5 Simple Ways to Lose Weight

​In a society that constantly overwhelms us with the next best diet, it can be difficult to stay focused and know what’s actually beneficial and effective for healthy weight loss. 
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Ayurveda, an ancient system of medicine developed in India, is the sister science to yoga. It seeks to prevent disease and promote health, balance, and longevity through simple guidelines that follow the natural rhythms of nature, the seasons, and the time of day.

​Here are 5 Ayurveda tips that can naturally and gently guide you toward holistic and healthy weight loss, without the use of chemicals, processed food, or extreme diets.

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1. Drink a large glass of warm water with organic lemon first thing in the morning. This boosts the entire digestive system and gives you a fresh start to your day.

2. Exercising enough to break a sweat is suggested as a daily morning practice for healthy weight loss; 45 to 60 minutes is ideal, but even 30 will do. Find an activity that you can do for the rest of your life, or at least for the foreseeable future.

3. Find five to 10—or more—minutes of peace and relaxation in the morning. Mind/body practices like yoga and meditation, elicit a relaxation response in the body. This helps to alleviate stress, one of the main causes of weight gain. It also puts us in a more mindful and present state of mind, allowing us to be better decision-makers as our day proceeds.

4. Eat three meals a day, with no snacking. Food is a fast-burning fuel, and when your body is given a constant fuel line, it forgets how to burn fat. Have breakfast, a medium-sized meal, between 7:30 and 9:00 am. Have lunch, your largest meal, between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm. Have dinner, your smallest meal, between 5:30 pm and 8:00 pm, when your digestion is weakest.​

5. Experience all six tastes. In Ayurveda, we recognize six tastes: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent. Be sure to incorporate all six tastes into your daily diet. Sweet, sour and salty tastes are anabolic, or building, in nature and need the pungent, bitter, and astringent tastes, which are catabolic, or burning in nature, to balance them out. Too many sweet, sour, and salty tastes, as seen in the standard American diet, can cause fast weight gain. Foods that are bitter, such as leafy greens; pungent, such as spicy chili peppers; and astringent, such as pomegranate seeds, offer healthy counterpoints to the building nature of the sweet, sour, and salty tastes.
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​These simple steps can have profound effects on your life. However, it’s vitally important to meet yourself where you are, in order to maintain sanity and not create more stress.

​Decide if this plan is something you want to take on full throttle, or if just a piece or two could be incorporated into your routine at this time. It’s okay to begin with small steps. ​​
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​​Slowly but surely, the wisdom of Ayurveda can help lead you toward stress-free, healthy weight loss.​

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