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Everyone is talking about weight loss right now and it can become the most cliché wellness topic if you’re not careful. From going vegetarian to raw and everywhere in between. Should I fast, cleanse, or give up carbs? What’s the best workout trend or fad diet? Having explored so many diets and exercises, it’s hard to find any consensus. In holistic wellness, trends rarely gain traction for the sheer fact that they don’t work. After years of experimenting, I have found that the Ayurvedic lifestyle is the healthiest diet for my body. That’s why this week I’ll be exploring how the principles of Ayurveda align with weight loss. Today, I’ll talk about giving up the vices that hold us back from our weight loss goals. I’ll also be discussing the classic Ayurveda meal, kitchari and why it promotes weight loss.

The more people realize that fad diets don’t work, the more they turn to holistic health practitioners for weight loss. Ayurveda is a 5,000 year old science that’s as effective today as it was back then. It’s a gradual way to drop weight that will last a lifetime and once you know the secrets of Ayurveda, you’ll never look back. Yoga and Ayurveda practitioners have long prescribed Ayurvedic remedies for all that ails us, and weight loss is no exception.

Slim Down With Ayurveda

Gradually Remove Caffeine and Alcohol From Your Diet

“life as we know it” film

It’s incredibly important to be gradual with the vices that you remove from your diet. In fact, in Ayurveda caffeine and alcohol in very small quantities is good for you. But the quantities are so small that most people only experience the ill effects. When you drink too much caffeine during the day, you tend to get really ampted up. If you’re going a mile a minute all day long, it’s impossible to slow down so we tend to overindulge to weigh ourselves down. Instead of eating or drinking too much, indulge your other senses. Light candles, read a good book, meditate, or put on comfortable clothing. Most importantly, work to keep yourself calm throughout the day so that you don’t need to decompress at night.

If you drink coffee every morning, start by switching to ¾ caffeinated and ¼ decaffeinated. After a month or so, reduce it to ½ caffeinated and ½ decaffeinated. After another month go to ¼ caffeinated and ¾ decaffeinated. Eventually, what you’ll find is that coffee, even decaffeinated, is too hard on your stomach and then you can switch over to decaffeinated tea. The same goes for alcohol (I am not referring to alcoholics here). Count the number of drinks that you have per week (and be honest). Cut that number in half and then in half again over a few months. Until you get to the amount of alcohol per day that’s considered healthy Ayurvedically, which is about 3 tbsps. Some people can just give up vices immediately, but in my experience, for most it backfires.

Cleanse with Kitchari

Kitchari is the quintessential Ayurvedic meal. It’s a cleansing food that’s made with mung dal and basmati rice. The mung dal is known to remove environmental toxins like pesticides from the body. Kitchari is very light but it has all the nutrients that the body needs to survive. During a mild cleansing ritual, kitchari can be eaten for as many as two meals a day. Eat until satiated, but not overfull. Combine your recipe with fresh, seasonal vegetables found locally. It promotes optimal and regular bowel movements, which is essential to weight loss. Kitchari has ample protein and carbohydrates and it’s tasty. It’s free of meat, dairy, any processing, and sugar. Even though there is ghee or clarified butter in kitchari, once clarified, the milk properties are removed so it becomes lactose-free.

Try this .

The study found that of the 730 babies born as a result of the injections, 8 percent were premature and 1.5 percent were very premature. The numbers were markedly different for babies born without the injection, with 5 percent being premature and .6 percent very premature.

These treatments specifically involve joining the women’s egg and the male’s sperm in a lab dish and injecting them in the women. The women’s age, body weight, smoking history, and caffeine and alcohol intake during pregnancy were accounted for in the study.

It’s studies like these that have led many women towards a more holistic approach. Sara Snow

, a green lifestyle guru and host of Discovery Channel’s Get Fresh With Sara Snow choose to go the holistic route. Here’s what she wrote in her January newsletter:

This has been a long journey for us, and while we stayed away from “conventional” western fertility treatment methods, I experienced my fair share of intense herbal treatments, acupuncture, meditation, prayer and faith.  After over 5 years of trying and waiting, we are thrilled to finally be expecting. 

Natural Fertility Treatments

Holistic medicine provides clients with ample options when it comes to enhancing fertility, ranging from subtle to intense.

1. Enhance Fertility with Yoga

As a registered yoga teacher myself, I have learned numerous yogic methods for enhancing a women’s fertility. I find restorative forms of yoga to be beneficial to promoting fertility within a women’s body. Often times women begin to focus on becoming pregnant so much that the stress can have a negative impact on fertility. It’s important to work to soften the abdominal area with the breath. We don’t want to tighten the abdomen, as the area is home to the fallopian tubes, uterus, and ovaries. Include poses like Salamba Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand) and Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Supported Bridge Pose). Both of these poses serve to even out a woman’s mood swings by working on the endocrine system. They help to keep excessive hormonal surges at bay as well as the fear and anxiety that can accompany clients attempting pregnancy.

2. Cure Infertility with Acupuncture

According to the , acupuncture can help to address under-functioning (hypothyroidism) or over-functioning (hyperthyroidism) thyroids, aiding fertility. Acupuncture, similar to yoga, serves to open up the lines of energy in the body, called meridians in Chinese medicine. It involves the insertion of ultra-thin, sterile needles into specific acupuncture points along the body that are located on meridian points.

3. Meditation To Remove Negativity

So how did Sara Snow get pregnant using meditation? Well, meditation serves to keep the mind as healthy as the body should be while carrying a child. It goes back to removing the fear that goes along with trying to get pregnant. While you’re sitting in meditation, negative thoughts may begin to cloud the mind. When this happens, call them out for what they are. Name the thoughts: fear, doubt, or simply negativity. You’ll find that once you call out the thoughts, they lift like fog on a river. This is a form of Vipassana meditation and it brings a sense of serenity and calm necessary for conception. I that meditation is really the foundation for all kinds of holistic wellness practices.

Massage therapy is becoming more and more recognized as a main stream aspect of healthcare around the world. More and more massage therapists are turning their passion for body work into a full time career. But in these economic times when businesses are going bust left and right, do you have what it takes? If you’re a part time massage therapist ready to delve deeper into the field or you’re ready to start a new career entirely, find out if you’re a good fit for the profession.

The Modern Day Massage Therapist

If you’re considering going full time, you’re not alone. You may be surprised to learn that most people start in massage therapy as a part time job, working about 20 hours per week, and from there move into a full time career. A large majority, nearly 85 percent of massage therapists are women and their average age is around 40 years old, according to the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) http://www.amtamassage.org/.

Choose a Fiscally Responsible Specialization

You need to know which massage treatments bring in the most repeat clients. The good old standby, the Swedish Massage is performed the most, on 84 percent of clients, followed by 77 percent deep tissue massage, 49 percent trigger point massage, and 45 percent sport’s massage, according to AMTA. So you would likely need to be versed in these methods to be able to make a go of it.

If You’re Not a Savvy Business Person, It’s Hard to Survive

It’s certainly not a lucrative profession, but you can make it as a massage therapist if you work hard. But you’ll need to focus on always pleasing clients because repeat clients make up the majority of your clientele. Median hourly wages of massage therapists, including gratuities, were $16.78 in May 2008. The middle 50 percent earned between $11.36 and $25.14. The highest 10 percent earned more than $33.47. Because many therapists work part time, yearly earnings can vary considerably, depending on the therapist’s schedule, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos295.htm#outlook

. Take into account that these statistics are for working about 20 hours per week, so they are a bit on the low side. The better the therapist and the harder you work, the more money you’ll be able to make per year.

Accreditation Separates the Weakest Link

AMTA requires at least 500 hours of classroom instruction from an accredited massage therapy school. Within that 500 hours, you’ll need 300 hours of theory and technique and 200 hours of pathology, physiology, and anatomy. It’s important to be certified with the AMTA especially when it comes to building a client base, so it’s crucial to enroll at an accredited institution.

Build Your Business with Part Time Work

Most massage therapists are self-employed and that’s the easiest way to be successful because you don’t have to give a cut of your wages to another business. But you should start by working part time in spas, hospitals, physical therapy centers, hotels, yoga studios, and chiropractors. From there, you can refer business and build a clientele. Joining a professional association is another good way to network and build your business.

So, What’s the Job Outlook?

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos295.htm#outlook, massage therapy is growing as a field but recently certified massage therapists should expect to work only part time until they can build a client base of their own. Employment of massage therapists is expected to increase by 19 percent from 2008 to 2018. But if you’re not self motivated and a self starter willing to seek out clients, it’s hard to make a go of it.

It’s no secret that there’s an obesity epidemic in this country. In fact, in the past 30 years the number of obese individuals has tripled. And in a time when our nation is desperately trying to take control of the rising cost of healthcare, the obesity epidemic has already cost the US $150 million. And statistics show that obese children are much more likely to grow up to be obese adults. So it’s with open arms that the wellness community has welcomed the Let’s Move Campaign, the First Lady’s initiative to combat childhood obesity.

The Let’s Move Campaign Launched

The Let’s Move Campaign launched last month with these words from Michelle Obama, “The physical and emotional health of an entire generation and the economic health and security of our nation is at stake.” 

Key Components of the Let’s Move Campaign

1.    Making Healthy Choices

2.    Healthier Food in Schools

3.   

Access to Healthy Affordable Foods

4.   

Increased Physical Education

Though broad in nature, the tenets of the campaign are right on target. So what does this mean for nutrition professionals, especially those focused on the health and wellness of children? Well, the folks over at The American Dietetics Association (ADA) applauded the First Lady’s campaign. According to registered dietitian and American Dietetic Association President Jessie M. Pavlinac, “Few if any issues matter more than the health of our nation’s children. The American Dietetic Association has long held that obesity is a complicated issue that requires the combined involvement of families, schools, government, communities and health professionals such as registered dietitians to address this national health crisis.”

Nutrition Starts in Schools

Nutrition in schools is one of the main tenets of the program and should be one of the top priorities for nutrition professionals. Kids spend a huge portion of their day at school, so it’s important for them to have healthy nutritional options from which to choose. For nutrition professionals, it starts by strengthening school nutrition programs. First off, we need The Child Nutrition and WIC Act of 2004 reauthorized. It expired on September 30, 2009, according to the School Nutrition Association, but the issue has been pushed to the back burner as a result of other legislative priorities, including healthcare reform and the war in Afghanistan.

Kids need to have more fresh produce available in the cafeteria with less fatty fried foods, processed meats, and snack foods. Soda and candy should not be an option for kids during the school day because it does nothing but promote highs and lows in kids that are already vulnerable to mood swings. Additionally, programs like Edible Schoolyard put kids in touch with the foods that they eat by allowing them to grow their own foods at school. School should be a place where kids have access to inexpensive healthy foods.

Encourage Involvement in Extracurricular Activities

Kids didn’t used to deal with such weight problems because they were much more active. When I was a child, I played outside until the sun went down or it was time for dinner. I watched television a few hours a week and had no interest in it otherwise. But times have changed. Television, video games, cell phones, and computers have all led to the growth of the couch potato and with it, obesity amongst kids. It’s important that kids are active and choose activities and sports that they find exciting rather than sitting at home watching television. Urge parents to limit television and overall electronic time. Have kids join a sports team, outdoors club, or dance class. The activity isn’t so important, what’s important is that kids are active.

Teach Kids Healthy Eating Habits at Home

Encourage kids to pack their own lunches so that they aren’t at the whim of the cafeteria for their nutrition, especially if their cafeteria lacks healthy choices. Choose whole foods instead of anything processed like local and organic fruits and vegetables, homemade trail mix, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and sandwiches made with natural peanut butter and honey. The choices are limitless, but the key is to choose foods that are as minimally processed as possible so that the nutrition hasn’t been striped from the foods. Breakfast is also important, because it starts their metabolism off early in the day. Consider rolled oats with honey, natural peanut butter, fruits, and nuts or granola with yogurt and fruit. With so many delicious healthy choices out there, choosing junk becomes less and less appealing. But the key for nutrition professionals is educating kids so that they can make healthy choices on their own.