Wellness - Spiritually

We all endeavor to be spiritually strong. However I believe that we don’t really know what spiritual strength means. Text book information, wellness gurus, motivational speakers religious leaders all over the world all talk of spirituality differently. Not always correctly.

Many people claim that they are spiritual; I have always asked what does spirituality really mean?

I have yet to receive an answer that satisfies my soul, so to speak. I am still in search of it but I feel I am a little closer to an understanding than I was before.

My approach towards treating people, whether lifestyle correction for disease management or weight loss or rehabilitation after accidents and surgeries has always been to reach into their soul as far as I can go to be successful in treating them.

Our belief system, self worth ability to feel pain or joy and our ability to heal ourselves physically and emotionally is connected very deeply with our soul. Our soul speaks for our experiences, our memories (happy and sad) our fears and is the network of our faith and belief system. So addressing the most internal part of our soul means addressing our spirituality, our inner being, our salvation from self destruction.

Illnesses today are far more lifestyle based rather than congenital or genetic. We have deteriorated into a life of excess. In this life of excess that very inner being the supposed most treasured part of our being which lives on and on lies forlorn and forgotten.

There is a surge of spiritual activity (so called ) across the world, everyone is embracing yoga and meditation as a means to get fitter mentally and spiritually, but yet they abuse themselves and others in more ways than one. Are we changing our lifestyle or are we embracing a trend which will be forgotten the minute the next one comes along?

To help this understanding grow, which is - that the root of our physical, mental and emotional wellness lies in finding our spiritual self. I am trying to infuse some sense into the madness all around us.

Is Spirituality religion?

No! Being spiritual is not being religious, or following any particular religion. My journey has seen me reach into the depths of 3 religions. All religions hint at the same thing. But all religions will confine us – thus preventing us from being truly spiritual. I am not against religion. I just hope to distinguish religion from spirituality.

“A spiritual person can be religious but can a religious person be truly spiritual”?

That’s the biggest question I have to ask?

I found three apt definitions for religion in my research

1) A set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe,   especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

2) A specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion etc

3) The practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith.

As you may note – fundamental and ritual form major parts of most definitions of religion.

While researching spirituality I came across the following

"Spirituality is NOT a religion. The definition of spirituality is different for everyone, but some common themes associated with it are, the idea of a process or journey of self discovery. The challenge of reaching beyond your current limit"

"Spirituality is the art of understanding what you are, who you are, etc..
When one rectifies his mistakes, he comes to reality when one understands his reality he comes to know what spirituality is"

"Spirituality is the essence or nature of your relationships with yourself, other people, and your deity".

What grabbed me

"When one understands his reality he comes to know what spirituality is"

In my opinion this is quite close to an understanding of spirituality. When one understands his own reality – whatever it may be, accepts it and builds upon it, he is far more spiritually inclined or is connected with his inner being.

To know ones faults, and work towards correcting them in reality.

To know ones talents and use them to benefit others and oneself.

To acknowledge ones weaknesses and work towards overcoming them.

To live in the moment, accepting reality for what it is, knowing you can’t change your circumstances but you can improve the environment around them so they are easier to deal with.

And lastly, true spirituality is freedom. Freedom to think. Freedom to believe and speak out for what we believe.

Spiritual experiences vary. No two people will experience the same thing the same way. No emotion can be felt by two people the exact same way, no trial or tribulation can be dealt with the same way by two people.

We are individuals which mean we will feel things individually – individually different. But to be true to your own spirituality is to accept the difference in others spirituality and embrace it.

Spirituality is to be connected to yourself. Connected to your higher power, enjoying the freedom to explore your heart, mind, body and spirit freely, knowing that the only thing you will discover is yourself in the process.

                                                                                                                    Karen Bhatia

“RESPECT YOUR BODYAND LOVE YOURSELF”

“QUOTABLE QUOTES”

I came across some funny quotes on weight loss. Thought I would share them with you. And have added my two pence below J in red

"The rest of the world lives to eat, while I eat to live."
- Socrates

"Your body is the baggage you must carry through life. The more excess the baggage, the shorter the trip."
- Arnold H. Glasgow

"A diet is the penalty we pay for exceeding the feed limit."
~Author Unknown

"Don't dig your grave with your own knife and fork."
~English Proverb

"Inside some of us is a thin person struggling to get out, but they can usually be sedated with a few pieces of chocolate cake."
~Author Unknown

Jokes aside J

Some questions for you…….

Why is food all important to me? Either I am thinking of what to eat or I am thinking of what not to eat!

How many times do I think about food in a day?

How many times a day do I check my weight?

Why do I associate food with everything, be it a celebration or lamentation?

Why is food my comfort? After all its temporary relief – after indulging I feel awful anyway, but soon forget that horrible feeling when faced with the same situation again.

Why do I need to feel stuffed to feel like I have eaten?

Why do I feel deprived if I eat a little less?

Answer these questions to get some insight into your behavior.

My thoughts……..

We all react the same way to situations, it’s just that some of us have learned that we can control our environment rather than have it control us. We have choices we can make and we should start from today.

Acknowledging our behavior is the start to correcting it.

“RESPECT YOUR BODY AND LOVE YOURSELF”

               

WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAUS

Weight loss plateaus

Typically when you start a weight loss program the two norms to follow are a reduction in calories and an introduction of - or increase in exercise. Initially when you are overweight the muscles are weak and you have a dependency to large quantities of food and lead a poor lifestyle. So the addition of a healthy diet and an efficient exercise regime along with all the correct lifestyle changes help you to lose weight rather rapidly, however after losing a fair bit you suddenly stagnate in your weight loss. This is called a plateau. How do you break this?

Increase food intake

With the initial reduction of calories and other healthy adjustments you will lose weight however as you lose fat and exercise right you gain lean muscle, which makes your body stronger and increases your efficiency levels tremendously. Therefore you need an increase in calories to fuel that strength and efficiency. Introduce a higher intake of lean protein, vegetables and fruit and a small amount of whole grains.

Feel your exercise

When you exercise remember to always support the three elements of exercise

1)    Cardiovascular

2)    Strength

3)    Flexibility

Cardio: It is most important to increase intensity as you find them get easy on your body. There must always be a challenge from the halfway point onwards in a session.

You must watch your heart rate and make sure you always are in fat burning ranges. 65 to 75% of your maximum heart rate is your high intensity zone for fat burn.

Strength: Higher repetitions of a moderately heavy weight will work wonders for weight loss. As you do your strength training you must feel your muscles warm and it should be difficult to complete the last few repetitions of a set, however your muscles must not hurt they should just feel the strain.

Flexibility: Stretch each muscle with good form and hold for at least 30 seconds. This ensures elongation of the muscles and circulation as well as it helps the muscle relax from a contracted state.

Be very mindful when you exercise you will always be able to tell when your body is used to a particular exercise. That’s when its time to change and increase or vary your exercise program

The element of surprise

Very often on a plateau the quickest and most effective way to breakthrough is the element of surprise. A sudden shock!

In doing something radically different, so the body is shocked out of its complacency.

For example if you use a treadmill or other similar machines in a gym for cardiovascular exercise suddenly shift to riding a bike cross country or take a high intensity aerobic class for a short time. Or if you follow a weight training principle of one muscle group per day then shift to a full body circuit for a change. This is an almost sure way to revive your weight loss.

Similarly if you have been on a low carb diet, for a day or two have a little more carb and reduce the other food groups. Or follow a good Detox diet from a qualified nutritionist to kick start your program again. Avoid fad diets and internet gimmicks.

RESPECT YOUR BODY AND LOVE YOURSELF

BREAKFAST MYTHS

DONT START YOUR DAY WITH A BIG BREAKFAST !

Gone are the days to eat breakfast like a king. It’s a big misconception that we need to eat a hearty, heavy meal to start the day. There are theories to say you are starving the whole night so you need to fuel up in the morning. However, you are not really starving at night. Your body is performing a very important function of absorption while you sleep. You need to replenish but not overload in the morning.

Our eating habits have not evolved; we still eat the way our ancestors did. In India our roots lie in farming.  We worked hard physically. In rural India even today nothing has changed. People exert a lot of physical energy. Men toil in the fields or carry heavy loads, and work outdoors in harsh climate. Women have to cook, clean, bear children, look after the children single handed and when free assist their men folk in the fields. They don’t need to go to a gym to get artificial exercise. And they need to ensure that their stomachs are full to carry on all that work. By the time it’s the next meal they are depleted and need to refuel.

 Most of the rural population is healthy, live long lives and more importantly are fit. Our urban lifestyles are an evolution from our roots. We are the exact opposites of our kin who live in villages. We have none or very little activity, and yet we still think we need to eat the same way.

A heavy breakfast, especially one like a south Indian one which is full of starch brings our body to a crashing halt. When we wake up our body has finished absorbing the nutrients of the previous day and is now ready to eliminate the waste. However when we eat a heavy morning meal the body gets diverted to perform a long digestion that only a part of our waste is eliminated and the balance results in a build up of toxin.

An urban dweller needs to eat small meals frequently and eat starches during the daytime when they are most needed and avoid them at night when they are of no use to us. A village dweller needs large meals three times a day, and starchy foods to provide energy over a long period. Hence for a city dweller the following are the ideal breakfast options.

All portions to satisfy hunger and keeping in mind the next meal is in 2 hours

1)      Mixed fruit

2)      Cereal that is low in starch and sugar

3)      Whole wheat toast and an egg

4)      Low fat yogurt and fruit

5)      Smoothies – combinations of fruit or vegetables with yogurt or milk. A wholesome meal in itself, nuts may be added

So the key to a good breakfast is you just need to refuel, get enough energy to be active, not over eat, and avoid foods high in starch and sugar. Lastly, keep your caffeine consumption in check.

You will find your energy levels and your productivity go up.

RESPECT YOUR BODY, LOVE YOURSELF.

EMOTIONS AND WEIGHT

I started this blog for kicks last year. And I was very humbled that people I work with came back to me and said they read the one and only post I had and liked what I had to say. Since then I have been requested to write more, and since I love doing it and have a lot to say most often :) I plan to update my blog more often.

As I am trying to take stock of my own life, which I tend to do quite often, I realized in my most recent contemplations that life isn’t simple for women. Don't get me wrong, this is not heading into a feminist rant but some reflections on what I experience dealing with so many women in a day.

Women were born to love, nurture and protect. A woman’s physical and chemical structure is designed to be emotional, intuitive and demonstrative. It’s rare to find a woman who is uncaring, cold, calculating and lacking in maternal instincts.

As a result women battle with weight issues far more than men. Women feel their weight far more than men. They are far more conscious of their weight than men are. The secret to why women are far more insecure than men is because of this very same chemical structure. It’s a strange situation, it’s because of our ability to nurture, empathize, emote and protect that we are insecure. Without insecurity we would never feel those feelings. So being insecure is another form of being very cautious. It’s a defense mechanism, it’s a warning system. Men too face insecurities but largely related to business and other more practical aspects of life. They are happy to let the woman do all the worrying.

However it’s this very same insecurity which becomes our worst enemy, we forget to draw the line between worry and obsession. We use food as a source of comfort to get through the trying times.

We focus on everything else other than ourselves. And one day when all our kids are grown and have lives of their own we look at ourselves in the mirror and are shocked at what we see. Very few women are able to then get a grip of the reigns they lost so long ago.

Life is very simple as long as we live each day for ourselves. We make better wives, mothers and daughters in the process. We begin to control those instincts to nurture, protect and worry for our benefit rather than have them control us making us lose sight of ourselves in the process.

I went through school and college at my own pace. I never let my friends or my environment pressurize me. I never crammed for exams for months before the exam, I never felt the need to stand first in class or excel in academics. All my friends always said “you barely study but how come you get decent marks finally”. All I said was my time to excel will come when I face life. When I find my calling and work in my chosen field will be the day I will excel. Even to this day I feel I do what I love and am blessed to be able to do so, and that is why I excel at what I do. I got married and continued to work though my three pregnancies and yet managed to be a decent wife, mother and professional. My self worth lies in doing well in all these areas. It’s very important to find your purpose in life – whatever that may be and dedicate your life to that purpose. If your spirit is nourished so will your body be nourished!

I work with cases everyday where women whine about how difficult it is to stick to the diet, they complain about feeling weak, irritable and sometimes extremely odd symptoms.  After addressing all possible causes quite often I find that there is no reason for these symptoms, so I start to discuss their life, stress levels, personal pressures and invariably these are women fully devoted to their homes and families and their needs. Very intelligent women who have more often than not given up their careers and deep down are very resentful, or are unhappy with their personal lives. I generally urge them to take a hobby or a part time job or start a business and the ones who do – immediately stop complaining and drop kg’s on the scale very rapidly.

Losing weight is very much a psychological process. Unless your mental framework is not in tune with the cause - chances are you won’t achieve your goals. For some women losing weight becomes an obsession to prove something to a boyfriend, husband, in law or a friend and though you may achieve your goal you can never sustain it because you do so with a rush of adrenaline motivated by hurt or revenge. But to sustain your weight loss you must adopt a new way of life. I have been down this road, what I speak about comes from experience. I used to try crash diets to lose weight for someone else. Then came a day when I met someone to whom my weight did not matter and without realizing it I lost it all because I did it for myself and I was secure within myself.

The secret to sustainable weight loss in SECURITY – believe in yourself, get control of your life, find your purpose and everything will fall into place.

“RESPECT YOUR BODY AND LOVE YOURSELF”