Five Ayurvedic Suggestions for Attaining (and
Maintaining) Your Ideal Weight
Shreelata Suresh
Tired of dieting, fasting, and losing a little, only to put it
back on a few days later? Try these suggestions from the ancient
healing tradition of ayurveda for a more sensible approach to
weight management.
1. Don't practice deprivation.
Whether it's fasting or skipping meals or denying your
cravings--it's the quickest way to start a vicious cycle of weight
gain. Instead, eat three meals a day--a small breakfast and dinner
and a more hearty lunch, and add a healthy mid-morning or
mid-afternoon snack if you feel hungry. Ayurveda does recommend
portion control though--the quantity of food you consume at a meal
should be no more than what you can hold in your two cupped palms,
and you should get up from the table before you feel satiated and
completely full.
The key to weight management is effectively metabolizing what
you eat, eliminating wastes efficiently and letting the digestion
system get a break between meals. Fasting will only further disrupt
your metabolism by not giving it anything to "work on" on the days
you fast. Same with skipping meals--if your digestive system does
not get something to work on at around the same times each day, it
will not function at peak efficiency when you do eat. And the way
to handle cravings is to gradually educate your taste buds to
desire only what is good for you, by actively choosing more foods
that are right for you each day and eliminating those that are not.
Denying cravings only leads to binges when your body can't take it
any more.
2. Work with your digestion rhythms, not
against them.
Many of us today follow an eating pattern that isn't healthy: we
skip breakfast, eat a hurried lunch at our workstation or on the
go, and then eat a large dinner, often too close to bedtime.
According to ayurveda, your digestive agni--the "fire" in your
stomach that cooks the foods you eat and makes them into rasa, the
nutritional essence that builds healthy cells and tissues, is most
active around noon. That's why ayurvedic teachings recommend that
the largest or heaviest meal of the day be lunch. A typical
ayurvedic vegetarian lunch includes two or three servings of cooked
veggies, a lentil dish, a whole grain, a chutney (a relish made
with spices and fruits or vegetables), and lassi, a beverage made
by blending fresh yogurt and pure water. Breakfast and dinner
should consist of more easily digested foods. For breakfast, eat a
helping of sweet juicy fruit, and warm cooked cereal. For dinner,
eat light one-dish meals, or vegetable or lentil soups. A small
handful of soaked and blanched almonds or walnuts makes a
nutritious mid-morning or afternoon snack. If you follow this meal
pattern, your digestion is generally never taxed beyond its
capacity, and your body efficiently metabolizes the food you
eat.
3. Keep your internal machinery clean.
You take your car in for an engine oil change periodically, you
sharpen your lawnmower blades at the start of each growing season,
you give your house a good spring cleaning each
year…shouldn't you be giving the systems of your body at
least a similar degree of attention?
It's true that your body is built to eliminate wastes on its
own, but it may need a little help occasionally. The cleaner you
keep your insides, the more efficiently your digestion works to
deliver nutrition to the cells and tissues and move toxins out of
the body. If toxins build up in the body, all the internal systems
become less efficient, and one effect can be that you put on weight
and feel heavy and lethargic even though you are eating right.
Ayurveda recommends herbal formulations such as Triphala to gently
aid the process of internal cleansing.
4. Exercise.
The original ayurvedic texts were written long before the wheel
or television came around to make couch potatoes of many of us.
Walking was a necessity, so everyone got lots of exercise each day.
Today we need to consciously work out to incorporate the same level
of activity into our daily routine.
Enjoy your exercise activity and it will be easier to stick to
it. Also, remember that all of us don't benefit from the same
amount or type of exercise. Choose your exercise activity according
to your natural constitution / build and your tendency to gain
weight. While walking is universally beneficial, Pitta persons
might also gravitate towards water sports while Kapha individuals
need to add something really energetic such as racquetball.
5. Get enough sleep each night.
Research studies have connected sleep deprivation to obesity as
well as to poor eating habits, a sluggish metabolism and
depression, all of which in turn also contribute to weight gain.
Ayurvedic healers recognized this connection between sleep and
digestion long ago, hence the ayurvedic ideal daily routine, which
urges you to be in bed before 10 p.m. and wake up before 6 a.m. for
the best quality and quantity of sleep.
Eating a lighter meal at night, and finishing the meal at least
two hours before you go to bed will help you fall asleep quicker.
Manage your work and R&R time so you don't have to stay up late
to meet work deadlines or to "wind down" with late night TV. To
help your physiology adapt to higher levels of stress or more
demands on your body and mind, take the Ashwagandha Rasayana.
Ashwagandha is known for its adaptogenic capability and as a tonic
for the nervous system.
Note: This material is educational, and is not intended to
diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. If you have a medical
concern, please consult your physician.
Copyright AyurBalance, Inc. 2003
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