Crash diets and quick fixes can be found everywhere to keep weight off. Most of these promise ‘14 day diet plans to lose belly fat’ or ‘getting slimmer in two weeks’, and are hailed to show instant results. Unfortunately, these are unsustainable and carry long-term disadvantages.  

Weight loss efforts should be steady and sustainable. 

Once you tune into your body and its needs, your mind and body harmonise to achieve an ideal state. Ayurveda – the ancient vedic science of healing – is a brilliant tool to ensure such a form of weight loss. 

Three Meals a Day

Regular meal timings are necessary for effective digestion. Your Agni or digestive fire peaks twice during the day; once at noon, and secondly at night while you are asleep. When your meal timings and food quantity are in sync with your Agni, your urges are satiated and digestion is effectively managed. 

The quantity of your food consumed also depends on when it is consumed. Lunch should be your heaviest meal, ideally eaten around noon. In contrast, dinner should be kept light and eaten before 7pm to allow your body to detoxify itself while you are asleep at night. 

Your meals must also be sufficient enough to keep snacking at bay. This ensures that your metabolic fire is appropriately kindled at the right timings, only when required. When your body receives regularly-timed, reliable food, your internal clock is in no fear of starvation of overconsumption. This helps ward away extra weight. 

Find out more about ideal eating habits and mindfulness here. 

Diet as per your Dosha Type

Ayurveda strongly recommends a diet as per your bodily composition or Dosha. Your vata, pita, and kapha doshas which work together in a tri-doshic balance for optimal health. 

Vata represents dry, cold, light, minute, and mobile properties. Vata dominant persons are mostly creative and expressive. They are recommended to eat cooked fruits and vegetables, grains, red lentils, beef, eggs, black pepper, coriander, peanuts, pecans, beer and red wine. They should avoid mostly frozen, raw or dry fruits and vegetables. 

Pitta represents hot, moist, liquid, sharp and sour properties. Pitta dominant persons are known to be intelligent, motivated and optimistic. They are recommended to have sweet or bitter vegetables, dry cereals, lean meat, almond, beer, white wine, and coconut. They should avoid pungent vegetables, sour fruits, and other flavour laden foods such as sour cream, salted butter, chili pepper, and soy sauce. 

Kapha is a watery element with heavy, cold, tender, soft, and lubricant properties. They are described as calm, loving, and easily lethargic. They are recommended to have astringent fruit, pungent or bitter vegetables, granola, polenta, and lima beans. They should avoid sweet, sour and juicy fruits or vegetables, glutinous or starchy grains, cheese, and freshwater fish. 

Although all of us embody all three doshas, you will find 1-2 doshas that match your body type and personality. An ayurvedic diet plan for weight loss promotes mindfulness eating, natural food consumption, and keeps your hormones and biological cycles in check, all of which are beneficial to weight loss. 

Find out more about the different types of doshas here. 

Movement and Yoga

Regular movement can do wonders to our physical and mental health. Exercising can do wonders to weight loss, when practiced in combination with other components of a healthy lifestyle. Yoga, a sister school of Ayurveda, is an integral component of well-being. It inculcates ideal spiritual, mental and physical health, through which you can strive towards holistic wellness. 

Yoga was originally written in ancient ayurvedic texts called the Upanishads, by learned rishis and brahmins. It has evolved over years to morph into different forms (Vinyasa, Hatha, Iyengar, Kundalini, Ashtanga, Bikram, and Yin, among others). All forms have five basic principles of exercise, diet, breathing, relaxation and meditation. 

Regular yoga practice can firstly inculcate mindfulness and consciousness, which is the root of tackling your weight loss challenges. 

As you become more conscious of the foods entering your mind, body and spirit, you find yourself adhering to your weight loss goals readily. You will also find yourself naturally craving healthier food choices to sustain your yoga practice.

Yoga has also been found to boost sleep quantity, particularly in the form of a guided yoga relaxation form named yoga nidra. Additionally, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, and Power Yoga are practiced in hot yoga studios are more intense forms that accelerate calorie burn.

Find out more about yoga and Ayurveda here. 

Takeaways

Ayurveda has a repository of information concerning the various facets of well-being. Mekosha offers a Kerala Ayurvedic treatment for effective weight loss to help you lose extra weight effortlessly. The three guidelines above – eating three balanced meals a day, consuming a diet as per your dosha type, and ensuring sufficient movement, especially through yoga – are significant first steps to embracing healthy weight loss.