The Brunette Diaries

Things you need to consider before buying a dog

Buying a dog from the local pet store may be an easy option for you, but there are many cases out there where owners have been fooled about the breed of the puppy, have overpaid for cheaper breeds, or have bought unhealthy dogs for a hefty sum. So it is important to do your research before you invest into buying a dog. Make sure everything fits your requirements because the dog is soon going to be part of your house! Here are a few things you need to consider before investing in your four legged best friend.

(Also read – Things you can do with your dog outdoors)

Puppy mills are a cruel place for dogs and their puppies

(Also read – Things that may destroy your dog’s spirit)

Buying from a pet store

This can be the easiest option as you get to see the puppy first hand before you buy it. However, have you considered where these puppies may be coming from? The store owner won’t always tell you the truth about it, will he? For him it is a business in the end.

(Also read – Foods that can poison your dog)

Your local pet store puppy may have come from a large-scale, substandard commercial breeding facility, commonly known as a puppy mill. Here is where dogs are caged and bred and they give birth to puppies as often as possible. These puppies could have some costly medical problems that you may not have the finances to deal with! And most often, you won’t know about it until the puppy is already home for a few months.

Buying from the Internet

One of the riskiest ways to buy a puppy is off the internet. Buying a puppy whose picture you may have seen or whose owner you may have spoken to has no guarantee of being healthy. Not only this, owners could also lie about the breed and post fake pictures which could surprise you when the pet actually reaches your doorstep and you have paid for it.

So if you want to know about the quality of your puppy and where he was born and bred, it is a good practice to ask the breeder if he can show you the place your pup came from. If he refrains from showing you, then that is evidence enough that your puppy wasn’t necessarily in safe hands and may have been born unhealthy.

(Also read – Things to consider before bringing home a dog)

You need to be aware of the breeder who sells you a puppy

One more thing you can do is to make sure your dog is registered with a kennel club. The registration certificate carries the pedigree of your dog’s ancestry. So if you want to be absolutely sure of the quality of the pup you have purchased, a kennel club registration is a must!

If your dog isn’t registered yet, you can register it at a recognised kennel club in your area.

Tips To Help You Maintain Your Weight Post Weight Loss

Neither it is easy to lose weight, nor it is a cup of tea to maintain the lost calories. Once you’ve lost a significant weight, you feel proud of having to achieve what once you thought was a dream. But often people feel so proud, they allow themselves a lot of cheat day, that not only harms your system but also puts you off of your daily routine. It is NECESSARY to award yourself some prizes, but if you want to maintain that weight loss, you got to work harder all over AGAIN. Worry not, we have some tips for you, especially that will help you keep your fitness at bay, and your health top notch.

1) Never skip your breakfast

Breakfast is the MOST important part of your meals. It helps the body kick start, provides the right energy for you to keep going the whole day. It’s a proven fact, people who have breakfast as compared to those who DON’T are healthier and at lesser risk of obesity.

2) Exercise daily

Remember the time you worked so hard to lose all the fats that you carried, but now that you achieved your goal, you don’t hit the gym that often. Regular exercise is a MUST, it helps you burn any new fat that the body produces. It also keeps you on track with your health.

3) Weigh yourself quite often

Checking your weight on regular intervals helps you keep a track. It shows if you have gained or are gaining constantly. You can, accordingly, moderate your diet and exercises. Anytime you feel lazy about following your routine, just check your weight.

4) Lift weights

Doing cardio may be fun, but weight lifting is essential for maintaining your weight loss. You may not need to hit the gym every day of the week, if you train in heavy lifting, going 3-4 times a week is more than enough for your body. Lifting weight builds your core stronger, eventually helping your system to be stronger and healthier.

5) Stay hydrated

No matter what, keep your water intake proper. Don’t neglect this point, water is extremely crucial for any problems. Acne – drink water, constipated – drink water, need to lose weight – drink water!

6) Make sustainable changes in your lifestyle

Now that you’ve achieved the unachievable, you need to keep that goal forever. If your work schedule doesn’t allow you working out a time or you have to eat outside often, DON’T. Make sure you remind yourself of all the hardships you went through to achieve wherever you stand today. Make necessary changes in your lifestyle and priority to your health and fitness.

Get on roll, guys! It’s time to take your health seriously! 😉

Why You Should Have The YOGA Way Of Lifestyle

Yoga is a Sanskrit word derived from the Sanskrit root “yuj” which means to connect, join or balance.
Yoga is a way of life, it is not removed from it. We do not need to feel disappointed or frustrated considering our limitations with regard to physical health, shape and size of the body, lack of time, lack of space or unavailability of a teacher. Yoga, in fact, is the means to overcome all these problems. Yoga includes every aspect of life. Yoga touches everything in life. All healing methods and meditations are part and parcel of Yoga. Yoga is like the sun itself, which brightens everything that comes into contact with it.

Yoga is usually defined as union: It is a unison of the limited self and the Divine Self. The aim of Yoga is not really to unite us with anything for we are already united. It is to help us realize our identity with the Divine Self, to make us know and tune into our intrinsic nature.

The Bhagwad Gita, a very widely known classical text on Yoga, gives various definitions of Yoga.

1) Yoga is equanimity of mind in success and failure.
2) Yoga is discretion in work.
3) Yoga is the remover of misery and destroyer of pain. Yoga is the supreme secret of life.
4) Yoga is serenity.

Also, check out this article (Click here) of how ATTOI is taking the initiative to bring all the YOGA professionals to the birthplace of YOGA, Kerala.

Here’s why you should make YOGA a part of your life:

1) Helps with weight management

Through the twists and bends and cleansing practices, yoga stimulates detoxification, the preliminary requirement for effective weight loss. Also, it promotes better metabolism and fat burning potential. Regular practice of yoga also helps to reduce stress, thereby lowering cortisol, the primary culprit behind the dreaded belly fat.

2) Stronger bones and joints

Various balancing postures of yoga improve bone density and strengthen the joints and bones. This cuts down the risks of osteoporosis, fractures, and arthritis through bone loss.

3) Helps with menstrual and menopausal issues

Yoga could help to ease menstrual woes, including water retention, bloating, dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, and irregular menstrual cycles. Various restorative and balancing poses are also known to help with menopausal symptoms management, including hot flashes and osteoporosis.

4) Keeps un-curable diseases like diabetes under control

Various yoga poses and Pranayama techniques could help to improve insulin sensitivity, lower anti-diabetic drugs usage, promote weight loss, and curb spiraling sugar levels. Yoga also helps to lower stress, one of the primary contributing factors to Type II Diabetes. Yoga, when practiced regularly, gives the diabetic patients a chance to enjoy a better lifestyle.

5) Helps with blood pressure management

Conscious breathing practices promote better oxygen intake, thereby improving circulation and keeping the blood pressure under control.

Lastly, practicing YOGA every day, making it a part of your life will give you a better health, physically as well as mentally, also will improve your lifestyle drastically.

Are You On The Highway To A HEART ATTACK?

I’m on the highway to hell…..

Well, you might not to be on your way to hell, but you surely are heading towards a heart attack if you follow any of these habits. It may be your mood, sleeping schedule or even your surroundings. The little things that you need to be kept a check on, these littlest things make a huge difference, and in this case, can definitely put your life in danger. If you notice any of these signs similar to your behavior or lifestyle, you need to make serious changes and that too ASAP.

1) Sleeping for less than 6 hours

With our fast-paced life, we tend to work more hours than spending it in taking care of ourselves. Sleep is as essential as food for the body. Many adults and well now, even young adults struggle to get the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep each night, and that is leading them to their death beds. We don’t realize it, but as our health start deteriorating, our bodies fail to function properly and it’s only then that we start taking care of ourselves.

2) Getting cranky or angry over little things

Turning into a Hulk is cool only in movies, having fiery emotions in real life can drastically increase your risk for a heart attack. Researchers at the University of Australia questioned 313 patients who had suffered suspected heart attacks about their anger levels before the onset of symptoms. They found that patients were 8.5 times more likely to have a heart attack in the two hours following an intense outburst of anger, defined as “very angry, body tense, clenching fists or teeth.” The more often you’re angry, the higher your chances for a heart attack.

3) Living in a smoggy area

Smog doesn’t just give you breathing problems, lung diseases or bad hair, it is just as bad for your heart as well. Exposure to such air leads up to heart attack symptoms. Even the small combustion particles that come from fuel burning and vehicle emissions are equally dangerous to your health.

4) You live in an area with extreme temperatures

Studies show that both extreme cold and extreme heat can put people at risk for heart attacks. Abrupt temperature swings also may be bad for your health. Cardiology researchers in Michigan recently linked extreme day-to-day changes in temperatures to a significant increase in heart attacks, a finding that raises the disturbing possibility of yet another harmful effect of our warming planet on human health.

5) Your mother had a heart attack

Or it was your father, either of your grandparents, siblings. No matter which relative, heart disease and risk factors for heart disease are strongly linked to family history. There are at least 67 sites in the DNA sequence, or variants that can increase your risk of a heart attack, each of these variants raises the relative risk of cardiovascular disease by about 10%. But if you have a number of them, it adds up. The good news is, having a family history of heart attacks don’t guarantee you will have one. Actively maintaining a healthy lifestyle can lower your overall risk.

Though, we don’t guarantee that having a healthy heart leads to heaven 😛

Unexpected Weight Loss Could Be a Serious Problem

Many unexpected stuff can make you happy, like getting an unexpected holiday or finding money in your pocket, or like unexpected weight loss.

NO, unexpected weight loss might just be a real serious problem, so while you may be celebrating for losing some weight, get checked up if it isn’t a symptom to any diseases or disorder!

1) Muscle loss (sarcopenia)

People tend to experience muscle loss as they age because they neglect to maintain muscle health. This kind of muscle atrophy is sarcopenia, which can begin as early as your 40s and cause unexplained weight loss and reduced strength, energy, and mobility. To avoid muscle loss, one should add more protein and vitamin D to their diet. Older adults require more protein to build muscle at that age. Also, adding weights to your workouts helps build muscle mass and strength.

2) Cancer

Cancer, in general, can cause weight loss, but there are several types of cancer, such as lung, pancreatic, biliary, and colon, that are known to lead to unexplained weight loss. Abnormally functioning cancer cells grow out of control, speed up your metabolism, and wear out your entire body by using its resources, which causes weight loss. Cancer treatments can also lead to weight loss. Radiation and chemotherapy often cause a decrease in appetite, and it can lead to side effects, including nausea, vomiting, and mouth sores that discourage eating.

3) HIV and AIDS

AIDS, Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, chronic and potentially life-threatening disease that is caused by HIV, human immunodeficiency virus. HIV can make it harder for your body to absorb nutrients, which causes malnutrition and can lead to a decreased appetite. While there’s no cure for HIV or AIDS, there are medications that can dramatically slow the progression of the disease and allow you to live an otherwise healthy life.

4) Depression

Usually, when a person is depressed, he or she losses interest in almost everything that exists in life, even the ones they enjoyed previously. In this mood-disorder, giving up eating is one common thing that is found, whereas many start overeating. But, depression does result in weight loss which isn’t healthy at all. While there’s no one single cause of depression, many cases can be treated effectively with medication and therapy, although some antidepressants can also contribute to further weight loss.

5) Diabetes

Diabetes is often associated with weight gain or obesity, but surprisingly, weight loss can be one of the diabetes symptoms. When the body is no longer able to produce insulin sufficiently, glucose is no longer making it into the bloodstream to be used as energy. When there is an insufficiency in insulin, the body starts burning fat and muscle for energy, causing a reduction in overall body weight. If you are a diabetic and are experiencing weight loss, you need to see your doctor asap.

Let us know if this article helped you in any way, also suggest what you’d like us to write on.

Keep Off These Foods If You Want To Enjoy A Healthy Heart

Your heart is the engine of your body. It is responsible for the circulation of the life of our bodies, that is, blood. Therefore, you have to take good care of it if you want to live a healthy and long life. To help you do this, we have compiled this list of foods you need to avoid to maintain a healthy heart.

1) Cold Cuts

In themselves, cold cuts do not endanger your heart’s health. However, their continued usage means that you will keep exposing yourself to raw salt consumption. By taking too much salt, you expose yourself to heart diseases.

2) Beef Jerky

Even though beef jerky is popular among meat lovers, its continued eating exposes you to excessive raw salt consumption. The results? High risk of developing artery failure and cardiovascular diseases. In fact, a 1–ounce serving can contain up to 700 milligrams of salt, which is more than four times what you expose yourself to when taking the same amount of chips.

3) Margarine

In as much as people love it, margarine is a source of unhealthy trans fatty acids, which make it dangerous for your cardiovascular health.

4) Processed Meats

Even though they are not dangerous in themselves, avoid them when possible. The reason is that they are persevered using salts and nitrites that are responsible for weakening your heart health. Therefore, it is necessary to take a maximum of two servings weekly. This way, you will avoid exposure to these chemicals.

5) Soft Drinks

Soft drinks are not that “soft” on your heart. On the contrary, these simple sugars are rich in soda that is culpable for triggering stroke inflammation and raising sugar level. The result of such conditions is that they strain artery walls and increase your risk of developing heart disease. If it is a must to take soda, then you should limit it to a maximum of seven 8-ounce servings weekly.

6) Added Sugars

Added sugar is another culprit behind increased chances of developing heart disease. The reason is that it increases blood pressure and high triglyceride levels.

Since you know the secrets, the ball is in your court to avoid these delicious and sweet poisons that could harm your heart health. It is now up to you to apply these little secrets and enjoy healthy living.

All About Vegetarian Keto Diet

The vegetarian diet is commonly regarded as one of the healthiest diets for humanity. Many studies have found that vegetarian diets reduce the likelihood of prevalent diseases like heart disease and diabetes and improve health more than the average non-vegetarian diet. However, this doesn’t mean that the vegetarian diet is the best diet for everyone’s health.

The Ketogenic diet, for example, has been found to be more effective than the vegetarian diet for weight loss! And Just because you don’t eat meat doesn’t mean you can’t try this high-protein plan. Here’s how to turn the Keto diet vegetarian:

What is Keto diet?

With no carbs for fuel, the body produces ketones by breaking down fats in the liver. This helps burn excess fat and jump-start your metabolism, and it can lead to weight loss and increased energy. There is also an emphasis on whole foods with the Keto diet, which means that many types of processed foods are off-limits.

The original Keto diet is extremely high in fatty meats, which is not good for our cardiovascular system, the vegetarian version eliminates these meats and allows for more plant-based options, such as avocado and nuts and seeds. In general, the population is going towards a more plant-based, whole-foods diet, which is why the Ketotarian diet is emerging.

Going Ketotarian:

The diet of the moment is the Ketogenic plan, people turn to it to lose weight, to manage chronic illness, or to find a healthier lifestyle. This high-protein plan focuses on meat, however. The goal is to eliminate carbs, jack up the protein, and force the body to burn fat for fuel (instead of its preferred source: carbohydrates). This phenomenon is called ketosis, but the meat focus prevents vegetarians from experimenting with the plan.

How does a vegetarian Keto diet works?

First, even non-vegetarian Keto eaters shouldn’t focus too much on meat: The misconception that Keto diets require huge amounts of meat or meat products may scare off vegetarians, those concerned about the environment, or people that want to eat healthier. A vegetarian version of the Ketogenic diet may be appealing for its weight loss and other health benefits.

What can you eat as a Ketotarian?

The vegetarian Keto diet menu will include leafy greens and aboveground vegetables such as broccoli, asparagus, and green beans, as well as high-fat dairy, nuts, seeds, avocados, berries, sweeteners, oils, and fats. Ketotarians should ensure that they fit plenty of nuts, seeds (including flax and chia), tofu, eggs, cheese, cream, vegetables, avocados, olives, olive oil, canola oil, and butter into their diets for optimal results. You can make “treats” to help cravings, like chocolate avocado ice cream, from compliant ingredients.

What to avoid?

The list is very similar to the regular Keto diet (except you’re avoiding meat): Be sure to steer clear of grains, sugar, fruit (except for occasional berries), and tubers, like yams and sweet potatoes, while following the vegetarian Keto diet.

What are the benefits of vegetarian Keto diet?

One of the most beneficial things about the vegetarian Keto diet is that it incorporates fresh foods and eliminates many processed foods. The parameters of a Ketogenic diet are simply grams of macronutrients—protein, fat, carbs. The vegetarian Ketogenic diet tries to also focus on the quality of foods eaten, increasing the micronutrient content of the diet.

How challenging is it?

Those who are doing the vegetarian Keto diet will have to pay extra attention to what they are putting in their mouths. It can be harder to manage your diet because you might have to spend more time calculating your carbohydrate intake and spend a lot of time planning meals and considering the foods you are eating. Many plant foods contain carbs so it could be challenging to stay balanced, satisfied, and achieve Ketosis. Another challenge is not falling into the trap of eating foods that may be compliant but aren’t actually healthy. As with any diet, the label itself does not make it healthy. The labels of ‘vegan,’ ‘vegetarian,’ ‘Keto,’ ‘gluten-free,’ and many others include a range of food choices that fit the standards of the diet but aren’t necessarily healthy. This is especially true of processed foods that may carry these labels.

These 5 Reasons Are Enough For You To Get Off That COUCH!

Winter is here and everyone loves to sleep in the comfort of their blanket during winter. It is the best time of the year when we get good sleep and don’t feel like doing anything, have a warm coffee or tea or some hot chocolate and binge on to something yummy.

We even get an excuse of not workout or skip workouts because we don’t feel like or basically feel lazy. But whether it be winter, rainy or summer or how much busy you might be one must never miss their workout. Be it for an hour or even half an hour. Working out doesn’t only mean going to the gym but you can do any physical activity like dance, jog, walk, play sports.

So let me list down 5 main benefits of working out:

1. Boost happiness levels

The most important thing that we need in our life is happiness. We’re always looking for how to be happy. And exercise is one of the most obvious steps to take, as it’s not a coincidence that you feel better after a good workout. Working out can make you happy long term adding extra intensity can make you feel even better.

2. Sweet Dreams:

Exercising helps to sleep peacefully. Exercising can help keep you more bright-eyed during the day and bring on sleep at night. You will get a sound sleep. The reaction won’t be instant but after 2 days or so you will experiment it. So exercise and say bye bye to those dark circles.

3. Improve memory:

Exercising regularly can help jog your memory. You don’t need to have almonds every day in the morning to boost your memory. A walk or any physical exercise daily is enough to improve your memory.

4. Bye Bye Stress:

Work stress is the most common thing nowadays. But you can say bye bye to it by working out. It is found that those employees who worked out before work or even after work reported feeling less stress and being happier and more productive than days when they skipped a workout.

5. Live longer:

Keeping your body happy and healthy to help you live a longer, fuller life is one of the biggest benefits of exercising. According to reports, exercising for just 10 minutes a day, or 75 minutes a week, can earn you an extra 1.8 years. The more fit you are, no disease can harm you then.

There are more benefits but these 5 will be enough for you to start working out. So don’t just sit in front of your phone, laptop or TV, go out and refresh yourself and have a healthy mind and body.

Happy Exercising ?

6 Surprisingly Things People Of This Generation Don’t Know About HIV And AIDS

With the help of science, THANKFULLY, HIV and AIDS are not what it was back in the decade that preceded it. Yet, it is a horrible disease with no cure. With the help of proper medication, patients affected by HIV and AIDS are living longer and stronger, whereas the facts have changed. What the disease was back then is nothing that it is TODAY. Let’s find out more!

What is HIV?

HIV is a virus that damages the immune system. The immune system helps the body fight off infections. Untreated HIV infects and kills CD4 cells, which are a type of immune cell called T cells. Over time, as HIV kills more CD4 cells, the body is more likely to get various types of infections and cancers.

HIV is transmitted through bodily fluids that include – Blood, semen, vaginal and rectal fluids and breast milk.

What is AIDS?

AIDS is a disease that can develop in people with HIV. It’s the most advanced stage of HIV. But just because a person has HIV doesn’t mean they’ll develop AIDS. HIV kills CD4 cells. Healthy adults generally have a CD4 count of 500 to 1,500 per cubic millimeter. A person with HIV whose CD4 count falls below 200 per cubic millimeter will be diagnosed with AIDS. A person can also be diagnosed with AIDS if they have HIV and develop an opportunistic infection or cancer that’s rare in people who don’t have HIV. An opportunistic infection, such as pneumonia, is one that takes advantage of a unique situation, such as HIV.

Updated facts?

1) Time

For Gen Xers, millennials, and the generations that follow, AIDS looks completely different than it did to those who were full-blown adults in the mid-80s. Case in point: If you were diagnosed in 1985, you almost certainly died, but if you were diagnosed in 1995, you may very well still be alive. This is because it took eight years from the identification of the virus for the first drug (AZT) to be approved, which was 1989.

2) People ARE aging

As people living with HIV are living longer, thanks to highly effective antiretroviral treatment, the overall population of persons living with the condition are aging. In a few years, it’s estimated that more than half of all people living with HIV will be over 50 years of age. Also, older people may not consider themselves to be at risk of HIV infection or may mistake HIV symptoms for those of normal aging.

3) HIV tests

There are different kinds of HIV tests, the HIV antibody test and the HIV antibody/antigen combination test, each with its own testing window and detection method. Basically, the body has to develop an immune response to the virus before the tests can work. The HIV antibody test is a blood test that searches a blood sample for antibodies that were created by the immune system in response to HIV. It can take three to 12 weeks for your body to produce enough antibodies for the HIV virus to get an accurate test result. The HIV antibody/antigen test, on the other hand, can detect antibodies plus parts of the actual virus called antigens, so this combination test is able to reveal HIV earlier.

4) The treatment

In the past, taking a cocktail of drugs required regimens consisting of many pills, multiple times a day, and these regimens were associated with many side effects including chronic diarrhea, nausea, redistribution of body fat, increase in cholesterol levels, dizziness, vivid dreams, depression, etc. Now, we have multiple regimen combinations that are very potent and produce minimal, if any, side effects. Today’s AIDS patients can get all the meds they need in a convenient, one-pill-a-day regimen.

5) If recently exposed, IT CAN BE TREATED IMMEDIATELY

It might sound like miracle work, but there is an antiretroviral treatment cocktail that, if ingested and continued to be taken within the first 72 hours of exposure, can significantly reduce an individual’s risk of acquiring HIV. This type of medical HIV prevention is called post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and must be taken for 28 days to be fully effective.

6) HIV + to HIV + organ transplantation

It’s no surprise that there’s a severe shortage in this country of organ donors. It’s a dire situation even if you have a clean bill of health. Those HIV+ recipients in need of organ transplantation (e.g. liver or kidney) are often less prioritized than those without HIV. To fill this gap, the HOPE Act was signed into law allowing HIV+ organs to be transplanted into HIV+ recipients given the success of treatment regimens for HIV.

Which of these facts were you aware off?