Weight loss is not impossible, it might seem hard, but hard is not same as impossible.
The world is marching itself to an era where, external appearances plays a major role in building up both professional and personal life. Thriving to lose weight and staying fit is a major concern in both male and female. Weight gain be having causes which aren’t due to underlying diseases like sedentary life style and improper eating habits. Following Ayurvedic principles of weight loss through appropriate eating habits, lifestyle and changing your Mind in order to change your body is very important. Overweight or obesity is one among the life style disorder which when ignored can lead to other life threatening disease hence it’s always necessary to have a fit body.
Why is weight loss a mind game?
Yes weight loss is a mind game because the body’s system for regulating food intake is coordinated by the hypothalamus, which is located under the mid line of the brain, which when activated produces the sensation of hunger, hence having control over our mind and stopping oneself from Bing eating plays an important role in controlling weight.
What are the causes of weight gain?
Causes related to the intake of food
• Intake of food before the digestion of previous food
• Consuming heavy food (oily and fat)
• Consuming food which are hot in potency
• Excessive intake of milk products
• Excessive consumption of rice, wheat and other grains
• Excessive intake of meat, preparations made up of alcohol
Causes related to activities
- Luxurious lifestyle
- Lack of physical activities
- Taking bath or sleeping right after food intake
- Excessive sleeping
Causes related to the mind
- Being cheerful
- Not having any kinds of anxiety
- Observation or watching beloved things
Hereditary cause
Along with other causes, hereditary also plays a major role in weight gain. Where the person with obese parents will be more prone to put on those extra calories compared to others.
When to eat?
When to eat is a primary question which runs into everybody’s Mind when it comes to losing weight. It’s not always about right eating habits it’s also about eating right at the right time because eating at scheduled time each day prevents your stomach from over working and indigestion it also helps in keeping proper intervals between each meal. Here are some of the points to remembered
- Be sure that the previous meal consumed is properly digested before going to the next meal as overeating can cause indigestion
- Keep at-least 3 hours of gap between each portion of meal and do not fast more than 6 hours on a normal day.
- Ideal time for Breakfast 8.00AM to 9.00AM
Lunch 1.00PM to 2.00PM
Dinner 7.00PM to 8.00PM
- Do not binge eat between the hours.
What to eat?
We are what we eat is an ancient concept of the holy book of bhagavad gita which means we look talk and behave on the basis of the food we consume . Here are some of the point to be remembered
- Consume light food which are easily digestible
- Fruits: intake of lots of fruits like oranges, kiwi, gooseberry, lemon, sweet lemon, pomegranate, pears, guava, muskmelon and pineapple.
- Vegetables: vegetables with more water content like bottle guard, ridge guard, ash guard, snake guard, drumstick, cucumber, cabbage, fenugreek and green leafy, will help you from gaining those extra calories.
- Meat: include meats which are organic and which are not treated with any hormones once in a while, make sure they are taken in lesser quantity compared to other food
- Consume, rice (which is at least one year old), mullets, barley, horse-gram, green-gram.
- Drinks: Consume hot water whenever thirsty, honey and lemon water (honey should never be used with hot water), buttermilk, hot rice gruel, ash guard juice and water processed with fennel , cumin seeds to be used regularly as it helps in burning calories.
- Use sesame and mustard oil in your cooking as it aids weight loss
How to eat?
Listen to your mind only when the cravings is from the body and not from your mind
- Eat like a prince in the morning (prince usually gets and eats whatever he wants but in a healthier quantity) i.e. food which are high in protein and foods that can keep you active throughout the day.
- Eat like a king in the afternoon (king has always a planned diet)
- eat like a beggar in the night (the beggar gets just as much he needs)
- divide your stomach to 4 parts
2 parts – Food
1 part- Water
1 part – for circulation of air
- Avoid eating raw food, eat cooked food or at least semi cooked food as it can be digested easily
Eat fruits before the whole meal , do not make the habit of consuming fruits after meal
Activities to be done
Losing weight is not only related to what we eat but it’s also about how we live
Just eating what’s right at the proper time and proportion will not serve its purpose as exercise is very important to stimulate the body’s metabolism
Exercise: including aerobic exercises like walking, cycling, swimming, jogging, and dancing.
(Walking is the most ancient exercise and still the best exercise)
Yogasana: Yoga when practiced as a part of daily activity helps to develop muscle tone, increase flexibility, and improve metabolism. yogasanas such as Surya Namaskar, trikonasana, chaturangadandasana, virabhadrasana, sarvangasana, dhanurasana, bhujangasana, navasana and pavanmuktasana can readily help you lose those extra calories.
Mudras:
practicing certain mudras like
Surya mudra, Linga mudra, and Vayu mudra: practicing these mudra regularly helps in increasing the heat inside the body, which intern enhances the metabolism leading to weight loss
Jnana Mudra: practicing this mudra helps in generating energy that calms your mind and body, releasing impulsive eating habits and intern helps in losing weight.
Conclusion
The change in life style and food habits of people during this era has raised the number of cases having obesity, cardio vascular disease and other underlying diseases. Training our mind to follow right food habits and exercise through ayurvedic principles plays a vital role in controlling weight gain and maintain a fit body. Hence it’s always better to change your mind in order to change your body
By Dr. Anusha Poojary