The Maharishi Ayurveda Approach to Weight Loss
5 Easy Steps to A Healthier Weight
Although different people have weight problems for different reason, these 5 tips address fundamental lifestyle habits that affect virtually everyone. The really good news is that these 5 powerful tips are easy to implement and can bring about great changes in your life and health once in place.
Point 1. Eat a light evening meal with easy-to-digest foods.
Everyone dealing with weight loss issues needs to know that it is virtually impossible to make serious progress if you continue to eat large evening meals with heavy foods!
I cannot emphasize this point too much. Ayurveda describes that digestion is less strong in the evening, plus lying down to sleep a few hours later further slows down digestion, metabolism and circulation. The body simply cannot assimilate large evening meals properly. The result is that much of the food is digested poorly and eventually creates toxins, fat and excess weight. For most people using the approaches of eating less during the day, herbs, pills, special powders and drinks, and even exercise cannot overcome this most serious of all weight loss mistakes.
Especially avoid in the evening: cheese, yogurt, rich desserts, red meat, leftovers of any kind, cold foods, processed foods
Avoid or reduce in evening meals: fowl, fish, desserts
Evening meals should be vegetarian, hot, light and liquidy. If you are significantly overweight the foundation of the evening meal should be 1) non-cream soups, 2) grains cooked in water (for example rice, quinoa, cous cous, barley), and 3) vegetables either steamed, roasted or sauteed with small amounts of extra virgin olive oil. If you must have dessert, I recommend cooked fruit desserts made with only small amounts of organic sugar.
2. Eat the largest meal of the day at lunch with a wide variety of warm, cooked food.
Lunch is the time our bodies can best digest and properly assimilate larger quantities of food due to the fact that digestion is strongest at noon and we have many active hours to metabolize the food before we sleep. Lunch is the most important meal of the day and the meal we most need to plan and prepare for.
Lunch should be warm, cooked foods with a wide variety of tastes and dishes. Warm food is essential as it can be more easily digested and assimilated. Cold foods suppress digestion (remember your chemistry- cold temperature suppresses chemical reaction, and digestion is chemistry!) The result of regular meals of cold foods is indigestion, the accumulation of ama (undigested molecules that clog the channels,) and weight gain.
Having a wide variety of foods is essential for nutrition and to prevent the body from developing food cravings-the downfall of many a well-meaning diet plan. Food cravings often occur because of imbalanced diets that included only a few food types. Diets restricted to mostly carbohydrates or protein or fat eventually lead to undernourished tissues that rightfully send hunger messages to our brain. Even though we have just finished eating a large quantity of food, parts of our body are still truly malnourished and hungry. Unfortunately if we don’t realize this when the hunger signals come we may reach for even more carbohydrate rich and dense foods like desserts when actually we need green vegetables and legume soups.
A good, balanced lunch also helps us feel less hungry in the evening, making it easier to stick to that all-important light evening meal.
3. Drink hot water frequently throughout the day
By sipping hot water throughout the day you help cleanse the digestive tract and entire body of blockages and impurities. Hot water drinking improves digestion and assimilation of food and helps prevent the body from becoming toxic and clogged. It also is a great aid in reducing food cravings between meals. I have known people who lost over 50 pounds by following only this single recommendation.
Most people can accomplish the hot water recommendation by getting a good thermos and having a cup sitting on a small cup-sized hot plate. You can pour your hot water in the cup, put it on the warmer and sip it throughout the day as you work.
The most purifying and cleansing water is water that has been boiled for about ten minutes. Boiling water for ten minutes reduces its heaviness (you will usually see a fine powder at the bottom of the pan that consists of precipitated materials from the water) and energizes the water. Drinking water from your hot water dispenser at work is better than not drinking any at all, but is not as effective as boiled water.
4. Avoid leftovers
Maharishi Ayurveda holds that putting food back in the refrigerator after it has been cooked seriously deteriorates the quality of the foods and their digestibility. Even if you heat it up after you take it out of the refrigerator, it has lost its life giving freshness.
We get more than molecules from food. We also get freshness, life force (prana) and nature’s intelligence from our foods. Physics tells us there is a classical world of molecules but also a quantum mechanical world of vibration. The vibration of the deeper fields which comprise nature’s life-force and intelligence get destroyed by cooling cooked food. As a result leftovers easily lead to improperly digested waste products called "ama" that accumulate in the body causing toxins, blockages, excessive weight gain and lead to many diseases.
The converse principle sums up the essence of Ayurvedic food guidelines.
"Eat fresh food, freshly prepared"
Because of the activity of our lives, and logistics of shopping and cooking, this simple statement can be difficult to achieve but every step in this direction will help us with weight management and overall good health.
A convenient way to get a home-cooked, nearly fresh meal of pure, wholesome ingredients for lunch each day, is to cook barley and lentils (a good fat-busting combination) overnight in a crock pot. In the morning, add chopped vegetables and some spices saut?ed in olive oil (try cumin, black pepper, fresh ginger root, coriander and turmeric.) Put in a wide-mouth thermos and bring for lunch. Add some rye crackers (another fat busting grain according to Ayurveda,) and fresh fruit for a well-balanced, pure and nutritious lunch.
5. Get Moving!
I saw a headline in a health paper some time ago that made a good point "Stop Dieting and Start Moving"
Exercise is an antidote for almost everything that ails us. It improves digestion, metabolism, elimination, complexion, body tone and strength, bone density, and helps us normalize weight. It is also emotionally positive as it can be enjoyable, increase self-worth and bring us greater energy, freshness and success throughout the day.
At least take time every day to get out and walk. Evaluate your schedule and take walks whenever you can squeeze them in. Be vigilant to take opportunities to walk. It is especially good to walk after meals and especially healthy to take a walk after the evening meal.
Additional tips:
Summary
Health is won or lost in how we live day-to-day life. I encourage everyone with weight management issues to take initiative and get on an upward spiral of healthy activity. Your quick reward will be greater freshness, happiness and a lighter, healthier body.
About The Author
Nancy Lonsdorf M.D. received her M.D. from Johns Hopkins and did her postgraduate training at Stanford. She has studied Ayurveda with some of the world’s most renowned Ayurvedic physicians in India, Europe and the U.S. Dr. Lonsdorf has 18 years of clinical experience with Ayurveda and is currently the Medical Director of The Raj Ayurveda Health Center in Vedic City Iowa.
Dr. Lonsdorf has authored two books on Ayurveda and women’s health:
1. A Woman’s Best Medicine (Penguin/Putnam 1995 ; ISBN 0-87477-785-2) describing the Ayurvedic approach to the major issues in women’s health
2. The Ageless Woman: Health and Beauty after Forty with Maharishi Ayurveda (MCD Century Publications 2004 ISBN#: 0-9721233-5-0) on anti-aging recommendations and longevity for women.
Doctor Lonsdorf’s contact information is:
Nancy Lonsdorf M.D.
1734 Jasmine Avenue
Vedic City, IA 52556
641-472-8246
web site url: ayurveda-ayurvedic.com/
e-mail address: [email protected]
Dr. Lonsdorf photo for web at: ayurveda-ayurvedic.com/images/ayurveda%20physician.jpg
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Weight Loss With Bontril: Smooth Sailing On The Weight Loss Ocean
As many of us know, it’s the first few days of starting a healthy new habit that can be the most discouraging. The first few days of exercise are always the achiest. A new reduced-calorie diet comes with hunger pangs until your body adjusts to the healthier eats.
Sometimes taking an appetite suppressant can help you ride out the choppy waters and get you to the days of smooth and healthy sailing! If you’re getting ready to start a new weight-loss program, Bontril SR (the slow release version of Bontril) can help you manage those first few weeks of changes.
Is Bontril a Tranquillizer?
Not to worry – Bontril SR doesn’t make you "zone out" through your first few weeks of healthful eating. You’re not going to be the Rip Van Winkle of weight loss success! Actually, Bontril SR is an appetite suppressant which works a lot like the old-fashioned amphetamines that were used in the 50s to help women keep thin. Unlike amphetamines, Bontril won’t leave you "hopped up" – instead it’ll help you feel less hungry as your body adjusts to your new diet and exercise programs.
How do I get started on a Bontril-based weight-loss plan?
Bontril SR requires a doctor’s prescription, so visit your favorite doctor to see if Bontril is right for your needs. Usually, drugs like Bontril are a good bet for people who have a body-mass index (BMI, which is a measure of your height-to-weight ratio) of over 30. If you’ve tried some of the newer weight-loss pills (like Xenical) but they didn’t work for you, Bontril may be a good alternative.
Your doctor may steer you toward a different drug if you are taking or have recently taken an MAO inhibitor (a type of antidepressant). She may also suggest an alternative if you have significant heart disease or circulation problems (like high blood pressure) or if you have insulin-dependent diabetes.
The First Few Weeks
Bontril works by suppressing your appetite, so your body adjusts to your new diet without a tidal wave of hunger pangs! There are some other things that can help with your adjustment, so here’s a checklist to help you get started:
? Don’t forget – diet and exercise is what makes weight-loss happen – Bontril SR will just make it all easier!
? Some people have side effects (dry mouth, stomach troubles) when they first start on Bontril SR, but they pass. If they don’t stop, or if you have other serious symptoms, it’s time to call your doctor!
? You might feel like celebrating when your weight loss starts, but don’t call for a margarita! Alcohol can increase the occasional dizziness people feel while they’re on Bontril SR.
? Because Bontril SR is a slow-release drug (SR), don’t chew the capsule! You’ll get a big whopping dose of the drug all at once if you do and that can really increase side effects!
Once you’ve gotten adjusted to your new lifestyle, usually in a couple of weeks, you should talk to your doctor about stopping Bontril SR. Be aware that some people find Bontril SR habit-forming and stopping the drug all at once can lead to withdrawal symptoms. So work with your doctor to reduce your dose on a regular schedule until you’re not taking it anymore.
When you stop taking Bontril SR, you’ll already be adjusted to a healthier, lower-cal diet. All you’ll need to do is to keep up the good work!
Copyright (C) Shoppe.MD and Ian Mason, 2004-2005
Ian Mason, owner of Shoppe.MD, your source for health news and Bontril online.
Ian studies health, weight loss, exercise, and several martial arts; maintaining several websites in an effort to help provide up-to-date and helpful information for other who share his interests in health of body and mind.
Contact Ian Mason by e-mail at [email protected]
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