Are you struggling to lose weight? Frustrated by fad diets, tired of counting calories and ready to try something new? You know proper diet and exercise are important to losing weight but sometimes it seems you are doing every right and still can’t seem to lose those stubborn 5 to 10 lbs. Not to worry. Ayurveda can help. Ayurveda believes in creating a lifestyle that supports you to achieve and maintain your optimal weight with ease.
Adopt a Positive Attitude – Positive thinking plays a huge role in your weight loss success. Ayurveda teaches us that the mind and body are deeply connected and the mind has an incredible power to create your reality. Positive thoughts are empowering. A negative attitude can make losing weight difficult and prevents you from appreciating how amazing you are now and from celebrating your many successes. Instead of focusing on what is not working celebrate all that you are doing to support your wellness. Adopt a positive weight loss mantra and replace all the “I can’t” with “I am”! You could try one of these mantras or make up your own: I am able to achieve my optimal weight with ease or I release this weight with ease and fully accept myself as I am now!
Eat 3 Meals No Snacks – Snacking, grazing all day long or eating several small meals throughout the day all sabotage your weight loss efforts. Dr. John Douillard does a great job of explaining this concept in his book, The 3-Season Diet. Douillard says, “If we want the body to burn fat, we must give it a reason. Why would the body burn its stored fat reserves if it is getting fed every 2-3 hours? When you eat frequently, the body burns what it has just been fed and has no motivation to burn stored fat. When you eat breakfast, and then nothing until lunch, and then nothing until supper, and then nothing until breakfast again, you provide a natural fast in between meals that will encourage fat metabolism.” Makes sense to me! If you need a snack eat a single piece of fruit, green smoothie or a handful of nuts.
Make Lunch Your Biggest Meal – Our ability to digest food (agni) is the highest in the middle of the day during the Pitta time of day (from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.). Ayurveda recommends eating 50% of your daily calories at lunch. This is a uniquely Ayurvedic weight loss tip and often the most difficult to adapt. Instead of drastic calories cutting, try changing when you are eating most of your calories. You should eat the least number of calories at dinner, which should be finished by 7:30 p.m. Think about it. When do you need the most fuel during your day? From 7 p.m. until you go to bed or from 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.? So instead of having a light salad for lunch have a salad for dinner, and your lunch-time meal should look more like your dinner. Give yourself at least three weeks to adapt your new eating routine and let me know how it goes.
Wishing you Vibrant Living,
Kate