FAQs

Not at all. In fact when we eat less, the body’s metabolism slows down and also results in deficiency of vitamins and minerals in the body. It can also result in hair loss & gastritis. To lose weight, make sure you eat enough during the course of the day but the right kind of food.Choose fibre rich foods such as fruits, vegetables , whole grain cereals & pulses and proteins in the form of toned milk and its products, lean meat, fish & poultry but avoid fats and sugars.

Fat free diets can lead to deficiency of essential fatty acids and fat soluble vitamins A, D, E & K. Satiety value of these diets is low thus making a person feel hungry all the time. The type of fat being consumed is also crucial whether it is saturated or unsaturated fatty acids.

Both margarine and butter contain 85% fat and equal number of calories. Margarine is rich in saturated fatty acids (SFA) as well as Trans Fatty acids, which raises blood cholesterol.

Juices are concentrated sources of energy and have added sugar content. Eating whole fruit would be more beneficial for your health.

This is not true. Traditional spices provide the necessary taste and flavour to the food. At the same time, they are rich in micronutrients, anti-oxidants and fibre. There is no reason to avoid spices, unless they are not tolerated. The only restrictive feature of a healthy diet is its low salt and fat content.

If water is added, all other ingredients in milk also gets diluted. Skimming is the best way to remove fat from the milk. Other nutrients are retained in skimmed milk.

Even low calorie foods have calories which add up and must be burned off regardless of what kind of food we eat. Balance is the key to success.
How can one find out the amount of calories that should be taken per day? Kindly give some tips to stay healthy?

The amount of calories that one should take per day varies from person to person. It depends on various factors like age, height, weight, lifestyle pattern, daily activities, metabolic rate, etc. This is best decided by a qualified nutritionist. You can get in touch with a professional nutritionist, who depending on your requirement will formulate your calorie chart. In order to be healthy one should follow a balanced diet, indulge in 30 minutes of physical activity, drink plenty of water, and be active throughout the day.

Milk and Soya are not the only sources of Calcium. Calcium intake can be increased in various ways. You can supplement your diet with pulses like Bengal gram, Rajma etc. along with lemon and tomatoes. Fish, green leafy vegetables like methi, spinach and nuts like almonds, cashew nuts, dry coconut etc. are also rich sources of calcium. So try including all these in your diet in some way or the other, as much as you can. This will definitely help you maintain the appropriate calcium level.

Water is the key part of any weight – loss programme. One should drink at least 10 -12 glasses of water everyday. It is essential as it helps to reduce fat but is good for overall health as well.

• It helps suppress your appetite
• It reduces build up of sodium in your body
• It reduces fluid retention. This happens when the body does not get enough water and it starts retaining fluids.
• It reduces fat deposits
• It helps maintain proper muscle tone
• It helps the body get rid of waste and toxins
• It relieves constipation

Among other fluids, fresh lime water should be preferred. Fresh lime soda ( without sugar ), buttermilk, coconut water, vegetable juice and clear soups are also recommended for a healthy body.

Start your meals with one of the above or just a glass of plain water.

The opening in the skin from where the hair comes out is called as PORES, which get blocked. This could be due excessive cell turnover of those cells lining the inner skin wall of the follicle. This blockage leads to inability of the Sebum secreted by the glands from draining to the surface. Soon bacteria start growing and COMEDONE forms. A whitehead is a comedone where the sebum is not visible.

Chemical peeling done once a month helps in getting rid of whiteheads.

Body lotion should be applied on the entire body immediately after the bath, this is the moisturising lotion. Just before you step out one should apply the sunblock lotion on the exposed parts of the body without massaging it. The sunblock works by reflecting the harmful rays.

A night cream is usually formulated to be a thicker cream with its active ingredients working overnight to give the required results. If your skin is oily then you most definitely do not need a cream rather a lotion further diluted with water or rose water would be good. In case the skin is very dry then a cream is suitable. Its benefits would be a high grade of moisturising effect and in case it contains lightening agents then fairness.

The causes of dark circles or under eye pigmentation are varied. The genetic variety is as good as non treatable. However pigmentation developing secondary to a particular cause like stress, emotional imbalances, lifestyle, wrong eating habits, wrong reading habits, long hours at the computer monitor etc can be reduced considerably and can be thus maintained by the person. Prevention would be tackling the above listed causes and correcting them. An under eye facial treatment on a initial treatment basis followed by regular maintenance sessions would definitely help. Chemical peeling would be another option but should be done a trained specialist.

As such if you are undergoing a treatment facial the frequency could be two sessions in a week but normally a session per week. This should later be tapered off to monthly once or once in two months depending on what facial you are doing.

No there is no compulsion that you HAVE to do a facial once you start. It is just that when you get used to seeing your face having a particular appearance post facial you would like to keep it that way hence you repeat the facials. A facial is not bad but what is important is that the products being used is as per your skin type and requirement and it is being done by a trained therapist.

The treatments that are given cosmetically can only lighten the complexion by a few shades. We now combine chemical peeling and lasers with these facials to improve the results. These procedures cannot and will not change the complexion from dusky to fair and pink. Higher percentages of peels can lighten your colour to a higher degree but these procedures have their own side and adverse effects post treatment which is not practically viable. Bleaching is again a chemical which lightens the colour but only by a couple of shades. We do not advise it on a routine basis as in the long run it can lead to hyper pigmentation following accidental burn.

Steam facial regime every week is bad for the skin unless as part of a specific treatment for a specic time period. It is always advisable to do a steam once a month.

Obesity is a condition of the body when the weight is 20 % or more above the desirable body weight. It is an established fact that obesity is deleterious to health and is related to increased risk of diabetes, heart diseases, gall stones, stroke, insulin resistance and other degenerative diseases. VLCC is a pioneer in Wellness industry and addresses the serious problem of obesity through its comprehensive Wellness programme planned on scientific principles and delivered through a team of qualified and experienced professionals in allied.

The simplest formula to know your desirable body weight is to subtract 100 from your height (centimeters). i.e. Desirable Body Weight (Kg) = Height (cm) 100, plus or minus 15% for women and 10% for men Eg. if your height is 160 cm your weight has to be around 160-100=60 Kg At VLCC, we assess your body composition of total and segmental distribution of fat and lean body mass and determine your health status in terms of your BMR, BMI, WHR. All the parameters are indicative of the interventions to be directed to achieve the desirable body weight.

World Health Organization recommends 4-5 Kg per month as a healthy weight loss for normal people without medical conditions. Based on the physiological and pathological conditions of an individual, the team at VLCC works in synergy to deliver a sustainable, steady and gradual scientific rate of weight loss.

Skipping any meal during the day will lower your metabolic rate which will lead to reduced rate of burning the calories in your body. Skipping breakfast, in particular, not only reduces the metabolic rate, it may add to undesirable craving for high carbohydrate foods like sweets as you are hypoglycemic (low energy source in the body). This can be harmful since you may resort to binging later in the day. Based on your usual dietary patterns, the Nutrition Experts at VLCC determine your nutrient requirements and advise small frequent meals keeping your likes and dislikes and feasibility aspects in mind.

Skimming is a process of removal of fat content from milk retaining the other important constituents to the original levels. Therefore, skim milk contains same amount of calcium, however, the fat content is negligible. Nutrition experts at VLCC give important nutritional knowledge as part of their Counsellings to the clients for weight management.

Household chores form an important part of a daily physical activity regime. However, the type, duration and intensity at which each work is performed determine the energy expenditure in the day. To lose weight, regular physical activity of moderate intensity is required depending upon your physiological and pathological conditions in order to utilize the excess fat as energy. The physical activity regime can be planned by the VLCC experts considering your routine, energy expended through household chores and dietary intake so that a negative energy balance can be created to help you lose weight.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a condition in women characterized by irregular or no menstrual periods, acne, obesity and excess hair growth. PCOS is a disorder of chronically abnormal ovarian function and hyper androgenism (abnormally elevated androgen levels). It affects 5-10% of women of reproductive age. Women with PCOS do not ovulate (do not release an egg every month) and they are at significantly higher risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer of the uterus. Insulin resistance is associated with nearly 60% of cases with PCOS. It is a condition when glucose is not absorbed efficiently as a source of energy, due to the resistance of insulin hormone at the cellular level which leads to conversion of glucose to fat easily, thereby obesity. You need to take care of your diet as well as physical activity to reverse the problem of PCOS and the risks associated with it. It is advisable to get the insulin levels checked to know if insulin resistance is evident and seek medical advice for the same. A substantial number of women approach VLCC with the problem of PCOS and its related complications. They are successfully helped to achieve and maintain the desirable body weight.

There could be various causes of water retention in the body. Normally, increasing the fluid intake helps in reducing water retention along with removal of toxins from the body. You must get your blood pressure checked and consult a medical physician to rule out kidney association for water retention. The VLCC Experts can formulate a customized programme addressing your problem and help you to attain a normal body composition by bringing the water content to normal range. Our Experts advise suitable dietary and physical activity patterns modifications to relieve water retention and achieve the desirable results.

It is the nature s gift to the men. Keeping all environmental factors constant, men have a higher proportion of fat free (lean body) mass as compared to their female counterparts, thus making them metabolically more active and favoring weight loss.

Yes, however, with certain caution. Choose the right place and right cuisine to dine out. Be aware of the healthy options available. Prefer small portions and order for dishes adopting grilled, baked, roasted, steamed, lightly stirred fried methods of cooking rather than braised and fried foods. Encourage fresh salads, whole grain based cereals and vegetables, fruits and lean parts of meat and low fat milk and its products. In case you binge outside, you need to learn how to compensate in the subsequent meals and physical activity to expend the extra calories consumed.

A balanced diet based upon your requirements should be consumed to lose weight. No single food is a complete food. Fruits form an important food group of a balanced diet but fruits alone cannot substitute the other important food groups in your diet. To attain a balanced diet we need all the nutrients to consume cereals and pulses, vegetables, milk and lean meat, fish, poultry along with fruits in the right amounts and proportion suitable for your body. The Nutrition Experts at VLCC determine the requirements of your body and plan a balanced diet appropriate to help you lose weight at a desirable rate for your age, gender and activity levels.

Ideally, consuming a whole fruit is much more nutritious than the fruit juice. A whole fruit in addition contains all the fibre and provides feeling of fullness. One serving of a fruit juice is equivalent to 2-4 servings of a whole fruit. Fruits also provide calories. Therefore, it is advisable to consume 1 serving of fruit at a time and spread out the total serving of fruits throughout the day to get better benefit from the same rather than having altogether as 1 serving of fruit juice. Besides, most of the fruit juices contain added sugar than add to the total calories. If you have to drink juice, have in moderation. Prefer unstrained and unsweetened natural fruit juices.

Often, women gain weight 5-7 days before periods because of their periods. It is called Pre menstrual syndrome. This happens due to increase in the levels of the progesterone hormone which leads to water retention. The VLCC Experts address this problem to attain a normal body composition by bringing the water content to normal range. Our Experts advise suitable dietary and physical activity patterns modifications to relieve water retention and symptoms.

Fizzy drinks and diet aerated drinks are acidic and diuretics, causing frequent urination.. This not only dehydrate you but lead to the loss of important electrolytes like sodium and potassium from your body. These should be taken in moderation. Nutritionist Experts at VLCC provides interesting options (recipes) to increase the fluid intake through natural sources.

Water has no calories, so we cannot put on weight by drinking water, on the contrary, drinking excess water helps in losing weight.

Carbohydrates form an important nutrient in our daily diet even during the process of losing weight. These are the immediate and only source of energy to brain, hence, should be consumed regularly. However, both- quantity as well as quality, of the carbohydrates is should be considered while planning the diet.

Hair loss is related to nutrient deficiency (iron, protein, zinc, magnesium and vitamins) and on reducing diet you are likely to have nutrient deficiency since the intake of the total calories is reduced. It is, therefore, important to lose weight under the supervision of qualified professionals at VLCC who help you lose weight in a scientific manner without any side effects.

When we are suffering with water retention we have to reduce salt(sodium) i.e. processed food, table salt, pickles etc and increase potassium i.e. raw fruits and vegetables, soy milk, tomato, spinach etc.

Sweating has nothing to do with losing weight, sweating is the physiological response of human body to maintain its temperature. When you exercise, you burn the calories, your body temperature increases and you sweat. However, if you have less active sweat glands, you may not sweat but you will still lose weight.