Kate Winslet shares weight loss secret post son Bear's birth

Washington: Kate Winslet has revealed how she lost weight and resumed her shoot for `Divergent` within weeks after having her baby boy.
But though she was back, there was this issue of fitting back into her costumes with the baby weight still on her,reportedly.


While talking to the E! News, the 38-year-old actress said that getting in to the costume again was a little bit like squeezing a sausage into a thimble.

She just had just had a baby and was barely out of my bathrobe before coming to shoot, she added.

The Oscar winner admitted that it was her three children and nursing baby Bear that kept her busy and helped her get back into shape.

Trying to get into shape? Try Perry's 'Divergent' workout

Los Angeles: Want to get your fitness on track, fast? Try J.J. Perry`s mega-workout he created for the “Divergent” stars to tone their upper and lower bodies and boost core strength.
Or you can just steal a few moves if - unlike Woodley - you don`t have to be filmed in spandex anytime soon, reports people.com.

Here is Perry`s exercise regimen:

* Warm-Up

Jog. Start with 25 minutes on the treadmill at a slow, relaxed pace, just enough to get your heart rate up.

* Cardio

Jump rope: Start with 90 seconds of jumping, then rest for 30 seconds. Repeat the cycle four times. Work your way up to 4 minutes of jumping followed by 1-minute rest.

Box jumps: This CrossFit move means hopping up on a plyo box - its height is up to you - for 4 sets of 10 jumps.

* Calisthenics and Plyometric Drills

Single-leg balances: Stand on your right foot with your left knee bent at 90 degrees. Have a partner stand across from you with their hand extended at waist level. Quickly jump so your right knee touches their hand - while trying to keeping your left leg hovering - then land on your right foot again. Repeat 30 times on each leg.

Knee drives: Do this Muay Thai drill as quickly as possible; it should be an explosive movement. Crouch into a fighting stance (bouncy-knees, on your toes, with your right leg slightly behind you) and drive your right knee up to chest level; tap the toes back to the ground and do it again, 30 times on each side.

Burpees: A burpee is a compound bodyweight move where you stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, squat down to put your hands on the ground, kick your legs back into a plank, do a push-up, jump your legs forward, then jump upward with your arms reaching up. Start with however many burpees you can do before you collapse, and work your way up to three sets of 15.

Push-ups. Do 10 each of these three variations: standard push-ups, diamond push-ups (with your hands touching to form a diamond), and wide-arm push-ups. The close and wide stances help target different areas of the arms and chest.

Lunge kicks. Get into traditional lunge position (your left knee bent at a 90-degree angle, your right knee bent behind you). Then quickly stand up and kick your right leg out straight in front of you. Do 2 sets of 20 lunge kicks on each side to build leg strength.

* Abdominal Work

Planks: Hold yourself at the top of a push-up position for 1 minute, working up to 90 seconds. Repeat, this time supporting yourself with only your left arm, then again with only your right.

Cross-crunches: Lie on your back with your legs in tabletop (knees bent at 90 degrees), then twist up so your left elbow touches your right knee, then repeat on the other side. Do a total of 30.

Old-school sit-ups: Do 10 regular ones, 10 where you go halfway up, and 10 where you lower yourself halfway down. Finally, hold yourself halfway up for 10 seconds. “It should smell like barbecued abs because you`ve torched them so much,” Perry says.

Jennifer Aniston blames fiancé for weight gain

Los Angeles: Actress Jennifer Aniston says that her fiancé Justin Theroux cooks pasta very well and that she has gained weight ever since she met him.

"Like, hello! Carbonara. It`s a killer. The last couple of years since meeting this man have made me gain a couple extra pounds. But it`s all worth it," people.com quoted Aniston, who has been engaged to Theroux for almost two years.

But the 45-year-old says she religiously works out.

Aniston aims for 45 minutes of cardio and 20 minutes of yoga or floor exercises.

concept: Bollywood fitness expert

New Delhi: Exercise is a science, believes celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar - the woman behind svelte actress Kareena Kapoor`s once most-discussed "size-zero" figure - whose latest book shatters myths around exercise and educates readers on this "misunderstood" subject.

"Exercise is a science; so it`s not about getting up and going for a walk. It`s about understanding what goes behind movement, and the energy system involved," Diwekar told.

"The book attempts to address and project exercise as what it really is, a non-negotiable aspect of life. Exercise keeps not just your body in shape but also your involuntary organs like heart and lungs; is good for the nerves and brains; and good for hormones," she added.

The petite and fit frame of the Mumbai-based fitness trainer compliments her philosophy of "eating light and exercising right". In her third book "Don`t Lose Out, Work Out" (Westland, Rs. 250), she has focussed on the importance of exercise in everyday life and how it shouldn`t be considered as a "tool" for weight loss.

"The clientele is more keen on losing weight than gaining health or fitness," she said.

"Exercise is a misunderstood concept, we don`t look at it as something we ought to do as a matter of discipline or health, but something one gets forced or punished to do because of being fat, poor knees, cholesterol, or heart issues," she said.

Diwekar first came to limelight when Kareena confidently wore a lime-green bikini in "Tashan", flaunting her thin waist and toned thighs. The 33-year-old actress had always struggled to get rid of her "adorably plump" body, but under Diwekar`s guidance, she had lost weight by following a healthy diet and making exercise a part of her life.

The author of two books on fitness - "Don`t Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight" (Random House) and "Women and the Weight Loss Tamasha" (Westland) - strongly feels even though a lot of information is disseminated on the internet related to "fitness", people are still ignorant and casual about it.

"We still have a large number of trainers or dietitians who count their worth based on how many kilos their clients have lost...gym softboards always have the `biggest loser` for inspiration," she said.

"So it`s the inherent thrill of a short-term reward, coupled with ignorance that makes us casual about exercise," she added.

Unlike her previous books where she has championed the cause of "eating well" and not "losing sleep over weight", the author`s latest offering elaborates on the science behind exercise and breaks stereotypical myths like "spot-weight reduction".

"It isn`t uncommon for us to make statements like `let me lose some weight quickly first`. What we are saying is that we are fine with the harm that quick, extreme weight loss will bring because we care more about our weight than health," she said.

"This book urges people to stay away from cliches and stereotypes and adapt a lifestyle where exercise is a routine of life and not a burden."

Five ways to ward off acne

New Delhi: The onset of summer often means a nightmare for people with oily skin. Choose the right skin care products to protect your face from zits, says an expert.

Dermatologist Kiran Lohia, managing director of Lumiere Dermatology, shares a few acne defense tips:

* Wash your face only twice a day: When you overwash your face, your skin signals your oil glands to overproduce oil, making it even more greasy. So, limit the excessive skin cleansing so that your skin can naturally balance itself.

* Don`t use soap: Soaps can damage skin by making it drier, rougher and more permeable to bacteria.

* Look for face washes with salicylic acid in it: Salicylic acid is naturally derived from willow bark. It helps to get rid of blackheads and whiteheads. It also reduces oil production. The percentage should be at least one percent of it to have enough efficacies.

* Use moisturiser twice a day. No matter how oily your skin is, your skin still needs moisture to keep it healthy. Look for gentle gels that are free from fragrance, colour and paraben to let your skin breathe.

* Wear sunblock: The sun has UVA and UVB rays which initially may seem to be drying up those pimples. But they ultimately worsen your acne in the long run. Also, the sun can worsen the acne marks.

Speak up to improve your sex life

Toronto: Just letting your feelings out without ambivalence may be a major booster to your sex life, a study has found.

"The more ambivalent you are, the less you are able to communicate your emotions satisfactorily, and the more you are likely to be uncomfortable with your partner," said Nayla Awada, a doctoral candidate in psychology at the Universite de Montreal in Canada.

Couples who regulate their emotions together in a satisfactory manner are more fulfilled sexually, psychologically, and relationally, said the study.

This holds true even among couples in which the woman has provoked vestibulodynia (PVD), also known as "vulvar vestibulitis", Awada discovered.

For the research, Awada studied 254 couples in which the woman was diagnosed with PVD.

PVD is characterized by burning sensation felt on the "vestibule", or entrance of the vagina, especially during penetration.

"Ambivalence of both partners is related to greater emotional distress and more sexual and relational difficulties in the couples," said the researcher.

Sleep quality does affect decision-making ability

Pic Courtesy: -Thinkstock

New York: Fragmented or lower sleep efficiency may affect executive function as it is linked to decline in cognitive abilities of older people over a period of three to four years, a study has found.

Poor sleep quality is associated with a 40 to 50 percent increase in the odds of clinically significant decline in executive function, which was similar in magnitude to the effect of a five-year increase in age.

“This study provides an important reminder that healthy sleep involves both the quantity and quality of sleep,” said M. Safwan Badr, president of American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

The study involved 2,822 community-dwelling older men at six clinical centres in the US
Participants had a mean age of 76 years.

An average of five nights of objective sleep data were collected from each participant using a wrist actigraph.

Cognitive function assessment included evaluation of attention and executive function using the Trails B test.

According to the study authors, executive function is the ability for planning or decision making, error correction or trouble shooting and abstract thinking.