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Weight Loss
I am interetsed to know if anyone has found a technique to lose weight using the sort of understanding of mind associated with Buddhism. I have put weight on over the last few years (working in an office) and would appreciate any tips?
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http://www.amazon.com/Savor-Mindful-Eating-Life/dp/0061697699
What you need to do, and it's really this simple: Eat for nutrition and health, and exercise... That's it. There's nothing more to it than that. If you're trying to lose weight with WeightWatcher type meals, not gonna happen. They're a business that focuses on turning over profit. Like the Pharma industry, they don't want you cured, they want repeat customers. The vast majority of packaged "healthy food" is an absolute scam.
Eat only food for nutrition and exercise. Do that, and you'll lose weight. And of course, don't eat packaged garbage, pretty much stop eating sugar and salt and increase your water intake.
And if you do exercise, do not get into a routine of just aerobic exercises. Slow, prolonged exercise is not enough. You need to mix aerobic exercise with explosive work-outs. Your body gets used to prolonged, easy aerobic exercise. You really need to mix it up with some explosive weight sessions and the like.
What are you struggling with specifically? I'm overweight myself and have lost alot this year. I have several friends who are professional Rugby players, so get a lot of good information. Are you willing to make the time for exercise or is working in an office and not having the time going to be a fall-back?
-Work out at least 4-5x a week. A mix of cardio and weight lifting.
-Cardio 30-60 minutes whenever you can. You want to bring up your heart rate so you sweat. If you get covered in sweat while you're jogging/running you're doing good.
-Weight lifting and conditioning. This will help a lot. Because the more muscle you build it will help burn calories even while you're sitting. Weight lifting and conditioning is for everyone, even women. It takes a lot of effort to get all bulked up. Most women won't have to worry about that.
-Eat breakfast always. When you wake up, either go work out on an empty stomach, or eat breakfast first. It will give you more energy throughout the day and it will prevent you from overeating later. Protein is better for breakfast rather sugary processed stuff.
-Protein, after you weight lift you need protein. Adding beans makes a meal filling and good for you. Protein is really necessary when trying to get fit. If you lose a lot of weight without enough protein and the weight lifting and conditioning you're not going to look as you could.
-Smaller plates. When you use smaller plates you end up feeling filled up faster, and won't eat as much as if you use bigger ones.
-Snacks, at least twice a day. Dried/fresh fruit is good. Same for hummus with carrot sticks, string cheese. Even a low calorie soup can work as a snack.
-Cut out soda, limit white bread, and limit fried food as much as you can. Soda is very highly linked to obesity and diabetes.
I do all of this myself. I am a pretty bulked out dude. The gym is like my second home, and I visit a fitness club once a week, so I'm always around personal trainers, beautiful beach women and men, etc. I'm always learning all of this stuff and trying to look as good as I can.
One key is to become smart about exactly what it is you're putting into your body. If Buddhism is good for anything, it's fostering the notion that we should question everything. Don't take anything at face value - including food labels. Do some research and really understand what it is you're eating. When you do, you'll be pretty shocked. Basically, the closer what you eat is to the way it came from nature, the better. If it's something whose name you can't pronounce, or that has more than about two syllables in it, don't eat it. It probably came from the petrochemical and/or industrial "agriculture" industry, and isn't something your body is going to recognize naturally.
I am about 2 stone over weight which has all come on since I started an office job. I eat fairly healthily and I run at least 4 times a week (about 3 miles per session) but it still doesn't seem to help, there is a gradual inclination toward weight gain.
Before I started doing office work I did odd shift work and therefore ate at odd times. I think the problem for me now is that I am eating normally, i.e. 3 times a day, and this isn't strictly necessary, or at least 'normal' portions are not necessary. I have tried drastically reducing my intake per meal rather than swapping the content of meals for healthier items and this seems to have worked well over the last couple weeks. I don't have quite as much energy for exercise but there is certianly enough and I sleep better.
Generally though, as with everything, 'motivation' is just a process of thoughts which come and go as they please, so I will ride this wave as long as it lasts and just be grateful for it. Who knows where my mind will take me in the future.
Thanks for the replies, some good tips there, particularly re exercise.