In Ayurveda, excess weight is considered a symptom of something deeper. You might feel physically heavy, puffy, or sluggish; perhaps there is a feeling of discomfort in overly tight clothing or a shame about the number on the scale that makes you believe you are overweight. External measures like the Body Mass Index (BMI) can cause us to doubt the healthfulness of our weight, yet the validity of these measures are questionable. Many athletes are diagnosed as "obese" because their muscle mass artificially contributes to a high BMI. In 1998 doctors lowered the BMI threshold for overweight a whole five points. Suddenly, people who felt healthy the year before started to believe they were overweight. Accordingly, Ayurveda rejects these external standards and instead asks us to dig deeper to discover a healthy weight.

Why weight?

You might be tempted to view weight loss as a kind of universal panacea for your problems. Weight gain is often the scapegoat when you feel anxiety over loss of control, hopelessness, and failure. For these reasons, it is important to get clear about why you want to lose weight. Is your diet program a way of healing and loving your overweight body, or punishing it? What would having a slimmer body symbolize for you...improved energy, better health, more fulfilling relationships? Clarifying these goals at the outset can help you also identify other imbalances contributing to weight gain.

"Big-boned" versus Overweight

There is no optimum weight in Ayurveda. Instead, Ayurveda considers factors beyond weight to determine the state of your health. A person with a hearty constitution (kapha) may carry around more weight than a delicate one (vata), but these are not necessarily indications of ill-health. Instead, Ayurveda recommends assessing your health by reflecting on how you feel: what is your energy level like? Do you wake up feeling light and energized, or groggy, puffy, and heavy? Is your lymphatic system congested? Are your emotions stable?

It is more important to feel good in your body than to see a low number on the scale. Poor energy, sluggish metabolism, low thyroid, and an inability to exercise are more relevant than weight when it comes to health in Ayurveda. You might also consider the size of your ancestors and parents: is your family naturally heavier and more "big-boned" than others? Taking the dosha quiz helps you clarify your body type and set more realistic, and healthy weight loss goals.

Discipline?

Ayurveda shows you why discipline is not the answer. Instead, Ayurveda's unique approach to weight loss helps you interpret and make sense of your food cravings, so that you can satisfy cravings and make good choices. Understanding your body is key to bridging the gap between unruly cravings and discipline.

Improve Your Circulation

Fat tissue blocks circulation. Blood that is rich in sugars, fats and proteins is thicker and also harder to circulate. As your circulation becomes more and more sluggish, so does your metabolism. Ayurveda often treats weight gain and food cravings as a complication of congestion in the circulatory system, a Kapha imbalance. Taking a brisk 15 to 30 minute walk in the morning is a good way to get your blood moving. Drinking warm, spiced drinks like ginger or the weight-reducing tea (link to lemon, cayenne, honey recipe) is also effective.

Develop a Strong Routine

A good eating and sleeping routine is an important step to taking control of your diet. It is impossible to make great food choices when you're late for work and starving, or exhausted from a long day with no food in the pantry. The more erratic your meal schedule, the more likely you likely you are to snack between meals and struggle with strong, unruly food cravings.

Build a Better Relationship with Food

To lose weight, you'll have to cultivate a great relationship with food. Start paying attention to how food makes you feel. How does it taste and what are its qualities? Notice the difference between how you feel after a light meal like kale salad as opposed to a heavy meal like pasta. Start noticing your hunger and food cravings. What do these say about the body? Are you reaching for food out of physical hunger in the stomach or an emotional hunger in the mind? Ayurveda teaches you how to understand your hunger and cravings by discovering a deeper relationship with your body. Through Ayurveda, you can learn to truly enjoy food and discover its unique effects on your body and your weight.

Disclaimer: Conditions such as 'Feel overweight' that cause tissue changes could be serious and should be checked by a medical doctor.

Answer some questions about how foods make you feel. Then you'll receive a full food report customized for you.
COMPUTE MY DIET FOR FEEL OVERWEIGHT
OR, GET A GENERAL DIET FOR BALANCING FEEL OVERWEIGHT

Augment your diet with these specially chosen ingredients below which may be useful for 'Feel overweight'. Individual results vary depending the cause of your imbalance and by constitution. Please research the ingredients below to find which are most helpful for you, and check with your doctor before making any changes to your health and wellness routine.

These ingredients are contraindicated / may aggravate 'Feel overweight'.

Please check with your medical doctor before making any changes to your health & wellness routine, and for the proper use of these products.

WEIGHT LOSS TIPS

DISCLAIMER: The pathogenesis of each person's condition is unique, and so the diet must be fit to the individual and the unique root causes of the condition in your body. The information on this page is for educational purposes only and should not be used to treat a medical condition. It is not a substitute for medical care. Please check with your doctor before making any changes to your health and wellness routine.

Everything you eat has an effect on your body, which Ayurveda categorizes in a simple and easy way, using biocharacteristics (gunas). Biocharacteristics are qualities (like cold and hot) that describe the effect a food or herb has on your body. Cooling foods like cucumber, decrease metabolism. Heating foods like chili pepper, stimulate your body and increase metabolism. For 'Feel overweight', you should select foods with the following biocharacteristics. Individual results will vary, based on your body type and the root cause of your imbalance.

Digestion:

Appetite Suppressant

APPETITE-SUPPRESSANT

Suppresses hunger without causing weight gain.

SEE ALL 'APPETITE-SUPPRESSANT' FOODS / HERBS

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Antiemetic

ANTIEMETIC

Herbs that reduce nausea or stop vomiting. Generally refreshing, aromatic herbs.

SEE ALL 'ANTIEMETIC' FOODS / HERBS

Bowel Health:

General Laxative

GENERAL-LAXATIVE

Promotes a bowel movement. General laxative is an umbrella term that refers to several different types of laxatives.

SEE ALL 'GENERAL-LAXATIVE' FOODS / HERBS

Energy Vitality:

Stimulates Energy

STIMULATES-ENERGY

This category groups thyroid and adrenal stimulating herbs.

SEE ALL 'STIMULATES-ENERGY' FOODS / HERBS

,

Prana

PRANA

Prana is the Sanskrit word for vital life energy (Qi in Chinese Medicine, pneuma in Greek). Many herbs stimulate your energy, or improve the flow of prana through your body. Generally, prana needs to be increased in spring after a sleepy winter.

SEE ALL 'PRANA' FOODS / HERBS

Skin Care & Beauty:

Diaphoretic

DIAPHORETIC

An herb that induces sweating, often by dilating blood vessels close to the skin.

SEE ALL 'DIAPHORETIC' FOODS / HERBS

Heart & Circulation:

Cardiac Stimulant

CARDIAC-STIMULANT

Herbs that increase the heart rate. Useful in cardiovascular health, blood stagnation, and subjective feeling of heaviness in the chest area.

SEE ALL 'CARDIAC-STIMULANT' FOODS / HERBS

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Cardiac Tonic

CARDIAC-TONIC

Strengthens and tones the heart (heart-tonic). Cardiac tonics are used to treat a wide range of heart issues from arrhythmia, to cardiac insufficiency.

SEE ALL 'CARDIAC-TONIC' FOODS / HERBS

Liver & Gallbladder:

Cholagogue

CHOLAGOGUE

Cholagogues stimulate the production & release of bile from the liver & gallbladder. This refreshes and cleanses these organs, as well as increases bile in the small intestines.

SEE ALL 'CHOLAGOGUE' FOODS / HERBS

Weight Loss:

Hypolipidemic

HYPOLIPIDEMIC

Scrapes fats / cleanses blood vessels by 1) purging bile, 2) strengthening the liver's ability to metabolize fats, 3) by increasing uptake of cholesterol in the liver, and 4) by inhibiting fat cells.

SEE ALL 'HYPOLIPIDEMIC' FOODS / HERBS

Subtaste:

Aromatic

AROMATIC

Herbs or spices with volatile essential oils that present strong aromas. Aromatic oils shock, refresh and numb tissue, with the end result of relaxing, opening and clearing stagnant fluids in tissues.

SEE ALL 'AROMATIC' FOODS / HERBS

Joyful Belly is a recognized college of biocharacteristics medicine.

HOW TO ADDRESS ISSUES IN STAGE OF DISEASE #3

FEEL OVERWEIGHT IS IN STAGE OF DISEASE #3 - ATTACKING TISSUE

If you have symptoms in this category it means that your imbalances are becoming stronger and weakening your body's resistance. Most people have a weakness in one or more organs. These areas of weakness are the 'weak link in the chain.' They are first to succumb when an imbalance reaches a tipping point. Repairing imbalances in this category often represent your last opportunity to prevent disease. At any moment, these imbalances could overwhelm weakened tissue and develop into a disease. You may feel pain or discomfort in the weakened area. At this stage you will need to support the weakened tissue with specialized foods and herbs for the weakened tissue. (See all disease stages on JB)

GET MY FREE AYURVEDA BODY MAP According to Ayurveda, one or more of the following doshas and biocharacteristics may aggravate 'Feel overweight'. If you have an excess of one of these doshas or biocharacteristics below, Ayurveda recommends reducing foods and lifestyle habits that aggravate them. Click on the biocharacteristic to learn what foods and lifestyle habits should be reduced.

Are you prone to a problem with 'Feel overweight'? Find your imbalances and create a diet for your Weight by taking the free weight loss quiz:

TAKE THE WEIGHT LOSS QUIZ

The following symptoms & habits may be related to 'Feel overweight'. See your quiz results for a computerized assessment of your body type. Please click on the symptoms below to learn more about them. On average the biocharacteristics of people reporting Feel overweight were less aggravated than 85% of other symptoms. From the 25,362 people who reported Feel overweight average deviation in biocharacteristic levels were the following:

Risk Factors of Feel overweight

Complications of Those Reporting Feel overweight

WHAT'S NEXT?

5 WAYS TO HEAL YOUR BODY
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