Tips for Not Tipping the Scale During Holiday Time

Most of us eat more in the winter than during summertime.  Couple that fact with the available mounds of food offered during holiday time, and you have a recipe for an expanded waistline.

 

People can and do disagree on pretty much everything but if you want to get a clear consensus of opinion on a subject ask a group of individuals if they want to gain weight during the holidays.  I’ll bet you (and I think I will win) that every person will answer that of course they don’t wish to gain weight.  But, alas and alack, many of us do put on a few pounds during holiday time.

 

The holidays are a dangerous time for weight gain.  But, if we follow general Ayurvedic guidelines we can maintain our weight.   

 

Following are some Ayurvedic tips for maintaining ideal weight.

 

1.  Ayurveda tells us that no one size fits all!  The next time you read about that perfect diet in a magazine remember that it will work for some people, but not for everyone.  We each have a unique constitution and the weight loss plan that works best for you depends on your particular constitution.  To learn more about your constitutional type pick up a copy of Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way. Sandra and I have included questionnaires that will help you zero in on this.  If you are a person who can follow a diet, the information in our book will assist you in deciding what type of diet will give you the best results.  If you are following a diet right now and it isn’t working for you, toss it out.  After you learn about your constitutional type you will be better able to find an eating style that fits your needs.

 

2.  Ayurveda suggests that dieting should not be about calorie counting.  A focus on calorie counting causes restriction and restriction puts stress on the mind-body. Stress only brings about more physiological imbalances, mentally, physically, and certainly emotionally.  Ayurveda tells us that lasting change is achieved step by step and should be done in an easy way.  Make one small change in your lifestyle and when that change becomes a habit and feels good to you, then add something else. Eventually your lifestyle will support your ideal weight.

 

3.  In order to lose weight Ayurveda tells us to focus on ama reduction and optimizing metabolism.  Ama is the Sanskrit word for toxins. Ama takes many forms (the plaque on our teeth is ama) but is frequently large molecules of undigested food that clog the digestive tract, i.e. “gunk”.  Ama gets in the way of optimal metabolic power and can contribute to cravings.  When we diminish ama the nutrients from the food we eat can be distributed throughout the body, and communication among the physical systems is unimpeded.  The eventual result is that we feel satisfied after eating and can maintain a healthy glow, a vibrant spirit and an ideal weight. 

 

In Chapter 14 of Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way we offer many tips for ama reduction and the creation of a healthy metabolism. 

 

4.  If you do gain a few pounds over the holidays we suggest you begin a routine of consuming only liquids one day a week.  You can eat anything as long as it is in liquid (pureed) form.  Liquids are easy to digest and help an overworked digestive system to recuperate. 

5.  Of course on holidays you won’t be following a regular schedule but before and after those special days you can create a routine that will help you to maintain your weight. Ayurveda always suggests making lunch the biggest meal of the day and eating a small dinner.  This is a good idea for your overall health and will be helpful if you wish to lose weight.  Digestive power is strongest around noontime. Soup is an excellent choice for dinner. 

6.  Eating before 7:30 p.m. is suggested because digestive power is weakest at night when the body is shutting down and preparing for rest.  Make sure your food is warm. Cold foods cause a build-up of ama (toxins.)

Sandra and I hope that if you are at your ideal weight Ayurvedic tips can help you to stay there. If you wish to lose weight don’t stress or strain. Most diets do not work because they encourage restriction and restriction is stressful, therefore, in the end these calorie-counting diets are bound to fail.  Put your focus on reducing ama and encouraging a healthy metabolism.

 

We send our best wishes to you for perfect health, happiness and we wish you happy holidays and joy with your waist line!

Surviving the Holidays—Emotionally, Physically and Mentally!

The majority of people look forward to the holidays.  They feel excited and hopeful that they will be surrounded by love and good will.  Oftentimes this dream comes true!  But, sometimes people become stirred up by being with the family.  Buttons get pushed and family members become reactive to each other.  Holiday time can be stressful if we allow ourselves to be triggered and reactive to our family members.

Give yourself a talking to while you are preparing the food you will take to your family dinner!  This “conversation” should remind you to focus on your own behavior, your own interactions, and not on the interactions and behaviors of others.  You will digest the emotional experience of being with the family more easily if you keep your attention on yourself.  Be who you want to be within the family and don’t react to triggers from others!  This is how you will protect your emotions and be able to leave the gathering enveloped with that desired feeling of warmth and good will.

There is a lot of food to digest at holiday dinners but remember we also digest experience.  In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I write about digesting experiences.  We recommend the regular practice of Transcendental Meditation to help us with this task.  The TM technique has been shown to remove stresses from the physiology and regular meditators are less reactive to others.  They also recover from all types of stressors more quickly than non-meditators.  Read Chapter 9 in our book to learn more about the amazing benefits of the TM technique.

The mind, body and spirit is one seamless energetic system and no matter where we intervene we affect the totality.  We also suggest you not overeat this holiday season.  If you eat too much you’ll end up feeling sluggish and tired.  After all, your body doesn’t know about holidays—it only knows that suddenly it is expected to process an unusual amount of food. Of course it is going to have trouble with this task and leave you feeling fatigued.

According to Ayurveda (and modern medicine) if we overtax our system and don’t fully digest our food we build up residue.  Is it any wonder that January is the time that depression often announces its presence? Yes, depression happens for a wide variety of reasons, but overeating and overdrinking during the holidays can be one of the variables for the onset of depression.

This holiday season strive to interact with all family members from a grounded state of being.  In the end, the only thing that can deeply bother you is your own behavior—so react from a calm place.  And pace yourself with eating and drinking!  If you follow these prescriptions you’ll have a blessed and joyful holiday!  We wish you the best!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image from http://ticklesandtimeouts.blogspot.com/2010/12/5-ways-to-keep-it-simple-admist-holiday.html

It’s After Thanksgiving! Give Yourself a Break. We Know You Tried

It is the Monday after Thanksgiving and we are wondering if any of you still feel like that overstuffed turkey you ate last Thursday?  Here are a few suggestions that will work to bring lightness back to your body.

1. Drink the wise water.  We gave you the recipe for this in a blog a few weeks ago.  This water will work to purify your body and the purification will help you feel lighter. See the Wise Water Recipe here: http://healingdepression.wordpress.com/2010/11/08/depression-affects-our-immunity/
2. Begin and end your day with lemon water.  The properties of lemon alkalinize your body.  All that heavy and starchy food you ate over the holiday can make your body acidic.  If your physiology moves into an acidic state inflammations can begin a siege.  Inflammation is a signal that the immune system is at war with an invader.  Lemon water will tone down the acid in the body and help the immune system fight off troublesome invaders.
3. Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way will help you to discern your doshic type.  Focus on eating to correct your imbalances and to remove ama (Sanskrit word for toxins) from your physiology.

It’ll all be OK.  Drink wise water.  Begin and end the day with lemon water.  Read about nutrition and learn more helpful hints.  And don’t bother to resolve that next year will be different.  We know that Thanksgiving is a day to feast.  But correcting the overload sooner rather than later will help to prevent any problems.  Remember the roots of depression are often found in the body and one of the most important ingredients for preventing depression and achieving happiness is found in the morsel on the end of your fork.

 

 

Have a great week!

 

–Nancy

 

Don’t Feel Like a Stuffed Turkey: Ignite the Fire in Your Belly

We prepare for Thanksgiving Day.  We shop, bring home groceries which we put away, only to take out again.  We chop and peel and stuff.  We set the table and arrange the serving platters.  It’s holiday time and we take extra care in our preparations.

But do we remember to prepare our body for the feast it is about to meet?  After all we are going to experience food overload and the body needs a bit of prep work to get ready for that.  Here are a few helpful hints to prepare your body for Thanksgiving Day.

1. Start your day focused on the spiritual aspects of eating. If you are mindful of what you are eating you are likely to eat a bit (or a lot) less.  According to Ayurveda eating is a beautiful and sacred ritual.  Digestion begins in the eye of the beholder.  It is the full sensory experience of eating that enlivens the physiology.  Paying attention to the task at hand makes everything go better, whether the task is eating or talking with a friend.  Don’t engage in attention-deficit eating as it can mess up the working of your gut by squelching your digestive fire.
2. Breathe, breathe, breathe!  Oxygen is the power that drives your metabolic engine.  Do deep breathing.  By increasing the amount of oxygen available to the body, you are better able to burn the food you consume. Oxygen is indispensable in burning fat, the body’s fuel reserve and in helping us to digest efficiently.  Efficient digestion means the nutrients are distributed in such a way that all the organs of the body receive nourishment.
3. Prime your digestive system.  It’s not the food that is the problem.  It is the inner workings of the digestive system.  Chewing on a piece of ginger can help to heat up the system and insure more efficient digestion.
4. Go for a walk after dinner.  O! Wait a minute!  Perhaps we should advise you to help with the dishes before the walk.  We don’t want anyone to be angry with you.  But do go for a walk as a walk will aid digestion and help you to lift your energy after that big dinner you just consumed.
5. Thanksgiving Day is a perfect time to reflect on how food affects mood.  The traditional dinner is filled with starches and heavy foods.  These weigh us down.  If we have a Vata imbalance heavy foods are recommended but most of us notice feeling weighed down on Thanksgiving.  Some of us feel that way for a few days after.  Food does affect mood and do be careful as too much heavy food over the holidays can increase a tendency to depression.
6. See our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way for more helpful hints on aiding the digestive processes not just for the holidays but all year long.

 

Happy Holidays!   Remember it is only the turkey that is supposed to be stuffed.