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5 Myths Busted about Weight Loss and Exercise – Diet and Fitness 101

Nayantara Karnik · July 17, 2015 · 10 Comments

It’s hard to decide where to start this, especially when ‘diet’ is probably one of the most searched keywords on the internet. However I’d like to think of this as a post about the basics of being and staying healthy. This is for those who are overweight, underweight, just want to get healthy or want to improve their health.

Personally I’m not a health expert or a dietician, but I have been consistently active since I was at school and over the last 8 years I have done my share of research on diet and health when I first put on a few extra kilos. Along the way I’ve gathered plenty of info which I’ve put to use, figured out what works for me and this usually applies to most people. Since I like to think of myself as a scientific-minded person, fad diets and the latest popular routine don’t appeal to me. My goal is to be and stay as healthy as possible for the rest of my life.

I’m hoping to write this as a series of posts as there’s just way too much to put down all at once, and it can get confusing. So let me start by busting a few stubborn myths out there that just don’t seem to die.

Fad Diets

High-protein, low-carb, high-fat, low-fat, paleo, cabbage-soup diets and what not!! All these will definitely help you lose weight in the short-term because any diet that’s restrictive will naturally make you lose the pounds.

DIY Leave-In Conditioner

Nayantara Karnik · June 24, 2015 · 7 Comments

As anyone with naturally wavy or curly hair knows, once you stop trying to straighten and flat-iron it into submission, and decide to find a way to make it look like the beautiful bouncy curls you see in magazines and the internet, suddenly, horror of horrors, you discover that there are hardly any ‘curl-friendly’ products out there in our Indian market.

Now, before you straight hairs turn away, this is something that could be great for your hair as well, in fact, for anyone with dry or otherwise damaged hair.

The key to having beautiful shiny hair is hydration. For years, I religiously shampooed and conditioned my hair, yet conditioner alone never seemed to be enough; my hair still looked frizzy and dry. After much research, and several youtube videos later, I realized one simple product that could really work for me was leave-in conditioner. Till date I haven’t really found one off the shelves that worked for me. Though many people suggest using just regular conditioner as a leave-in on wet hair, that alone wasn’t enough either.

Without getting into the nitty gritties of humidity factor and climate where you live or the composition of the hair shaft, suffice it to say that ‘water alone’ does not hydrate hair. Ideally, you also require humectants and emollients in varying proportions. Simply put, humectants will attract the moisture to your hair and emollients will seal that moisture in.

On that note, let’s get straight to the tutorial. [Read more…] about DIY Leave-In Conditioner

4 Reasons to skip Scrubbing in Skin Care Routine

Swathy · June 19, 2015 · 4 Comments

Long long back, I remember reading a comment on my blog about how a reader uses olive oil + sugar every single day to keep her skin soft. Well, as much as I love sugar or salt for scrubbing, I would love to say it is not for everyday. Exfoliating everyday harms the skin in the long run. In fact, recently, I came across an article which claims that it is better to skip exfoliation altogether as a skin care step. And, then, I thought it might be a good idea to look at the reason why we should do so.

I’m not crazy about scrubs because clients abuse them,” says Czech. “They go crazy with them and it results in tons of broken capillaries. If you just use a cleanser and washcloth to wash your face every night, that’s enough exfoliation. (Source)

If you have been lately feeling that your skin is not doing well even after a lot of your efforts, the answer might be that you are just doing too much. So, let us see why exfoliation can be an unnecessary step for some.

#1. Easy to go Overboard with it!

Once upon a time when I had done some post on skin care, one of the readers had mentioned that she scrubs her skin everyday with oil+sugar. When I told her that it might be a tad too much, she said she loved how soft her skin felt.

But, my personal opinion about the practice since then has always been that it is very easy to go overboard. It is easy to love the feel of the skin and do it everyday in quest of the same result. It is important to remember at such a time that everything in excess is harmful.