Posts tagged nutrition
Why arent I loosing weight?

The short answer is energy.

From the traditional western philosophy, weight loss and weight management is a story about calories, deficits, fat-burning heart rates, and nutrition. And while those techniques are often an important part of a healthy weight and lifestyle, I have found more often than not, there is a deeper and more subtle component to weight loss.

I have a friend, she is a beauty in all the ways a person can be beautiful. She is kind, intelligent, fair, and grounded. She is wise beyond her years and physically very attractive. She also happens to be quite thin. She studied long and hard to be able to become a specialist in nutrition and natural wellness, and so people often ask her what the best way to attain and maintain a svelte figure is.

She gingerly replies “just think thin!”. At first glance, this response may elicit an eye roll. “That’s it?” you might gasp. “If all I had to do was think thin, I wouldn’t be so frustrated! I’d sit on my butt all day eating bon-bons!” But if you look a little deeper, the wisdom in her advice is pure, and deeply rooted in yogic and Ayurvedic technology.

From the Ayurvedic perspective, the weight on our bodies is defined by a delicate balance of the 5 gross elements. Our bodily tissues are made up of earth, air, fire, water, and ether. Each person has a unique combination of these 5 elements. An imbalance in one or more of these elements can have a wide variety of symptoms, weight gain being only one possibility. The elements responsible for making up the majority of our fat and muscle tissue are primarily made up of earth and water. What we ingest and digest not only physically, but mentally and emotionally is responsible for contributing to the quantity and quality of these tissue layers.

In other words, what we digest energetically is just as important to our overall health as what we eat. For instance, our ability to give and accept love is partially responsible for the quality of the fat tissues of our body. If someone lacked self-confidence and self-love, it would be more likely for that individual to have an imbalance in their fat tissues.

My friend’s advice to “think thin” hones in on this idea that what you are feeling and thinking might be just as important to your weight-loss journey as what you are eating and doing. When we can cultivate the energy of self-love, it has a tangible impact on the tissues of our body, energetically making a healthy weight more favorable.

Ayurveda

The 5000-year-old science of Ayurveda is more nuanced and artistic than it is exact. It is strange to me that more people don’t know the basics of this elemental modality of health and spiritual progress. The traditional model of nutrition in western culture never really hooked me, because I always knew everybody was different. How could one set of rules be right for everyone? With our endless fad diets and miracle cure food crazes, we have bought into the idea that foods can be inherently good or bad. Could it be possible that something as healthy and celebrated as the avocado is both nutritious and poisonous depending on the person, the season, and even the time of day? In Ayurveda, there are no good foods or bad foods. Every food has a positive and a negative aspect. The central tenet of Ayurveda is bringing the body and mind into balance, through nutrition, lifestyle, and spiritual development.

Most everyone who knows a little about Ayurveda knows about the doshas. Your doshic makeup or Prakriti is your individualized roadmap to what foods, exercises, times of day, people, places, thoughts, etc, will influence you most, and in what ways. The idea is that everything in nature is made up of the same 5 elements, but with proportions as unique as a fingerprint. Vata types are made up of air and ether. The characteristics of these elements are light, dry, fast, and cold. Vata-type people are typically thinner, always on the go, and more likely to notice symptoms like constipation or bloating. Pitta people are made up of fire and water, light, hot, oily, and movable. They have a medium build with good muscle tone, are discerning, motivated, and ambitious, and can have a hot temper when out of balance. Kapha dosha is the dosha of earth and water, slow, cold, heavy, and moist. Kapha people tend to be a little heavier, with soft skin and hair, big eyes, and melodious voices. They can be easily subject to feelings of depression, and lack of motivation when out of balance.

What I love most about Ayurveda is the idea that the different tissues of our bodies affect our psychological well-being. Each tissue type or “dhatu” is made of its own composition of the five elements, fueled by the power of our digestion. When our digestive fire or “Agni” is working properly, the by-product of that process directly builds the corresponding tissue type. For instance, fat tissue is made up of primary water and earth elements, these elements have a nourishing and stabilizing effect on the organism, directly affecting our ability to feel and send love. If the digestive fire is not working properly, it is either delivering too much or too little of the building blocks needed to maintain a healthy balance of fat tissue, and a healthy feeling of self-love and love for others.

If you are interested in how Ayurveda might help you in your life, I recommend taking a dosha quiz. Once you know your dosha, you’ll be able to find the right foods, herbs, and practices best suited for your personal composition. Keep in mind, that the doshas affect more than just your physical body. They also play into the world around us. The spring equinox brings the start of Kapha season. So Kapha-type people may feel it is easier to fall out of balance with all the Kapha influence so prevalent. Whatever your interest level, Ayurveda is both simple and complex, so you can tailor whatever tips and tricks you’ve learned to fit your lifestyle.