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“Losing weight” seems to be on the New Year agenda of most people. Among 10 people I asked “what your New Year resolution is, more than 6 people answered that they want to lose weight and get into shape! Well, not a bad trend, right? But why today particularly the younger generation admires being thin so much? Probably the ramp-models have the answer. The size zero is quickly becoming popular and even the middle aged moms are trying hard to fit in the jeans of their twenties. Is it the right thing or we need to think more?
Let’s see-
One thing is sure that having extra flab on the body is not a healthy sign. Flab means fat, not muscle. Therefore, losing this flab should be the priority no doubt. Lesser the activity level, more one should worry for the flab. Yes! Read the sentence carefully. Today scientists have found a great positive relation between health and activity level. Regular the exercise, lesser are the chances of ill-health relatively irrespective of your weight.
But one should also understand here that more the weight, lesser is the activity level in many cases (due to inability to move faster) and this further contributes to high fat. How to halt this vicious cycle? Can we?
The answer thankfully is YES!
If you were lean, thin and healthy in your twenties, you have every right to remain so in your mid-forties and thereafter too. What exactly goes wrong? Many women think that childbirth is the culprit that contributed to their flab. Many men think their highly stressful job is the reason. But the fact is that despite child birth and stressful jobs, there are men and women that can maintain ideal body weight and live healthy life. So, why can’t we? We can too!
What can be done?
- Steer clear of myths-
(1) We should follow strict diets if we want to lose weight- The foremost pre-requisite to idealize your weight and health is not to fall prey to the rumors. You must have seen (or done yourself) many people staying just on either bananas, hot water, soups, or ‘just’ vegetables for days together! This is one of the top myths that eating less will reduce your weight. It will not. It will just weaken your immune system and make you vulnerable to graver diseases. So firstly, stop any such staple diets if you are following. Our body needs enough quantity of all ingredients of diet including carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, and trace elements to be able to cope with the wear and tear. Only-carbohydrate or Only-protein diets might help for a temporary duration to reduce weight (you tend to reduce muscle mass too during the process and not just fat). But once you wean off these diets, you tend to put on more weight, because obviously you cannot follow such stipulated diets for life (I hope you do not; otherwise…hats off to you!)
(2) Having just 2 full-meals per day- Many elderly are happy because they feel we are eating just two times a day and not recurrently. This is another myth that makes us fat. When you leave larger gaps between your meals, you obviously tend to eat lot more than can be properly digestible. Therefore, the excess sugars and proteins tend to get converted into fat and it deposits beneath your skin and in the arteries (leading to atherosclerosis)
(3) Eating fat-less diets can reduce weight- remember that fat is also an essential element of diet. Just we need to take it in stipulated quantity not to exceed beyond limits. Have seen many patients who deprive themselves of fat completely. What they get in turn is the shriveled old-looking skin. Fat is the natural moisturizer and toner for your body and therefore essential. Just reduce the excess quantity you eat and it will not affect you detrimentally.
(4) Joining the gym is the only way to lose weight- well, here we are not belittling the importance of gym exercises but let’s not make it the rule. There are many ways of exercise by which you can stay fit. Rather, in many cases, some of the gym exercises are harmful for certain people. People with joint problems and cardiac disease should exercise great caution while joining the gym. More than that, stipulated kind of exercises for weeks and months together reduce the interest. Instead, engaging ourselves in different types of exercises keep our motivations alive for longer (probably this is what we need the most). You can jog, swim, dance, or cycle your way to health!
- Treatment Regimes for losing weight-
(1) Lose your weight homeopathically-
We homeopaths always stress the importance of homeopathic treatment for weight reduction. Here I am not advertising any patent homeopathic medicine for weight loss. We are talking about classical homeopathy. Does it help? Yes, it helps in lot more ways than we anticipate. The major reason why homeopathic medicines help in weight reduction is their ability to act on mind.
“Mind” plays a very crucial role in maintaining or enhancing your weight. It is mind that makes you stressed and you tend to eat more or less. It is the mind that makes you dull to start your exercise regime. It is mind that encourages you too to take the issue of obesity seriously and do something constructive about it.
And homeopathy helps in all these aspects to shape your mind and make it do what needs to be done. It is not exaggeration. Have seen absolutely lazy patients take up exercise regimes scrupulously once they are on constitutional homeopathic treatment, because of the ability of homeopathic remedies to act on higher planes. Same goes true for maintaining ideal diets.
The homeopathic medicine also helps the person to tide over the hormonal imbalances that contribute to excess weight. Therefore, when a patient of hypothyroidism and/or polycystic ovarian disease starts homeopathic treatment, the apparent edema on the body disappears gradually and makes the patient fitter to achieve his or her goals.
(2) Exercise-
As discussed above, there is no option to exercising your way to health. If someone tells you to follow a regimen that excludes exercise for weight loss, they are lying to you! Try to inculcate variations in your regime not to get bored and feel energetic for years to come. Adding this component to your day to day life is the most rewarding experience you can give your body, mind, and spirit. Couple it with relaxing techniques and your benefits get doubled!
Some auxiliary tips for losing weight-
- Drink at least 8 to 10 glasses of plain water per day
- Have enough fiber, for it will boost up bowel health and avoid constipation. Also it is one of the sure shot ways to delay ageing
- Recognize bodily deficiencies and seek natural supplementary help from an expert
- Eat frequent small meals (preferably 2 to 3 hourly)
- Be consistent in your regimens. To make that happen, set smaller goals and reward yourself when you accomplish them
- Some meditation techniques help a great deal in stabilizing one’s absurd eating behavior and providing the essential motivation to do your best
- Steer clear of the myths and don’t fall prey to heavy advertising of patent diet pills, unless you verify their authenticity via an expert
May the year 2011 bring lots of happiness, health and fitness for you to stay for life!
