since its inception. Photo / Supplied

Following the 5:2 diet requires a lot of planning for fasting days, and those in high-stressed jobs should be wary of not having fasting fall on busy days, Mr Hay warned.

If your work is very fast paced, be careful on those two days because if you arent eating properly wholesome wholegrains and really healthy food on those two days to nourish your brain, Ive found people can get very spacey, very dizzy, very ditzy on it, so I would have that caution in there as well, he said.

People also should be conscious of not just counting calories and need to still make sure they are eating colourful meals with lots of vegetables.

Its variety and not just focus on empty calories because you can have a croissant for breakfast and thats 120 calories or 150, or your choice might have been a green smoothie with plant-based protein powder in it, Mr Hay said. I think people need to chose those calories wisely on the two days.

As with most diets that involve calorie restrictions it probably isnt suitable for pregnant or breastfeeding women as well as children.

I think youve got to be careful if youre pregnant, it wouldnt be something I was doing if youre breastfeeding, Mr Hay said.

The 5:2 Diet Book by Kate Harrison. Photo / Supplied

I wouldnt be doing it with teenagers and children unless you were monitoring them and probably as well if youre already underweight thats probably not the one for you.

Most importantly, Hay said to eat what you want on the five unrestricted days within reason.

Read more here:
Does the 5:2 intermittent fasting diet really help you lose weight? - Daily Stock Dish

People should be mindful of the kind of exercise they engage in because physical exercise requires lots of energy and demands more vigorous circulation of blood thereby causing faster heartbeat, a fitness expert and a consultant, Anti-Aging and Preventive Therapies, Dr Nnedimma Iwueke, has said.

She also noted that, unfortunately, many people are currently living with undiagnosed heart conditions which include valve issues, inflammation of different parts of the heart as well as atherosclerosis, the partial blockage of arteries which some may not be aware of, adding that rigorous exercise can endanger their lives hence, some people slump while trying to keep fit.

Some slump during exercise as a result of hypertension. It is estimated that 29% of Nigerian adults are hypertensive, therefore, engaging in vigorous exercise while under such health conditions can lead to stroke, heart attack or sudden death, the expert stated.

She also said, being fit is not only physically but emotionally and mentally. It is a broad term that refers to optimal personal health and well-being.

Dr Iwueke said fitness relates to an individuals ability to perform daily activities while physical fitness ensures ability to withstand physical stress, and that emotional and mental fitness components ensure emotional balance and mental alertness.

Physical exercise relaxes muscles, ensures healthy joints and engages the nervous system. It should be noted, however, that physical exercise works better in performing these roles when a proper nutrition is involved. Many people who exercise are not aware of certain dietary needs as well as foods and that negate the desired goal of fitness.

Dr Iwueke said, exercise engages the body system to mobilize stored fat and this is one route to maintaining a healthy weight, adding that it is however important to observe that exercise without proper nutritional guidance could be an effort in futility.

For instance, exercising without a detoxifying nutrition could lead to regaining the lost weight as the body struggles to adjust to toxins and free radicals produced in the course of weight loss. More so, some people exercise and feed on junk at the same time.

Fast food is full of empty calories which ultimately lead to regaining the weight lost. So, there is the need for nutritional guidance while exercising for weight loss.

She also said exercise is for everyone and not just for overweight people, adding that the intensity of exercise however varies from one person to the other.

When you look at the number of people around us with sedentary jobs, the number of obese children and adults and the inadequacy of physical activity in the schools and institutions of nowadays, you would agree with me that more people need to exercise, she said.

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'Watch the kind of exercise you do' Daily Trust - Daily Trust

You can continue eating your favourite meals (Image: Shutterstock)

Numerous people around the world have incorporated intermittent fasting into their lifestyle. Intermittent fasting is a pattern of eating where one schedules their meals around the clock. So, rather than changing what you eat, intermittent fasting helps with weight loss by changing when you eat. Therefore, you can continue eating your favourite meals (in regular quantities!).

ALSO READ: Five ways fasting can help in the fight against cancer

When the body is digesting and absorbing food, it is in the fed state. This state lasts for three to five hours. Resultantly, its very hard for the body to burn fat since insulin levels are pretty high.The fasted state lasts for eight to twelve hours, this is the time when its easier to burn fat (Image: Shutterstock)

The post-absorptive state follows the fed state. During this time, the body isnt digesting or absorbing any meal. This period is called the fasted state and it lasts eight to twelve hours. During the fasted state, it is easier for the body to burn fat because insulin levels are low.

The 16/8 method is the most popular intermitted fasting schedule. It involves having your first meal in the afternoon at around 13:00, thisis the first break of the fast. This then means that the eating period will go from 1300h to 2100h. After the final meal, the fast begins and carries on for 16 hours. You can opt to break your fast earlier or later than 1300h, just as long as you maintain the 16 hour fasted stated and 8 hour fed state.The 16/8 method is the most popular intermitted fasting schedule (Image: Shutterstock)

Intermittent fasting helps you consume less calories by restricting your meals to a set time window. This style of eating also changes hormone levels and lowers insulin, which increases the release of norepinephrine (noradrenaline), a fat-burning hormone. Do note that if you binge eat during your eating window, you will not lose any weight.

Children should not partake in intermittent fasting as their bodies are not fully developed. Individuals with a chronic illness should also avoid this method of weight loss. Additionally, pregnant or breastfeeding women should seek professional medical advice before participating in intermittent fasting.

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How you can lose weight through intermittent fasting - The Standard

By ANITA MURAGEMore by this Author

"Measure your height, weight." Strolling through the streets of Nairobi, weighing scales beckon pedestrians to calculate their body mass index (BMI) at a small fee.

Irrespective of class, obesity in Kenya is fast becoming an epidemic, one that has fostered an environment for the exploitation of Kenyans who want to get lean without breaking a sweat.

According to a 2018 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about one in three women in Kenya are overweight, the risk going higher among women in upper socioeconomic groups.

Slimming creams, pills and teas, fad diets and other unregulated interventions are harmful, yet they are the easiest to access and quite affordable as opposed to gym memberships and consultations with nutritionists who can provide effective and long-lasting solutions for those who seek them.

To get to the root of how these unpopular methods became so widespread, one needs to understand where it all began.

The year is 1954 in post-war Britain: popular magazine Womans Own began advising its readers on different methods of losing weight, just months after the colonial power had abolished food rationing in the country.

MEDIA ROLEA three-part illustrated series in the October 1954 issue of the magazine, titled Trim your Figure, then instructed British housewives how to lose weight while performing simple household chores.

Being thin was in, and the magazine had established it as a standard of post-war femininity for British women.

As Kenya got closer to independence, advertisements in national newspapers such as the Nation began to reflect the same standard Womans Own had set in 1954.

Notably, the earliest record of weight-loss advertising in Kenya was in the Sunday Nation of October 7, 1962.

A pill called Lemslim, marketed to women, claimed that when used consistently, one could lose 60lb (about 27kg) in just four months.

The product was from Britain and the advertisement featured white women, hence one can infer that it targeted British women settling in Kenya to adopt the habits of their counterparts back home.

Either way, the paper was accessible to all who could read it, which means that such advertisements could have had an influence on Africans as well.

After independence, the frequency of the advertisements increased.

A tonic called Veinoids was marketed to women while Lemslim started including men in its advertisements.

Diets also became the order of the day. A look at the Sunday Nation issue of July 11, 1965 features a two-page spread on a diet, with input from a nutritionist.

The doctor suggested a method called scientific nibbling, which involved eating six small meals a day as opposed to the major three.

It also featured a chart titled TOO FAT? Check with this chart that helped readers figure out if their weight was within the acceptable limits based on the average body mass index.

Over the years, Kenyans have become more susceptible to lifestyle diseases due to their eating habits, a direct result of rapid economic growth.

According to a report in 2015 by the Ministry of Health, lifestyle diseases account for over 50 per cent of total hospital admissions and 55 per cent of hospital deaths.

These diseases include diabetes, cancer and other cardiovascular diseases linked to poor nutrition and physical inactivity.

You see, the reason the prevalence rates (of overweight/obesity) are very high is poor dietary habits. People know how they should eat, but over the years, (they) have decided to just eat what is available, explains Henry Ngethe, chairperson of the Nutrition Association of Kenya.

He attributes this to the high literacy rates, especially with the urban population, that leads to poor decision-making as opposed to their counterparts in rural areas when it comes to healthy eating.

This problem is further exacerbated by the accessibility and affordability of fast food as a readily available meal alternative.

Kenyans, it seems, love their junk food, and international fast-food chains as well as local ones have been keen to cash in on this profitable market.

The past 10 years have seen American franchises - KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Dominos Pizza, Hardees and Coldstone Creamery - setting up shop in Nairobi.

Zimbabwean company Innscor Africa, however, still dominates the Kenyan market with its Chicken Inn, Pizza Inn and Galitos chains located at various petrol stations all over the country, with some staying open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Meals cost as low as Sh200 why wouldnt you want to buy one?

Recently, local food chain Java House Africa launched a new fast-food joint, Kukito, within the same price range as these others, a joint that has quickly become popular among young Kenyan consumers.

The case against getting fit through unsafe and unsustainable methods is one that has drawn the attention of people trying to make a difference by educating the public on eating better and exercising using their own bodies and histories as examples.

Popular body transformation coach Jane Mukami, also known as Fit Kenyan Girl, is one example.

In an interview on the K24 television show Talk Central in August 2018, Jane described her fitness journey as gradual she started with two years of fad diets and marathons with no results.

As she was just about to give up and get liposuction to shed the extra fat, she consulted a bodybuilding coach, who changed her mind-set on how to effectively lose weight.

She narrates how he questioned her eating habits in relation to her workouts, stating that what you eat has more effect on your body weight than anything else. The results were evident within a six-month period.

Word of her dramatic weight loss made the rounds on social media, and more Kenyans got curious about how she achieved it.

As of October 2017, when her Facebook pages were hacked and subsequently deleted, she had garnered about 550,000 followers.

The pages, 21 Days of Change and 10-Day Detox, have since been restored and made private.

However, testimonials on her website show how ordinary Kenyans have altered their bodies through a change in their eating habits.

The 10-day detox in particular is quite immersive, involving juicing and calorific measurement as one transitions into clean eating.

Testimonials show that people lose about four to 10kg within this period, with significant lifestyle improvements.

Does the detox work in the long run, though? Karen Muriuki, 23, recently tried it after witnessing her mothers transformation her mother lost five kilogrammes during the 10-day period.

Like many who were pleased with this change, she incorporated the programme as part of her lifestyle.

She does it about once every two months, says Muriuki, adding, Before starting the detox, Id been practising the 16/8 intermittent fasting for about a year or so. That meant that I fasted for 16 hours (10pm to 2pm) and my eating window was between 2pm and 10pm.

Intermittent fasting is a method of weight loss that has gained popularity all over the globe.

It is preferred because it does not mean you have to change what you eat, but when you eat it. Its proponents claim that it helps you get the most out of your meals.

In a previous interview with the Nation, Ngethe, the chairperson of the Nutrition Association of Kenya, warned against its effects, especially on womens bodies.

There are vitamins that you must take into your body every day, and if they are not provided, it might result in a certain deficiency, he said.

Karen says that although she managed to meet her weight target through this method, without monitoring what she ate, it was easy to regain a few kilogrammes.

She started at 65kg and lost five kilogrammes with this method, before regaining three. After this, she decided to try the 10-day detox.

I lost four kilogrammes, from 63kg to 59kg, she says. To maintain this weight, I can no longer have a heavy meal at night because the detox really helped improve my sleep. Also, I no longer wake up feeling bloated, she says.

It seems that more Kenyans are more conscious about their nutrition, though there is still a lot more to be done from both ends.

Ngethe illustrates the tug of war of demand and supply, which undermines healthy living.

The biggest challenge we have in the country right now is that the counties and national government do not have adequate nutritionists, he says.

And continues: If we look at the way the prevalence rates of non-communicable diseases are going up, this simply means that we need to adopt more preventive health (interventions) rather than the curative, which these governments are focusing on, he explains.

CHANGING ATTITUDESHe elaborates this by saying that the government focuses on solutions to these lifestyle diseases by investing in machines and other resources while neglecting the root of the problem.

They should also ensure that we have nutritionists at the community level, where everyone can easily access their services, he advises.

Kenyans are also getting more health-conscious, with pavements in upmarket and middle-class neighbourhoods dotted with men and women of all ages jogging or taking morning and evening walks to get their share of physical activity.

Their habits in relation to visiting nutritionists are also improving. However, Ngethe points out that a majority of those who seek this consultation are women.

Men often seek diet adjustments after the fact to manage the disease contracted, as opposed to seeking help as a preventive measure.

If you see a man coming (to consult), it means that there is usually something bothering them. The highest number of those that come are often suffering from a non-communicable disease, he tells the Nation.

Women are more conscious about their health than men. (They) have a number of challenges as opposed to men, he says.

RISKY TRENDSAs more Kenyans seek to improve their lives and feel more confident about their body image and health, a steady decline in the use of unsafe methods of weight loss should be expected.

That said, while losing weight is often linked to better health according to medical professionals, the pressure placed on those who are well within their limits to look a certain way by those who are unqualified to pass such judgment allows unsafe methods to thrive unchecked.

Improving accessibility to healthier interventions is imperative, but the conversation around overweight and obesity should stray from a point of ridicule to encourage healthier methods of staying in shape as a whole.

In countries like Mauritania, a practice called leblouh entails force-feeding girls from as young as five years to achieve a full figure and be attractive enough for marriage.

The girls are then married off from age 12. To the ancient Moors, ancestors of the present citizens of Mauritania, a fat wife was seen as a symbol of a mans wealth as it showed that he had the capacity to feed her while others perished in the midst of drought.

In an interview with The Guardian in March 2009, Aminetou Mint Ely, a womens rights activist, said, "In Mauritania, a woman's size indicates the amount of space she occupies in her husband's heart."

Closer to home, in Uganda, women in the Bakiga community were required to stay in seclusion for a month before marriage where they would be overfed to fatten them they were also taught how to be good wives.

In February 2019, the Ministry of Tourism there came under fire from womens rights activists when it unveiled a campaign that marketed the curvy bodies of Ugandan women as a tourist attraction.

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Let's talk about weight - Daily Nation