I used to focus on my weight constantly. Having never been skinny or slender, I would look at everyone around me in a sort of the vs. me mentality. I would see other women and point out how pretty this feature or that is and when I looked in the mirror I saw only faults.
Not only is this thought process not healthy and negative thinking only keeping me from looking and feeling happy, but I now know that this is also blasphemy.
All women and men are created by God, a microcosmic reflection of the macrocosmic divine. To say someone is ugly is to say that the Creator is in turn ugly. Everyone is beautiful, don’t think otherwise.
So, in saying all of this, why diet or watch my weight?
HEALTH!
I am now the largest I have ever been. This wouldn’t be a problem, but in gaining weight, I have put a large amount of pressure on my small bone structure (I’m 5ft tall with the bone structure that my art teacher says never really moved out of pre-puberty). Also, I now have blood pressure problems and with my family’s history of heart disease, I don’t need to push my luck.
So that leaves the question of how?
There are so many diets and lifestyles and so on out in the world and all can be easily learned about with a little online research. I will post my decisions on this blog but I recommend that everyone find something that works best for them. What I do will not be the wa for everyone and I don’t expect it to be.
I have tried being a vegetarian and I would love to live organic but really can’t afford to.
I love pasta and cereals so Atkins didn’t make sense, and I wasn’t about to starve myself.
In the end, the chosen path sort of fell in my lap.
I found out about the Auryvedic diet from a friend of mine when we were discussing Indian religion and lifestyles. The next day I saw a show on the Travel channel about a town in Iowa that all lived on the Auryvedic lifestyle. The day after that, I visited the local used book store and found Prakriti by Dr. Svoboda...well, nothing happens as a coincidence...
After reading Prakriti (which means constitution) I learned a lot about Auryvedic medicine and lifestyle, but, most importantly, I learned a lot about myself. I learned that my doshas are Pitta-Kapha, that a lot of my constitution is based on my food and lifestyle choices and on my genetics (my mother is also Pitta-Kapha), and that by eating and living right, I can not only change my weight but my mood, the way I view life, and the way I interact with people!
The best part of Auryvedic dieting? I don’t have to drastically change my life. I can introduce and change foods and I can change the way I eat.
Svoboda says the best way to eat is slowly without focusing on tv or internet. Kaphas, like myself, should wait at least 2 hours (6 hours is best) between meals.
I will post more about my Auryvedic diet and the like in other posts, but anyone who is interested in it, especially those iving in the US and Western World, should read the following books.
Prakriti: Your Auryvedic Constitution by Dr. Robert E. Svoboda
What’s Your Dosha, Baby? by Lisa Coffey
Lisa Coffey also runs a blog and website WhatsYourDosha
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