Starting the new year with good resolutions - Maharishi Ayurveda Health Centre Bad Ems

It’s that time again: The good resolutions for the new year have been made. As health awareness is becoming more fashionable, many fellow humans have resolved to lose weight. Often, that’s easier said than done. Because fasting and losing weight, then gaining weight again – this is the all-too-common sequence of events with popular weight loss programs. Furthermore, they often cause fluctuations in wellbeing, even though a better body feeling is one of the good reasons to want to get rid of those extra pounds.

Unfortunately, most methods are not very well suited for losing weight quickly and inducing a lasting improvement in well-being, because their main focus is to lose weight by reducing the food intake.

What is being overlooked is the fact that fasting usually weakens the metabolism, unless the digestive system is specifically strengthened at the same time. The consequence is the dreaded yoyo effect: after a seemingly successful weight reduction, one soon gains even more than one had lost.

Ayurveda – solving weight problems at their root

Ayurveda has a different approach. Using a combination of many natural methods that have been available for millennia, it enables you to reach and maintain your individual ideal weight.
According to Ayurveda, weight issues are not merely a matter of overeating: the individual’s metabolism (Agni) also plays a big role. E.g., a slow cell metabolism can lead to weight gain even with less food intake, while a high basal metabolism leads to low body weight even with larger amounts of food.
Other factors are the composition of meals, the amount of accumulated metabolic residues and toxins in the physiology, mealtimes, exercise, and general lifestyle.

If the metabolism is in a state of balance, food is broken down into components that are useful for building healthy body tissue. When the metabolic functions are in disarray, incompletely disassembled molecules are formed, which can accumulate in tissues throughout the body. The transformation processes are disturbed, imbalance takes hold and builds up. To be able to achieve long-lasting success, this functional imbalance must be restored to its natural equilibrium.

Reset your metabolism and lose weight

Instead of just fasting – and later gaining weight again – we recommend a Maharishi AyurVeda course of treatment that focuses on cleansing and weight loss. An important part of its success lies in providing a delicious vegetarian Ayurvedic diet that is designed and prepared specifically for purification and detoxification. Enjoyable and deeply relaxing Ayurvedic treatments enhance your digestive power and basal metabolism, and thus, weight loss happens quite naturally. In addition, Ayurvedic massages (Abhyanga) dissolve layer after layer of deposited metabolic debris and increase the metabolic rate.

Ayurvedic remedies you can do at home

Start your day with a lemon-and-honey drink: Add the juice of half a lemon and a teaspoon of organic honey to a glass of water at room temperature. Drinking this first thing in the morning cleanses your digestive tract, refreshes, ensures a good intestinal flora, and supports weight loss. The latest medical findings show that the composition of our intestinal flora not only influences mood, but also controls the craving for sweets and other pleasure poisons.

Drink hot water every half hour. In the morning, prepare a thermos with boiled water – let it simmer for 10–20 minutes. During the day, drink half a glass of this water every half an hour. This regular heat impulse to the digestive system activates all body cells’ metabolism and thereby facilitates weight loss.
To avoid diluting your digestive juices, stop this regimen half an hour before meals and don’t resume until one hour afterwards, or one and a half hour if it was a large meal. During the meal itself, however, you can drink hot water in small sips.

Drink barley water a few times during the day: Put a tablespoon of barley in 1 liter of water and let it simmer until the water is creamy. Take at intervals distributed over your day.

Don’t eat more than three meals a day – two is better – and avoid snacking between meals. If you are very hungry, drink a glass of hot water with a few slices of ginger or a pinch of hot spices such as black pepper, cloves, or cumin. This fills your stomach and at the same time activates the metabolism.

Start to consciously perceive your natural signals: pay attention to your natural hunger and above all to your point of satiety.

Eliminate sugar and soft drinks from your menu; reduce cereals and instead, eat more vegetables or – during summer – salads.

Hot, bitter, and astringent spices stimulate the metabolism. Make use of this quality to support weight loss. Suitable spices are: black and long pepper, ginger, cumin, ajowain, cloves, and turmeric.

Instead of an after-lunch nap, rest just five minutes after the meal and then go for a walk.

Perform Garshan daily: a full-body dry massage with crude-silk gloves in the morning activates the body cells and supports weight loss.

Regular Yoga Asanas relax the soul, make your body flexible, and make love handles melt away by activating the gastrointestinal tract.

A brisk walk boosts your metabolism, but note that fat burning only starts after half an hour. Hiking and walking also burns calories: the slower you go, the longer it takes.

Learn and practice Transcendental Meditation. The experience of deep relaxation markedly reduces stress and the craving for chocolate, sweets, etc.

In the evening, take only a very light meal, e.g. a vegetable soup and as early as possible. Ideally don’t eat after 6 p.m.

Go to bed early, around 10 p.m. at the latest. This advice from Ayurveda has recently been confirmed by modern medical research: People with delayed sleep rhythm have a much harder time losing weight than “early sleepers” on the same diet.

Designate one day a week as a liquid diet day with fresh juices and soups.

Take a course of treatment and thrive

For a quick reset, ideally consider a Panchakarma cure. Even with a few extra pounds, this doesn’t involve a strict diet. Instead, you will experience the entire delicious variety of Ayurvedic cuisine. The imbalance in metabolism that causes overweight is restored to its natural balance by the Maharishi AyurVeda treatments and therapies, which the doctor prescribes for you based on your constitution, your general state of health and your preferences. At the concluding consultation, you will receive individual recommendations for herbal mixtures, as well as nutritional and lifestyle tips to further build on the success of the cure and ensure lasting results.